Fall Back Weekend!
Hooray! We’ve gotten to a Very Important Weekend! You might recall this post about Pumpkin Palooza, the little-known (because totally made up) festival of pumpkin that starts every year on September 1st. There are some important events within that festival- the first day of fall, Halloween, and then of course Fall Back Weekend! Saturday night we turn the clocks back, and I love how luxurious Sunday feels with that extra hour. As an added bonus, Sunday is the New York City Marathon! We can get up, go for a run, make the waffles (what? You are making waffles, aren’t you?) all in time to turn on the TV at 8:30 EST to watch the race. That is, if you’re a runner. My kids don’t run, and they truly can’t fathom how we could sit there and watch people run for over two hours. I can see it from their point of view- a lot of times it’s not even much of a race, with one person pulling ahead early on and running by themselves to the finish line. But I still love it! I love watching the elite runners- it’s mind boggling how fast they’re running for 26.2 miles. I love how beautiful their form is, and how easy they make it look. Also… I ran the New York City Marathon in 1993 and 1996, when I lived in New York. A long time ago… a lot has definitely changed, but it’s still the same race. It’s fun to watch the runners go over the Verrazano bridge and think “I remember what that feels like!” So what do you do with the extra hour on Sunday? I know a lot of people do something very specific with that hour, like read or journal… or sleep. I just appreciate that I can fit a lot into that morning, and not feel rushed. Thanks as always for San, who is our intrepid host for NaBloPoMo! Check out her link for other bloggers who are participating this year. Do you like turning the clocks back? If you don’t live in the US, did you already turn the clocks back? – I think we do it too late here- mid-October would be nice!
November Coffee Date- They’re Here!
You guys! The holiday cups have arrived! Rush immediately to your nearest Starbucks, get yourself a festive beverage (I’m having my usual earl grey, but in a festive cup) and join me for November’s Coffee Date! I’m linking up as usual with Deborah and Coco. Let’s get started! The first thing I would talk about over coffee (or, tea) is NaBloPoMo. For National Blog Posting Month, I committed to 30 posts in 30 days, starting November 1st. I have to admit that when I woke up on October 31st my first thought was “Wait- I said I would do WHAT???” I had a moment of serious doubt, but decided to go ahead with it- and I’m so glad I did! Although I’m starting to suspect that there are approximately three people participating this year, I’ve still discovered some new blogs and great bloggers I never would have known otherwise. So far it’s going well! Okay, let’s talk about books. I’m having a serious crisis. Here’s what happened: over the summer my son decided to re-read all the Harry Potter books (we read them together when he was younger, about ten years ago.) He urged me to do the same, and initially I resisted because there are seven of them, they’re long, and there are so many other books I wanted to read. He convinced me to “just read the first one” and of course, I got hooked all over again. The thing is, I don’t even like fantasy. But the Harry Potter books really fall into the mystery genre, and I LOVE mysteries. And they’re so well-written- how can you not be fascinated by time turners and lost prophesies? The third book has one of the best endings ever, the sixth book has that shocking event on the tower, and the seventh book… well. I took a long time to read it, because I didn’t want it to end. Twice towards the end I cried (without giving anything away, the scene where Harry is walking into the Forbidden Forest accompanied by certain… unusual… people, is so beautiful and heartbreaking) and then when I finished it I cried again because it was over. Where in the world do you go from there? I thought maybe I would have to read Proust next, or Tolstoy. Or possibly give up reading altogether. I have two books sitting on my coffee table, but I can’t seem to start them. I feel like I’ll just have to wait ten years and then read the Harry Potter books AGAIN. Back to reality… I’ve had three shockwave treatments on my foot so far (to treat both my plantar fasciitis AND insertional peroneal tendinitis) and… I don’t see much of a difference, yet. I’m definitely able to run- as a matter of fact, my doctor said there have been studies where people received shockwave treatments and one group continued to run, while the other group had their foot immobilized in a boot, and they both healed at the same rate. Yes, put me in the running group! At my doctor’s suggestion, I’m running 3-4 times a week and keeping my runs to 3-5 miles. Way better than nothing! I wish I felt a more noticeable improvement, but my doctor said it just takes time. He said the first two treatments actually increase inflammation- but the good kind, the kind that gets in there to flush out all the waste material from the injured area. Then the subsequent treatments are when the tissue starts to remodel, laying new capillaries and collagen. It all sounds great when he talks about it! So I’m continuing to limp and hobble around first thing in the morning (and anytime I’ve been sitting for a while) but have faith that there’s healing going on. That’s it for today! Check back in tomorrow for thoughts about the long (49 hour) weekend, and upcoming NYC marathon. Sunday will be the weekly rundown as usual. Have a great Friday! Do you like the Starbucks holiday cups? – Some years are better than others. I think the ones this year are really pretty! Have you read the Harry Potter books? Any recommendations for me?
