Gray Matter

It's not often I make a book recommendation . . . . this one is a great read.
Just make sure you have some free time, because you will NOT want to put it down for long.

What would you do if your neurosurgeon offered to pray with you? (those readers who have one). This is the story of a doctor who prays with almost every patient he takes to surgery. It describes his journey of faith & details how & when he began praying with them.
What I liked best was his description of the agony he felt when complications arose. He is an endovascular neurosurgeon and does all his work in the brain by entering the femoral artery. AMAZING!!!!! If I needed brain surgery, I would want him involved.

A few December details

1)One Monday night we watched the Polar Express for FHE.
When Edwin saw Santa, he said, "That's God."

2)For Andrew's December request, I made Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs. This time, I substituted onion powder because
      A)I didn't want to cut an onion and
      B) I wanted my girls to try it.
They all did, and I will use it again. One of them may have even commented, "This is good."
I like the idea of using ground turkey but in reality I've only got a couple of recipes that I love with it. Send me yours if you have any that are worth repeating.

3) If each of my family members went to the dentist twice and the doctor once a year, that would be 21 appointments . . . pretty close to an appointment every two weeks. That doesn't count the orthodontist, which we are starting soon, or any sick visits.
Conclusion . . . . I better increase how often I pick up the phone to make appointments.

4) We are a hula hooping family. Today they did some timing and . . .

Andrew     9:26
Caitlin    9:39
Bryn stopped herself at 15:04. She chose to stop there--who knows how long she could keep it up. Her goal was to beat the standing record, which she easily accomplished.
Nathan 15:18
They have also learned to walk, run, and jump up and down while hula hooping. We will only post photos if we upgrade our camera. It's too slow for hula hooping photos to turn out.
I still can't hula hoop, but I'm practicing.

5)With several struggles and a little prayer, I figured out how to print address labels for Christmas cards. Not much less work this year, but it will be next year, and the year after, and so on.

6)Meal planning is much easier and less stressful than not meal planning. I've tried both ways.

7)We never carved our pumpkins. I planned to throw them out and spoke openly about it before they made it in the garbage.
Diana said, "I don't want to throw them out, I want to see them decay."
Thankfully, they had decayed enough by the time Nathan was throwing them out that he pointed to a rather unpleasant part of the pumpkin and said, "Look, Diana, DECAY."
He carried 4 of them to the garbage and saved the others for pumpkin soup. The first installment was last night. It's good. We had twin 11 year olds boys over and they asked for more. Try it.
Somehow, we'll have to fit "carving pumpkins" into the schedule next year.

8) Last December I got a card from employees at Nate's work. It said, "Thanks for the luncheon!" referring to a luncheon put on by physicians' wives. It was the first I had heard about it. I felt bad.
This year, I found out in time to contribute. I made dozens of oatmeal raisin cookies and was able to attend. I loved talking to and meeting Nathan's co-workers. They employ over 200 people.

9) We bought & decorated our tree today. Then we sang "O Christmas Tree" and some other carols. Great family time.

10) Nathan straddled the b-ball hoop at the park to put the net back on. Unfortunately, no photo, use imagination.

11) This week my mom watched Ed & Diana so I could go on choir tour with Bryn's early morning choir, the Treble Makers. They toured two nursing homes, two banks, and ended up with lunch at the mall. One boy in our group brought $29 with him. It was probably the first time Bryn ordered food for herself. My mom brought the little ones to the second bank so they could listen, too.

This Treble Maker is awesome!!!!

Santa the Veterinarian

Caitlin's assignment was to give Santa another job that he could do to "moonlight." Caitlin picked a veterinarian. She was assigned to dress him as a vet, explain his duties to him in a letter, and to give him veterinary tools.

Lessons learned:
1) Start earlier. Perhaps the night the project comes home, and not after it's already due. Hiding the project from herself and yourself isn't a good option, either. You will have to ask the teacher for another one.
2) When your daughter has an opinion about her project that is different from yours, back off. Leave the room if you have to for awhile, and come back to check on her later. It's her Moonlighting Santa after all, and it will turn out just perfect. Or at least better than expected, as this Santa's beard did.

Double digits

A certain girl hit a certain birthday this week. Earlier we joked about how we were going to turn back the clock this year and have her be younger on her birthday instead of older. I didn't figure out how to do that exactly, so she hit double digits anyway.

