One year ago

One year ago today I turned the computer on and I decided to start writing a blog.  I had just made the decision to sign up for my first half marathon (Carlsbad Jan 23, 2011).  I wanted to keep track of my journey and remember what I did to get to the starting line.  I also wanted to have something that my kids could read when they are older if they wanted to know more about their mom.

I was not following anyone yet. I had not read any running blogs. I did not know there was this online community of people who were writing about the ups and downs of their training and also their lives.  I never thought anyone would actually read what I would post.  I know a lot of people say that but it is true.  I wrote a few posts and then one day I got a follower! It was Julie over at Hotlegs Runner.  I went to check her blog and started following her and that led me to many of your blogs!

Now I have 151 followers.  I lost a few along the way and that's OK.  I know I am not an expert runner.  I recently lost a follower who criticized me for the spelling and grammar mistakes I make.  I guess this person did not read my profile where it says I am French Canadian.  I do my best with English but this is not a blog on proper English writing!

Anyway I cannot tell you how grateful I am to all of you who are reading and commenting on this blog.
I appreciate all the feedback I get..(well most of them...the ones about me being too tall to be a runner not so much.)  I have learn so much from a lot of you, reading your blogs and also from the advices you have given me.  It amazes me that people can be so kind and generous to a perfect stranger.  That is a beautiful thing!  I feel that we are all a big family somehow and I also feel like I "know" some of you..for real.  I'll say things like "I have a friend in Arizona who ran 24 hrs on a TM" or "I have a friend who ran 2 back to back marathons last weekend"  I'll show a picture  of a race in Montana that's in Runner's World to Bill and say "I know that girl with the red hair!"

I have been lucky enough to win a few giveaways this past year, more recently a Book and cards from Shutterfly!!!  I also received packages from Arizona and from Italy!

One year ago I did not know much about running.  I knew the basics: LEFT-RIGHT repeat.
Now I know a little more and I learned most of it by reading about your experiences so I thank you for that.

I will continue to share my running story and other stories about my life as a mom.  I cannot separate the two.  I am not a runner, I am a mom who runs.  So my kids will always be a part of this blog.  Same thing with my health issues because that is an never ending battle for me.

So my FRIENDS, to all 151 of you I say thank you so very much for a great 1st year.  I feel very lucky to have you as my readers!

______________________________

RUNNING:
Did 3 miles yesterday before heading to back to back soccer games and this morning I went for 8 miles.  It was perfect weather..52 when I left the house! Sun was out, no wind, running buddies: could not ask for anything more! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
We are off to Long Beach tomorrow.  Kids have no school so we are going to the Aquarium of the Pacific.  We'll be back on time to hit the neighbors for some Halloween treats!

Friday was the kids Halloween Parade at school, I love that day, so much fun!
The teachers were all dressed as Smurfs and the Principal was Papa Smurf!
Here are some pictures.  Jonathan was Batman and Will was Obi-Wan-Kenobi.

Even as Batman he will sing a KU song!!

Will's Class

Some of Jonathan's friends with their teacher

LA LA LALALALA!!!!

He was so proud to get a picture with her!!!

Those 2 are best friends since Kindergarten

I gave up a run for that?

I am mad
I wasted my whole morning at the Dr's office AND I MISSED MY RUN.

I had an appointment at 10 am with a vein specialist.  I made an appointment several weeks ago and they called to reschedule for today. No biggy I understand things happen.  I got there 20 min early thinking I would need time to fill out a ridiculous amount of paper work like we always do at the doctor's office.  When I arrived there nobody was at the front desk, I was not sure what to do so I walked in and I saw someone who told me to go sit in the recovery room.  I sat there....and I waited and waited and waited.
At 11 am I got up to go see if someone was working in that office!
I see a gal and she says "it will only be a few more minutes!"
We don't have the same definition of "A FEW"
11:15 comes and I start thinking about leaving because I had to be at the school at 12:30 at the latest.
Then a patient comes in the room, her legs are wrapped in compressions.  She looks at me and asks if I am a patient so I say yes.  She says " You are? your legs look great! did he fixed them for you?" I say no not yet. She asked me several questions about why I was there and kept saying that my legs looked good, I got a little annoyed I must say.

