Perfection

About the time Philip Humber was pitching the 21st perfect game in Major League history, I was completely unaware of the happenings... and I am a Mariner fan, so I very well could have been, but I had more important things to do.  I was watching the amazing Whitworth Pirates compete in the Northwest Conference Track meet.  I too, was witnessing a pretty perfect thing.

I will try my best to succinctly repeat the awesomeness that were those 2 days.  The men's team had a goal of "3 pete" where they wanted to win for the third year in a row and also score 300 points.  A lofty goal, for sure.  The winning part, barring a lot of mishaps, was pretty doable.  On paper we were supposed to win by quite a margin, but the most any team had ever scored was quite a bit shy of 300.  I'm gonna be a spoiler right here, we didn't get the 300 points, we won easily with 270.  I still think I witnessed some pretty perfect performances.

They won 9 first places out of 20 events.  They were on the award stand (top 3) more times than I can count.  Our pole-vaulter won and then promptly finished 4th in the hundred meters... interesting double?  Obviously doable.  Our throwers are amazing!  The "gentle giants" got more medals and threw things further than I can articulate.  The 4x1 team won again!  Flawless handoffs.  The jumpers reaped huge points for us, leaping up and out so far, it boggles the mind.  Frank, the high jump winner, stood between the 2nd and 3rd place guys and appears like a foot shorter.  He's not your typical 6 ft. plus high jumper, but the kid has springs!  One of the decathletes (Coop)  got a PR and 4th, higher than expected.

That's my best attempt at recap for the events I'm not as brushed up on.  Now, onto the distance and mid-distance!  Steven Acosta, oh my... a cross country runner trapped inside a soccer player's body.  He ran so well.  Took 2nd in the 1500 where he "tweaked" his hamstring.  So, what do you do when you tweak your hammy?  Of course, go out and run an amazing 800 meter and take 2nd place and score 8 more points for your TEAM.  Side note, all season he's been training with Tyler or more accurately, Ty's been training with him in order to get some speed.  (more on this later)
Steven wasn't the only distance kid to bring it... Shane Polley and Tyler earned points in the Steeple.  Ty got 2nd and Shane took 7th.  The 10k was grueling as usual.  Poor Aaron has been battling a back thing, but powered through the 25 laps for 4th.  Tim placed 6th, much better than expected and gritted through the middle like a champ with blood blisters to show for it.  My Trent ran this as well, didn't score a point, but PR'd and puked his guts out afterward, worthy of mention.

Day 2:  More excitement for our distance boys.  I already mentioned Mr. Acosta above, in the 1500 Taylor and Mark were also in attendance.  Both achieved maximum performance and scored points higher than expected.  I seriously screamed so loud in all these races it's beyond normal.  I realize I'm not the average "lovey mom", I scream encouragement mixed with challenges/orders... I know they most likely don't hear me, but I do it anyway.

Now, the only event left is the 5k. (we also had the 4x4, but for drama's sake, work with me)  We had 3 entries, Aaron, Tim and Tyler.  Ranked 10, 11 and 12 in a field of 12.  Not great odds.  Each kid had a goal of scoring, period!  Times aside, just race and score for the TEAM. We'd already won, easily, but they wanted to add to the score.  Gun goes off, racers start.  A pedestrian pace for a mile.  Then lap 5 the kid from Willamette pops off a 66.  Leaves the field.  The rest begin to adjust and the "pack" starts to trail off.  Race ensues, Tyler moves up a bit.  I'm watching with his old teammate Dusty and another alumni guy who I shall call "my victim".  Anyway, as things progress, we're getting down to the final laps, "my victim" is kinda doing this Howard Cosell play by play.  It's cool, cuz I'm not really focusing at this point.  Last lap:  Tyler is at 300 meters to go and in 6th, I think.  At this point, that's cool, remember, he just wanted to score and that's 8th.  "My victim" says "Dudley took 5th... oh my gosh, he's in 4th... (at this point I began jumping up and down and hitting "my victim" (thus the name))  and bless his heart, didn't skip a beat, even with the beating... he says "He took 3rd!"  We both jumped up and down screaming and starting running for the finish... it's all a bit of a blur, but basically, everybody rushed Ty, Mark was hugging him, Aaron was hugging him (btw, Aaron took 8th in a gallant effort with his horrible back and having already run his 10k)  It was the dream race for Ty's senior year Conference Meet.  I caught my breath, apologized to "my victim" and he was gracious, probably a bit scared (good instinct).  I still get a bit teary thinking of Tyler's amazing race.  The culmination of so many years of hard work when nobody was watching.  I must give the due credit to his buddy Acosta for the hours of training and teaching him speed.  Also to Toby who never gave up on Tyler tapping into his speed.  What an amazing coach Toby is.

