Thinks By Me

Since the day I became his mom, my son has been what I would consider to be a "contented soul." As a baby, he was intent on his surroundings, but was pretty chill.  As a little boy, he could entertain himself for hours with toys or books.  He never nagged us to buy him things, he was always happy with a couple of close friends and he had just a few interests that he was devoted to.  I often worried that he would be so content, that he would go through life alone, not desiring to have a life partner. He always responded that if he ever found someone he liked, he would pursue a relationship, but he didn't need the social aspects of dating and companionship. My therapist once told me that was a sign of a healthy strong relationship with parents, and in moments of mom-guilt, I've revisited that. We were all thrilled the day a beautiful young woman walked in to our church on a Sunday morning, thinking she had been invited there. She had mistaken our church for another, but...

 Once upon a time, someone got offended by something I posted in jest, and I stopped blogging. I tried again once or twice, but the joy just wasn't in it. Thirteen years later, life has evolved, and although it's vaguely familiar, our kids are grown, and we are empty nesters besides the menagerie of animals we've adopted in order to cope with our incessant need to hover over some living being. In one short week, our Emergency Room RN daughter (who can no longer be called Little Chic) will be flying home to stand up at her brother's wedding (who still rightfully could be called Brainy Boy), to a girl who we would have picked ourselves if the choice had been ours. These days, I'm working full time in a school district and spending my free time divided between trying to be helpful to others and also trying not to get old. Looking back, my life these days is not at all what I imagined when I was in a 20-something newlywed. But I don't think you ever predict a clear ...

Life has moved along as it always does, and lately it's been dragging me along behind it.  This spring, with Senior years of high school and then college looming, I decided to make a job change. I got lucky and found my dream job at a local hospital, as the coordinator for their large volunteer department.  I've always fancied myself talented in the realm of concierge, and that's kind of my role--matching people up with their skills to fit needs within hospital departments.  I could also describe myself as a guidance counselor, but believe me, it brings on a whole new meaning when you are dealing with "Seniors" in the literal sense of the word.  In addition to the hospital gig, and at about the same timeframe, I found a second part-time job at a local attorney's office, right around the corner from the hospital.  Initially, I anticipated taking one job or the other, but as it turns out, my poor judgement took over and I accepted both.  Truthfully, I lik...

“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” Mother Theresa Pictured above is a car that a co-worker of mine has offered to our friends that had the car accident on their way to our house on Thanksgiving afternoon. You can read details in the post below, but they were coming to our house to bring us a pie for Thanksgiving ::sob:: It has been gratifying to see how our family, friends and  neighbors have stepped forward to help us raise the money to provide them with a new car.  We are collecting money to pay for a  few repairs, purchase new tires and get the vehicle inspected and on the road.  Since Friday evening, we have already raised approximately $650 of the $1000 that we need, through the generosity of those who felt impressed to give.   Every gift has value and we are so humbled by the willingness of everyone who has given what they can. We visited our friends Sunday afternoon so that John could check on their wounds from...

Thursday afternoon about 2pm, just as we were putting the finishing touches on our Thanksgiving dinner, my sister glanced up and saw a car coming down the road in front of my house. It slid, flipped twice and landed on its roof. Thankfully my hubby is a medic and my mother is an RN and they rushed out and began helping the family. We quickly realized that the victims were friends; my son wrestles with one of the boys in the car.  Dad, and three of their five sons (including a 2-year-old toddler) were coming to bring a pie to our family for Thanksgiving to thank us for driving their son back and forth to wrestling practice with our son. Their family is about as different from mine as can be--we are Christian; they are Muslim.  They are a family of 5 boys and 2 parents; I have one son, one daughter.  They are a Kurdish family who fled Iraq about a dozen years ago during the war with Saddam Hussein; I have lived in in the US my whole life.  But we also have much ...

1)  I took my Chickadee and a friend to the Carousel mall today to spend some of her hard-earned babysitting money.  One good thing about her wanting to shop alone with her buddy was that she didn't ask me to buy her one.single.thing!  Well, except lunch--that was only because I told her she was paying for her own if we didn't eat together ;) 2)  I skipped running for the 2nd day in row - partly because of time constraints (the mall was out of town) and partly because I am still nursing a stiff neck/back since my 5-miler.  Tomorrow I'm running regardless, so hopefully it will work itself out before then. 3)  "You have been entrusted with an incredible pain"...MaryBeth Chapman in Choosing to See .   I sat in Borders book store for about an hour and read several chapters of this book while Chickadee was shopping with her pal. I was embarrassed when I started laughing out loud and then had to hunker down when I started to bawl...definitely one of the ...

Although it's been a while since I've posted, believe me, life has continued to move in a forward direction! 1) My girlie and I volunteered on Saturday to work at the first annual ALS Walk to Defeat Lou Gehrig's disease.  It was awesome to have my daughter work alongside me and along with some other good friends. 2) I ran my first 5-miler since my half marathon back in April.  I have really slacked off this summer and confirmed to myself that need goals and a plan in order to stay consistent.  I did 3 5Ks this summer, but I didn't run much more than a 3-mile training run once a week until this week when I resumed a more regular schedule.  I was happy to cross a 5-miler off my list--it was a mental hurdle I had been avoiding.  I have a 10K scheduled for Oct 2.  This will be the first 10K race I've run--it's going to be a challenge because it's a very hilly course.

