"X" Ceptional Run

"X" is always a tough one for me at Ms. Jenny's but because a mother needs to lsiten more closer when her youngest son speaks I have to share the most "X" citing news for Nick! He is going to run at Nationals! All that hard work is paying off! I am so happy for him! He is an "X"cellent runner and of course, the coaching staff and his team mates help in the effort to run your best race! I love these ten commandments for the runner. Nick was quite a junk food junkie and late night kinda guy and he learned in order to succeed you have to give up things that drag you down and pay attention to the things that pull you up! I am "X"cited that he will finish this XC season on a high note.

Nick has always been grateful for the talent he has. He knows it is God given and only works when he does what he needs to do to try his best to beat his last personal run! He has been consistent and I smile when I think how far he has come. He has been blessed with amazing and "X"cellent role models in the many coaches he has worked with! If we had never met Coach O'Shea  and he had not mentored Nick in high school, I doubt that Nick would have stuck it out. The coach has "been there and done that" as they say! So all the young teens learned from someone who had been exactly where they were. In track and field, Mr. and Mrs. Hammerschmidt were also a great team and worked hard with each individual to pull that specific talent from them. In college there have been three amazing coaches to mentor Nick. Coach Baily who coaches the Kansas Wesleyans and is one amazing man of God helped mentor Nick and find his spot on the Cowley College team. Coach Phillips (Track and field) and Coach McDougal) XC  have worked hard to see that Nick maintains his grades and keeps his schedule  for running on track! Both men are "X"cellent role models and having gone to Nationals with XC last year the "X"citement of it all is overwhelming and yet a terrific memory maker for a young man or woman!

Before I close let me share a few Halloween memories with you.

Here is Hannah's Graveyard Pudding! I whipped this up for her last night. She is very sad if she does not get her Halloween treat! We didn't have gummy worms so we improvised with deadly Scorpions! But they are not real so no will get hurt as long as they don't try to eat these plastic insects!

 This image of witch hat cookies is a little better than mine! I forgot to put my witch hats on my organe dinner plates so....

My blue plate doesn't make them stand out like the orange plates do! I made these in dark and milk chocolate treats!

This is a Minion! My co workers little brother was sporting this hand made costume. His folks did a terrific job fashioning this out of a trash can! He looked so sweet that even the doctor we work for took his photo!

Pre said it best when he said "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." He was the greatest runner of my era.

My final share today Nick with his hero Bernard Lagat at the Nike SouthWest Invitational 2011 in Arizona. Nick won the open boys run in his senior year of high school and now he is writing the latest chapter of his running career so I would appreciate your prayers and good wishes as they head to Nationals in Fort Dodge, Iowa November 9th. Teammate Eli and Nick both earned all conference honors in the 8k run  last week end. Nick would appreciate any kindness you can send their way as he and Eli prepare for their final XC run with Cowley College.

R A N D O M K I N D N E S S E S

Last night we attended the wedding of my co worker Monica and the love of her life Carlos! It was one of the loveliest ceremonies. Her cousin Angelo was the officiating minister and I wish I could have recorded his words. Tell Marydon you hope she feels better with her stuffy head and that you want to share your favorite Love is too.

She was a lovely bride. Her dad is a bit stern but a kind heart all in all. He doesn't like crowds of people.

This was a photo from their dating days.

She had a Precious Moments Wedding Cake topper. It was so precious.

The kiss at the end of the ceremony. Sweetness!

A wedding table.

A favorite Scripture. Made me think of Ben Breedlove. If you don't know about Ben you need too! He was born 8 days before my son Nick. But Ben had a life threatening heart condition called hyper tropic cardiomyopathy. Ben lived life to the fullest. We need more Ben's in this world. Since finding out about Ben in 2011 I have always felt this Scripture should have been Ben's signature. Please visit his  you tube videos and read about this remarkable young man.

Wise words from a great man who helped changed the stereotype that Asians were given in films and T.V. in the 1960s. If I were to chat on about Bruce Lee or Ben Breedlove I would never end this post!

If you are a fan of Sunday Morning on CBS you may have seen the emotional video about Olivet Middle School in Michigan and the secret play these young football players had up their sleeve. If you have not seen it I have the link at my Face Book page (Anne Kocman Robinson). There are parents doing a good job raising their kids. We just rarely see it in the daily walk of life.

Humor even in running.

A pink treat for the Pinkies over at  Beverly's and a few NFL  pink plays  for Breast Cancer Awareness. Did you get your mammogram? Mine is scheduled for my milestone birthday December 3rd.

RG3 can pink it up! Did you know he married this summer in Denver? I love fun facts like that! Today he is playing against my Bronco team and his coach, Mike Shanahan is my favorite coach that coached the Broncos. He has some awesome stats as a coach. Check him out too.

The NFL plays up the pinks!

"You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water into a cup it becomes the cup. When you pour water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. When you pour water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Be water my friend." Bruce Lee

Cowley runners 2012. Nick is on the far right, They were going to the race course today in Hutchinson, Kansas. They run at eleven a.m. tomorrow. Wish I were there.

I love this one!

We have always told Nick to run to beat his previous best time. I hope he will do just that tomorrow! His team mates too! Go Cowley Tigers!

I sure hope Sally and the other Blue Crew stop by and check out all the random blueness I posted here just for them! My post is rather long but it was well thought out! Then I hope Charlotte and the encouraging fellowship of Spiritual Sunday stop by too. I tossed this post about like a salad filled with different delectable treats. Something here for everyone.

A Very Good Day And Laughter

When I came back from lunch yesterday I parked next to this car! When I got out I saw their bumper sticker! It truly made my day!

