Yesterday was my (yes, MY) annual 8.15mi fun run in Honolulu. Last year I believe there were about 17,000 runners which was just about right. Yesterday, there were appx. 24,700 of us all fighting to get parking, potties and clear running lanes and it was just too crowded. But the spirit of Aloha is what the run is all about so it was still worth doing. I carpooled with 4 of my girlfriends which made it way more fun all around. With all the additional runners, it took about half an hour longer to get into a parking space than it normally does and we almost missed the last bus to the starting line.
Thankfully I learned my lesson last year (the hard way) and remembered to bring toilet paper for me & my friends because the porta potties were completely out (Ewww GROSS!). With that all out of the way, we missed all the pre-race fun (anthems, patriotic birds, water cannons and of course the military all running with flags in formation singing inspiring cadences) our group got separated from eachother and we were trapped in the dreaded 'back of the pack' with all the strollers. Kathy and I found eachother in the staging area and started pressing forward but didn't cross the starting line until 27 minutes after the race started. I usually get across the start in about 5 minutes. It was that packed.
Didn't do as well as I had planned on but the way my life has been so crazy at work for the past 4 months and not doing nearly as much training and physical preparation as I'd hoped and having to run an extra mile laterally it seems dodging strollers and walkers, I'm satisfied. With a time of 1:23:25 (I was shooting for 1:21), I did still beat my previous personal best by about 1.5 minutes, finished in the top 4,000 runners and was the 5th overall from my hometown. Ram even conceeded that makes me somehow 'elite'. He supported me by staying home with the kids and letting me have my fun.
I am a little tender all over this morning but the most unexpected pain I'm feeling is in my right wrist. After reflecting all morning, I figured out it must be due to me taking out one of our fine military brothers at the finish line yesertdy. I normally finish about the last 50 yards of my runs with an all out sprint to the finish line (some would say this is a bad idea but it just feels so good to let the horses loose at the end).
So there I was heading through the tunnel onto the Aloha Stadium astroturf towards the finish line in full stride at top speed when suddenly out of nowhere a big black brother in military fatigues holding hands with his girlfriend makes a 90-degree turn into my path (he must have just spotted the military exit area to the left of the Finish line) and they completely blocked my path. I was about 2 strides from him, in the second that it took for my eyes to pop out of my face and for him to glance over to see that he was about to be assaulted I reached out my arm to defend myself and plowed it into his chest at the same moment that the most unexpected sound escaped my lips.
It sounded something like "JEWW!!" which I can only guess was a combination of something like Gees! and Shoot! I was going so fast that after my palm made impact with his chest, I glanced off him he staggered back a step and I continued hurling to the finish line then looked back but they were out of view. I'm still laughing to myself wondering if he thought it was odd being called a 'Jew' by the crazy white lady who just left a dent in his torso. My wrist is sore today from the impact. Thankfully he was a big man or it could have been worse for him but I still hope he's OK.
This Friday I'm taking Ram and the kids to UT for a week with me on my way to a conference for work the following week in TX. The forecast in UT is predicting snow this Sat so I'm excited. Ram and the kids have never been in real snow before so it'll be a cool first experience for them. Can't wait to see family and friends there and visit places we haven't seen in over a decade. I'm just still stoked that we got all three of their round trip tickets for under $5 total by using my frequent flier miles and we have free lodging and a car from friends. This will be a really awesome low budget vacation.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Groundhogs and Baby Elephants
Happy Groundhog Day. Yeah, my life has been just too ridiculously busy for the past 2 months to even begin to explain. But I have been promised by my boss that next Christmas we won't be doing a double upgrade and system implementation project that will suck our entire department into a vortex of endless long work days & nights. I still haven't completely resurfaced but I left the office early today to finally go see the doctor about the cough I've been dealing with since November. Thank goodness for antibiotics. I look forward to being done with sickness soon.
Last Friday the project I've been working on officially came to a close, the consultant that had been here since last May packed up and went home for the last time and my co-worker and I who were in the project room with her for most of the past year packed up and moved our offices back to our regular building. It's nice to have a window again. It's distracting to have so many people around and hard to focus and get as much done. I have so much cleaning out to do still that my desk just feels like chaos - but today was only day-two back in my regular office and it's a double pay-week so there hasn't been any time to spend on organizing yet.
I thought this year would somehow get a bit less hectic but I have a feeling I was dead-wrong. I was just called to be the Primary president in my ward. The good Lord must have some here-to-fore undiscovered talent he wants me to develop because I feel like my leadership skills are completely inadequate and prior to last Sunday when I was suddenly in charge of conducting, had no clue what actually goes on in Primary. We have 200 Primary children on the rolls in our ward. This is probably really bad to say but luckily about 40% of them are inactive so we only have about 120 regularly attending to get to know and find teachers for and plan activities for and be responsible for at church each week.
