Lookin' Good!

But WAY more intense.

It's fall. I don't do well in the fall. It's also been raining for the last 5 days. I was in an understandably bad mood while I was driving to work yesterday. Also, I was listening to a mix tape in Stephan's truck that sounded like a depressed, angry, gay Mexican cowgirl made it. At a stoplight I looked over and saw a large-ish young-ish man grooving out to music. Seriously grooving. He was working it like he MEANT it! He was pumping the break, causing the entire car to shake.

It was hilarious. So I busted out laughing. He looked over and smiled. I had to admit to myself, it was a pretty cool moment. He drove next to me for a few miles, just being himself, grooving. I finally took a deep breath, made eye-contact and mouthed, "Thank you!"

At the next stop light he rolled down his window and yelled, "Have a really good day!!!" and then I turned into the parking lot and went to work. But even work was a bummer that day. 5 hours later I was relieved to be walking out the door, and what did I see? Two white roses on the hood of the truck. With a note handwritten in a ziplock baggie (raining, remember?). The note had his phone number, and a short few sentences making it clear that this was just an invitation if I was looking for a friend, nothing weird. And if I wasn't, then just to enjoy the flowers, and smile.

Well, geeze. Halfway between most-awesome-thing-ever and wtf-creepy I drove away. This morning I wanted Trevor to know just how awesome I think it is that people go out of their way for other people. Looking Good Lady didn't have to cup her hands around her mouth and yell. But she did. And it's one of the things that keeps my feet pounding one in front of the other when I just don't feel like I can keep going.

On my run this morning I started thinking of all the things I would tell Trevor (who is 20 years old, yeah me!) about what the next 10-12 years of his life might be like. I want to tell him to keep dancing in the car. Keep putting yourself out there. Never be embarrassed to go for it- to take risks- to, literally, dance like no one is watching... because maybe someone IS watching, and maybe it's going to be a pivotal moment in their day... or week... or life.

I ran a short 2 miles today and sang out loud to every song I heard. Because it felt good. Because I wanted to. And because maybe the old man and woman who sit in their garage every afternoon smiled when they heard me belting out "She's a Hottie" as I ran past.

Just Tell me to DO it!

13.1

Half marathon. There's one a few miles from my house the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Someone, please, just tell me to SHUT UP AND PUT YOUR SHOES ON!!!

Email subject: Geeeeeeze

Another succinct summing up of my night, as emailed to Stephan tonight:

Such a good day. Such a good evening......

Then I went to change the laundry. And smelled poop. Two gigantic sick dog poops on the carpet downstairs. So then I had to grab each dog and drag them downstairs to yell at them. Sawyer was freaked out- and I took Red first- when I got upstairs for Besa, Sawyer had a fist full of Besa's head trying to drag her out of the bedroom. And he said, "helping?". Ugh. I got Besa downstairs to yell, and Sawyer walked in right behind her. Eh? Kid goes down the stairs? So then everyone was in trouble. And I still had dog poop to pick up. 

So then we watched Aladdin. And now he's asleep. Whew! Cleaning the kitchen, then watching tv to numb my brain. It needs numbing. 

Hope your night involves less poop!!!

~Wife

Oh, we're doing this again??

9:30pm

Me: Is this your coffee?

Him: What?

Me: I found this coffee on the counter. It's cold. Do you want it?

Him: Let me see it.

Me: See it?

Him: I had coffee in a mug like that this afternoon at my mom's house. I put her coffee in it and drank it on the way home. I thought that you were giving me that coffee, but you're not, since that's a different cup and anyway I drank that first coffee on the way home.

Me: Uh huh. So....?

Him: Well, I put cream and sugar in that coffee, so if you were giving me that first coffee you shouldn't put cream and sugar in it.

Me: And...?

Him: Yeah, I'll drink that coffee. Just please put some sugar in it.

Me: Two more years of school for you... yippie for me.

