I'm sure that several of you have checked here recently for the post-marathon report. Since it was a marathon, you will get a marathon-length report about the marathon!!
The next morning, I had to run some errands and stopped by my Dad's school to visit. His 5th and 6th grade girls were on the edge of their seats with excitement about playing Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb. You may sense sarcasm, but there is none. They were truly thrilled about it. I then drove to visit another good friend at school and got to have a 30 minute catch-up session. It was about 6 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes too short, but we did the best with what we had. :) From there, it was time to head out to get the eyebrows waxed and then time to hit the road to go to see Gram. Because going to see Gramp and Gram with fuzzy eyebrows would be wrong!
The week before the marathon, we had a small scare with Gram when she went into the ER because she wasn't feeling well. My sister and I talked and decided it would be best for us to go visit her together. Riah agreed to cook (for the simple fact that if I did, we would all be dead now) and we both agreed to help Gram out, in addition to just keeping her company. Along the way, I made a small detour in the city of Baraboo (the Circus World Museum is there--for anybody who read "Water for Elephants," much of the information obtained to write the book was provided by Baraboo's Museum) to stop and see Steph and kids--including her tiny newborn, Benji!! I did attempt to kidnap him, but JC (Steph's Mom) manhandled me and Benji was safely returned. Riah and I spent the night at Gram's BEAUTIFUL house and I headed out the next morning for Des Moines. 
The whole purpose in me choosing the 515 for the marathon was because I hadn't seen most of my Midwest friends in FAR TOO LONG, in addition to the fact that I wanted to return to Iowa as a new person and showcase my new self to the state in the form of a marathon. Completely logical right? When I arrived on Friday, Sarah and I kicked it for bit, then headed to Target for some last-minute marathon-weekend needs (peanut butter, since it was confiscated at the airport, and water bottles for the race). After that, I was reunited with my closest college friends in the form of Panchero's (YUM) and a pedi (hey, if my feet are supposed to pound the pavement for 26.2 miles, I think I've earned it, right?!). I saw Sarah for all of 7.3 minutes at Christmas at the Albert Lea truck stop, and Nicole sometime over a year ago when she came to Winston for work for a few days. I hadn't seen Fisher since before I moved to NC, June of 2009. It was good to have our hearts in one location. And isn't that Serbian boy, so handsome?! That's Vlad, Colie's boy! For those who are not familiar with Panchero's, it is similar to Moe's or Chipolte or Qdoba. Only 100 times better. Blair and Marlon, don't you dare try to say otherwise.
Sarah and I then headed back to her house in order to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday for an 8:00 AM chiropractor appointment in Iowa with Dr. Ole Oleson. If that's not a good Midwestern name, I'm not sure what is. All you Midwesterners are trying to picture him--and you're coming up with an old white-haired man who may or may not be wearing a Viking hat. In order to assist you with your visualization process, please see the picture to the left--he is a rather handsome fellar if I do say so, myself! 
From there, we headed out to the downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market--one of my favorite things about the city (besides my people, of course!). Food, organic fruits & veggies, cheese, salsas, baked goods, live music, and tree-hugging, granola-eating people everywhere! My Misfits would fit it quite well at this Farmer's Market! I bought myself an Iowa T-shirt and some puppy chow (an delectable treat unknown in the South!) to commemorate the occassion. Sarah snapped some photos of some beautiful flowers that were on sale, as well. 
Next stop on the 515 tour: Nelsen crew. We popped by Leah's house. Leah was so excited that I was coming that she decided to be my twin, complete with buyin a phone to match mine and wearing the exact same outfit. This is what makes us Shoop Sista's, of course. Leah and Josh just bought a brand new house, so we got to scope it, and because she (like everybody I now know) had an IPAD, I also imposed some Jim Gaffigan upon her. HOT POCKETS anyone? For those who don't know him, look him up ASAP on Youtube. And try not to pee yourself. 
As my carb-loading spree needed to continue, we grabbed a little Zmarick's and headed home to enjoy this, while plotting our next step--t-shirt making fest for all of the cheering crew at the race!! We spent several hours buying, planning, typing, printing, and ironing the shirts so my Super Fans could be in matching threads (as all Super Fans should be, right?!). I also did some packing for the race--which in itself is an artform and a math game, all rolled into one. Then it was time for some Church and then some final carb-loading before the race!! 
Church was an interesting message--and perfectly timed (don't you love when that happens?). It was called Confirmation for Grown-Ups or something to that effect--all about helping adult Christians in the ELCA church understand their faith. They played some clips from The Book of Eli, which I have never seen, but one of the verses they focused on was all about giving your best...see picture of the screen to the right. I had no idea how meaningful this verse would be in the next 18 hours.
From there, it was dinner time--below are pictures of all my people that joined us at Latin King (which is not a Hispanic Gang, or a Latin restaurant, but it is, in fact, Italian). Enjoy the pics of my peeps below.
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| Nicki & Trac |
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| Uncle Tom & Aunt Nancy |
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| The Parents |
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| Grandparents & Sister |
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| My Child |
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| Stunt Mom & Pop |
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| Gina & Jessica |
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| College Roommates and Forever Friends |
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| Shoop Sista |
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| Wulff Pack Cousins |
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| Cousin Spencer on his 6th Birthday |
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| Jennifer & Alexis |
