Looking forward to the 2028 Olympics

It's hard when you have a child not to project your delusions of grandeur on them.

My lovely boy is 3 and already had shown us that he is a natural at not one, but two sports. He can control a soccer ball at full speed and also swim like a fish. Neither one was brought on by any lessons, but just a natural ability. Really.

Sure, we took him to a mommy and me swim class where he launched himself into the pool despite not knowing how to float. It was interesting when all the other 1 year olds were screaming as their parents dipped them into the water. Our boy cried when we took him out. A swimmer myself, I not so secretly was ecstatic. I learned to swim at 3, and pretty much lived in the water as much as possible. I raced in my youth, and as an adult joined a Masters swim team for a short bit. Even when I asked if he wanted to be a swimmer or diver and he said diver I did not cringe or cry. Hey, diving looks more fun. I get that. Last week was a big week for us. Or the week before, it's summer and I just finished up working a bunch of gigs so I really have no concept of time right now. But after seeing our friend's video of their daughter--age 5--going off a spring board, I decided to see if my boy could do it. I convinced the lifeguard to let my son go off at our local pool and into the dive well. Even though there is no way he could pass the swim test (25 yard swim, tread water for 1 minute), the lifeguards had seen my boy swim a lot and belly flop continuously into the pool for months. Since there was no one else in the pool (indoor pool, beautiful day) they agreed to let him go off once. ONCE. I drilled this into D's head just in case he loved it and decided to throw a huge tantrum if he couldn't do it again.

I went off first, to show him it wasn't that bad. Too bad I forgot that I'm scared of heights. One reason I never tried out for the diving team. And spring boards are really springy. It sounds stupid, but the competition ones (which this ones was) really move when you are on them. It's not just a plank like you may have in your inground pool. (By the way, I hate you if you have an inground pool.) But I went in, and then urged my little boy out onto the board, which was about 6 feet over the water.

Side note: please do not call DSS, my son was more than willing, can swim, and we had the lifeguard's permission.

So, the lifeguard kept reminding my boy that he could always just go back down the ladder, no big deal. I also said this, but urged him to jump in. After two minutes of considering it, he launched himself into the air and jumped in. It was awesome. He popped up smiling and swam over to the ladder, pushing me away when I tried to help. He said, just once to the lifeguard and then took a running leap back into the pool.

Of course, proud mamma bear that I am called my husband and told him immediately. Then I picked up a diving team brochure (2 years to go before he can join!). At home, in our Intext 8 foot pool, where we splash away our summer, D was happily swimming around, diving under the foam noodles. When my husband got home from work, D asked, "hey daddy, wanna see me back flip?"  Thinking that D was just going to spin around going "whooooosh!" like most kids (I know I still do a round off back handspring back tuck like that) he didn't pay much attention, but said sure. Why not. Then D did a back flip in the water. He had just figured it out. At this point, I'm looking up private schools with 1st grade swim teams, but also trying not to push him.

Especially because he is the same way with soccer. I have never kicked a soccer ball in a real game--gym glass maybe. But husband played all his life and still is part of a team today. We go and watch and D runs on the field and plays during warm up. Except he is warming up with the team. With them. Kicking balls, doing fancy footwork stuff (see how much I know about soccer--stuff). But the team keeps saying to us...wow.

Of course the boy is 3. Maybe he's peaking. God I hope not, because I've already begun to campaign for Boston to host the Olympic summer games in 2028. D will be 18 and I think he has a shot.

Twitter speak

I just went to Twitter to post a bunch of things then remembered. I sort of have a blog.

So here are a few things in my head this morning.

1. It was really hard for me to leave my house this morning. I just wanted to stay home. I ended up running back into the house two times for my water bottle and phone and got to walk (sprint) through the back door area where all the herbs are in pots waiting to be put into the ground. The lilac and dogwoods are blooming. It was a cloudless, blue, May sky and the sun was rising. I could smell spring and my trowel and gardening gloves were laying on my gardening bench waiting for me.

2. Even though I ended up leaving fairly late (I hate that 6:55 AM is late) I got my free parking spot at the station. This is a always a sign of a good day.

