Ready for November

October has come and gone. It feels like it didn’t last very long this year, y’all. As soon as the 31st passed it’s like all remnants of October were wiped away, and Christmas replaced it all. Fall is basically skipped which is sooo weird to me. To top it all off, Halloween this year was a bit of a bust for us. It rained basically all day, and even though we did get a few dry hours in the evening we weren’t able to bring the doggies with us. It was so muddy, and cold enough that Emery had to wear a jacket over her costume. Then there was a delay at the car rental office which caused us to miss getting to the nursing homes on time so we were disappointed about that too. Still, we made the best of it! Lemons into lemonade, and all that. We made our way through several neighborhoods, and by the end of the night Emery had a bucket full of candy and I had Starbucks in my hand. Win, win. 

And now it’s November! Last week, I forgot to schedule this post, which is why you’re getting it today. With a few edits. You see, on Thursday we had to wake up at 2 AM in order to go with my parents into the city for my dad’s surgery. What was supposed to be a two hour (max) procedure turned into almost four and a half. And I spent three days having to drive back and forth (5 hours round trip) before they finally released him. By the time we got back home on Saturday afternoon we were exhausted, and I barely had time to get on here. Sorry, guys! Anyway, my dad is now at home; resting. This passed weekend we had to do a few of his errands, and I was reminded of just how much we depend on him for things. So, I told him he’s not allowed to get sick or have surgery ever again. He’s just gunna have to suck it up. Ha! I'm kidding. Kind of. All of that aside, I’m glad that he’s feeling better, and the issue was fixed. They told him to take it easy for the next two weeks, but with his stubbornness it won’t be too long before he’s back at the gym with me. Even if it's just to boss me around. The man does not know how to stay at home and do nothing. But he wouldn't be the bad ass that he is if he didn't have that trait. 

So, that’s how our month started off. We also learned the fate of our car, which was more bad news. And then I found out that our health insurance “wellness” check-up no longer includes mental health or blood work. Just paps. There's so much wrong with this, but it's what you get when you have less than ideal health insurance. I can't complain though because our boss pays for it. Now, I know I need to get everything checked out, but when I was told the cost would be over $100 up front if I wanted to do the "full wellness" I just couldn't afford it. Can you believe that's how much a doctor's visit cost? So, it looks like I’ll have to hold off on all of this other stuff for now. And since I have no control over any of these things going on right now I'm just trying to roll with the punches. I know that everything happens for a reason so I’m choosing to stay positive about what's going on. Despite all of the setbacks I’m really looking forward to this new month though. I'm ready for the leaves to start turning colors, and for the cold weather that's supposed to start coming in. Hello, 50 degree days! I'm ready for you! I'm also excited for Thanksgiving, and the relatives who plan to come visit this year. Plus, hello, Hallmark Channel Christmas movies have started rolling out! So yea, I'm ready for November. I have a feeling it's going to be a good one. 

A Mud Run

Before I get into the main topic of my post today, I’d just like to say that our weekend did not go as planned. My husband and I were planning to have a nice night out on Saturday after the mud run. Then we were planning on going to the Aquarium on Sunday morning followed by lunch with a friend and his family. That didn’t happen. And as bummed as we were, we decided we’d just try again in a few weeks. :)  Silver lining.

Dad (far left), Brother (center)

Anyway, this past Saturday my brother and my dad competed in the “Original Mud Run” of Dallas/ Fort Worth with one of five company teams that FMC had formed. Of course, I went to cheer them on, and encourage them as they went through the course. I’m that person that’s running along side whenever possible. Regardless of what people say, those obstacles looked pretty tough. To add to the level of difficulty competitors had to wear pants and combat boots. At first it sounded like it would be pretty fun. Then, I found out that they had signed up for the 10k run not the 5k. Yup, they were insane.

We followed them along and met up at certain obstacles and check points. Emery came along too and she had so much fun. She wanted to keep running with me but after about a mile of us running to meet the guys my mom came and got her because she was thirsty and she looked pretty tired. But she cheered on her grandpa and uncle when she recognized them. It was pretty awesome. I was so proud of my dad and my brother for both kicking a lot of ass on Saturday. One of the conditions placed on teams is that they all had to cross either together or within 15 seconds of each other. And you’re only as strong as your weakest member. So even though they didn’t win a prize or a medal, I’m pretty sure their time was average and they all crossed together. I’m anxiously waiting for the site to post the results.

Unfortunately, a tragedy did take place at the event. A young man went missing and was found in the river on Sunday morning along the course route. Also, a women on one of our coed teams had to be transported out by ambulance during the race. So even though these events are supposed to be fun and challenging, they can be very dangerous. This a result of poor planning, and lack of vigilant personnel. According to the website (and at the event itself) they stated that you didn’t need to know how to swim, there would be lifeguards at each crossing of the Trinity River, alternate routes, plenty of volunteers would be present at the obstacles, and they would have paramedics on site. 

I was there, and none of these were even close to accurate. Ambulances had to be called to the site. I watched at each of the river crossings and there were no lifeguards. Only one alternate route that I could see, and due to only one entry point at each crossing people would all just jump in at once. This caused the rope to be pulled under while people were trying to hold on. Also, many contestants were being accidently pushed off into the river or kicked in the face. There were many “almost” drowning's. There were no volunteers directing the groups, or at every obstacle like there should have been. In fact, one of the 5k “waves” that had gone earlier that day ended up taking the 10k route because many of them didn’t know the route. It was such a jumbled mess. I would think that with such a well known event they would have had better coordinating teams, trained volunteers, and decent safety precautions in place. But I saw none.

My brother saved two people from drowning on Saturday. One of them came up to him after the race and thanked him. He told me that he himself had almost drowned. Now, my brother’s a really good swimmer so this was a shock to me. But he said it was chaotic. He had the air knocked out of him while trying to push a contestant that was struggling to stay afloat out of the water. Had his team mate not turned around and saw him sink, he says he very well could have died. This is such a scary thing for me. To know that someone actually died, in the same “wave” as my brother and father, while crossing the same river hits so close to home. No one saw the man go under. No one on land was paying attention. This very well could have been my dad or my brother. And that’s terrifying. It’s such an awful thing that could have been avoided and I feel awful for the family and friends of this man. It’s also really sad that it took something like this to bring to light the many flaws involved with this event. 

Thankfully, none of our guys were hurt. Thankfully, they all did really well. And thankfully, they all crossed together, as a team. I'm so proud of all of them. They did such a great job.

p.s. With the lack of safety precautions at this event, 

my brother has said that he probably won't participate 

in this specific mud run again unless they coordinate it better.