Team Moon
P.O. Box 221
Park Ridge, IL 60068
pat@pdmoon.com

IT IS MY BIRTHDAY!

I love my birthday. The day is mine. All mine.

That all being said, I realize that the journals have not been just as up to date as they
should be. Things are not overly hectic, but I am always surprised at where the day goes.
Tours have started at the kennel. Guests are coming and going. Guides are learning the
ropes and putting on amazing events that leave people thinking of dog sledding for a
lifetime. And my team just keeps plodding along.

We have been bumping up the mileages and heading out on longer runs. I have been
challenging both the team and myself by running new trails at night. We have
experienced sub zero temperatures on quite a few occasions. This forces me to
acclimate to the elements and test out the gear that will keep me warm during races. I
am starting to realize that I am running the Iditarod.

I surprised my entire family by coming home for Christmas. I just showed up at
Christmas Eve supper. Melanie and my Mom were very excited to see me. I will be home
for almost a week. This week will be full of Iditarod preparation. I have been labelling
drop bags, cooking for all my races, and then packaging everything for ease of
deployment, wherever I may be what I need it. Our house looks like a winter sports
event exploded.

There are only 68 days until the start of the 2010 Iditarod. I had always heard that there
are mixed emotions when it comes to being in Nome. In the beginning, I thought there
was no way. I would be happy to be done. Granted, I will be happy to have completed the
race, but I am starting to think I am going to be heartbroken to be done. I share my life
with a larger "family" now. Tasha and I have bonded in a neat sorta way. Ed is always
there to share a joke, laugh, or some other insensitive remark.

Not to mention my team. In October, they were just 22 dogs assigned to me. I knew
some and heard of others.

But now, we make up Team Moon.