Big House Big Heart Run

A few years ago after my Dad's law partner was diagnosed with ALS and my Dad decided to start a race, The Big House Big Heart, to help raise money for ALS research. The first race was held in 2007 just weeks after my dad's partner passed away. It has been going strong and even grown over the past 4 years. It originally began as just a 1 mile fun run with the finish line being the 50 yard line of Michigan Stadium (The Big House) and 2 years ago they expanded the race to add a 10k and 5k race that also finishes on the stadium field.

2 years ago I ran the 10k with my friend Linsey. It was my first race ever. It was a bit of a struggle, but the feeling of accomplishment at the end was worth all of the pain. I didn't run last year because I had just had Rylan 6 weeks earlier. And this year Linsey and I decided to do the race again, but we would do the 5k so that Linsey's daughter, Eilan, could run with us. Chris was going to be out of town on race day so I decided to run with Rylan in the jogging stroller as well. So it was Me, Linsey, and our daughters to run a 5k.

The race was this past weekend and it went great. We had beautiful weather for the race, I think it was around 65 degrees at the race start. Eilan did great, she ran over half of the 5k with only a few walking breaks, pretty impressive for a 6 year old! The race was much easier for me this time as well. I'm sure I owe most of that to running while I was pregnant with Rylan.

After the race I met up with the boys and my dad to run/walk the 1 mile fun run. The boys have done this for the past 3 years. Last year Chris took them down and did the 1 mile race with the boys, my brother, and my dad. This year Jake and my dad ran together and Brenden, Rylan, and I ran/walked together. Jake and my dad crossed the finish line first and then came back to run through it again with Brenden, Rylan, and me.

It was all a lot of fun and I hope to be able to come back after we move to do it again. And maybe next year Jake can run the 5k too!

Fall Funk

So I know I usually use this blog to post about the kids and family and how we're all doing here in Michigan, but I need a bit of an outlet right now and I'm going to do it here. I'm in a fall funk and I don't know what else to do.

Last week we thought we were going to get an offer on the house. Our Realtor called us to find out if we'd be able to do a 30 day turn around on our house and that we were the top of the list for the interested buyers. As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir for us. Could we do a 30 day turn around? We could, but it would mean a lot of work to get it done. I would need to go down to Cincinnati ASAP to find a house, we would have to pack and move 3 kids, I would need to get Jake out of school here and registered down there, etc, etc. Our agent told us that the buyers had one more house to see and then would make an offer on our house or the final house they were to look at. Well, they went with the other house and now I'm in a funk.

I was in a bit of a funk before all of that, but the ups and downs of the possibility of it all sent me over the edge. I don't know if its not working as much, not knowing when this move will happen, not having any "me" time, or what. Most likely, its just a combination of it all. I love fall, but for some reason this funk likes to pop up pretty regularly this time of year. And for some reason it is a lot worse this year.

For a lot of years this was the way it was. Fall would roll around and my depression would get worse - for those of you that don't know I suffered from depression for years and was on and off meds for about 7 years for it. Once I had finally decided to take control of my life in 2002 by leaving school and moving back to Michigan, I finally started to really understand myself and how to deal much better. I didn't need meds anymore and for the first time in years there was no fall funk. Sure I've had moments of it popping up, but nothing even close to what I had gone through in the past. But this year? This year it seems to be rearing its ugly head in an almost forgotten way.

The unknown doesn't sit well with me and being in limbo is even worse. And right now I'm dealing with both and I don't like it. I really wish I knew when this move would happen. And I wish I knew what I was going to do once we do move. I know it will all work out the way its supposed to, but I'm having a hard time keeping that thought in the front of my mind as this drags out longer and longer.