Her birthday was a very busy day from morning until bedtime, but we celebrated with many of the things Bryn loves. We love her!

A few things that made this birthday stand out:
New (warmer) gloves
More masking tape
Turkey pot pie
A friend party with pizza
Hula hoop
Trident "Layers" gum
New thermals
Taking doughnuts to school to share
Having enough extra to bring home to share
Boise State gear

Though I'm not . . .

a chocolate cake fan,
this one was the best I've ever had.

Of course, this is not my photo. We used a whipped chocolate frosting, instead.

Here's the link.
Chocolate cake seems to be the favorite of most of my children. I think we will use this again in the future. The fudgy filling makes it not so dry--my complaint with most chocolate cakes. More expensive than a regular mix, but definitely worth it.
Making a second one tonight for the "friend" party.

the aftermath of 41 attempts at a family photo for Christmas cards

I think we got a good one.
(And this is not it, even though it is a good one).

Every boy needs a (neighbor's) dog

For the past several weeks, Andrew has had a job walking our neighbor's dog, Tucker. Nathan went with him the first time to show him the ropes. Since then, he's been on walks with the dog three times a week. Many times he is accompanied by a sister--one at a time.

Today it was my turn to go. We got Tucker, his ball, leash, and trash bag and walked to the park down the street. Andrew played fetch with him for a few minutes and then we went on a walk through the neighborhood. It was impressive to see how comfortable Andrew was with him. Tucker is a good dog, and didn't bark at a single dog or passerby. On our walk we saw the neighborhood fox--but he was running the other direction. I've loved this chance for Andrew to grow and help our neighbor, and to experience pet ownership without the responsibility of owning a dog ourselves.

While we were out, Andrew asked me if I wanted to hold the leash.
I declined, explaining that I was on the walk to see what it was like.
"Don't you want to hold it once? That's all the girls do when they come with me, is ask me for their turn to hold the leash," he said.
I smiled about how different it must seem to have me along instead.

Surprise

The first weekend of November was my brother's 40th birthday. His wife invited my parents, sisters, and me to fly out for a surprise birthday party. He didn't know we were coming, which was quite an amazing feat--prayers were answered and the stars aligned.  It was great fun--the best party of 2011.

Danny plays bass guitar in an Italian polka band.
One accordion, one percussionist, a buttonbox--ie small accordion, guitar, and bass guitar.
They are all family members who have practically adopted him into the family.
They were in on the surprise . . . they told him there was a gig playing for an anniversary party. He walked in, thinking he was going to set up, and he found a large group of friends and family waiting to wish him a Happy Birthday.

Although I've heard a lot about the band, I'd never seen them play, so it was great fun.
My favorite was: O Sole Mio, which you can hear by the Three Tenors if you click HERE.
And HERE if you prefer instrumental

Sarah, Danny's wife, is also a caterer. Along with the 100 cupcakes, also made a very funny fondant cake with Danny sitting in a wheelchair. He jokes that he wants to have one pot and a spoon--everything else is unnecessary fluff . . . hence the pot under him and the spoon in his hand.

My dad rewrote the lyrics to some well-known tunes to tease Danny about being 40. We had fun singing them with the guests. Here's a sample:

To the tune of "On Top of Old Smoky."
On top of old Danny,
once covered with hair,
The dome is now shiny,
the dome is now bare.

The party was on Friday night. We spent most of Saturday hanging out and went for a walk in the Ohio woods. Dinner was lasagna, a Daniel Parks tradition.

Sarah, Emily, Danny, Sam

It was suggested that our family (my siblings and parents) get together on each of our 40th birthdays . . .
time will tell.

Thank you Danny & Sarah for the great party!
And Nathan for being home so I could attend solita!

p.s. When my dad turned 40, my mom coordinated a surprise party for him. We borrowed a wheelchair for him to sit in and a good friend read his eulogy. At the time, Danny was 14 and teased my Dad for being old. I was 9 years old and helped make the invitation. I used the computer program 'The Print Shop" and spelled "Suprise" on all the invites.

Nancy's Homemade Noodles

Every month I ask for help deciding what's for dinner.
It's a win-win.
They win because they get to give input and we get to eat what they want for one dinner.
I win because I don't have to plan EVERYTHING.

