Nathan really likes peanut butter twix. So whenever he gets one he eats both of the pieces and then blows up the wrapper and gives it to me, trying to make me thing he's going to let me have one. I know him so much better than that. Firstly, I know how serious he is about twix...Secondly, he isn't by nature a share-er when it comes to food. Like when I always ask him to split something with me, he has to have his own. So I didn't fall for his twix trick today and he was like, "Grace one of these days I'm gonna get you a twix, and you're going to slap it away but its gonna be real. I'll be the boy who cried twix." Ah...I just love him.

Here's another Nathan story. (I'm in love with him). The other day I got home before Nathan did so I sat in "his" chair, because its super cushy. Well, there's an ottoman (sp?) in front of it, so you can't really sit directly in it. Long story short...I ended up falling off of the ottoman, into the chair. I heard a loud noise. I have broken Nathan's Chair. I so debated not telling him..because if you fixed the cushion just right, you really couldn't tell...until you sat in it. He got home and he was in such a good mood and we were going to some friends' house to watch The Bachelor, so I decided to wait until after we got home. He was glad that I told him. I told him that I almost didn't. It was like when you confess something to your parents before they find out on their own and then your punishment isn't as bad. Obviously, I wouldn't have been in trouble with Nathan, but he definitely wasn't as mad as he would have been. And since he's a super awesome human - he was able to fix this tremendously hard to fix chair and is now sitting in it happily. James Taylor's "Handyman" comes to mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzW1LEY125s . He's handy with love, and he's no fool...Also, he can just fix anything. For real.

Today while I was running a 8 yr. old shot me with an airsoft gun. I was at mile 4.5 and I was on a ROLE. So I see the kid and he sees me. He comes out into the street and starts running beside me. I could see it in his eyes - he was so aiming at me. Then, BAM! Right in the hip. Pretty ballsie. He then ran away rather swiftly as I yelled after him "I know where you live!!!" I SO do. He's gonna regret that decision...

Tomorrow is Friday - ra ding ding dip a doo! (Andy Bernard).

Grace

la la la la la la life is wonderful

Stayed home sick today. Went to the Dr. and he said I have a pretty bad sinus infection. Good news is that I found 5 bucks on the way to the doctor's office. Niiiiice. So I got some Panera while I was waiting on my prescription. Well I went to Target to get my prescription and I came out with that - and two new pairs of shoes. Here's my favorite...

Yeah, I pretty much love these.

Also went for a run this morning. Wasn't too sure how that was gonna go because I can't go 2 minutes without a coughing fit, but I actually felt better while running than I did before or after. Plus it was a gorgeous day, so I ran outside. Pretty wonderful. It felt SO GOOD to not be on a treadmill. I can run so much faster! And I did. 34 minute 5K today, which isn't a big deal for most people, but is pretty much a time I have only ever run when accompanied with race-day adrenaline. To offer a bit of perspective, I've been running a 5K in training in 37 or 38 pretty consistantly. So I'm a proud runner today.

I'm also now a proud member of Owasso's running group "King of the Road." Its a facebook group where invited runners can go to log their miles every day. At the end of the week the group admin adds up everyone's miles and the runner with the most mileage gets to have the "trophy", which is an actual piece of the road (a hunk of asphault about the side of a dinner plate) for the week. You wouldn't believe how motivating it is. I want that piece of road so bad!

Confession: Today (and not just today) made me realize how very very much I would enjoy being a stay-at-home mom. I adore my job. But I REALLY adore getting things done around my apartment, running erands when there aren't 5 million people at the store, running when its light outside, and TAKING MY TIME with all of it. There's a time and place for every season of life, and I know I'm not there yet. Also when I'm actually a stay-at-home mom, my day wouldn't be as blissful as today was because I am not, in fact, a mom. Kids would make a huge difference. But a good one. Ohhhhh, a girl can dream! And that is my dream, at least for now. I know plenty of people who are "the grass is greener" kind of people, and when they're a stay-at-home mom they wish they could go back to work...but when they're at work, they wish they could stay home. Well, we shall see! This is a long way off for us....

Tomorrow its back to school. I'm watching Heidi after work so I've gotta get my run in before school. Back to running in the dark, I guess. Oh, BTW I know I said that this blog was also going to chronicle my progress with "The List: 2011." It will do that - but I haven't really gotten started except for half-marathon training. More to come about the list SOON! Promise.

