Obsessions, everyone has a few. They may be mild or they may be extreme. Mine fall somewhere in the middle. I call them “my crazies”. People may say they don’t have obsessions, but I don’t believe it. Even Superman has Lois Lane. If you must have crazies, pick something you enjoy.
My current crazy is easy to recognize. Visit any of my social media accounts where threads of running related anecdotes litter the posts. Most days between 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM, I’m dressed in spandex and Asics running shoes ready to exercise.
My number one addiction is running. I find it social, meditative and energizing. It can be a much-needed tension reliever and in my group, filled with laughter. We have christened ourselves, the fun group.
As a young naïve employee, I smirked watching my 50+ co-workers lace their Keds ready to spend the lunch break in a brisk walk. I lounged inside, enjoying the air conditioning. If I walked, I never wore tennis shoes and a dress!
Well, how silly was that? Who cares what I wear during a lunch walk? If they do, that’s their problem not mine. My mature self knows better. Most days I eat, then slip a favorite pair of athletic shoes on anxious feet, anticipating spending half an hour in the fresh air and sunshine.
My younger clueless self missed much enjoyment, choosing safety behind the glass while she could have meandered through the tree lined paths on the other side of the pane.
This current obsession has enjoyed a longer life span than former ones. With 18 marathons, over 20 half marathons and countless 5 and 10 K runs completed, I hope this one doesn’t end. And there I go again, letting crazy spill out.
If I run 100 marathons when I’m eighty, that’s my crazy. Well not that I’m 80 but I will be someday. I resolve to be diverse in choosing topics to tweet, post or blog, but for today, here is one more on my current obsession.
It used to be easier to decide whether to fly or drive. I’d simply weigh the cost of flying against the cost of driving.
As the cost of gas rose I often chose to fly more often than drive. Post 911, the added levels of security threw a new slant on the picture increasing the overall travel time. Today my decision point depends upon my mood as much as time constraints and monetary costs.
Driving to my daughter’s house is usually a ten-hour drive. It’s just far enough to require a few breaks for food and fuel along the way that add to the travel time.
Unless my visit is longer than three days in duration, I prefer to fly. A few years ago I could fly one way for less than 100 U.S dollars. It’s more than twice that now so I search for a bargain every chance I get.
I decided to visit last weekend on the spur of the moment. 20 hours of driving would take a huge chunk out of a weekend visit. Unexpectedly, I discovered I had enough American Airline miles for the flight out. Score! I snagged the only flight that fit with my schedule. Although it was silly to fly to Chicago (1,165 miles) to get to Tulsa, Ok (452 miles) it was free!
I arrived at the airport an hour and a half before departure. I had no bags to check and the security lines seemed short, so I anticipated having an hour or so of downtime to catch up on reading.
I breezed to the front of the line quickly. My boarding pass checked, I stepped to the line for the scanners. Shedding my coat, shoes, belts and emptying pockets, I moved toward the stall for my full body scan. Scanned from head to toe, I was directed to stand on the second set of footprints. I guess the first set was reserved for the another unsuspecting traveler. The female agent asked me to step aside and examined my watch without touching it. She directed me to rotate my hand to examine the other side of the band. I passed that test and padded to the conveyer belt to retrieve my shoes and other possessions.
Not so fast….. The agent manning the machine grabbed my bin as it exited the cavernous opening. “Is this yours?” she asked. Yes, it sure was. As she indicated she was going to run it through the machine again, I waited patiently for it to complete the process one more time. After what felt much longer than it was, my belongings made their way down the belt toward me. Honestly, I’m okay with all the checking. I want to feel safe when I’m flying the friendly skies.
Finding my gate was easy and I settled in a seat and searched for my Kindle to read. Instead I spotted my Sudoku book scrunched into the pocket of my backpack and pulled it free, deciding to work on it instead. Burrowing to the bottom of my purse, I found a pencil and something else I had completely forgotten about.
My multipurpose pocket knife with the handy compass, wine opener and more was buried among my pens and pencils. Mortified, I pulled the pencil out and guiltily shoved the knife under anything I could find. There wasn’t a thing I could do but put my purse aside and try not to look guilty. No wonder they had to rescan my purse!