Finally a nurse, not even sure she was a nurse..someone dressed like a nurse, comes and call my name.  I get in a room and meEt the Doctor.  He does not apologize for being over 90 minutes behind schedule and he proceeds to ask me all the questions that we usually answer on the traditional forms and he enters the answers on the computer himself!  I could not believe it! Why not do all that crap with a nurse BEFORE seeing the Dr!  He had a hard time getting the info in  and it was taking forever.  All I could think about was that I would be late to pick up Jonathan.  The nurse came in and asked for my card insurance and I say that I would pay now because I would have to leave quickly after we are done with the Dr's visit.
This was the craziest office I have ever been to.  Completely unorganized.  I was there for my varicose vein and all he wanted to talk about was my thyroid and the fact that I looked stressed!  He took my blood pressure and resting HR and he asked if I was a runner.  Only bonus points he scored with me!!! BP 100/60 and resting HR 58.

I WAS WONDERING IF HE WOULD EVER LOOK AT MY LEGS! Finally he did. 
He said he would need to do an ultrasound for the insurance company to see if they would approve paying for the treatment. OK so I was standing and he puts the cold gel and starts the ultrasound.  After a few minutes he says: "This will not work because you have goosebumps!" WHAT???? He says you should have stayed warm in the waiting room (I was wearing shorts thinking it would help since I was there for my LEGS) and you should have drank a lot of water.  Well it would have been nice if someone would have told me about both those things when I made my appointment!  He said I should make another appointment and we will try this again another day! ALL that waste of time for NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!
I was furious!

He told me it would cost me $300 to fix one vein and that the recovery would be 2 weeks.
2 weeks of wearing compression socks 24/7.
2 weeks of no running.
He said "we can do this before the spring so you are ready for your racing season!" ??? Hello racing season? in the Spring? in Southern California??? hmmm?
I don't even know that we have a real racing season here since it is pretty much all year long but if I had to choose one I would pick the winter months!

So I got no answer, no plan, no nothing.  Still at square one but with frustrations.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Not sure I will go back. 
Other doctor who could help me is in Los Angeles...that sucks a little.
To be continued.
----------------------------------------
Running this week:
Monday: 3 miles recovery, my legs were pretty sore from my 10k.
Tuesday: 4 miles in light rain! I loved it! 
Wednesday: boooo hoooo
Thursday: Speedwork 400s or tempo: 5 miles..I don't know if the weather is cool and nice I will have a hard time going to the gym.
Friday Rest
Sat: 3 miles
Sunday: 8 miles

This week is Red Ribbon Week at school: Say no to Drugs.
Every day they have something going on, Sunglasses day, crazy socks, PJs day and today crazy hair day!! Hilarious!!!

Will's 2nd grade class. Will: 4th from left

Jonathan's K-1 class.
See how tall Jonathan is (2nd from right)? Boy next to him is in 1st grade.

Race for Rescues 10k race recap

Yesterday I ran the Race for Rescues 10k race.
This race was at the Rose Bowl and I like to race there, it is close to home and spectators friendly,  a huge + for my family.

I did not have any goals for this one.  This is 2 weeks post Long Beach so I cannot say that I trained for this 10k.  I have 2 10k in my training plan for the next Half Marathon (in 45 days from today) and this was one of them.

THE GOOD

• I ran with Rebekah.
• The course is nice, a couple of hills and the rest pretty flat.
• It is close to home.
• A great cause: Saving animals
• The Expo was really good for a smaller race and an outdoor Expo.
• They had the BEST food after the race: Apples and Bananas, Many kinds of Bars: Cliff, Larabar, KIND and no limits on qty, FIJI water, juice boxes, powerade, coconut water.  Even the kids got anything they wanted! 
• I finished 10/133  in my AG.  Bill called that the Golden Age group...charming especially since he is older than me.
• Lot's of dogs everywhere and several of them in costumes!
• LAKERS Girls were there. That is a good for my boys (see below).

Mile 3

Mile 3 waving to the boys

Almost done here

Do you see my calf? I got muscles now I guess!

THE LESS GOOD:

• I had no race plan and I left my brain at home.
• It was hot. AGAIN.  Enough to get sunburned...:(
• I went out too fast...again...I even hit 7:52 pace...for me way too fast.
• That lead to me starting to panic and getting scared that what happened in Long Beach would happen again.  If I had been running this thing alone I would have had freaked out for real.  I am scared of having a repeat of LB and I obviously don't want that to happen.
• I got the mother of all side stitch before mile 3.  It was pretty bad.  I tried changing my breathing and slowing and it did not work.  It was really painful going all the way in my collarbone.  Had to walk to try to make it go away.  Made me MAD.
• Double loop course: It has the one positive of me seeing the kids at the half but other than that I am not a huge fan of the double loop.  This race had a 5k also so at the half way most of the runners were done and we kept going.
• Lots of walkers and lots of dogs.  OK I knew about this and I was not upset or anything but it can be a pain to pass so many walkers.  We ended up passing A LOT of the 5K people even!
• Mario Lopez, who was announced as the host, was a NO SHOW. Booooo.  Dot Jones from GLEE replaced him.  She was pretty nice actually!

