Happy Belated 13th Birthday to Mac, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! Ed and I celebrated St. Pat's by driving to Indy yesterday for the Shamrock Run. It was a 5-Mile race around downtown Indy, and was unbelievably fun! The Canal was even dyed green! Ed took photos while I competed. I ran the first four miles at a 9-min. pace, but ran the last mile in 10-min., for a finish time of 46:07. That time thrilled me! It's hard to believe that just four months ago, I couldn't run around the track. What a great feeling of accomplishment it is to succeed at something I thought I could never do. Thank goodness I have a great family and Let's Go to support me in this endeavor. Check out the pictures in the Shamrock Run slideshow. Ed took some good ones! To see the map and view the results of the race, click here. Once the results are available (which should be in a few days), you can enter my name and/or bib number (161), to see where I placed. I think I was in the upper half, but I'm not sure. (Ed and I estimated that there were about 1,000 people there.) I added the slideshow to the Fun Stuff page. Also on the Fun Stuff page is a new game, Domino Frenzy. Have a great St. Pat's!

It should be noted that today, March 10, I sat in the sun and got sunburned !

JoKai CobbWebs is proud to unveil a new site: LTB.org! It was a lot of fun to create Little Theatre's site, because I've spent a lot of time with that organization since 1993 when I was 14. Annie was my first show at LTB, and I've been in 15 more shows, covering almost every year since then. Check out LTB.org's new, sleek, easy-to-navigate look and feel!

The 10K went marvelously! My friend Amy Beth and I kept each other on pace and finished in 1:00:45! We were both in the Top 15 girls again. (You can see everyone's times on the Let's Go page.) Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share; it was so cold, the camera wouldn't work! In other news, check out a new JoKai CobbWebs site, Debonair-Designs.com. My

friend Debbie is a very talented artist. She uses her talents to beautify people's homes with her faux, mural, and trompe l'oeil techniques. I added her site to my Fun Stuff page. Also on the Fun Stuff page is one of the coolest sites I've found to date: Sunrise/Sunset Calendar. Check it out!

Welcome, March! In like a lion, it is—thunderstorms yesterday, crazy wind today. Croonin' for Crohn's is getting some good publicity! Check out these links: CCFA Indiana, Times-Mail AYS, and Bedford Online's Local News (Feb. 27). In other news, I'm running a 10K tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, because I haven't been able to stick to my training schedule due to the hospital stay. I'm also running the Shamrock Run in Indy in two weeks. Should be fun!

Tickets! Tickets! Tickets are now on sale for Croonin' for Crohn's! You may purchase the $10 tickets at Bailey's, Hoover's, or Hudson's in Bedford, or you may email me to get tickets. I sang and Ed played at a writers' conference today (organized by Michelle Medlock Adams), and the singin' got me in the mood for Croonin' for Crohn's! (Brandon Pfeiffer, a C4C performer, sang today, as well). Forever Gold has been working on new material for C4C; it's all so exciting! In other news, I submitted the photos to the right to a Care Bear photo contest. Winning photos will be part of the credits at the end of the new Care Bear movie. How cool would it be to say that I am in a Care Bear movie? (PS: Why is it ice-storming and thundering at the same time?)

After several delays due to snow, my students were finally able to give their presentations to wrap up the survey project that took place in my classroom. The results site is complete as well! Go take a look, then leave a comment for the kids using the submission form! I've added both 2007 Survey Results and Croonin' for Crohn's to the See The Sites page. Also check out Timeline on the Fun Stuff page!

Lots has happened this week! The Colts won, we got some snow, and I was stuck in the hospital. I'm much better now, and have even finished the web site for the benefit, Croonin' for Crohn's, that Ed and I are hosting at 7:00 P.M. at Schafer Auditorium on April 28. Hope you can make it!

Ed and I completed our first 5K yesterday! It was awesome! As part of my training for the Indy Mini, I entered the Outrun Diabetes 5K with the Let's Go group. I finished in the Top 15 women with a time of 28:53. That's awesome for me! Ed finished in the Top 15 men. It was quite cold and windy, but a lot of fun! In other news, the survey has closed! My students received 812 responses. Thank you to all who participated! This week, they will be working on number crunching and graphic representation. You can check back here for a link to the survey results in a few weeks. I might have to extend the project for the students, because I imagine we'll get some two hour delays due to the frigid temperatures. Wish we were in Miami with our Indianapolis Colts. ~ GO COLTS GO! ~

Today, I would like to issue an apology—in general to the season of Winter and in particular to the month of January. I have always made known the fact that I despise Winter, specifically January. This year, I have been able to enjoy the nice things about Winter: low humidity, crisp chill in the air, excellent running weather, etc. I have posted a couple of old pictures to the left to prove that Winter can be fun. So, to Winter and January, I apologize. You're beautiful in your own ways, and I appreciate the neat things about you. Please don't be jerks next year and make me rescind this apology. In other news, I have for sure found a working guestbook. It's much cooler than any one I've had in the past; you can even use smileys! Abbi got a new guestbook as well. I added the link to the free guestbook site to the Fun Stuff page. Also added to the Fun Stuff page is Scottie Tales. It's a really cute site that chronicles the travels of a couple of pooches. Happy seventh monthiversary, Ed!

