Gobbler Grind Half Marathon

Today was the Gobbler Grind 1/2 Marathon. In case you noticed, no this one didn't show up on the blog calendar, it was something Mariah and I decided to do at the last minute. It was actually a great way for me to see how much I had fallen off since the Omaha Marathon (not much actually). I think this is my last race of the year, but I did get a flyer for a 5k Santa Run that sounds kind of fun. So I won't say absolutely my last race.

Mariah and I just before the race. Shivering a little bit in the wind.Mile 1.5 running strong. I probably pushed Mariah a little too hard, she mentioned that she hasn't run 5 miles that fast ever. Finishing strong. Just a little off the pace I would have liked to have run but not too shabby for a chilly day in November.
Mariah taking it home. Maybe next time she'll run a little more next time before racing. :)

Pass It On

The local Rod and Gun Club sponsors a youth pheasant and quail hunt and most of you know how much I love to bird hunt and can't wait to pass that on to Macen. So when the club asked for volunteers with bird dogs to help guide some of the kids, I jumped at the chance.

I actually ran two two-hour hunts and at her age that's just about all Maggie can handle. It was also apparent watching the first hunts that there were some guys out there with some really good bird dogs. Maggie's not bad, but as you know she's a house pet who hunts, not a field trial dog, who might be a pet. Maggie's never covered a lot of ground always preferring to hunt slow, close and very thoroughly, well that's gotten even slower and closer with age.

That worked out great for the kids though, I don't think she missed a point on any of the planted pheasants and she pointed most of the quail. That means the kids got lots of shot opportunities and had a great time. The first hunter ended up with 1 pheasant and 2 quail, not too shabby for a youngster on his first bird hunt. The second hunter had been hunting for a year or two so he was little bit more experienced, getting his limit of 2 pheasant and four quail, not something many of the kids accomplished. During the second hunt the quail, which had been planted singlely, started to covey up into groups and when the youngster shot his fourth quail Maggie actually added a fifth to the total as one quail didn't get up as fast as it should of and she caught it just off the ground. Although I wish she wouldn't do that, who needs a shotgun when the dog can catch the birds?

Here's a picture, of me, Maggie, Eli and his dad, Tim, the last group of hunters I took out.

Special thanks to the NRA and Pheasants Forever who provided funds for the birds and prizes for the kids. If you are a hunter pass on the tradition of hunting to your kids or any other kid that is interested in the sport.

We're packed!

The moving company has been here most of this week, packed us and loaded everything up. We are now in a very empty house where we will stay until the end of the year. Macen did great during all the chaos. He was a little upset when they took his booster seat attached to the chair he used, the table and the recliners. And he keeps going to the kitchen, open cabinets and asking "where'd go". We thought the move would be a good time to switch him to a "big boy bed" (ie, kids aerobed). I swear if we didn't do it now he would be in his crib forever. But he has adjusted well and loves his new bed.

So we are all trying to adjust to a new kind of normal. A temporary normal until we move.

ETA: I don't think there will be anymore pics posted until we get settled in Germany. No way to download them. We'll keep posting though and add the pics once we get set up over there.