And the really really really UGLY

I don't get it.

It was not THAT hot.

Wear a freaking shirt.

He is at all the local races. 

I have never seen him with a top on.

Pay attention

Pay attention.
To your body.

OK so you know I had a little health scare after Long Beach.  It had a OK ending, I cannot say happy because well I had to stay at the hospital but in the end I was OK.  The thing is though this could have been something a lot more serious than what it was.  It could have been a blood cloth or a heart attack, even if I am in pretty good shape and in good health.  We went to the hospital even if I had other things to do and I did not want to go waste my day in the ER.  That was the right thing to do and I am glad that I went. 

These things do happen to healthy fit people.  Tennis player Serena Williams had a DVT earlier this year.  In recent marathons, Montreal, Chicago and Toronto, men have died on the course. Young healthy men, they were 30, 35 and 27 yrs old, two of them had heart attacks and for one the autopsy was inconclusive.  This is scary and very sad.  I cannot help but wonder..did they feel something was off during their races or was this sudden?  What is our first reaction if something is not right? IGNORE IT right? For the majority that is what we do especially in a race.  I did not stop in Long Beach.  Looking back that was really stupid.  Is a half marathon worth me being in a hospital and not be able to take care of my kids? NO.

Yesterday, we got one of those calls you never want to get.
A close friend of Bill has cancer.  A rare form of Lymphoma.  He is 39 yrs old.
Bill grew up with him and his older brother.
Again we were reminded that we cannot take life and our health for granted.  Two years ago this friend developed some weird rashes and he ignored it and thought it was nothing serious and never got it checked.  Recently he got another rash near his groin and he thought it was from his jeans and never got it checked.  That rash got worst and he got small lumps...again no trip to see the Dr.  When the lumps became the size of grapes he went to see the Dr.  It turned out to be very serious.
Now he is waiting to see if the cancer has spread. 

Why is it that we tend to think it is nothing? That it will go away with rest? A lot of times it is nothing and it does go away with rest.  Isn't it better to have a Dr tell you it is nothing serious? A real Doctor who sees you,  not WEBMd. 

BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. 
BETTER WASTE A COUPLE OF HOURS AND EVEN A NIGHT IN THE HOSPITAL THAN LOOSE THE CHANCE OF LIVING ANOTHER 40 YRS.

Pay attention to your body. Do it for your kids and for the people who love you.

Today I scheduled my yearly mammogram.  Are you a gal over 40?  Then you need to do the same.  TODAY.  Are those fun? No they suck and it hurts a little but nothing compare to what my friend who is a cancer survivor had to go through at only 36 yrs old.  CALL YOUR DOCTOR TODAY.  Mine is November 1st at 9:20 am.  When will yours be?

-----------------------------------
RUNNING:

I ran every day this week. 
Yesterday I did my 3.7 miles for the Virtual race "The cupcake classic" in honor of Jess at Run with Jess birthday! No Cupcake for me :(. Happy birthday Jess!

Coming up next

The week post Long Beach was pretty low mileage because of my little trip to the cardiac floor. Did you miss that? You can get the report here.  I don't think I will make it as a storyline on Grey's Anatomy with this one!!!  Thank you for you kind comments on my race report, for those who asked, yes of course there will be follow ups with the Dr.  I don't have a choice.  Did I mention what Bill said when the nurse rolled me in my bed to go say goobye to the kids before taking me to the cardiac unit?  No, not "Love you".  No, not "Hang in there it will be OK" No, not "Dont worry about anything"  No he said " NO MORE RUNNING".  Yep.  
So after the cardiologist said I did not have a heart attack and that I could go home, I asked her to write on a paper that I have persmission to run to show Bill.  So yeah follow ups, he is on it.  I gotta go.