The last time I served in Primary was about 13 years ago when I was responsible for teaching the 5-year olds. That was probably the hardest calling I've ever had. I absolutely feared and hated it. The thought of spending an hour with the wild group of free-spirits I was responsible for back then when I had no parenting skills and only Relief Society teaching experience (which was my second hardest calling) to pull from. I was a wreck every Sunday. I swear I gave myself ulcers stressing over that calling.
So it should have come as no surprise that this past Sunday as I was getting ready for my first day as president, my old fears quickly crept back in and I was in tears just dreading going to church. Wishing I didn't have to face reality and completely withdrawn from the spirit after lamenting for a while, I found myself praying for help. Somehow in all my self-pity I caught a glimpse of what the good Lord was trying to teach me when I got the message to stop being so selfish and worrying about me-me-me so much. Rather that I should spend more energy being grateful for my blessings and learn how to listen for the promptings to help others. It is my turn to serve these amazing little spirits and I know that the more I put into this calling, the more I will grow to love the children and will be rewarded by my efforts. Again with the selfish motives but I think I'm starting to get the attitude adjustment I need.
Now to rearrange some of my priorities to fit in the new demands on my schedule and start immersing myself in getting to know my duties and responsibilities. First order of duty, find teachers to cover all the classes. In a ward as huge as ours that shouldn't pose a problem. Time to put prayer and inspiration back to work. I have to say that I'm so very grateful that I have two very experienced and ambitious counselors to learn from and draw on who are an answer to my prayers already.
Ram is on a really regular exercise routine it reminds me of how great I felt last September at the peak of prep for my 25K race. It feels like a lifetime ago and I miss feeling that energized. I have the annual Great Aloha Run coming up in less than 2 weeks and I'm about a month behind where I'd like to be in preparing for it. I know I'll be able to complete the 8.15 mile course, it's just not going to feel as great as it should and definitely won't be as fast as I know I could be. But having bronchitis has put a damper on things and I'll be back in the swing of things soon.
Zeth is so insanely cute these days it's hard to keep up with his antics. He is a sweet-talkin, bubble gum-seeking, dancing machine. He sings songs like the A-B-C's, I am a Child of God, and of course a whole lotta reggae. He is showing early signs of a rabid teenager already. He knows how to get into the fridge and regularly will bring me containers of applesauce, peaches & o-gurt to open for him. He craves oranges, is not afraid of trying spicy foods or vegetables but isn't very interested in bland 'bready' things like quesadillas or french fries.
We've tried to break him from it a couple times but this kid is highly addicted to his ba-ba and throws violent all-out tantrums until he gets his bedtime bottle still. He's extremely strong-willed and he holds a grudge. At the same time that bullheadedness of his enables him to accomplish all sorts of physical skills that we wouldn't expect from someone so young at 2.5 years old. Boys are sooo different from girls. He is my determined and dependable helper, always wanting to help with the dishes, sweeping, laundry, cooking and of course eating.
Zana is such a sweet sweet sweet girl. She's growing up so fast. She is in the accelerated learning group and recently got a certificate of merit from school for having all acceptable or excellent grades for the first two quarters. She does all her work but often requires extra prodding to focus and get it done. When I'm working late and Ram is busy doing his own thing, her favorite pastime is vegging out in front of the TV while Zeth bounces off the walls trying to distract her. I'm not going to go so far as admitting it is a good idea for everyone, but there may have been some wisdom in my parents having no TV in our home while I was growing up. I think it really should come down to having more self discipline when it comes to regulating TV time in our home as a whole. Hard to enforce that sort of thing as a working mother who frequently likes to unwind with the news and a late show herself.
Today Zana was at the doctor with me and as the nurse was interviewing us she pops the question to me, "Mommy, how do elephants have baby elephants?" The nurse typing away on our records in the corner smiled real big, kept her eyes on the monitor and just waited for my reply. I was so not prepared and just told her that all animals have babies pretty much the same way. She accepted that and dropped the subject. Time to start thinking about some creative yet accurate responses already. She's just 7 but I suppose that's old enough to start learning about the natural world around her.
She tells me regularly how much she loves and adores me. Each hug, each time she chants "Mommy's the best!" over and over and gets Zeth to join in, each love note she tapes to my door, each kiss somehow wipes away a past tear shed over my infertility experiences and puts a coin in my emotional savings account. I hope and pray this bond and admiration between us will never end. I was such a stinker of a teenager that I worry about that coming around to haunt me some day. I'm just doing all I can to build relationships of trust so that my children will feel like I'm their trusted adviser rather than an adversary in their trials which will surely come.
Last Friday the project I've been working on officially came to a close, the consultant that had been here since last May packed up and went home for the last time and my co-worker and I who were in the project room with her for most of the past year packed up and moved our offices back to our regular building. It's nice to have a window again. It's distracting to have so many people around and hard to focus and get as much done. I have so much cleaning out to do still that my desk just feels like chaos - but today was only day-two back in my regular office and it's a double pay-week so there hasn't been any time to spend on organizing yet.
