To Explain How I Got Here

Not sure if I'll be back

2011-08-12T17:44:00.000-05:00

Whatever I used to get out of this blog, I no longer do.

I don't want to talk about my life, frustrations, successes, failures, love, music, trips, kids, and on and on.

That's not true. I do want to talk about all of those things. But I only want to talk about those things with people, my friends, my family, in person. I want connection, reciprocity.

And some of you are those people. So for you, nothing will really change.

You can still look forward to my rambling texts, emails, phone calls, Tweets and whatever other tools I can find to harass you.

And if you're not one of those people, why aren't you?

Last update until who knows when:

My new long-distance running record is nine miles! Whew. That isn't easy. Next Saturday is 10, so that's something.

We're headed to Farm Aid this weekend where we will be in the FIFTH row. Only FIVE rows will be between me and Dave Matthews.

I've been given a new role at work. It's exciting. I want to do it really well. Unfortunately, it's going to be uncomfortable for a little while. I wish that wasn't the case and I'm not exactly sure what I can do to make it better.

Remember the peacock? We have another bird now and it's awesome.

Spotify is my new favorite thing on the intertwines.

Our other upcoming concerts are Rosanne Cash, Wynton Marsalis and Chris Isaak.

My new favorite show is Raising Hope.

What else? Not sure.

But you know where to find me.

On being apathetic

2011-07-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

I have nothing but apathy about this blog these past (many) days.

If I was a really good blogger, I would have told you about:

When I really did sign up for the half marathon training.

My trip to Atlanta.

Our 10th wedding anniversary.

My one year anniversary of running.

The major reconfiguration at work.

Our trip to New Mexico.

Forgetting to pack my running shoes for New Mexico and how I felt like crying because I wasn't going to be able to run. But then how I bought a new pair there because I'm that person now.

How I beat my personal record and ran 19 miles in one week.

How I found out I've seen DMB perform 117 different songs, with a grand total of 438 songs.

How happy I am that Big Brother is back on even though it may be the most ridiculous show on television. I LOVE IT.

My trip to Pittsburgh this week.

How I haven't had a sip of soda since I said I was giving up on April 4.

That I'm on week 10 or so of the great vegan experiment.

But I didn't tell you about any of those things.

The great things about moms, or at least my mom

2011-06-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

Answers like this when asking if there is actually butter in plum butter.

"Short and sweet: Fruit butter means the fruit is mashed/ground till smooth then boiled and sweetened till thick. Nope no butter. Jam on the other hand has chunks of fruit in it. Jelly is only juice."

I don't think I knew any of those things.

But now I do.

On being ridiculously grateful

2011-06-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

This is an aerial view of post-tornado Joplin.

See the brown path of destruction going left to right?

My sister was in her house along that red line in that area I circled in black.

Holy Shit.

Seriously.

On the pros and cons of running 13.1 miles

2011-06-13T18:16:00.000-05:00

Reasons I should commit to the half marathon:

1. I'm ready to turn up the volume on my running again.
2. I've been running nearly a year and I'd like to see more visible changes.
3. Training for something new is interesting and fun.
4. I like the camaraderie.
5. Accomplishing a running goal makes me feel like a badass.

Reasons I shouldn't commit to the half marathon:

1. I'm scared.

On running 13.1 miles

2011-06-12T16:03:00.000-05:00

Last year, Wichita brought a new marathon to town.

It's called the Prairie Fire, which might be the best name ever for anything.

Along with the marathon race, it also features a half marathon and 5K.

Registration is now open, but I hadn't been paying that much attention until I saw something on Twitter about GoRun Wichita offering a really cheap training program for both the half and full marathon.

So I clicked on the link and got a few more details.

Ever since that click, I haven't stopped thinking and wondering about it.

Could I run 13.1 miles?
Do I want to run 13.1 miles?
Should I run 13.1 miles?

I don't know.

The first meeting at GoRun is this Wednesday. That's the deadline to register for the program. Without that training, I'm not doing it.

So.

Right now it feels like I'm standing in a long line for a really scary roller coaster. I'm nervous. I don't know exactly what to expect. I'm not sure if I should be in this line. I kind of want to jump the fence.

On Wednesday, it's going to be time to get on the ride and buckle up.

Or take the chicken exit.

On the last two weeks (part 3)

2011-06-03T18:09:00.007-05:00

Overall, I'm just pretty pleased about how this summer is shaping up.

Music we get to see:
David Mayfield
U2
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson and others (Farm Aid)

Cities I get to see:
Atlanta
Pittsburgh, PA
St. Louis
Kansas City
Many in New Mexico

I read a whole fiction book! Charley told me that Hunger Games was SO good and I just HAD to read it. So I did. And it wasn't terrible! I even liked it enough to get the second one from the trilogy from the library, too. I wonder if this means my no fiction rule has expired. Am I a new kind of reader?

Kevin and I are volunteering as pre-screeners for the Tallgrass Film Festival, and it's fantastic. They get hundreds of movies submitted to them for consideration in hopes of being included in the actual festival in October. Somebody has to help whittle down the pile, get rid of the clutter. So every week I go to the Tallgrass office and pick up a couple of feature films and several shorts. After we watch them we submit a report on each one explaining why we do or do not recommend the film. We've seen some junk, some so bad it's funny, but we've also seen a couple of great, great pieces.

Remember how much I loved Communication Week when I was still a student? No? Well, I did. A lot. And now I've been asked to be on the planning committee for this year's! Sweet!

Speaking of school, I'm going back! Well, for one class. It's a multimedia class with one of my favorite instructors from the ESC. As a bonus, it should be free since I'm technically a WSU employee and I'm taking it with one of my co-workers, Briana O'Higgins, and she's a hoot.

And on a much more serious note, Joplin. My sister lives in Joplin with her boyfriend and teenage daughter. They were fine, but it's scary to think about how close they were to not being fine. A grocery store was demolished just 20 minutes after they were in it. She doesn't have a basement, so they rode it out in a closet under her stairs. She didn't have electricity for a week and a half, her roof was severely damaged, a ceiling has caved in and she has broken windows. The stories coming out there are horrific, and I'm so thankful one of them is not about her.

I don't know what else, but good Lord that seems like enough anyway.

On the last two weeks (part 2b)

2011-06-02T14:05:00.001-05:00

Before the third installment of this update, I want to interject some not-as-awesome updates before my "everything is super!" obnoxiousness gets more out of hand.

Weeks ago our dryer quit working. Kevin replaced a part and it started again. Yay! But it only technically worked. It lost its ability to turn off. Boo. Then we bought another part and that didn't fix it. Boo. Then we bought ANOTHER part and that didn't fix it, either. Boo. So then we just had to buy a new dryer. Boo! But now we have a dryer that works. Yay!

Charley has been here all week, which has been great. But yesterday when she told me she was leaving today, I got that immediate, familiar, painful sting of sadness. Even after all these years it's so hard to look at a vacant bed after seeing it filled for so many consecutive mornings.

I'm tired of worrying about money. It's a different kind of worry than the earlier days. The bills are always paid. We have money for extras. I get new shoes when I want to. But now I'm worried about the big things, retirement, house painting, kitchen redoing. Plus, it's totally true that the more you have the more you spend. I wish it wasn't. Or I wish I could come up with a fool-proof plan to do better. Sometimes I wish Kevin, or anybody else, would take charge of all our finances and I could just live off an allowance.

I miss having a BFF (no offense AT ALL to you know who you are). On the other hand, I'm really happy with my current assortment of friends. But it's different. With a BFF, you know straight where to go no matter what happens or no matter the news. A back story is never needed and secrets are always safe. It's one-stop shopping and it's awesome. Instead, I go in separate directions to talk about running, food, cooking, kids, work, marriage, music, etc. It'd be nice to have that all rolled into one, while still keeping all the fun friends I have now, but...anyway. Maybe I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.

On the last two weeks (part 2)

2011-06-01T18:07:00.004-05:00

I did buy our Farm Aid tickets. We're going to be in the 5th row. Kaboom! And yes, I know it's going to be one million degrees in August. But believe me when I say I DO NOT CARE BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME.

Brent graduated from high school! Much, much more on that.

Remember that super cool conference I got to go to last year in Ft. Worth? I get to go again this summer and it's in Pittsburgh, Pa., this year. I'm thrilled because it is FULL of good ideas. FULL.

Also, my job is RAD for other reasons I'm not ready to discuss.

My friend Natalie and I are GENIUSES. You know how you have lunch with someone and then always say at the end of the lunch that you should really do it more often but then you never do? We solved it. Fixed. We made a standing lunch date for every first Friday of the month. So that's full of awesome.

More on work, I'm going to Atlanta on June 22, just for the day, with our general manager to meet with NPR folks about their big new digital services push. Badass.

Our summer vacation is going to be an enormous road trip to visit my mother is New Mexico. The kids all happily decided it would be a good idea to return. I can't wait to put my toes in White Sands again.

On Sunday, Kevin and I are going to make a quick trip up to Kansas City to see the David Mayfield Parade do a little outdoor concert in a park. We just love those crazy kids.

On the last two weeks (part 1)

2011-05-31T18:12:00.001-05:00

(After I wrote this update I thought it was much, much too long for anyone to digest in one setting, so I'm breaking it up over a couple of days. You're welcome.)

Do you think it would be terribly annoying to start every blog post from now to eternity with "On..."? I hope not because it's so easy and I kind of dig it.

So what's new with you?

Not all that much is happening here, but here's the rundown in no order of importance or date.

