During Dinner

Me: We had a fun day today. Went to the p--

Brian: Shhh - This is my favorite episode of the Backyardigans.

Capitol 10K Annual Reunion

What a race! Last year I pledged that in 2010 we would run the Capitol 10K (6.2 miles) after a few years of walking it due to pregnancies and tiny babies. This morning I made good on my pledge, along with my best girlfriends from law school. Michelle and Jen kept pace with me, despite the fact that they could have shaved minutes off their time without me slowing them down. And, by the way, Michelle has a three month old baby to go along with her two and a half year old. The best runner in our group, Jennie, ran the timed run, as usual, and had a new personal best, running it at about an 8:30 minute/mile pace.

Is it a marathon? Nope. A half iron man? Uh, no (though Jennie has run one of those). A triathlon? Not even close (though Jennie and Michelle have done one of those). But for a woman like me who in the last four years has logged a hell of a lot more hours in her flip flops than her running shoes, training for this race and finishing it is something to be damn proud of.

Here we are before the start.




And afterward, at our annual post-race brunch.

Easter

An Easter theme seems to be developing in the Brantley family: What can go wrong will go wrong. You might remember last year's travails with the Easter bunny. This year we decided to go to San Antonio to visit the Lawlors for Easter weekend. Here are just a few of the mishaps we encountered along the way.

(1) I spent Friday night in Houston buying Easter baskets, toys, and cards for the girls, and stuffing candy into countless plastic eggs. I spent Saturday driving us to San Antonio. Without the Easter baskets and eggs.

(2) Saturday morning we went out for our usual family breakfast before heading out of town. Elizabeth and Amanda had pancakes. Elizabeth ate a little more than usual. After about half an hour in the car, Elizabeth threw up all the pancakes. For the rest of the weekend Amanda greeted her relatives with the intro, "Elizabeth throwed up."



In this blurry shot we deal with the aftermath in a truck stop parking lot.

(3) On Easter Sunday morning we awoke with plenty of time to get ready for 8:00 Mass, until we realized it was an hour later than we thought it was. Somehow we managed to get there, and, as luck would have it, Father Murphy, who co-officiated our wedding, was celebrating Mass.

(4) Despite all the hijinks, we ended up with some great pictures. Thanks very much to Joan, aka Grandma, and Cousin John Lawlor for taking these adorable shots.

Good Friday

One of the many perks of being married to my husband:




Dinners like seared Ahi Tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes and avocado. Fish on Fridays never tasted so good. He cooks like this ALL THE TIME!

Happy Easter everyone!