I managed to forget about the offending object in my purse and board my flight to Chicago. I had a two-hour layover in Chicago and worried I would dump my purse while I dug for cash to pay for my lunch. My black bean and goat cheese salad bowl did a great job at taking my mind off of it for a while.
The layover was without incident and I completely forgot about the contraband knife in my purse. When I finally arrived in Tulsa, about 8 hours after being dropped off at the airport, I pulled my backpack from the overhead bin and went in search of the exit.
An airport worker held open a side door for us. As I fell in with my fellow passengers, we filed through. Immediately when I walked through, alarms started sounding. On the outside looking back, several of us glanced around as in wondering what happened. Thankfully no one pulled us back in and searched us, after all we were leaving. I don’t know if the small pocket knife had any effect on the alarm but I was relieved to get in the car and toss into the center console!
The next time I fly, I’m sure I’ll completely empty my purse before I leave home.
The New Year doesn’t find me zealously making resolutions. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to welcome 2016 with a to do list of things I should have done last year. Those things are probably not going to get done this year either. I’m just saying….
Who knows what I’m supposed to get accomplished in 2016? I sure don’t. The rabbit ears on my crystal ball don’t get great reception.
The things I believed were incredibly important in January 2015 were off my radar by December 2015.
Of course I have things that are top priority. I don’t need a list to remind me of those. Instead of a list of resolutions, I’m voting for a clean slate…. or whiteboard, whichever you prefer.
Today is the first day of… You know the rest.
The big decision today? Is it raining? Better grab an umbrella. Cold? I should hunt for my coat.
No bucket list, no resolutions! As long as I can keep upright with minimum effort and move forward (no matter how slowly) I’m on the right track.
I decided a few weeks before Halloween to throw a party for my staff. They love celebrating and most of them enjoy dressing up for Halloween. I sent an invitation for 2:00 PM Friday, October 30th promising punch, cookies and a costume contest.
Immediately I went into hyper mode in an effort to plan the perfect party. We’d have a variety of Halloween themed punches, the perfect baked, decorated cookies and lots of decorations.
I spent the next couple of weeks making lists and jotting notes. I searched for the best cookies, polling everyone for opinions. I surfed the web and combed Pinterest for ghoulish recipes.
Settling on wormy orange punch, witches brew and blood (orange) punch, I purchased cauldrons, ladles, spider webs and more. On Thursday night, I worked late but still managed to pick up fresh vegetables, fruit and a few other last minute supplies. I made sure we had enough to feed an army even though I only needed enough for 15 people. I enlisted help from family, picking up the cookies, baking treats, making dip and putting up with my insanity.
Over the course of the week, I brought supplies and decorations to the office to minimize chaos on Friday. All of Austin and the surrounding areas woke up to a deluge of rain on Friday, October 30th. Relieved that most of the party paraphernalia was already stored at my office, we loaded the car with the final touches and began the hour long commute.
Five miles from the house, I realized that the frozen juice cubes for the punch were still in the freezer. Since the National Weather Center had issued flood warnings, it didn’t seem realistic to return home for ice cubes. At about mile 10 I discovered the fruit tray and the vegetable tray were also at home in the refrigerator along with the vegetable dip. No problem. I would just call my son and see if he would bring it in around lunch. Surely the sun would be out by then.
At mile 20, the radio informed us that there was a confirmed tornado on the ground about 30 miles away and the rain wasn’t expected to end anytime soon. I wasn’t going to ask anyone to get out in this mess. No problem. I’d just walk across the street for frozen fruit to drop in the punch and we could live without the vegetables.
At work, reports of flooding replaced any thoughts of the party while I tried to get in touch with any employees not already at work. Now I was trying to contact my son to be sure he was paying attention to the rapidly changing weather conditions.
At 8:45 AM, I received an ‘Extreme Alert’ via my phone:
“Tornado Warning in this area til 9:15 AM CDT. Take shelter now.”
Well, herding hundreds of costumed people down three flights of stairs to the bottom of the parking garage quickly became priority. We are all fine and the storm passed without significant damage for us and I realized that we had everything we needed.
When 2:00 PM finally arrived, it was still raining. The party was fun and everyone was relieved to forget about storms for just a little while.
