gals on the run

Saturday, November 22nd, Sarah, Emily (her sis), and I

ran the Girls on the Run 5K celebration run with a bunch of 3rd-5th grade girls from Lynchburg and the surrounding areas.

Girls on the Run is a program for girls in 3rd through 5th grades that encourages girls to run (obviously) and make healthy choices. It also helps girls with peer pressure choices and talking about "tough" issues, like using drugs, smoking, and drinking as well as body image, eating disorders, and being a friend.

The celebration 5K is a "race" but isn't timed and recorded. There's a clock at the start so you know your time when you finish, but it's non-competitive and is more about promoting the girls' and their big accomplishment of finishing a 5K!

As a teacher at one of the GOTR schools (Thomas Jefferson Elementary), Sarah wanted to support some of her former students and cheer on the TJES group. I went with her since I knew a lot of the girls, too, since I also taught at TJES. Since I'm not teaching there anymore, it's always fun to see the kids from school and get huge hugs from them when they come running up to say hello! Sarah's sister, Emily, went with us, and we all ran the race, had a great time chatting, and felt better that morning for having done it.

So here's to the GOTR of Greater Lynchburg! The run was a huge success!

V-O-T-E! again! click here or on the apple below!

my friend, Laura, is on target to try to win for the best "New Homeschool Blog 2008" and I'd like to give her at least a few more votes. If you could, (even though you don't know her), just click on the apple above or on my title link, and go to "10 Million Miles" to vote for Laura, that would be awesome! :) I would forever love you! And it's a chance to vote again if you did or didn't particularly feel like your vote mattered earlier this month!

friends through THICK and thin

I love this group...a shot from last night's bunko...this group includes people who:

• I've taught with.


• I run with.


• are Ohio State fans.


• are Penn State fans.


• are in a book club with me.


• I've babysat for.


• share the love of blogging with me.


• are still teachers.


• are pharmacists.


• hash with me.


• have gorgeous children!


• play Bunko!

spreading myself beyond the PSU lines...

so, i've NEVER, in my entire life, been a fan or patron of the Ohio State Buckeyes. i grew up in a small town, Jeannette, Pennsylvania, until i was 4, where we had a buckeye tree growing in our yard. my only real influence of buckeyes was with that tree, collecting them in a small plastic swimming pool and playing with them. they weren't edible nuts (though a relative of the chestnut) but they were kind of fun to play with because they were hard, made a cool noise when knocked together, and were especially fun to run your hands through if you had a huge pile of them. but i digress...

the OSU Buckeyes have always been an enemy of mine, consider the following facts:

• I am a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University.

• PSU and OSU are both in the Big Ten.

• OSU usually beats PSU in the season. They didn't this year.

• I am from Pennsylvania and have some family and friends from Ohio...forming a natural rivalry.

• A lot of Ohio State fans I know, have always been a little negative toward my boyfriend, JoePa.

However, with all of this against me ever doing anything positive in the light of the Buckeyes, i've turned over a new leaf. i present to you:

YES! You are seeing what your eyes are telling you. I did bake a cake and make it into an Ohio State "O." if it weren't for the cold, hard fact that a friend from Bunko, Carrie, was a HUGE Ohio State fan, this never would've happened. however, carrie, who has been a part of this group since it started (3+ years), is moving to Ohio in January and we're all very sad to see her go. last night, at her last bunko, we gave her a little sayonara with a "Virginia-themed" gift and an Ohio State cake. Carrie, we will miss you...and you've seen another side of me that may NEVER happen again...but should be cherished in all of it's Ohio State glory.

Hope you enjoyed the other side of my leaf. I will be returning to my usual buckeye inspiration (the nut) for the rest of time.