Grace

Snow day...snow day...(like from that commercial @ Christmas time)

Nathan and I on our snow day, playing with the Reeds in the snow.

St. Mary's playground, the view from my window at work.

What a lovely snow day we had yesterday. Since I'm a new teacher, even though I had been told how the alert system works for calling off school, I didn't sleep well because I was worried about it. So I woke up to my alarm at 6 AM yesterday morning, cursing the day because I hadn't gotten a call cancelling school. Well I normally don't check facebook first thing in the morning...but I was having a hard time waking up and I thought it might help with getting my juices flowing. Well the first thing I see when I get on facebook is the status of one of my co-workers saying, "SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY!" Long story short...I very nearly made my 40 minute commute on a snow day because our school's alert system didn't call me. On days like this I think facebook is very useful.

Alas, we DID have school today - which I am totally ok with. Fridays at St. Mary's are my "easy" days. I do Mass (at the beginning of the week I choose all the Mass music and choose cantors to lead the congregation, then stand up there with them and sing at Friday morning mass) and teach kindergarten in the morning. Then I get the afternoon to plan for the next week - no classes. Its pretty nice, I have to admit it makes looking forward to Fridays even better for me than most. Tonight is the St. Mary's Faculty Appreciation party. Its where all the teachers get to bring their husbands/wives, and in true Catholic form, participate in cocktail hour (with real cocktails) and dinner with an open bar. Gee-miny Christmas. Such a foreign concept to me! But hey, I'll take it. After dinner there is supposed to be dancing and carousing of many kinds. This is my first time to go, but I have heard that last year one of the priests broke his thumb doing the worm, and a teacher threw out her back getting down with her bad self. So I fully expect that this will be a night to remember. Nathan and I are pretty jazzed about it.

Tomorrow night my old highschool friends that I haven't hung out with in ages are getting together for a "reunion" and reenactment of our high school years. We'll probably watch "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton" 2 or 3 times, play board games, eat junk food, and talk about our actual weddings as opposed to dreaming about them like we used to. So much has changed. Out of the 6 of us, 3 of us are married, one divorced, one engaged, and 2 have children. Its been 3 years since we've been able to get everyone together. I've been looking forward to it for 2 weeks. It will be interesting and fun to see how everyone is the same, yet different. And if we'll all be as kindred of spirits as we once thought we were.

If there's one thing I've learned as I've "grown up," its that most things come full circle. The things that are important to you when you're small, become important again when you grow up. The people who were there with you from the start will be there with you when you take your dying breath. And all of the things in between prove to you why those people, and those things mean so much.

The List: Spring 2011

Two years ago, in January of 2009, I decided to make a list. The things on the list were things that I had always wanted to do - some that I would have to learn how to do, some that would take lots of work and dedication, and some that were easy, but fun, and some that were selfless acts. I gave myself until May to complete it. Making and completing the items on that list changed my life forever. So much so that I made another list for that summer and completed that one too. I haven't made another one since that year. Today I was reading my journaling of those experiences and rememebering what a profound impact those lists had on my life. So I'm doing it again. Here is my new list:

The List: Spring 2011

1. Run a half marathon

2. Learn how to play the guitar for real

3. Build up piano repetoire with the time I usually spend of facebook

4. Become a friend to someone I don't like

5. See a shooting star

6. Go to an art show

7. Visit a museum

8. Explore Tulsa - go to all the places I've always heard about and have wanted to go, but never have. Or places I have gone, but love, and would like to go again....and EXPERIENCE THEM!

List of those places (with room to add more): Ida Red, Purple glaze, the famous mansions, etc.

9. Make a photo collage of my life

10. Read books of all kinds: Biographies, Documentaries, Guides, Non-fiction, Classics, Novels, etc.

11. Meditate in silence for one hour at serene location of my choice

12. Purchase something "vintage"

13. Go running in the Utica neighborhoods

14. Make a promise that's hard to keep, and keep it.

15. Be unneccesarily kind to people, if there's even such a thing...

16. Try a food that I don't think I like, but have never tried.

17. Memorize a passage of scripture

18. Go camping!

19. Cook a gormet meal from scratch

20. Spend an entire day with my sisters

There you have it. The following blogs will journal my experiences completing the items on the list and any other nonsense I decide to include along the way. Here's hoping it all gets done!

Grace