Last Friday, Ron and I headed to the Austin-Bergstrom international airport en route to our destination Atlanta, Ga. I was nervous and excited. If all went according to plan, I could cross two things off my life list. My life list is like a bucket list, but a lot more fluid. I add, change and delete from the list regularly. I planned to run a marathon in Alabama on Saturday. This would be my 17th state to complete a marathon. I also intended to run a half marathon in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Sunday.
There are many people who run back to back marathons and routinely compete on consecutive days. But not me! This would be my first “double weekend”. I considered running the marathon course for both Saturday and Sunday but soon changed my mind. Ron enthusiastically signed up for a marathon on both days.
We booked our flights on a budget airline, so we had to get creative with our packing. Running clothes and shoes for both races had to go in our carryon luggage for safekeeping. The airline charged for carryon luggage but allowed a personal item at no charge. I conscientiously stuffed running shoes, tights, and shirts in my backpack along with my kindle, purse and snacks. Although, I secretly believed if our running clothes got misplaced, it would be a sign. No running shoes or clothes? It just wasn’t meant to be.
In spite of long security lines, we made it to our gate with time to spare. Once on board, I looked forward to napping, but I discovered the seats didn’t recline. No nap for me! I couldn’t get comfortable enough to rest.
Arriving in Atlanta after two hours flying time, even sans nap I felt great. Several trains, walkways, and stairs later we arrived at the rental car lot. After a quick lunch at Applebee’s in Marietta, GA we headed to Chattanooga to pick up our packets for Sunday’s run.
We pulled up to packet pick up after sundown and fifteen minutes before the eight o’clock deadline. Race numbers retrieved we left for Albertville, Ala to find our hotel.
Albertville is 30 miles from Lake Guntersville where the Mainly Marathons Appalachian Series Day seven was being run at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning. The thin hotel walls allowed us to hear talking and movement all night. I didn’t understand the purpose of the mirrors covering the wall behind the bed. I’m sure I slept some but it didn’t feel like it.
Lake Guntersville
Pulling my running clothes from my suitcase to dress, I couldn’t find my running bra. Sure enough I didn’t pack one. The most supportive bra I had with me was my Victoria Secret bra my daughter bought for me.
Victoria’s Secret bra, gloves, jacket, tights and long sleeve running shirt warded off the chill and made it the temperature more tolerable.
Arriving at the park, we checked in and picked up our T-shirts and medals. Yes, we received our medals before we ran. We had to wait until we finished to get our state and year attachments.
We lined up with 60 other marathon hopefuls, ready to run the out and back on the 2.184 mile course 12 times. As one of the other runners said, “After the first few times, you stop noticing how pretty this looks.” That quote was from Bryndis a marathoner from Iceland. There are four marathons a year in Iceland, so she travels to the USA to run. She had run a marathon with the group the previous day on a course that required running 21 laps. Many of the runners were completing the series and were on their seventh day of running. Running a marathon in laps takes patience. You keep up with the laps by taking a rubber band each time you complete a lap. The scenery was beautiful and several times we had to slow for ducks to meander across the trail.
Our bibs had our names printed on them and everyone soon learned our names and shouted support as we crisscrossed the course. It was soon impossible to know who was passing you and who you were passing but everyone was smiling. It was the most non-competitive event I’ve ever participated in.
The end! Is it really over?
My watch battery died before I finished so my last few laps were very relaxed. I finished with blisters on both feet. Taking my shoes off to change I discovered my Tiva’s were safe at home so I stood around in my socks. Ron brought me a cup of Fritos, pretzels, jelly beans and an orange for a recovery snack. It was fantastic!
We regrouped and left for Chattanooga. Stopping at a Mexican restaurant along the way and we had a lovely meal.
Anything would have tasted good but our food was great. The meal arrived just as the Texas A&M and Alabama football game began to broadcast on the television mounted above the bar. Since we were in Alabama, we didn’t advertise our support of the Texas team.
We made it to Chattanooga and checked into our hotel. It was lovely and more than made up for the first hotel. We each had showers and got comfortable while we waited for room service. I was feeling spoiled!
Our hotel was a mile from the race tents. We slept an hour later than Saturday and made it to the start around 6:30 AM. The marathon started at 7:00 AM and the half at 7:30 AM, so I was able to watch as Ron crossed the start line.
