Thanksgiving this year was an amazingly great one.
Right, maybe it feels like I'm saying that just to put on a show of a fun and carefree life? Well, it's not. My life, I mean.
Not that it's not great, but it's no Target commercial.
That's why I have to brag about the days that come around every so often when I have really enjoyed myself from beginning to end. And my daughter was content with the whole day, which also constituted a big part of my satisfaction/happiness.
I think I took 1 picture of the event and spent the rest of the time relaxing, playing with Alyssa, playing Dance Central (a few times with Aly, too!), and talking easily with my husband and family. It was a rare day of doing only fun or relaxing things.
Michael and I are lucky. We really are. I know there may be a deeper or perhaps more artful way of saying this but, we're lucky not to be desperately poor, chronically or fatally sick; we are relatively well-educated, and content in the knowledge that we have people that love us and have our best interests at heart (no matter if sometimes their methods are entirely wrong, hah). We're not alone in this world, and we've got a pretty solid foundation right now. Our looks notwithstanding (I think we'd both agree though that they could be worse), we're very happy with what we've got.
Thanksgiving being done with, it is time to move forward with the fun stuff-- twinkling lights, songs that make me happy...and hopefully a few days of colder weather! And some good old fashioned American decadence...on a Bud Light budget. Scratch that-- make it a Natural Ice budget! (Amy Sedaris might be of some assistance in this department. Everyone might be getting googly-eyed peanuts for Christmas).
Okay, I'm off to read about Tony and Eva's split.
Enjoy:
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Magic
Two big dates: December 13th and January 4th.
The first is the day that I will be at the dentist's office for no less than 3 hours getting everything that I need done, in one fell swoop. It is also the day that Michael will begin school.
The second is the date that I start school. Sweeeet. I have to do well if I want any chance of getting into the grad program. For now, it's just the prerequisites, but there's quite a list of them! 27 credit hours, actually. Today, finally, I received confirmation that everything has gone through.
That having been said, I have to get the apartment picked up-- someone interested in purchasing it, will be stopping by tomorrow afternoon and it needs to be presentable.
Holiday in Handcuffs is on (why do I like that movie so much??!), a cheesecake pumpkin pie is in the oven, and my baby is finally asleep (as of 10 o'clock!). Time to get ready for tomorrow...
The first is the day that I will be at the dentist's office for no less than 3 hours getting everything that I need done, in one fell swoop. It is also the day that Michael will begin school.
The second is the date that I start school. Sweeeet. I have to do well if I want any chance of getting into the grad program. For now, it's just the prerequisites, but there's quite a list of them! 27 credit hours, actually. Today, finally, I received confirmation that everything has gone through.
That having been said, I have to get the apartment picked up-- someone interested in purchasing it, will be stopping by tomorrow afternoon and it needs to be presentable.
Holiday in Handcuffs is on (why do I like that movie so much??!), a cheesecake pumpkin pie is in the oven, and my baby is finally asleep (as of 10 o'clock!). Time to get ready for tomorrow...
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Running
I began running when I was 13 years old.
My brother convinced my parents that it would improve my basketball-playing skills if I joined other sports. Cross country, he suggested, would increase my stamina, and keep me in shape off season.
I was annoyed, but relented. I wasn't much of a fighter, and I figured it would take less energy from me to just join this team, than it would to try to fight with my brother and father for the next four years over what a mistake I had made in not following their advice. I wasn't in love with basketball anyways; it was unlikely that I would hate this sport any more than I hated that one, right?
As someone who to this day remains a bit socially awkward, I was surprised to see how well got along with my fellow runners. That made me happy immediately. Formerly a loner, I felt like I might have company.
Who constituted the group of people I would spend the next four years with?
Well, there were two types of people that were on my high school cross country team: 1) Athletes that were there to condition themselves for some other sport they preferred and 2.) People (athletic or not) that desired the opportunity to get into shape while avoiding physical contact with other people. No one initially joined the team because they had any kind of passion for running.
But...many of us converted.
I have to admit it-- I couldn't run 1 mile the first day, but I decided right off the bat that I was in love with this sport and that I would climb my way to the top.