I did run a little

Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 4 miles
Sat: 3 miles
Sun: 6 miles
Total: 16 miles

This weekend I have a 10k race. 
It is The race for Recues a great cause and I love animals and so I cannot not do this one.  It is at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, I have done a few races there and I love the course.  This is where I got my one and only AG top finisher medal and no I was not the only one in my category. :)

Race for Rescues benifits 10 non-profit animal rescues.

This is the host:

Yes Terzah, I will tell him you said hello!!!

They will have a best dog costume contest and they have celebrity judges like a real Bond girl:



So this should be a fun one!  The kids will love to see all the dogs there! People can run with their dogs!  Maybe I could bring Maggie with her Halloween Hat?

After this one I have another 10k in November and I was supposed to run a 5k in December but I decided to do the half marathon instead so I changed my registration.  I now need to tell Bill who does not know.  Whooopsy.

Long Beach half marathon Race Recap

I don't even know where to start with this one.
OK first THANK YOU ALL for your kind messages and for your concerns.  I truly appreciate it.  I am much better. FOR REAL.

LONG BEACH HALF MARATHON (Half Marathon #4 and race #25)

Will was running the kids race on Saturday morning so we left at around 8:30 am and headed to Long Beach.  The kids race was at the Aquarium of the Pacific.  It was really well organized.  The best kids race so far for sure.  Disneyland should take some notes from this one to improve on their kids race.  They had waves every 20 min by age groups.  No crazy insane waiting like at Disneyland.  They had fences to keep the crowd away from the course but we could still see our kids very good.  The announcer for the Marathon was there for the kids race and he was great.  They had this bird named Lola who was there to replace the tradition gun for the start, instead she would open her wings, it was pretty cool..see pics below.  Will did great!  He gave the mascots high 5 on his way back, he finished with his arms up like he had one the gold medal at the Olympic games!!!

ACTIVITY BEFORE THE RACE WITH LA GALAXY

After this we decided to head to the Expo even though it was lunch time.  It was pretty hot already and I needed to drink and I did not. I know. I know.  The Expo was pretty crowded, the kids are not very patient when we all go to these so we did not stay long.  I got my stuff and we took a quick tour, I did not see anything special..they did have nice race merchandise but very expensive so I did not get anything.  I like the bib and the bag we got, the shirt no so much. 

On our way to the Convention center (we left the car at the Aquarium) we saw a huge bookstore where all the books were $1.  If you read all the crap I write here you know I LOVE books.  My kids love books also.  So...even though it was way pass lunch time and I was getting dehydrated we made a quick stop there.  I wish that store was in MY town!  I could have stayed there for hours.

We got some books for the kids and we headed back to the car.  I was thirsty, hungry, hot, tired, you get it.

We went to the hotel and Bill took the kids out for lunch while I stayed and tried to rest and eat (I brought my own food).  I could not sleep, too much noise next door.  Boys came back and we had to get ready to go to Los Angeles.  We needed to be there by 6 pm to pick up the meet and greet passes.  We could NOT be late for this!   I drank water and NUUN as much as I could and I ate..but not enough. 

I said it in my previous post but I'll say it again this guy is fantastic!

I thought the show would be over by 11 pm but no..I forgot this is Saturday night in LA...and he had 2 surprise guests (John Fogerty and Jack Black) so he played until 11:30 pm.   Great for the Keith fan in me, not so great for the runner.  I could see the hours of sleep shrinking by the minute.

We got to the hotel well after midnight.  On the way home I had decided that the kids would NOT get up for the start and that I would just walk to the race by myself.  The hotel was about a mile away so no big deal.

I did not sleep at all.  I am not kidding.  Jonathan kept hitting me, I was afraid I would not hear my alarm on my watch, I was super stressed.  I got up at 5:30 and I got ready in the bathroom.  I was really tired.  I did not know how I would run 13 miles.  I was a bit worried. 

I walked with many other runners to the race.  I got there and went for the porta potty endless lines.  I was able to say hello to Rebekah, her dad and her father in law before the race and we walked to the really crowded starting line.  Wow...it was impossible to get to the wave I was supposed to be in so I started at the back. It was fine, I just had to remind myself to not pay attention to the clock along the way because I was more then 20 minutes behind. 