3. This week I began walking from North Station to my office in Chinatown. It's just over 1 3/4 miles, so I end up walking about 3 miles total there and back. I get to see a lot of Boston I forgot was there, discover new things, and just look up in awe at the truly uniqueness of the city's architecture. I mean, 300 year old buildings next to giant glass skyscrapers. Pretty cool.

4. This is the season of birthdays. Friday is my father's 71st birthday and Sunday is my nephew's 7th birthday. I got them the same gift. Amazon.com gift cards. The future is weird.

5. I went to the bostonglobe.com and tried to read two articles that caught my eye. I couldn't because I don't subscribe. I thought about purchasing an online subscription, but it's pretty pricey for online only. Sure, the first four weeks are $0.99 a week, but after that it's $4 a week! $16 dollars a month is more than double what I pay for unlimited movies streamed directly into my TV per month. It's half the price of my gym membership. And about 4 lattes. hmmm. Perhaps I should reconsider.

6. I am in a month of meetings making me feel very hectic. However, last week the stress transformed into a "can't control it, screw it" mentality and I am no longer a person who rushes around. Or has much memory for details. Or can plan more than 48 hours in advance. Which is why we still have no concrete plans in our house to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. Although I think we may have a babysitter. I'm not sure. If all else fails, we are invited to a BBQ Saturday evening where we can just relax. Our tentative plans are dinner at a steak house and seeing the new Star Trek movie. I am pretty excited about it. It's like...a date!

New Year, new adventure!

Happy New Year! I hope your holiday season was less stressful than mine. I hope next year I remember I don't really like the holidays anymore and book a flight to St. Martin or something for Christmas. It's hard being Santa. That's all I will say about that.

But this new year brings a new adventure for me. My first winter vacation. This weekend we are headed to the Rocky Mountains for a full week of winter sports. Dog sledding, snowmobiling, ice skating, and the never-more-to-be-dreaded skiing. I will finally try out skiing in the west, and see if it is better than East Coast. I am hoping for the sake of my vacation that it is much, much better. As in don't throw my back out better.

Usually we hit the beach in the winter, but I'm very pale and can't really do that too much. I've never seen the Rockies, and am excited to see Vail and Boulder. I hope the little guy is excited too!

So far we've spent more than the price of our flights on gear. New jackets, snowpants, boots, long underwear, hats, gloves, socks. If I were going to the beach it would just be a bikini and cover up. Winter vacations are expensive!

But this is the year for new things. On New Year's Day I jumped into the freezing Atlantic Ocean to celebrate this. Yes, it was cold. And no, the air temperature did not make the water seem warmer than it was. I think that is just a giant freaking lie. The sand was the worst part. I don't have water shoes and the sand was like tiny, extra-sharp knives digging into my soft winter feet. The polar plunge was after I ran a 10K (under an hour, half hungover!) so I can confidently say 2013 is the year it all changes for me.

Adventure awaits!

Advancing Milestones

I think that all parents are secretly waiting for the child to grow up so they can do things for themselves. Or at least grow up to the stage when the kid can do fun things. Trust me, lying around with your baby is fun, but only because you are lying around watching something cute. Lying around watching your kid cook dinner is more fun though. As evidenced by my friend's FB post this weekend. His son (I'm going to guess 9 because I have no idea and it doesnt seem possible he can have a 13 year old daughter and a 9 year old son as we just graduated from college. Twelve and half years ago...), anyway, his son cooked  tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner while he got to sit down. His obvious pleasure in this relaxation was marked by the posting itself.

I love every stage of my son's development (except 3 months of his 2s that already occurred) and am looking forward to every coming stage. I loved the plant stage when he just sat and drooled and smiled. The I'm going to crawl, nope walking is for me stage. The talking. The soccer kicking. And I can't wait until he is 6 and on teams and such. Right now is pretty cool too. He just started swimming this weekend.

We've had him in the water since he was an infant. He took his first swimming lessons at a year, and did really well. They told us not to bring him back until he was 4, as he had already mastered the baby basics. Which isn't too much stuff. Put face in water. Blow bubbles. He also jumped in holding our hands. We didn't sign him up to be an Olympic athlete. He loves the water and had a habit of trying to walk on it. It was for safety reasons. He just has no fear of water. Which is terrifying for a parent. At Walden Pond he walks right into the water up to his chin. The kid just loves it.

