Thanks to all who entered the giveaway and helped spread the word of what is sure to be a fun show in a few weeks. And a big congratulations to Miss AUTUMN PARKER — the winner of two tickets to a SOLD OUT Listen to Your Mother Show right here in Northwest Arkansas!

If you’re still looking for tickets, check out the NWA LTYM site as I believe there are a few show sponsors with tickets to giveaway!

And!

Since I enjoyed last Friday’s nostalgic indulgence so much, I’ve decided to make this a regular thing. Well, as regular as possible. And this Friday, I’m in I-need-a-vacation mode. So please join me as Favorites-from-the-Archives Friday takes us to the top of Mt. Whitney and back. Click here and enjoy! {And if you wanna take this whole pretend-you’re-on-vacation thing one step further, all travel-related posts are here.}

And – gravy! My parents were here!

Well, first I met them in Cabot last Thursday to help present Mr. Glenn Hill with the 2013 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Scholarship. We got to chat a bit beforehand and he is such a cool guy — big congrats to him as he graduates CHS and enrolls at Texas A&M this fall!

Dad, Glenn, Mom, Sarah. Cabot High School | Cabot, Arkansas. May 9, 2013.

But then we all headed back to Northwest Arkansas for the weekend.  And a Mother’s Day full of fun and nonsense.

We met up with Becky and Jeff and exchanged a few Mother’s Day tokens — right there in the parking lot of my parents’ hotel. That’s just the kind of on-the-go people we are!

Two out of three daughters in attendance for this mama! We missed you Laura!

Chocolate covered cherries! Out of “season”, but we found some!

Sweet flowers from my boys and Becky — they take pretty good care of me.

After a morning at the park and the Mother’s Day gift and flower exchange, we headed to Crystal Bridges and the Norman Rockwell special exhibit. I am almost embarrassed to admit that I’ve lived in NWA the entire year and a half (and then some!) Crystal Bridges has been open — and I had never been. Oh man. It is an incredible place. Right here in Northwest Arkansas.

And Norman Rockwell. What a powerful storyteller he was. It’s hard not to smile at his artwork, but to hear the audio — narrated by his son — as we made our way through the exhibit — his paintings really came to life. While enjoying one piece in particular — a scene of a man being welcomed home by family at Christmastime — the narration struck me. The narrator described Rockwell as a master of looking at the everyday moments in life – and making them heroic. I just loved that.

Not surprisingly, Colt was not as captivated with Norman Rockwell (and the lack of running, jumping, and general monkey business encouraged within the exhibit) as the rest of us so we eventually made it to this cleverly located kiddo section in the middle of the museum. He created some art of his own while we waited for the rest of our crew to finish their tour.

Sarah, Becky, Colt, Papaw, Mamaw, Jeff | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Bentonville, Arkansas

And because the area was overrun with not only Mother’s Day weekend but also graduation weekend for the University of Arkansas — we grabbed pizza for dinner rather than fight the crowds for a reservation at someplace fancy. Happy Mother’s Day, indeed.

If you’ve managed to miss all of the recent excitement — here’s a crash course in LTYM:

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER features live readings by local writers on the beauty, the beast, and the barely-rested of motherhood, in celebration of Mother’s Day. Born of the creative work of mothers who publish on-line, each production is directed, produced, and performed by local communities, for local communities.

Now in its fourth year, LTYM will take place in 24 cities across the country. And I am beyond thrilled to be part of the cast here in Northwest Arkansas.

The Northwest Arkansas show will be held Thursday, May 30 at 7pm at the Walton Arts Center Starr Theater. And, you guys, we held a table read this weekend with the entire cast and I’m here to tell you — this show will be an emotional roller-coaster. You will laugh, cry, cringe, nod knowingly, and leave the theater wanting to hug the first mama you see.

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Contest will run from Monday, May 13, 2013 through Thursday, May 16, 2013 10pm CDT. The winner will be selected at random and announced right here on Friday, May 17.

Colt – Spring 2010

]]> http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/05/an-oldie-but-a-goodie.html/feed 0 http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/05/hold-your-horses-tooth-fairy.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hold-your-horses-tooth-fairy http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/05/hold-your-horses-tooth-fairy.html#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:05 +0000 Mother Hood http://www.sarahmcow.com/?p=8835 No one wants this text:

Hi Sarah. This is Colt’s teacher. I left you a message, but I want you to know that Colt hit his mouth at recess and we are thinking you may want the dentist to look at it. Let me know what you want to do.