That is the portion of the meet that was throwing, running, jumping and any other "ing" I'm leaving out.  The "perfection" part, however is the fact that my boys are on a TEAM that is getting it right.  Yes, they won, but that's not the perfect part, the part I love is on Friday night when all the seniors spoke and the theme was that at Whitworth, track and field isn't an individual sport, it's a TEAM sport and the things they learned weren't just how to be stronger and faster physically, it was about the relationships with each other and their spiritual journeys.  This is perfect.  My sons are on a TEAM who gets it.  Their coach is amazing and I couldn't ask for a better place for them at this season of their lives.  I'm so blessed that God directed them there.

This weekend left me with virtually no voice, a sunburn, a sore back (apparently, leaning over and screaming can make your back hurt when you're old) and a great appreciation for where my sons have landed.  Ty's about to take off from there as he graduates next month, but I feel confident that he'll be just fine with the foundation he received from there.

So, we didn't have a perfect game, we won't be in any hall of fame, but I sure wouldn't have missed it for the world.  Good job Bucs!  Way to represent!

Mama Duds

Back among the running

Hey all,

Happy St. Patricks Day! I celebrated this morning with the first annual "Dudley Shamrock Run"!

As luck would have it and I don't even think I have any Irish as part of my heritage, but on this day I was feeling lucky. As luck would have it, I won all the age groups, both genders. I ran a glorious 30 minutes circling muddy Bush Park. I am fairly certain that all the other participants were unaware they were in the race... but ahem, a victory is a victory. I mean, I felt like Norfolk State or Lehigh... poor runners didn't know what hit them. They, like Missouri and Duke are probably still reeling in their locker rooms.

In all seriousness, this day marked my first real "run" in almost a year. I've been battling my hamstring injury and am officially in the final stages of my "return to run" program that I began after months of exercises and PT. In the 30 minutes I'm allowed (increasing slowly from here) I covered 2 and 1/4 laps around Bush, so that's roughly 3 miles and some change. Nothing stellar in terms of speed, but I felt great, the sun was shining, my shoes are muddy and I feel the normal soreness of a runner who hasn't been running. All of these things, I count as awesome!

If you're reading this, I'll let you in on a little secret. I may have a very cool goal to work toward. I can't talk about it yet, but you'll be the first to know when I can. Until then, you can bet I'll be flying high on endorphins and sweat. Aaaah...

Dudster

Ode to my bro Yo!

Today is my brother Marty's 48th birthday! He was born on Feb. 28, 1964, the year of the flood as we've all heard. It was a leap year as this is, but he was actually born on the 28th, not the 29th. My brother is the 2nd of us 4 kids. We always say "us kids" when we talk about us, it's weird. We were like a herd of Halls. The thing is, though, is that poor Mart was the only boy child. Yikes! He was fortunate that none of us "Hall girls" were super girlie, but let's face it... poor Mart!

There were some rules to being a Hall kid. To name a few: 1) Do your chores, do your homework, in that order. 2)No screaming unless your head was on fire. My Dad was pretty mellow, but he did NOT enjoy a screaming girl. First thing we schooled our friends on. 3) No hitting girls. This one was for Marty. Again, poor Mart! If I were his mom, I would have let him beat the crap out of us. We were rotten sisters. Let me digress on this one... Marty was/is the kindest hearted kind of soul. He was also a bit naive. The wily girls could fool him every time. We convinced him to get into the squeeze shoot designed for cattle. We just wanted to see if it worked on humans... we would let him out.. at least that's what we told him. Oh yeah, he got in there and it worked, btw, on humans. We then proceeded to pommel him with water and dirt clods and who knows what else. Horrible girls! I believe this occurred more than once as did other torture sessions. And by the way, he never got that mad at us, he would just laugh and be a good sport. Gentle giant.

Another thing I remember about my brother is this one time a bigger kid was picking on me and my friends at recess. I lamented at dinner that night. The next day, my brother and his friends had a little chat with that kid and my friends thought that was the coolest thing ever. I just kinda strutted around the playground like I was pretty cool. In all fairness, he should have let the kid put me in a squeeze shoot and torture me, but "Us Hall kids" had to stick together.