Have I mentioned that I'm splitting a CSA share with my friend Amy? I am and it's awesome. It's all produce all of the time around here these days. Beets, spinach, lettuce mix, radishes, bok choy, carrots, tomatoes, spring onions, collards, snow peas, kohlrabi, chives and there's probably even more.

Today ends my month-long trial of going vegan. Although it went so well that I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or go back to fish and dairy. Part of me wants to do vegan + fish just like I was doing vegetarian + fish, but I'm not sure. Giving up the dairy was the easiest part for sure. I also could do vegan + fish-only-in-restaurants because that is when things get REAL. The most important thing I've learned is that there is milk in salt & vinegar potato chips. DAMN it. Also, the #6 at Jimmy Johns sans cheese and mayo is still pretty tasty. So tasty I still had three of them in May. Good Lord.

I bought my current running shoes on 9/25/2011 and I put the 300th mile on them this morning. I wish I started keeping track of mileage when I started running nearly a year ago, but I didn't. I don't have a race on my calendar or any new goal to set. I'm just keeping a 3-miles-4-times-a-week practice going. We'll see what happens next.

I haven't progressed with any plans on the party I was going to have, so don't feel bad that you weren't invited. Nobody's been invited! We may now wait until the fall.

On seeing Dave (really!)

2011-05-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

Just as soon as I was getting comfortable with not seeing Dave this summer, a door opened.

An opportunity arrived.

Farm Aid is in Kansas City this year!

And Dave is going to be there. Yes, he is.

And Willie. Bonus!

About the show:

"The concert event will celebrate music, family farmers and good food, and will again feature HOMEGROWN concessions—family-farm identified, local and organic foods. Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village will showcase hands-on activities that give concertgoers a chance to meet farmers, get their hands dirty, and learn how family farmers enrich our soil, protect our water and connect us to our roots."

So that sounds awesome.

And we can buy the best (most expensive) tickets and still spend a fraction of what we would have spent to go all the way to Chicago.

And this place has seats!

It's a little something-something that it's just Dave and not the whole band, but it's not as if he can't put on a show all by his lonesome.

I just put this on my calendar.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

I'm not even going to begin to try to post a summation of what Mother's Day means to me.

The relationship I've had with my mother and the experience I've had as a mother have consumed and directed most of my life, in more than a typical way.

But today is good on both fronts, and I'm very content with that.

And also, my mom used to cheat at Candyland by stacking the deck against herself. It was a win-win. The game didn't go on for days and she didn't have to deal with a sore loser. (Was I a sore loser?)

I love a good scandal.

On seeing Dave (or not)

2011-05-06T15:46:00.000-05:00

In the past 24 hours, I have convinced myself (Kevin's always game) that we're going to Chicago, one of only FOUR places the Dave Matthews Band is playing this summer.

And then I convinced myself otherwise.

Gah.

I've been listening to one of the Charlottesville shows we saw in November.

It was so good. SO good I tell you.

For a decade, every summer has meant planning, scheduling, anticipating, witnessing and enjoying another DMB concert...or several.

And now, the weather is warmer; the days are longer; but I have no Dave on my calendar.

I'll understand if you don't understand this, but something feels like it is MISSING.

So I thought it would be worth the travel, expense and lack of reserved seating to fill that void.

And as soon as I decided we should go (even made hotel reservations), it didn't feel right.

It felt like I was forcing the issue or trying to recreate a moment.

Because this is not like a regular concert. It's three days of music with DMB closing each night with a full set, which does sound awesome on the surface, but it's really not. There are no seats and the land does not create a natural amphitheater. It's flat. For days. What if the weather is terrible? It is Chicago after all. That's a complete crap shoot I've been told.

And then I had lunch today with my smart and insightful friend Natalie.

She knows me well. She understands being crazy for Dave. She appreciates tradition.

And even she agreed it was probably a bad idea.

So we're (still) not going.

Instead, we'll remember better times:

Make sure to set the quality to 720p. And you can skip to the 8-minute mark if you'd like. That's when they start saying goodbye at was supposed to have been their last concert for a year.

On being funny

2011-05-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

If my kids grow up to be funny, that will be one of my proudest accomplishments.

Seriously.

A look into part of a conversation I had with Charley and Allie on Friday:

Me: So I watched this documentary about credit card debt.

Charley: Yeah?

Me: And in it there were two mothers who told the story of how their college kids hanged themselves because they were too far into credit card debt.

Charley: Wow. That's too bad.

Me: Exactly. So no credit card debt for you guys.

Charley: How about no hanging for us?

Me: Ha! Good point. No hanging for you.

(I hope that reads funny because it was hysterical in person.)

On reading

2011-05-04T07:18:00.002-05:00

Remember that book I was reading?

A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates

Oy.

I should have read it quickly like ripping off a band-aid, but I didn't. I stretched it out over days and weeks. It felt like I was in mourning with her the entire time.

It was just too long to sit with a woman who was so sad.

So I returned it to the library without finishing it.

I just don't want to read about death for awhile.

On running

2011-05-03T07:12:00.001-05:00

It's been about 10 days since I ran the 10K.

Since then, I've run 15 miles. Not terrible. Not awesome.

I'm not at all sure where I'm going with this now.

I either need a new goal or I need to be all right with just running for awhile. I need to pick a side, pick a plan.

There is another 10K in just about a month. Even though I just did one, this seems like a really tough goal to set. That last one was dang tough.

And I don't have any friends who are entering, so that makes it even less fun.

Remember that day I ran seven miles? That was fun.

On writing

2011-05-02T17:12:00.000-05:00

So I think I've mentioned a time or two or a hundred about how I miss writing.

I don't write here.
I don't write at work.
I don't write.

At least I still keep keen on the rules of writing in my editing and web producing roles at work.

But I don't create. I don't craft stories. I don't get the perfect quote.

Last week, I went with one of our reporters on an interview. I was there to get some photos. It was fun. It was interesting. It reminded me I'm not a journalist.

I'm not exactly sure how to reconcile this thing that's missing. I do love my job, but I need to be able to ramp up the creative output somewhere.

Don't say freelance because I am NOT doing it.

The First 10K

2011-04-24T12:08:00.000-05:00

I finished my first 10K "race" on Saturday.

My official time was 1:07:14, which put me in 690th place. My pace was 10:50/mile.

Kaboom!

When I put this run on my calendar, I didn't really do it with much seriousness. But then the more I kept running the more it seemed possible.

Even though I had already reached this distance (and a bit more) on my own, this run was difficult.

The last kilometer was really tough. The route went back out toward some water and the wind had picked up, so it was cold. Not to mention, I was SO tired.

All of the unfamiliar sights, sounds and people always make running these organized events much more difficult than when I run on my own in my 'hood.

What is most interesting to me is how sore I am today, more sore than after any running I've done for months. And I just don't have an explanation for that.

Charley and Kevin came out to support me, and Charley was put in charge of documenting the race.

And then I had plenty of time on my hands this Sunday morning, so I made this wonderfully cheesy video using everything but a star wipe. Enjoy!

Party

2011-04-20T19:42:00.000-05:00

I want to have a party and invite all my favorite people.

On the surface, this might seem like a standard recipe for a party.

But almost all of my favorite people don't know each other, and it gets frustrating.

My life has been SO many different things, ways and places that I've made friends here and there and the pieces have never really come together.

This happened a little bit at my graduation party, but I think it can be better.

If you're reading this and you know you're one of my favorite people, get excited.

If you're reading this and you're not one of my favorite people, one of us needs to do better.

If you're reading this and I have no idea who you are, who are you??

I'm thinking June.

Too much?

2011-04-20T19:31:00.000-05:00

Lots of posts yesterday.

Because I finally felt like it I guess.

I could have stretched them out and scheduled them to go out slowly with a bit more restraint and composure.

But that wasn't what I was feeling. I was feeling like I wanted to get it all out in the world immediately.

I'm starting to feel like I'm not a writer.

It took SO LONG to legitimately feel like I was a writer that I'm afraid to lose it.

So there you go.

This is funny

2011-04-19T19:08:00.001-05:00

Ten Sexy Ladies

In case you've forgotten

2011-04-19T18:56:00.000-05:00

I love my job SO much.

Sure, it does feel like work.

There are tedious tasks, conversations, meetings and paperwork.

But all of that is around, about and for public radio in Wichita.

How great is that? So great.

And then twice a year we have these crazy pledge drives where we try to compel people to pay for the service they get from KMUW.

Some people do and some people don't.

But for this past drive, SO MANY did!

The drive ended two and a half days early and we all got to clap and hooray.

Running!

2011-04-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

So my big "race" is this weekend.

I put "race" in quotes because that is what these things are called but I'm not racing anyone for anything.

It should be called a "finish" because that's all I want to do.

It's a 10K or 6.2 miles.

You would think that since I've ran six miles once and seven miles once, I wouldn't be so nervous.

WRONG. YOU WOULD BE SO VERY WRONG.

I was lying in bed thinking about it last night and my heart rate quickly accelerated.

I'm trying really hard to eat right all week, but then I've had stomach aches the past two afternoons.

I've ran short three-mile runs so I won't be too tired without being out of practice.

I'm resting Thursday and Friday.

It's almost laughable to listen to my "concerns" and "planning" when I think about what all the Boston marathoners just did Monday.

But I bet 6.2 miles was difficult for them once, too, and this is very real for me.

The memory of trying to run ONE mile in junior high gym class is still very real and very painful.

