Dear 'Other" Knee,

Are you fucking kidding me? As I lay here with ice on you, I wonder what the hell you are thinking. I imagine it is somewhere along the lines as, "Hey, do you know what I think would be funny?" "If I decided to now cause Heather pain since she is on the rebound from the last surgery and she is gearing up for some good stuff."

Ha ha ha knee, you are hilarious. You know what else you are? A fucking evil bastard, so BITE ME!

Yours truly,
Heather

P.B.R. and Cinnamon Bears if ya Finish!!

Yes, it's true. Gabe has not yet reached his level of sadistic behavior,

so he ran his 9th Marathon. I can not believe he has done 9 already.

I think he is a pretty awesome mother trucker!

Z-Man loves his Daddy.

Noah looking handsome and windblown.

More Cowbell. I wrote this sign before I even knew he had written it on his race number.

Despite what the homeless in Las Vegas think of marathon runners, we totally believe in Gabe!

Nikki and Goonie waiting for Gabe.

It has recently been brought to my attention that I may not be the supportive wife as I have been in the past. Gabe has started to think that I view his marathons as more of a pain in the ass, and not as an accomplishment of a lifetime, let alone 9 times over.

It isn't true. He has more drive and determination than anyone I have ever met, and I could not be more proud of him. I have serious pride telling people that he is a runner, and I look at him as unstoppable. I look up to him, and I am honored to be by his side as he takes on this monster of a task, and kick it's ass every time.

10 miles with a helmet

I got my ass up this morning and put it on my bike. I met Uncle Mike over at the Jordan River Trail and we rode together. Hmmm, where do I start??

I didn't take my ipod, but I did turn it up way loud in the truck on the way there and blasted 'Too Drunk Too Fuck" by The Dead Kennedys before I got started. I thought it might get my adrenaline up a little bit. Punk music always gets me stoked for just about anything.

I, of course, am waaaay out of shape. Really, you ask? Why yes, I am. I guess my obvious physical appearance wouldn't lead you to believe so, but I am. I did really good for awhile, then at one point I lost my footing while changing gears when going up a slight incline. I recovered, but after that, I felt behind. Mike was nice enough to wait for me, or at least not act too annoyed when my sorry ass caught up with him.

I wore a helmet, at Gabe's request. Imagine that, I am not to be trusted on a moving object without protective head gear on. I am actually surprised Gabe doesn't make me wear one while driving in a car! Oh shit, shouldn't have said that.......I probably gave him a few ideas. I do believe that I was the only one this morning wearing a helmet, other than the adorable 4 year olds riding their bikes with training wheels and a stuffed fucking puppy in the basket. I felt like people passed me half expecting me to have drool coming out of the side of my mouth because I was 'special'.

Well, I did make it 10 miles. 10 miles is not bad in my opinion since I have not physically been on my bike in 2 years. I did lie to my physical therapist about being on one, but lying and doing are two entirely different things, or so I have been told.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. Who knows, maybe by the end of this week I will have gone 11 miles! Whoa, dream big!!!

Not knowing where to start, or what to say

Life had really been insane lately.

Noah turned 9 on Sunday, Addie turns 15 tomorrow, and things will never be the same for our family.

How can one 4:00 in the morning phone call change so many lives? I have come to look at life so differently in the past two weeks. I see it as a gift I am lucky to have, yet at the same time, it is so fucking unfair. I am at a loss as to how things work, where you go from here, how to look at things as any other way but fucked up. I literally ache for Mike, Obie and Nikki. I am so sad to see such sorrow brought to a family who has experienced so much already.

I look at my kids and feel I have to remind them everyday that their Aunt Debby loved them for fear one day they will not remember, mainly Zane, since he is so young. He looks at her picture and says, "My Aunt Debby loves me, and I miss her." He really doesn't understand what any of this means, but he hears people talking about her and it is the only response he has. I know for the rest of us there are so many awesome memories that we will always have, but there are times I want a re-do. I want to do things we talked about, even just going out with my friend Jenny for drinks. We thought we had all the time in the world. Why would we think any differently? Jenny and I have definitely become closer from this. We were drifting apart a lot, but we both had so much love for Debby, we have found comfort with each other during this.

I am still in shock I think. I still don't believe it. I can close my eyes and hear the doctor....word for word, say it, but it still has not registered. How can it?

Reminders of Debby-

Margaritas
"It's the best"
Dancing in the kitchen
Taking care of Noah
Stuffing for Thanksgiving
Sunglasses
Crocs
Bringing a flask to dinner to 'spruce up our drinks'
Hippie
Birkenstocks
Particular
Nordstrom
Listening
Chicken Noodle Soup with chicken and celery picked out
Toast cut into 4 squares
"Mmmm kay"
Love, love, so much love!

Love you Aunt Debby!!