Our Story (85 Percent): Special Visitors and Fall Update

We had special visitors at our house yesterday evening. President Barack Obama paid us visit! Can you believe that? He wanted to deliver a critical message to us …..how important it was for us to vote for Mitt Romney on election day! In person, the President seemed much smaller in stature. All of the stress of campaigning has also caused him to lose weight. He looked exceptionally thin. We did appreciate the President’s efforts to garner more votes for Romney, but we had already made up our mind that we were voting for Romney.

President Obama

Strangely, during President Obama’s visit, we were also invaded by a swarm of bees. I don’t know where they came from, but they somehow managed to find a way to infiltrate our house. I must admit, these were not your normal bees; they were the best - looking bees I’ve ever seen!! Fortunately, I don’t think anyone got stung. Whew! On second thought, I think Lance may have wanted to be stung by the Queen Bee .

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!

As the sun fell and the air became crisp, we were visited by a dark creature of the night—a terrifying zombie from the grave! Our initial reaction was to run, but instead, we chose to defend our home. We soon learned that this was completely unnecessary because the zombie was actually very friendly. Have you ever heard of Casper, the “friendly” ghost? Well, this was Brandon, the “friendly” zombie!

Zombies from the grave.

With the President at our home, the swarm of bees, and the zombie, it became a fun Halloween party. We had a great time eating pizza, trick or treating, and snacking on candy! We tried to get Dexter, America’s favorite serial killer, to stop by, but regrettably, he was a no-show. Perhaps, he may visit us later when he has a night off from feeing his "dark passenger". I can only hope. I have to convince Lance to disappear one night and have Dexter stop by.

The entire group (Mitt Romney, two kitty cats, two zombies, the President, and the bees)

The Queen Bee with what was suppose to be Dexter

Fall has been a very busy time for us; nothing ever seems to slow down. With all the kids' activities and school, it just seems endless. Lance continues to spend weekends on the boat. He works 7-days a week. It is ultimately going to catch up with him. I was able to convince him to take a weekend off to attend the Rock and Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon with me last weekend. We stayed at the historic Biltmore Hotel which served as the location for the Academy Awards in the 1930s. It was a beautiful, elegant hotel. We had dinner Saturday night at L.A. Live with several friends. The weekend was supposed to be romantic, but things don’t always go as planned. After dinner, we left L.A. Live and began to walk the mile distance back to hotel. Unlike the typical woman, I am a very skilled navigator. Give me a map, and I can find my way anywhere. I am not exaggerating. Lance relies heavily on my navigation skills. I direct; he leads. When we left the restaurant, I foolishly did not look at a map (my mistake) and just started walking to what I thought was back to the hotel. We walked about ¾ mile off track before I realized it. I then glanced at the map (finally!) and began to navigate us back to the hotel. Lance seemed to think we were not in the best part of town. However, I did not feel threatened because Lance always makes me feel safe. Nonetheless, Lance was not a happy guy. He was very stressed and concerned for our safety. He began to show his frustration. What made matters worse was that he was not feeling well. With the map, I was able to easily direct us back to the hotel, and once we arrived, poor Lance had a fever, the runs, and uncontrollable vomiting. He made the hotel room smell like a sewer. Because he was so sick, he felt guilty for not being able to support me the way he wanted to for the half marathon, but I have done many half marathons in my two-year running career so it was not a big deal. I am slowly climbing the mountain back to my previous fit condition and completed the half in 2:17:09.

At the Los Angeles Convention Center to pick up my race bib for the Rock and Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon

Brandon is playing flag football with the Harvard Crimson. He loves the game and is getting better as the season ends. At last week’s game, he helped the team gain several yards on the field. I don't quite understand the game, but we love spending Friday nights out on the field cheering him on! Next week, Lance, Dylan, Brandon, and I will be traveling to San Antonio, Texas to run the Rock and Roll San Antonio Half Marathon. Yes, two weeks later, I’m running another half. It will be a mini vacation for us while Mia gets to have her daddy all to herself.