My stubby little legs (I'm maybe 5 foot 2) were not built for distance running, but I decided that I would prevail. Most of the people that I really got along with were the actual runners; those that had joined for some other reason, but that stayed and excelled because they fell in love with running for hours on end.
I was training with the varsity team by my sophomore year (not racing varsity yet, but training). I had made it up to the group of neurotics and over-achievers that I felt comfortable with (even if I was not really an over achiever, myself).
If you're curious, I ran varsity my junior and senior year. I would never be amazing at running, but I held my own.
I still remember my runs with a team:
We would warm up with one mile in the park, stretch, and then hit the road.
Once on the run, we would all talk and sing in unison, clap in unison, and laugh about funny incidents that we could relate to one another. And then around the fourth mile, the chatter would die down, we would all settle into the run, and peace and quiet would reign over the last few miles. This was the golden hour, and probably my favorite time of the run: Our need to socialize spent, we could easily settle into a silent reverie. Once there, my mind would be blank. Only audible was the easy breathing of my fellow runners, the sound of about 40 sneakers lightly padding the pavement in stride, and the steady stream of cars whirring past us.
Once I left for college, I had to settle for running in a gym by myself. Literally non of my friends from cross country went to UF, and only one other friend of mine from high school went there at all. So, no runners there.
Beyond college, I have continued to run in a gym or on my treadmill at home; it's been soul-less and not nearly as fun. I had given it up during pregnancy and for some time thereafter, but have picked it back up again with a vengeance.
Darn the gym! I am getting used to it, but it's still not the same.
,
My brother convinced my parents that it would improve my basketball-playing skills if I joined other sports. Cross country, he suggested, would increase my stamina, and keep me in shape off season.
I was annoyed, but relented. I wasn't much of a fighter, and I figured it would take less energy from me to just join this team, than it would to try to fight with my brother and father for the next four years over what a mistake I had made in not following their advice. I wasn't in love with basketball anyways; it was unlikely that I would hate this sport any more than I hated that one, right?
As someone who to this day remains a bit socially awkward, I was surprised to see how well got along with my fellow runners. That made me happy immediately. Formerly a loner, I felt like I might have company.
Who constituted the group of people I would spend the next four years with?
Well, there were two types of people that were on my high school cross country team: 1) Athletes that were there to condition themselves for some other sport they preferred and 2.) People (athletic or not) that desired the opportunity to get into shape while avoiding physical contact with other people. No one initially joined the team because they had any kind of passion for running.
But...many of us converted.
I have to admit it-- I couldn't run 1 mile the first day, but I decided right off the bat that I was in love with this sport and that I would climb my way to the top.
My stubby little legs (I'm maybe 5 foot 2) were not built for distance running, but I decided that I would prevail. Most of the people that I really got along with were the actual runners; those that had joined for some other reason, but that stayed and excelled because they fell in love with running for hours on end.
I was training with the varsity team by my sophomore year (not racing varsity yet, but training). I had made it up to the group of neurotics and over-achievers that I felt comfortable with (even if I was not really an over achiever, myself).
If you're curious, I ran varsity my junior and senior year. I would never be amazing at running, but I held my own.
I still remember my runs with a team:
We would warm up with one mile in the park, stretch, and then hit the road.
Once on the run, we would all talk and sing in unison, clap in unison, and laugh about funny incidents that we could relate to one another. And then around the fourth mile, the chatter would die down, we would all settle into the run, and peace and quiet would reign over the last few miles. This was the golden hour, and probably my favorite time of the run: Our need to socialize spent, we could easily settle into a silent reverie. Once there, my mind would be blank. Only audible was the easy breathing of my fellow runners, the sound of about 40 sneakers lightly padding the pavement in stride, and the steady stream of cars whirring past us.
Once I left for college, I had to settle for running in a gym by myself. Literally non of my friends from cross country went to UF, and only one other friend of mine from high school went there at all. So, no runners there.
Beyond college, I have continued to run in a gym or on my treadmill at home; it's been soul-less and not nearly as fun. I had given it up during pregnancy and for some time thereafter, but have picked it back up again with a vengeance.
Darn the gym! I am getting used to it, but it's still not the same.
,
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