I can't pronounce it, but I can run it

This morning's race was a new one for me, the Lekotek Run, a 4-mile run through Dunwoody, GA.
I kept calling this race the Lakota Run, but at the race start I heard the announcer pronounce it properly -- Leck-O-Tech.
The Lekotek  Run was hot and hilly. I didn't do too badly with my time. I was faster than the 4 miler I did in July, but slower than the one in June.
The pig didn't do too badly today either. I found a penny and a quarter!
Later this afternoon I went to see the movie "The Help" with a friend. What a wonderful movie. I still want to read the book. If anything, the movie made me want to read the book more.
I saw the movie "The Secret Life of Bees" before I read the book and I wasn't disappointed with that, either.
But I have been disappointed in seeing the movie based on a book I've enjoyed.
If you've read "Eat Pray Love" skip the movie. I was so disappointed after having loved the book.
It's the reason I'll never watch the movie "Cold Mountain." I loved the book so much I was afraid to see the movie.
Oh well, it happens.
After seeing "The Help" I found a penny near a restaurant where I went for lunch, so the pig got a whole 27 cents today. I might actually be able to get a shot of espresso in that coffee after all. Ha!

Pennies, dimes and quarters from heaven

As I've said before, I'm having fun with my "found money" experiment.
After this past week's haul, I feel like I can at least come close to a cup of coffee.
I found one very lucky penny while I was touring my former Alma Mater, the University of Missouri on Aug. 13.
Then it has been some bigger finds. I found several dimes this past week and Monday I found a quarter.
I did have to leave one dime behind. On the Komen Race for the Cure Greater Kansas City I spotted a dime, but it was embedded in the street's asphalt. That wasn't coming out without a fight.
I will say, the dimes and quarters were NOT found on my usual running route, although I still find an occasional penny.
The silver coins have all come from parking lots or other "outside the norm" walking/running routes.

Still, I consider them feed for the pig. He's getting heavy.
I have a four mile race on Saturday. I will be invoking the "Power of Motown" again. And I'll be on the hunt for some pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters from heaven.

An addendum from this evening: I found a nickel on my running route tonight! So much for not finding silver coins on my well-traveled circuit. :)

The Sixth State

I bet you didn't know Missouri is the sixth state.
Well, for me it is.
See, a few years ago on a trip to visit my sister in New York, I signed up to run the Komen Race for the Cure 5K in New York City's Central Park. It was a hot, humid run -- not the lovely mid-September weather I was expecting in New York. I think that year I brought the Atlanta weather with me.
But that run, in a new state, got me thinking how I'd like to run a 5K in every state.
That's a very ambitious goal, and I'm not really sure I will actually achieve it, but it sure is fun trying!
So the recent trip to Kansas City was not only to visit my former college roommate Patti and her family, it was also to walk the Komen Race for the Cure 5K in Missouri with Patti and her daughter Erin, thereby checking off Missouri on my running bucket list.
If I have friends or family with me who do not run, I walk the 5K with them. If they are willing to do it with me, I'm willing to slow down a little. ;)

Patti, Erin and Lisa

Patti and Lisa

The walk started at Union Station and went through some beautiful and recently revitalized areas of Kansas City.

Along the Komen Race for the Cure Greater Kansas City

In another month, I will be able to check South Carolina off of my running list.
The tally so far, in the order I've completed a 5K, is: Florida, Georgia, New York, California, North Carolina and Missouri.
Patti and I are already thinking about doing a Komen 5K walk in Houston so we can visit and reconnect with another college friend we haven't seen in years, and we've talked about doing one in Kansas and Colorado. I think Erin might even come along for the fun of it if she can.
I've got friends and family all over the United States, so I'm hoping to get Washington, Minnesota, Ohio, Arkansas and Nebraska at some point. Alabama and Tennessee are nearby and I may try to get one or both of those in the next couple of years.
As I said, I may not be able to run or walk a 5K in all 50 states, but it sure will be fun trying.

Be True to Your School

Spent a great weekend in Kansas City visiting my college roommate Patti (she goes by Pat now, and I may be the only one who calls her Patti!)
What made this trip so special was Patti and I drove to Columbia, Mo., back to the University of Missouri, where I had not been since graduating in 1985. What memories it brought back!

Back on campus!

The Columns and Jesse Hall

When we stepped onto the Quadrangle, where the Columns and Jesse Hall are located, I was suddenly very emotional. I never expected to return to "Ol' Mizzou" and this was really a gift from Patti -- to agree to drive two hours each way back to campus.
Here we are at the Columns.

Patti and Lisa at The Columns

Funny enough, we met a couple and their two children who were doing exactly what we were doing -- revisiting the campus and enjoying the memories. Thanks to them, we have this photo.
Another beautiful building on campus is Memorial Union, dedicated to the students who fought and died during World War I.

Memorial Union

We had lunch at the new Old Heidelberg, which burned down in 2003 and has since been rebuilt.

At the Old Heidelberg

And where else but Mizzou would you find this gem:

Only a true fan would have this toilet

We had great fun on campus. I got a little fresh with Thomas Jefferson.

Getting fresh with T.J.