It was still 43 degrees, but I was getting used to the colder temperatures. Crossing the start line to the tune of Jump On It, by Sir Mix-a-lot was invigorating. Along the course you always meet interesting and fun people. Sunday was no exception. I ran with a couple who were married the day before and this was their honeymoon. Crazy, I think! I also ran with Jeanetta who was running because she is terrified of bridges. She chose to run the four bridges marathon to help get past her fears.
And there is always someone willing to give advice. My favorite advice overheard on Sunday was from a man running his first marathon. He said, “Never pass up an opportunity to pee!”
We both finished our races, Ron much stronger than me, but we had fun. After stopping for lunch at Genghis Grill, we returned to our hotel where we showered and napped before heading back out for ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s.
We wandered around downtown Chattanooga a while. We visited a book and yarn store where the owner was demonstrating how to use a spinning wheel. We ate again before going back to the hotel for the evening. Exhausted and sore, we slept early and soundly. We woke early on Monday and headed back to Atlanta. Our vacation was over. Marathon state #17 – check. Back to back race days – check!
I balance, I juggle and I try to stay afloat. People often tell me “You have to keep your life in balance.” Of course I immediately picture myself juggling colorful balls with my hands and feet. Keeping your life in balance….. What exactly does that mean anyway? I suppose the answer would depend upon who you ask.
I know I would like to keep my priorities straight and devote more time to things that are important to me. But if I were truly to do that, I’d be with my family 24/7 and I’m not sure they could handle me 24/7.
My work is not at the top of my priorities but I am in a committed relationship with my job. That means if I want to earn money I have to be productive. Occasionally that means working through the weekend or too many late nights in a row. People always tell me “You work too much!” I agree at times that’s true. As long as I choose to stay in this job, I am obligated to do it to the best of my ability. That doesn’t mean I’m not counting the days until I retire!
Writing is one of my favorite activities and pulls me in quickly. When I am in writing mode, I wake up thinking through story lines, dreaming about them. I sit at the computer creating every free minute. I am the same way when I am reading. Thoughts of any other activity are banished. But if I get derailed and lose focus, I’m done for the short term.
Exercise, I know it’s important and I enjoy working out. I’m not always thrilled with the process but I love the end results. I like feeling energized after a workout and I enjoy keeping fit but when I don’t stay vigilant, or have to miss a week, I find myself refocused on the next big thing.
And there’s nutrition. Everyone likes to weigh in on that one. Gluten free, high protein, low carb, no carb, vegetarian or carnivore. My food plan is pretty basic. Keep things as natural as possible. I avoid red meat, white meat, well pretty much all meat, but I do eat seafood and eggs.
I know I’m not good at balancing my competing agendas. If I notice I’ve been slipping and eating too much processed food or having too many treats, I back off and switch to salads, eliminate carbs and sweets and begin to worry about my weight.
When I start an exercise program, I’m all in. I know I can easily overdo. I immediately increase my intensity and frequency of exercise.
And work is just, well work! I like my job most days, but am not always good at delegating or walking away as often as I should.
So yes I can easily become obsessive and am often out of balance by many people’s standards. But, I love my life! I am happy and contented most days. So while I may not balance my activities, I am aware of it and will compensate next week, or next month or maybe when I retire.
I am not going to worry about it yet…… Maybe all this balance stuff is just too highly overrated!
Driving to work during early morning traffic in Austin, TX is seldom boring. You never know which route to take until you actually approach the outskirts of town. As many people who live in the surrounding area, we have a fairly substantial commute, depending upon the traffic.
Our normal commute is about an hour, but it can range more or less depending upon the circumstances. I’m often a passenger rather than driver and find myself peering at any changes happening outside my window.
If the interstate is backed up, which is the norm; we drive to North Lamar and head into downtown. Recently we noticed that someone had put skirts on several of the light poles along Lamar. That’s really not terribly unusual for Austin. Austin is filled with a lot of incredibly talented and bright people but for some reason I was intrigued by those whimsical skirts wrapped around the light poles. At first there were only a couple of the skirts near Shoal Creek along Lamar. I began to watch with interest each day as we drove down Lamar, looking for a new skirt blowing in the breeze.
I couldn’t help myself; I started to imagine the shoemaker and the elves. I wondered what sort of elves were showing up overnight to drape fabric around the naked light poles parading down the sidewalk.