Routine

Every night that Stephan works I write him an email before I go to bed telling him a little about how the night went. As I re-read tonight's letter I thought I'd share it, since I think it really shows the tone of our life lately...

Another amazing night. We took a walk after you left. We collected more stuff, and then we found a quarter. He ran all the way back home. For dinner he ate the rest of the blueberries (sorry!!), about 1/2 a chicken breast (seriously, I don't know where he was putting it!) and then... about 1/2 cup of frozen corn. Still frozen. He wanted to eat frozen corn. And I let him. 

Then... well... then I tried to feed him one of the chewy vitamins... but it was too chewy and he choked on it. Like, honestly choking. Like, I slammed him so hard on the back it scared him into crying. But it came out so I guess I win... but still... no more chewy vitamins. I will make sure we have the liquid in stock. Until he's 15. 

We did 'mommy yoga' for about 30 minutes. The level of difficulty of the poses increases dramatically when the 2-year-old is climbing up your legs and hanging on for dear life. He rolled up the yoga mat when he wanted me to stop. I let him eat a popcicle since he was being so fun. 

Elmo bubble bath was awesome. I made it a lot warmer than normal and he LOVED it. He's wearing "Nala" pajamas (his word, not mine) that are from Ian and have a lion on them. I wrapped him in the Moose blanket to read books. Then we did songs and he told me everything he did today. On the 2nd to last song he asked to be put in the bed. He asked for the moose blanket, but I convinced him to go with the Simba blanket. I tucked him in all snuggly warm and he fell right to sleep. 

He's such an amazing kid. We are so lucky. 

But my head is filling with goo- the advil and sinus medicine isn't helping, I'm headed to bed. He didn't go down until 9:15, and it's 10pm now. Hopefully I'll get a good night sleep and kick this thing. 

Love you!!
~wife

Check it out!!

I'm addicted to a new website. FlyLady has set up a great life-plan focused on house cleaning. One day at a time. Slow and steady, put together new routines that foster cleanliness. So far so good.

At least my sink is clean!!

What is it about running anyway??

Running is this thing I just can't let go of. I have a subscription to Runner's World Magazine thanks to my mom. They keep writing articles about how 9/11 relates to running and how runners dealt with 9/11 and how people started running in response to the events of that day. So I've been trying to pin down what exactly about running is so emotionally relevant to people. And, actually, why is it such a cathartic activity for me?

Running seems to be the body's natural response to so many stimuli- kids run when they're excited or happy, people take off running often when they are upset or angry, and mobs of people take to the streets and run toward whatever they are mobilized about.

Running seems to be the most natural use of extra energy, a physical restorative, a mental reset button, and an emotional vehicle. To paraphrase Dory, "What do we do? We run. Run. Run."

Aye aye aye

I was reading past posts and realized that this blog used to be a LOT more interesting (see, um, all of May, 2008 when I was not only diagnosed with cancer and travelled to New York City with my mom and cousin, but also planned to start a ranch and raised money to go on a medical mission trip to Honduras..... yeah- not quite "read a book and cleaned a closet" was it??) I talked to Stephan about this and wondered out loud if life is really more boring now, or if I'm just not seeing all the uniqueness in our daily lives. He said it was a little of both and promptly promised not to turn into a vagina (his words, sorry mom) for the next two years while he's back in school turning into a Nurse Practitioner. Noteworthy? Maybe. Crass? Definitely. There has to be a way to catch the small things in life while they're going on so I can immortalize them on the internet. Another example? Sawyer insisted on going outside this afternoon despite the 95+ degree heat. Once out there, he ran into the grass, squatted down, and pooped (in his diaper). He looked at me and said, "poop. red. poop." which I took to mean, "look mom! I won't poop in a toilet but I will put shoes on and walk down 3 stairs to stand in the yard and poop like the dog!!" Stephan wants more blogs about our Homo Sapien Canis. It's a biology joke.