This month, Nate picked chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles, which we ate tonight for dinner.
Some ate none, some ate all, someone went to great lengths to remove all the parsley.

to parsley or not to parsley, that is the question

Nancy's Noodle Recipe:
(yields 1/2 lb dry, 4 C cooked)

2/3 C flour
1 egg
1 TBSP. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oil

Make a well in flour  and add other ingredients. Work with hands folding until it can be cleaned from hand. Cover, let sit for an hour.
Roll and fold 10 times, adding flour each time so it doesn't stick. Roll out to 1/4 or less, cut. Let sit 1/2 hour to dry. Add to boiling water or broth. Boil 5 minutes.

Notes: I use a mixer instead of kneading by hand, and I double because they are good. I think this recipe came from the Joy of Cooking, but is not the same as the version there now.

Nathan copied this years ago over the phone from his mom, on the back of a first year podiatry school schedule. He doesn't really have a favorite meal, but this comes close. He eats it served over mashed potatoes.

Nancy last made it for us when she and Steve came to visit in TX post-Edwin.

I love it because it's simple, good food. Hope you like it, too.

Heavy Laden

Wednesday we had our first snow of the year. Many of our leaves had not fallen, which trapped the wet snow in the trees, weighing down branches. I spent 10 or 15 minutes shaking the snow off this tree. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach high enough, and that branch snapped.

It was miraculous to watch the other tree respond to my efforts to remove the snow. Branches that had been hanging low to the ground rebounded into almost normal positions once their burdens were lightened. I wish I'd been able to save this one.

I don't know numbers that demonstrate the extent of the damage, but here is a link to the local newspaper with photos showing damage and cleanup. Parts of CSU were closed because of the damage to campus trees. We know a family whose tree falling broke through a window of the house. Loveland schools were closed because power was out. My hairdresser took the day off because of the school closure/power outage, and stayed home in her cold house all day.

I remembered a quote I wrote down in high school, "Learn to bend, it's easier than breaking."

Peace and Quiet

This weekend Nathan had a professional conference at a hotel/conference center about an hour away. My mom (and dad) came to watch my kids so I could go with him. I'm not sure if it's because I knew I was going away or not, but Thursday seemed extra crazy. The conference was 8 to 5 both Friday and Saturday. We drove early Friday morning. We took one wrong turn, but it turned out to be a happy accident. Thankfully, we had enough time to correct it before the meeting started. We chatted in the car about how much less stressful traffic seemed since we had planned extra time into the schedule.

The view out of our window

We were able to check into the hotel when we arrived.
It was delightful to be by myself and hear myself think.
First thing I did was a little shopping. It's more enjoyable when I'm alone.
Then, back to the hotel for lunch (which I had packed that morning), and time to study. I am taking another class for continuing Ed and just needed time to work on it. A little nap later, and it was time to meet Nathan. We stopped at a grocery store for a quick snack and then went to the temple.
We did sealings together.
Finally, at 9:00 p.m. we went to dinner. I chose the Cheesecake Factory, because an acquaintance from Texas works for them, and I'd never been there. Nathan ate a giant burrito, and I had chicken and biscuits. We shared a BLT salad.


This morning Nathan went for a run on the golf course (in the dark). Then, he left pretty early for the meetings, and I took my time getting moving. At 8:30 I went to the hotel's gym and lifted weights for 30 minutes. They had really nice weights--I was excited to use the leg press and hamstring machines. Then, I went on a three mile walk. I went back to where we'd made the wrong turn, so I could photograph this wall.

Every now and then I wish I had an excellent camera. Today was one of those days.

I love everything about the photo above--the colors, the reflection of the yellow tree and blue sky in the window.

It was a visual feast!
Maybe that turn wasn't so "wrong."
After cleaning myself up, I went to breakfast in the hotel, again by myself.
I ate oatmeal and a fried egg.
More reading, and then I checked out. I went to buy my lunch, but the restaurant I wanted to try is in the Tech district, and is only open M-FR, which I found out at their front door. I went to the mall, (which was PACKED), and wandered through my favorite stores to browse . . . Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrell, Pottery Barn. More visual loveliness.
Lunch was a Philly cheese-steak. I wondered how many others were like me--once in a blue moon mall eaters, and how many were there every Saturday. Even amidst all the noise, it was still a quiet meal for me.
I went back to the hotel to listen to Nathan's presentation. He did a great job and acknowledged my being there. He spoke about Diabetic foot screenings. After him there was one more presenter, so I slipped out to read a little more for my class. When he was done, we drove home. Because of another commitment my parents had, I needed a babysitter for the last couple of hours.

