Belatedly thankful.

I hope that everyone out there had a good Thanksgiving. Everyone was posting about things they are thankful for, but I felt it would be hypocritically ironic to take time away from those I am thankful for, to write that I am thankful for them. So, I will write a few "I'm thankful fors" now.

1. R. I could list all of the reasons he rocks, but I don't want to bore anyone. :p
2. Penny and Dexter. They bring such joy into my life and I honestly don't know what I would do without them. I'm so glad I was able to talk R into bringing them to Germany with us.
3. My moms (birth and in-law). My mom raised me and helped me to become the awesome person I am today. My MIL has added a lot to my life and I'm glad she isn't crazy like so many MILs I hear about.
4. My extended family (SIL, FIL, aunts, uncles, etc). They all enrich my life in their own ways.

Since we're about 800 miles from most of our family, we decided to spend Thanksgiving with my aunt Jody and uncle Rick in Belfast, Tennessee. That was a journey of about 400 miles. Still a bit of driving. When we got there, it turned out that my other uncle and his two kids were there, too. So that was a pretty pleasant surprise.

We ended up spending the entire weekend and I'm really glad that we did. My aunt and uncle rarely travel to MI and, once we're in Germany, the odds that our visits will overlap are pretty much nil. That is probably the last time I will see them in 3 years. They are the coolest aunt and uncle on the planet (no joke).

Speaking of Germany, I got a phone call from Darling Hall yesterday. My no-fee passport was ready! R was on-post doing some clearing crap and was able to pick it up for me. YAY! I've heard many horror stories about this step of the process. From it taking months and months for the paperwork to be processed to the paperwork never even leaving the desk. Thankfully, it took under a month (I applied the morning of 1 November) for me to get mine. Woo! This brings my number of passports up to two.

The only thing holding us up is stupid transportation. I really, really, really hope it doesn't ruin our plans for Christmas/PCS leave. We want to stop in D.C. for a day or two before we head to Michigan. R has never been and it's been over 10 years since I've gone. It might be a good thing for us to visit our country's capital/capitol before we see European capitals/capitols.

I went running today for the first time in a LONG time. There's a 3 mile sand track on Ft. Gordon that has always intimidated me. I ran/mostly walked it today (the whole thing!). Running on a treadmill is way easier than that.

Holy crap, I hate being out of shape. I really, really, really want to lead a more active lifestyle. I can't expect biking once/week to keep me healthy.

To help me get "somewhere", I'm going to set my first goal. I'm going to set my first ticker at 30 miles. Ideally, I'll run everyday. I'm going to shoot for every-other day. There is going to be a ticker on my blog, so I can record my progress.