A few months ago I was buying Happy Meals at McDonald's so I could collect these sweet Smurfs! This Clumsy Smurf is slipping on a banana peel! I was telling the gals I work with about my Smurfs and a patient, Janet, was listening intently. She came in last week and brought this sweet fellow to me as well as this lil gal:

This is Vixey from the Smurfs! Janet asked me if I had these two and when I said no, she gave them to me! It made my day. It is just good to have someone think about you and do a nice thing. I know in life we get so caught up with our work, our troubles and our busy schedules often we forget the little things that make life so sweet!

Cat humor can always make me smile! Do you know Henri? He is a silly cat who speaks French! He is so dry and so funny sometimes I tune in to his you tube videos. I can just get a good chuckle out of Henri! Catch him if you can!

This is my daughter Rebekah as a cat! She is a reader, a writer and a wonderful sensible girl!

Again my middle daughter! She is a well read young woman.

I have been spending some weekends running again. I am not the fastest but when I saw this I thought I would never stop smiling!

Here is a sweet treat for Halloween! I love making cute treats for the holidays and this one is very clever!

Oh come now you all needed a good hearty laugh! Maxine is the gal who can make you belly laugh!

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ee cummings

Writing Letter(s)

I love to write! I have always loved it and I love to this very day to write a note in a hand written card. I think the personal touch will never go out of style.

Through the years I have kept dozens of hand written birthday greeting and postcards from various relatives and friends. When the World Trade Center was brand new many many years ago my mothers oldest sister went to visit her son and his family. They went on a tour of the WTC and she sent a postcard. I still have that card and I will have to get it out one of these days and show it to you. It has lots of wonderful memories because my Aunt Mary  wasn't a big traveler and after she was widowed her son took to to NYC to see all the sights because he lived and worked in the Eastern region of the USA. Plus I have her handwriting preserved on that sweet postcard.

I have a whole box of sympathy cards, letters and messages all handwritten from 1987, the year our unborn daughter Rachel passed away. To this very day I take those cards out and read over the kindnesses so many shared with us. I will always love a hand written greeting.

I am going to have a milestone birthday in December. I share that date with some awesome people including Julie who is a favorite blog friend and a very talented one too! So I want to find my mailbox filled with birthday greetings. I am a kid at heart and will never change. I think sitting down and writing out a thoughtful note to someone in your own handwriting is such a beautiful and personal touch. Nothing can replace it. Plus if you are the crafty sort you can recycle your cards into lots of fun crafty ideas to reuse!

I hope you will visit Ms. Jenny and share a "W" thought today. I hope you liked my writing letters post and it makes you think that you need to send a thoughtful note to someone you care about.

"The day I got my first letter from a fan, I felt like I'd been touched by an angel." Selena Gomez

The day I got my first letter from a fan, I felt like I'd been touched by an angel.
Selena Gomez
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/letter.html#pV0tXcoGMs3sBqRw.99

The day I got my first letter from a fan, I felt like I'd been touched by an angel.
Selena Gomez
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/letter.html#pV0tXcoGMs3sBqRw.99

I LOVE VARIETY

They say variety is the spice of life! I believe it, I embrace it! I love variety! Whether it is music or sports, I love life, have learned  to love it to the fullest! There isn't very much in life that I don't like! I won't get political here but it is definitely not  one of my favorite things in life!

"My philosophy, simplicity plus variety!" Hank Stram

Manning and Luck! By the time I put up this post, one of these guys will be the winner and the other will take the loss. All week long Peyton has been in the center of controversy! Because of cheap comments made by a very arrogant owner of the Colts. Maybe Jim Ersay, you should have put your money where your mouth is, because you never spent money where you needed to when Peyton played for you! I am always shocked how these rich guys shoot off their big mouths when most of them barely can understand the concept of football. We know they never played the game! Then they sit in their ultra box seats with their wives who know as much about football as I do about rocket science! But hey, both of these teams wear blue so I will fit in with Sally and all the blue crew! I owe them about three weeks worth of catching up!

I have been here at Pinterest! It is just so much fun to me to collect all my favorite things. I like variety and  Ms. Jenny and the Alphabe Thursday gang will see I tried to get my "V" assignment in before the linky left me out cold!

A nice blue framed Scripture to share here. I read my bible faithfully and I am always learning something new. This week I prayed for a good moment of weather when Linda saw her precious youngest child marry the love of her life and I prayed today when Linda went to bury one of her dearest friends Marian who passed away after a sudden and brief illness took her to her heavenly home.

My Sweets and I play cards often, rummy is our game of choice! I wish I could hold all those Aces! Hee Hee! Marydon will always share a precious Love is... with all of us too! Come join us please. I bet you have lots of favorites to share.

I have been running. My youngest son Nick, a runner himself, inspires me to run! This blue sky and these words inspire me too.

Stop over and say hi to Beverly. Nike always uses wise words and sometime lots of pink to make a point!

I found this at pinterest. These words make me run hard! in 2000 my favorite Auntie Ang passed away from breast cancer. I run for her. If she could have put up with all the inferior treatment she received because she was no longer a young woman the least I can do is suck it up and run. She would prefer red but I wear my pink and grey Nike running shoes for her!

I am dedicating this one to Colette when I run! She was part of our Pink Saturday make over with Kelee Katillac. It has been four years since she started dealing with cancer and Kelee says she is stable.

A good thoughtful prayer reminder.

If my sweet momma was here she would say "Life is hard, pray harder.". My dad would remind me to work hard as if I were working for the Lord and not man.

Enjoy your week and always do a kindness, no matter how small, for someone each day!