My family threw me a race-themed birthday party, complete with all my medals, race pics, and race quotes scattered around the kitchen. We feasted on grilled chicken and salad. I then did something I've never done: I had one piece of strawberry cake and we threw away the rest. It felt good, but don't think I wasn't contemplating pulling a George Costanza and digging it out of the garbage for a second go 'round.
Another first: I ran in the am as opposed to 10 at night. I got up at 5:30 and actually ran in the morning, watching the sun come up. It was a beautiful and enjoyable experience and I made progress on the whole phobia-of-running-where-people can-see-me thing. And it will come in handy in two weeks when the Gumtree gets here. More on that fear when the time comes.
I completed the first month of Kickstarter. My ending numbers were good. I shed a few pounds, a few inches from the mid-section, hips and thighs, and shaved off over a minute from my magic mile. I signed up for another month beginning this week and I'm looking forward to seeing more progress. I thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and support received from the teachers and women in that group and it has absolutely helped keep me focused and motivated. We concluded with "Burpees for Boston" in the park where we did a burpee for each injured and five for each death. We rounded up to 200 and did it in teams. And I survived. And I was proud. And I couldn't walk the next day. But I was happy.
My husband and I got to see a Dave Matthews concert Saturday. The whole concert. Reminder: we went to a concert in Atlanta a few years ago. And due to the fact that we had children and I was breastfeeding, we made it to the concert that night just in time to see the ENCORE. It was awesome and we weren't pissed at all (sarcasm font). SO we redeemed ourselves and got there early and pretended to be 21 again and I laughed at all the women wearing heels in the mud.
See? Me laughing at all the women wearing heels in the mud, and double fisting my......water. Yeah that's water with limes. I was really thirsty :)
We also celebrated a huge accomplishment for Jack, my six year old. As many of you know, my Jack is autistic. And sweet and kind and quirky and cool. At the beginning of this school year, Jack still couldn't write. He couldn't draw or color. He couldn't even hold a crayon or pencil with enough force to do anything. But after much work with his teachers, Jack learned to draw. He learned to color. And his artwork was displayed at the Gumtree Art Museum this week. I can't begin to express the amount of gratitude and pride I have. Jack continues to amaze and inspire me by learning to do the very things that he at some point, could not do.
We also had a field trip with Jack's class this week that I was blessed with being able to attend. His class, a special education class, went to a farm. Now I say this with the utmost respect and sensitivity to the issue as possible: everyone should be able to experience a day with special needs children. It will inspire you, give you perspective, and help you to see the joy and beauty in life and will make your problems seem so miniscule and trivial that you will feel guilty for ever complaining about anything. You don't want to exercise or run? Remember there are children who will never get the choice. You want to use your words to hurt someone or complain? Remember there are children with no voice, no ability to communicate their thoughts. You want to be grumpy? Remember, there are children who find the greatest joy by being outside, by petting a dog, or by simply being in the company of those that are different as well as similar to them. You don't want to support someone? I had the honor of experiencing a group of special needs children cheer and clap each time one of their classmates was able to sit atop a horse. These children can teach you everything you need to know in life: what's important, what's not important and how to live life to the fullest.
Do something this week to honor those in the world who can't. We owe it to them and to ourselves.
Quote of the day:
“It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.” - George Eliot
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” - Abraham Lincoln
Song of the day:
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"- Monty Python- seriously go read the lyrics
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