I was never who anyone would describe as an athletic person.

This is important and I don't want to screw it up by getting stuck too far inside my head.

That's all.

Iola High School Prom 2011

2011-04-19T17:54:00.000-05:00

I don't need to say much about this.

I can look at these over and over.

My kids are barely kids.

I cried.

On being likeable

2011-04-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

I do think that I am.

However, I do not think I am for everyone.

This was brought on today by this quote:

“I’ve always believed that when you are authentic and 100% yourself, people will either love you or hate you. You draw a line in the sand and people are divided. It makes finding your ideal community or tribe a heck of a lot easier.”
— Erin Blaskie

from Steph's blog.

How great is this? So great.

I don't like the present-day use of the word tribe, but I do like everything else.

There are some people who don't like me. There SO are. Actually, I'm pretty sure there are several.

But that is all right. What I'm putting out there is not what they need or want. That doesn't make me or them bad.

But I'm equally convinced there are some people who think I'm freaking fantastic.

And that is my favorite.

I used to want to be one of those people who everyone liked. I wanted to be the popular kind.

Now it just seems exhausting.

I don't want everyone to like me, and I certainly don't want to like everyone.

Two side notes:

On more than one occasion, someone who I didn't like at all upon first introductions turned out to be someone I ended up liking a whole hell of a lot.

I still get a bit giddy when I get a Facebook friend request from someone who I do really want to be friends with.

After six

2011-04-13T07:49:00.000-05:00

Is seven.

As in, I RAN SEVEN MILES THIS MORNING.

SEVEN.

I didn't even have enough music on my running playlist for that long of run. The last few blocks were just me, my breathing, the birds and the traffic.

What the what?

2011-04-08T07:34:00.002-05:00

I ran six miles this morning!

It certainly felt different than five.

Six!

Add it to the list

2011-04-04T17:50:00.000-05:00

I'm officially over Diet Coke.

There's been a lot of talk in my family lately about the news story that reported Diet Coke having a slowing effect on metabolism.

I don't remember this story. Maybe I blocked it out.

After seeing King Corn a few years ago, I'm surprised I was even still drinking it.

But I was. Not a ton, but definitely some every week. And definitely some in each of my Sailor Jerry and Diet Cokes on the weekend.

This decision might also have something to do with the fact that even though I've ran about a billion miles since last spring, I've lost no weight.

I wasn't really getting into it to lose weight, but I am surprised it didn't happen.

At least some. Something.

So that's that and now I'm looking for a new cocktail.

Also.

I've become completely bored with this blog as of late and I know it shows. My apologies. Not sure if the enthusiasm will return, but I wanted you to know that I know how lame I've been.

So very lame.

Best week ever

2011-04-01T07:21:00.002-05:00

Over on DailyMile where I track my running, it looks like this at the top:

That's my miles for the week!

Most ever.

Yes, it is work

2011-03-25T14:37:00.000-05:00

We have a new guy at work, and he's a runner.

I don't think he's been running all that longer than me if any at all.

And he's going to run a marathon on May 1. He ran a half marathon not that long ago.

This is simultaneously impressive and confounding.

Impressive because, well, it's an effing marathon. Confounding because my greatest distance is five miles.

Please don't think that I want to run a marathon because I certainly do not. I just find his attitude about running really interesting.

The first day I met him was when he was interviewing for the job he now has. A large group of us from KMUW went out for dinner at the end of the day, which is a standard interviewing tactic. It's a great way to see how someone acts in a casual and personal setting.

Anyway, we got on the topic of running longer distances and he said something like, "I like running. So when I go out to run I want to be out there for awhile."

This is interesting because aren't we all supposed to hate exercise? That is certainly the media message we receive time and time again.

But I thought about it and decided he was right. I like running, too, so why am I always in a hurry to get it over with?

That next morning was when I set my new distance record of five miles. Kaboom.

And then today we were talking about running again. He recently ran 15 or 16 miles and didn't think that it was all that impressive.

He said something along the lines of, "Yeah, it's work but it's not that bad."

Running IS work. YES. Of course it is!

And it's supposed to feel like work and when it's hard that doesn't mean I'm bad at it.

It's running for Pete's sake!

Nothing like getting a little perspective about things.

Reading

2011-03-20T10:28:00.002-05:00

Makes me miss writing.

Quite a bit.

Ray is gone

2011-03-19T11:26:00.000-05:00

On page 57 in A Widow's Story I learned that Joyce's husband, Ray, has unexpectedly died in the night.

Even though he died in his hospital bed, it was unexpected because he was "doing better."

Now Joyce, the new widow, is struggling and grieving and trying to find her way in this new landscape of her life.

She is also reflecting on her marriage of more than 40 years, a lot.

"I am beginning to think maybe I never really knew him, really. Maybe I knew him only superficially - his deeper self hidden from me.

"In our marriage it was our practice not to share anything that was upsetting, depressing, demoralizing, tedious - unless it was unavoidable."

This second sentence is shocking to me. SHOCKING. People really live in their marriages this way? It's unimaginable.

I heavily and often rely on Kevin's strong shoulders. When something is wrong with me or upsetting me, I need to tell him.

I need him to know because that may be the reason I don't want to make supper that night or why I may not fold the laundry for days or why I'm doing or not doing any number of things.

I also need him to know because he can give me perspective. I'm really, really good at making something trivial into something paramount. And sometimes it just isn't.

I need him to know because he's a problem solver. Why should I suffer without an answer when he has one handy in his hip pocket?

I also need him to know because I physically feel better after I tell him. Even if I have the right perspective and there's no solution to offer, I don't have to carry the ugliness or discomfort alone.

I hope I'm able to even offer a fraction of that comfort back to him.

Powerful images

2011-03-18T13:28:00.000-05:00

Kevin and I took vacation days Thursday and Friday to watch the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.

For once, we wanted to see ALL the games. Keep up on ALL the scores. Not just get bits and pieces throughout our work days.

But with all the games come ALL the commercials.

Most of them are boring or obnoxious, and they're all being aired much too much.

But there is one highlight in these relentless waves of advertising.

It's the little Subaru girl.

It's the way she says, "Daddy, OK..." that gets me every single time.

As a mother, I've heard that impatient tone dozens upon dozens of times.

And it sounds JUST like that.

And it's adorable.

And they do grow up too soon.

Strong words

2011-03-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

"Of the widow's countless death duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think 'I kept myself alive.'"

Goodness.

Those are Joyce Carol Oates' words. I'm reading her memoir A Widow's Story.

I'm a bit fascinated by this topic. And I'll admit, this is research.

I don't think it's rude or insensitive to believe I'm going to face this situation. Women live longer than men in general, and Kevin is eight years older than me.

I can do the math.

It's holy crap frightening for me to think about.

About a hundred times I day, I see, hear, read or think about something that I want to tell Kevin about.

I can't imagine having that feeling over and over again and then realizing over and over again he isn't here to tell.

So I want to know more. How do people get to the place where they give a shit again? Where they care about clean clothes, gas in the car, food in the fridge?

I don't know how I would get there. Just thinking and writing about this now makes tears roll down my cheeks.

So I'm reading.

And then maybe I'll be wrong. Maybe Kevin is made from hearty enough stock to keep up with until the end.

I hope I am very pleasantly surprised.

So hooked

2011-03-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

This is the encore I was talking about the other day.

I got one thing wrong; there is more than one person with a guitar, but whatever.

I want to do this night all over again. And again.

It's the 3:20 mark that I started crying.

Oh, and right now when I watched it again.

A rare and special moment

2011-03-12T11:38:00.000-06:00

There is no way I can fully describe what we were lucky enough to witness last night.

Because it was free (got tickets through KMUW) and because it was my birthday, Kevin and I went to see The David Mayfield Parade last night.

I had no idea what to expect and I was even concerned about getting stuck there listening to something I hated.

The complete and total opposite happened.

Amazing is what happened.

The concert was part of the Kansas Acoustic Arts Association winter concert series, and there were a total of three acts playing with Mayfield as the headliner.

The second group was Carrie Nation and the Speakeasy, which is a very popular (and good) local band. It seems many of the people in attendance may have been there just to see them, which is fine, except by leaving early they missed out on something special.

A performance I will never forget. A performance that will be recounted for years.

I don't know how many people were left in the venue for the closing the number, maybe 30.

Mayfield and the members of his group came down off the stage and stood on the dance floor. He summoned all of us out of our seats to form a circle around them.

Mayfield had his guitar and the others had their voices.

Then they sang this just two feet in front of us:

It was ridiculous.

It was beautiful.

It made me cry.

And then I got to shake his hand afterward and tell him how much I enjoyed his performance.

What a day.

It's my birthday!

2011-03-11T16:44:00.000-06:00

I just thought you would like to know.

Carry on.

:)

Tuned Out Tuesday

2011-03-09T18:05:00.000-06:00

Last night, Kevin and I enjoyed our third Tuned Out Tuesday.

What is a Tuned Out Tuesday you say?

It's an evening of no television or computer use.

Crazy you say?

Indeed.

On our first TOT, we listened to a chilling This American Life podcast.

On our second TOT, I got home late after a work dinner, so we sat on the sofa and talked until bedtime.

On our third TOT, we had dinner (homemade crepes!) at our friends' house and then went to listen to some live and interesting jazz.

For our fourth TOT, I expect it to finally be my turn to get this book from the library.

In conclusion, TOT is the bomb.com.

Feel free to duplicate.

Because it's awesome

2011-03-03T17:32:00.002-06:00

I've pre-ordered the new album. It can't get here soon enough.