Wait. What?

I texted back immediately from the meeting I was in — stepped out, and called. As I listened to Ms. Jennifer fill me in, my own teeth started to hurt. Fell outside… bloody nose… didn’t realize at first… front tooth… hurts to chew… recommend a visit to the dentist…

He’s never even been to the dentist.

Great. We’ve been putting off going to the dentist and now THIS will be his first experience. Something traumatic. I was picturing broken, jagged teeth and jack-o-lanterns.

On my way to get Colt from school I called Jeff to let him know we’d be using that dental insurance earlier than expected, and made an appointment with the pediatric dentist. Well, first I INTRODUCED myself to the dentist. Hi. New patient! You’ve never met me, but I totally need to get an appointment, like, now. Thanks!

Expecting the worst, I was relieved to see Colt playing normally when I got to school. He wouldn’t really let me see his mouth, but I could tell his gums looked scraped and his teeth were bloody where he wouldn’t let the teachers in to clean him up. But off we went, in search of Kiddo’s First X-ray.

The pediatric dentist in Fayetteville is incredible. It is Disney World meets Dr. Suess — in a dentist’s office. It has a zoo theme and the waiting room is bright, fun, covered in wild animals, and I entered our patient information into a computer disguised as a treehouse.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t terribly nervous as his best friend Scout had JUST been to the dentist that week and had filled him in on all the fun to be had. Meanwhile, visions of wiggling baby teeth were dancing in my head.

I distinctly remember HATING X-rays as a kid. What with the latex-covered fingers shoving cardboard into the absolute back corners of your mouth… But Colt lucked out. He needed X-rays of his front teeth only. No cardboard. No shoving. Just a lead vest and a handy little tooth camera.

And so far, so good. The only thing that rattled him was everyone’s apparent confusion when he asked, “Do you know, Scout? This is her dentist, too.”

Finally, we made it to the dentist’s chair. Where he was given a pair of headphones and asked to select a movie. Cars 2 came on (on the ceiling!) and we were ready to roll.

While he completely tuned us out and lost himself in Finn McMissile and Lightning McQueen, the dentist showed me the X-ray and explained there was nothing broken, chipped, or otherwise in immediate danger. I exhaled. Yay baby teeth! She explained that there’s really no way to know how the tooth will react “long-term” so we shouldn’t be alarmed if we notice discoloration as time goes on, but that after a few days of tenderness it should be back to normal.

Good news — no broken teeth.
Bad news — short appointment and Little Guy didn’t get to watch much of his movie.

He got a sticker and a prize, and we were on our way. Back to school for you, Buddy!

So while I wouldn’t exactly label it a ‘false alarm’, I’m certainly glad it turned out to be nothing. Colt had a FANTASTIC first experience at the dentist and is constantly reminding me that we need to go back (to finish his movie!), and he talked me into a diet of jello and mac & cheese for a few days.

My favorite part of all of it is trying to picture what happened. I remember as I drove to school to get him that day, picturing his face scraped and bruised — which would be pretty normal for a kid having just fallen face first into the ground and earning himself both a bloody nose and a possibly broken tooth. When I got there — no scrapes, no scratches on his face. The only evidence of the entire incident was INSIDE his mouth. His bloody, badly-scraped gums. It’s as if he had to have been smiling — grinning from ear to ear — as he played so hard he crashed into the ground. Smile first. What a goofy, happy kid.

Well, Buddy. That’s my favorite smile. And those are my favorite little baby teeth. Let’s see if we can take good care of them — at least for a few more years.

But after starting last week with a reminder from Colt’s school to bring sunscreen for recess, we finished the week with:

The first recorded May snowfall in Arkansas history. Whoopee. It succeeded in freaking out everyone in NWA, keeping the kiddo indoors for the day, AND CANCELLING TOUCH-A-TRUCK. Which we had made the rookie mistake of telling him about several days ahead of time. WHY do we keep doing that?

The good news is we didn’t let a little rained-out Touch-A-Truck ruin our Saturday. After spending the morning making muffins and watching cartoons instead of going for a run in the cold rain, we all took naps then headed to Lokomotion for John‘s birthday party!

Colt was the youngest kiddo at the party, and I was a little worried he’d be out of his league — but he’s never really shied away from anything that “big kids” do so I should’ve known he’d fit right in. And I had no idea it would be an afternoon of firsts for the Little Guy!

