Just Stuff

I'm in a bullet point mood again...

• It was SO good to see Lindsay and (finally) meet Brandon, and of course to get my hands on little Tristan.  He is an angel baby.  Seriously.  Not even a month old, and he was SO.SO.SO.GOOD.
• A little back story, because I love these stories... Brandon has faced three battles with cancer.  He was diagnosed with testicular cancer when he was 22 or 23.  Went into remission.  Yay.  Meets Lindsay.  They get engaged.  Cancer comes back.  Boo hiss.  Lots of crazy treatment like stem cell transplants and high dose chemo.  Lots of prayer.  Cancer seems to be gone.  They get married.  Doctors tell him that he has less than a five percent chance of being able to procreate due to the chemo.  Lindsay and Brandon choose to trust God and His plan for their family.  Lindsay gets pregnant.  Holy crap!  What a miracle.  Cancer comes back.  Cancer sucks.  Doctors tell Brandon that this is going to kill him.  Brandon says, "Nothing in my heart leads me to believe that I'm going to do anything but get better."  Lots and lots of prayer again.  Some treatments and surgeries.  The Hallelujah diet.  Lindsay finds out baby B is a boy (we ALL swore she was having a girl... seriously, everyone thought it was a girl).  Today, Brandon is cancer free and has a beautiful, strong, loving wife and a sweet, precious baby boy.  God listens.  I wish I could go into even more detail, but suffice it to say that it has been one heck of a ride.  God was always with them, just as He is always with all of us through the good and the bad.  And, even when His Plan is so hard to understand, His Plan is always right, and I fully believe that it all makes sense at some point in our lives.  Praise the Lord for His Grace!
• I also got to spend time with Jenn, Madelyn and Baby M on Saturday, since they came up to see the B fam.  Jenn got the thumbs up last week and again yesterday to fully share the news that Baby #2 is on its way and due in September!  I seriously could not be more thrilled, and although I will love him/her no matter what, I really hope it's a boy.  :)  I've been on a baby boy kick lately.  Madelyn is going to be such a good big sister.  She is such a doll face.  I love watching Matt with her, because he thinks she's the bee's knees.  Ladies, is seeing your husband be sweet with a child not the most heart warming thing ever?  He'll be such a good daddy... one day.  ;)
• My nephew, James, is a stud.  So is Brody.  But, see below for example A of James' studliness.  Mind you, he is 5 and this is actually t-ball.  Proceed to 0:25 and make sure your volume is down, and then please ignore my mom's yelling... she lost her crap.
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• Still on the bandwagon with paleo eating.  I've added in some dairy (heavy cream in my morning coffee, cheese when it adds to a dish but not just because) and I'm drinking again, but I don't drink a ton anyway.  I'm trying to keep it to the weekend or social situations.  I rarely have a drink during the week, just because.  I can definitely tell a difference when I do cheat (like after having a calzone and beer on Friday night), but I certainly don't think I've gained any fat.  So, it's definitely possible to do a modified version of paleo, so long as you keep it in check.  Aim for full compliance with the realization that you likely will not achieve it 100% of the time.  I probably only ate two or three cheat meals last week.  Generally, if I can stick to paleo (+ booze), I do.  I really had no good choices on Friday night, but the calzone was darn good.
• The 5K was a lot of fun!  It doesn't have an individual chip start, so I have no idea what my time was.  Maddie and I finished at 34:32, but I don't know how much time had elapsed when we started, since we were in the back of the pack with the strollers and dogs.  I also had to stop for her to poop, pick up her poop (thankfully I had a bag), toss it, walk so I could take off my jacket and then I walked for a little bit somewhere around 2 miles because I got super dizzy for some reason.  When we were running, it was definitely at a good pace (for me).  I think if I'd never stopped, I would have been around 26-27 minutes, but with the short stops, I think we were probably around 30 minutes.  Now, I'm itching to run one by myself so I can maneuver through the crowds better and keep pace.  Besides the bout of dizziness after mile 2 was completed, I felt really good and strong.  I ran it in 27 something last time I ran this race, and I know I was running stronger and faster this time.  Oh, and we lost Matt and Max early on, because they were too slow for us.  ;)

• And, scene.  Back to "work."