So, on this day of my brother Marty's birth, I am commemorating his "brotherness"! Marty, I appreciate what an awesome brother you've been. I also admire the kind of son, husband, dad, Uncle, friend and grandpa you are. You are a wonderful man of God and I am blessed beyond measure for having you in my life. I'm also really glad that for 2 months you are 3 years older than me.... Sucka!!!

Love you Mart!

Happy 2012

Another year is rearing its head for us to ponder about. It always seems a bit silly to me, the new year frenzy. The resolutions, the crowded cardio equipment at the gym for 3 weeks or so until the resolutions wear off. The countdowns of the best of ... you name it for the previous year. I, personally, enjoy all the commercials for weight loss this and that... the quit smoking stuff, it is a bit much. Why does it take the "New Year" to inspire change for the better?

On the other hand... if it does take the New Year, then why not embrace it and make a change? This year, I have been thinking about what I'd like to do this year. I have some goals. Some personal goals that I've shared with God and that will suffice. I also have some prayers, which I've also shared with God, but don't mind sharing with any folks who happen upon here too.

I have been working really hard at rehabbing my hamstring for the last several months. I am making progress and have a real hope and a prayer of running within the next month. Praise God and my PT Josiah. This has been the longest I haven't run, other than pregnancies, my whole life. It's been brutal and also a learning tool. I listened to a sermon from Steve Fowler tonight on suffering, he was eloquent and my "not running" has been tough, but I don't liken it to the suffering he spoke of. I do, however, have a person in mind who has been suffering and if he could run again, oh boy, that would be a huge answer to prayer and God would be glorified.

That brings me to my number one New Year's goal and prayer. I have been praying for my good buddy John Stumbo to run again since October of 2008. This was when he became deathly ill. I prayed for him to live at that time, but quickly segued into praying for him to get better to run on our Hood to Coast team. Let's back up to September of that year, I decided to do a Hood to Coast team of staff members at Salem Alliance. John was the first to commit, I can still remember the day he came to my desk and said "I'm in. Let me know when to write the check." I put in for a team that October, literally the week he became sick was the deadline. The day I found out we got a team was a day we heard a bit of good news in his battle. I honestly, at that point, still held out hope that he'd get better and be running with us. Well, we ended up changing our name from "SAC religious" to Stumbo's Prayer Warriors. We handed out cool rubber bracelets with our team name on them to other teams, we told John's story, we prayed for John on each leg, it was cool. But John wasn't there. He did see our team off, in his very fragile state. He didn't get to run.

John continued to battle, I managed to get a team for 2 more years, we were still the "Stumbo's Prayer Warriors" we had "Run John Run" as our slogan for the second year. That was cool, we tagged teams with magnets that said they'd been prayed for. That is the pic on this blog, with John sending us off again. But he still couldn't run. This past year, we handed out magnets again and still prayed and still John wasn't running. I put in for a team this year and we were turned down. It's a lottery, we didn't get in. John still isn't running.

I mentioned my long haul hamstring injury. I've been going to my PT who is located on S River Road. I drive by Minto Brown to go there. One day I was uber early and felt compelled to drive into Minto and pray for John to run. I literally, drove around the parking lot and prayed aloud... begged God for John to run. I have been doing that on almost every visit to my PT, I go twice a week. I drive around Minto praying for John to run. I have this fervor.. this burning in my heart that John should run this year. I can't describe it, I thought that I should keep it to myself, but as it's morphed... I feel led to share it. To any who read this, please pray for John. I know that the running gene is a rare thing, few of us have it, but if you do, you know... John has suffered a bunch from his illness, but his inability to run, to do what God made him to do... has been among the greatest suffering that he's done. I am convinced of this.

And so, this 2012, I hope many people lose weight, quit smoking, go to the gym... etc. etc. etc... all of these resolutions will be great! I pray that my friend John Stumbo will have the amazing feeling of running with the wind in his face, the endorphins flowing through his veins, the most amazing feeling in the world in his heart... run like the wind John... this is my prayer.

Duds family Christmas

Hello friends,

I have been anticipating this Christmas for a while. I didn't wait as long as Zechariah or anything... but suffice to say, I've been dreaming of a... Dudleys at home Christmas for a while. This is the year we go to grandparents for Thanksgiving and stay home at Christmas, it has become my favorite. This hasn't always been the case, but as my small family has grown, I have grown to appreciate the times we have together as very precious. I do love our extended families too and enjoy those years, but I do love my "off year/quieter year".

