I don’t know what’s next. But I’m excited to find out.

It all began with the decision to

To start taking charge of my life.

To start working out.

To start running.

To start getting healthy.

That decision to start led to the decision to do this:

That decision eventually led to this:

and this:

 and this:

And the decision to do that,

led to the decision to do this:

I’ll be crossing that bridge in about 5 weeks.

The decision to do that led to the decision to start my own 5 K.

Yep.

I can now add Race Director to my resume.

People told me I wouldn’t be able to do it.

There wasn’t enough time.

Just bag it, and try next year.

Screw that.

I did it.

I directed my first 5K yesterday.

I still can’t believe it.

I’m still riding the high.

It was called The 5K for Christopher, in memory of my brother who died from leukemia in 1985, when he was 3.

I’ve always wanted to do something to honor him.

And I finally did it.

It wasn’t huge.

But it was a success.

It was a very emotional day for me.

I gave a speech before the race started.

You have to do that… to thank everyone who came to run.

To thank the sponsors of the race.

The volunteers.

I started bawling before I even got one word out.

I can relate a little bit more now to those Oscar winners who forget to thank their spouses.

I was in such a state of disaster, that I forgot what I wanted to say.

I forgot to thank Agway for sponsoring.

I forgot to thank Sonja and Diane for all their help.

I forgot to thank the people who came out to volunteer, especially the girls’ track coach, and a few of the girls from the track team, and my cousin and my friend Jen.

I forgot to thank my parents for their help and support.

And yes,

I forgot to thank my husband for putting up with all the craziness to get this thing going, and for taking care of the kids while I did it.

And I show you this picture to show you just how big of a disaster I was.

I cried myself into a cross-eyed mess.

But the race went off without a hitch.

And just as the start was emotional,

so was the finish.

While the race was a success financially and for me personally, it didn’t end there.

I got this message last night:

I wanted to share with you the awesome feeling that overcame me after the race today. I had a goal of 35 min based on my training times and fact I never exceeded 2.5 miles. I would have been happy with 35-37. When (my daughter)  told me 32 immediately after I think I responded with that’s not right as if she made up the time. She walked me to the posting and I was elated. One would think I did a 22. So thank you for giving me this opportunity to feel so “awesome” and congratulations on pulling off this special event.

To be part of someone’s special moment like that is incredibly rewarding.

To be part of a 59-year-old’s and a 5-year-old’s first race doesn’t suck.

To be part of personal victories,

large and small,

feels great.

To have my family there watching,

supporting,

and volunteering,

was great.

To get this message from a friend,

It was so nice to be a part of the 1st annual 5K for Christopher. During the reception after the run I was cracking up because Number 6 picked up a Dunkin Donut, licked it and placed it back in the box hahaha – don’t worry, one of the adults took it back out…

to know that Number 6 was doing his part to entertain,

made me smile.

So many of us benefited in so many ways.

Aside from the birth of the kids and my wedding day,

I’d say yesterday was one of the best days of my entire life.

Maybe even the best one ever.

All because of one simple decision to

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!!!

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