A week of extremes

Last weekend was a weekend of extremes - extreme emotions that is....
First, since Mr. Wonderful is still galvanting about the country doing his volunteer work, all the house and yard work falls to me. So Friday, the emotions were tired but a good tired and feeling of pride after the yard was edged and mowed and beds were weeded.


Saturday morning, the emotion was excitement, team pride and feeling good by participating.  I did a 5K for work for the Blood Bank. Enter the feeling of exhaustion.  We had a team made up of all the us on the third floor - we were Team Vain - an adaptation from our original name - the Varicose Veins! Here is the shirt we made - our team placed first for theme and second for spirit.  Feeling some team pride!  We felt creative when we unveiled the shirts we sprayed with a faux evening gown look that we each decorated differently. 

The team with the most points at the end of the summer blood drive gets an extra day of vacation. WaHoo! We were thrilled.  We sang Carly Simon's You're so Vain and we "gavotted"  just like in the song. That illicited the emotion of silliness!

Mid-afternoon, the emotions were concern, apprehension, feeling of helplessness. My son-in-law decided to travel from near Boat House Row in Philly to the beach by my house in a one man kayak. It is a thirty mile trip. We were tracking him with google maps from his phone but even with the solar charger his phone lost its charge. All the roaming I think. The emotion of tense entered as I baja'd in a PRIUS behind the local DOD facility. (it was like a comedy episode of  Ethel and Lucy, trust me.  Me in yoga capris and a Vera Bradley visor and my daughter a nervous wreck and my son telling me not to stray off the path because it was a straight drop into the lake!) through the twists and turns of the dirt trails that lead through an abandoned military base on the river. It was a 15 minute drive in. Desperation quickly turned to exhilaration when we saw Mickey round the bend in the shoreline a mere minute after our arrival on the beach. Concern came next when my daughter and I were afraid he would not call it quits and he would wish to continue the last three miles. At the rate he was going, 3 more miles would have been 3 hours and it was getting dark.  He was ready, he came ashore, we deflated his kayak and got him some fresh water.  He was drained we were relieved.

  


Their modes of transportation!  Her bike and his kayak. I caught these crazy two being silly kayaking on the sidewalk.  I am happy there are being safe applying the sunscreen.

 Sunday came the emotion of excitement again - friends with children were coming over for a cookout. We were all satisfied after all the good food.

savored the smell of bacon and onions cooking up for my beans

 

mouth watering berries, yum



beans in the crock pot simmering

  

pasta salad



Little nervousness while Iris pet the fish.   Don't fall in Iris!

The weather was also great and I love the feeling of nostalgia I get when watching the curtains being blown by the breeze. Don't know why I feel nostalgic about the look and the sound of the breeze blowing through the curtains but I am.  I reminds me of simpler times.  It also gives one a feeling of peace and hominess.

And now back to the mid-day Saturday emotions of concern. After months of not knowing what to do; of falling further and further behind in his bills and mortgage due to being out of work 24 of the last 48 months, my son has made the gut-wrenching decision to short-sell his house. Part of the reason is because his wife, his source of love and pride, (mix his emotions with mine) has a huge grant/fellowship opportunity for a Masters/PhD program at Penn State, State College PA. It is too good to pass up and the decision was not made without a myriad of emotions on their part.





Nothing says it better than a u-haul filled to the max.



 So after all the ups and downs and twists and turns of last week, I took to the solitude after everyone left on Sunday evening and had time to reflect and just mellow out under my newly illuminated pergola while I sipped on a nice cup of coffee.  Pergola is not new, adding the lights is.   Enter serenity after a full weekend.

Feel Your Boobies

There is an actual FEEL YOUR BOOBIES week and this is it.  All you sisters in stitching know it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.   I didn't stitch anything pink but I am signed up for the 5K walk tomorrow.    Hopefully I can get my fat little legs (seriously-long body/short legs) moving fast enough to finish under an hour.  

The first 5K I WALKED and I stress WALKED!!! the 3-wheel police trike was behind me picking up the cones - how embarrassing. I finished under an hour but was the last lonely sole.  The second 5K I did - I was so excited when I saw the Olympic style clock over the finish line clicking the seconds and I was like wow!  I knocked off several minutes from my former time!  Yeah.   NOT!  When I logged in the the Races to Run info, I found I only shaved off a mere 12 seconds from my previous 5K.  At least I was not last at that one.   The parents with strollers and kids in wagons and toddlers walking were behind me.   So tomorrow I have hope.....there have to be grandmothers with walkers that I can walk faster than.   I hope to one day be able to complete a 5K in under 50 minutes.  Not realy big aspirations.   Maybe tomorrow will be the day and maybe not........but more to the point,  I will be out there walking for the cure and the rest of you should FEEL YOUR BOOBIES.....or maybe if you get lucky, have a 'friend' feel you boobies!   lol  I need to buy my *PINK* t-shirt today!