I thought this year would somehow get a bit less hectic but I have a feeling I was dead-wrong. I was just called to be the Primary president in my ward. The good Lord must have some here-to-fore undiscovered talent he wants me to develop because I feel like my leadership skills are completely inadequate and prior to last Sunday when I was suddenly in charge of conducting, had no clue what actually goes on in Primary. We have 200 Primary children on the rolls in our ward. This is probably really bad to say but luckily about 40% of them are inactive so we only have about 120 regularly attending to get to know and find teachers for and plan activities for and be responsible for at church each week.
The last time I served in Primary was about 13 years ago when I was responsible for teaching the 5-year olds. That was probably the hardest calling I've ever had. I absolutely feared and hated it. The thought of spending an hour with the wild group of free-spirits I was responsible for back then when I had no parenting skills and only Relief Society teaching experience (which was my second hardest calling) to pull from. I was a wreck every Sunday. I swear I gave myself ulcers stressing over that calling.
So it should have come as no surprise that this past Sunday as I was getting ready for my first day as president, my old fears quickly crept back in and I was in tears just dreading going to church. Wishing I didn't have to face reality and completely withdrawn from the spirit after lamenting for a while, I found myself praying for help. Somehow in all my self-pity I caught a glimpse of what the good Lord was trying to teach me when I got the message to stop being so selfish and worrying about me-me-me so much. Rather that I should spend more energy being grateful for my blessings and learn how to listen for the promptings to help others. It is my turn to serve these amazing little spirits and I know that the more I put into this calling, the more I will grow to love the children and will be rewarded by my efforts. Again with the selfish motives but I think I'm starting to get the attitude adjustment I need.
Now to rearrange some of my priorities to fit in the new demands on my schedule and start immersing myself in getting to know my duties and responsibilities. First order of duty, find teachers to cover all the classes. In a ward as huge as ours that shouldn't pose a problem. Time to put prayer and inspiration back to work. I have to say that I'm so very grateful that I have two very experienced and ambitious counselors to learn from and draw on who are an answer to my prayers already.
Ram is on a really regular exercise routine it reminds me of how great I felt last September at the peak of prep for my 25K race. It feels like a lifetime ago and I miss feeling that energized. I have the annual Great Aloha Run coming up in less than 2 weeks and I'm about a month behind where I'd like to be in preparing for it. I know I'll be able to complete the 8.15 mile course, it's just not going to feel as great as it should and definitely won't be as fast as I know I could be. But having bronchitis has put a damper on things and I'll be back in the swing of things soon.
Zeth is so insanely cute these days it's hard to keep up with his antics. He is a sweet-talkin, bubble gum-seeking, dancing machine. He sings songs like the A-B-C's, I am a Child of God, and of course a whole lotta reggae. He is showing early signs of a rabid teenager already. He knows how to get into the fridge and regularly will bring me containers of applesauce, peaches & o-gurt to open for him. He craves oranges, is not afraid of trying spicy foods or vegetables but isn't very interested in bland 'bready' things like quesadillas or french fries.
We've tried to break him from it a couple times but this kid is highly addicted to his ba-ba and throws violent all-out tantrums until he gets his bedtime bottle still. He's extremely strong-willed and he holds a grudge. At the same time that bullheadedness of his enables him to accomplish all sorts of physical skills that we wouldn't expect from someone so young at 2.5 years old. Boys are sooo different from girls. He is my determined and dependable helper, always wanting to help with the dishes, sweeping, laundry, cooking and of course eating.
Zana is such a sweet sweet sweet girl. She's growing up so fast. She is in the accelerated learning group and recently got a certificate of merit from school for having all acceptable or excellent grades for the first two quarters. She does all her work but often requires extra prodding to focus and get it done. When I'm working late and Ram is busy doing his own thing, her favorite pastime is vegging out in front of the TV while Zeth bounces off the walls trying to distract her. I'm not going to go so far as admitting it is a good idea for everyone, but there may have been some wisdom in my parents having no TV in our home while I was growing up. I think it really should come down to having more self discipline when it comes to regulating TV time in our home as a whole. Hard to enforce that sort of thing as a working mother who frequently likes to unwind with the news and a late show herself.
Today Zana was at the doctor with me and as the nurse was interviewing us she pops the question to me, "Mommy, how do elephants have baby elephants?" The nurse typing away on our records in the corner smiled real big, kept her eyes on the monitor and just waited for my reply. I was so not prepared and just told her that all animals have babies pretty much the same way. She accepted that and dropped the subject. Time to start thinking about some creative yet accurate responses already. She's just 7 but I suppose that's old enough to start learning about the natural world around her.
She tells me regularly how much she loves and adores me. Each hug, each time she chants "Mommy's the best!" over and over and gets Zeth to join in, each love note she tapes to my door, each kiss somehow wipes away a past tear shed over my infertility experiences and puts a coin in my emotional savings account. I hope and pray this bond and admiration between us will never end. I was such a stinker of a teenager that I worry about that coming around to haunt me some day. I'm just doing all I can to build relationships of trust so that my children will feel like I'm their trusted adviser rather than an adversary in their trials which will surely come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)