This year was a bit different in that I got lists from the kids early and did the bulk of my shopping online and was virtually done mid December. The baking was almost the same. I was a wonder woman... would come home each night and whip up a batch of confections... the freezer was filling, my closet was filling (that's where I stash the loot), I even got the annual Christmas letter/newsletter done at a decent timetable.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve... I'll start on the nitty gritty. We were lucky enough to have Bruce's folks join us, Gene and Rita. My in laws of almost 26 years. They're a hoot. They arrived on the 23rd. I guess we're backing it up a day... We all went out to Red Robin for dinner. Gene and Bruce play this game of "who will pay the bill?" It's super fun and all party goers should try it. This time Gene won, he told the waitress while he was ordering his beverage, HUGE rule breach. The funny "Dudley family folklore" was that he tried to pay with his driver's license. The waitress was really nice and he remedied his faux pax. In his defense, we had thrown our Red Robin Royalty card at him to get him a discount and that threw him, plus he volunteers at the jail every week and they make him provide his DL there. We didn't rule out a mini stroke though... I had my eye on him the rest of the night.

Ok, now we're at Christmas Eve. We spent the bulk of the day at home. Dinging around, visiting, I was preparing for our meal(s). Just a good day, my favorite kind, all my kids home, me cooking, my boys having a run. We all went to church at 5:00. All but Grandpa who had caught a bug, an immediate and really awful little cold like bug and coupled with some muscular chest issues he's dealing with was making him fairly miserable. Poor Gene-O, I felt awful for him. The rest of us enjoyed an amazing service at Salem Alliance Church. Complete with a rendition of "Oh Holy Night" that left us all dumbfounded by my buddy Logan.

We came home from service and had an awesome lasagna meal (if I do say so myself), we each opened one present, we began the annual "A Christmas Story" marathon that has graced our world for a few years now, thank you TBS.

Christmas Eve ended with most of the Dudleys going to bed and the "Lead Elf" aka "Mom" stuffing the stockings, eating the cookies that were left for Mr. Clause... actually, I put them into the tupperware with the others, I mean, I aint running these days, I can't afford cookie calories. Anyway, merriment was readied... I went to bed and woke up at 8:00 to put the giant bird in.

We had told Grandma and Grandpa to come at 10:00 f0r the presents. (they stay in a hotel, no room in the inn) I got up, wrangled the turkey, drank some coffee, watched the straggling family members stroll down. It's nice to have larger children (notice I didn't say 'more mature' children) who don't get up at 5:00 am to see what Santa brought. My larger and way NOT mature children all managed to get up and then Grandma and Grandpa came. We opened up the loot! It was amazing. Yay God!

You sent us Your Son on this blessed morning, thank You so much, we are all so not worthy. I felt compelled to add this, I make jokes and kid around, but Jesus, You really are the reason for the season... regardless of whether that rhymes. You rule my life. I love You, I worship You and You are the only reason that all of this Christmas craziness happens. I'm sorry it can seem like craziness to You. I hope You can see the sincerity that is in there too.

The present frenzy ended... it was great, we all LOVED everything! My favorite thing was that I decided to give each person in our house a letter of "Words of Affirmation" I spent weeks on this task, I loved it. I wrote a single page letter to each of my family telling them what they mean to me. From the heart, things I don't tend to say.. I highly recommend it to you all. I didn't anticipate the silence of the stocking opening when they each read theirs... it was a bit awkward, but also fun to watch their reactions. I had assumed they'd each read them later, but they each read them before they tore into their stockings. That ended the present portion of our celebration.

We gently moved into the "Dudleys shall hog out" portion of our program. I made my way to the kitchen and laid out the appetizers. Let the feeding frenzy begin. I then ensued onto the rest of the Christmas feast. When I post this blog on my FB page, cuz that's how cool I am yo! I shall tag all the people who had a part in our feast. To quote Bob Cratchit in ANY of the Scrooge knock offs... "To Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast"

We had a turkey dinner. I prepared a 24lb. bird. I also did homemade stuffing with sausage from my brother Marty. Awesome. I made a green bean casserole. Mashed potatoes, which my mommy taught me how to make before I could drive. I had home made yeast rolls from my Nana, who taught me everything about baking and also Bruce's Grandma McQuary who gave me her recipe. We had jam from my mom, the butter was put in a dish that Randy Portolese, my bro in law gave me, a really cool antique one. The dinner was complemented by a nice Syrah from our friends' winery, Elemental Cellars. It was dee.. lish!