Blog or don't blog

2011-03-03T16:28:00.002-06:00

"Blog or don't blog. Don't blog about not blogging."

I think I read that or something similar to that recently, on a blog.

And it's probably true.

So. What's new?

I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention that Kevin amazingly found my lost earring. He found it in the bathroom under the front of the dryer. Of course he did. He's amazing like that. And I totally cried a little when I got it back. So happy.

I ran five miles yesterday. So that's something. That's farther than I ever ran in either of my other two serious attempts at being a runner. It just proves to me again that I continue to set arbitrary limits on myself. "I can't run more than four miles. I just got to four miles, so I know I can't do MORE than that." Well, actually I can. Kaboom.

I have a 10K (6.2 miles) on my calendar for April 23. I put it down as a lark, but now it seems totally doable. Can you imagine? And now I see it's a benefit for Youth Horizons, which (even though I'm not churchy like them) does some AMAZING work. And now I looked at the race results from last year. Uhhhh...the last place person on the 10K had a pace of 12:55/mile. So it looks like I'm going to end up on the last page of the race results again. Whatever.

What else...

Work seems to vacillate between awesome and awkward. The awesome FAR out weighs the awkward, so everything is fine. It's just that today was particularly weird, so I'm feeling a bit bugged out right now.

Nothing else is really happening, so I suppose that's why I haven't been blogging. My photo blog was entertaining for awhile, but I have missed a couple of days to be sure. I think I'll stay with it and see how it goes. Maybe just not posting every single day. Who knows.

I'm going to be 36 in eight days. Good thing that's not old.

All right. That's enough.

How fun is this?

2011-03-03T15:58:00.002-06:00

I miss these guys

2011-02-21T18:45:00.001-06:00

You call this living??

Things I like

2011-02-14T21:32:00.000-06:00

So you read this blog.

Ever wonder what I read?

Here's a list of some of the non-local blogs/sites I think are super cool:

(in alphabetical order according to my Google Reader)

A Day in the Life Too - I've only been reading this one for about five minutes, but I'm smitten. She's funny and I really, really like her simple, doable, realistic style.

bad banana blog - This couldn't be more different than his twitter stream, @badbanana.

Catalog Living - Hilarious. Always.

The Improvised Life - So, so many cool ideas.

Weekly Davespeak - This might not be so great for the rest of you.

Whorange - Fun things to look at AND buy.

Enjoy!

162!

2011-02-08T18:23:00.001-06:00

On Sunday, I ran in my first organized "race" since Sept. 2009.

It was a four-mile ordeal on a pretty windy and chilly day.

Since I don't ever time my runs, I wasn't really sure how long it would take me to go four miles. A few minutes before it started, I did a little math and thought maybe I would do it in about 48 minutes.

Turns out, it only took me 43 minutes and 42 seconds.

I was actually pretty pleased with that.

I wasn't last and I never stopped to walk. Boom.

But when I went to look for my results online, I had to scroll ALL the way to the last page to find my name.

I came in 162 out of 184.

The winner finished in half my time. HALF.

When I sent my race results to Kevin this morning, he said:

"So you didn’t beat the guy who juggles and runs at the same time. Big woop. I bet he couldn’t edit this e-mail AP style in less than 44 minutes."

I love that he knew the AP Style reference would make everything better.

It so did.

As good as it gets

2011-02-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

It seems like I've used that blog title before, but I'm not sure and I'm not going to go back and look. So if you recognize it, congratulations.

Life is funny.

Sometimes it's good.
Sometimes it's bad.
Sometimes it's very good.
Sometimes it's very bad.

But at some point, you're going to experience the very best part of it - the happiest, most fulfilling time in your life.

The kicker is that you don't know when you're in that part.

I even made a visual aid for you.

Life is much more like the top line than the bottom line. Life does not continue to get better and better until we die. Hardly.

So where am I on that line?

When I was going to school, I clearly knew I was still working my way upward. I was working toward a higher goal.

But I met that goal. I got that job. I have that husband. I have those kids.

Everything is really, really good.

So what if I'm on the flat part of the highest point of that line? Well, there's nothing I can really do about that.

But what I do want to do is recognize all the good that life is right now, so later on in life I won't feel bad for not appreciating what was so good.

Still with me?

Things that make life so awesome right now:

Health. I feel good every morning when I get out of bed. My alarm is set for 4:55 and I'm often awake before it goes off. I have the ability, strength to run, which adds to my happiness. Kevin does have "the arthritis," but it was caught early and his meds are keeping him in good working order. He can still play disc golf and enjoy it.

Money. We have enough. We drive old cars to be financially smart, but if one was to go down, we could replace it. We live in a nice part of town and have a house we (mostly) really like. We're far from rich, but we have enough that it doesn't hinder our happiness.

Kids. They're all smart and optimistic about their futures. They are also all old enough to be out of our hair.

Work. Kevin and I can both wear jeans to work. BOOM. Kevin has put in 20 years with his employer and over the past handful of years he finally started getting recognized for his experience and wisdom. And I love working for KMUW. The people are smart, funny and aware. The leadership wants and expects ideas from the whole team. Not to mention the fact I've gotten to work from home for the past two days because WSU had snow days. I never want to leave. Ever.

Love. I'm in it, madly. Kevin is an amazing partner. Nothing is as good as when I can share the joke, experience, story or bag of cookies with him.

So if this is as good as it gets, I feel good knowing that I've seen and recognized it.

If it's going to keep getting better, AWESOME.

The problem with labels

2011-02-03T06:00:00.018-06:00

So I mentioned a couple of days ago* that I have a problem with labeling people.

Are you my friend? My good friend? My potential friend? My acquaintance? My peer? My what?

If you're my good friend (that's the highest level), then most if not all of these apply:

You've been to my house.
You've had meals with me.
You have and use my cell phone number.
You know unflattering things about me.
You my husband's name.
You know how many children I have and their names.
You wouldn't mind if I called you when I ran out of gas.
You've seen me cry.
We repeatedly make plans to do things together.

Those are my good friends. It's a really short list. But I am thankful for each of them.

One of the reasons why I take this seriously is because I am flattered when someone calls me a good friend. It means I somehow kept my social awkwardness from getting in the way. It means I've added to conversations and probably made someone laugh. This person knows me, likes me and is happy when I'm around. That's pretty great.

I don't want to lessen any of that by throwing the word "friend" around haphazardly.

Now after all of this careful deliberation, I guess the word friend could apply to someone whom I like that's only been around long enough to clear a couple of the above-listed hurdles. That seems fair.

But what if I refer to someone as a friend who has a completely different measuring system and doesn't consider me a friend?

I'd probably die.

No, of course I wouldn't.

I would just write another long blog post to try to figure out where my so clearly defined planned went so wrong.

So I'm sure you're looking forward to that already.

*There's breaking news on the what-to-call-Amy-Delamaide situation. Yay!

A whole lot of runnin'

2011-02-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't heard the word on any of the other platforms I spout my words...

I can now run FOUR miles!

I've done it TWICE.

And I've upped my regular daily mileage to three; I love to see the miles add up.

Since I started keeping track on DailyMile, I've logged 111 miles. And I didn't start keeping track there until the middle of October when I actually started running on June 29. So it's really only telling half the story.

Also, it looks like I'm probably going to participate in an organized run on Super Bowl Sunday.

Four miles!

I can't believe how much I love running. It's a lot.

Spring

2011-02-01T06:00:00.001-06:00

Today is a serious, slap-in-your-face winter day.

But.

I'm ready for spring.

This spring could go down as my best one on record.

Reasons:

1. Kevin and I are taking off March 17 and 18 (technically three days before spring) to watch the first and second rounds (now officially called the second and third rounds WHATEVER) of the NCAA tournament uninterrupted. We've never done this before. It's going to be heart-stopping basketball for days. SO excited.

2. I'm probably going to be the fittest I've ever been for any previous spring. I'm not sure how that's going to translate into real life, but I bet it's going to be something cool.

3. I'm going to split a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share with...a friend? a warm acquaintance? someone I like? Ugh. Labels drive me crazy (another blog post on that soon). Either way, it's Amy Delamaide. She's experienced in share splitting and it sounds like the harvest is plentiful and diverse.

That's all I have for right now, but I think that's a good start.

I have so many things to say

2011-01-31T16:47:00.000-06:00

And the main reason I haven't been saying them might be this:

This show is SO good. SO GOOD, people.

It's dark, twisted, funny, sad, gritty, insane, sexy and sometimes when I watch it I have to cringe and look away.

In fact, I'm watching it right now.

Remember?

2011-01-25T21:02:00.000-06:00

Remember when I went to school to be a journalist?

Remember when that industry fell apart while I was in school?

Remember when I conceded and got a job doing something else I cared about?

Remember when funding for that job was threatened?

Remember when my own personal salary was threatened?

Life is so freakin' hilarious sometimes.

Deep tracks only

2011-01-21T14:45:00.000-06:00

Ha!

The good and the bad

2011-01-20T15:39:00.000-06:00

Of last weekend.

The very, very bad:

I lost one of my super special, super lovely, super sparkly diamond earrings, which were a super gift from super Kevin.

I have no idea where it went because I have no idea when it fell out.

Those earring always made me feel classy even when everything else about me wasn't.
I waited FOREVER to have something that nice.
They were partly in honor of my graduation.

DAMN IT.

The good:

Kevin still makes me laugh, a lot, all of the time.