First #1: Angry Birds. Yes, that’s right. Before Saturday, my kid was smack dab in the middle of beautiful, blissful Angry Birds ignorance. Never heard of it. In fact, if you ask him right now — he might describe the cupcake that once surrounded this little gem or he may tell you he likes it because it’s red — but beyond that, still no Angry Birds for this boy.

First #2: Laser Tag. I felt for sure this one would be too much. And to be honest, I have no idea what kind of “strategy” went on behind that door once they got suited up, but he came out grinning from ear to ear and even went back for round two — so I’d say it was a success!

First #3: Air hockey. Uhh, when did he get hand-eye coordination enough to play THIS?

A little skeeball (this one, NOT a first) and it was time to gather his tickets and head to the counter for First #4: Chinese Finger Trap!

Oh yes. He painstakingly considered all of his options then pointed at a pink Chinese Finger Trap. The girl behind the counter handed it over and he immediately put it up to his mouth like a kazoo. She just looked at me. What kind of mother are you?

The issue is out! If you live in Northwest Arkansas and you’re not familiar with Peekaboo – swing by just about anywhere and pick up a copy for free. If you’re NOT in NWA, check out their website and find them on Facebook, and read my piece here.

You may recognize Sweet Portrayal from a post a few months ago — Kim did our family photos back in January and they are some of my absolute favorite photos of our little family. Despite my constant worry that Colt is a total goofball, Kim is such a talent and gets some really great shots.

Much like Bentonville and Hogeye, I wasn’t chasing a time goal or looking to PR. Rather, I was looking to inject some head-clearing running  into an over-scheduled, under-rested, probably-cranky version of myself that has developed this spring. I haven’t had much time to run during the week lately — this was it. Ready or not.

Amanda and I headed north last Friday morning to retrieve her friend Becca from the airport in Kansas City. Though Becca and Amanda now share a love of running, they first developed a friendship over a different common interest – scrapbooking. And, as it turns out, there is a significant common thread between scrapbooking and blogging when it comes to the compulsion to photograph everything — how convenient!

Amanda, Sarah, Becca — lobby of Garmin International Headquarters in Olathe, Kansas.

Becca flew in from Wisconsin for the weekend and we all got along beautifully. The perfect blend of girl talk and running nerdiness.  We headed to packet pick-up, where I was counting on being able to purchase ruby red, sparkly shoelaces. What is a run in the Land of Oz without ruby running slippers? But it wasn’t to be. In place of the overcrowded, vendor-filled convention center I’m used to at bigger races was a small handful of booths in the parking lot of the Garmin Headquarters. Bummer. No ruby red shoelaces. But I did manage to get talked into buying a Garmin running shirt. Because I definitely needed another piece of black clothing…

The running community is full of people connected by very few degrees of separation — and the military community is just as bad. So when Amanda mentioned she had friends near Olathe who are not only athletes, but also former classmates of hers from West Point – I was not the least bit surprised. We had dinner Friday night with Anne and Geoff who are stationed at nearby Fort Leavenworth. It was fun to meet them and their adorable kiddos. We chatted running, triathlon (Anne is an IronWOman), and relived old Academy stories with the three of them. Such a good time. Before long it was time to get back to the hotel and try to sleep.

Race morning! It had been WINDY Friday as we got into town so we were a little worried about weather on race day — but it turned out to be perfect. No real wind. Cold, but not too cold. And not terribly sunny. Long sleeves and shorts weather — my favorite. (Amanda thought I was CRAZY for wearing shorts, and I was finally able to convince her that she didn’t need a coat and mittens. Who’s crazy now??)

The support for Boston was incredible. Each runner had a bib add-on to wear during the race, there was a moment of silence observed during pre-race, and an unbelievable showing of blue and gold throughout the day. We saw Boston jackets Friday at the expo, we saw shirts on race day — I even saw several from 2013.  It was an honor to run so shortly after all the craziness. There was quite a bit of security at the finish line that day, but I don’t know that I’ve been part of a more inclusive, supportive, spirited finish line party – ever.

Sarah and Amanda, pre-race.

Do we look cold? It was COLD. Amanda, Sarah, Becca, Geoff.

A pre-race prayer, a frosty “good luck!” and we were off!

I’m actually in this group photo of the start! Bottom left corner, black shirt/visor!

Spoiler alert: Kansas? Not flat.