This weekend we took him swimming for the first time since September. I decided a swim day was in order as he has been practicing "diving" in the bathtub. It creates a huge tidal wave over the entire bathroom, and needless to say I don't clean the bathroom as the floor is constantly wet, and therefore clean. He also has been floating on his back, so I figure, what they hey, I'll see if he will float in the pool. Well, he wouldn't. No way. Not on his back. But he did go right down the steps into the water with a noodle and take off. He pushed the noodle under his arms and did a lap. Yup, a 50 yards. After a while we took the noodle away to see if he would float and, again, he would not. At this point we were in the deep end and the diving team was practicing in the dive well. When he saw the diver, he was captivated. He hung onto the side of the pool. We were right underneath the blocks, and I was hanging off the end, pretending like I was going to start the backstroke. He saw me, and wanted to do the same. He kept pulling himself up and lowering himself into the water each time a diver went off the board. As there were 2 spring boards and 1 platforms going at the same time, he did a lot of pull ups. We asked if he wanted to learn how to dive and, man, he did!

I've always loved swimming and learned to dive when I was 8. Not spring board competitive diving, just off the blocks to start a race. I modeled a small dive, and actually didn't dive at all just fell on my side. It was enough, however, to get yelled at by the lifeguard. Then Dylan jumped in, holding our hands. What was different than any other time was that he popped back up to the surface instead of hanging out underwater like infants do. A few more times and he let go of our hands jumping in. The next time after that, he didn't grab for us when he surfaced. He tred water. And then doggie paddled to the side. It was awesome.

Being good parents of the millennium, it's all documented. Pictures, video, FB within the hour. Our son will be able to watch his first strokes. We took him back the next day just to reinforce the swimming and it was still awesome.

And now, he's closer to 3 than 2. He sleeps in a big boy bed and wears big boy underpants some days. He would rather watch Power Rangers than Barney. He's still so little, but not a baby. We have a porch half filled of his old stuff ready to be sold at a yard sale next spring. High chair, toys, stroller. It doesn't seem possible that he could have anything old yet. He's only been alive for 2 1/2 years. As he searched for a comfortable spot on my shoulder last night, I couldn't help but see the reason he couldn't find one was because he was too tall. Finally, I fully reclined the chair and he stretched out, and rested his blonde little head on my shoulder as we read a Clifford book.

Every milestone he reaches is great, but it's a reminder that he will one day be a grown man. No matter how hard I hold on, he will keep growing and changing. I guess it's up to me to savor every memory he gives me, and remind him that he is my little boy.

Christmas Lights

We got our tree last Saturday, and last night (Thursday) I remembered that we are supposed to water it. Sorry Mr. Tree. I also realized I should bring my plants off the 3-season porch as it's been below freezing at night now for a few days. The bamboo was white, but everything else was doing well. The porch heats up pretty well during the day. It's 6 patio doors instead of window, all southern facing. Nice in the summer. Would be nicer if the doors weren't used sliders that were 40 years old, but it's not even close to being on the top of the fix-it list.

But like I said, we have our tree. And it's wonderful. It is between the kitchen and living room, which are adjoining, so you can enjoy it in two rooms at once. This is a very big thing for me, because we have previously always shoved it into a corner where you can't see it. And I dont like not seeing the tree during the holidays. If you take the time to go get a tree (and we get a real one), decorate it, and water it (mostly), you should be able to enjoy it. The past two nights I have not even turned on the TV, preferring to sit in front of the unlit fireplace and read, occassionally looking up at the tree. And the Christmas stockings!

This year I finally splurged on Christmas stockings. It was actually on my calendar in October to buy them because last year I got shut out of the ones I wanted at Pottery Barn Kids. We have the woodland velvet ones, with Santa, an owl, and ribbons. I fully intend to never buy stockings again as a) I love these b) they are really good quality c) they were freaking expensive.

But this weekend is the outside of the house. We need to do the lights. Last year we left the nails in the siding to string up the eaves, so I am hoping it won't take long. However, we discovered boxes and boxes of lights in our garage from our many apartments before our house, and I believe dear husband wants to go crazy. I think I will watch from my living room. I just need to hide the green LED lights he thinks look good over the bushes.

