Friday, Friday...

R. and Dad

Jog-A-Thon

I woke up this morning to have J. reminding me that today was the Jog-A-Thon for my kids' elementary school.  Normally, I wouldn't have thought much about it, but apparently S. was really, really, really hoping that I would come watch him run.

Fortunately, I didn't have any pressing appointments this morning at work, so I emailed the office and told them I would be late.  Then I hustled over to the school to find the event already in progress.

S. is excited, can you tell?  (He's in the white t-shirt)

He really wanted me to run with him, so what could I do?  Though I was in jeans, hiking boots, and a sweatsuit jacket, I jumped in to run alongside him.  I told myself that it was good training for my race next week.  It probably wasn't, but it was fun!

I can't say I was exactly prepared to run this morning...

Fortunately, I didn't embarrass myself too much out there and was able to keep up with S.  One of S.'s gifts is that he can have an infectious enthusiasm.  He ended up running 19.5 laps.

J. and I then ran some errands together while we waited about an hour for R.'s portion of the Jog-A-Thon to start.  I enjoyed being able to hang out with E. a little bit during the day.  I know that she is only 3, but I pretty much dote on her.  I find her way too irresistible!

R. manages to combine a hop, a dance, a skip, and a run all in one...can you tell?

R. did a great job as well.  He was having so much fun.  Mostly, I just watched (and truthfully, I was grateful for the opportunity to rest a little!) him run.

Okay, this is just embarrassing!  I'm just glad it was casual Friday so I wasn't in a suit!

There were less parents running with R.'s group--probably because he was older, but at the end he did want me to run with him.  Jeans, no running shoes, no warm-up?  No problem!

Yes, I know that J. needs a new phone--if only to get a better camera!

R. ended up doing 22 laps and I was proud of the effort that both he and S. put into the event.  Given that the event was a fundraiser, I was so inspired by their enthusiasm, I made sure that our family made a modest donation before we took off.

Lunch with a Friend
At lunch today, I was surprised with a text from my good friend Brad.  He was in my area and wanted to go to lunch.  I tried to explained to someone at work how long I've known Brad.  We weren't just friends in high school and college.  I've known Brad since I was probably 3 or 4 years old.  We were in Sunbeams together and he was my best--and really only--LDS friend growing up.  (Obviously, I didn't grow up in Utah.)

As kids, we dreamed of having our own business together.  It may never happen, but it's really nice to have outstanding, loyal friends in your life.  The older I get, the more I realize what a rare commodity that is these days.  I feel blessed to have a few such friends in my life.  Even though I don't get to see him as much as I should, it was nice to catch up.

Lunch at Las Fajitas

Brad is also one of my few single guy friends, so in addition to catching up on his world traveling, I got to hear a few stories about his dating adventures.  He's a great guy, so I'm rooting for him to finally find "the one."  (Along with my brother, but that's a subject for a different post...)

Movie Review: The Hunger Games
Finally, to celebrate Friday, I managed to convince J. to go see a movie with me tonight.  Actually, when J. found out that I almost saw the midnight showing of "The Hunger Games" last night, she let it be known that she wanted to go see it too.  I didn't need any further prodding to get Royal and Nicole to go with us in a belated celebration Royal's birthday...so here's my movie review:

I read the novels a few years back and have been anxiously awaiting this movie for a couple of months.  (See my post on "Safe and Sound.")  All I've been hearing about in the news is how this movie is "Just Like Twilight" and intended for an audience of 14-year-old girls.  In my opinion, neither is true.

First of all, the movie is really nothing like "Twilight."  Okay, since I've never even read the Twilight novels or seen any of the Twilight movies, I don't really have any basis for making that conclusion, but I've talked to enough "Twi-Hards" to feel like I'm not out on too much of a limb here.  Second, who cares if the protagonist is a 14-year-old girl.  She is an awesome, admirable character--as much a literary cynosure as Herman Melville's Billy Budd.  In short, Katniss kicks butt and is an inspiring fountain of goodness.  She is someone that any adolescent--boy or girl--could look up to.

The movie itself is gut-wrenchingly raw.  I could hear other movie-goers getting emotional around me.  The theme of sacrificing oneself for others is strong and compelling throughout the film.

I found several strong parallels in the plot.  First, I found the concept of the "Reaping" where one person is chosen from each gender to represent the district in the Hunger Games to be very reminiscent of the famous short story by Shirley Jackson--The Lottery.

I took this pic of the Reaping with my phone...

 The plot also borrows Shakespearian themes of star-crossed young lovers.  Yes, for all the female viewers out there, there is a love story.  I guess since there's apparently a love story in Twilight there is at least one similarity between the vampire series and the Hunger Games.  But I personally find Peeta and Gale more likable than Robert Pattinson (I have no idea what his vampire name is!).

One thing that I really appreciate about the books and the movie is that Peeta is unabashedly and competely "Team Katniss."  For example, at one point Peeta says that he knows that he has no chance of winning the Games, but he has still been training hard and trying to learn everything that he can to survive.  At that moment, it becomes obvious that the reason that Peeta is doing everything is because he wants to help Katniss survive.  Peeta's willingness to help Katniss, despite the personal cost to himself, is both noble and inspiring.

I don't want to give away more of the plot than I already have, but I rarely have time to see movies these days and I'm glad that I saw this one--on opening night no less.  And I rarely see movies twice. But I'd see this one again.  Go see it and let me know what you think!