I’ll admit I pretty much picture Kansas as one sprawling field of sunflowers. Turns out that’s not entirely accurate. Well, not eastern Kansas anyway. There were plenty of hills to keep me busy for 2 hours and 35 minutes.

At some point during mile 7 or 8, I realized my calves had had enough of Half-a-palooza. Imagine stretching a rubberband. There’s a point at which the rubberband is so tight that if you stretch any further, it will snap. My calves. It’s the first time during a race I’ve had to consider if I pushed any harder I actually might hurt myself. So I kept the pace at a reasonable level and kept moving. No use getting crazy – just run because you love to run. And get to the finish line when you get there.

I loved the Oz theme and wish I could have taken pictures of the signs near the end of the course, bringing us in.

Brains.

Heart.

Courage.

There’s no place like home.

Wickedly Fast Half Marathon in the Land of Oz? Yes!

Mac & cheese at the finish line? YES!

I’m sure the lovely people at Noodles & Company don’t mind that I ate three of these that morning. SO GOOD.

I found Becca – who had just set a new PR for a half! – and we headed back to the finish line to wait for Amanda to finish the full. And we had just enough time to make her signs featuring two of our favorite inside jokes from the weekend.

Trust me – these jokes are HILARIOUS.

Amanda finished her third sub-4:00 marathon this season. (She’s fancy like that.) What a day!

It’s tough to see her medal in this photo, but the full marathon medal was in the shape of Tin Man’s heart. So cool.

Amanda and I both became Marathon Maniacs last spring, and this is the first race we were able to cash in our MM discount! Running nerds unite!

Aaaaaaand with all this Half-a-palooza nonsense I went and qualified for Half Fanatics, too! Say hello to Half Fanatic #4027!

I know, I know. Enough already. But not only do I have a Half Fanatics membership to match my Marathon Maniacs status, but that officially makes me what the running nerd world calls a “Double Agent”. You’re impressed. I can tell.

If you can manage to look past my insistence upon striking the cheerleader pose in all of these photos, check out this fun picture we took with some fellow Marathon Maniacs who ran the whole darn thing – in adorable costumes! Scarecrow, Dorothy, The Wicked Witch, and Tin Man.

After an afternoon nap and a dip in the hotel pool, we were starving. We got great recommendations from Kansas City natives and had big plans to go to the plaza and eat delicious BBQ at Jack Stack, but traffic and our growling stomachs were working against us and we ended up at the closest Five Guys instead.

This makes four separate moments of weakness – in less than a month! – and I’m officially off the french fry wagon. There’s always 2014.

A fun race. A fun girls’ weekend.

And with that — who’s ready for triathlon season?

He told me all about volcanoes. He even used the word “erupt”. Correctly.

Not shown here: Colt’s suggestion to “Look it up in a book!” Ninny and cousin Courtney would be so proud.

Extinction according to Colt.

“The Longneck-saurus and he’s gonna go Stomp! Stomp!”

Posing with the Longneck-saurus. Also pictured: Tomato plant project, ripped knee in jeans, favorite orange motorcycle shirt (the motorcycle is FUZZY), and a goofy grin.

]]> http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/04/lately-at-school.html/feed 2 http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/04/half-a-palooza-part-2-of-3.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=half-a-palooza-part-2-of-3 http://www.sarahmcow.com/my_weblog/2013/04/half-a-palooza-part-2-of-3.html#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:00:44 +0000 Mother Hood http://www.sarahmcow.com/?p=8676 They say running is the ultimate solitary sport. Lonely, even. But I have found it to be anything but.

Believe it or not, I’m still relatively new to the running community. I ran my first mile less than three years ago, and I’ve still got plenty of no-way-like-the-hard-way lessons ahead of me, I’m sure. But it rarely matters that I’m a newbie. The running community doesn’t care if you just ran/walked your first mile or just qualified for Boston — they welcome you with open arms, some friendly advice, and probably an invitation to swap stories over a post-run beer.

Most runners have never met a stranger when it comes to their sport. When there are hundreds of people gathered at the start line of a race — they all already know they have at least one thing in common. A conversation starter. A common bond.

As much as I’ve talked about the outlet running has become for me, it’s also been an incredible connector.  I have made friends and connections — and learned a great deal about myself — through the relationships I’ve built participating in this silly sport of putting one foot in front of the other, over and over and over.

Last weekend, running was about those relationships.

Running friends! David, Sarah, Becky, Amanda, Greg.