Birthday weekend

The mid point of the 30s looms. On Sunday I will be 35, and it seems like such a big number. If I look back 20 years I'm a teenager. That's freaky.

I love my 30s though. They are fun and stable, a time where I have grown more than ever. In this past year I have worked on my career more than ever before. I found myself pulling all nighters, routinely working until 1 or 2 am and putting out work that I was consistently proud of. I pulled in my dream gig, even though it was only temporary. Who knew I wanted to write history textbooks so badly!?

As the project wound down, I saw that I had a severe imbalance in my life. I hadn't ignored my family so much as compartmentalized them. By putting my time into such chunks [journal work 8-4, commute 4-5:30, child time 5:30-7, meetings and writing 7-1, snooze, run 5-6, commute 6:30-8] work was being given the bigger chunks. My child grew and I saw him and noticed, I needed to be more present. So in not picking up another project right away, and by getting another day at home lessening my commute, I am trying to be present.

But wow is it hard. It's so hard I even took a course about life balancing. I saw I needed to change my goal and direction. Two years ago, I saw the perfect life as working at home with a baby on my lap. Well, that baby had grown into a charming and energetic toddler who doesnt want to sit on my lap. He wants me to chase him around soccer fields, play knights with him, and read. He is tired of the email chime on my phone because he knows I have to pause in our search for the dragon. November was a month for me to realign myself, but of course the universe threw more at me to deal with.

Stomach bugs, overscheduled weekends, holidays, bad family news, depression. Over half of my calendar has things written on it to do. Even putting away clothes has bogged me down (you do not want to see the floor of my room right now--in fact, you can't). And the littlest thing is setting me off.

So, as I hit 35 this weekend, I am looking for a new perfect life vision. I know it has to do with writing, but the list of what I don't want or will put up with anymore is forcing me to look beyond what I've been doing and take some risks. I am hoping I am prepared.

Fall injuries

It's race season! The first weekend of fall I cruise through CoolRunning.com and try to fill up my weekend with races. 5ks, 10ks, half-marathons. This year I've added some obstacle course races as well.From September 8 through November 18 I'm already signed up for 6 races and will probably add 4 more. Then, once I push pay for the non-refundable course fees, I get injured.

OK, it didnt go quite like that, and I've already done 3 of my races. But the point is, my leg freaking hurts. It's been hurting since August. I have plantar fasciitis which is a new sciencey way of saying I'm old and my arches have fallen. When your arches fall it affects the your calf. The only cure is to stretch along, stop running and/or tape up your foot to create new arches. Which is what I've been doing. But it still feels like a knife is being pushed into my heel and that my Achilles may snap.I gave it a rest the last weeks of August and borrowed one of those rolly things to massage it (ouch) and it's better. The pain now radiates up my leg, but less intensely.

All summer I trained and didnt race. It was too hot, I was too busy. Now that I'm ready to compete Im hurt. Nothing has made me feel old like this ever. Not even my joints popping when I reach to get something off the floor.

But, despite being in pain, I did the Shape Diva Dash in Boston, the Maynard 5K, and the Orchard House 10K. One was easy, one I was hung over for, and the other I was tired for but glad I did and made my secondary goal (which is the realistic one). I am not hitting any PRs this year, but still have a half marathon or two to go.

Fall catalogs

I've been doing some online shopping recently. Just the basics really. Checkbooks, glasses, blinds, and a new lunch box for my son. But because I've been shopping, I'm starting to see some catalogs come in. Yesterday I got the fall JCrew "lookbook". I glanced through it this morning to see if I need anything from it. Their clothes are pretty expensive and thankfully there was only one piece I would consider (I love their boat neck shirts!).  But just looking through it made me really happy about one thing. Not having time to do my hair each morning. It appears that messy is OK.

I am going to copy the models of JCrew and not brush my hair. Instead I'll continue to wear it up in a messy bun and believe that I am glamorous.

Thank you JCrew for not photoshopping the flyaways on your models. It makes me feel like your clothes are normal, even if I think $150 is way way way too much for a button down shirt.

Mid-August you sly fox

And it's August. Sorry, half way through August. A second ago it was June. I swear.