I can't remember now what we were discussing but it had something to do with my ability to hear and distinguish noises.

Or as he puts it, "You could hear a butterfly sigh in a bowling alley."

Hahahahahahahahaha.

Happy Workiversary!

2011-01-19T18:02:00.000-06:00

To me.

It's now been a whole year since I started at KMUW. Time flies, eh?

We have:

The day I started.
When I said a little bit more.
KMU-what?.
My first pledge drive.
The time the station sent me to Lawrence for a fun little conference.
The time Carl Kasell came to Wichita and I was too busy to blog about it.
The time I got an even better job at KMUW.
When I went to a really, really, REALLY great public media conference in Ft. Worth.
My second pledge drive in which I made a teensy tiny mistake.

And then last week, there was this.

So that's about it. Quite a year.

But the big question is, do I still love my job?

YES.

And now it's four

2011-01-17T12:29:00.000-06:00

Four years since my dad died.

Before I started this post, I reread what I wrote on the past three anniversaries to compare where I was and where I am now. It's interesting to take a peek back at my past self.

I started out in the first year by making this day the day I would make sure I had done something in the previous year that would have made my dad proud.

I think that exercise has become somewhat unnecessary now because it feels like I've mostly gotten caught up with life. I went to school. I got a good job. I'm happily married. Those were the things Dad worried about the most.

But I do still miss him terribly. Of course, I do.

When I'm out running in these cold winter mornings, I wish I could keep him posted on my coldest temperatures. He LOVED stuff like that. Facts, records and numbers.

He wore a pedometer while mowing once to see how long of a walk it was. Then he calculated how many times he mowed his lawn a year and multiplied that times the number of years he lived there. He wanted to know how many hundreds of miles he walked on that same lawn.

He kept a notebook of every day he missed at work for decades and the reasons he missed.

He knew the exact date he quit smoking. I believe it was '75 or '76.

So all of this to say I miss talking to my dad. A lot.

And there's still snow on the ground today. So that's nice.

.

Another cool video

2011-01-13T20:27:00.000-06:00

Time lapse this time.

The set-up, performance and clean-up of the first night in Charlottesville. I say this is another solid piece of evidence that the whole two-day experience will be available on a DVD in the not too distant future.

You're welcome.

Better than touring?

2011-01-13T12:52:00.000-06:00

One look into what Dave might be up to while he's not touring in 2011.

Dave Matthews is the face of John Varvatos' Spring 2011 campaign.

Day Five

2011-01-12T16:57:00.000-06:00

Today is my fifth consecutive day without running.

The first two were expected, Saturday and Sunday.

But not Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

I know I'm supposed to like snow. I was RAISED to like snow.

But I'm not digging it at all.

I need to run.
I need to sweat.
I need my heart to race.
I need to be out of breath.

Looks like it might finally happen on Friday morning. An 11 degree wind chill never looked so good.

This is what running does

2011-01-10T18:31:00.001-06:00

Because of all the dang snow we got yesterday and overnight, I couldn't run this morning.

It wasn't like I didn't think about it though.

When I instinctively awoke before my alarm shortly before 5am, I looked out the window to see how bad it was.

Bad.

Lots of snow covering the sidewalks and the streets.

Dang it. How could I run in that? Of course, I hadn't gone out to buy the traction gadgets for my running shoes. It felt silly to buy them before it actually snowed. I guess I thought there was some sort of chance we could go all winter without seeing any.

I thought about putting my feet in plastic bags (between my socks and the shoes) to keep my feet dry.

I thought about just getting up and heading out to see what would happen.

Then I looked out the window again and realized there was just no way.

Dang it.

So all day I went (not a very good day either) without having exerted any real energy, relieving some stress or working off any of the homemade rum and Diet Cokes I had over the weekend.

I was a bit restless and irritated.

Then Kevin made a comment about shoveling the drive when he got home.

Ahhh...nope. That's all mine, baby.

It took an hour. I was cold, very cold and then not cold at all. It was perfect.

And our drive is LONG and STEEP.

Down the drive

Up the drive

Doesn't everyone proudly take photos of their freshly shoveled drive? They really should.

.

How to Cook: Greek dressing

2011-01-09T13:35:00.001-06:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post about cooking, my skill set in the kitchen has changed quite a bit.

I used to happily rely on all kinds of packaged "helpers." Through the years, I've been able to eliminate prepared taco seasoning, powdered gravy mix, canned broth, sloppy joe sauce, pizza sauce and salad dressing.

I don't know what's really in those things, and the homemade just always tastes better.

I used to make this Greek dressing all the time, and I rediscovered it today.

Absolutely Fabulous Greek/House Dressing

15 Servings:

3/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1-1/2 teaspoons pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1 cup red wine vinegar

In a very large container, mix together the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Dijon-style mustard. Pour in the vinegar, and mix vigorously until well blended. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

It's yummy on salads, but it can go on a wrap or work as a marinade, too.

Make this. You'll like it.

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Guess who has a new blog?

2011-01-06T17:31:00.000-06:00

Of course it's me. But this time it's different.

No words. NONE.

Yup. It's a photo blog. And I know that EVERYONE has a photo blog these days. And EVERYONE is doing the photo-a-day routine.

But mine is different.

My photos aren't great or artistic or even all that interesting.

Doesn't this sound like fun?

And I'm not even going to provide context. They are just tiny little slices of whatever happened in my life that day. You can decide for yourself why it's there.

But since I am such a nice person, I'll get you started with the few that are already there.

No Focus Required
(because I'm like the most clever person ever when it comes to naming blogs)

Sunday: I was finishing the baby blanket I made for Sarah.
Monday: First day back to work in 2011.
Tuesday: I'm going to try to start drinking tea after work instead of eating.
Wednesday: Bad, bad stomach ache.
Thursday: I've been lusting after these silly abacus wall hangings for months and they showed up again today in a new CB2 catalog.

Now you're on your own. Enjoy!

New Year Wishes

2011-01-04T17:21:00.000-06:00

I have plenty to say about this new year, but I wanted to redesign my blog first. Well, that takes time and I'm not a patient person.

So here's what we've got: a blog that's been stripped of all design and new year wishes authored by somebody else.

Problem (albeit temporary) solved.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. May your coming year be a wonderful thing in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously. I hope you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and you will be liked and you will have people to love and to like in return. And most importantly, because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now – I hope that you will, when you need to be, be wise and that you will always be kind. And I hope that somewhere in the next year you surprise yourself. -Neil Gaiman

Maybe, just maybe

2010-12-31T12:34:00.000-06:00

I kind of want to live here.

The Hillcrest

Actually, I've wanted to live here ever since I was little girl. I would see the top floors from Kellogg as I would ride in the family car to the east side of town. I thought it was a very special looking place and firmly believed I would live there someday.

Well, we're close. We live just down the street from it and I run right by it in the mornings.

It was built in 1927 and has survived its own periods of boom and bust. I believe right now it's surviving just fine.

I want to live there and then use a cleaning service. Then we wouldn't have to worry about inside or outside maintenance, and I really have no use for either.

The lobby

The Sky Room, which I believe is public.

It's no longer a ridiculous dream. Some of our kids are gone now and in another 18 months we'll most likely be down to just one. And some of the condos in this building are selling for less than what we paid for our house.

And then you can all come over for the lively cocktail hours, dinner parties and witty conversations that will surely fill our lives.

We'll see.

(And with that, I made it to 141 posts for three consecutive years. Kaboom)

.

More mind bending

2010-12-31T12:12:00.001-06:00

This is a photo of the kids from just a few days ago, 12/24/10 to be exact.

I mentioned the other day that Brent is now older than I was when he was born. That alone gives me pause.

And now I've realized that Charley is the same age as I was when I met their dad.

What the what?? She's just a kid! A smart, beautiful, mature kid, but still a kid.

I can't believe how grown up I thought I was or some of the very grown up decisions I was making. I could go on about why I think all of that happened, but that's not real productive.

I'm just so thankful and happy that for whatever reason it looks like nobody has decided to follow in those footsteps.

These kids have plans, goals and dreams they are clearly working hard to accomplish.

You kids are awesome.

.

Because that's what happens

2010-12-30T06:57:00.000-06:00

Just three more posts to go before I reach my magic number of 141. If you know what I'm talking about, you know how happy and at ease this is going to make me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry because you're not missing anything that makes a great deal of sense.

On Tuesday, I blogged about (and patted myself on the back for) keeping up my running habit for the past six months. And now I haven't ran since then. Because that's what happens when you announce to the universe that you have something figured out or under control. It sees that as a challenge and immediately accepts.

Wednesday: It was raining. Actually, I found out it was raining after I had already decided not to go. I had decided not to go because I woke up at 5:35 instead of 5:00, which meant I would be out running at a completely different time with different people headed to work, with different other people out running, with a different city bus passing by. I don't like different.

Thursday: I woke up at 4am to the sound of the windows next to our bed rattling and to the alarm clock blinking. I couldn't go back to sleep because of both, and I'm not going to run in wind like that. It makes me feel angry and I'm just not going to do it. Like Kevin has said, I'm a badass, but I'm not a maniac.

Tomorrow is supposed to be windy, too, so we'll see.

.

How to Cook: Canned broth

2010-12-29T07:51:00.003-06:00

I think I can safely say, for the most part, that I've found my own way to cooking.

I grew up around people who cooked all the time, so it's always felt like a very familiar thing to be doing even when I didn't really know what I was doing.

My mom cooked seven days a week. She took Sunday nights "off" but that was only after having made a big noon meal after church.