Ice Cream Social and other things

We held our 2nd Annual Ice Cream Social yesterday. It is such a fun idea and something that takes everyone back to a simpler time. There are no bells and whistles and flashing lights that come with carnivals. This is just ice cream, lemonade, hot dogs, a barber shop quartet, people strolling in period costume and a civil war era band playing from the gazebo. It is a trip back to a simpler time. Neighbors pull up lawn chairs and enjoy the evening and childen chase fireflys.

As with everything, it is a lot of work done by a few people. As far the success of the event, it was huge. As for the attendance, it was poor. It was not that it was not an enjoyable event, it was the newspaper coverage. Again, the little blurb for the paper somehow was 'lost' on the social editor's desk. hmmmm, seems like a lot of news regarding our town is 'lost' on the sport's writers desk as well. 'nuff said and no finger pointing. As with any struggling artist group, we can not afford the cost of publicity. We rely on word of mouth and a kind article in the human interests section of the paper.

So we are not discouraged. I have already sent the information to our board with the number of lemonades and ice creams sold and it looks like we made enough to pay the band. Already planning improvements to next year's methods to get the word out and ways to improve our event while keeping true to our premise.

Now that was part two of my day. Which really was MY day. It was my birthday and for me, they are no big deal. Truly, my friends and family are not ones to make a big fuss. I received well wishes from my daughter via phone and my son walked up to the park where I was working with my Ice Cream Social and gave me one of the most heart warming cards. He is 29 and he made my card. Now that is love. I laugh inside at girls at work that get all bent out of shape because a spouse or lover didn't give them a big hoop-de-do for their celebration of waking up to participate in the fifth Friday of the month or something completely as inane. What do I need? Nothing. What do I want? I buy it.

So for my birthday, I walked in a 5 K for the Blood Bank. It was for me. I need to start doing more for myself and put work and civic duties a little further back on the burner. I think if I can do what makes me happy and feel good about myself, then I can be a better friend, worker, wife, mother.......So back to the 5K. My son and future daughter in law joined me as well as my brother. And not to mention 105 co-workers who really weren't there because it was my birthday. This is only the second 5K I have done. I tell you my short little legs couldn't go any faster. People in front and people passing me were just walking or STROLLING along and I was like a little steam engine...up/down/up/down with my fat little legs. All I knew was I was determined not to be last as I was in my first 5K. Seriously, the man in the John Deere gator was following behind me picking up the cones as I round each corner. Serioulsy.

I manage to hook up with a woman before the race starts and we, two strangers, walk together and encourage each other along. It is amazing that 30 minutes prior I had never seen her and as we walked, we found we have many pararrels in our lives. Trials and tribulations of parenthood and careers that we thought we were the only ones to deal with we found our paths were so similar. So we walk, we talk, and we walk some more, we sweat, we walk and I manage to be able to carry on a conversation without huffing and puffing. I feel good. Pushed to the limits but good. She has walked in the 3 Day Susan Komen 60 miles Breast Cancer walk and says it is one of the best things she has ever done.

As we approach the finish line I see the timer. I have in my mind that on my first 5K I completed it in the 57+ minute range. Nothing to write home about but for someone 30 lbs overweight who is a couch potato, it is alright. I see the time and it is clicking at 52:00, 52:01, 52:02 and I am exicted. I can better my last time by 5 minutes I say and we start to jog. I am thrilled to have finished at 52:21 and it is at least 5 minutes faster than the last time. Yeah for me!!! Next time I will aim for under 50 minutes.

Now reality sets in. I check the internet for times of past races. Seems I finished at 52:30 last time. I only cut off 9 seconds! Alas, my new target time remains to be under 50 minutes. I have something to strive for.

Today to help continue my efforts, I will walk the one mile to visit my son. I will enjoy the weather, the sun, the birds, the flowers, the breeze and then will return home to the reality of I am leaving on vacation at 7 a.m and I have to shop and pack!!!! It is priorities and today the priority is to walk and while I walk, since I am a multitasker, I will make my list of what to do and what to pack.