It was a couple of months ago the skirts started appearing. I thought about taking pictures, but I always spotted them while we were driving past. It was never an opportune photo op.
This morning as we were driving by I noticed a new skirt had appeared on North Lamar. I determined to take a few pictures on my way to work today, but as we drove along I found that the original skirts were all missing!
Regretting that I hadn’t stopped to count the skirts previously, I was only able to find two of the skirted poles remaining.
As we left work, I went in search of more skirts to see if I could find anymore. The two were all that remained. Circling around I finally managed to take a picture. It was a lot of fun watching for new skirts to appear and I will miss the adventure.
I don’t know who is responsible for the entertainment I enjoyed, but I do thank them. Tomorrow I will be in search of the next entertaining project, but whatever it is, it will have big skirts to fill.
I’ve been so busy and absentminded lately! Today I was particularly scattered. I began the day with my supervisor standing in the door of my office with a major problem. I spent the first half hour of my day researching the details of his issue only to find out everything was fine and there really wasn’t a problem after all.
When I finally got to my computer, I checked my calendar for meetings. The first one was scheduled for 10:00 AM with another one scheduled immediately afterward. I had just enough time to get a few things out-of-the-way first.
At 10:00 AM I headed off to the meeting, stopping by to grab my staff. They informed me I had been looking at tomorrow’s calendar. The rest of the morning, I kept forgetting it was Wednesday and tackling Thursday’s tasks.
I was sure I was going to forget to pick up my vegetables from the Farm to Work program which is delivered on Wednesday afternoon. The pickup time had changed from 2:30 PM to 1:45 PM. Finally I set my alarm for 1:45 PM and got back to work. I kept thinking about the pickup time and watching the clock until finally the alarm went off. I realized I had forgotten to bring a bag for the vegetables!
Digging through my office, I finally found a bag with some books in it. Dumping the books out, I rushed down three flights of stairs and hurried to the courtyard to pick up my vegetables. I had been so busy I had only left my desk one time to get a glass of water. Walking through the fresh air and sunshine was revitalizing! When I rounded the corner of the building at 1:46 PM, no one was waiting, no vegetables were lined up for collecting and I didn’t see the farm truck parked in its spot. I took a seat at the picnic table and enjoyed the sunshine. After five minutes or so I began to wonder if maybe I was confused about what day it was, although I was pretty sure I had already established it was really Wednesday.
Reluctantly I left the warm sunshine and headed back up the stairs to re-check my email. When I opened my email, I saw that at 1:15 PM I had received a message about the vegetables arriving early. The vegetables were in the Wellness office. I headed back down the stairs, back into the sunshine in search of vegetables.
As I filled my bag with the lovely fresh smell of cucumbers, sweet potatoes, jalapeno, squash and more I was smiling.
I didn’t forget my vegetables, I got more exercise by doing the stairs twice and I had some delicious vegetables to use as weights on the way back to my office.
Even the view outside my window looking at downtown Austin, TX looked just a little bit brighter.
I find myself becoming more conservative as I age. That’s a fact. I’m not frugal in all things, but if I can save a few dollars without much effort I usually take advantage.
So when we went to our local dry cleaners to drop off a couple of comforters, I balked at the 100 dollar price quote. One comforter was labeled as dry clean only but the other was marked machine washable. Knowing there was no way the bulky comforter would fit in my home washing machine, I left the dry clean comforter with the experts and set off to find a commercial laundromat to wash the other one.
The closest laundromat with machines large enough to handle a comforter was in Bastrop, TX about 20 miles from my home. Bastrop is a small town in Central Texas with a downtown that has maintained many of its historic buildings. The Colorado River flowing through town, just off Main Street makes it a lovely place to visit, even if you are looking for a laundromat.
We decided to eat lunch before we tackled our laundry project and found ourselves at Neighbors, a local restaurant overlooking the banks of the Colorado River. It had been awhile since we visited this restaurant and I’d forgotten the pleasant atmosphere. The Colorado River peeked through the trees as we enjoyed the cool air inside.
We started off with Garlic Knots which are exactly like they sound, yummy yeast rolls twisted into knots with just the right amount of butter and garlic. I would have taken a picture, but they disappeared too fast!