Well, the half marathon is over, and I am still alive and kicking! I owe so much gratitude to each of you who offered moral support and financially helped me reach my fundraising goal to support World Vision. I found out a few weeks before the race that I was in the "Orange Laces Club" and I received a pair of bright, neon orange shoe laces to wear in my shoes on race day - for raising over $800. In fact, m y goal was to raise $1000 and I am happy to report that I exceeded that goal, raising over $1,060 for clean water wells to be dug in Africa. John and I drove with our kids to New York City on Friday, April 2 and headed straight in to the heart of Manhattan to a running store located in the World Financial Plaza to pick up my race packet. In the envelope was my race number to wear on my shirt on race day and my racing "chip" which is a tag that you loop through your shoe laces to clock your individual race time. I also received my orange lac...

It's almost here! One week from today, my half marathon will already be over. I began running in earnest in September, worked up to 3 miles, then 5 and then started a training schedule in January to get me ready for the half marathon. So far, I have done long runs every weekend, my longest being 12 miles. I thought it was gonna kill me, but I survived, and I'm sure I will be fine on race day. The jitters have definitely set in and I am worrying about everything from whether I'll get a good night's sleep the night before to whether I'll have to stop and use the bathroom halfway through ;/ Most people probably don't need to fret the way I do, but I can conjure up a myriad of things to worry about. When I chose this race, I decided to join the official fundraising effort for World Vision. There is no minimum requirement for an amount to raise, but I decided to try for $1000. I truly didn't think I would come close to raising $1000 but I am thrilled to re...

What a busy two weeks! I started a new job as an administrative assistant, but have been working at my former job (in the Principal's office at a school) for the last two weeks as well! It has been a real challenge to fit my training runs in, and I've had to do quite a bit of creative scheduling to make it happen. I will be spending my last week at my school job and that will be ending on Feb. 19. After that, I will be back to a more manageable schedule with my new job offering quite a bit of flexibility and the opportunity to work at home some if I really need to. Week 4 of my training brought a hill workout and a couple of short, speedy runs (short being 3 and 4 milers). I had to do the hill workout and one of the short runs on a treadmill because of frigid temperatures (blustery and in the teens). Week 4's long run was 8 miles, which was my longest run to date. I was pretty happy with how I felt at the end--tired, but not completely exhausted. At least I was able to func...

This week brought very cold temperatures that caused a challenge for some of my runs. It is almost impossible for me to stay comfortably warm when it gets below 20 degrees. I did my first hill workout, which is meant to strengthen a different set of muscles and increase your speed. I did that on the treadmill on Monday because the weather was dangerously wet and we were in a flood state--I decided not to risk getting drenched by passing cars. The rest of the week had runs ranging between 3 and 5 miles. My week culminated with a 6 mile "long run". I had to put that off on Saturday because the temperature hovered around 14 degrees, and the weatherman promised a balmy 20 degrees on Sunday! I really don't like running on Sunday--it is a full day of church and family dinner and activities and I am usually too pooped out to take a long run. But I planned carefully, took some extra snacks to church to keep fueled up, and headed out the door while my sweet hubby fixed lunch for t...

I won! THESE! From HER! I can't believe my luck, because I had never even heard of them and had no idea they were my dream come true! Sweet Riots are itty bitty little nibs of chocolate covered cacao, one of those natural wonders full of antioxidants. Each teeny tiny nib has only 1-2 calories, but I tell ya, it was all I could do to keep myself from flipping the top and dumping the whole container in my mouth. I tasted one several of each (just to thoroughly test each one) and so far, my favorite is the 50% chocolate. I will be routinely re-testing though, and I will be sure to post if I change my mind ;) For now, all three packets are safely hidden in my glove compartment (or my large purse, as my husband likes to call it) for emergency purposes -- I do routinely have chocolate-related emergencies while driving hither and yon. And for safekeeping (from 13-year-old son who would NOT refrain from dumping an entire carton in his mouth--and who routinely sniffs out my top-secre...

Last September, after doing two half marathons (one in Nashville for my 40th birthday and one in Syracuse, NY) and walking half of one and all of the other, I decided to begin training to run an entire half marathon. I started in the middle of September using the Couch to 5K program since I've always been more of a kickboxer and strength-trainer rather than a runner. I finished the Couch to 5K program and ran my very first 5K, the Interlaken Steeple Chase in October. I also began searching for half marathons and was thrilled to find that a favorite charity of mine, World Vision, was sponsoring the 13.1 New York race in April 2010. After some convincing of the hubby, who was determined to come watch wherever I chose but detests large cities (especially ones named "NYC") I registered for the inaugural event of 13.1 New York. Joining this race gives me an opportunity to raise support for World Vision and also is a chance to participate in the very first race that th...

