So my sister, recently wrote this really great "note" on Facebook, and I seconded her thoughts! Plus, I've pretty much been MIA lately. What with being back to work one day a week and taking a course to teach at the intermediate level (gr.7-10), plus all the usual, I feel like a chicken "running around with it's head cut off"....which reminds me of something I was going to do about sayings....that will have to be forthcoming, but "don't hold your breath."
Who would have thought that at 4:54 p.m. today, my running nerve would kick in as I flew 80 mph down Highway 271 and took the ramp to 90. I, no doubt, started that fire by skimming through a runners world magazine at lunch today, but it wasn’t until that rush of flying down the highway came that my fate was sealed. And so, 17 minutes later I shut the door to the house and stepped outside in running capris and a T-shirt. Yes, a t-shirt in the middle of February! And during that run, a love letter jostled it's way through my brain…
An ode to February 17, 2011
Here’s to you February 17, you got me to run outside wearing a t-shirt (YES a t-shirt!!) and a silly grin as I toured my neighborhood; the O so quaint and charming ghetto of Euclid, Ohio. I heard 300 hundred birds chirping in the bare trees and got to leap over mud puddles, missing chunks of sidewalk and a shattered oversized plastic football. Sure the run was slow, but my spirits soared. The distinctly ebonic male shout of "Hey white girl" followed by something I couldn't even translate made me pick of the pace, but it wasn't a quickening of fear, but rather annoyance. I'm not running through here so you can shout undecipherable nothings at my back (where do you think we are, Italy? You aren't even tall, tanned and handsome!) But I forgave you for that one because I was close to home and ready to finish strong anyway. So, here’s to you putting a smile on my face, lactic acid in my legs, and this silly little love note in my head!
February 17, you were better to me than any working Thursday ever had a right to be. You were better to me than your neighbor 3 doors down (February 14...that day when love is the last thing I want to hear about) ever had a chance of being. No, it was you, Feb 17, that took me on a date with life. If I could somehow find your face, I would give a kiss right now. It wouldn’t be the sort of lovers kiss you find in old time movies, but it would be more than friendly…it would be the kind of kiss that is followed by the biggest of smiles…the Thank-you kiss. Because thanks to you there is a hope in my heart of spring coming.
Dearest 17th of February, your warm winds hit my face this morning as I parked my car and walked into work. Sure the day started out with a slight headache (what’s new when the weather changes like this), but you greeted me so warmly I couldn’t help but smile. I opened the garage door for a small blast of your sunshine and breeze and was rewarded by a happiness in my heart. I started to love you right then. You never had it easy from me from the beginning. After all, Thursdays are those almost days. You are almost Friday, and almost the end of the work week, and almost my favorite day, but not quite. So today you tried your best and proved the better of me. You, Thursday Feb 17, made me fall in love with you.
February 17, you even have my evening planned out (which is better than some boyfriends I‘ve heard about)…while it isn’t snowboarding (it almost was until you intervened), line dancing, or flying down the highway headed anywhere but here (which my heart keeps begging me to do) it is a plan, and I like plans. There is still that “I forgot to tell you…” text to send, that “where are you now?” phone call to make to mom and dad, and that endless list of cleaning before midnight when the family arrives to accomplish. So you aren’t over yet, but I thank you for the warm spring-like day, that date with my only boyfriend-running, and the thankfulness in my heart.
Here’s to you Feb. 17, 2011
XOXOXOXOXOX
Kait
Funny that she was flipping through a copy of Runner's magazine at lunch, because I was doing the same thing around the same time, thinking...."I wonder if Kaitlyn still gets this?"
So here's to my sister, the writer!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
New Year's Wreckolutions
I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. Let's face it, not very many are kept and if they are, it isn't for long. However, as we made the big switcheroo from o ten to eleven, I've been thinking about what I can improve in my life...or more literally how I can improve something so that it benefits others. Although I'm mostly thinking of my family in this, it is nice to think we have an impact on the world around us too.
Here's my resolutions, and here's to hoping they don't turn into wreckolutions. I want to be more patient with my children and appreciate the quality time with them. For example, bedtime routine is story reading, but many times I've just tried to hurry through it, rather than take a few extra moments to appreciate how great and lovable of a daughter I do have. Although this might seem contradictory I also know I need to work on being more consistent with disciplining. I never realized how hard it is to say no and really mean it, but 2 year old's will certainly teach you that lesson. Lastly, we had 2 friend of ours that lost brothers this year and it makes me realize I need to keep in touch with my family more...so Jocelyn you really deserve an e-mail this week, Kaitlyn I promise to call you, David will probably get a face book message, and grandma needs a thank-you for the hand towels she sent! The rest all got holiday cards, so I did, at least, start the year out right.
One of the reasons I've been giving this a little thought, is a card my mom got in the mail from an old acquaintance who had spent some time at their cabins over the summer. The greeting card listed their "top 10 from 2010." We had another year with some pretty exciting changes in it, so I was reflecting about our favorite memories from the past year. From my perspective they are:
1. May 14, 2010--Tommy arrives! (pretty much feels like a century ago, now!)
2. May 26--Emma turns 2...she was just a baby, then a toddler, and some days I feel like she's got little girl written all over her!
3. As always conventions seem to be our saving grace...so I think they definitly make the list. This year we were at Ironbridge and Vanderbilt...although we had a bit of excitement trying to cross the border. In fact, we weren't sure they were going to let us across with how much yelling they were doing before we even got pulled inside. However, it all worked out and hopefully some of us learned to be very, very careful when crossing the border!
