I am a Warrior

I've got to set the scene for you. Are you ready to turn on your internal soundtrack? 'Cause, to read this post, you really need to be hearing Pat Benatar's "I am the Warrior" in your head. You getting there? C'mon, "shooting at the walls of heartache. Bang, bang. I am the warrior." Got it? Ok, let's do this thing.

Months and months ago, I heard about this crazy run called the Warrior Dash. For some reason, I thought it would be awesome to run a 5K with obstacles interspersed and a guarantee to get dirty. So, because I thought it was such an awesome idea, I also tried to convince almost everyone I know to do it, too. Hey, spread the misery around, right?

I wasn't fully comprehending the whole concept until about a week or two ago. Then, I became convinced that I was crazy for signing up for this thing. Really, who runs an insane race with obstacles at 1pm on the last weekend of July? The heat was really freaking me out. I am strictly a morning runner. I am always finished running by 8 or 9 in the morning, and those are late mornings. Most days, I'm home from my runs by 7:30am. So, the thought of running in the middle of the day on July 30th was really quite daunting to me. And, well, frankly, the thought of jumping into a mud pit was also weighing on my mind.

A trip to the animal park

I've been a little reticent with the blog postings lately. I'm just going to blame the heat. It seems like a likely cause of my laziness lethargy, ok let's just go with lack of diligence on the writing front. Plus, the heat is a scapegoat that can't talk back, so I'm safe to cast my aspersions without fear of retribution.

So, to rectify the situation, we're going to do a little retroactive blogging today. Here goes:

A couple weeks ago, we made a road trip to Wichita to visit with Cory's grandfather and the whole McCrillis side of the family. (Why is it every single time I drive to Wichita, The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" plays in a loop in my head the whole time? Does this happen to anyone else?) If you can believe it, Wichita was actually even hotter than Kansas City. Although, the difference between 98 degrees and 105 degrees is really quite negligible in the grand scheme of things. But, despite the heat, we decided to go explore the Tanganyika Wildlife Park. It's smaller than a typical zoo, but you get to see the animals much closer up.

Heat Wave

Wahoo! It's only supposed to be 92 degrees today! Break out the parkas.

Ok, so under normal circumstances, 92 degrees would be pretty darn hot. But after the last couple weeks, it feels like a much-welcomed cold front has graced us with its presence. For those of you readers not in the KC-metro area, it is hotter than hell here. Well, I've never actually been to hell, but I'm pretty sure we're giving it a run for its money lately. Actually, from what I've been seeing on the news, it's like that in about 75 percent of the country, so chances are, you know what I'm talking about. Unless you are in Seattle. My aunt lives up there and is actually looking forward to coming to KC to get some summer heat. Apparently, it's been cooler than average up there lately. Clearly, that rain and cool weather has messed with my aunt's brain. No one should be looking forward to coming here this summer.

Anyway, back here in KC, it's been close to 100 degrees for so many days, I've lost count. Only about half of my hanging baskets are still alive. Weird thing, though, I'm not talking about 3 out of 5 hanging baskets. I'm talking about half the plants in each hanging basket. Don't ask me, my thumb is about as far from green as you can get. What would that be? Red thumb? Oh well.

So, what do most normal moms do with their kids when the heat gets unbearable? If you screamed out "Go to the pool!" well, you'd be right. You would also be crazy for screaming at your computer, but right nonetheless. Ok, so most normal moms take their kids to the pool. Two problems with that.