No two people in that photo really run the same pace, we weren’t all running the same distance that morning, and no two of us even crossed the finish line together. Some of us work together, some of us are related — but we all have that one thing in common, just by meeting on a windy, Fayetteville morning at the nearest start line.

The Hogeye was my first marathon and it’s a hometown race — so it is certainly a sentimental favorite — but I just didn’t have it in me to run the full again this year.  Jennifer decided to take this one off to volunteer so I convinced (coerced?) my friend David to run with me.  (He was my client for a time, but he says I’m not allowed to call him my “client” anymore. Even though he showed up to the race wearing a P&G shirt…) He ran the Chicago Marathon a few years ago and hadn’t done a long distance race since then — so I downplayed the Fayetteville hills, played the it’s-only-a-HALF card and got him to click ‘register’.

As usual, Jeff was such a good sport — and familiar with both the town and the course — and he was able to jump around and find us to say hello during the race. He’s not in the above photo, but I’m waving to my littlest fan – there to cheer his heart out and make sure we had enough cowbell.

Oh my word, I love this photo. He’s hunkered down, cowbell in-hand, looking for us down the trail. At the ready!

He found me! We ran together for a little while — I think this was around mile 10.

The heat snuck up on us, and David hung back after mile 9 to hydrate a bit so we separated and each finished our own race. The wind also picked up around mile 10 so I found some Eminem on my iPod, put my head down, and pushed through.

David and I had kept the 2:30 pacers in sight all morning and I was determined to keep up with them until the end. At one point, during mile 12, I even passed them and I was pretty excited. Sub-2:30?? I haven’t run a half that fast in a WHILE. And I was hanging on.

As I rounded the corner for the finish, I was just steps behind the pacers and I could tell by my watch I was SO close. So when Colt got tangled up with Tena while trying to get onto the course to run across the finish with me — I didn’t pause to untangle him. I waved and pushed to the finish.

I didn’t realize then, but he was determined to run! This photo has a lot going on, but you can see me just to the left of the woman in pink — and Colt running behind! Poor guy!

Official time – 2:30:26.  26 seconds! As usual, my watch has me running a little longer than 13.1, and I’m pretty happy with a 2:30. That’s 5 minutes faster than Bentonville the weekend before, and GREAT considering the lack of training I’ve been able to get in during the week lately.

Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix-up with the medals and they had run out by the time I finished. So I’ll get to celebrate all over again in a few weeks when I get it in the mail — and they passed out hog noses instead!

Every time I see a photo of myself in that visor, I cringe. Jeff says I should never wash it, but rather wear the saltiness as a badge of honor. Mostly, it grosses me out.

David finished a few minutes behind me and we raised our bottled water in a toast to a good run and good friends.

But, you guys. The real story of The Hogeye this year is my sister Becky. She has worked so incredibly hard over the last year — running, losing weight, and accomplishing some big, scary goals. She told me a few months ago she planned to do the Hogeye half — her first half marathon — and I was thrilled. A big goal, certainly, but attainable. And exciting.

She crossed that finish line with a huge smile on her face — and a 4-year-old goofball by her side…

I am unspeakably proud of her. She ran the race by herself, she often trains by herself — she has found the motivation to keep herself moving with a dozen other priorities and scheduling conflicts to juggle. Becky, you rock. And you inspire me. I’m glad I could be there for that.

After helping Becky hobble to the car, we finished off the day with a celebratory cheeseburger (my favorite post-race tradition) and a nice long nap. Thanks for a great day, Hogeye!

Stay tuned for part 3!

And speaking of great running friends — two people in the first photo keep blogs as well:

• Amanda has been blogging her way through 2013 at Coussoule 365. Specifically, check out her recap of Hogeye, here. She totally showed me up by posting hers THE DAY OF THE RACE.
• Greg blogs all things running at A Life Laced Up. He’s got such a wise perspective of running and what it can mean for both a healthy body and a healthy mind.
• For more, check out my list of favorite running blogs HERE. I don’t know most of these people personally, but they’ve all got some great stories to tell.

Ok. And one more thing! I swear! Last thing!

I completely forgot to mention in my Bentonville Half Marathon write up that I met a blog reader during the race! Somewhere during mile 4, a lady ran up next to me and asked, “is your name Sarah? I read your blog.”  It made my day! We chatted for a few minutes before she (also named Sarah!) caught back up with her group. So hi, Sarah-from-mile-4! I hope we see each other at another race soon!