Hello Monday (and blog hop winners)!

Hello Monday . . . a meme started by Lisa Leonard
Hello Winners! . . . as part of Jennifer's Onwards and Upwards Blog Event, I participated in a blog hop and offered up a prize to the person who could guess the missing item in my running kit and set the tie-breaker question to guess the color of my new running shoes.  There were two correct guesses.  I need a very good running bra (which I decided not to photograph) and my new running shoes (pictured above) are orange (technically electric melon but when I asked my husband what color they were, he said orange).  So, congratulations to Annie C of Tag Tuesday (a very fun challenge blog) and to Jennifer, the blog hop hostess. Since there's only two of you, I'll send you both a prize. Email me at rinda 1961 (at) yahoo (dot) com with your snail mail address, and I'll drop a tag in the mail.
There were some other very good guesses - I don't run with music because I am paranoid about not hearing cars or stalker-killers sneaking up on me; I do have good running socks, but they were included on my list and in my first picture; I'd love to get a pedometer/high tech running watch but don't use one now; and I would dearly love to get some sunglasses (just haven't had time to get 'round to the optometrist).  Thanks to everyone who joined in!
Hello pedicure . . .  to celebrate out last long training run (we only do shorter runs between now and the June 2 race - we're in our "taper" phase of training), I got my toes painted a sparkly purple.
Hello sore muscles  . . . our last run was supposed to be 12 miles, but because my leg was bothering me, the coach wanted me to run 10 only. We compromised at 11. I'm happy to report some soreness, but much less than before. So, I'm also concluding that I only have a tight hamstring and (thankfully) not a torn one.

Hello awesome daughter . . . (that's her, second from the right with some of our TNT team mates).  She ran 12 miles in about 15 minutes less than it took me to run 11. If I were good at math, I could calculate something about our relative speeds, but it doesn't matter because she's committed to running the half-marathon with me, at my speed.
Hello awesome team mates . . .  those who are doing the full marathon ran 20 miles on Saturday. It was amazing to watch them cross the finish line, totally spent physically and emotionally; yet smiling through their tears and sweat. It's been such a great experience getting to know everyone involved with our team. Although we're a small team, we have raised about $50,000 total, which is enough to fund a researcher at Stanford University for a full year, at a fellowship rate. Couldn't be more proud!
Hello different morning routine . . .  Clara's rekindled her love affair with swimming and found out she can swim for free before school. So, she's been getting up early every day and getting a 40 minute work out in before school! Did I mention that I feel like she's finding her awesome, and that makes me so happy.

Hello Mother's Day . . . we had a fairly quiet day. Clara and I watched the movie Psycho. It was really good and strangely appropriate for Mother's Day (since it is all about a boy and his  mother after all) and then got our toe nails done. Henry and Clara washed my car and sat for photographs (which is all I really ask of them for Mother's Day). Clara also brought me flowers and left me a sweet note. 
Hello grading . . . I'm about half done. It really hasn't been that painful this year.
Hello volunteer training at the humane society . . . so that Clara can start working with the dogs there. We've been waiting for months to get a spot, and we're looking forward to it.

Hello end of regular season high school baseball . . . it was the Senior Game last Wednesday (doesn't Paul look good), and the boys played their last regular season game on Friday.  Luckily, it was a good season, so I can say . . .
Hello Baseball Playoffs . . . the boys qualified for CCS, and they will play their first game on Wednesday. It's a single elimination tournament and good luck wishes are definitely appreciated.
What are you saying hello to these days?