However, I've come up for air. The past 6 months I've been drowning myself in work and I'm ready for the cool breezes of fall to come and clar my plate. We went camping the first week of Augsut and for the first time in a long while I did nothing. I had no work to do (well, I wasn't going to do it!), and I was surrounded by water and nature. I napped in a hammock. Really.

I feel like it's the new school year. Even though I want the warm weather to stick around, I got excited when I saw the farmers market had apples last week! I'm not rushing time forward at all, just trying to enjoy it more.

Adopting a phone

I broke my phone again. I really feel like it's broken more than it's working. This time I dropped it on my driveway. This would not have been such an issue if the case had not broken a few weeks ago (from being dropped) and the screen went dead. I just had the screen fixed. And, in the time from having my screen fixed to now (about 6 weeks) I voided the warranty by leaving the phone outside while their was a brief sun shower. I nearly got to it in time. I even got to see the battery marker turn red when it got wet. Once it's red the phone is pretty much worth $10. They told me yesterday.

So, it landed on my driveway. We were going blueberry picking and the people we were supposed to meet there had canceled on us already so the only thing I would have used my phone for was pictures. I designated husband for pictures and we picked just over 15 pounds in about 1 1/2 hours. No pictures were taken.

After blueberries I decided I needed to get a new phone right away. I work from my phone a lot, so it is essential that I have access to my work emails from the beach. Otherwise I need to go into the office on Wednesdays which is NOT going to happen. I'm currently working on a way to get out of the office more.

We hit the Sprint store at Solomon Pond Mall and I cut right to the chase. I needed the same phone, a Samsung Epic 4G. It has a slide out key board which is very handy for taking notes when I am doing my reporter gig. On screen keyboards just don't cut it. The guy of course tries to sell me the newer version, the Galaxy S3. It's an iphone. With no slide out keyboard. I immediately say no and tell him to get me my phone. Then I hear a gurgle next to me. Husband is drooling over new phone.

And he is ready to make a deal. He hands me his phone (we have matching phones not because it's cute but because the Epic is, in fact, EPIC). He will get the new S3 and I can have his phone. 

Fine.

The S3 is so light, it would have shattered in my hands in an instant. I don't use any of my electronics to their full potential, so the techiness would have been wasted on me. Plus, I know how to use the Epic. We left the Sprint store all a bit happier.

And I got all his apps! And emails. You know your husband trusts you when he wipes his phone but still leaves you access to his email and credit card.

Happy 4th!

It's nearly the 4th of July!

This morning I laid out my son's clothes for my husband to get him ready and was deciding between his two 4th of July shirts. One is the standard Old Navy flag shirt and the other is a skull wearing a Uncle Sam hat with blue stars where his eyes should be. I love both shirts, but seeing as the daycare lady probably thinks Im weird already, I sent him in the flag shirt. He can rock the skull shirt tomorrow.

And is it disturbing or awesome that they make a skull/Uncle Sam hat shirt for 2 year olds? I'm pretty sure there was nothing like that when I was a 2. Unless your older brother/cousin/uncle hand painted one for you before they rode off on their motorcycle.

Also, I bought this shirt not at a rock concert or t-shirt stand in the park. I got it at the Children's Place. It's a pretty mainstream store. But for some reason this year, skulls are acceptable. I think it came out of the whole pirate phase America is in (which I love).

But, happy 4th! I am taking all day off from writing and editing and will just go to yoga, get a new mattress, garden, and then attend a traditional 4th of July BBQ.

Who's got the fireworks?!

Making up for lost time

Admittedly I spent the first 10 years of my job not doing too much. I used to complain about being bored, watching TV, etc.

Get me the freaking time machine to go back and slap myself.

I've been buried under work since late March. As in working until 1 AM, stressed, constantly tired. I have another 8 weeks to go, and then will gladly revert to staring out the window. I feel like I'm paying for all the work I did easily!

Not only do I not have time to do personal writing, but my exercise routine, sleep, and child rearing have suffered. It's too much!

8 more weeks....8 more weeks!

