I’m actually writing this Sunday morning because it’s only me and my middle awake right now so, quiet. Friday, I worked about 3 hours then went home to find my husband working on the Dynatrap (mosquito control). I’d asked him to replace the light inside last week and when he opened it, the wires that connect for the fan became disconnected and fell inside. We messed with it a bit before getting frustrated and so we went to lunch and then to the hardware store for an appropriate screwdriver. Once home, we fixed it but turns out we didn’t even need that tool: just to find where the connector piece had fallen to and we fished it out and the thing works again. Though we are coming out of mosquito season now anyway, of course. We then replaced a part inside the downstairs toilet and transferred the milk stout we brewed last weekend into a fermenter. Productive afternoon! When Isaac got home we watched the newest Rings of Power episode, then picked up my daughter from piano/her friend’s house, and took my oldest to get new pants while Isaac had flag football practice. Busy for a Friday! Once home, they ate and we mostly just rested and drank water in prep for Saturday’s race.

The Pine Run is a 20k that Ash has run four times but I never have. In the past, the kids were too young so he’d go and we’d either meet him or, as they got into sports, he’d meet us at the flag fields once he finished. Now the kids are old enough so we both ran (though the boys had games so I had two different friends driving them to places). Got there a little before 7 for a 730 start time. I was nervous but prepared. I’d run 10 in a good time and a solid hilly 6. I figured I could eke out the last 2.4. Weather was great, about 58 and maybe only 65 by the time I finished.

I’m not used to trail running but I knew what to expect. A lot of it was mown grass but there was some dirt/sand and some deep woods with roots. I nearly faceplanted twice; one of those times I jammed the heck out of my big toe. But I managed to finish in about 2 hours and 20 minutes, which made me the slowest of the main group but the fastest of the really slow. The hills were really brutal and I was tired but I’m glad it was over. I didn’t give up or anything. I’m definitely sore today, that’s a fact!

When Ash and I got home we showered and went and met my friend up at the Total Wine. She had taken Isaac to his flag game with her son and Dakota had tagged along. We wasted a bit of time at our brand new Total Wine before going up to my other son’s next soccer game. We sat there with some friends while the team played then headed home to relax. We had been invited to one of my husband’s coworker’s house to watch the college game so we went there around 6:00 but we were home by 10:00. I was straight exhausted so I literally just went to bed as soon as we got home. I didn’t sleep the best; maybe too much beer throughout the day, but definitely my body was sore so I was uncomfortable.

I woke up Sunday feeling stiff but not too awful. Got up and got the laundry going, cleaned a little bit, and went of the store. We had burgers for lunch and made a plan to watch football most of the day. Dakota had a friend over in the afternoon, then our friend stopped by and brought his daughter so the three of them played outside for a bit. This great weather is wonderful for kids playing outside! My husband and two younger kids started watching Hocus pocus 2 and I decided I needed to get in the sauna, in hopes of alleviating some of this muscle pain. Plus, I am reading this really cool history of heavy metal book. I may have mentioned that before; I pretty much know the entire timeline of music of that genre but this book has a lot of extra facts and is written in a very detailed way. I needed to relax because when I wasn’t watching the football games or running to the washing machine I was grading papers since final grades are due tomorrow. I did luck out in so much as I don’t have to go to jury duty, but I am still not going to work since I already asked off. This way, I can get my grades in on time and Ash and I can brew. We have two kits we need to work on and they need to get done this month if we want them ready for our Christmas party.

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No one says “B-sides” anymore, since everything is digital but I found some songs on the yacht Rock deep cuts station that are definitely popular band B-sides so you gonna get ’em!