Weekly Rundown- The Longest Week
Oof, what a week. It was the 4th Annual road trip to Waco with my son, which was a highlight of the summer for me. Workouts weren’t the priority, but of course there were some! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s get right into it! Sunday After driving 11 hours on Saturday, we woke up in Gulfport, Mississippi. Our hotel had a gym- with three pieces of equipment. A bike, an elliptical, and a multi-purpose strength circuit machine. I can work with this! Last time I used an elliptical I didn’t like it, but this time I messed around with the controls until I found the perfect settings, and actually had a great 30 minute workout. Then, I did a full-body strength workout consisting of chest press, lat pulldowns, and leg press. I felt really good after this, and ready to sit in the car for nine more hours of driving. Monday Waco! I stayed at my son’s house- one of his roommates hadn’t moved in yet, so I had a room and bathroom to myself. But I had no access to a gym. This would have been the perfect day to go for a run, but I was determined to take time off to rest my cranky calf. I ended up going to the Baylor campus and walking 5 miles- it wasn’t a run, but the next best thing. Tuesday Several short walks today, one of them with my son’s roommate’s dog. That one consisted of a lot of fast walking, interspersed with periods of standing still while the dog sniffed everything in sight. I enjoyed it though! And, I did my hip stability exercises and deadbugs. Wednesday Boo hoo! I had to say goodbye to my son and fly back home today. I really needed an infusion of joy, so there was only one thing to do- my calf felt good, and I decided to go for a run. I walked one mile and ran two, with no pain at all. I really needed this before my long travel day- a pain-free run always fills me with hope. I took a bus from Waco to Austin. I got to the airport at 11:30 and my flight wasn’t until 4:30, but there was no way to take a later bus or an earlier flight. That’s okay! The Austin airport has vegan tacos, and I had a good book. I settled down for a pleasant wait. Until… (cue ominous music…) I got a notification that my flight was delayed. Uh oh…I had to make a connection in Houston. My flight was delayed further, and further, and by the time I got to Houston I had missed my connection. Arg! There were no flights to Ft. Lauderdale until the next morning, so I had to spend the night in Houston. By the time I got to my hotel, it was 9:00 pm- I had been traveling for twelve hours and only made it from Waco to Houston, HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??? I just had to laugh. And, guess what- my flight didn’t allow “full-size” carryons, so I had checked my bag (thanks again, United!) All I had was my backpack, which contained no pajamas and no change of clothes (and no deodorant either, for that matter.) Great. Thursday My flight didn’t leave until 11 am, and the hotel had a gym- but remember I had nothing to wear. If I wanted to work out, I would have had to wear the same clothes I wore the day before, and that I would be wearing again all day. Nope- I have to draw the line somewhere! I got to the airport nice and early (I wasn’t taking ANY CHANCES!) and did an airport walk before my flight. I wouldn’t call it a workout, but it was some nice exercise before getting on the plane to sit again. I made it to Ft. Lauderdale, and after a short delay was able to track down my checked bag (hooray!!!). And then, home, sweet home- only 32 hours after I left. Sheesh! I should have driven back. Friday Oof. I woke up groggy and disoriented, but I knew the perfect cure! Again, I walked a mile and ran two, and again had no pain. Later in the day I did my hip stability exercises. Saturday Bleh. I was really feeling the exhaustion from my week of travel, so I slept in a little before going to work. In the afternoon I did an upper body and core workout, while watching the men’s Olympic marathon. Go Clayton and Connor! They did amazing, both finishing in the top ten. I CANNOT WAIT to watch the women tomorrow! Sunday On tap- another run! If I can make it three in a row with no pain, it will be very encouraging. Fingers crossed! And then- it’s the end of the Olympics, noooooo! My son is gone, the Olympics are ending, and summer vacation is over too- school starts tomorrow! Why does everything have to end at once? Can’t something begin??? (What’s that? Football? Oh yes!!!) Have you been watching the Olympics? Are you sad it’s ending? Do you feel like summer is ending, or are you still in the middle of it? Top photo by Tom Barrett on Unsplash
1000 Hopes for Waco
Well, the 4th Annual Waco Trip is done! Three years ago my son and I drove there to start his freshman year at Baylor University, and now he’s a senior. I have to be honest and say this entire trip was tinged with sadness for me. It truly broke my heart to say goodbye to my son his freshman year, but it was also an exciting beginning for him, and all of us. I immediately became a “Baylor Mom,” and my son embraced college life. He loved Baylor almost right away, and on my yearly visits, I grew to love Waco- what a weird, funny, and amazing little town. In the beginning our time at Baylor seemed to stretch in front of us forever… and now it’s over. I mean- I’m not trying to rush this year away. There’s a lot happening and I want my son to experience and appreciate every second of it, but really, it’s over. I know how fast it’s going to go, and the focus has already shifted to what comes next. Endings always make me sad. Then, every year it’s apparent that my son needs me less and less. Freshman year he REALLY needed me to help him move in- he literally did not know a single person at Baylor when he arrived. He also didn’t have a car that year, so I spent move-in day driving him around to various stores to get all the things he needed for his room. Sophomore year, he still really needed me. Now he had his own car, but had to get it to Texas, so it made sense to drive with him again. He was also moving into an apartment, which meant he needed all sorts of things that weren’t required in a dorm room, so we had a lot of shopping to do. I think that was my favorite year. Junior year, he was moving into a house. He didn’t need as many new things, but he did appreciate my help in getting his things out of storage and moving them into the new place. This year… he didn’t really need help at all. He had driven his car home from Texas in the spring, so he would have been fully capable of driving back by himself. And he kept the lease on his house all summer, which meant he was just going back to it. There was no move in or new things that he needed. All we had to do was arrive in Waco, and he was set. That seemed like a good thing, but it turns out I liked it better when I had more to do. Moms like taking care of their kids, even when the kids are adults. I was aware that my presence wasn’t really necessary, and that was hard. Don’t worry- we did have a good time on this trip, and I did some things I really enjoyed (more on that coming up.) But now that it’s over, the feeling of sadness lingers, and it’s just one of those sadnesses that has to linger until it’s time for it to stop. Or, it may never fully disappear, but will become less sharp over time. Last year I had a mission to find all the Waco murals, but I was missing one, and I found it this year- “1000 Hopes for Waco.” Unfortunately a tree has grown right in the middle of it since it was painted in 2018, but I was still happy to finally see it. In this article the artist says “In Waco… we’ve survived just about everything, but at this point… we have our wings up and are about to ascend and take off.” Ah, Waco- we will meet again, one last time, when we go up in May for graduation.
