run on sentences

We all like to stay in our own comfort zone and yes I know I am generalizing.  Staying in my safety zone involves doing nothing that will risk my life, any of my limbs, my dignity, and can be done with both of my feet touching the ground.  Like running.  It did seem pretty safe until I broke my leg last year in my driveway, but that's different.  It is something I have to do to keep sane, so I will risk it.  And usually one of my feet is on the ground. When Sue, my college roommate from Northern Michigan University (class of 1975, and proud of it), posted something on Facebook about Pictured Rocks National Shoreline   http://www.paddlingmichigan.com on Lake Superior, and suggested a girl kayaking trip about a year ago, I said "I'm in" even though I am not a big water person or swimmer.  There were a few reasons that compelled me to do this risky thing that could result in my death, knowing that  "Superior they said, never gives up her dead" (Go...

I have never had to frequent a guy store.  Ever.  OK once I had to go to Ernst Home Center (now defunct) to buy some wire to hook up our new oven.  Bruce and our friend Lee were wiring our kitchen and were busy working on that,  and sent me off in search of the needed wire.  By the time I got there, I forgot what I needed - there were numbers involved like 15/2 (sort of like cribbage) or something.  I told the guy store guy this and right away he knew what I needed, but not after giving me a smirk.  I took out my brick cell phone and called home to verify that it was a 6:3 or whatever it actually was.  He ended up giving me twice as much as we needed (at the single price) and I thought it served him right for smirking at me so I didn't return it. old brick cell phone - it would never fit in my purse! Up until this point, I have been protected from visiting guy stores solo, because I have a guy and that is what guys do - they go to guy store...

On Thursday, as I prepared to run at 5:45 with my friend Becky and Jack the dog, I thought how crappy I felt.  This thought alone violated one of my first rules of the road which is to "never comment, or let yourself think,  about how good or bad you feel for the first 30 minutes or three miles of a run, whichever comes first".  And here I was already thinking negative thoughts BEFORE I even was on the road. It really didn't get any better on the road.  I felt nauseated.  My legs felt like lead.  My head hurt, my feet stank and I didn't love Jesus (Old Jimmy Buffet song) and I hadn't even had any drinks the evening before.   Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Becky felt tired and out of sorts too.  We ended up walking much of the run which in my earlier running years, I never would have done because that was unforgivable.  We also complained a lot minor irritations that, in the general scheme of things, were of little importance being tha...

Exactly one year ago today our first grandson, Desmond John, arrived - "he came to the world in the usual way" as Harry Chapin put it.  Desmond - less than one hour old - contemplating what's ahead for him Bill and Scarlett - Des was less than an hour old Me and Des - one day old Grandpa and Desmond I still remember how much (as weird as this sounds) I enjoyed sitting in the dirty little waiting room by myself, waiting for updates.  Billy would come in every few hours or so and give me reports on how Scarlett was doing - she was one tough woman in labor, that's for sure.  I went home for a few hours to sleep and he called me back when Scarlett was ready to push.  Desmond was born 30 minutes or so after I got there. When Billy came in to tell me "It's a little boy", I won't forget the look on his face - he my second born, once my own newborn,  now a father.   I got to see Desmond all fresh and somewhat startled by his abr...

Today my son Bill started grad school, working towards his Masters degree in business or MBA.  He sent me this picture in an email titled "first day of 17th grade". I smiled at his thoughtfulness in remembering how I always made he and his sister and brother line up together or separately, for a picture on the first day of school.    I did this every year and even asked them to send me one when they went away to college. My mom did this when I was a kid and it drove us nuts.  Like me though, my mom wasn't that great about putting pictures in albums, which I think is okay. There's nothing wrong with looking at boxes full of pictures with your family, maybe sipping on an adult beverage while reminiscing.  My brother and I on just before leaving for school - not a first day I don't think. The older my kids got, the harder it was to get them to stop for a moment to so I could take a picture.  Of course I planned to put everything in nice photo albums...

I have never ever taken my ability to get out there and run for granted.  Running has gotten me through all of the ups and downs of my life, including the death of both my parents and other loved ones, bad diagnoses from friends and family and the letting go of the job I had for 35 years.   it has been a constant in my life for many years, while other parts of my life have come and gone.    I started running when Kseniya was a baby, just to get out of the house because for a while I was a stay at home mom and I needed an outlet.  I have been running ever since with a brief pause for the aerobic craze. I have learned to love running for the sheer joy of it and not care too much about how fast I run or for how long.  I have a rule to never leave anyone behind - if I invite someone along and they are slower than me, I stay with them.  If someone is having a bad day, I stay with them too. I have done about 35 marathons and many 1/2 marathons as well....

There are many words that can describe joy or happiness.  "Alegría" in Spanish,  "Ilo" in Finnish, and "freude" in German for example.  Babies show joy in their expression and it is so pure and honest that no words are necessary - in any language. They use their entire body and it is hard to fake that.  Babies don't know how to fake emotion but unfortunately, like we all do, they will learn it eventually.   baby joy...my sweet grandson Desmond enjoying life My grandson Desmond sometimes seems so overcome with joy at many, sometimes unexpected things (like shaking a lamp and playing patty cake).  He  just about erupts with baby happiness, alegría, ilo, freude - whatever you want to call it.  It spills out of him -  all you need to do is make a funny face at him or say a word like "pow" or "yakabuski" and he laughs hysterically. Sometimes his joy is not as loud but still apparent in his little face.  He smiles happily wh...