Suzy, over at Running on My Time (who, incidentally, I found through the Freihofer's Run for Women, which, I plan to participate in this June) tagged me to list 10 things that make me happy. I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought it was due time to share a bit. 1) My relationship with Jesus Christ. 2) The fact that I'm a mom (which I didn't think I wanted to be until I was). 3) Muh Main Man (who reaffirms that he's The One for me with every new day). 4) Coffee (Starbucks grande, non-fat, no-whip Cinnamon Dolce Latte, to be specific). 5) Running gear (like my new World Vision running shirt, in neon orange for the half marathon in NYC on April 3). 6) My 2-hour-a-day job at an elementary school office (it's like parenting on a mammoth scale sometimes!) 7) Having a goal and achieving it (like in November when I ran 5 miles for the first time) 8) The smell of clean sheets. 9) Volunteering at my kids school. 10) Summer (the hotter, the better). I'm...

We had an awesomely good Thanksgiving week - although it was just the four of us. We stayed home as we have travel plans for Florida during Christmas week, so we stayed put for Thanksgiving. It was laid back, calm and completely stress free. I underachieved a bit and didn't even get my tree up--although I did get some Christmas shopping done. My workout schedule was - Sunday - Ran 4 miles (10:51 pace) Monday - kickboxed 1 hr. Tuesday - strength trained with personal trainer 1 hr Wed - off Thurs - Ran 4 miles before dinner (10:33 pace) Friday - strength trained with personal trainer 1 hr Sat - off Sunday (11/28) - ran 4 miles (10:32 pace) This week I'll add .5 miles and make my runs 4.5 miles. That will officially be the furthest distance I've ever run without stopping for a walk break. Once I get to 5 miles, I have a pre-training schedule I'll do for about 4 weeks before I start in on my half marathon training regimen. Thanksgiving dinner was yummalicious. With ju...

I did my first 5k race on Saturday, Nov. 14 a few miles outside Ithaca, NY. It was only slightly nerve-wracking. I got up early, drove up all by myself and ran, not knowing a soul. Fortunately I have been to two other races(though not alone) so I did have an idea of what to expect. I had to leave my cheering section at home--the race was too far away to leave the kiddos at home for hubby to come along, and our wrestler had practice, so I couldn't bring the whole crew. The stakes were high -- the other two races I've done involved a lot of walking...,my goal for this hilly course was to run the whole thing. Happily I met my goal of running the whole way, -- not fast, but with toenails matching my running gear (it actually wasn't planned!) My time was 33:38 though I would have preferred a time of about 3 minutes faster. Hubby obliged me with a picture, but I think he was a bit anxious to get out to the tree stand for hunting--thus the blur.

We've had our washer and dryer off our kitchen since we built our house, but we have sorely missed having a proper coat/boot closet, especially in the winter time, since you enter right into our house. We don't have a mud room or entry where we can take off boots and wet clothes. To solve the problem, we moved our laundry to our basement and my sweet hubby installed all sorts of shelving and a coat rack for me. He gets extra brownie points for doing it in the midst of deer season! Little Chic and I painted the walls before he got started.

Week ending 11/7 Workout schedule for this last week Monday kickboxed & ran 2.75 mi Tuesday 1 hour strength training Wednesday ran 2.75 mi Thursday 1 hour strength training Friday kickboxed Saturday ran 2.75 mi (hit my best pace 9:55/mi) I'm excited to run my first ever 5k this next Saturday, 11/14. Since is so blasted cold around here, the running season is pretty much over, so I have to drive past Ithaca to do it, but I've been looking for a race, and this is pretty much all there is to choose from. It's the Interlaken Steeple Chase put on by a church in the small town of Interlaken Menu for next week: Sunday evening dinner-Chicken parmigiana (my kids' favorite meal) Monday-Beef & Broccoli soup, Sandra Lee Tues-Tortilla bake, Kraft Food & Family (PTA meeting night, 6:30pm) Wed-Chicken linguine with creamy pesto, Sandra Lee (Choir practice night, 6:15pm) Thurs-Mac & Cheese with salad (Leadership team meeting night, 7pm) Friday-Stromboli (Wildtree Herb...

In lieu of not blogging at all, as I've been prone to do for the last year I'm toying with the idea of using my blog to indulge myself for a while in journaling the current happenings of my life--though they won't be of much interest to anybody else, I'm sure. I will probably keep things like my weekly menus, perhaps my workout schedule and progress log and maybe some other riffraff that only I care about. You're certainly invited to snoop about, although the fodder won't be very compelling. It will, however, give me something to look back at when I'm old & decrepit (you know, like old picture albums and remember the "good old days" ;)

My friends, Angela & Sue and I will be at the ARC of Onondaga County's Half Marathon on Saturday, September 12, 2009. I'm participating in memory of my sweet friend, Crystal, who had wanted to join in the next time I did a half marathon. When we talked about it back in April, I certainly thought we'd be doing one together more than just in spirit. I had found this race and was contemplating entering, but I hadn't even had a chance to ask her to join me before she died. I decided to participate the day I found out about her death, in her memory. Thanks to my sister, of Camie Designs , for providing this cute logo for me to wear on my shirt.