The Hip Man, Growling Raccoons, a Pink Motorcycle, and a Fast Run (for me)

**The Hip Man**
Tomorrow I see the Physical Therapist. Don't tell Chris that it may cost a little more than usual because he's not in our insurance plan. I'm told he's the best, and that's worth a few extra dollars to me when it comes to my legs and their ability to run marathons. I will definitely post about the Hip Man tomorrow night.

**Growling Raccoons**
As I mentioned briefly when I posted the photos, we went camping this weekend. It was 98 degrees and H U M I D so the weather was not very comfortable. It was otherwise very nice, the girls did great, Libby got a lot of quality time with her boyfriend, and we got to have some laughs with the future in-laws. I was extremely tired, from a month alone with the girls (except for one weekend when Chris came home) and from waiting up for him to get home Friday night until 1:00 am. I typically do not sleep well when camping. Especially when it's hot. But to give me a little break, we brought two tents...The big one for Chris and the girls and the little backpacking one for me. To sleep in alone. I layed down, watched the stars out of the 'sunroof' for a few minutes, then fell asleep. I slept through two raccoons bigger than Holly, our Black Lab, fighting five feet from my little tent. Chris said that they were growling, hissing, and scuffling, fighting for our site. The more intimidating raccoon apparently won the hard-fought battle for our site and went about raiding our food. He was not deterred by the fact that we had not left anything out. He simply opened our rubbermaid bins and took out the full loaf of bread, large bag of unshelled peanuts, and large ziploc bag of peanut butter cookies and had his way with them. He chomped on peanuts, gorged on cookies, and ate a half loaf of bread...grunting and snorting and sighing with contentment...until he was once again threatened by another raccoon. Another scuffle ensued and Amelia woke up crying for a bottle. Chris peeked out of the tent and said, "psssst!!! Get out of here! Go away!" and the obese one turned, looked at him, and waddled towards him. Just as Chris was wondering what to do, the raccoon veered off and went over by our food. Chris had to get Amelia a bottle from out there, so grabbed 'the buster' (a sawed off broom handle we use for protection and pinata busting) and went out carrying the buster in one hand and Libby's princess flashlight in the other. He managed to get the bottle and formula safely back into the tent. And I continued to sleep. I missed the entire thing!! I missed my husband challenging an obese dog-sized raccoon with my three year old's princess flashlight. I even had my camera in my little tent...I missed some serious Kodak moments.

**A Pink Motorcycle**
I ride motorcycle. Not a little scooter. A 2003 750cc Honda Shadow ACE. When I ride, I try to wear as much pink as possible, so as to not appear too 'butch'. I seem to have developed an obsession with pink anyway, so it works out just fine. I ride in a pink leather biker jacket and white half-shell helmet with glittery pink flames. I was thinking...how cool would my bike look if I painted out the red parts PINK???? See photos of my bike (and pink jacket):
Edited to add that these photos are two years old. No, I did not cut my hair

**A Fast Run (for me)**
I ran four miles tonight at my 'normal' pace. The last mile was the fastest one I've run in ages and ages. And it felt great!! Only a little tightness/pain in the hip. I'm definitely on the mend!!!! Thank God. As you know, I've been freaking out about missing my long runs, so hopefully with some help from the Hip Guy, I'll be back on the long run horse in no time!