Reading (and Eating)
Well, I can’t say I’ve done a TON of reading these last few days, but I have been thinking a lot about books. On the drive to Waco, my son and I listened to a history podcast about the lead up to WWI, and when we were done I said “I wish I had a map of Europe in 1914.” That night I started Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants and this was the first thing I saw when I opened the book: I’m REALLY enjoying the book so far, but I haven’t had a lot of time to read. That should change tomorrow, when I spend the entire day traveling back to Florida. I’m glad I have such a long, involved book to keep me company. I’ve been to Waco five times now, so imagine my delight and astonishment when I found out there’s an INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE HERE, Fabled Bookshop and Cafe. I spent the morning happily browsing and drinking tea. Look at this area- I love how there’s a puzzle in progress! I sat in one of these chairs reading for a while. I eventually bought one book and several souvenirs: It was one of my favorite things I’ve done in Waco. I put “eating” in parenthesis in the title of this post, because although we’ve been eating some delicious food, I failed to photograph most of it. On the first day of our trip, we had about eleven hours of driving- we were SO GLAD we brought dinner along! When we got to our hotel we microwaved our pizza, and ate it happily while watching the Olympics. On the road, we ate the famous chickpea salad for lunch, and on the second night we arrived in Waco in time to heat up Nora’s Marry Me Chickpeas for dinner. The only problem was, in order to fit everything into our cooler I had to store them in ziploc bags. We offered to share the Marry Me Chickpeas with my son’s roommate, and then proceeded to pull out a ziploc bag of something that looked like vomit from our cooler. Ha ha… he politely declined and went out to get his own dinner. But really, it was delicious. Do you ever buy books? What was the last book you bought? Have you tried this chickpea salad yet? – My son likes it so much, he asked me to make another batch for him before I leave.
Texas-Style Gratitude List
On Sunday, Engie had a guest post by Kae. Kae posted “20 Things I’m Grateful For.” It’s SO easy to focus on what’s wrong in our lives, but in fact we all have so much that’s good. I was inspired to make my own gratitude list. Now, if it really were “Texas-Style” it would probably be 100 items long, because everything is bigger in Texas! I’ll just stick to 5- but since I’m in Texas I’ll go ahead and call it Texas-style. I’m sooooo grateful that we got out of Florida when we did! We started driving on Saturday- straight up the state and then over through the panhandle. Had we left a day later we would have hit some really bad weather, and had we left two days later we wouldn’t have been able to drive at all, as Hurricane Debby slammed into northern Florida. Although I’m not running right now, I’m very grateful that I can walk. This morning I had a lovely walk all over the Baylor Campus. I have to remind myself that some people can’t walk- and I was one of them a few months ago! If this trip had happened in March, I wouldn’t have been able to walk on my sprained ankle. So, I’m lucky. I’m going to copy Kae on this one- I’m grateful for indoor plumbing The book I’m reading (Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants) opens with a family living in South Wales in 1911. They do NOT have indoor plumbing, and use a communal “bathroom”, which is a brick hut down the street from their house. There’s a compartment for men and another for women, and each compartment has a double seat, so people use the toilet two by two. ACK!!! Very grateful for my nice, private toilet in my house. I’m grateful for podcasts! On the twenty hour drive to Texas, my son and I listened to Andrew Huberman, Ezra Klein, and a new-to-me podcast called “The Rest is History.” We listened to six episodes all about the buildup to WWI, which was a perfect prelude to the book I’m reading now. There’s a wealth of information out there and it’s all FREE. I’m grateful for money in the bank to buy groceries. We went to the local HEB to stock up on groceries for my son, and we got a lot! As much as we complain about the cost of food, at the end of the day we can fill our carts, swipe the bank card, and come home with all sorts of delicious food. Since this post is Kae-inspired, I’m including a photo of Charlie’s look-alike!!! My son’s roommate is taking care of his parents’ dog right now, so I get to play and snuggle with Baxter! What would be on your gratitude list? Anyone else grateful for indoor plumbing?