The new JoKai.net site, "Gotta Run...", is here! Because I had so many running slideshows, I thought it would be fun to make a web site for running. However, the site doesn't just have pictures; it also has detailed information about each race I've run, an explanation about why I enjoy running, and some fun links. It's appropriate to unveil the new site today because I have race pictures to share! The 2008 Shamrock Run was yesterday, and boy did we have fun! My parents and I joined Jimmy and the guys for a caravan up to Monument Circle in Indy. The rain stayed away, and we all had a good race. Even my lumpy, sore, and still undiagnosed bum leg felt OK! Unfortunately, I grabbed some Red Bull to drink after the race, which horribly affected the ol' Crohn's. It sounded good at the time though! To learn more about the race and to see a slideshow of race pictures, go to the new site, www.gottarun.jokai.net, and click on "Races." Yesterday's Shamrock Run is the last link on the list!

Happy Golden Birthday, Mac! Tonight was the BMS 80s Dance, and Ed and I chaperoned. Ed took lots of neat pictures of the students with teased hair and blue eye shadow, dancing to Michael Jackson. Too bad I can't share photos of students, because some of them are quite good! I can share one of Mac though; I know his parents! It's been a nice week weather-wise. Ed and I each took a personal day on Wednesday to enjoy some golf and sun. I donned the swimsuit for the first time this year. While I was sunning, Dad threw a snowball at me. In other news, there is a new site coming to JoKai.net! I'll unveil it sometime this weekend!

The final total: at least 6 inches of snow! I thought all the inclement weather was over; but yesterday, we dismissed early from school due to snow. This was actually the first "snow" day we've had this year since all the others were for ice. I just read a "What's Up" post from March 10, 2007, where I talk about sitting in the sun and getting torched. Not this weekend! In other news, Bedford has been a-buzz with Oprah-ness this week. The community, spurred on by Oprah's Big Give, raised over $134K for a family whose house was destroyed by a fire. Ed and I performed at the benefit concert Thursday, and ended up on the front page of the Times-Mail yesterday. You can read the article here. Bits about Bedford's Big Give will be on Monday's Oprah Winfrey Show at 4:00. Speaking of time, don't forget to change those clocks tonight! Welcome back, DST!

We've had an awesome weekend! It began on Friday night with a surprise birthday party for Lisa, whose birthday is March 4. We had a great time singing and being silly. Since it was leap year, we decided to do a "Leapin' for Leap Year" picture. It's a bit blurry, but still funny. Saturday morning was the the 10K! I was very nervous at the beginning of the race because I've been having some trouble with my left leg, which I've aggravated due to the problem with my right hip. I was able to cope with the pain, which wasn't too bad, and finish in 57:03 for another PR and one of the most enjoyable races I can remember. My goal was to break an hour, so I was thrilled! It was a great day for a race—sunny, 40°, and very little wind. My friend Robin also PR'd with a 46:03. The only bad part of the day was accidentally wearing my new Adidas pants backwards and not noticing until afterwards! I made a slideshow and put it on the 2007 Running page, even though this was a 2008 event. (I'll work up a new site for them all later.) Also, check out all the results here. To round out the day, the Hackney family celebrated Mamaw's 80th Birthday with a fun, loud party. Click the thumbnail the the right to see the whole family. And the Pope. :o)

For those of you with local cable access, check out Channel 14 (formerly the Star Station), to see the first act of Croonin' for Crohn's! Check Bedford Online for the latest schedule; but right now, the best times to catch it are at 2:00, 6:00, 8:00, or 10:00 P.M. through Friday. Next week, Act 2 will air. If anyone would like to purchase a DVD of C4C for only $5, let me know! I can put you in contact with Channel 14 to get your copy. In other news, I'm running a 10K Saturday. Here's to an iceless race!