4. Although we never did get a family vacation in 2010 (we went to Florida in Dec. 2009), Emma, Tommy, and I did go home for a week in October. Brad was working up north, so it was great to escape our all-too-quiet house. Mom and Dad's was different tho, too, with Kaitlyn and David both in Cleveland now.
5. I think I better put this one pretty high up on the list...Brad finally got his new snow-machine in the beginning of November, so there were many weeks of wishing for snow. A 2010 Ski-Doo Renegade back-country, but don't quote me on that name, because there was alot of debating going on between Brad and himself..lol. And I STILL haven't gotten to ride it yet!
6. Kaitlyn was here for a month? three weeks? two weeks? I can't quite remember, but I really appreciated the help prior to and after Tommy coming. I also know how much she loved getting to spend time with her favorite niece and meeting Tom Tom.
7. The first year of a baby's life is filled with a lot of firsts...first food, first teeth, learning to sit up, crawl, walk, ect. My favorite first is Tommy learning to stand up. It's something I don't remember Emma ever really working at. I went into Tommy's room to feed him in the wee hours of the morning, one day, and there he was standing up in his crib. He's really not a small baby, and yet he looked so tiny gripping onto the crib rail for dear life.
8. Another favorite is the joy of getting my mat. leave. Now that I'm contemplating going back, (and have actually started 1 day a week) I'm appreciating this year off with both kiddos. I know it will probably be the last extended time I will have with Emma. Only a year and a half and she will be off to school!
9. Another "good time" we had this year was camping out with Brad in the bush. All 4 of us slept in his semi bunk (it's big, but not THAT big). We wanted to spend some time with him because he was working away so much. His trailer was actually broke, so he was just loading all the trucks, but Emma loves going with Dad to work and there was lots of animals to check out at the restaurant where we ate supper every night, so we all slept like babies to the purr of that diesel motor.
10. I saved the best for last..hehe...we celebrated 6 years of marriage on July, 9. We even went out kidless to Sudbury and had some yummy seafood at the Fishbowl.
And now on to 2011...okay were already 17 days into it, but let's dive a little deeper in, nonetheless.
Here's my resolutions, and here's to hoping they don't turn into wreckolutions. I want to be more patient with my children and appreciate the quality time with them. For example, bedtime routine is story reading, but many times I've just tried to hurry through it, rather than take a few extra moments to appreciate how great and lovable of a daughter I do have. Although this might seem contradictory I also know I need to work on being more consistent with disciplining. I never realized how hard it is to say no and really mean it, but 2 year old's will certainly teach you that lesson. Lastly, we had 2 friend of ours that lost brothers this year and it makes me realize I need to keep in touch with my family more...so Jocelyn you really deserve an e-mail this week, Kaitlyn I promise to call you, David will probably get a face book message, and grandma needs a thank-you for the hand towels she sent! The rest all got holiday cards, so I did, at least, start the year out right.
One of the reasons I've been giving this a little thought, is a card my mom got in the mail from an old acquaintance who had spent some time at their cabins over the summer. The greeting card listed their "top 10 from 2010." We had another year with some pretty exciting changes in it, so I was reflecting about our favorite memories from the past year. From my perspective they are:
1. May 14, 2010--Tommy arrives! (pretty much feels like a century ago, now!)
2. May 26--Emma turns 2...she was just a baby, then a toddler, and some days I feel like she's got little girl written all over her!
3. As always conventions seem to be our saving grace...so I think they definitly make the list. This year we were at Ironbridge and Vanderbilt...although we had a bit of excitement trying to cross the border. In fact, we weren't sure they were going to let us across with how much yelling they were doing before we even got pulled inside. However, it all worked out and hopefully some of us learned to be very, very careful when crossing the border!
4. Although we never did get a family vacation in 2010 (we went to Florida in Dec. 2009), Emma, Tommy, and I did go home for a week in October. Brad was working up north, so it was great to escape our all-too-quiet house. Mom and Dad's was different tho, too, with Kaitlyn and David both in Cleveland now.
5. I think I better put this one pretty high up on the list...Brad finally got his new snow-machine in the beginning of November, so there were many weeks of wishing for snow. A 2010 Ski-Doo Renegade back-country, but don't quote me on that name, because there was alot of debating going on between Brad and himself..lol. And I STILL haven't gotten to ride it yet!
6. Kaitlyn was here for a month? three weeks? two weeks? I can't quite remember, but I really appreciated the help prior to and after Tommy coming. I also know how much she loved getting to spend time with her favorite niece and meeting Tom Tom.
7. The first year of a baby's life is filled with a lot of firsts...first food, first teeth, learning to sit up, crawl, walk, ect. My favorite first is Tommy learning to stand up. It's something I don't remember Emma ever really working at. I went into Tommy's room to feed him in the wee hours of the morning, one day, and there he was standing up in his crib. He's really not a small baby, and yet he looked so tiny gripping onto the crib rail for dear life.
8. Another favorite is the joy of getting my mat. leave. Now that I'm contemplating going back, (and have actually started 1 day a week) I'm appreciating this year off with both kiddos. I know it will probably be the last extended time I will have with Emma. Only a year and a half and she will be off to school!
9. Another "good time" we had this year was camping out with Brad in the bush. All 4 of us slept in his semi bunk (it's big, but not THAT big). We wanted to spend some time with him because he was working away so much. His trailer was actually broke, so he was just loading all the trucks, but Emma loves going with Dad to work and there was lots of animals to check out at the restaurant where we ate supper every night, so we all slept like babies to the purr of that diesel motor.
10. I saved the best for last..hehe...we celebrated 6 years of marriage on July, 9. We even went out kidless to Sudbury and had some yummy seafood at the Fishbowl.
And now on to 2011...okay were already 17 days into it, but let's dive a little deeper in, nonetheless.
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