Watermelon and Strawberries

When I go grocery shopping I tend to buy the same things over and over. Strawberries, watermelon, avocados, goldfish crackers, and milk. Pretty much what my son eats every day. Of course, none of the fruits grow year round in the Northeast, so I watch the prices pretty closely. And the shelves. I knew winter was here last year when the watermelons disappeared. There were the square Japanese ones, but I'm not buying any fruits from Asia. It's just a rule of mine. I don't like to buy the South American ones either, just because of how far they have to travel. It can't be good if it rides on a plane for 6 hours, is in a warehouse for however many weeks, and then trucked around the USA until it reaches our far corner. But when watermelon reappeared about a month ago I got excited.
And it just got better.
The prices are dropping...which means summer (and REAL watermelon/strawberry season) is close! Now the strawberries in my yard are green, but in a few week they will be red and ready to be raided by the birds and chipmunks. I don't even pretend I'll get more than 4 out of them.
As of yesterday, grocery store watermelon was 59 cents per pound and the strawberries were $1.69 per container!! A few months ago a container was $5, so this is a big improvement. Especially when you have a little boy who eats them like hotcakes. And with hotcakes.
The sun is rising early and setting late, prices are dropping on summer seasonals, and it's rarely truly cold out. Must be mid May!

That old spring thing

It must be nearly summer if I'm joining weight watchers, going on a no-carb meal plan, or found sobbing over a pile of swim suits.

This spring: Weight Watchers. I had some great success with WW back in 2008. Of course I did. I had gotten married the year before and wasn't able to lose a single pound before the wedding. After I was deported to the suburbs with no social calendar *BAM*. 25-30 pounds lost. Perhaps it was WW plus depression. Either way, I got down to a weight I hadn't seen since college. Having a baby and going on a hormone based BC has packed on the pounds. Specifically on my freaking hips.

Instead of joining WW officially, I am using my friend's online profile that she doesn't use. She goes to the meetings and faces real people. She is far braver than I. Because yesterday I found a chocolate, marshmallow, caramel square I had bought on vacation a week ago in Willamsburg, VA. It had melded to a beautiful dark chocolate peppermint patty. And I ate it of course. It was delicious. However, it was the size of my palm and definitely more than the 26 points I'm allotted each day on the WW points plus program. Even though I made up for it by walking 2 miles and chasing a toddler around the playground for an hour, plus having a seriously healthy dinner of broiled fish, I know I ate it.

But here is my problem with WW. I don't think it was made for athletes. Yeah, I said it, I'm an athlete. Not an Olympic one, but I run a lot and do yoga and try to do pull ups. I'm running my 3rd half marathon of the year in two weeks, so I'm fairly comfortable with calling myself that word. When I track my exercises in the system though, I find that it's giving me a lot of points back. I went running on Saturday for an hour and a half. I did over 8 miles, but it gave me 10 points. Over a third of my daily allotment. How do they expect me to lose weight if I am allowed to eat the exercise points? Not only that, but they carry over all week. So that caramel, marshmallow, chocolate, peppermint patty-square I had? Probably covered between that one run, my 4 mile run on Tuesday morning, and my gym class Tuesday night [I did no exercise after eating the heavenly confection].

There goes the guilt.

In the past week I think I've lost a few pounds. I don't own a working scale so I'm not sure, but my hips stuck out less over my pants this morning.

Pretty much, I just want to be able to wear a t-shirt and jeans without looking like a lumpy hippo. A smooth silhouette. And some ripped arms. Yeah, I'd like those too while we're at it.  

Something I've been meaning to say

This winter I have been wearing a wool coat. Now, I usually wear wool coats so it hasn't been too big of a deal. Sure, the past two years I bought into the down parka deal, but from 2002-2009 I wore the same black wool pea coat. My coat this year is a Kenneth Cole gray, belted coat. With a hood. Now, I really like hoods. A sweatshirt isn't worth wearing if it doesn't have a hood.

But the hood on this coat is the best hood ever.

It comes out a few inches in front of my face, allowing me to hide from people at the train station. The rain rolls off the fabric. It's warm.

And, it makes me think of one of my favorite books from my childhood, the Witch of Blackbird Pond. I the book they all wear wool hoods, which are pulled up over their heads when they are running away, kissing, leaving huffily.

I just love leaving work every day, pulling the hood up, and rushing out the door. Even if I take it down again once I get out into the sunshine.

Cleaning: a ramble

It's amazing how cleaning off the top of your desk can make you feel like a new person. When I got to work this morning, instead of turning on my computer and getting into it, I decided to organize the top of my desk.

