Slacking: Big Time

Hi. How can it possibly have been a month since I have last blogged? I used to be pretty good at keeping you all semi up-to-date on what we have been up to. I have a few pictures to post from our labor day weekend visitors. Those of you on Facebook have probably seen these already, but I will post some here as well. Maybe by Christmas. :)

Here is one that you Facebookers haven't seen, taken from my phone.

Matt, Alissa and I decided to do some mini golfing in the beautiful weather on Labor Day. This course is about 2 minutes from our house and pretty entertaining. Anne and I did this course when she was here in July, so I had a one-up on everyone. I like to think that's why I beat Matt by one stroke anyway. :)

Matt and I are continuing to train for our marathon, which we still haven't officially picked out yet. I have my heart set on Little Rock in March, but we have until Nov. 1 to decide for sure before the registration costs go up. We haven't done any seriously long runs yet. I think the longest has been 6 miles. We got a little off track with the holiday, but just getting out and getting my "running legs" back in the fantastic summer/fall in-between weather feels great.

Did I mention that we have some fantastic trails in our new neighborhood? Here is our typical route map.

I feel OK publishing this because we alter the route daily, depending on how long we want/need to run. But I know some people (Dad) have been curious to see a map. We tend to loop Los Verdes country club on the High Line Canal Trail for a nice 4 mile loop. This is a gorgeous run, and it is also somewhat entertaining to watch the golfers as we run.

*Side Note* The trail systems through Denver are maintained by the Colorado State Parks, an organization that has lost a lot of my respect this year. They recently decided to fence their fabulous off-leash dog trails in order to make the parks more "equine friendly." I loved walking Pongo and Perdi through Cherry Creek State Park almost daily and was saddened by this news. But what I really and truly don't understand is why a dog owner can get a ticket for not picking up pet waste properly, and yet every day, we are constantly stepping in horse droppings left in the middle of the otherwise nicely paved and maintained Cherry Creek and High Line Canal trails. I know it's not convenient to stop and pick it up when you are on a horse, but come on. Lots of other people use the trails every day to bike, run and even walk dogs (on leash, of course). All I am saying is that we don't leave Pongo and Perdi's "business" in the middle of the pavement. We could get a ticket if we did and it's just not polite. Uh oh...I feel another letter coming on! :) *End side note*

As it turns out, Matt and I will be returning to Kansas in October, November AND December this year. We are attending a wedding in October, Thanksgiving in November and of course Christmas in December. This is the first year that Matt gets both Thanksgiving and Christmas off, so we are going to take full advantage. We might be a little tired of driving after this year!