Giddy up, we're homeward bound

Went out for a run tonight without my mp3 player. Usually I have a song with a decent beat stuck in my head anyway, so it's not a problem. Not so tonight. So I thought of my standby song. It's a song I learned back in preschool about a...carriage ride. Trust me, it makes no sense. But the song isn't my point this evening.

Back when I was in seventh grade, I decided to join the cross country team. Probably because my friends were doing it. It certainly wasn't because I was any good. If I got tired, I stopped and walked, which happened every 400 meters or so. Though that might not have been a bad thing. My running style was more of a hop than a forward stride--I actually walked faster than I ran.

The Saturday before our first race, my mom took me out to the park to go through the course. As we went, she offered suggestions for how to get through the race, including singing this song in my head as I ran. We sang it together as I huffed and puffed along, shaking seed pods to the beat.

But like I said, it's not about the song. It's about the love. I didn't learn anything about endurance running that day. But I learned I was important to my mom. And every week when I talk to her, I know I still am. So happy Mother's Day, Momma. I love you.

Things that made me laugh tonight

I went for a walk around Balboa Island tonight to try out the new camera and to just get out of the house. For an island that isn't very big, there's sure a lot of crazy stuff there.






I've also created a new blog to show off some of my pictures. Brownie points to anyone who gets the title.

And finally, proof that this camera is magic: it even takes good pictures of me.

Thank goodness it's the weekend

So this was another long week. I had to bust out the blueberry juice and classical music again...and it was only Tuesday. But Friday dawned with the promise of good things.

My mood was almost squelched by an idiotic semi driver who decided to take up both turning lanes, making me wait through the light twice. As I was grumbling in my head about it once I finally made it to the freeway, who should I see but the same semi truck. Only now he had been pulled over by the highway patrol. Yes, even at 8:20 a.m., the universe was smiling on me.

My next good turn was the arrival of my new toy. Though this was a mixed blessing because I had a section I had to get done that day, and it's hard to focus when you feel like a kid on Christmas morning who's just been told you have to clean your room before you can open presents. I lasted until lunch.

My first attempt.

Lunch also brought Sprinkles cupcakes "for all of your hard work." Ignoring the hard workout at the gym that its consumption would require, I ate an entire red velvet cupcake. A sugar coma ensued. The coma was furthered by the chair massage later that afternoon (also "because you've been working so hard"...I think they know the whole office is starting to go crazy). She spent the whole time trying to unknot my shoulders. With more time, she could have succeeded.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous as well. I got a trip to Atomic to feel both attractive and incompetent (someday I will learn the lindy hop). I also got to hug Mickey at the happiest place on earth (seriously, it's not possible to walk down Main Street without grinning). And today I heard some excellent talks on faith, hope, and charity, and our musical number actually went quite well, considering we only started practicing yesterday.

Monday might actually be bearable.