The Accidental Boilermaker

 I hit my 1,000 mile goal for the year today. Since 2017 when I got my first Garmin watch to really keep track, this is the most miles I have run in a year. The closest was 2018, I ran 964 miles.  It was a harder goal to reach than I initially thought. I knew I would have to run a consistent amount of miles every month but didn’t fully realize if I fell behind how much work it was to get back on track. I knew I had gotten behind in November but didn’t realize I was little short on miles in October too. So December I had to work hard to make up miles, especially because I had fewer days to work with since we’d be out of town for the holidays.  We went to the new Culver’s to celebrate. Actually I needed to run an errand and didn’t want to leave the kids home alone again (even though if I did they’d be fine). So I bribed them with ice cream and cheese curds since we’d drive by the just opened new restaurant on our way home. 

 We had a very nice family Christmas. Evelyn and Jameson woke up early and opened their stockings first.  After breakfast and showers it was time for presents.  Jameson got a big soccer net that can go in the basement in the winter and if he wants, be moved outside when the weather gets warmer.  He also finally got a pair of goalie gloves. Evelyn got a kindle. She was super excited.  Nate got a pasta maker.  And we successfully used it to make fresh pasta for lunch. Everyone thought it was very yummy.  My big present was a new laptop which I am very excited to use especially as girls on the run is starting to plan for our spring season. 

 We had a nice visit in Decatur. We left right from beach soccer. We went to church Sunday morning. Evelyn  and Jameson took a picture with Mimi by the Christmas tree Mimi helped decorate.  Uncle Phil and Aunt Rhonda come over and made Sunday dinner. We took a silly picture with all the fun hats they brought.  Monday morning Nate made peanut clusters. We had talked with Mimi about all the treats my aunt Jonette used to make at Christmas so Mimi got everything ready to make the peanut clusters.  Monday afternoon we opened presents, had lots of good food and treats and watched lots of tv. Tuesday we drove home. 

 Jameson was asked to join a team for a beach soccer tournament. There were all 9U players from fall soccer, few were his teammates and a few played on the other 2016 team. One mom bought the uniforms because her son liked them and they were cheap on Amazon.  Another mom bought donuts and made burritos for lunch. They played all their games on one court, so we just camped out, cheered and chatted with the other parents. The boys won their first 2 games but lost the championship game. They lost to 10U boys from the same club so we said hey, they are just you next year. Overall it was a fun morning.

 It’s been too long since I posted. We’ve been busy but not excessively so I don’t have a great excuse. We’ll start with Thanksgiving. We had a nice time in Decatur. It was very cold. Nate was able to take Wednesday off so we could get down there early and have more time to spend with Katherine.  Evelyn got glasses! That was stressful though because the doctor thought something was wrong and we had to see a specialist in Indy. But she said Evelyn’s eyes were very healthy. The dinosaurs have been up to some Christmastime shenanigans.  Evelyn and Jameson both competed in a free throw contest at school. Evelyn made the most out of 5th grade girls.  Piano recital went very well. They played jingle bells for their duet. It was probably their best duet to date. Jameson played Fisherman at Sea. Evelyn played her Berkovich concerto with Mr Dorion. Then they played again in the afternoon at a small holiday recital at a nursing home.  We made sugar cookies.