I like having time to be by myself. I need to study and I enjoyed a little more freedom to set my own schedule and choose activities I didn't have to convince anyone else to do with me. It was nice to be interrupted only by my own thoughts. I learned I enjoy cooking and eating by myself and with my family. It sometimes is stressful to cook dinner with the many other demands at that time of the day, but I like the process of preparing food. It is very quiet to eat alone. And yet, I enjoy that peaceful time. I will have to find another time to sneak it in again.

I remember a conversation I had with my dad shortly after staring my first job. I asked him how he was able to work so much, day in and day out. I can't remember word for word, but he told me that he just did it. "And there are breaks."
Nice to have a break.

Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation, 2011

"I Know the Scriptures are True"

The scriptures are the word of God

The scriptures are the word of God,

I read them every day.

To learn what he would have me do,

In all I do and say.

The scriptures are the word of God,

You should read them too,

To guide your acts, and words and thoughts,

To keep you safe and true.

A Messenger From God

Since Heavenly Father is not here now,

He sent us a prophet dear,

His message of peace, and joy and love,

He wants us all to hear.

I love to hear the prophet speak

And tell me stories, too.

He brings us guidance with his life,

An example of what to do.

First Principles and Ordinances

Faith is the first step

That leads to the door,

Repentance the second,

Forgiveness is sure.

Baptism by immersion,

Christ showed us the way,

Then the Holy Ghost is given

To guide us here, today.

My Body is a Temple of God

My body is a temple

And I can treat it so

In the way I dress and act,

The places I choose to go.

My body holds my spirit,

May I keep it habit free,

By choosing carefully the things

I watch, read, do, and see.

My body feels the Holy Ghost,

When I kneel to pray,

Or hike high in the mountains,

While I help, work, and obey.

My body is a gift from God,

It is able, and fit and trim,

I treasure its use each day,

May I return it clean to Him.

I wrote these poems while writing the Primary program for our ward this year.

I have two favorite parts of it: receiving promptings about who should say what, and watching the children from the audience. Both were inspiring. Since I was willing to do the first, the president let me do the second.

Four of my children participated in it this year. Andrew and Bryn in the back, and Diana on the front row. Next year, Andrew will be a deacon by the time we have it, but Ed will not be in yet, so we will be down to three.

Homecoming 5K 2011

(Or . . . . Running Circles around Me)

We did it!!! With the help of my parents, Nathan and I participated in five 5K races this summer. It's been great fun. We ended with the Homecoming 5K in perfect race weather. Caitlin decided to join in. She didn't have to walk until 2.5 miles. She stopped to walk a couple more times after that, but plugged ahead. We also ran into a friend from the ward, and Andrew's former 4th grade teacher. It is a large race--which makes it fun.

It was not my finest race, but I am happy to report I was able to run(jog) the whole way. Nathan hasn't run since his car accident. He stayed with Caitlin the whole time, so he was in a different pace group than he's used to. 
Our times were:
Caitlin:  36:37
Nathan: 36:39
Beth    37:51

My favorite part of the race was hearing the announcer read Nathan's name: "Here comes Dr. Nathan Hunt, crossing the finish line. And, his daughter, Caitlin. She's only 7 years old!"
I think that was happening about the same time this photo was snapped.

I knew they were ahead of me, but didn't know how far. I was excited to hear them mention their names--since I didn't get to see their finish.

And I learned that "pre-race" photos are better than "post race photos."

We've never taken pre-race photos before, but maybe that will change

Just under half a mile to go and still going strong!

It feels good to have completed our goal. We love the racing community. Last running season we did two races. This summer we planned five, one for each of our children. I would like to try a 10K next summer.

September in my kitchen

I spent an hour and a half shredding zucchini and squash to put into our freezer. We did not grow this ourselves--it came from 2 friends and my parents. I also lent my shredder to a friend who put enough zucchini into her freezer to make 29 loaves of zucchini bread.

