Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Very Big News



We had an awesome trip. We went to the Blair Creek Section of the Ozark Trail - rich with scenery and history.






The trail was well marked and it was usually pretty easy to find where you were on the topo.




There was plenty of water and lots of great spots to stop and rest. Which was good because twenty miles of hills is a difficult task with a full pack. I was hoping my current level of fitness would be helpful in that regard but I was inordinately exhausted through much of the trip. More on that later.














Unfortunately, all of our pictures are from the first five miles or so. The camera fell into a creek at one of the plentiful water crossings.





To the left is Missouri's only raised fen. A fen is kind of like a bog crossed with a spring.
Below are a couple of structures we saw along the trail. The first is a spring house
of some sort and the second looks like an old root cellar.
On the second day, there was an old cemetery which was really interesting. The young ages of most of its inhabitants proves how difficult life was in these mountains. It was sad to see all of the graves of babies and young children alongside their parents sometimes, who often had also died young. Makes you very thankful for the high standard of living that many of us enjoy today.
Saturday evening, after a simple but incredibly satisfying dinner, Tom presented me with a pair of beautiful pearl and diamond earrings to commemorate our second anniversary. I am such a lucky woman! My husband agreed to hike 20 hilly miles with me on our anniversary and hauled this lovely gift all the way up the mountain to surprise me.
We got off the trail Sunday evening absolutely exhausted but rejuvenated. Its a good thing we got some alone time because we were in for quite a surprise.
As I said before, I was really disappointed that my fitness earned through training didn't translate to the trail. My legs felt pretty strong but I couldn't shake the tired feeling for most of the way. That sort of sucked and I was disappointed in my body. Until this morning. Which brings me to my Very Big News.
First, the bad news : the marathon is out for this year.
The Good News: you know how I likened Lake St. Louis to giving birth to the beast I was growing my belly? Well, it looks like its time to grow another manner of beastie - of the baby variety. Yep, I have a little tri bun in the oven. No wonder I was so tired.

16 comments:

Tom Rice said...

Tri baby bun in the oven. I'm so happy for you and TriHubby. Fantastic news.

Carrie said...

Gotta admit- I assumed by the title so I scrolled until I could find it...CONGRATULATIONS!!

(Then I went back and read the rest)

a.maria said...

OMG I TOTALLY CHEATED and just scrolled to the bottom too.

HOLY CRAP, CONGRATULATIONS!! (as a very single someone who's friends all seem to be getting married/making babies, i'll admit i might have blurted outa "omg. everyone's pregnant"... but it came from a place of lurve!)

hee hee. youuuuuuuuuuu're having a bayyyyybeeee.

Dances with Corgis said...

Yay! :) Congrats on the big news :)

Also, that cemetary looks very cool... something always surreal about walking around an old cemetary, esp one in the woods like that!

greyhound said...

Another tri-mom in the making.

Donald said...

Bad news: so much for setting PRs for a while.

Good news: everythinng else. Congrats!

Vickie said...

OMG! How wonderful for you! (I figured it out when you said you were so tired). I know you are happy, and this event will be far more important than anything else you can do. Good thing you are in such good shape now. It will be much easier your whole pregnancy. When is the due date? Oh, and happy birthday! That's coming too. I'm sure Tri-Hubby is thrilled too. How about Boy Genius? And you thought you had us fooled about the extra poundage "from triathlons."

21stCenturyMom said...

Yay!!!! Congratulations. We love babies!!!!

ps - I also figured out the punchline but unlike Ms. Stronger I did not scroll. I did, however skim heavily. Did you say something about hiking?

Jane said...

Woo-hoo! Congratulations! That baby will have a lot of love - it's seems like you and your husband have a very good and heathy relationship, so this baby will be emersed in that. Oh well, no more running, but you can still swim!

Bolder said...

CONGRATS!

maybe, i out to take up hiking.

CONGRATS!!

it's because your body WAS SO FIT, and apparently, Mr. Phoenix, well, ...

No Wetsuit Girl said...

Congratulations on the little person nugget that you're cooking in there!

I'm also impressed with you and dad-to-be for hiking reasons:
He trusted you with the map (he must be an amazing guy), and you were able to read it. I love maps, that doesn't mean I can actually read them!

Lori said...

I am so excited for you! That is awesome news!!! I bet your son is pumped to be a big brother! Congrats again!

Laurie said...

Yay! I knew it too but I patience and like to read the whole story through. I look forward to reading about this chapter of your life :)

Michelle said...

Many, many congratulations.

On another note, thank God the gift was light and small from hubby. We'd hate for him to develop a bad back carrying heavy gifts!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the news!!!

Phil

jeanne said...

boy was i late to this party! better late than never!