I Am Spartan

On August 17th at 2:15pm I joined my husband and our friend on a 5K journey to become Spartans. We went through mud (that smelled like cow poop), a stream, over walls, under barbed wire and through the fire. It took over 2 hours for our team to finish, but we made it. Team Rocket! AROO! I was grateful that my husband was with us because his strength and height advantage helped more than I could have known beforehand. Along the way we were helped by, and gave a hand to, other Spartans. I would like to do another one at some point. I realize that I need to work hard core on upper body strength. I don't know how anyone could have climbed up a rope with all the mud we had on us. I felt 20lbs heavier just from my mud soaked shoes. It was crazy and amazing. I did feel amazing jumping over the 4ft and 5ft walls.

After the run we dove into the ocean to clean the mud off. Yes, there was a "shower" station, but it was more like a limp hose. The Pacific made a fantastic bath. The water near the shore was mud-colored from so many Spartans. The salt in my wounds was painful,but welcome. The water was warm compared to the windy air. We made the mile and a half walk back to the car and I realized how tired I was by how little I cared about being naked in this make-shift parking lot. I didn't want the muddy, salty, wet clothes on me. I brought a change of clothes but seriously thought about just driving home in fresh underware.


Sunday I was content to lay on the couch all day and not move. Well, it was the last day for the Made in Hawaii Festival at the Blazedale Center. I wanted to go so bad, so I got my bruised body up and went to see what there was to see. There were tons of jewlry shops. I feel like there is a boom in the homemade/handmade jewlry. I did like some of what I saw, but I don't wear the stuff enough. There were clothings sales, cookies and other baked goods. I'm not sure how much was at a discount, but I was told that a lot of these vendors only do fairs/ festivals. I should have taken pictures, but I took Mercy (snuck her in the doggie sling), so my hands were full. There was one amazing artist there who takes whale bone and fossils and makes amazing designes for jewlry. I was really impressed by the quality avaiable. I bought some coconut peanut butter, chocolate coconut peanut butter, and macadamia nut coconut peanut butter. The ingrediants for each are in the name. The products are smooth and creamy. The flavor is amazing! I will not buy another peanut butter as long as I am on the island.

I also bought two apple-poi pupcakes from Hawaii Doggie Bakery. Mercy loves their products, and so do I. They are opening a store next month. I am so happy for the owners. If you are in Hawaii and need some puppy treats, visit www.hawaiidoggiebakery.org There were a lot of baked treats to sample. I think next year I'll try more. I almost regret not getting the rum cake I tried. MMM, it was moist and delicious. But I can't have sweets around the house too much.

After walking around the festival for over four hours, we decided to go to Ward Warehouse for some lunch. I found my favorite American-style Chinese place on the island. The Sechuan Eggplant wasn't so good, but the fried rice and noodles were AMAZING. Overall, this was a great weekend. Even if I did end up bruised and cut up.