More ice! Ed, the boys, and I were thrilled with our early dismissal on Thursday and free day on Friday. To celebrate, Ed and I went to Cincinnati to see John Prine and Jason Wilber on Friday night. It was an amazing show! During the show, we kept saying, "I can't believe Jason was in Croonin' for Crohn's!" Speaking of C4C, I added a neat, neat, neat clip to the Croonin' for Crohn's Pics & Clips page. The new clip is a montage of all the performers who were in the show. It's seven and a half minutes long, and I'm very proud of it. Check it out! In other news, I found out this week that I'll be performing at the Little Nashville Opry on April 25. Please come! I think it'll be a great time!

Croonin' for Crohn's was an unbelievable success! We raised over $5,200 (after expenses) to send to CCFA. It was a lot of work, but was totally worth the money raised and fun had by all. I've made a page that has a couple of slideshows and a couple of sound clips from the evening. It's accessible right here and on the Fun Stuff page (whose countdown clock is now counting down the days to the Mini). Also, I placed the link to the pics & clips on the C4C site. Finally, there are new pics on ForeverGold.us, as well. I also plan to eventually update JoKai.net's Forever Gold Pics & Clips page with the C4C pics & sounds. Thank goodness for two-hour delays, or I never would've gotten this done!

Unbelievably, tonight is THE night! Croonin' for Crohn's is in less than eight hours. Yesterday, we experienced several minor "show crises" that nearly had me pulling out my hair. However, with help from friends and family, we were able to solve each problem and have a successful rehearsal last night. (Check out some of the great pics Mom took.) This morning, I ran five miles—my longest distance since my hip injury—and it felt great to leave all my stress out on the road. The rest of the day until the show will actually be pretty calm; Ed and I have done a pretty good job of preparing, so now it's time to just watch it all happen! I'm excited that CCFA reps will be there tonight to pass out info about CCFA and their scholarships. It's going to be so much fun! In other news, my students' survey site is finished! Check out all their neat-o graphs. I also added their results site to the See The Sites page. See you at the show tonight!

Hello from Ice Central! School is closed for the second day in a row—perfect timing since we are only three days away from holding Croonin' for Crohn's! Luckily, the ice will melt just in time for the show. If you're local, check out The Green Room on Channel 14 to see Ed, Lisa, Brandon, and me promoting C4C. The slides on that channel tell what times you can view the show this week.

Yesterday's race was a big success! I managed to PR with a time of 27:32. That's an 8:53 pace, and good enough for a Top 10 Female finish! My hip made it through without any problems. Dad finished in 43:56, and Mom crossed in 49:12. I thought Mom and Dad both did well in their first 5K! You can check out the complete list of results at the Let's Go page or through this link. In other news, the Incredible BMS 6 North Survey closed today with a total of 558 responses. Let the graphing begin! The results site will be ready soon!

Happy February, and Happy Two-Hour Delay! This morning, we're enjoying our third 2HD in as many weeks. I hope the icy conditions don't last for tomorrow's Let's Go 5K! I've been taking good care of the tendonitis in my right hip, so I should be ready to run tomorrow. I'll also be stylin' since I received my "Impossible Is Nothing" Adidas prizes yesterday! In other news, my students have over 500 responses on their survey, and C4C is in 15 days! Check out this article about C4C that was in yesterday's Times-Mail!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Frigid temperatures, ice, and snow have contributed to a pair of two-hour delays in the last week. Because I'm "dedicated" or "crazy" (take your pick), I haven't missed a day of training for the Mini. However, I've enjoyed lots of inside activities, too! Forever Gold is gearing up to help make C4C#2 a super-successful event; Mom and I are taking another quilting class; and "Wii" have been loving Wii-events at Mom and Dad's house. Also, I'm still taking good care of my Webkinz. I still have Mew, my alley cat. Lenny, my golden retriever, was a new addition in August. Inside weather can be fun!