I taught a friend how to pressure can beans--we did pintos and black. I need to do some more--we have lots of empty jars, and lots of bags of dried beans.

My sister in law, Tara, started a food blog, here. She's a dietician and enjoys good food. (Which is pretty much a perfect combination). Check her out.
My culinary skills improved just by living close by her for 2 years.

I made this delish lasagna the other day. My dad gave me zucchini and squash from his garden so we tried it. I think you could cut a lot of fat and not miss it. (The heavy cream and the mozzarella cheese. Milk instead of cream, and about half the cheese). Next time--because I think there will be one. I didn't use her method for the chicken, but I want to try it. Bay leaf and lemon sound interesting together.

I made a breakfast casserole from America's Test Kitchen a few weeks ago. It was good--but I wanted to try some tweaks and make it again. We had Round 2 for dinner tonight--and it was near perfection. (Left out half the sausage, salt, hot sauce, pepper, and the entire onion). If you come visit, I will make it for you. I think it's earned a spot in the regular rotation. The boys love it and the girls picked at it--but ate more tonight than last time. You toast the bread before putting it in--which solves the soggy problem most breakfast casseroles face. And, you have to make it ahead of time--which is a beautiful thing when it's 4 pm and dinner is already made except for baking.
(I think Test Kitchen hits technique RIGHT ON, EVERY TIME. Most of the time there are steps that could be streamlined and salt that can be removed. Do you agree? And I try to avoid their website so I don't think I need any new cookbooks. They have a slow cooker book that caught my attention--thank goodness my library has it. I love using the slow cooker).

This week, I learned that by adding a little cocoa powder to your morning oatmeal, you will not believe what kind of response you will get. Children who normally may loathe it might ask for seconds.   
(I am not planning on repeating every time we eat it, but it sure is nice to not have to fight a battle when oatmeal is served).

Caitlin's birthday cinammon rolls turned out really well. She's not really into cake, which is OK with me.

Andrew asked for
chocolate cake,
chocolate frosting,
and chocolate ice cream for his. That all went smoothly.

But, I had two snags on the homemade pizza he asked for. First, I ran out of cornmeal. My mom quickly went to Target and saved the day. Then, when I was putting the pizza dough into the pans, I remembered I left out the salt. Since Nathan wasn't home yet, I asked him to stop at Little Caesar's to solve the pizza emergency.
I still had all the toppings and sauce, so we had pizza later that week. I think Andrew was OK with that part.  (I remembered the salt the second time). His two closest friends were able to make our last minute invitation, which was nice.

I bought the worst breakfast sausage in the world. It was so bad I gave a thought to reconsidering vegetarianism. Two children would not eat it. Some of the others thought it was great and had extra. Nathan and I wished we hadn't broken our fast eating it. 

This dressing is very good. Can't say anything about the salad, I haven't tried it. But the dressing changed my mind about rice vinegar.

This month I have been REALLY bad at meal planning. I just haven't done it. I think it's less stressful to take the time to make a plan and carry it out than not plan. So, I will try again, and let you know.

When we studied the Word of Wisdom this week Andrew asked, "Why are we only supposed to eat meat in the winter?"
(We don't do this, by the way--but perhaps we should try a little harder).
His was not the only question, however, we also got, "It is OK to drink hot chocolate?"

And, if you have read this far, you might also be interested in reading this, my Mormon.org profile, complete with my apron.

16

The number of pink shirts I washed today.
Includes pj's and regular shirts. They all belong to the nine and under crowd.
I usually think of one load of laundry the as the "pink" load, here is the evidence.

Sculpture Garden

We went to the Benson Sculpture garden yesterday morning. The weather was delightful and we enjoyed looking at the artists' work.

Diaphanous Yo Tien, by Susan Pascal Beran

Duet, by Jeff K. Laing

Louis Papa, by Pat Kennedy

Flora, by Jo Hess

The pavilion was artwork, too

Circle of Peace by Gary Pierce

Bryn spotted this tiny detail in the Circle of Peace

High Four, Louise Peterson

Big Wish, by Linda Prokop

Rice Ritual, by Carla Knight     Love these stepping stones!

I found the garden through an article in the paper about the "Best of Loveland." I wondered how many of the visitors that day were just like us--going there because of the newspaper article. A lovely walk.

