T & P Turkey Trot 2011

Not to be outdone by the Run To Feed the Hungry or the Turkey Trail Trot, our family decided to establish the first annual T & P Turkey Trot this year. We take our Thanksgiving Day runs just about as seriously as we take eating Thanksgiving dinner - or giving thanks for that matter:

Preparing to gallop with gratitude through the streets of Woodland:

T (Tom) and P (Peg) themselves oversaw the inaugural event. Marilyn, our race commissioner, took her responsibilities seriously:
Even our race cheerleaders were enthusiastic despite the early, wet morning:

As we jogged, Nate, Lina and Dominic showed Katie, Mark and I how great it is to grow up in Woodland. From the courts where Dominic learned his jumpshot past the school where Lina practiced gymnastics, we peeked through the fense of the family's first house and came down the lane in front of Josh's house for a water break.

We returned to T & P's for quick showers, Katie's homemade apple muffins and packing. We had to get two babies, eight pumpkin pies, two pecan pies, a chocolate pudding pie and enough alcohol for 70 into the caravan to San Francisco. Thanksgiving was hosted at Goat Hill Pizza thanks to Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike this year.

We arrived just in time to catch cousin Elyse putting the finishing touches on the biggest pot of stuffing I've ever seen. Will 42 celery stalks and 15 onions make a big enough batch for the whole clan?



It did!

It was a real blessing to look around a full resturant and realize the entire crowd was family and friends:

Here are my pies in all their glory:

We enjoyed a post-dinner walk up Petrero Hill to burn off all that delicious stuffing. One of Erika's triplets, baby Declan, and I became fast friends.

Would you imagine that despite the crowd there was enough food left over for people to stock up their own refrigerators? John made out pretty well:

Our cups runneth over. Thank you for the hospitality family!

San Francisco Surprise

I have quite a wife.

Christ being a tough act to follow, makes my birthday (December 26^th) a day that I (and I must assume others) don’t really look forward to celebrating all that much. It’s just bad timing. I dread having to recharge (or appear to) the day after Christmas for another celebration… and it’s my own birthday. But with marriage comes new priorities, new skill sets. Sarah happens to love birthdays and has a real talent for surprises.

After celebrating my birthday in Ohio with a lobster lunch, a birthday card to open every 30 minutes (thanks all who sent cards), a trip to the zoo and bowling extravaganza, Sarah ended the night with one final card… A surprise trip to San Francisco for New Years.

Our New Year’s Eve was amazing. Staying in Union square, hanging out in North Beach, riding trolley cars and then fireworks on the waterfront. But Sarah wasn’t finished. Did I mention she loves surprises?

After a perfect day hanging out and watching the Rose Bowl (I shamelessly bandwagoned the Buckeyes once it became clear they would win), we headed out to dinner. North Beach, where we were staying, is the Italian district in San Francisco and renowned for all its wonderful and plentiful Italian restaurants. We settled on Thai. After dinner I was shocked to enter a local watering hole to find a group of my college friends there to greet 

me. Five minutes later my high school buddies arrived. Oh… did I mention that Sarah likes surprises? It was awesome to be surprised by so many friends and we had a fun filled night celebrating.

The very next day after touring the city, we headed to my uncle and aunt’s house for what I thought would be a nice intimate dinner. I was greeted by more Monleys than you can shake a stick at. Sarah had arranged another surprise party for my cousin Erika and I with my family. To have a second surprise party… or was it the third, was even more amazing. We celebrated long into the night. In short; a wonderful trip. I truly am blessed to have friends and family who were willing to make a trip San Francisco for the parties, as well as hosting and touring Sarah and I around the city.

Mostly, I’m lucky to have such a wonderful wife.