On December 22, I went to Hudson's Photography to get some new headshots taken for an event coming up in April. Kevin Hudson did an awesome job of capturing some great shots on film. He gave me permission to post a few of the pictures on this site (to the right and below). You can check out some more of his professional work at his web site. I encourage you to visit him for your next portraits! You won't be sorry! In survey news, the students have received over 200 responses! Thanks to all who have participated!

The Incredible BMS 6 North Survey is back! Participate in my students' project by clicking here, taking the survey, then sending the web address (www.survey2007.jokai.net) to your friends and family! The students will be using data from the survey, which closes on Sunday, February 4, 2007, at 9:01 A.M. EST, to make different kinds of graphs. Help them reach their goal of getting as many responses as possible by taking the survey today! The link has also been added to the top of the page around the sunset. Also added today were new pictures on the Home page image, About Jo page, and sidebar image. More on those later! (If for some reason you cannot see all images on JoKai.net anymore, please email me with details about what browser you're using.)

On Sunday, Ed, Mom, and I drove to Valparaiso, Indiana, to the Chicago Street Theatre to see a concert by Lowen & Navarro. It was amazing! Acoustic X opened, then Lowen & Navarro took the stage. We had front row seats. After the first song, Eric Lowen recognized Ed and me from the stage and said, "Congratulations, you two! You got married, right?" How neat! We were honored. This concert was Mom's first time seeing Lowen & Navarro live, though she's heard them on my CDs before, and she loved it too! Afterwards, I was able to get a picture with Eric and Jennifer Peterson, a gal who sang that night as well. We left Valparaiso at 11:30 P.M. CST and arrived home at 4:00 A.M. EST. Ed and I managed to make it to work on Monday, but we were more than bleary-eyed. Please take the time to visit Lowen & Navarro's web site. Both guys are great, though I have a soft spot for Eric. He suffers from ALS, and his attitude and tenacity are an inspiration to all people who are fortunate enough to cross his path! We ♥ Lowen & Navarro!

Happy Belated Birthday, Dad! It's been a busy week. Between several requests for web design, running, teaching, and Forever Gold-ing, there's not been much time to think! I do have some exciting news: I will be hosting a Crohn's benefit on Saturday, April 28, 2007, at Schafer Auditorium. It's going to involve several of my vocally-talented friends. The details are still being ironed-out, but I'm thinking of calling it "Croonin' for Crohn's." Also coming soon is the annual Survey Project my Math students will be completing. (Click here to view last year's project.) YOU can help! Stay tuned to JoKai.net for more details on both of these events. Finally, I was part of two Times-Mail stories this week. The first covered my involvement in the My Grammy Moment contest, and the second contained quotes from me regarding my training for the Indy Mini. Click here and here to read them both!

Today, I'm sending out some love to three of my favorite puppies—Bitsy, Kacey, and Dandee. These Yorkies were the tri-generational pets of my childhood, and Dandee was unquestionably my "bestest friend." I miss them a lot but am comforted by the many good memories I have of them. A little of all of them seems to live on in Abbi, so not a day goes by that I don't think of them. They were good friends!

Happy New Year! I started my New Year in an awesome way; I ran five miles with my running group, Let's Go! Let's Go is a group of people from Lawrence County who are training for the Indy Mini. They have really helped me go from non-runner to runner in just six weeks. (I started my training program with them on Nov. 19.) The picture to the right shows us before our run this morning. The other picture shows a still from a video (shot by Ed's dad), that I sent to CBS for My Grammy Moment. Go to the My Grammy Moment site to see what it's all about; while you're there, click on the "featured" tab, click on page 5, then look for the video labeled "abbiweewax". Watch it and leave me a comment!

There is a lot to report today. First of all, you might have noticed that JoKai.net is once again clad in its beach-themed layout. (If you still see the Christmas layout, delete your temporary internet files and refresh your browser.) Internet Explorer users will also be able to see the new swaying palm tree cursor. Second, I've archived the Fall 2006 What's Up files and added a link to them at the bottom of this page. Third, I finally have a working guestbook! It's less than perfect, but it will do. Go give it a signature! Abbi also has a guestbook on her site now. Go sign it too! Next, I've created a slideshow of pictures from Christmas, and added it to the Fun Stuff page. We had a wonderful Christmas, and the photos in the slideshow capture some of the fun! Also new to the Fun Stuff page is the popular Elf Yourself site. Click on the following links to see my family as elves: Ed, Jo, Sam, and Mac. (Click quickly, because I don't know how long those links will last!) Finally, the countdown clock on the Fun Stuff page is counting down to a new event: the 2007 Indy 500 Mini Marathon! I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Now on to a Happy New Year!

School's! Out! For! Christmas! The first order of business was to exchange gifts with my supergoodfriend Lisa. Part of her gift to me was the homemade goody tray to the right. YUM! Some of those goodies are already in my belly! It's OK though, because my ankle has healed and I can run again to make up for the cookies. I hope everyone has a peaceful and joy-filled Christmas! Also, happy Winter as of 7:22 P.M. yesterday!