My grandma on my mom's side also cooked often and for a large crowd. Theirs was a farm family with several children, plus extra people during the harvest and what have you. Pots and pans hanging on the kitchen wall, tall stacks of plates, an extra freezer downstairs.

My grandma on my dad's side made really great fried chicken. I'm sure there were many other things, but by the time I really knew her, she was off the farm and living alone. She didn't have a reason to prepare many feasts. However, she did keep chocolate (with chocolate cream in the middle) sandwich cookies in her freezer. And that was AWESOME.

And then there's me.

I didn't learn a whole lot about cooking meals from my mom. I was usually only involved with baking cakes and sprinkling oregano on top of the homemade pizzas. My skills were clearly limited.

So through the past 18 years, I've learned a lot. And my cooking style has changed dramatically. I used to stock up on Hamburger Helper and think tator tot casserole was something special. (I did melt slices of processed cheese on top of those tots after all. That's cooking with love.)

And then there's me today.

I know I've experienced only a fraction of the cooking world, but as long as I keep trying new recipes and new ideas, I'm content.

And all of this brings me to Monday night's supper.

Ultimate Chickpea Noodle Soup

There are two things I want to talk about with the recipe.

The first is frying the pasta at the end. I had never done it and almost skipped this step because it seemed frivolous. SO glad I didn't. Have you ever eaten a piece of freshly fried pasta? Holy moly. Warm and brown and crispy. That is a treat, my friends.

The second is vegetable broth. I don't buy it. I'm cheap and I really don't like the overpowering carrot-ness of it. A couple of months ago, I was making this recipe and needed some. I did not have broth or even a cube of bouillon. But I did have a shelf of very underused spices. So I smelled them all and chose the ones that seemed like they belonged in a soup of lentils and rice. Then I guessed on an amount. Then I fell head over heels in love with this soup and have made it several, several times since then.

Now I use this same combination of spices whenever I need some broth. Clearly, it could be changed here and there depending on the soup. Cooking is cool that way.

To six cups of water add a quarter teaspoon of each:

Dried Thyme
Ground Celery
Rubbed Sage
Ground Coriander
Fennel

The great thing about not knowing more about cooking is that I have no idea if these spices are good companions or if they look ridiculous together. Either way, it works for me.

One important note is that canned broth contains salt and I didn't list it up there. I add salt at the very end, sometimes quite a bit as with the lentil soup, but always at the end.

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Family Photo Time!

2010-12-29T05:30:00.004-06:00

Some notes (excuses):

We did not take photos very seriously this year. It was an afterthought at best.
We completely forgot about taking pictures during many of our holiday scenes.
Allie was often in charge of the camera.
Charley does NOT like getting her picture taken.
If I omitted all the blurry ones, there wouldn't be enough left to talk about.
I have clearly decided putting anything with a scarf is always an appropriate outfit.
We've used that same Hello Kitty birthday banner for every kid for probably the past 10 years. It's a bit of a joke now.
Brent got a voter's registration card and lottery tickets for his birthday.

We went to Tulsa the weekend before Christmas to spend some time with my three siblings and their families. The ski jump game on the Wii was obviously a popular option.

Brent turned 18 on Christmas Day. 18! It's so hard to believe and so fantastic all at the same time. The real mind bender? He's now older than I was when he was born. OMG on that little fact.

We went to Kevin's mom's house on Christmas Day. It was full of food and laughs as always, and we remembered to take photos for about 3.5 minutes.

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Six months of running

2010-12-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

Well, when I first got back into running on June 29, I'm sure I expected to have slightly more dramatic results by now.

By the numbers, I really haven't accomplished all that much. My weight has bumped up or down by a couple of pounds but overall it's really the same.

HOWEVER

By everything else, I have kicked ass.

First of all, I'M STILL DOING IT. That alone is worth tooting the ol' horn.

My jeans fit every single time I put them on.

I haven't been upset about my body even once.

I'm in a good mood every morning when I go to work.

I didn't GAIN weight through our vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.

There hasn't been any food that I wanted to eat but didn't.

I like all of the above things very, very much.

I'm consistently at two miles each morning, but I can realistically see that becoming three when the weather starts to thaw a bit. I've done it a few times and felt good about it, plus it still doesn't require that much morning time.

So at this halfway point of my year of exercising, I'm very pleased.

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How was your Christmas?

2010-12-27T07:55:00.001-06:00

Ours was actually quite lovely.

At one point, we had all six kids in the same room. That hasn't happened in so long that some of you may not even know there ARE six.

Here's what I got for Kevin:
(not the globe, glasses or books)

It might be one of the single best gifts I've ever given. I'm quite pleased with myself, and it almost made him cry. That's a win-win.

You can find more work by Roll & Tumble Press here [link]

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I don't like math

2010-12-21T17:20:00.000-06:00

My original figures on how many blog posts I needed to write by the end of the year were a little off.

Even after THIS post, I still need seven more.

Criminey Christmas.

Is that even a saying? Kevin and I say it, but I don't know if I've ever heard anyone else say it. Now that I'm thinking about it, I might remember him telling me that his dad used to say it.

Let's use the google.

Well, first of all it turns out I'm spelling it wrong. It's criminy.
Second of all, it's used as faux way to say Christ.

So we're saying Christ Christmas. That makes zero sense, which I think makes me like it even more.

What else.

It feels like I've been "busy" lately, but that's probably just because we (me) decided on December 12 to give the kids mostly presents this year instead of mostly money. That's some good plannin' there.

And I have a cough. But I refuse to take cough syrup.

God bless my dad, but he could not stand to listen to us cough. In fact, we would get in trouble for coughing. True story. When we couldn't hold it in anymore, we would go to our rooms and cough into a pillow to muffle the sound. Again, true story. This meant he was also a big fan of serving us cough syrup. To this day, nothing has tasted more foul. Give me 10 plates of sugar coated tomatoes (another delicacy I was forced to consume) before you give me one shot of cherry-flavored cough syrup.

So I'm coughing and doing nothing about it. I heard hot chocolate with butterscotch schnapps is a good syrup substitute, and I'm seriously contemplating it.

And for your next dose of DMB goodness, I give you Cornbread from the second night in Charlottesville. Of course, I think you should watch it all, but if you're short on time you can skip to the 3:38 mark because that's where it really starts to come unhinged.

Taking this trip has got to be one of the best things I've done so far.
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New song obsession

2010-12-16T17:55:00.000-06:00

(Note the date and location of this clip. Yup, we were there.)

The chorus is my super favorite part.

I want to write a song that'll get you high
I want to find the words that'll make everything feel alright now
So in another world and another time, that'll come along
I'll be the kind of man that'll do you right, Right by you
When you turn it on it's gonna blow your mind
Head over heels you go, look at you, look at you, fly

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Good things I've read (a very special edition)

2010-12-10T10:44:00.000-06:00

For a recent class project, Allie had to make a PowerPoint presentation about different facets of her life, which she e-mailed to me.

She had a slide covering the very important things such as her name, age and grade.

One outlining some key character traits.

Another one about her hopes for the future. (Allison, you're not SUPPOSED to ride the kangaroos.)

And then there was slide number nine.

O.M.G. Did I cry? You know I cried.

And THEN last night she was playing some strange Facebook game where you give her a number and then she anonymously, but yet very publicly tells you what she thinks about you. She asked me if I wanted to pick a number. I chose 12.

I mean SERIOUSLY. How does it get any better than that?

This has got to be THE BEST thing that has come out of social networking for me. These are sentiments that I know Allie would not feel comfortable saying in an in-person conversation.

But she says them here.

And that makes my heart very happy.

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Sameness

2010-12-08T08:25:00.000-06:00

The amount of sameness I require in my life cannot be overestimated.

For the past four months, I have listened to the same song on the way to work.

This morning, I listened to it twice.

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Why I love the lentil

2010-12-06T15:53:00.001-06:00

I'm sure what I'm about to say about the lentil can be said about other seeds, legumes or grains.

But I don't care. It's the lentil I love.

The first thing I love about the lentil is its variety. I can easily find them in red, green or black. Each color has its own personality.

The second thing I love is how quickly they cook. Lentils can go from the cute canister on my shelf to my belly in about 45 minutes TOPS. Beans need to soak overnight. No spontaneity for those guys.

The third thing I love about lentils is their ability to adapt and how well they age.

Example:

I made this soup early last week.

The gist of it is this:

2 cups black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

It also talked about a saffron yogurt, but I wasn't feeling that so I skipped it.

When the soup was done, it was boring. Maybe because I skipped the yogurt or maybe because I just didn't love this recipe. So I added smoked paprika and chipotle spice.

It tasted all right, but I still didn't love it. I decided this recipe didn't have any legs.

But I really don't like to waste, so we had it again in the same way the next night. It tasted a bit better. The flavors had all become friends and it showed.

Then a couple of days later I added one cut-up potato, some more kale and some more liquid. This was a very tasty soup.

Then on Sunday night I added one quarter cup (uncooked measurement) of brown rice to try to stretch it out to just two more bowls full. It had changed slightly, but it was still a nice yummy bowl of homemade soup.

I'm not sure what I spent on the original ingredients, and I'm not sure of the cost of the additional ingredients, but I know it wasn't much.

And with each version of the soup, I was happy.
Supper got completed for another day.
It didn't take a lot of work.
It didn't take a lot of money.
And we ate food that was good for our bodies.

The lentil.

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Watch this movie

2010-12-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

I did, with my jaw dropped and tears in my eyes.