I work for a journal and have about 50 issues on my desk at any one time. Pretty much because I don't know what to do with them. Once my advance copy comes in I thumb through it, make any notes, then toss it in the center of my desk. So today I made 2 piles of them. Ahhh, a start. Then I gathered up all the lose notes from meetings back in December and threw them out.

I'm on a new pattern that if I don't need it I'm throwing it out. This came about by my new cleaning lady. Yes, I did it again and hired a new person. And so far so good. But I came home and there were 2 giant black garbage bags. Filled. With I don't know what. So, at first I was concerned that there was stuff in there that I needed. Important stuff. I held back though and waited. I didn't want to open the bags and end up dumping it all back on my kitchen table, undoing all the wonderful cleaning she did. 

But then I couldn't find a container we use to clean the sink drains. About once a week we put this bio-cleaner stuff down the drain to eat away at the gunk that has developed after 50 years. We have to do this since plumbers came to jack hammer up the kitchen and dining room floor to repair an old pipe that had dissolved. That's another story. So, I tentatively opened one of the black bags...and there is was, right on top. I grabbed it, and shut the bag without looking at anything else. Well, I did spy 4 cans of easy off cleaner. (So THATS why my stove looks awesome.) However, trash day has come and gone and the bags weren't put out. So I have another week of not looking in the bags. And I'm not missing anything else. That I know of right now. Next Wednesday, the day after the trash is picked up, I'll probably remember something I can't find.

But back to my office.

I swept clean my desk, then decided to clean out my work bag. I use a canvas tote that I got at the Black Dog on Martha's Vineyard last summer. It's a great bag. And it was cluttered. I found 9 pens, 3 pencils, $2.12 in change, my prescription for contacts, my gym membership form that I need to send into my health insurance to get a reimbursement, two pairs of gloves, arm warmers, tin of Altoids, Chapstick, 3 lipsticks, hand warmers, a bottle of Gatorade, and 4 hair ties, a book, and 2 race medals. And a bunch of trash and dirt.

No wonder it felt heavy.

Basketball

I have a confession to make: I don't follow March Madness.

In the realm of sports, I devote myself to football. I'm watching the development of next season's teams and following their off season training schedule. When there is a lull in that, I'll check in on my Red Sox to see how they're doing. But basketball is never on my radar.

A friend of mine is extremely excited for this time of year, and was filling out her brackets last week. I had to ask who the teams were. My alma mater has been in the tournament a few times, including twice when I attended. I remember this because classes were canceled one of the times during the game time so that people could watch. I think we had it on in the dorm as a backdrop to whatever else we were doing. I remember it seeming unfair because we were playing Alabama, and their players were giants. It looked like pros taking on high schoolers. Since then, if they make it I am always proud but still don't watch.

Basketball is one of those games that I love to play but hate to watch. It's repetitive, and I get angry when people miss free throws. It's called a free throw for a reason. You get an unblocked shot at the basket. While I give some leeway for the college teams to miss them (they're young, they have nerves), when a pro player misses I want to shut off the TV. You were just paid how much money to not get the ball through the hoop? If I were making a gazillion dollars playing ball, I would practice free throws all day every day so I wouldn't miss. It's not like the basket ever moves or changes.

I played basketball when I was a child and adored it. I grew early, and was one of the taller kids on the court in the 4th and 5th grades. And then when I stopped growing in the 6th grade and everyone else kept sprouting up I made up for my height by being a terror on the court guarding. I loved boxing out and setting picks. Alas, my b-ball career ended Freshman year when two girls took me out in the last game of the season. One slid under my legs and the other pushed me over the other way. My right leg did not go in the same direction as my body, and I was carried off the court. I had a severely sprained ankle, partially torn ligaments, and my leg below the knee was swollen and black. My ankle never fully recovered, most likely because softball season started three weeks later and I was determined to play and threw the crutches away. Running sprints up the baseline and crouching in the catcher's position for hours (sometimes with my right leg straight out besides me) put a permanent kink in that ankle. It's still doesn't turn properly. 

