run on sentences

I figured I better have one more post in January so here is my final entry for this month, filled with this and that. I did find one more January 5th in an old running journal from 1981, The complete runner's day-by-day log and calendar authored by the now dead James Fixx. James Fixx was one of the gurus of the running movement and ironically enough, died from an undiagnosed heart condition. Just goes to show you that you can do everything right and still die from something you work hard to prevent. I guess we all work hard our entire lives to prevent death, pretty much. And sometimes folks work too hard all of their lives and die just when they are able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Anyway, on January 5th 1981, the entry says. School starts. 2:30 Pm to park - once around and back. 5 miles. Ran with Kris F. First time in a week - felt a little stiff - first day of period. Wow, that was in the days when I still had a uterus! It was also the year that long gone uterus became a...

I found two old diaries from 1968 and 1969. Here's how January 5th was lived 40 and 39 years ago for me. Friday January 5th 1968 Dear Diary: Boy! Linda Reid said I could ride to the game with her and then they left without me. I wanted to go to the game real bad too because its the first one in our new gym. Ernie Silta thinks he owns our TV. He had to watch Gomer Pyle and I watned to watch Star Trek. I can never watch what I want! And my mother always sticks up for Barbara. Boy if I could have a wish I wish I was a cheerleader. Maybe better news next time. Donna Sunday January 5th 1969 Dear Diary: I didn't go to work today either. I don't even know if I;'ll make it to school tomorrow. I'll try. I did my homework (the rest of it) and my dress is almost finished. Well Good night. Donna I am sort of curious about the rest of January 5ths in my life. Having at least 15 of them documented is pretty darn good. I think life might have been much easier (...

From my running logs: Saturday January 5th 1996: Had today off. 0930 Bailey and I ran the skyline run - not the best for either of us. 4-5 miles. Sunday January 5th, 1997: Cold and windy and maybe I had a few too many white Russians! Didn't go (running). Monday, January 5th 1998 - Didn't run. Work got in the way. Tuesday January 5th 1999 - No entry! Wednesday, January 5th 2000: Snowy so didn't run today. Period started tonight. Friday, January 5th 2001: Didn't run today. Took the day off from running and only worked until noon - then Billy, K., Dan and I went to see the Movie "Ms. Congeniality. Saturday January 5th 2002: Ran with Paula and Jack at 08. Cold but not too. Felt pretty good but legs still sore during the night. Got the tree down - had a productive day. Kitties doing well. 7 miles. (Note: I think I was watching my friend Ramona's kitties while she was out of town). Sunday January 5th 2003: Ran with Julie at 07 - went to church went to coffee - didn...

On Christmas Eve, as I run by Christmas tree lots, I feel sorry for the scrawny trees not chosen to sit in someones living room or great room, slowly dying, decorated with ornaments that mean something to the people who carefully place them on the branches. I want to buy all those scrawny trees, just like I want to take all the homeless dogs home and how I wanted my kids to play with the unpopular kids. In other words, I feel sorry for the underdog. And I feel sorry for every person who is alone on Christmas with no one to visit them. Christmas isn't always a happy time as one gets older. It should be because we have so much. But sometimes it is about what we have lost and the people that are no longer with us. Sometimes it is too filled with the memories of what it used to be before it got so commercial and before it was bad to say Merry Christmas instead of happy holidays. The older one gets the more it is about saying hello and then goodbye to family members who come to share th...

Last night the weather man, whose hair is way too foofy for my tastes (I have a habit of never trusting a guy who wears more product in his hair than I do) predicted that Eastern and Southern Utah would be hit with a big snow storm. I think he rated it a significant storm on his scale of snow storms. He said that the rest of the state including the Salt Lake Valley, would have not much to speak of. When I woke up this morning, the "not much to speak of" turned out to be enough snow to cover our driveway, neighborhood streets and fill the back yard. By late afternoon, it amounted to 9 inches. Perfect weather for Jack and I and my friend Craig, who loves running in the snow, to go for a nice run at 8 am. On days like this, the snow makes it so quiet and beautiful. It really looks like an old fashion Christmas with all of the snow sticking to the trees. My mom calls the big flakes "Christmas flakes". The few other runners that we saw greeted us triumphantly as if to sa...

Last Saturday night, we went to the VFW club to have a drink after dinner. The crowd consisted of me, Bruce, the bartender, and the manager. It was too early for the younger crowd, and many of the older crowd who used to populate the place are now dead. A young guy accompanied by an older one came in - both looking like maybe they had stopped a few places before showing up there. The bartender checked the ID of the young man and seemed to know the older one - I think his name was John. "What are you drinking she said?" "How about a Hot Damn?" John asked. The young man said his name was Gabe "Gabriel Andrew after my grandfather". He was quiet and the bartender gave him a coke while he made up his mind on what else he might want to drink. I think she could sense that he had already had enough and another drink was not what he needed. "He just got back from Iraq" the older guy, John, explained. "He was in the Marines". "Shut up Bro, I...

Today I am no longer "almost 54" - I am there, but not yet at another race category. It is this day of my birth which made me think of the other birthdays I remember. My first memory was when I turned 9 years old and it was my "Golden Birthday" - meaning that I was 9 on November 9Th. My mom got me a birthstone ring which I cherished and wore through three years of college until it was swiped by a roommate or accidentally washed down the kitchen drain with my Aunt Margie's class ring that my uncle gave me when she died. Aunt Margie (really my mom's aunt) died at 53 of an abdominal aneurysm. On my ninth birthday my mom made ham salad sandwiches, which to this day, I love. It was a beautiful day - unusual for November in the UP and we sat outside at the picnic table and ate lunch. My friend Darlene came over and we were using an old lawnmower to ride down a hill. Darlene fell and broke her leg. We didn't know it at the time. I did what any future nurse woul...