January 11, 2015

Mini-reunion

This weekend was AMAZING. First of all, though, let me announce the winner of the Altra shoes. I was so excited about the weekend that I forgot to post the winner. A huge congrats to Cathy B.! I've sent you an email. I really hope that you love the Altras as much as I love them!

Friday evening, Eli had his birthday party at the bowling alley. He chose cosmic bowling, so it was dark and the music was really loud--fun for the kids. A little nerve-wracking for me, who was trying to keep an eye on 14 kids! ;) But Eli had a blast, and the party was great.

The party ended at 8:00, so I headed out to the airport while Jerry went home with the boys. Andrea made the flight (she was flying stand-by using a buddy pass from my brother, so her seat wasn't confirmed), and she arrived at around 8:45. We went to my house to drop off her bag, and then went to the bar a couple blocks from my house for drinks and Keno.

I chose my usual three numbers: 11, 25, and 33; and then for my fourth (I always choose a random fourth number), I picked 62, because there were 62 more days until I leave for Portland. It turned out to be a really lucky ticket! (A quick Keno rundown: You choose numbers between 1 and 80 (I always choose four numbers, because that has the best odds of winning). There are 20 numbers pulled per drawing, and if you match two of them, you win $1. If you match three, you win $5. And if you match all four, you win $72... on each drawing.)

I paid for 20 drawings (which cost $1 each, so it was $20 total). On about the fifth drawing, I matched all four numbers, so I won $72! After all 20 drawings were done, my ticket had won a total of $92 (Andrea's won $10, so we had won enough to cover our Keno tickets, our food and drinks, and STILL had money left over. Those kind of nights are the best ;) While we were there, we talked a lot about what's been going on the past couple of years, and it was really nice to catch up.


Yesterday morning, I got a text from Rik from my From Fat to Finish Line team. He had been hoping to drive out here for Saturday night, because Angela (the producer of the documentary) said she was going to try and send us a link to watch the rough cut of the film last night. Since the team was Rik's and my idea, we thought it would be really great if we could watch it together. So yesterday morning, Rik said that he and Cynthia, his wife, were going to head to my house at around noon (it's a six hour drive).

Andrea wanted to try La Pita, because I always talk about it. Even though I just went there for Eli's birthday, of course I was willing to go back! ;) So we went to La Pita for lunch, and it was delicious, as usual. Then we went back to my house to get ready for company in the evening. I made chili and put it in the crock pot, so it would be ready to eat when Rik and Cynthia got there. Andrea made chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Rik sent me a text when they were in Toledo, which made Dean pop into my head. I kicked myself for not thinking to invite him to come over, too! It just hadn't occurred to me. Dean was really inspired by Rik after hearing about From Fat to Finish Line on a podcast. After hearing the podcast, Dean started running, and changed the way he ate. Long story short, he lost 140-something pounds and just ran his first marathon. So I was really excited for Dean and Rik to meet face-to-face!

I figured it wouldn't hurt to send Dean a quick text to invite him last-minute, and he promptly responded that he'd be here in about an hour. So it worked out really well.

I hadn't told Rik that Andrea was here, so when he arrived, I had Andrea answer the door. He was surprised and shocked to see her, so that was fun. When Dean got here, I made the introductions.


We ate chili and chatted for a while. Angela sent us the link for the film, and we were ridiculously excited to watch it. My mom came over, too, and we all crowded in front of the TV for 96 minutes of viewing time. This project has been in the works for what feels like forever, so to be able to see the rough cut of the film was really exciting.

Because it was just the rough cut, there are still a lot of changes to be made. But it was really fun to see what was there and to reminisce about the whole experience. The only thing that could have been better would be to have the entire team in one room to watch it! Angela will be in Phoenix this weekend, so while I'm there, she wants to film a couple more pieces for the interview. I can also give her some feedback about the film and see what she thinks.

Andrea, Rik, and Cynthia all had to leave this morning. We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast first, and then I drove Andrea to the airport while Rik and Cynthia hit the road to go home. The visit was short, but super fun!


Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! You can check out this post for submitting a photo. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

10 comments:

  1. Where can I find the Fat to the Finish line podcast?

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    Replies
    1. It's an interview with Rik and Ada on the podcast called Runner Academy. Here is the url to their episode: http://runneracademy.com/from-fat-to-finish-line-rik-akey-ada-wong/

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  2. Katie,

    I have responded to your email. Thanks so much for this opportunity. I am excited for the new shoes! If you didnt receive my email I can resend it. Thanks

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    Replies
    1. Got it, Cathy! I passed along your info to Golden, so he should be in touch soon. Congrats!

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  3. Sounds like you guys had a great weekend! So glad Dean was able to meet Rik too!

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    Replies
    1. Everything worked out so well for being so last-minute!

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  4. Katie, your excitement about seeing your friends just made me smile. I'm so glad you took the chance to see if Andrea could visit you and that you got to see Rik and Dean as well! Your happiness shone through your writing and after the year you've had, it's a great thing :)

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    Replies
    1. A fun weekend with friends was definitely just what I needed right now! :)

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    2. Hey, that's what I was just going to say! You so deserved this fun weekend! :)

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  5. WOW !...fantastic : ) So glad the whole gang could make it...and on such a short time line. It was meant to be ! Glad a wonderful time was had by all. Many times..that is indeed the best medicine of all : )

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