Marleah's Musings

I know what you're thinking. "Marleah has never looked so breathtaking." Yes people, there is a reason I don't like to leave the house without makeup. But when you're participating in a 5K, who cares?

On October 17th, I, in fact, did the Annual Red Ribbon Run 5K. I've wanted to do a 5K for a couple years and finally took the plunge. My sister Amy and I ran it together. But here is the funny part of the story...

So I cross the finish line, (behind what I can only assume was a 120 year old man) and they say my time is 35:48. So I'm feeling pretty good. Not bad for a first timer who, lets be real, is not in great shape.
So a few minutes later, here comes Amy and I'm cheering her on, excited that we've both just finished! She no sooner crosses the line and catches her breath to say to me, "Did you know you skipped a part of it?" What? Then she proceeds to explain to me where she saw me skip a small portion of the course. In truth, it was only a little bit, but I think that the "little sister" in her couldn't wait to tell me how I'd screwed up. Oh well. After beating myself up over it for a few days, I've moved on. I'll know better next time.

So I guess maybe I should say I did a 4 3/4 K. That just doesn't have the same ring.

Well let me first not ignore the gigantic elephant on the blog. I'm truly sorry that my last post was in February. But, I have to say I told you so! I can say I'll get better, but we all know that would be a big lie. So, I will just continue to say that I'll try. Now, for the real reason of the post...


In May, I had one of the biggest surprises of my life. My dear friend Marty surprised me by coming into town for my 32nd birthday! (go to link to get full details) I truly had no idea. And though it was 99% executed by M, I do have to give props to my hubby for keeping the surprise. Keeping surprises is not his forte. And he didn't utter a peep. Probably because he knew M would cut him if he did!

We had not see each other in over 2 years, but after all the hugs and squeals, it was literally like we'd seen each other the day before. We fell right back into our rhythm. Again, I'll let you read her post, because she is a better writer and describes perfectly our relationship.

What I will say is that I am a person who's personality does not lend itself to many close relationships. I honestly can count on one hand the number of women I consider to be my true friends. I am on Face Book and in a time when I see daily posts of people saying to each other, "I'm so glad we had lunch," or "I have so many wonderful friends", etc, sometimes I do struggle with the knowledge that I really don't have many friends. But then, I recognize that I may not have many friends, but the ones I do have, are true blue to the core. Ones that stand the test of time and distance. I'm not gonna lie, it feels good to be loved the way Marty loves me.

And Marty, I do love you back my friend. I'm so thankful God put us on the same path for a time and allowed our relationship to blossom. You are a true gift to me.

As most of you know, Robert is in our Community Theater's production of the world renowned musical, Les Miserables. He has been practicing since last October! But the show finally opened last weekend and opening night was great. Despite that Midland is what some would call a "small town," we actually have a really terrific community theater. MCT is the first community theater in the country that has been given the rights to do this production. I took Maia to the final dress rehearsal the Thursday before opening night. We only stayed until intermission and I wasn't allowed to use my flash. So some of the pictures are pretty poor quality, but you get the idea. And the video I captured was amateur at best. But you hear Robert's angelic voice and that's the point. :)

It's sort of a long story, but there is a coworker of my sister, Amy's who told her, "my friend said there is this guy who plays Enjolras who is good enough to be on Broadway." That's making sort of a long story short, but she didn't know that it just so happened to be Amy's brother-in-law who was playing Enjolras! And the lady who said that has actually done stage work, so she would know, I guess.

If you've been thinking, 'you know I could really use a trip to scenic Midland, Texas,' then now is your chance! We'd be happy to see anyone and you always have a place to stay at the Reed house.


Opening scene: chain gang workers singing "Look Down."


This is Robert's friend Drew Anderson, who plays Javert.

Fantine dies


Young Cosette and Madame Thenardier


Thenardier and company singing "Master of the House," a crowd favorite

Thenardier, Valjean, and Cosette. Our friend Emily Griffin is playing the role of Cosette and she is amazing!