Another "event" for us in September was the Akron Marathon Relay. I am pleased to report that Team Butterworth (consisting of Matthew and myself) completed the race and earned our medals on a cold and rainy Saturday morning. I originally agreed to the relay when we were going to have a team of five, but slowly it came down to Matt and myself. He had to run 15 miles while I finished the last 11. It is something that I never thought that I could do, but now I know that it is possible and I know that I don't enjoy running that far. My knees and my foot were sore for several days, but that was the worst of my "injuries." On the trip back home the next day, we stopped to pick apples. The next weekend I made a double batch of apple sauce and canned it, so we should be set until January 2007 for a quick snack or dessert. We still have a few dozen apples left that we are slowly eating. Goliath is very happy with this development since we always share with him when having an apple snack.
Once we hit October, things have been constantly busy. The first weekend, Matt volunteered three days in a row for the Blue Jackets Hockey team. Then the next day we participated in the Crop Walk with other members from our church. I have two highlights of that weekend. The first was Saturday late afternoon when Matt and I had lunch and decided to get some ice cream on the way to my dropping him off for the game. We had cones of some great dark chocolate gelato and 20 minutes before he had to start work, of course he drops it on his light khaki pants. We had to race home, get him another pair of pants (that he was horrified had not been ironed) and get back to the arena. Luckily, we live close to downtown and made it with a few minutes to spare. The pants did not fair as well. We are giving them away to a good home after two unsuccessful washings. I offered to dye them a dark color, but that suggestion was not acceptable. Oh well.
Our second highlight came the very next day when we were waiting for people to finish the Crop Walk. We had Goliath and he was getting restless, so I decided to take him for a little stroll along the riverfront downtown. We managed to come across a large flock of geese sunning themselves and what does he do? He chases them at 100 mph dragging me behind him down towards the river. I managed to stop, but Goliath felt that he could get his message across better standing chest deep in the waters of the Scioto River. Let me tell you, it does not smell pretty. He was very proud when we caught up with Matt a few minutes later.
The following weekend was just as busy. The Columbus Marathon was being run that weekend and I volunteered both Saturday and Sunday to help out. Saturday, I worked the Expo while Matt stayed home to wait for the carpet cleaners. You see, it was my birthday and that was the present that I asked for. So I came home to clean, but wet carpeting and Goliath has already managed to have an accident in the living room because we were late getting home on Wednesday. Couldn't even make it a week. Sunday, I worked the finish line of the race while Matt took a well deserved break from racing and stayed home to rest. He has a marathon next month and was thinking of running Columbus just as a training race, but he has been having problems with a swollen ankle and needed the healing time. In some great news, his swim coach has asked him to join the Human Powered Racing team. I don't think he has to try-out or qualify to be on the team. Just fill out the application and give them the fees. So, I keep pushing him to sign up and take his racing to the next level. He still keeps talking about competing at the Ironman distances, so I want him properly coached.
And that brings us to this weekend. Matt is currently traveling for work in the northern part of the state and will be spending time with his family in Canton. Goliath and I are going to make batches of tomato and roasted garlic soup and can it this evening. Tomorrow, my nephew Cole is coming over to help me clean up the yard and garden beds for a volunteer project for school. Both he and his brother Connor are coming to my office this afternoon to work in the library to rack up some additional volunteer hours for their project.
Next weekend's highlight will be a visit from Matt's Dad and Stepmom who live in Las Vegas. Matt is trying to pack every possible event into two days. Let's hope we have some time to just sit and relax (and there isn't an ice rink in front of me!).
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