The 2020 Recap. What Was That Anyway?

You can't have a blog and not do a yearly review, right? As I stand here typing this I find myself wondering what the heck DID happen in 2020? I shall consult my Facebook photo album of 2020 to see what happened and maybe discover things I forgot? I don't know. Hold my hand, and let's get to it....

January - It looks like we started off the year optimistic. Ha, didn't we all sort of?!? Katura and I were busy training for the Eugene Half Marathon and Eugene Kid Races. She was also taking swimming lessons. We were very busy being busy!

February - I'm scared to even look.... Ooh - we had some freaking awesome moments!!! Let's start with the parents day out...

Shawn and I went up to Portland for the smallest Comic Con ever. BUT by it being small it actually led to some ridiculously cool moments. I freaking met Michael Rosenbaum!! And not just for this photo. We went to the Smallville panel and had second row seats in the center. Then I did the photo. Then I got his autograph and chatted quite a bit. THEN we were back to buy his Left on Laurel CD, and in the midst of that he took off to sing with a band, which led to us walking back to his table together. WHAT?!?! Plus we chatted with other celebs that were wandering around - like his dad from Smallville! And I brought home ridiculously cool art. February started so rad!!

THEN we had the most fun birthday party ever! Katura's 5th birthday was supposed to be happening on a Disney Cruise, so I went big for her 4th, inviting her friends from school. The kids were freaking adorable, embracing the pirate theme, playing games, petting a snake, feeding animals AND getting a private encounter with a baby cheetah and its companion dog. That was totally the best time!!

March - Oh March. Yeah, you happened. I had this chance to go pick up Katura at school during Crazy Hair day. I really miss those days of getting to go to her class. I loved seeing all of her little friends. They would always come tell me stuff, and it was just fun seeing her playing and learning with her classmates.

I was still trying to be optimistic. Covid was suddenly a thing. People were hoarding toilet paper. Stores were insane. Everyone was on edge. While people were hitting Costco for that coveted toilet paper I was going there for camping supplies. Katura and I spent a day getting things together and practiced setting up a tent to be used for our August Ragnar trail relay. Sigh, optimism. That was cute. It is now January 2021 and I still have my gear and supplies ready to go....

It was also in March that my scientific, logical brain decided I didn't want coworkers standing on top of me. I created a barricade that people still literally stepped right over encroaching on my space. So annoying. It took months for the rest of my work to get on board with social distancing. Some still won't do it.

April - The inevitable happened. Our Ragnar Relay races were officially cancelled. I was so sad. I knew it would happen. It was the safest decision. But still I look forward to racing with friends.

Our work sort of got on board with Covid safety, and we temporarily had alternate work schedules. Suddenly instead of working 4 hours a day 5 days a week I was working 8 hours a day every other week. It was strange. But it allowed me lunch hours to do some runs in different parts of town So I guess that's a positive. 

May  - Things were officially different. The Wildlife Safari became our home away from home since we can be socially distant in the safety of our own car. We did get to go into the aviary once, just Katura and I, and I was attacked by millions of birds. Terrifying. One went in my shirt. 

We had a family day away at the beach. Katura and I enjoyed the weather. Meanwhile, Shawn was remembering how our last beach day was in the Bahamas and he was cold, as seen by the photo below.

This is also when we began making masks and I was the only one wearing one at work. 

June - June was bittersweet. Our family decided that we are all being careful and Katura could safely resume spending time with her Grandma after a couple months of far away hellos and phone calls/texting. We spent a lot of time out in the boat enjoying nature and avoiding people.

School continued for Katura, while a lot of students weren't allowed to come back for a while. But one big change was that the classes were split and couldn't mix with each other. Katura had to leave many of her friends behind, which meant we would do good bye waves to her former class while we were in the parking lot. I miss those adorable little friends.

July - We got our Covid pet in July ... the Venus Fly Traps! These little ones lasted a long time, but they are no longer with us. We do have a larger plant now though! 

Katura and I spent a day at River Forks Park doing a princess photo shoot. We had so many great photos from that day. It was nice to just be out with no people around, having fun with costume changes and lots of imaginary play. She loved pretending to be Rapunzel jumping from her tower!

That fun came to a halt when I ended up in the Emergency Room with still undiagnosed intense chest pains. I'd like to say they are over, but just last week I had to rush home from work to take some meds and lie down because of it. A heart attack was immediately checked for and ruled out, so that's good!

I did not get to run a Ragnar this July. :(

August - August was busy!!!!  First up, we learned how to do tie-dye! It was quite fun, but we never wear these things. Maybe I'll make a point to wear that shirt some day in 2021. 

Katura and her friend did summer camp at the Wildlife Safari. It was so cool when we got to have our own private animal encounter with the new Red Pandas. I never expected I'd be on the other side of the gates and feeding one of these little cuties, but it happened. Katura absolutely loved it!

Did you even live in 2020 if you didn't get a Covid test??? 

I was soooo excited when my NordicTrack bike arrived!! Meniere's Disease makes running more and more challenging for me, so I decided maybe a bike would be a good way to cross-train when I am not able to get out and run. I seriously love it! Padded shorts are a must, FYI!!

