Moms on the Run

Since moving to Portland I have had to get used to my mom not being 5 minutes away. I have been fortunate enough for the last 7 years to have my mom in the same town as me and now I am going through the separation adjustment. We would see each other a lot, whether for lunch, a girls shopping afternoon, a bike ride, a skate ski day or dinner at her house. It was so nice being able to call my mom anytime to just see if she wanted to hangout for the afternoon. When I was in Reno I decided to stay a few more days, just so my mom and I could spend some time together. She is always so gracious, making me and Ben (my stepdad) dinner, having coffee ready for us in the morning and helping me with many different things.

On Mother's Day we decided to participate in the Mom's on the Run. So, we got our morning coffees and met up with the entire Kosach Family (minus Nik of course) at Reno High School. Moms on the Run is a local Reno race with the proceeds going to women with breast cancer. It has been going on for the last 10 years and has become a pretty big deal in Reno for Mother's Day. We (the entire clan) worked our way along the 5k course talking and enjoying the nice weather. I really appreciated the fact that my mom, Gail and Steve were able to chat and catch up. It has been something I have been looking forward to for quite some time. They have known each other for as long as I can remember and I think it is great that they are reconnecting through Nik and me.

It seemed like everyone and their mom was in town (literally). Steve and Susie (Nik's brother and sister in-law) were in town from San Fran and Susie's parents were also there from LA. Sam's (Keri's boyfriend) mom and aunt were also in town from Canada. On Saturday I was invited to the Kosach's for some of Susie's fantastic lasagna and caesar salad. It was so great to see Steve and Susie since I had missed them when I breezed through SF the weekend before. Then on Sunday after the race (while my mom was busy at work) I headed to Keri's for an even larger family gathering. Aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews were just to name a few. I have my work cut out for me remembering all of their names. We had a great time talking to Nik via Skype, then I mingled around getting to know each one of the family members better.

I left early so I could get back to my moms in time to make dinner for my mom. I cheated a little because I prepped everything before I left to Keri's and threw it all in the crock pot. Chicken, fennel, carrots, thyme, mustard and soy sauce were the main ingredients. It sounded kind of funny to me, but when we ate it later over some rice it was actually quite tasty. Dessert was Kahlua chocolate cake that I made the day before. Yummy!! That is a hard one to beat.

Mom I enjoyed every minute I had with you this past week. You are an inspiration to me with your positive outlook and spunk for life. Thank you for all of the wonderful things you do for me everyday.