Neighbors is famous for its pizza, but we chose to forgo the usual and try something different. We opted for The City Slicker Salad, a meatball sandwich and a meat calzone. The salad came topped with apples, walnuts and goat cheese and was served with a lemon poppy seed dressing. Delicious! Ron tackled the calzone, stuffed with pepperoni, sausage and cheese.Rich had the meatball sandwich which speaks for itself. It’s meatballs after all! It was a wonderfully relaxing and delicious meal.
After such a wonderful meal I wasn’t nearly so excited about the laundromat! Putting it off a while longer, we ducked into Best Buy for a quick errand and then found ourselves at Baskin Robbins. I mean there is always room for ice cream, right! Honestly, I don’t often eat dessert, but Baskin Robbins can almost always tempt me.
Finally out of excuses, we pulled up in front of the laundromat. It’s been years since I lived without a washer and dryer. The few times I find myself at the laundromat I am always grateful that I don’t have to be there very often. Digging for quarters, we shoved the comforter into the oversized machine and settled in for a half hour watching laundromat activity. This laundromat has a television, arcade games and booths. It’s quite interesting watching people come and go and feed the machines. Finally the washer cycle completed and we moved the comforter to the dryer. Thirty minutes later, the dryer was done, the comforter was folded and we were headed back home.
3.00 for the washer, 1.50 for the dryer saved me 45.00 dollars. Happy and contented, I dozed comfortably all the way home.
Saturday morning, 4:30 AM and my eyes are open. What’s wrong with this picture? In the background, I hear the faint sound of the music from the alarm. Grudgingly my feet hit the floor and I am semi-vertical. To avoid the extreme Texas heat, our weekly running group meets at 5:45 AM for a 6:00 AM run. We have to be in the car before 5:00 AM to arrive on time.
Pulling on my running clothes and grabbing a bagel for breakfast, my husband and I made it out the door and were on the road by 4:50 AM. For some reason, I just didn’t feel like showing up, but shrugged it off. I mean after all who would want to get up at 4:45 AM on their day off to go for a long run!
Driving through Manor, TX at 5:00 AM, the last thing either of us wanted to see were flashing red and blue lights. A very nice man in uniform introduced himself as a county sheriff, and informed us our right headlight was out. With a warning ticket in hand, I asked Ron if he was sure he didn’t just want to go back home and go to bed. He just grinned at me and pulled back into traffic.
We actually made it on time and headed for a quick bio break at the restrooms provided by our running group. As we walked toward them we were warned, someone had forgotten to lock them the prior night and they were so soiled they were virtually unusable. Great!
Undeterred, we each found our running mates and lined up in the pre-dawn muggy heat, ready to do a 6 mile run. I was scheduled for 14 miles for the day, so I was looking forward to an extra 8 miles after the group run.
We all synchronized our watches and set off, settling into an easy rhythm. The first few miles went by pretty fast although there were a lot of uphills. I told my coach I was ready for some downhills. Pretty soon, every downhill someone would call out, “Here’s a downhill for Deanna!” Around mile 4, we turned down a particularly hilly road where the slopes were quite a bit steeper. I was enjoying an especially steep downhill, feeling like I was riding a Radio Flyer red wagon. My right shoe hit a patch of gravel and suddenly I knew I was going down. I’ve run a lot of years and have never fallen, but it was happening!
My right hand hit the asphalt first followed by my elbow, hip and knee. As I slid a few feet down the hill, I managed to avoid hitting my head or tumbling head over heels. Completely mortified, I tried to jump up as blood dripped from my right palm and elbow. Everyone gathered round and offered assistance as they returned my possessions. Some one had my phone, another runner had found my Jawbone and someone else returned my water. Everything had flown along with me and been scattered when I hit the pavement.
After the shock wore off, I walked a few blocks and decided I was not significantly injured and finished my run. I actually caught back up with part of my group and finished.
This afternoon I still had swelling and bruising from my wrist to my elbow, so I ducked into an urgent care center for x-rays and a tetanus shot. Good news – nothing is broken, only sprained. The only down side is a splint and a late blog post.
r tumbling head over heels. Completely mortified, I tried to jump up as blood dripped from my right palm and elbow. Everyone gathered round and offered assistance as they returned my possessions. Some one had my phone, another runner had found my Jawbone and someone else returned my water. Everything had flown along with me and been scattered when I hit the pavement.
Not too bad after all!
Nana's Apron Strings 