Getting up this morning was really tough!  We went to a party and rang in the new year, then drove home 1.5 hours and tried to get to bed early.  We didn't get to sleep until close to 2 am.  Ouch!  Then this morning we got up and drove to Midlothian where our daughter and her husband lives.  

We all ran the First Run/Walk 5K--Chris, Megan, Aaron, Sarah, and I.  This was a low key race through a neighborhood, but it was a fun relaxing race.  I had no issues with the course or my breathing, but truly had a great time.  A highlight was while I was waiting for the rest of the family, I noticed a little girl sitting on the curb reading a Nancy Drew book.  So cute.  (it reminds me of me!)

Jingle Bell 5K

This has been an extremely busy last few weeks.  I flew to California to see my daughter for Thanksgiving, then came back to finish papers for class and go to work.  After that, we flew to Copenhagen to pick up our daughter from her study abroad semester.  So getting runs in was very difficult.  It has been 11 days since I last ran.  I had hoped that wouldn't happen, but life just butted in.  
Today was the Jingle Bell 5K in our own county--it was held in (little) Washington, VA.  I dressed in a Santa apron and wore a Minnie Santa hat.  I was a little worried that the apron would get stuck between my legs or trip me or something.  Luckily nothing like that happened.  I didn't run as well as I had hoped, but 11 days of no running makes it hard to run well in a race.  There were a couple of hills, that I had to walk up, not run.  But overall this was a great race.  I had a lot of fun, got to see several old friends, and after it was all done, had my picture on the front page of the paper!

I made the front page of our local newspaper!  The caption reads: "Run with Bells On: A festively dressed runner -- and a few other runners and walkers -- pounded the pavements of Washington for the annual Jingle Bell 5 K".