Why a statue of Thomas Jefferson at Mizzou? Because the University of Missouri is the first land grant university west of the Mississippi in the Louisiana Purchase. :)
We visited the School of Journalism, where I spent many an hour. We even found an open door and went in. School starts next week, so the campus was pretty empty. We weren't sure the building was open, but it was.

Wise Shall Be the Bearers of Light

This building is on one corner of the buildings that make up the School of Journalism. The edifice reads "Wise Shall Be the Bearers of Light."
To end the day, I stopped by and had a beer with my buddy Beetle Bailey.

Having a beer with Beetle Bailey

And why is there a statue of Beetle Bailey on campus? Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker is a Mizzou grad. And the statue is very near an iconic establishment called The Shack, which burned down in 1988. How The Shack survived serving cheap beer to under aged students all those years, I have no idea. But you went to The Shack, got beer and carved your initials somewhere on the wood booths. Notice the little pen knife in front of Beetle? I am not a beer drinker, but I went to The Shack just once during my four years at Mizzou and my initials were dutifully carved in one of the booths.
We drove by our old dorms and apartment. We lived in two different dorms and then an off-campus apartment during our four years on campus. We were shocked to see a beautiful outdoor pool on campus. We never had that! And we were surprised, a bit, that we got somewhat turned around on campus -- one that I knew better than the back of my hand as I was running from one end of campus to the other. (Why was Hatch Hall on one end of campus and my journalism classes on the other???)
No matter, Mizzou was familiar and new all at once.
While it is true you can't go home again, you certainly can go back to campus, and relive many wonderful memories with a friend who made that time so very special.

All Fired Up

What a fun day I had Saturday with my niece Abby. She'll be eight in December.
We had a "girls day." I take her brother Nicholas and her cousin Clay to Atlanta Braves baseball games every summer, but Abby's not much of a baseball fan. So I was looking for something fun that we could do together.
What I found was a great store near Emory University called All Fired Up, a pottery painting store.
Each of us found a plain piece of pottery to paint.
Abby found this cute little kitty.

Abby and her kitty

And here is Abby painting her pottery.

The artist at work

Here is the finished product, before it is glazed and fired at All Fired Up.

The nearly finished product

Abby's kitty and my sun plaque

The sun plaque and me

I plan on hanging my sun plaque in my garden.
I've had loads of fun with my nephews here in Atlanta at baseball games. Here's the proof.

Me and Nicholas, riding out a 2-hour rain delay in 2010

Clay and me, 2011 game

My cancer treatment ended my chance at motherhood, so the time I spend with my niece and nephews is the closest I will ever get to the joy and sorrow of being a parent. I wish my brother lived closer because I have two younger nephews that don't really know me and it breaks my heart that I can't do the same sort of things with them that I do with my Atlanta families.
It is days like yesterday that make me smile, even now.
Pizza, pottery and a panda is how my day with Abby went.
Once I got her home, she and I ended up making a teddy bear together from a Build-A-Bear home kit. It was the first time Abby had ever sewn anything and I am so glad I could share that with her.
Although when we missed a pre-punched hole and had to take out several stitches she asked me, in all seriousness, "That was your fault, right?"
Ha! I suppose it was. ;)
We got it right in the end, and here is the new bear.

Abby, me and the new panda bear

As I was leaving last night, Abby wrapped her arms around my waist and held on tight.
"I am not going to let go of you," she said.
Abby, I'm not going to let go of you, either.

A profitable route

Goodness, I am still amazed that I can find cash along my well-run route.
On Wednesday evening, a walk with my neighbor Christine was more than I expected. I found two dimes and two pennies.
Well, I found about half of that. Christine found one of the dimes and I think one of the pennies. But she let me keep them to feed the pig.
I found a penny Tuesday in a shopping center parking lot. My pig is getting heavy!! I wonder if I will need a bigger pig!

What has been so funny about this whole "found money" experiment is how several friends are now really into it. My friend Liora found a penny in the parking lot during our lunch last Saturday. I don't think she's blogged about found money, but she does have a cool blog about frugality called Mindful Dough.
My neighbor Christine seems fully invested in my finding enough cash for my year-end espresso.
How many of you out there are starting to scan the parking lots, roadways, and sidewalks?
Good luck to you my friends. I hope you have very profitable routes.

The break up

If you are reading this blog, you could see it coming.
Leo and I have broken up. I gave it a good try. I'd like to say it was a good run. But it really wasn't. In the end, Leo could not satisfy me.
Like any relationship, I started out full of anticipation and hope. I left feeling let down.
I just could not get through "Anna Karenina." I made it more than half way through the book. But what I liked at the beginning of the book -- Leo Tolstoy being very descriptive -- completely bogged me down the further I got in the book.
So it ends.
This lead me to think tonight of some other break ups that have happened in my life.
I had a boyfriend email me at work to break up with me. This after four months of being together. When I eventually saw the "Sex & The City" episode where Carrie's boyfriend breaks up with her via Post-It Note, I could relate.
What I've come to realize is how cowardly that kind of break up is.
I deserve so much better than that.
So, Leo, to your face, I can't go on any more. I'm sorry. It's you. It's not me.