Blogging Slacker!

My week has been so busy that I’ve been a blogging slacker!

Notice that we’re over 50% of the way to our fundraising goal!

I did my long run on Tuesday (5.5 miles). I have to admit; I ran slowly, but it still kicked my butt! And I did my long walk yesterday. So tomorrow or Saturday, hopefully, I’ll do my short run. Then next week is Race Week!

I’m cutting caffeine out of my diet in an effort to be more healthy. I’m still drinking decaf Americanos (or Americani?), but I may cut those out as well. I’ve been fighting a lot of fatigue, so I’m trying to narrow down the reasons. It may simply come down to the fact that I haven’t gotten a full night of sleep in over a year. I’m lucky if I get 6-7 hours of sleep, and that’s never uninterrupted sleep. The joys of having a child!

I also have to say I love that the feeling of fall is in the air. Often when I run or walk, the weather is in the low 70’s with a cool breeze. I just love it! Of course, that means winter is coming, which I don’t love. I don’t mind winter, but no one fully clears their sidewalks around here. That means no running, much less walking. I don’t know how we’re going to swing it! The local community center has a walking track, as well as treadmills, so I might join. Of course, the jogging stroller can’t go on the treadmill & there’s no running allowed on the walking track. I’ll have to keep brainstorming….

Training

As part of my “training” program for the 5K, I’m trying to do one long run (4.5-6 miles), one long walk, an one short run (about 3 miles) weekly. This week, I completed that easily, despite being quite busy. The weather has been a challenge lately, but there was very little rain this week.

I’m over 30% of the way toward my goal of raising $1000 with money that has already been donated. Including another $200 in promises, we’re halfway there! Thanks to all who have given so far & to those who are considering giving.

My Asus battery isn’t holding a charge as well as it should. Even though it was plugged in all night, it only has a 20% charge right now . I was hoping to write a long blog while Bear & I played outside, but I don’t think that’s going to happen

The Massachusetts Race for the Cure!

Bear & I will be running the Race for the Cure on September 7th. In honor of my good friend’s mom & a close family member, we’re trying to raise $1,000.

Please visit our webpage to donate to this worthy cause.

Thank you!

Simplify Your Life

I’m reading this great little book.

I originally thought I read about it over at The Simple Dollar, but after trying to find it, I rrealized I’m pretty sure I heard about it over at Zen Habits, a blog I occasionally read after The Simple Dollar reviewed the eBook, Zen to Done.

It’s called “Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things that Really Matter” by Elaine St. James, and I finally figured out where I found it: at this Zen Habits blog post.

Some of my favorites points so far:
Stop Buying Clothes that Need to be Dry-cleaned (#9)
Reduce the Clutter in your Life (#1)
Keep the Plants Outdoors (#13) (we can’t seem to keep houseplants alive anyway)
Drive a Simple Car (#20) Done!
Don’t Answer the Phone Just Because It’s Ringing (#30)

Isn’t that last one hard? Especially in the age of cell phones. It seems as if people expect you to answer at all times just because it’s a cell phone.

It’s a good book. See if your library has it.

Craving Egypt

My fifth article has been published on Boundless.org:

Craving Egypt

Blogs, Weather & Produce

Do you ever click on the “Next Blog” feature at the top of Blogspot blogs? I did for the 1st time today, and the first 3 or 4 blogs that came up were not in English I wonder if that’s an accurate sampling of what is out there on Blogspot.

The weather here has been awful – rainy, thunderstorms, etc., which is not conducive to exercise. In fact, it’s supposed to rain Thursday & Friday. I did go for a run yesterday, probably about 3 miles, and a long walk today with Noodles & Bear, which was probably about 4.5-5 miles. Usually Noodles puckers out after 2-3 miles, but he kept going strong the whole time. I probably helped that he kept finding wet places to rub in, and I brought along some water for him.

I’m also getting back into the green smoothie habit after only having 3 or 4 last week. I even subjected my mother to some She actually seemed to like it! After we picked up my mom at the train on Saturday, we headed over to Haymarket, where they have a huge fruit & veggie open-air market on Fridays & Saturdays. None of it is organic, unfortunately, but is it ever cheap! Most of it is quite ripe, so you need to either freeze it or use it quickly. I stocked up on bananas (4 pounds for $1!) for making smoothies & ice cream, as well as sweet potatoes for Bear, lettuce (green leaf & romaine), apples, peaches, raspberries, blueberries & strawberries. We even splurged & got some of those yellow cherries at $1.50 a pound. Altogether, I only spent $17.50! I wish it were closer to home, as I’d go more often.

I’ve been quite cold lately. The temperature has been hovering in the low 70’s, and my body doesn’t know what to do with that. Right now, it’s 75, and I’m wearing a hooded sweatshirt. My fingers are freezing & I’d make a cup of tea if Bear & I weren’t upstairs.

Brrrrrr……isn’t it supposed to be summer?

Happy Birthday, Bear

Today, one of the most precious gifts in my life turned 1. It’s been a long year, though in other ways, it’s flown by. But bottom line, it’s been an amazing year full of blessings that I couldn’t even have imagined.

Happy Birthday, Bear. You’re a joy to be around.

Secrets

A ministry colleague & friend of mine wrote this great article with the working title “I’ve Got a Secret” (it had a much longer title when published!).

Imagine what it would be like to be free of the fear that someone might discover our secrets. Imagine what the world would see if it saw the Church being real, and saw the powerful presence of God as the church worshipped in total honesty with hearts unencumbered by secrets. Imagine how many marriages might be saved and addictions diverted and damage contained if we shared our struggles sooner rather than later.

This article really hit home for me personally. I walked away from reading it asking myself how is it that we can go through such difficult things (for me, not just same-sex attraction, but an eating disorder & self-injury), and yet with today’s trials & struggles, I’m still tempted to hide them until I have them all figured out? I wonder at what point in my life, if ever, I’ll feel comfortable just saying, in the appropriate context, what I’m dealing with.

You think I’d have this figured out by now! I definitely need to think on this more.

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

I texted Roy today to say Good Health is heaven on earth

Not only did they have the donuts I wanted to try, they had the rice yogurt, coconut milk yogurt AND coconut milk “ice cream”.

I tried this tonight:

Wow.

To What Extent Should We Try to Alleviate Personal Suffering?

If the Bible says that as a Christian, we will experience suffering, to what extent should we try to alleviate suffering? Should we simply accept that suffering is a part of life and live with it? Or should we be proactive and take steps to “solve” that suffering?

I always tend to run from suffering, to do everything in my power to change it. I can now look back and see how much I’ve learned during those times, and I wouldn’t change what I experienced, but during those times, I seem to fight & fret & doubt & struggle. I’m not sure that’s God’s intention. Maybe it’s His intention that I snuggle up against Him and allow Him to hold me & sustain me during those times.

Just thinking out loud…