Work was pressuring me to take time off because I had such a high vacation accrual, so I had a staycation in August. One of the highlights was a day on the North Umpqua River with my mom and Katura. We hiked up to Susan Creek Falls and had a lovely time. And it's a good thing we did....

September -  Fires tore through Oregon in September, and that trip we made to Susan Creek Falls in August would be the last time we saw it green for a long time. We girls made a drive that way after the fires were gone, and it was pure devastation. See the photo below - Homes with nothing left. Trees down everywhere. There was still the smell of smoke in the air and some pockets still had red embers burning. 

We had crazy skies during the fires. But seriously, let's not do a repeat of that!!

Even though she goes non-stop, the new school year started for Katura, and now she is one of the big kids! We parents aren't allowed inside the building anymore, so our daily routine is me dropping her off, she sanitizes her hands, I verify her temperature isn't high, and then we wave good bye to each other through the window. 

October - I did a lot of Legos in October. I did a lot of them all year. That was my Covid entertainment. 2021 is lining up to have a ton of construction as well! We also spent a lot of time embracing the Fall and Halloween! I should be showing Hawaii photos here. Hawaii closed. I had another staycation. Hmph.

For Halloween this year Katura was Uma (Ursula's daughter) from the Disney Descendants movies. I was her sidekick, Harry Hook (son of Captain Hook), although I changed it to be Harriet Hook. It was a very last minute costume idea but when you do pirate things a lot you can throw this type of stuff together quite easily! We didn't trick or treat, but we still took advantage of the day and dressed up for a very socially distant safe day at the Oregon Zoo.

We also spent a lot of time at Kruse Farms taking photos and trying the corn maze. Something was up with the maze this year. It was impossible to complete without cheating. The Wildlife Safari also had an awesome safe Halloween experience that I hope becomes a thing. It was a drive through the Safari in the dark, with treat stations set up and a contest to hunt for ghosts. We brought lights to find the animals in the dark. It was ridiculously fun!

The most important thing I did in October? Voted for Joe Biden.

November - I'm 100% sure I was judged about how I started my November, and it wasn't a decision taken lightly. Katura and I were supposed to be in Disneyland. I had booked a surprise trip before Covid was ever discussed, and it was for the 1st week of November. There was a lot of homework done when making a decision on what to do that week since work really wanted me on vacation. Mental health is important and I was going stir crazy, so our family discussed it and Katura and I safely pulled off a vacation in Walt Disney World. It's been said so many times that Disney feels safer than a grocery store right now. Raise an eyebrow all you want, but it really does! It was a mother daughter trip that was soooo much fun. A completely different Disney experience, but completely positive and safe! They have this stuff down and I have absolutely no regrets! Plus, I got to reunite with Vinny!! If you've ready any of my Disney life blogs then you already know about him. Katura and his daughter hit it off and I sense a reunion of those girls sooner than later!

We turned into vloggers on this trip. Feel free to check our videos out if you're so inclined.

Other than Disney our November was nice and quiet. We did the Safari like we always do, and just hung out enjoying life amid all the political chaos that is swamping this country. This was the first time I wasn't with my mom on Thanksgiving, and I managed to pull off cooking our family a complete and tasty dinner!

December - There was an incident on Thanksgiving. It involved a 4 year old, scissors and my hair. So now I have what feels like short hair! 

Our family participated in a 24 hour race to raise money for local families in need this holiday season. You can read about that by clicking right there.

We had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas, shopping online, wrapping gifts, singing Christmas songs and planning fun things coming up in the very near future. It wasn't a bad month really, all things considered. And we wrapped up the year with a sunny bike ride in our neighborhood. Can't complain about that!

Recap: Things not mentioned - we gained a bunch of turkeys as our new "pets". I have 16 that I keep track of. They started out little and are gaining in size all the time. I adore them. They make the cutest noises. While gaining "pets" I also lost family members. My Grandpa passed away first, and thanks to Covid I didn't get to see family or  anything during that. Then my step-dad's mom passed away. And on Thanksgiving his dad passed away. I learned a lot about people this year - not always the best things. I learned what businesses I'm not going to be a patron of anymore based on their behaviors during a pandemic. I sit quietly watching things and damn, our country is just an embarrassing mess. I do have a very impressive collection of masks now! I make a lot of them, and I even know how to wear them properly. Our family did the whole social distancing thing and our normal busy summer days with people over at the river or pool didn't happen. Vacations were cancelled, postponed and altered. I enjoyed not eating out in restaurants. They are too noisy for me anyway. I missed not racing. I miss not getting to go IN Katura's school. I don't even know where her classroom this year is, but her teacher is great and sends us photos periodically so we can see what they are all up to. Katura is loving school and loves making friends, so that's been the highlight for our year!

