What I Grew Up to Be

Last week Jess did a decade recap, Carly picked up on it, and some others may have as well...I'll be next on that bus. Thanks Jess for coming up with the idea of recapping the decade. It was fun to look back. Thank goodness for digital photography and iPhoto, I'd have don't think I could have kept any of the dates straight without it.

So, here's my look back...waaaaaaaaaaaay back.

2000

• We ring in the new year at a community block party...which was outdoors. It rains all night until about 11:30, which is when all the neighbors empty into the street to dance and party like its 1999.
  
• I'm in my 7th year of teaching high school English.
• DramaGirl is 4; Turbo is 2

• One day after school, I have a brief conversation with Elsie who tells me that she is applying to a new doctorate program at a local university. I already knew about the program, but hadn't thought much about it. When she suggests that I apply too, I decide on the spot to do so (why not?). I get all my paperwork, transcripts, letters of rec, etc together in about a week to meet the application deadline. I figure acceptance is a longshot as I do not have a master's degree.
  
• We sell our little house in San Diego and buy a big house in La Mesa...a house that needs significant remodeling. We live with Walter's parents for 3 weeks, Walter's brother for 4 months, then we move into the one bedroom guest house on our property as the remodel takes place.
  
• Much to my surprise, the doctorate program accepts me and I start grad school that fall
  

2001

• Continue taking grad school classes at night and teaching during the day
• Continue remodeling the house. I start to wonder if it will ever end. Get tired of living in 1 bedroom, so we call the remodel "finished" and move into our "new home" a mere nine months after buying it.

• DramaGirl starts kindergarten.

2002

• End of school year heffer party is at my house on the driveway. Betty rides on the back of a Harley.
• Recognizing that teaching full time and grad work is overwhelming me, I apply for a "district office" job that won't require that I grade papers or plan lessons. I figure I'm a long shot because the district doesn't really like the high school where I teach (it's a charter school and the bane of the district's existence). Much to my surprise, I am offered the job. Many predict that I'll never return to teaching. Betty cries when I tell her I have a new job because she thinks we'll never see each other. I promise her that won't happen.
  
• Walter and I turn 40 and throw each other kick-ass parties.
• A picture taken at the annual heffer-holiday party reveals that I really need to lose some weight.
  

2003

• Begin dissertation study
• Start administrative credential program, decide to quit when I learn that I can take a test to get credential.
• Turbo starts kindergarten. DramaGirl is in 2nd grade.

• Family vacation to Sedona reveals another set of photos that suggest I should do something about my weight. I do nothing. Classes, work, dissertation, kids, seem to take all my available time.
  

2004

• Take and pass administrative credential test even though I know I don't really want to be a school administrator.
  
• Finish dissertation and graduate from doc program. Walter throws a great party for me and my whole family shows up.

• I spend LOTS of time at youth soccer, softball, little league baseball games.
• I go on the South Beach Diet and lose 25 pounds.
• The district eliminates my position, so I go back to teaching with the herd at the same high school. Getting students to call me Dr is fun...sometimes they ask me for medical advice :-)). I realize I am at the right place and start having fun teaching again. I love working with the herd.
  

2005

• Whole family (Walter's side) takes a cruise to Alaska.
  

• Walter passes the CFA exam.
• Heffers begin running the high school where we teach. We go to various conferences to "show off" the school. Among us are department chairs, professional development leaders, committee heads and project leaders.
  
• My FIL registers all of us for a Thanksgiving morning 5K as a fundraiser for Jewish Family Services, so I walk my first 5K (stroll is more like it...1 hour, 2 minutes)... I learn two things that morning. First, all sorts of people run these things (not just what I consider to be "real" runners) and second, a 1 hour 5k is really, really, really slow. I tell Betty about the 5K experience and she suggests that we start signing up for races and actually running them because it'd be fun!

2006

• I run/walk my first "real" 5K -the Carlsbad 5000. I'm sold. This is fun. I start running somewhat regularly.

• Betty, Elsie and I run/walk several other 5K events that year. We always go to breakfast afterward, and celebrate with mimosas. I usually finish somewhere around 35 minutes. I start running on the treadmill between races.
• DramaGirl "graduates" from elementary school and starts middle school.

2007

• The herd goes to Momma's cabin at Tahoe for the 10th year. Unfortunately, the cabin suffers from some water damage, so we stay at a rental cabin. Temperature in Reno when when we land is 4º. SoCal cows are completely unprepared for this.
• Walter's whole family takes a cruise of the north Atlantic. Walter, the kids, and I continue the vacation and see New York City, Washington DC, and Boston.
• Wildfires in October come close to La Mesa, but not close enough for us to evacuate.

• Betty, Elsie and I run more 5K races. For the first time, I run an entire 5K and then an 8K. After telling Betty about this accomplishment, she suggests we run a 1/2 marathon. I tell her she's crazy.
• We register for the AFC 1/2 Marathon and run it in August. It's hot; it's miserable; but we finish it. Afterward, Betty says she wants to run a marathon. I tell her she's crazy.
• As we are driving to my parents house in Vegas for Thanksgiving, Walter tells me that he wants to quit his job and start his own business in the new year...and he also has a PLAN for it.
  
• I decide that running a marathon may not be the craziest thing.
  

2008

• Betty and I decide to run a marathon. We convince several others including Elsie, Clarence, BBJ, Alberta, and Edith to join the San Diego Track Club with us to train for the Rock and Roll Marathon in June.
• Walter quits his job and starts a new business.
  
• I start the Hefferblog to chronicle the herd's training efforts. In one of my first posts I have to write about dropping my iPhone in the toilet at World Famous after breakfast (and mimosas).
• I meet Mik, who is Betty's best friend from high school. She becomes a heffer and our regular running partner. She likes Guinness and fits right in immediately.
  
• I run my first marathon. I cry at the end.

• I decide on a little bit of a whim to apply for a position teaching at a community college. I figure I'm a long shot because the college is known for only hiring from within. Much to my surprise, they offer me a tenure-track position. In what was undoubtedly the most difficult professional decision I've ever made, I take the job. This time Betty doesn't cry because she knows she's stuck with me.
• I start teaching community college students. They are not so different than high school students.
  
• Betty and I run our 2nd AFC 1/2 Marathon
• Elsie, Alberta, Edith and I run the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon
• I run several other 5K races and come sooooooo close to breaking 30 minutes. The fastest is at Shelter Island (30:18/9:46).
  

2009

• The herd again joins the SDTC. This time our goal is to do the Triple Crown (Carlsbad, La Jolla and AFC 1/2 Marathons all in the same year).
  
• It becomes the year of injuries. Despite this, I run four 1/2 Marathons, a 15K, an 8K, a 10K, a 4 mile, and 2 5Ks.
  
• I had one PB this year, in the UT Race for literacy (an 8K) which I run in 49:30.
• Turbo starts middle school
• ...and everything else I wrote about in this post.
• As the decade closes, I'm in bed, asleep by 10:30.

So, there you have it. You know, when you're a kid, you wonder what you'll grow up to be. For me, it took a REALLY LONG TIME to almost-kinda-in-a-way-sorta-but-not-really grow up. If someone had told me a decade ago that I'd be a runner, that I'd have run a marathon, 7 half-marathons, and lots of other shorter races, I'd have pretty much laughed in their faces and yet here I am.

This is what I grew up to be...a mom-wife-heffer-teacher-runner.

I have no idea what the next decade holds, but I can't help but look forward to the ride...and the longshots