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Good things I've read

2010-12-03T22:41:00.000-06:00

Returning by popular demand!

"A. I am done with people tweeting about how hot* it is.

B. It is too freaking hot."

*It was indeed hot at the time of this comment. Replace the word hot with cold and you'll have current annoyance.

"I have a facebook friend who is really really really weird. Makes my insides feel funny."

"On the bright side, I just added the word "bastards" to my phone's dictionary."

"You look really skinny." (Obviously)

"Even though my belly clearly marks me as someone else's property, I think the Starbucks guy is ogling me."

"I SAID I'm ready to kill myself. This is where you swoop in and offer me a real diversion, like a hot soy latte"

"I want Hollywood to make a Gilligan’s Island/Lost crossover movie. That would be awesome."

(Previous installments)

Fifteen

2010-12-02T17:00:00.000-06:00

is the number of blog posts I need to write by the end of the year to reach the magic number of 141.

One hundred forty one is the number of blog posts I wrote in 2008 and 2009. It wasn't a plan, only a coincidence. But I like it, so I want to do it again.

But that means I really need to ramp up my productivity level.

So I thought this post could serve as a little brainstorming activity on future blog post topics.

Things I could write about this month:

Why I will never use a pattern to crochet.
How I feel about Brent turning 18 this month.
How I twisted my ankle on the first day of my vacation.
Why I love the lentil.
How I miss writing.
How I never write.
How I felt running in a 15-degree windchill.
My discovery of streaming television.
Why I think I love the Dave Matthews Band as much as I do.
A retrospective on my past six months of running.
Something funny I've found on the interwebs.
A good recipe.
Another good recipe.

And that would get me to 141.

Can you just hardly wait??

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So much to say

2010-11-23T18:19:00.000-06:00

This photo is from night one of the DMB shows in Charlottesville, Virginia.

I have so much to say about these shows, this experience, this trip. So much that I can't even do it yet.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-16T17:25:00.000-06:00

I'm a bit early with this sentiment.

But.

I'm thankful today. Who knows what mood I'll be in next week, so I don't want to take any chances.

Today I am thankful for the amazing healing power of my body.

On Sunday night, my stomach started to hurt, a little at first and then more. It was a very intense, sharp pain. I probably didn't sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. The pain kept me from falling asleep, and then when I finally would, the pain would wake me up again.

It was just awful.

I didn't go to work on Monday. Instead, I sat in my favorite chair and watched reruns of the Wonder Years and a couple of Independent Lens.

I drank several mugs of hot water; it sounded really good for some reason.

A few hours later, I had a piece of toast.

A few hours later, I had a bowl of cereal.

I could feel the pain lessening and lightening.

I went to bed Monday night knowing I was going to sleep well again. And I did.

When my alarm went off at 5am, my stomach was still a little sore. I got up cautiously. I got out my running clothes and put them on, wondering if I was really up to this.

But I kept moving. I did the stretches. I put on my iPod and gloves and headed out into the dark, chilly morning.

And then I ran ALL THREE MILES.

I was so thankful that my body could be so hurt and then make such a profound recovery. It didn't need much from me, just some rest and care. I just needed to get out of its way and let it heal.

And it did.

(I'm also thankful our washing machine just completed a load of laundry without knocking, rocking and walking across the floor. Because OMG I am so tired of that.)

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I swear this is true

2010-11-10T16:13:00.000-06:00

I got an e-mail today in which someone facetiously described their house looking like a double-wide trailer.

That rang a bell, a very old and dusty bell.

A really, really, REALLY long time ago, I listened to country music. This was the early '90s. This was also the part of my life that really, really, REALLY sucked. (Coincidence?)

During these unhappy days, there was a song about a double-wide trailer. More specifically, there was a song about a QUEEN of a double-wide trailer.

Every time I heard it, I wished my life could be as good as the lyrics of that song.

"So I made her the queen of my double wide trailer
With the polyester curtains and the redwood deck"

"I whispered honey let's just go on home
And have some onion rings and watch TV"

Life is funny when you look backward.

Sing it, Sammy!

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4:58

2010-11-04T17:10:00.000-05:00

That's the amount of time it will take you to watch this video. I dig it.

Real time was nine hours.

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Happy Halloween! aka Kevin's always right

2010-10-31T21:06:00.000-05:00

As we were shopping for our Halloween candy this year, Kevin and I discussed how many pieces we would need.

I thought 1,200. Kevin thought 2,200.

I thought Kevin was crazy.

We compromised at 1,515.

We had 1,515 trick o' treaters in just THREE hours. We were only open for business from 5:11 to 8:11 this evening.

Kevin's always right.

I didn't take any photos this year, but the scene was the same as last year's, so knock yourself out.

Hope you didn't eat too much candy!

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Need to tell you this

2010-10-27T18:09:00.001-05:00

because it's clearly not something I would do and not tell everyone about.

For the past two days I've gotten up at 4:00am in order to have time to run before my 6am pledge-drive shift at the station.

BADASS

And then later today...

I did something really stupid at work that caused people to e-mail and call the station.

Not badass at all.

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Grateful

2010-10-26T17:10:00.000-05:00

For friends.

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Funny how time slips away

2010-10-25T18:41:00.002-05:00

If you haven't heard, the public radio station I work for is smack dab in the middle of its pledge drive.

(If you're a listener, PLEASE make a pledge. It really is necessary.)

With a pledge drive, comes volunteers, early mornings and lots of food. The staff members take turns bringing in breakfast for everyone. Tomorrow is one of my two turns.

So after work today, I picked up my supplies at the grocery store and began to spend the next couple of hours in the kitchen making oatmeal banana bread and a cinnamon breakfast cake.

But that's not all that was happening.

I had put Bonnie Raitt on the kitchen CD player and the view outside was a very gray, windy fall day.

The sounds of Bonnie's wistful voice mixed with the sounds of clanking mixing bowls, a preheating oven and blowing crispy leaves surrounded me.

It became nostalgia stacked on melancholy.

Before I knew it, I was back in the fall of 2006 when my dad was so sick, one very specific day.

On that day, I walked into my dad's house and found him resting somewhat comfortably on his sofa in the family room. The fireplace was burning, he was lying on his back in a predictable flannel shirt, and he had oxygen tubes in his nose.

I sat down next to him on the edge of sofa and laid my head on his chest. I started to cry a bit, sniffling and catching my breath.

He asked me what what was wrong. I squeaked out, "I'm just worried about you."

He said while he patted my head and back, "Don't worry about me. Some people in this situation would probably ask 'Why me?' But really, why not me? I've had a long life, and if this is it, I'm ready."

Normally, my baking is made with a whole lot of love. But today, this baking was made in between a whole lot of sadness and streams of tears.

I hope it tastes all right.

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Theories (not conspiracy)

2010-10-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

Since this has (at least temporarily) turned into a running blog, I thought I would share a couple of recent, if trivial, theories.

Issue #1: Friday concluded another four-week round of running. That means I have been going out every morning four to five times a week since 6/29. That's four consistent months. That's also four consistent months of eating pretty well and VERY moderated drinking.

The results? Unclear. My scale* has bounced around a tad. A couple of pounds up, a couple of pounds down. But essentially staying the same THIS WHOLE TIME. What the what?

Theory #1: Since my muscle tone has clearly shown improvement, and muscle weighs more than fat, I've somehow managed to lose fat and gain muscle at an identical pace. Neat. And any day now as my distance increases, the fat is going to lose its grip and melt away leaving behind the strong and toned base layer I've been building this whole time.

Issue #2: The other morning, a two-mile run was surprisingly challenging.

Theory #2: I had not dressed warmly enough and that caused my body to spend all its energy keeping me warm instead of on the run. That could be a real thing, right?

*The numbers on my scale still have very little to do with my motivation for running. I just think the lack of movement on my scale is peculiar.

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A running blog?

2010-10-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

I need to tell you that I got up at 4:30.

I got up at such an hour so I would have time to run before my 7:30 meeting.

Do you know what that is?

It's BADASS.

I've installed the widget to the right. We'll see what happens.

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Uh-oh

2010-10-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

I really want to add this widget to my blog.

I only entered today's run just to give this a test drive, but just think how fun it would be to watch those numbers go up and up and up.

But this isn't very Zen, is it?

Hmmmmm

I don't know

2010-10-18T17:37:00.000-05:00

why I'm not blogging about anything meaty.

But I do have a few theories:

1. I'm lazy.

2. Life has gotten a bit fatter and happier since entering the world of full-time employment and the struggling (more interesting) writer part of me has faded.

3. Too many people I actually know (including at least one kiddo) are now reading, so that has hindered my open and honest style.

Take your pick, one or all could be true.

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Kids these days

2010-10-12T17:18:00.000-05:00

I think this video is very fun to watch.

However, while watching it, I realized that I'm now more like the lame spectators who don't understand what's going on than the cool kids in on the prank.

Oh well, at least I get to wear better shoes.

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DUDE

2010-10-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

Want to know what I did on my run this morning?

Once I completed the two-mile loop and made it back around to my street, I kept going. I kept going for a WHOLE EXTRA MILE.

DUDE!

I've been running these same two miles now for weeks and it just wasn't getting any easier. Each morning I would think about going farther and each morning I would be pooped and ready to turn home.

But this morning, after a long-awaited good night's sleep, I felt all right, so I decided to keep going.

Then I wondered how far I should go. Maybe all the way back up to Oliver? That would be an extra half mile, but then would I walk the half mile back home? Who knows. Just keep running and see what happens.