The Problem With Thursdays
Well, here we are again- Day 4 of NaBloPoMo, and my least favorite day of the week- Thursday. You might be asking, “What in the world is wrong with Thursday? Thursday is Friday Junior! Don’t be silly!” Well, I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off of work, so Thursday is my Monday. Following along so far? In addition to returning to work after two days off, Thursdays used to have all sorts of other problems. In my brief and unexciting triathlon phase, Thursday was a swimming day. I tried to rearrange that, but because of the logistics of long runs, bike rides and my work schedule, I had to swim on Thursday. This meant getting up at 5 and driving to the pool in the dark, before rushing home to get the kids up and ready for school. Then, my daughter used to take horseback riding lessons on Thursdays after school. Once again, not my choice of scheduling- it was just the way it had to be. Somehow this involved me standing out in the hot sun, watching her ride a horse. Of course I wanted her to have that opportunity- just not necessarily on that day. So my Thursdays started with a 5 am swim, continued on with work, leading into a horseback riding lesson, and then of course home to somehow get dinner on the table. No wonder I dreaded it! Now my son is in college so I only have one kid at home. My daughter no longer rides a horse (phew) and I came to my senses about that triathlon thing (it just wasn’t for me.) I also have a new system of preparing an extra-large dinner on Wednesday so we can have leftovers on Thursday. My job isn’t bad at all. I work as a massage therapist, so it can be tiring, but the good thing is that I get to move around a lot (as opposed to sitting all day.) My boss can be kind of… bossy… but she’s okay. My coworkers are nice people, and my clients are interesting. My Thursdays are so much easier than they used to be. So what do I have to complain about? One day I was listening to Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast, and they were discussing the issue of “Sunday depression.” One listener absolutely hit the nail on the head when she said “I get depressed about going back to work on Monday because it means my time is no longer my own.” THAT’S IT. It’s not that my Thursdays are bad, or stressful, or extremely unpleasant- it’s just that I have to follow someone else’s rules and schedule. My Tuesdays and Wednesdays are nice, although a lot of times I’m doing errands, going to doctor’s appointments or doing house chores- but my time is still my own, and it’s hard when that ends. So what should I do? The older I get, the more I’m aware that our days are numbered- not in a morbid way, but it’s a fact for all of us. I don’t want to “throw away” every Thursday by just wishing to get through it as fast as possible. I don’t want to look back and say that I only fully lived 6/7ths of my life- I want to live the whole thing. Easier said than done, but I’m committing to giving Thursdays some love from now on. I’m going to appreciate the time I do have to myself, before and after work, and while I’m at work I’m going to make those hours count as well. How about you- do you like your job? Do you get depressed about going back to work on Monday (or whatever day your “Monday” is?) If you’ve faced this issue and conquered it, do you have any tips?
Looking Back, Looking Forward…
Hello! It’s Day 3 of NaBloPoMo, and the perfect moment to look back at Halloween. This was the first year where I wasn’t called upon to go trick-or-treating with either of my kids, and it was bittersweet. My son sent me a photo of himself on the way to his college party dressed as Harry Potter, and my daughter went ice skating and then trick-or-treating with friends. I’m glad they’re both having fun (especially my daughter- 7th grade can be such a non-fun year) but I’m really missing these days: My son’s best friend was like our second son for a few years there. Yep… I’m ready for grandkids!!! My husband and I were left at home to hand out candy, and just to make things more festive I made Halloween pizzas. The funny thing is, it was just me and my husband and he couldn’t care less what the pizzas looked like. He didn’t care if they were skulls, circles, squares, or in the shape of a Christmas tree. He just wanted to eat. The dinner was interrupted about 30 times to answer the door for trick-or-treaters, but I loved it. (Side note! All the food I show is totally vegan. For these pizzas I used Violife vegan cheese, and the jack o’lantern has Beyond sausage- that one was for my husband. I don’t like sausage, vegan or otherwise.) And speaking of Christmas trees… I’m so excited. Christmas is officially popping up everywhere, and I love it. My apologies to anyone who doesn’t celebrate- as a matter of fact, I think people who don’t celebrate Christmas deserve a GIGANTIC apology from the entire universe. I mean, how frickin’ annoying would it be to be bombarded by music, decorations and general hype, 24/7, for a holiday you don’t even celebrate. The apology extends to people who did grow up celebrating Christmas but find the holiday sad, or unpleasant for any reason. There will be a lot about Christmas on this blog, but I understand that it’s not for everyone. Having said that… I stopped by Crate and Barrel today for a nice dose of the holiday, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was very proud of myself- I didn’t buy anything. I just wanted to look. After all, we still have Thanksgiving coming up, and I love Thanksgiving. Yes, I pretty much love all holidays. But wait… isn’t this supposed to be a running blog? Well, yes! I got in an early and dark run this morning, because I had my third shockwave treatment at the podiatrist right after dropping my daughter at school. To be honest, I haven’t seen much change in my foot since I started treatments, but this was my third session and the doctor said people really start to see improvements between the third and fourth treatment. We’ll see about that! I have more of a shockwave update coming up later in the week. Meanwhile he confirmed that it’s fine to keep running during treatments, so I have no complaints. Well, I have to go- time to take down my Halloween decorations and put up Thanksgiving ones! I’ll be back tomorrow. Are you excited for the holidays? Dreading it? Somewhere in between?