Even thought it was a very crowded race, I thought this start was a lot better than the one at Disneyland.  Yes I had to pass a lot of people but not as many walkers this time.  I decided to start slow because I was very tired and I did not want to crash at mile 6.  The hotel we were staying at was on the course so Bill said he  and the kids would be around mile 4 or 5.  I saw them from far away and I started waving like a mad woman and I was sure that Bill was seeing me but no, he was so not ready for me when I got there.  He said he thought I would pass later than I did.  He did manage to snap these pics thought so I am happy:

I did like this course.  I did not mind that there were a lot of people.  This was my first time in Long Beach so I liked looking around and see new things.  Lot's of nice people on the course.  One woman had a sign that said "YOU ARE ALL CRAZY!" I stopped to tell her that was my favorite sign!  They had mile markers and sometimes I was off but for the most part I was right on it, I ended up with 13.13 on my Garmin so pretty good.  I tried to be good about my drinking but at mile 6 I realized I had not finished the bottle I was carrying in my hands and by then it should have been emptied. 

Then mile 7....chest pain, calf pain...I stopped running and I walked for a while.  The calf pain did not worry me too much, I WAS RUNNING it should hurt a little...but the chest that was another story.  At first I thought it is just heartburn and decided to drink only water and no more NUUN for a while.  It got better and I could run again.  I did take several walking breaks for the rest of the race.  I walked fast and I ran.  I just wanted to FINISH.  At mile 9 I got sick, lovely.

I finished running.  I had nothing left.  I was so done.  I was also not feeling the greatest.  It took me a long time to find my family.  When I did we still had to walk back to the hotel.  That one mile walk felt like 10 to me.

My new strategy to prevent people from passing me!

Done

Best supporting crew

Way better than a PR!

I was sad because I did not see Rebekah after the race, we did not take our traditional picture together.  Later I found out that she did AWESOME.  Well better than AWESOME actually.  2:02:16 for her FIRST half marathon! I am so proud of her!

We got to the hotel, I took an ice bath and we had to pack really quick and hit the road.  On the way back home...things got worst for me. 

Chest pain and shortness of breath.  I was also really worried.  We decided that I should go get checked at the hospital.  Better safe than sorry.  So I ended up in the ER.  I was not well at all when I got there.  I could not stand up.  I had some numbness in my toes, pins and needles in the hands and face, chest pain...it was not good.  They took me in right away.  They thought I had a blood clot.  I got a CT scan for my lungs.  It came back negative.  My blood test came back with elevated troponin (cardiac enzymes).  That is not good.

From WebMD:

Low levels of these enzymes and proteins are normally found in your blood, but if your heart muscle is injured, such as from a heart attack, the enzymes and proteins leak out of damaged heart muscle cells, and their levels in the bloodstream rise.

So I got admitted in the cardiac unit because of that.  They did tell me the reason and that they needed to see if I had a heart attack.  At that point I had a different kind of attack: an anxiety attack. Who wants to hear that? NOT ME.  I tried to calm down to say goodbye to the kids without crying and they took me to a room.  Kids went home with Bill and I stayed there alone. :(.  It was a long night with almost no sleep. Lot's of tests, EKG, blood test, ultrasound, ect.

The cardiac unit is quite different than the other floors.  I had 2 nurses just for me.  That is crazy.  They said that is protocol.  I had several other nurses who came and see me, they called me "the runner with the accent".  Around 2 am my levels did go down.  The next day more tests.  I was told I would need to do a stress test on the treadmill.  Nurse Jon informed me that all I had to do is stay on the TM until my HR gets to 180.  Then he added that they had bets going on about how long it would take me! No pressure.  I had to pass the test to go home.  I wanted to go home.  I did not know exactly what was required to pass and I was a little worried because I was tired and I had not eaten a lot since my race.  They let me eat very little at 7 am and then nothing until 1 pm the time of the test.  I went for the test with the cardiologist.  They plugged all the wire and the BP machine and turned the TM on.  I asked how long this will take, they said usually 5 to 10 min max.  OK I can do that.  Every minute they increase the speed and the TM is at pretty steep incline.  I realized that it was going to take a lot longer than 10 minutes to get to 180.  It took 20 minutes to get to 110.  The Dr said that 160 would be enough for me.  After 30 minutes I was at 120 and she said that clearly my heart was fine.  They increased the speed to get me to 160 and I got off and she told me I had passed and I could go home.  So I did not have a heart attack.  She said that elevated cardiac enzymes can come from the skeletal muscles after hard effort.  That is the conclusion to this nightmare.

I am fine now, just tired.  I got the green light for running and I need to follow up with my Dr to check my levels again.

Did you fall asleep reading all that crap?

I would not blame you!!!!

No time to read proof this so forgive the grammar mistakes and typos.