So I ran all the way back up to Oliver and all the way back home. BOOM.

Nothing like running a 5K before breakfast.*

*I so wanted to say that to someone today, but I didn't because I knew it would have made me look like a complete a-hole.

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This

2010-10-07T21:05:00.001-05:00

is my new phone.

This has been kicking my ass all night.

They don't call it a smartphone for nothing.

Come ON.

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Make it stop

2010-10-07T16:35:00.000-05:00

Every single day at work (sometimes more than once a day) I get an e-mail from NPR.

At the top of this particular e-mail it states:

*THIS NOTE IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY: INFORMATION IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION, BROADCAST OR SHARING WITH THIRD PARTIES*

Do you know I reread that line EVERY SINGLE TIME a new e-mail appears?

It's about to drive me nuts.

Seriously. Skip it. You got this.

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Fitness Journal: Month Three

2010-09-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

If you're keeping precise notes at home, you will have noticed the absence of "Fitness Journal: Month Two."

Why?

Because I forgot I even did the first one. All I did was make a few notes about it in a larger note.

But on to today's news.

Friday was the end of another four weeks of running and eating mostly right and not counting too much and many other things zen.

My goals were four or fewer missed weekdays of running and four or fewer days of booze. SUCCESS.

Missed running: Labor Day, rain, volume down too far on alarm and a morning in Omaha.

Booze: Two days of my sister's visit, supper in Omaha and a beer with my catfish last Saturday night.

Even though I am clearly kicking ass, the bathroom scale is still refusing to recognize my effort. Whatever. My legs are stronger and more toned and I can run TWO MILES WITHOUT STOPPING. (And a lot of that is uphill. Really.)

So one quarter of the way into my let's-see-what-my-body-looks-like-after-treating-it-right-for-an-entire-year project, I'm still totally on board. Every morning when I'm done with my run, I walk up my driveway winded and all tuckered out. But it FEELS SO GOOD.

The goals for the next four weeks are the same. Four and four.

And I got new running shoes and they're really bouncy!

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It's happening

2010-09-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about this. SO excited.

Another chapter in a book full of AWESOME.

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2003 - 2010

2010-09-13T18:16:00.001-05:00

As much as I'd like to tell a charming story about every single DMB concert I've been to, I cannot. I'll admit it; after that many shows, they do start to run together a bit.

The quick and dirty of it:

From 2003 to 2005, Kevin and I bounced back and forth between shows in Kansas City and St. Louis. In '04 or '05, our friends Jimmy and Maranda went with us to a show in St. Louis. That was a GOOD time. It was their first time seeing the band and they seemed to be appropriately impressed and entertained.

2006 was the first year we went to three shows in one summer. We hit St. Louis, Kansas City and Dallas. The St. Louis and Kansas City shows were on consecutive nights, and there was something really fun about that. We felt like complete groupies. Dallas was HOT and it's a terrible venue. The reserved seating in the amphitheater has a roof AND walls, which makes for a really stale atmosphere (but we still went back two more times). 2007 was Kansas City and Dallas.

In 2008, we went north to Omaha. They built a new arena and it was our first indoor show. LOVED IT. We had great seats, and Ingrid Michaelson was the opener. We didn't know much about her at the time, but we quickly fell in love with her music. She's talented and adorable. A month later we had our first show at a baseball stadium in Oklahoma City. Meh. It was all right for a change of pace, but I would not get excited returning to that kind of venue.

2009 was another three-show summer - Dallas, Kansas City and Tulsa. In KC, we saw Willie Nelson's drummer in a bar before the show, and we met friends Natalie and Brad for beers after the show. Good, good times.

The year in progress: 2010

Last month, the fellas came to us. Tomorrow we meet them in Omaha, which will be show number 20.

Will there be a 21 and 22 this year??

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Want

2010-09-08T18:32:00.001-05:00

These dates were just released and I have VERY good reasons for going.

1. As I've mentioned earlier, the Dave Matthews Band is not touring next summer.
2. These are the last two American concert dates until who knows when.
3. The Dave Matthews Band STARTED in Charlottesville. Can you imagine the pandemonium?
4. It does not interfere with Thanksgiving.
5. Kevin and I haven't been to Virginia.
6. Charlottesville is only three hours from Virgina Beach. BEACH!
7. The average temperature on Virginia Beach in November is 62. Dude!
8. I'm just certain we deserve it.

I've checked flights, rentals cars and hotels. I've found winners in each category, and it's not THAT expensive.

Get excited.

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2002 (part 2)

2010-09-03T17:47:00.000-05:00

After seeing the Dave Matthews Band in concert twice, I was starting to get the bug.

I was reading forums and following setlists. So many times I would read about people seeing the band perform over and over in city after city. The quantity impressed me.

And then Kevin and I got some sort of crazy idea.

Let's go see them again. Let's go see them in NEW YORK CITY in DECEMBER.

What the what?

I have no idea now why or how we thought that was an appropriate place to see our THIRD show.

But it was awesome.

The city was awesome. The walking was awesome. The subways were awesome. Kevin was awesome. Taking the escalators to the top floor of Macy's was awesome. Central Park was awesome. Times Square was awesome. Corner delis were awesome. Penn Station was awesome.

And.

The concert was awesome. The concert at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. The concert with surprise guest JAMES BROWN - THE GODFATHER OF SOUL.

The whole place came UNHINGED.

The setlist:

Drive In Drive Out
Granny
Christmas Time Is Here (tease)
Don't Burn The Pig
What Would You Say
Grey Street
Fool To Think
Loving Wings (tease)
Where Are You Going
Seek Up
Digging a Ditch
The Dreaming Tree (tease - Stefan only)
All Along the Watchtower
Grace Is Gone
The Space Between
So Much To Say
Anyone Seen the Bridge?
Too Much
Sex Machine

Encore

Christmas Song (tease)
Halloween
Ants Marching

Opening Band: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

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Dear Audrey

2010-09-01T09:09:00.000-05:00

I sent you an e-mail this morning.

See if you can find something that looks like this,

and then click on it.

xoxo,

Your sister

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Less lazy

2010-08-29T09:26:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos I was too lazy to add to yesterday's post:

Charley is so super excited to go see Dave she matched her shirt to her ticket!

Charley and I are happy to be safely inside Intrust Bank Arena and are eagerly awaiting the show.

Allie on her first day of braces. The top wire will be added once two baby teeth are pulled.

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To summarize

2010-08-28T11:04:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I've turned into a once a week blogger. And even then the content has been weak. Wonder what that is all about. Busy? Distracted? Uninterested? Maybe so.

DMB

The Dave Matthews Band concert was really pretty great. Parking was a breeze. Our seats were fine. The music was wonderful.

But the best part was afterward when Charley said things to me like, "I didn't know it was going to be so good. I didn't want it to end!" And then she updated her Facebook status as soon as we got home.

Ahh..that's my girl.

Norah Jones

Kevin, his mom and I all went to see Norah Jones at Century II just three days after the DMB show. It was really fantastic, too, just in a different way. It was mellow and relaxed. Norah's voice is unique and captivating. And? She has the most amazing legs. Seriously.

Fitness Zen

I'm still running and I still love it. I had two goals for the past four weeks. They were:

Miss four or fewer weekdays of running. (I missed three. Two were for heavy rain and one was for Allie's appointment with the orthodontist at 7:30am.)

Drink on six or fewer days. (Six it was. One was with co-workers. Three were on vacation. One was on Dave Matthews day. One was just this week when I met Natalie after work at The Anchor.)

Goals were met!

Since there is only one small road trip during the next four weeks, I am going to change my goals a bit. I'm going to stick to missing four or fewer days of running, but I'm going to lower the booze to four or fewer days, too. Once a week seems pretty doable. I mean my life is not THAT hard.

My weight has pretty much remained unchanged during the last two months. I am slightly surprised by that, but I'm not concerned. Weight is not a goal at all, only a tracking mechanism. However, I can tell my muscles are continuing to change. And my stamina has increased A LOT during the last month. Those two things make me very happy.

Work

I still love my job. There's been a couple of times recently where I wanted to shake my fist at something or someone, but it does always pass. I'd say the lowest my satisfaction has dipped was to about 90 percent, so that's still pretty awesome.

Kids

Brent got his senior pictures taken.

The next day my mom sent me a photo of him that she had just stumbled across.

And the contrast made me cry.

Somehow it seems like he was that small a hundred years ago and five seconds ago at the same time. It's difficult to reconcile. I'm so proud of that kid. He's been through a lot but didn't let it stay with him.

Allie got braces. I have a picture of her with them, but I'm not in the mood to try to get it off my camera right now. I'm sure there will be PLENTY of them in the future because I don't think anyone has ever been photographed more than Allison Lynn Cleaver.

Wondering how much braces cost these days? $5,133. And that's with TWO discounts.

Kevin

Kevin is still super. Actually, there are not enough superlatives to fully describe him. This month he has been at the same job (Wickham Glass) for 20 years. He is such a good little worker bee!

Today he is out doing what he loves, playing in a disc golf tournament in McPherson. But he still left me with a carafe full of coffee for when I finally rolled out of bed (8:45!). And knowing that I was going on a walk with Sarah today, he sent me a text that read, "I hope when you walk this afternoon our paces upon the ground will be in sync." I die. Seriously? How does it get any better than that. It doesn't.

That was a lengthy and informative (and entertaining?) post. Did you make it all the way to the end?

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