Zoo Dinner, fabric art, and a long, wet run

Life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville. 

The week started off with a bunch of wild animals (bearing strong resemblances to my family members) joining us for the occasionally-annual "Zoo Dinner"!  We didn't have a lion lying down with a lamb, but we did have Tigers sitting around a table with kangaroos, which I guess is kind of similar.

Tigger, me in animal prints, cow, monkey,
and a pair of kangaroos.

The food came out well:

boa constrictor calzone, mouse taters,
coral reef with turtles and octodogs,
and of course the Ham-bear-gers.

And we ate it, as per custom and obligatory photo shot, through the bars of the chairs.

Not as easy as these animals make it look!

The day after the zoo dinner, Nelson headed back to Minnesota, and I went back to teaching.  We're in the last six weeks of the semester!

It's been a while since I did an update on my progress with the denim yoga mat, and just to help myself keep track, I'm including a photo of just how far I've gotten.  It's coming along nicely!

It's tall enough now that I moved up from the floor,
to a footstool, to a chair,
to a bar stool!  
Next, will come standing.

Inkling has been much more successful in finishing projects.  

"The blanket I made as a fundraiser for the youth square dancers"

For a local production of Into the Woods:
"(the Wolf's sash and Red's hood)"

And just for more adorable (and educational) cloth and clothing, my college put on a community "Cherry Blossom Festival" in our gym, as an educational outreach to the community.   I didn't get to go (I was resting up from my half marathon), but Inkling and Kinderling and the grandkids did, and they had a great time.   

Learning about kimonos, and getting to pose in one!

Speaking of the half-marathon, it's done!  All week long, the weather forecast had been predicting we'd be doing this event in 39° rain, so it was a delightful gift that the day started out cool and overcast, but not cool and rainy.  

A bunch of women from my church ran either the 10k
or the half marathon.  I think we need to get matching windbreakers!

The rain held off until mile 9 or 10, so we ended the race a bit soggy, but by that far along, the rain actually gave a bit of variety to the event.  And we all finished strong!

Some of us accepted plastic mylar blankets afterward,
and some of us eco-nuts graciously declined.

Does my advancing age slow me down?  Today's run was about 3 minutes slower than my run 2 years ago, so maybe a little, but I'm still (barely) sub-10-minute miles, which one of my students once described to me as "I heard that's a good pace for someone your age".  Yes, yes it is!  One of my buddies saw the results on line later and texted us all:

'Snough! You were 2 minutes off medaling!! 4th in your age group.

And then, thinking a bit, she followed it up with this;

Phew. That would have been annoying to have to stand around shivering, waiting for the medal you were going to refuse.

I love my running buddies, very, very much.  (And I'm also very glad we're done with training for this particular half.)

And that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy with our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.