Spring Break and the Rattlesnake Roundup

This past week was Spring Break here in Abilene. Since I work in the schools I actually got the week off from my school kids. I did have to work on Monday and Friday seeing Early Childhood and clinic kids and I went up north to see some school kids who were not on Spring Break with my other CI, Todd. Having the three days off was nice but I had A LOT of paperwork to do and I had to put together my portfolio that is due next Friday to my CI.

One of the things that I did get to do was go to Austin and meet up with my best friend Liz and FINALLY meet her baby, Will. Liz had Will 6 months ago and I was determined to meet him and see Liz before we move up north. It was well worth the trip!

This weekend we went to the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup. We moved here just after it finished last year and were asked several times if we made it out to it so we figured it MUST be a big deal. WRONG! It was basically your average county fair with flea markets, carnival rides and all the fried food you can eat... with a building full of rattlesnakes thrown in. On the inside of the Roundup you could watch them milk the snakes for venom, skin the snakes, measure the snakes and listen to "snake handling safety" (Like I really want to handle a rattle snake!) It was hardly worth the 30 minute drive and $7 we paid to get in. Oh well, we can say we went. Here are some pictures from the Roundup. Be aware, some are graphic.







Isn't West Texas fun??

As far as the move, we're still expecting to be out of Abilene in early April, Todd has 3 flights left and should finish next week. We're currently looking into buying our first home which is scary and exciting all at the same time and looking from thousands of miles away makes no exception. We're not worried, God will provide the perfect place wether it's buying a house or living on base.

That's about all the excitement in the Saksa household. Only 10 days stand between me and my master's degree!

Running into the wind, not like the wind

Saturday was the big Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon! I'd be totally lying if I didn't say I wasn't REALLY glad that it is over with! I love running and will always run but I'm really tired of training! Training for a marathon is a 3 month COMMITMENT! You have to be dedicated and willing to work your weekends around the 2-3 hour long runs. Running 2 marathons 3 months apart became over 6 months of continuous training! Todd and I really started losing motivation toward the end but we had committed to the goal and needed to finish it. Unfortunately, it was a MUCH less than perfect event. There are pros and cons for Saturday races as well as Sunday races. The pros for this Saturday race was that we didn't have to finish the race and almost immediately get in the car and drive back to Abilene and we still had a fairly relaxing weekend. The big con for this Saturday race was that Todd didn't get off work until after 5 on Friday because of mission planning. That meant we were VERY rushed to get to Ft. Worth, eat and get in bed at a decent hour Friday night. Both of us have also been fighting some bad allergies for the last week or so mostly due to the ever changing weather and grass fires. I myself have also been having some asthma problems as well. Needless to say, the rush and the less than perfect health made us not looking very forward to the 26.2 mile feat. The weather all last week was in the upper 80s/low 90s so we were VERY grateful for the 40 degree weather that blew in Friday night. HOWEVER, it also came with 30-40 mph wind gusts out of the north! If you've never run into a strong head wind it's a lot like doing wind sprints with a parachute tied to your waist. It makes your muscles work twice as hard which, in turn, makes you tired faster. Bottom line... Saturday was in no way ideal running conditions for us. But, we finished (3:24 for Todd and 4:26 for me) and that's all that is ever important to me! Todd was disappointed with his time since he really wants to qualify for Boston but as far as I'm concerned, considering all, I'm just proud to have my finisher medal and that beautifully horrible soreness in my legs.

The rest of the weekend was nice and relaxing. Part of the weekend was about celebrating my upcoming 25th birthday so Saturday night we had a celebratory/post race indulgence at P.F Changs! We slept in this morning and eventually made our way back to Abilene.

And another week begins...4 more weeks for me, 5 more flights for Todd.