Thursday, May 31, 2007

Bustin' for Ruston

Time to move on - to the Rainier to Ruston Relay. I just came from Thursday-night-after-track coffee (being a slacker, I skipped the track and went straight to coffee) where we included a brief meeting for Saturday's event. We had one shift in plans - Jenny sprained her ankle last weekend and won't be able to run. Michelle graciously stepped in to pick up Jenny's legs. Our biggest challenge was finding a car to hold six of us - not an easy task. Wendy took care of us there - she is swapping cars with Sonya for the day and allowing us to use her six-passenger car. She isn't running on the team because she has classes on Saturday, but offered her car to us anyway - pretty nice!

I think we are all set for the day. This will be the third year in a row for Sonya and I, second for Margaret and Linda, first for Melissa and Michelle. The team name - Bustin' for Ruston - has stayed the same each year. Linda gets credit for coming up with it the first year, we've liked it so well we've stuck with it. The first year I ran legs 1 & 7, last year I ran legs 5 & 11 and this year I have 6 & 12. I think we're gonna have a blast!

I got about nine miles in this week - 4+ with Rick on Wednesday, 4+ with Barb this morning. I'm still feeling tenderness at the back of and on the inside of my calf. I need a relay and one more marathon out of it, then maybe I'll rest it during our trip to WS100.

Web came home for a visit last night - he's off traveling for the next couple months. He's going to be visiting friends in Oregon and California through mid-July. He's thinking he might like to try living in the Bay area or Portland for a while after that. At his age, it's all up in the air and the possibilities are wide open. Every time we talk to him he has a new plan...

And Riley's graduation announcements came today. As a homeschooler, he will not be receiving a high-school diploma - instead he has completed his AA at the age of 18 (as did Web). His plans are pretty fluid at the moment - he still considering local schools where he could live at home for another year or so. Fortunately, most of them are still accepting transfer students. He's a little undecided about his career path - engineering, mechanical design, making guitars and physical therapy are all on his radar. Again, the possibilities are wide open.

It's the end of an era at our house. Though we will never stop being parents, giving advice, lending support, loving them and worrying about them, our primary job of raising the boys is done. They are young men with plans, dreams, values and ideals of their own - influenced by us, but solidified through their own life experiences. It's time to watch them soar.

But not quite yet...there is the senior prom on Saturday night, a long, idyllic summer, and the good possibility of another year at home. Even so, it won't be quite the same...

Signing off from the sunny Puget Sound region, where the slackers go straight to coffee, the relay-teams are ready and the parents are soon to be on their own.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great weekend plan - I'll be cheering for Bustin' for Ruston!
Also, congrats to Riley! I can feel bad that he doesn't get a diploma but what a great school experience - one day when I have kids I would like them to be home schooled by my sister because she is a genius.
BTW, I'm not a career coach and can't offer much advice but I am a PT and if Riley ever has any questions about the PT world he or you could always email me - what can I say I love being a PT.
nicoledpt@gmail.com

Jack said...

It's an exciting, scary time for both sides when the young adults strike out on their own - but you never stop caring, worrying and loving them!

Wes said...

Am I bad because I'm looking forward to being an empty nester? Only eight more years to go :-) Have a great time at your relay! Slacker :-)

Dori said...

Good luck in Ruston! And congratulations on C'dL; maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to finish, but you did finish and within the time limit. Most importantly, congratulations on Riley's graduation. Good job!

iJuls said...

Hey there "Slacker":
I've done the Relay from Calistoga to Santa Cruz and they are a lot of fun. I've only been able to do it once due to the kids' crazy ball schedule. Anyhow, lots of luck and fun to you and your team. I hope you can catch a few winks during the crazy weekend adventure.

Also, Congrats to your grad!

wendy said...

Endless possibilities...I like it! What an opportune moment in life, to be free of responsibility, and to have such great choices ahead of you!

I'm excited to see the great finish for the Bustin' for Ruston team, you sure do have a great group of ladies!

Best wishes for your calf on Saturday, I'll be hollerin for y'all.

Anonymous said...

what life changes!

have fun at the relay!!!!

Unknown said...

Have fun at the relay. It looks like the weather will be great and it will be a nice run down to Ruston Way. Probably a little bit hot down near Fife. I hope you don't have the leg that runs by Costco. That part SUCKS!

Talk to you soon.

Sarah said...

Best of luck tomorrow! : )

maniac hippo said...

I hope you find success, fun, and joy at the relay.

You know, you may feel like you're at a point where you're shifting out of some parental roles, but I for one can see how you (and Eric) bring a sort of nurturing to everyone you know. Your nuclear family may be spreading out, but you live in the closest, largest, most supportive "family" I've ever seen.

And I don't think it would exist without you.

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

New adventures are arounf the corner, just you wait and see!
Have fun tomorrow! I'll miss you, but will be with you in spirit!
Jenny

Darrell said...

Congratulations to Riley and congratulations to you and Eric for being caring loving parents.

A relay sounds like so much fun. I bet you girls will have a blast, again.

tryathlete said...

Have fun at the relay!

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

OH I hear a new name in the making "Back of the Pack Slacker", sometimes the coffee is king. Good luck today with the relay team.
As you mentioned our jobs as parents are never done...but also beware...sometimes those that fly the coop can find themselves returning to roost for many reasons. I'm sure you and Eric have done a great job tho in preparing them for the world and all it has to offer.

Anonymous said...

Enjoy the new era! How exciting to see your boys as men now. Congrats to all!

Jon said...

I totally forgot that the relay was today until my wife told me she saw a runner with a bib going by Wedge Park in Fife. I immediately searched for races that cut through Fife and realized it was Rainier to Ruston! I called her back and told her to cheer on everyone who runs past. :-D

runliarun said...

I think relays are paradoxical, in that they bring team structure to an individual sport.

Isn't what we do with our children a kind of relay too? We pass down values, something of our essence, a bit of our troubles, and they run with with it, and hand it down to their children, in a long chain through generations.