Lots of preparations have been taking place for Croonin' for Crohn's #2! We have six locations where tickets can be purchased, and we're also starting to get some corporate sponsors. I'm also pleased to announce that Jason Wilber, John Prine's lead guitarist, will be performing at C4C#2! I've added Jason's site to the Fun Stuff page. Also, an appropriate addition to the Fun Stuff club is the Crohn's Disease Support Group. Check it out! Make sure to check the C4C#2 site often for sponsor updates and a link to a printable C4C#2 poster! Oh, and email me for tickets! :o)

Happy 57th Birthday, Dad! I ran 5.7 miles in Dad's honor this morning. It was a cold run, but I had a lot of fun. Running is beginning to surpass singing as my favorite hobby! Who would've thought? In other news, stay tuned to JoKai.net for info on the upcoming Croonin' for Crohn's #2!

Either I'm crazy, or I'm dedicated—maybe it's a little bit of both! In the storm last night, I ran three miles. I don't mind get rained on, but I didn't anticipate the deep, deep puddles from the flash flood! Getting splashed by passing vehicles wasn't much fun either. The lightning started on my return trip, and I booked it home. Now I can say I've run in a 60° thunderstorm—in January!

The New Year's Day snow was beautiful! It started as soon as I finished my run that morning. Abbi spent some time playing in the snow, and I added some pictures of that adventure to her web site. Ed and I have been spending a lot of time at Mom and Dad's because they got a Nintendo Wii. The Wii is a video game system that is unlike any other. Instead of controlling characters with a joystick or arrow pad, the player actually does the moving! We've been golfing, playing baseball, boxing, playing tennis, and bowling. Bowling is our favorite, but Sam is an excellent boxer! We're all getting good workouts!

Here it is... 2008! Ed and I rang in the New Year with Forever Gold last night. This morning, I ran downtown with the Let's Go group. I covered 3.25 miles in 29:16, a solid 9:00 pace! I'm getting better! I hope everyone has a fabulous 2008. There are only 365.5 days remaining in this year!

Christmas Break has been simply divine! It's been great to have plenty of time to relax. Just before Christmas, Forever Gold had a gig at a private party. We had so much fun! I posted a pic to the right, but there are much more in a slideshow at the Forever Gold web site. Just click on Photos, then check out the last link. That same day, my Mom's side of my family got together for a family picture. We did the traditional photo, then I begged the photographer to let us do a crazy picture. I'm glad he did, because it's my favorite! It really shows our personalities. Click on the thumbnail to the right to see the entire photo. Vacation has also brought plenty of time for running. Let's Go training intensifies on Tuesday, and I'm ready to increase my mileage! LET'S GO!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We sure did. Christmas Eve began with a 5-mile run with the Let's Go group. I kept up with Jimmy and the gang for three miles, then fell back a bit. One of the Let's Go folks hung back with me and coached me to the end. I finished in 42:43—a PR! That was an 8:32.6 pace! Ed's parents and nephew visited to exchange gifts, then we went to celebrate with my Mom's sizeable family. It was so fun! We wrapped up the evening with a Christmas Eve service. Yesterday, Ed and I exchanged gifts. His favorite gift from me was a DVD set of the old TV series Freaks & Geeks. Most of my gifts were running-themed, and I love them all! We visited Mom and Dad, then took a trip to Greenwood to visit my Dad's family. A gathering at Ed's parent's house followed. It was a Merry Christmas! In web site news, I archived the Fall 2007 What's Up posts, and there is a link to them at the bottom of this page. Also, it's back to the JoKai.net beach theme! If you can't see the beach layout, or if the site looks strange, delete your temporary internet files and refresh the page.

As of this morning, it's officially Winter! So, happy Winter! Remember the lucky Nice/Naughty Santa hat I mentioned in my last post? Here's the story: Forever Gold had a dirty Santa Christmas exchange this month, and my gift was that hat! It's lucky because I earned it a little shadily. My friend Scotty wanted it too, but I made an alliance with Lisa. We both ended up with the gifts we wanted! Ha! The Christmas season has been lots of fun this year. Lisa's gift from me was a tiara, and I crowned her Queen of the World. My students enjoyed a dirty Santa book exchange this week and also went caroling downtown. (I had to miss the caroling due to a nasty bout of the flu.) Today, all 50+ of my Mom's side of the family are getting together for a family photo, then Ed and I are playing a private party with Forever Gold this evening. I hope everyone has a merry, blessed Christmas!