All in all, our Christmas was awesome, we capped it by watching "It's a Wonderful Life" like we always do, complete with all the commentary. We all cry or tear up. It's wonderful. I love my family. We rock. Oh yeah, this year was also capped by Tyler doing the "Dougie" in the Ralphie bunny suit from "A Christmas Story". It's on YouTube. under... who knows what.

Thankful for memories

Hello bloggers and Happy Thanksgiving!

I am up late/early this Thanksgiving Eve... Thanksgiving Day. We traveled from Salem today and got to my parents late tonight. The intake of diet coke and the amount of time I snoozed in the car have made me awake past midnight. This year we have Thanksgiving dinner with my family and Christmas at home. I like this year, it is fun to see the fam and then relax and spend Christmas in our own house.

I have a bit of angst every time we travel to my childhood home. Where I currently live requires us to travel from Salem, OR to Eastern Washington. We go north on I5, which is always fun on a holiday weekend.. we hit I 205 (equally as fun) and then 84 and the Gorge which is full of gale force wind, rain and endless amounts of trucks. I usually lose 3-5 years from my life as Bruce navigates this each time. That isn't the angst, though.
The last part of this trip requires going by my grandparents' old homestead. It's not their original homestead, that place still stands, but it's the place they lived that I have the fondest/newest memories of. It no longer exists. Their old house/barn/yard and everything has been leveled. It's been years now, but every time I drive by there, my stomach knots up. I just HATE that it is gone. Tonight, however, we were approaching it and it was dark out, so I was unsure of the exact spot. I knew the roads and landmarks leading up, but as the time came to pass the empty place where their home once stood... I missed it.
Instead, I conjured up a memory of being there. There are so many, but the one that came to mind was of Nana making up Pepsi floats one night. I was there, the only grandkid (what a treat) and we were listening to the Prescott Football team at a playoff game on the radio. It was the year that we won state! Epic for our small town. This wasn't the state championship game, but a very important one, none the less. Nana was making Pepsi floats and we were all gathered around the radio and it was a wonderful memory.
It occurred to me that I don't need an old house or barn or yard to have the memories that were made and still are alive in my mind. I spent hours upon hours there, learning to bake, helping Nana in her yard, listening to her tell stories, "working" harvest with she and Mew as they spent their retired years still both working longer hours than most people do during their normal careers.
I have some objects from Nana and Mew's house. I own some of Nana's baking bowls and always think of her when I use them. I have some quilts and afghans, I love that she wanted me to have her Deacon's bench and there are still some yarn scraps and crochet needles in it that I can't bear to take out. I loved my Nana dearly and still wish she were able to meet all of my kids and get to know them, but some day in Heaven, they'll all have a grand time getting acquainted.

So, I'm thankful that I have a lifetime of memories to conjure up whenever I pass the old place where Nana and Mew used to live. I am very blessed to have had them as my grandparents.

Happy Thanksgiving, I wish for happy memories for all.

Dudster

Christ in Thanksgiving and Thanks in Christmas?!

I am on purpose writing a blog about Christmas before Thanksgiving, to accentuate the fact that I am on a bit of a rant.

There has been some talk in the media regarding the "even earlier than usual" Christmas decorations in the stores. I have grumbled every year about the early, like having the cheap post Halloween candy display flanked by a reindeer... get your own candy Rudolph!

I just drove Megan to her friend's for a sleepover and passed a house that is all decked out. Again, my immediate thought was "Wow, in the daylight, your approximately 6 blow up features that aren't blown up, look a bit like they've been in a war... and lost." I also had the thought that "Since when are woodland creatures playing on a see-saw a sight that makes me say, 'Thank you God, for sending us Your son.' " Then I was immediately a bit ashamed of myself. Examining oneself is probably a good practice from time to time... enter sarcasm punctuation.

Who am I to judge someone based on the decor of their house at Christmas? Shame on me. For all I know, they have a wonderful relationship with Jesus and choose to celebrate the season by decking their house like Clark Griswold, their choice. I choose, instead, to not sit in judgement. I will hope that the early decor in the stores provides an extra conversation for each Christ follower to have with a friend, child, parent or whomever about Christmas that otherwise may not have happened.

Now, this is the beginning of the week of Thanksgiving, a holiday oft overlooked in preparation of Christmas. Well, this Thanksgiving, I choose to be thankful for all the early bird Christmas people, all the Clark Griswolds and the chance for this Christmas to be awesome, let's break down that word... some awe. I hope you have "some awe" for our wonderful and very awesome Savior, whose birth we celebrate this season.

Now, go overeat, overbuy and overdecorate!

Dudster