In that game our team got a technical shot because of my injury, and I left the court having had my best scoring game ever. I got 32 points in the first half. I probably wouldn't have ever beaten that again, so it was a good way to go out. That summer I found out during a game on my driveway with my neighbor that I had lost my jump shot (my best one!) and my ankle gave out every now and then when I ran up the court. The spring was gone from my step. I still played with my neighbors, but my drive for the game was gone.

But, I will always remember the games I played as a kid. When competition was friendly, even if the fouls were blatant.

Maybe I'll take a look at the standings to see who's winning.

Am I there? It feels like I am.

This week I've been working like a dog. But like a golden retriever more than a doberman. You know, catching balls, chasing cats, sleeping on the couch. But steadily working.

And I don't mean at my office job. Sure, there's tons of stuff there need my attention (which is why I'm in the office at 7:45 this morning) but my freelancing work has really picked up, and I'm thrilled about it. I'm now doing more writing than acquisitions editing (that's what I do in my office job), and I will now will officially call myself a writer without the disclaimer that in my office job I don't write at all. Because emails don't count.

But in the past two weeks I've been hired as a paid blogger for a great website where I'm learning cool tips like practical uses for olive oil, picked up some assignments at the Harvard Post [that's Harvard, MA and not Harvard University], and been contracted to write reading passages for two history textbooks that will be published by Discovery Education.

Success! Even though I've never had set career goals, I've always been good at writing. And as you tend to like what you are good at, I've always liked writing. Loved it. I never complained about having to write a paper in school, and looked for the classes where you had to write the 20-page research paper instead of take an exam. So I think I'm where I'm supposed to be in my career. Sure, I'm not writing Hollywood blockbusters or wining the Pulitzer (yet), and I totally fell asleep while writing my article Tuesday night on two public hearings because it was 1 AM and I had been up since 4:30 AM but had a 6 AM deadline to meet. My hands were on the keyboard still though. But that's the business.

And that is something that is important in writing. The schedule. I used to think that you had to schedule time to write--set aside a block of time to sit down at your large desk, overlooking your beachfront property with a cup of tea and a scone. But you know what? Scones are really bad for you, I love coffee, my desk is buried in junk and I don't live near the beach. Plus, if I were to schedule in a writing block, my powers of procrastination are so acute that I would probably retile the kitchen floor to avoid it. Because then it's a task. So I write in the few minutes between meetings, on my phone on the commute, and on my sofa at midnight with reruns of Friends on to keep me company.

I write like I breathe, naturally, unconsciously, and all the time.

Introducing me as a paid blogger

I am now in official blog format!


Want to know how to workout on a tight budget? Read about it on SheBudgets

Check the site every Thursday for new articles by me! Will take suggestions for writing topics here in the comments section.

Reaching out through yoga

About 10 years ago I walked into my first yoga class. It was through Bally's Fitness and taught by a ballet teacher. I loved it. I wasn't great at it, having little balance and no mind for meditation, but continued to stick through it. I toured the yogi realm, trying out Hatha, Prana, Bikram, and Kripalu styles, and even dipped my toe into the Dahn style (which was not for me).

Recently I have been practicing with a group in my town, first in a friend's living room, and now in a full studio through Murali yoga.  However, I also do a pilates-yoga class at my gym. Needless to say, yoga has improved my life and while I am no expert, my skill has greatened--especially in meditation. I have moments of quiet in my mind.

I've always wanted to do a yoga retreat somewhere, but I just haven't the time. But my gym yoga instructor told me about an event happening at Gillette Stadium in May that I thought was really interesting. Yoga Reaches Out is a day of yoga with speakers and lots of practice. Probably the closest I'll get to a real retreat. Baron Baptiste will be there which really excites me, and it's for a good cause. Proceeds go to the Boston Children's Hospital Boston and the Africa Yoga Project.

As I practice in the coming month for 8 hours of yoga, perhaps you'll help me on my way...because I'm fund raising. Yes, despite my vow to never have to fund raise again after the Boston Marathon team event of 2009, I figure I can raise $250 for a good cause. It's definitely less daunting than the amounts I've raise for the PanMass Challenge and Tufts Marathon Team!

So, if you have a few spare dollars, can you throw them my way? I will actually bend over backwards for your donation!

Feel free to check out my fund raising site here. Or, if you are interested in  participating, join us on team Upward Dog!