My official time: they got back to me and they said 2:28:34 and no 10k split and apologized.  That is impossible.  I have 2:31 on my watch.  Whatever. Still not a PW or a PR but a FINISH. 

Long Beach: I will be back next year and I won't go to a concert the night before.

Clearly that was too much.

We learn from our mistakes and we move on.

Giveaway winner and some news

The big weekend was memorable.

Not all in a good way.  More on the good and the very bad soon.
For now just a few updates because some of you know that I ended up in the hospital after the Long Beach Half Marathon.

Ok First I want to thank everyone who sent me well wishes for my 25th race and also get well messages yesterday via twitter, email and here on my blog.  You guys are the BESTEST of the BEST. (Yes I know Bestest that is not a proper English word.)

So quick news

• I am home and I am OK.
• I did finish the race. (I probably should have DNF)
• I did not get a PR or a PW but really I don't care. Time 2:31:56 on Garmin. Don't know official time yet because my name and bib # don't match on results website, no 10k split either. I emailed them, they confirmed name and bib don't match..already knew that...  Second time this happens to me this year.
• Things went pretty bad at around mile 7. Chest and calf pain. I walked.  Was not well after the race.  On the way home, things got much worst.
• Ended up in the ER.
• After a couple of tests I was admitted in the cardiac unit because my cardiac enzymes were elevated. They said they were not sure I did NOT have a heart attack.  At that point I cried and freaked out a little...ok a lot.
• I spent the night in the cardiac unit hooked to a special monitor. 
• I did not have a heart attack or a blood clot.
• Will bore you with the rest in another post but now I am home and no running today.

Will did so great at his race! I am so proud of him.  This was his first mile run. He did 9:12.

That was the best kids race we had so far. Way better than Disneyland!
I love love love Long Beach!

Something else I love?

KEITH URBAN!!!!!!

He is the best. That concert was fantastic. He was on fire from the first to the last song. He is crazy.  He goes in the middle of the crowd more than once to sing songs.  One time he climbed in the upper levels and he sang right in the middle of a sea of people.  He had 2 special guests: John Fogerty and Jack Black.  With John Fogerty he sang Proud Mary, it was awesome!  If you don't know who John Fogerty is or the song Proud Mary (that he wrote btw) you must google right now.  He was on stage for 3 hours!  My kids were up and dancing, it was a great night.  We had fantastic seats, lower levels, on the side of the stage and he had a mini stage on each side so we saw him from up close!

Before the concert, I went to the meet and greet with Jonathan.  He was really excited.  They were taking people in groups of 8 to go meet Keith. We ended up with a party of 6; mom, dad, their 15 yrs old daughter and her 3 friends.  It was the 15 yrs old bday and dad bought the meet and greets ($$$).  They asked to go alone but the people in charge said no, it is 8 minimum.  I heard the dad say "let's make sure those 2 are on the far sides and we will just crop them out"! That is OK, I was not mad BUT no way I was going to let that happen.  I told Jonathan: "When it is time for the picture you go in front of Keith" He said OK.  When it got to be our turn, the 6 went in first and said hello.  I knew from past experiences it is best to go last to have a chance to talk to him.  Jonathan walked in and Keith was so nice to him.   He saw the shirt and he read what it said "When I grow up I want to play guitar like Keith Urban!" He laughed really loud and said "Best shirt ever!"
He asked Jo his name and age and he gave him a hug.  He got up and asked my name and I got a hug also!.  Picture time: one of the girl grabbed Jonathan by the shoulders and tried to put him next to her but Keith took him and parked him right in front of him!  I was on the far right but I did not care as long as Jonathan was close to Keith it was all good.  After the picture the dad started asking Keith about his cars and what he was doing after the concert (weirdo).  Jonathan wanted to say something so I told him to go ahead.  Keith went down to his level and Jonathan said : "It's my dream to sing with you!" Keith said "Oh my Lord! Do you play guitar?!" Jo said yes and Keith reached in his pocket: "Here is guitar pick for you, it is a special one with my name on it!"  The look on Jonathan's face was priceless.  I thanked him and he said "thank you for being here and I hope you will have a great evening with us!  Could not have been nicer. (Oh and yes ladies, he is very handsome!!)

It is something very special to see your kid meet his idol and to have that person be everything they imagined them to be.  He was just as great, if not more, as Jonathan thinks he is. That is really wonderful.

And a WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael!

Email me your address!!!!
Thank you to everyone who entered my first Giveaway!!!!