I didn't know that Loveland had such an appreciation for art--but it does. Click HERE to learn more if you are interested in the art of Loveland.

Goings on

REPAIRABLE.
Nathan's car. He and Andrew were rear-ended two Saturdays ago. Andrew was fine. Nathan has lower back pain--but had x-rays that show no bone or disc issues. Today we found out the car is repairable. Still not expecting things to go quickly . . . and we both dislike paperwork and phone calls, but we are thankful that the injuries were not worse.

SCHOOL started.
5th grade
4th grade
2nd grade

DENVER will be hit with a media blitz showing "I'm a Mormon" ads starting in October. As a result, we've been watching a lot of Mormon.org profile videos. This one about Erick was particularly moving. (And it shows a trans-metatarsal amputation--a surgery Nathan performs). Honestly, I have watched all of them and I like them all. I feel happy to be associated with these people. I would like to meet them in person.

Here is the link to Nathan's profile: click HERE
I am working on mine still.

BIRTHDAY coming up on Friday. She requested cinnamon rolls again.

TACKLE
Andrew joined a tackle football team this year. He is VERY excited about it. His practices for the first two weeks are Monday through Friday, 5:30 to 7 p.m. This is a huge change in our schedule, I am sad he won't be at dinner with us most of those days. On the upside, he looks great in his uniform and the practices are so close he can ride his bike. One more reason to love our neighborhood--he's the only one who rode to practice. (Also the only one who turned up in sneakers--I need to buy him some cleats. SOON).

FAMILY CAMPOUT
Last Friday night, we joined members of our ward for a campout at a ranch the church owns. If they were giving awards, we would have earned the "LEAST TIME SPENT AT CAMPOUT" award. We arrived at 7:15 p.m. and left exactly 12 hours later. We squeezed setting up two tents, cooking dinner, making peach cobbler, chatting with friends, playing with friends, a little bit of sleep, realizing we need bigger tents, and making it back in time for football practice all into those few hours. I took three photos, this is one.

SEWING
Most of my sewing is happening on my other blog, if you want to know where to find it, email me.
BUT, this month I ventured into something new, pattern testing. A lady wanted some volunteers to try out her pattern before she began selling it. I raised my hand. It was really fun. The best part was, she took some of the suggestions I made, and changed them in her pattern. Here's the latest finished garment, a baby shower gift for last Saturday.

5K/Running
One more coming in the beginning of October.
My next running goals include a treadmill, run MWF for a month, and train for a 10K in 2012.
This summer I learned to enjoy taking 5 children out on their bikes for a run with me. One day, we found this grasshopper.

(We didn't have the camera on the day we found the frog). We stopped at the BMX course every time to appease the masses.

Vintage Me

Wearing dresses I wore as a little girl. The red and white one was a favorite of mine. It is one of the best spinning dresses I ever wore.

After they are done wearing them, what should I do with them?
Keep them?
Donate them?
Re-fashion them into doll clothing?

Second place

These gentlemen won 2nd place in their age divisions today.
(We have to convince Dad to register as a runner and not a walker. Probably this ribbon will convince him).

The Rat Race

August 13, 2011
My time 36:40
Nathan's 18:32
Dad  42:30???

Great course.
Mom mentioned how funny it is that last week was the "Human" Race, and this was the "Rat" Race.

I dislike it when race walkers pass me. Much better to have the winner of the 10K pass me (when I am only doing the 5K). Today when the race walker passed me and I couldn't catch him, I decided who I would pass and stay ahead of. I passed her in the last couple minutes of the race.
The Fort Collins H.S. Cross country team came and dominated the race. Fun to watch them run fast. It's safe to say all of them were ahead of me.

Nathan also won a drawing for prizes: He picked out a set of wrenches. They had written retail value $29, so we almost got our entry fee back.

Thanks, Mom for watching the kids while we ran!

The Human Race

August 6, 2011
My time: 36:50
Nathan's time: 18:59


I was stuck in the 39's for so long. I'm happy to be able to run faster.
After Nathan is done with his race, he always comes back to encourage me to the finish line. I feel a boost of energy when I see him. This time he brought Caitlin, too. It was fun to run next to them.

The older children (everyone but Ed) ran in a children's race). The biggest children's race we've seen.  This race was in Old Town--which was fun.

(This is the third of five races this season. Stay tuned).