I was feeling especially lazy and was thinking about running/exercising, etc. . . so instead I decided to see what I could find about my has been days as a former runner in high school. It was almost as fullfilling as logging some real miles...almost. I only found these two stories but at least it is something.
Wow, I think I broke a sweat.


BBBNorthshore sweeps 7-4A cross country meet
By Butch Badon / The News Banner / November 14, 1996Published on Monday, April 17, 2006 4:22 PM CDT

Northshore Panther cross country stars Nick Van Geffen and Debbie Hansen have two things in common - asthma and winning.Both won their respective races Wednesday at John Slidell Park in Slidell as Northshore High School swept the boys and girls titles in the District 7-4A Cross Country meet."I'm happy with the performances, they were excellent, excellent, excellent," said Panther Coach Pat Doyle. Doyle said the key was his 4th and 5th runners on both teams were winners. "My 4th and 5th runners beat their 4th and 5th runners, that was big," Doyle said.
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Nick Van Geffen of Northshre finished first overall in the boys three-mile run with a time of 15:37. Team mate Bill Price finished a close third with the time of 15:47. He was nosed out at the finish line by Jimmy Wiggins of St. Paul. Wiggins' time was 15:45.Van Geffen said he was not bothered by asthma at all Wednesday. "It was totally out of me, the weather was not cold and I went in with a positive attitude," he said.He said he was pushed by Price and that helped. "Bill and I push each other," Van Geffen said. Price said he was not satisfied with his performance. "You can never be satisfied until a win, but I am not unhappy with the overall results," Price said.Northshore placed first with 26 points, St. Paul second with 29 points and Hammond came in third with 79 points.Hansen's asthma problems this year have been bothersome, but not Wednesday. Hansen turned in a sparkling two-mile time of 12:46.She nosed out team mate Julie Schumacher, whose time was 12:57. Heidi Heidingsfelder of St. Scholastica finished third with a time of 13:08.Hansen also has had a knee injury for much of the year. However, Wednesday was her day. "I have not been happy with my times this year because of the asthma and knee, but today it wasn't cold. Today was a really good running day," Hansen said.Hansen also had some kind words for third-place finisher Heidingsfelder. "She didn't know the course too well and that accounts for her finish," Hansen said.Heidingsfelder and Hansen have beaten each other this year and a real battle was expected. It was shaping up that way as the two were neck-and-neck about 200 yards from the finish. But Heidysfelder ran out of gas and stopped momentarily and walked for about 40 yards.As she was passed by Schumacher, Heidingsfelder picked up the pace with a trot to the finish line."I have never run this course before and we arrived too late to get acquainted with it before the race. Along the backside I got off course and had to run to make up some ground," Heidysfelder said.Despite losing time to the course, Heidingsfelder's time was her best effort of the year. Though despondent, she is confident she will do much better at the state tournament.Northshore's team score was 27. St. Scholastica Academy finished second with 39 and Salmen finished third with 63 points.

Panthers set sights on state meet
Slidell Sentry-News / November 21, 1996
NATCHITOCHES - After sweeping the District 7-4A cross country meet, the Northshore Panthers will set their sights on state.Northshore's girls and boys team won the District 7-4A meet held at John Slidell Park last week.
Today, they'll be running on the campus of Northwestern State University in the 1996 State Farm/LHSAA Boys and Girls State Cross Country Championship Meet.The state meet gets underway at 10 a.m.Here's the schedule:10 a.m. - Division V (Class 1A) girls.10:30 a.m. - Division VI (Class B-C) girls.11:00 a.m. - Division V (Class 1A) boys.11:30 a.m. - Division VI (Class B-C) boys.12:00 noon - Division III (Class 3A) girls.12:30 p.m. - Division IV (Class 2A) girls.1 p.m. - Division III (Class 3A) boys.1:30 p.m. - Division IV (Class 2A) boys.2 p.m. - Division I (Class 5A) girls.2:30 p.m. - Division II (Class 4A) girls.3 p.m. - Division I (Class 5A) boys.3:30 p.m. - Division II (Class 4A) boys.Behind Nick Van Geffen and Bill Price, the Panthers won the boys district meet in a close finish over St. Paul's. The Panthers won by three points.Debbie Hansen and Julie Schumacher finished 1-2 in the girls District 7-4A meet to lead the Lady Panthers.The Slidell High boys finished second to Ponchatoula in the District 6-5A meet.Beau Veazey, J.J. Martinez and Jason Thomas will lead the Tigers' chances at state.Mathias Truempler, who set a new school record in the District 10-3A meet, will be Pearl River's best chance at state. Truempler turned in a 16:50 effort for the Rebels in the 10-3A meet.Amy Gill was the top Lady Rebel finisher.

i thank you God for most this amazing...
E.E. Cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

. . . . Even when I have a bad week there is still MUCH to be grateful for . . . .

*** These pictures were some of the only "stock photos" left on my computer after I accidentally restored it's factory settings. ****

The Picky Eater. . .

The girl who will only eat chicken nuggets found a new food that she enjoys.... Edamame!! She enjoyed dinner at a Sushi joint (she is not sophisticated enough for the spicy tuna roll...just give it time...I will make her a fan yet!) but she LOVED the shrimp fried rice and the deliciously salted Soy beans.... MMMMMMmmmm! She is also pretty handy with the chop sticks. Maybe watching Kung Fu Panda so many times taught her something?

~~~ Dame Family Assembly ~~~

McCall ID, July 2008

Some of the highlights in photos from my camera phone

*** I love my Little Fish! ***

She has turned into such a little swimmer this summer. The only prob is that mom wants to sit poolside with a book (don't worry . . . I am paying close attention!!) and Little wants me to be in with her so she can play pretend with me.





I typically get to be "Mommy Ursala" and she is "Baby Mermaid" or "McCall Ariel Mermaid" and in her rendition I always have to take her "mermaid clothes" and we go back and forth taking them off and putting them back on. She also loves to rescue her "babies", which are typically floating leaves or flowers, and put them to bed.





Another favorite pool pretend is making food- her specialties being fried rice (which we made after swimming one day) and noodles (that obsession courtesy of Kung Fu Panda). It is adorable to see her playing pretend even when I get dragged into it. And of course I have passed the cannonball legacy down to her. One of these days she will figure out how to grab her knees and do it and not just scream "Cannonball"!





You will notice the knocked over cactus in the pics and video...that was courtesy of Monsoon 08 at our AZ house!