How IRONIC!

So . . . at the association, we've been discussing how to incorporate the Kindness Revolution's platform into association activities (Mentioned last week.) . We always coordinate a backpack drive each summer for a local, needy school. We thought it'd be a great idea to incorporate this with the Kindness Revolution. After contacting the KR to see where they'd like us to donate school supplies / backpacks in conjunction w/ their efforts in the public schools, the school that was picked was none other than the one I worked at briefly after our move to Memphis. (To put it nicely, I wasn't in Cobb County anymore. The campus cop checked on me hourly!) I was in one of the most challenging places between the Mississippi and the Atlantic Ocean! If the Revolution works in this school, I might offer to go back to work there!

Oops! Forgot to mention we (or I) hibernate during winter!

I hate to be cold and tend to do as little as possible during cold weather. Hence, a break from blogging that lasted several weeks, but I'm back and am going to try to update for those few of you who still aren't on Facebook the events of Cherrydale Rd. Our top ten events thus far for 2009:

1. The Kindness Revolution - This past week at AAGM's monthly luncheon, we had Ed Horrell, the founder of the kindness revolution speak. He was amazing and his cause needs to be championed by all now today more than ever before! The Revolution is genuinely focused on bringing dignity and respect back to everyday interaction, ie: providing good customer service. I can't wait to learn more about it. And what is even better, they're taking The Revolution to the Memphis City Schools to begin mentoring students in developing basic relationship skills so that, hopefully, our kiddos won't act like THIS when they get their first job.

2. Ronald McDonald House volunteering - AAGM's charity of choice is the Ronald McDonald House. We try to provide for the house whenever possible. I have been wanting to volunteer my time for a couple of years now on a more regular basis. I mentioned it to my boss and he agreed that I could spend a few hours a month at the house volunteering during the work day! How fortunate am I to get to spend some of my working hours giving back to the community? I am so lucky to have the job I have. I've only completed one volunteer shift thus far, but am so excited to get rolling on this new venture! (For any AAGM stakeholders out there - Don't worry! I promise I'm making up the hours.)

3. David goes on special assignment - Just before Thanksgiving, David accepted a request at work that would keep him off the road during the week and home on weekends! It was a 90-day assignment and we are SO excited to report that this is his last week on special assignment! It has been wonderful to have him home every weekend, but the special assignment doesn't fit D's interest and our home will be a happier with him back in his old job. (Any stakeholders of D's employer (Oh, yeah, that includes me!), know that we are beyond grateful for our situation, particularly given the economy, but we're just the MOST grateful when he is buying.)

4. Valentine's Day - In keeping with the Patterson tradition, David brought me yellow roses on Valentine's Day. (They're over a week old in this picture so be forgiving.) My father-in-law always gives my mother-in-law the flowers that were used in their wedding, and David has continued this tradition with me. But I do wonder when he goes to buy these on Valentine's Day if the people in the store think he is trying to let some poor girl off saying "Let's just be friends!" since yellow roses signify friendship. Thanks, Babe!

5. Tahoe goes to the vet - A few weeks ago, I was petting my big pup and noticed a lump in his right armpit. Of course, I was mortified, as I don't know dog anatomy very well, but I do somewhat know people anatomy. And humans have lymph nodes in their armpits. Yikes. He is way too young to have any type of major illness ahead, and besides, God, I can't do this right now! One pet leaving me at a young age was enough. Of course I got the first vet appointment available the next day and off we went. Luckily, it is nothing and only needs to be removed if I think it should be removed for cosmetic purposes. (I almost laughed at that. You can't even see it and won't unless it grows quite a bit.)

6. As I type, David is installing these! We didn't inherit any cool, older doorknobs with our house. Rather, we inherited nice swirly, gold knobs that arrived straight from the 1990s. And

some were chipping so they were really gold and silver.

7. And . . . the biggest excitement on Cherrydale is our new fence! Yippy! Now, we just have to

landscape! And boy, do we have to landscape! So if anyone is looking for something to do this spring, we'd love to have you visit. Bring your shovel!

Have a great week! Winter is almost over and Lent is just around the corner.

Happy New Year!

We went to dinner at Pearl's Oyster House on Main and
met up with Elizabeth for a drink afterwards. Still in bed well before midnight!

