A Perfect Saturday

Yesterday was just about as perfect a Saturday as they come. 

First of all, we slept in.  Sleeping in on the weekends is a privelege that has been a long time coming for Andrew and me.  Before children, we were the masters of lounging in bed in that glorious half awake, half asleep state until at least noon on Saturdays and Sundays.  Then the children were born.  In a cruel strike of fate, they all bucked genetics and wake up with the chickens.  Literally.  They are up and about long before the sun rises.  Weekdays, weekends, vacations, summers, midnight bedtimes.  Whatever.  They are very early risers and until now, we had to be up with them.  Ugh.  

 But the children get up themselves now.  They feed the animals and let Goose out.  Jack makes breakfast for everyone.  Cereal, microwave meals, whatever.  Then they watch TV until we get up.  It's really the only time they watch it all week as their schedules are so busy otherwise, so we don't really mind a once-a-week TV marathon.  And more often than not they are watching some History Channel or nature documentary.  Jack rules the remote (because in our family, only he and Andrew know how to work the damn thing) and the girls are easy-going enough to watch what he wants to watch.

So we slept in until 8 (don't laugh, that time is a great improvement, and we're proud of it) and it was wonderful.  Then Jack and Andrew went downtown to the friendly barber (who has Playboys for his clients to read...don't get me started) and got haircuts.  They came home just in time to see the lead runners in the first annual Blue Ridge Marathon pass by our house somewhere around the 19th mile.  Yep, Roanoke is hosting a marathon!  And it passes right by our house on Avenham.

We blasted music (Eye of the Tiger, the theme from Rocky, Rock Me Like a Hurricaine), held up hand-made signs, passed out icy orange slices and just generally yelled and cheered for all 324 runners that passed our house.  A bunch of friends and neighbors joined us, too.  It was a total blast and I can tell it's going to become a tradition for us.  It was so neat to realize the runners REALLY appreciated our support.  Not the first ten or so die-hards, who wouldn't even make eye contact with us.  But the rest of them laughed at our signs and thanked us over and over for coming out.  Some even stopped to chat for a pace or two.  The children loved it!  And so did the adults.

A bit about the marathon.  It's in it's first year and is considered one of the most challenging marathons in the country.  As a matter of fact, here is a runner's quote in this morning's paper:  "I've done two Ironmans and they weren't this hard.  I felt at mile 13 like I usually feel at mile 23."  The marathon begins at the Taubman Art Museum, proceeds through town, climbs up Mill Mountain and then up Roanoke Mountain (a total of a 3000 foot climb!), snakes back to and then through town and ends up at the Museum. 26.2 miles.  Another 450 folks ran the half marathon and a bunch of children ran a mile-long kid's race.  About a thousand runners total.  Apparently, the race is already getting rave reviews on marathon blogs and message boards.  So hopefully the race will continue to grow and grow and bring good things to our lovely town.

After the race, we were all hungry (watching all those runners, you see) and we didn't want to spend lots of money so we went to Sam's.  Samples galore.  Entrees, deserts, drinks and snacks.  And enough variety to please everyone.  We picked up a few things while we were there and then came home, jumped on the sectional and watched The Sandlot 2.  Great movie.  I've heard it from the front seat of the car several times but had not ever actually seen it and it was a hoot.

Next, our favorite sitter, Jen, arrived and took over evening bathing and dinner duties (I did say this was the perfect day, didn't I?) while Andrew and I locked ourselves in our room and took a luxuriously long, hot steam shower and got gussied up for an evening out.  We left without a fuss or a cry.  They all love Jen so it makes goodbyes really easy.

We went to Tim and Katie's house for dinner.  Ann and Hans joined us and we all had a ball.  Good wine, beer and some sort of sneaky martini that tasted like candy.  Salad, grilled miso salmon, red pepper risotto and asparagus.  Strawberry shortcake for desert.  The perfect ending to the perfect day.

:-)