And the reason why is that I’ve been too busy WINNING things. Who has time for blogging when there is winning to be done?
See…it all began with the chili cookoff/pie baking contest at church. Dave had decided to enter his mom’s famous Avocado pie. The pie that, back in the day, won them the first microwave in the neighborhood in a Betty Crocker contest. He was fully expecting to win. I hated to show up empty-handed, so I whipped together a chili recipe found in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. You know, the red-checked one that everyone has a copy of in their kitchen and has for generations. So I guess you could say I used an old family recipe. Only my family didn’t invent it.
Long story short, everyone wins a prize. For instance, Dave’s Avocado Pie won "Best Lime Pie." He won a rubber spatula. Me, on the other hand…as the prizes were going out, I became convinced that I wouldn’t get one. First of all, I had the audacity to show up with the chili in a pot. Not a CROCK pot, just a regular old pot. That’s practically grounds for disqualification at a church function. And I sent it with Dave, who was pretty sure he forgot to tell anyone that I made it. But lo and behold…last name read…was mine. OVERALL BEST CHILI. Yes, folks. That’s me. I’m practically worshipped at church now. AND I got an apron. A handmade (with love) apron with chili peppers on it. I am the champion.
You think that experience would be enough winning for me. But I hadn’t had enough, apparently. Last weekend was the triathalon. I mentioned it here before. It was an event that I got all excited about, talked some friends into it, then proceeded to chicken out for a month or so. But then my sister-in-law Jami, fitness guru and runner extrodinaire, moved here and got me off my butt. So I put in a good month of training. Which, shouldn’t be enough, but miraculously, it was. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Even though I could’ve done without the lake moss in my mouth, I would do it again in a heartbeat. And wouldn’t you know, I won 366th place. Which isn’t last place. Which was what I was shooting for. I figured out if I could shave five minute off my total time (which was 1 hour 29 minutes, BTW) I would’ve been in the top half. That’s my goal for next year…top half finish. But I’m happy with how I did this year. Finishing, not last, was my goal. Goal accomplished. Here’s the pic. I had to change it to black and white so you can’t see how shockingly red my face is. Jami, pictured with me, took 18th place. She probably could’ve won the whole darn thing if they had marked the course well enough so she didn’t have to stop and ask the runner behind her where they were supposed to go (which runner, by the way, was WAY behind her, as Jami ROOOOCKS at running! She was so far ahead of the pack there was no one to show her the way- I hope I’m not embarrassing you, James!)
If you look real close, you can see my winner metal around my neck. Everyone got them, but that’s because we’re all winners, I guess.
by Shannon Montez
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