The ringing in of 2009 marketed the tenth New Year's that D and I have spent together. Particularly given the state of the world, we had a great 2008. While we still live in Memphis after high hopes of moving to Atlanta in 2008, we've learned to appreciate it and be grateful for our jobs and many blessing. During 2008, I of course learned to run much further, D picked up running, and we removed Cokes from our diet. We've tried to go more green through using only cloth napkins in our house, which really make a meal (even pizza) nicer anyway. Though we know we'll face struggles and many life lessons, we can't wait to see what 2009 brings to the Pattersons on Cherrydale. Happy New Year to you and yours!

Merry Christmas

A little tree with a HUGE bow! (I got a bit impatient this year looking for the perfect tree forgetting the large bow that was ready to go on it. Oh, well.)

M and D before church. The service was WONDERFUL!

Millie tries to be a present.

Mom and Dad

D and M

We've had SO much fun having my parents visit for the holidays. Eating, drinking, and shopping have been our favorite activities. We hope the holidays are living up to your expectations and all of your holiday wishes are coming true.

Morning Beverages!

There are very few mornings when one can sit around and leisurely drink his / her favorite beverages. One of those few guilt-free mornings for me is . . . Christmas morning. I started the morning with yummy coffee, which is a treat for me, as I don't drink coffee everyday. Coffee was followed by water to ensure

plenty of hydration! :) Finally, I got to have my Christmas MIMOSAS! Yummy! I hope you and yours had a very delicious and merry Christmas morning.

The FREAK running in the FREEZING cold!

M on the track in Autozone Park right after the race.

D and M after M changed in to dry clothes.


Courtney ( 1/2) and Mike (full) who both ran personal best times.

M and Courtney. Courtney was a huge help w/ my training.

At around 9:30 on Friday evening, I climbed into bed w/ my Tylenol PM, water, Runner's World, and The Shack. Read a few articles and a bit of my book and drifted off to sleep with relative ease (IE: Tylenol PM takes effect). I was abruptly awoken by my sweet Tahoe running around the house barking. You have got to be kidding, dog. I have to run my first half marathon in the morning. Shut up! I drifted back off and woke again to realize that dog and David were no longer in the room. My sweet husband had spent the night on the couch in the keeping room with the dog, who turned out to be sick, so I could rest. (While "keeping rooms" were supposed to be the warmest place in the house to sleep in the old south, ours is FREEZING!)

My alarm went off at 5:30 am. I asked God to let me push myself as hard as I possibly could today but to know when to stop if needed, grabbed my BlackBerry from the nightstand to read the most encouraging email I've ever received that my brother sent me the night before one last time, and hopped out of bed to get ready for the big day. I remained fairly calm until I couldn't find my race number, which I knew I had placed somewhere carefully the night before so I could find it quickly. Luckily, I found it rather quickly so not too much energy was wasted freaking out about a lost number. My stomach was of course giving me fits, but we had to go so we hopped in the car and off we went.

I went to my corral, which was pretty far back, but that is okay. I was there, and while I would run slower than most, I would run the entire course. After about fifteen minutes after the Elites started, Corral #11 was finally ready to go and away I ran. The race went fairly well for about the first nine miles. At nine miles, I hit a rough patch where energy seemed to be fleeting quickly. I will train better for my "rough spot" next time now that I have experienced it. As I'm running around town, my sweet husband had waited for me at mile 3 for over an hour and never saw me. He grew a bit worried that something had happened. He never heard anything from me so he headed to the stadium. He knew my estimated time of arrival at the finish line and started watching for me, and I didn't come, and didn't come. (I forgot to tell him that I would probably start about 15 minutes after the "official" clock because I'd need to start so far back so my time would be off by 15 minutes on the official clock.) Finally, I made it, and I was so excited to see a face I knew for the first time in over two COLD hours. (All of my friends run faster than me so I'm all on my own on race day, but that's okay!)

My race was dedicated to a little guy Cole Kasper, who's family moved to Memphis to be near St. Jude for him to receive treatment for cancer. He had a 35% chance at surviving and has been declared cured by his doctors. How AWESOME is that? If you aren't familiar w/ St. Jude, it is an out-patient hospital that treats children for cancer, and they never ask for a dime more than the parents' insurance pays. Through work, I've had the privilege of meeting several of the families who are in town seeking treatment at St. Jude and they are amazing.


My soreness today doesn't even begin to compare to the pain these little kiddos are going through. And I can only hope that these children and their families receive as much encouragement and support in their battle with cancer as I received from YOU while training for my first half marathon. I will take a couple of weeks off and get back to running!

Picture time!

Here is the LINK to our family pictures that were taken last week. The password is "cherry". The photographer did an amazing job w/ Tahoe! (The link will only be accessible for about a week.)