The last five weeks have been very stressful so I thought I would write out what happened during the rest of the year to verify that it all balanced out.

January~ Emily and I took a trip to visit Uncle Larry and to see Cousin Eddie. We flew Southwest and since Emily had flown a “real airline” with her friend Izy, she complained about layovers and having to fight for a seat. We rented a car and ate at a diner where she could have chicken and waffles. She loved it!

February~I conned Emily into running another half marathon with me. She swore after Disneyland she was never going to run one again. I made her a Dorothy running costume and myself a flying monkey and we beat her previous time. Of course she took off ahead of me so she could finish a few seconds faster. We also visited the Wizard of Oz museum which was really interesting and the room we stayed in at the motel was decked out in wizard of oz.

March~Kayla and I went to visit Missouri State in Springfield to see if that’s where she wanted to attend college. She loved it but would later drag me to University of Central Missouri and then take forever to finally decide to go to Missouri State. She waited so long and we had an issue with her meningitis shot that she ended up getting a dorm room to herself. She was quite upset because she thought a roommate would be someone to do everything with and explore campus.

April~Emily received her white coat for Physical Therapy. This meant she was ready to start clinical’s in the summer. No one ever wears their white coat but they all have one. Brian and Allyson did not get the memo to wear nice clothes and they showed up in jeans. But the rest of us looked amazing. I also ran my first full marathon since my foot surgery. I shorted myself two weeks of training and wanted to die by the time it was finished. It started raining for about two miles and was a terrible experience.

May~This was the month I decided to try low carb/high fat diet. It worked great except for when it came to running. I did a half marathon in Branson Missouri with my friend Laura and I again wanted to die about half way through. I certainly was not hungry eating this way but I couldn’t sustain long runs so had to ditch that for the wind.

June~Kayla and I went on a 5 day cruise. We only had two scheduled stops and the second stop was cancelled due to high winds and waves or something. We did get to swim with stingrays but totally missed snorkeling. So instead we had mother daughter pictures taken and had a lot of fun with the photographer. I ended up spending way too much money on the pictures but it was worth it. Emily was in Oklahoma for clincials so I went and saw her and also got to see Rob Bell in person. He was awesome as always and totally worth the seven hour drive. Allyson really enjoyed stopping by the precious moments chapel on the way home.

July~ While the family was at the lake I remembered I had stated four years ago I wanted to run fifty miles by my fiftieth birthday which was the following May. I spent an afternoon researching how to train for such an event. Soleil was finally starting to recover from her bladder infection. My car did not pass inspection so after eleven years and 184,000 miles I had to say good-bye to the VUE. Big Stuf was probably the best camp since the first year I attended. All the speakers were fabulous and I really enjoyed them.

August~Emily’s guinea pig died under my care. We put him in the freezer until she could return from Oklahoma for a proper burial. Kayla moved to Missouri State and Allyson started her sophomore year. The house was quiet and peaceful again.

September~My favorite doctor left Mercy and I still miss him. I went on a two week cruise with my mom. I visited Mercy Dublin and saw where it all started back in the 1800’s. It was cool to walk down Baggot street. I also ran a full marathon on the cruise ship.

October~I ran my 50K in preparation for the fifty mile race in the end of April. I drug Emily and Allyson along as my crew. It was a 0.8 mile loop and I did like 36 laps. I finished much faster than I had hoped but wasn’t too sure if I really wanted to pound out fifty miles. However I had thrown down the gauntlet so there was no turning back.

November~My brother in law had a stroke on Black Friday. I learned that there really is a difference between Mercy and other hospitals. There really is something to the Mercy spirit that we are evaluated on each year. It also reinforced why I have driven by St. Anthony’s for the past twenty-eight years and would never ever work there.

December~We had a nice Christmas and I received great running pants from the husband. I lost my favorite black pair on the cruise. I haven’t seen them since I returned home. I have started fifty mile training and still wonder why I said that.

Mole Moral~If 2017 is half as crazy as 2016 bring it on!

Twas the night before Christmas and all the Moles were wide awake.

Well except for dad Mole who was in bed just before ten.

Emily was scrapbooking ,while Kayla was playing on her phone

and Allyson was gaming on her computer, and I mom Mole was writing this blog.

Now Santa was waiting for the freaks to go to bed.

Mom Mole yelled “you freaks go to bed so Santa can come.”

They all laughed and got louder and louder and louder.

Then dad Mole awoke from his sleep and said,

That’s it, everyone to bed right this minute.

As usual no one listened but they did become quiet.

Eventually they all fell asleep and Santa arrived.

However he tripped and fell over the dirt in the floor

Allyson had refused to sweep the morning before.

She said there was no reason to clean because

only family was coming and why should they care.

Now Santa’s in the hospital with a broken leg

And no more presents were delivered that day.

Mole Moral ~ Always clean the house before company arrives,

it may just be family but a visitor could show up.

It would be embarrassing  if they too became injured,

from dirt on the floor.

Finally after having the tree up for a week, I managed to put the ornaments on. Don’t judge me, I really am not a Christmas person. Although once I finally drag the ornaments out, I do enjoy all the memories behind them. I came across my favorite for this year and it belongs to Kayla. Every year I give each girl and my nieces and nephews an ornament that relates in some way to the previous year.

Last year Kayla got pulled over for speeding on the way to Kansas City to visit Emily. The cop made her get out of the car and sit in his car. Yes this freaked me out after she told me but there was nothing I could do about it. He asked her if she had  smoked pot. She said yes once but it was a year ago. He kept grilling her about smoking and if she had, to just tell him and they could work something out. She hadn’t smoked so she refused so he asked if he could search her car. She said sure. He found nothing and looked at her and told her she needed to vacuum her floorboards. He gave her a speeding ticket and left. It was only after this that she and Dominic realized she had passed a skunk and had skunk smell in her car. I am sure the cop thought she was smoking skunk buds.

So last year this was the ornament she opened.

Mole Moral ~ If you are going to get caught speeding, you will remember it forever because your mother is a creative nut job!