Looking forward to 2021: Who knows what to even expect at this point. I'm being optimistic as always. As of now our Ragnar Relays are scheduled to happen, with Covid modifications. I deferred my Eugene Half Marathon entry to 2022 because I don't want to pay $$$ to do a virtual race at home. I want the experience. In case the 2021 race doesn't happen I am set for 2022! I have fun trips on the calendar, more than I'd expect - thanks to 2021 Covid plans and all that adjusting we had to do. Katura will begin Kindergarten this year and she is soooo excited! We just have to make the big decision of WHERE to go. Private school sure has been nice, I'll miss it! Hopefully I'll get to see more friends in 2021. I really miss the Enchanted Forest, so let's hope that can be a more "normal" experience this year. And I guess we just continue to wait...... for Mandalorian season 3!

That ONE Race I Did in 2020

I thought 2020 was going to be the first year without a race since I began running and racing. Happily I was wrong!!

I plan ahead. I need races to keep me training, or I just kind of lose interest. Heck, I've been planning some races for well over a year thanks to 2020 and races being cancelled. *Fun fact that is NOT fun at all... when they cancel these races you never get a refund. You get to defer to a new year. That's a lot of money race organizers have from us runners that we never get to see again even though the races didn't happen. Anyway, I plan ahead, but not this time! Here's how my one race happened.....

Thursday evening Shawn said, "Hey, would you care if I ran with Greg on Saturday?" Of course not. Go for it! Run, run, run! What I did NOT know was that Greg decided to do a 24 hour run/walk challenge to raise money for families in need this holiday season. Shawn decided to do this Thursday evening, the race started at noon on Saturday. Shawn hasn't run since Ragnar 2019!!! I was very excited to help out. I went downstairs and pulled out everything he would need. Headlamps, flashy red lights, night vest, arm warmers, gloves, compression socks, battery packs, headphones... all those things we use during our relay weekends. It was so fun, but also kind of strange to not be getting myself ready.

Saturday morning was here and Katura and I were preparing to vlog the event, cheer everyone and help in any way we could. First up was a trip to Big 5 for last minute supplies. It was there that I was feeling the itch. I had joked that maybe Katura and I would come join for half a mile and then turn around to finish out a full mile. But come on, can I just do HALF OF A MILE?? 

We were the first to arrive at Greg's house, which was the base camp for the event. Everything was set up for runners to come back and change clothes, get some snacks and drinks, potty... all those things you have to do when you're running for a long ass time. The energy was in the air. We were talking Ragnar and Hood to Coast. Everyone was doing all that fun prep work and I just couldn't take it anymore. I tracked down Katura and asked her if she cared if I joined her daddy. She was more than happy to stay with Greg's daughters and play while her parents took off to run. Holy cow, I was joining in with only minutes to go before noon!!

At 12 o'clock the runners were off in scattered directions and once Shawn was on his way I was racing to my Jeep and flying through town to get home, change clothes, grab any gear I needed, and then racing back to Greg's house. As I was getting close I could see Shawn's bright shirt near base camp. There was no way I was missing out on his next loop through town!!

I already had my Garmin signal going while I was driving, so once parked I chugged some water, grabbed my fob, locked the door and was off. I was running while getting everything on my body. I knew Shawn wasn't that far away, but still he wasn't walking so I had some work to do. I was in a sprint heading up a slight hill trying to get him in my sights. I rounded a corner and could see him. He had his headphones on but I still tried to shout at him. A dude working at the bread place saw me and looked at me like I was a crazy person. I kept pushing and once Shawn took a walk break I gave myself a little one. Of course at the top of the hill he started running, which mean I had to run up that hill and push hard to catch him. But dang it I did!! Tew Legit was back! I can thank all my NordicTrack biking for helping with that push.

Shawn and I haven't run together since November 2014 and Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon I think! We did Ragnars together, but those are solo runs, and we did some with a stroller, which also isn't the same. So this felt good to just be back to the two of us racing together like the old days. As we were finishing the loop he created we could see Katura in the distance. She ended up participating, too! That little girl did a whole mile with the other kids. I was such a proud mom! She raced, she hung out with people without us around, and she participated in something that was for a really good cause.

We finished that loop and went in for water. I asked Katura if I could go out for another one and she was again very pleased to tell me to go run and assured me she was totally fine. Sweet!

This second loop was a lot longer, but still so much fun. My body felt awesome at the 4 mile mark. That's the strange thing I noticed early on in my running -- the longer I go the better my body feels. Once we hit the end of the second loop I was at 5.5 miles and had to end my race. Physically I could have kept going, but Katura's unofficial babysitters had to leave, and obviously I'm not going to just ditch my child with no supervision!

But we didn't stop our fun. From this point on Katura and I became the cheerleaders. We went to the store for ice for everyone and drove around finding the runners to see how they were doing and cheer her daddy on. There was a small gap where we went home for a late lunch/early dinner, but once dark we were back out there! Let me tell you, this girl is ready for relays. She might have to take over my Ragnar Captain role soon.

Shawn ended up doing over 30 miles. I think Greg hit 60 or so. A LOT of money was raised and many families felt the benefit of it, so this spontaneous race was completely worth it!

And now feel free to watch and see it all happen for yourself!