Oh yeah

I forgot to post about my Saturday activity a couple weeks ago. How interesting it was...

As you may know from my previous entries, I have become somewhat of a runner. I'm not very fast, and I'm not particularly graceful while I'm doing it, but I can go a pretty far ways before feeling like I'm going to die. Well, two Saturdays ago, me and Ashlee ran the Jolly Jaunt 5K here in town, for the Special Olympics--to benefit the Special Olympics, I should say. I swear, they will close a road for anything in Boston.

Anyway, this was the first outside running I'd done since early October, when we did the 10K. And it was COLD. Like, maybe 20 degrees, and very windy. It was miserable. I loaded on pantyhose and winter weight running pants (this is a trick from my old cross-country skiing days), and then I had a long-sleeved t-shirt, a turtleneck sweater, and a fleece on top. Plus scarf, hat and gloves. I felt a little bit like Randy in The Christmas Story, running down the street unable to put my arms down.

So, we start off feeling good. Eric and Ash's boyfriend Brian were there to see us off (after which they went to get a coffee and missed our crossing the finish line. It was kind of a doghouse moment for the two of them, but we're over it). And then we get maybe a mile or so into the race and I start to get all wheezy. I keep running because it's the only way I'm staying even remotely warm. I'm disgusted with myself because not only is my nose snuffy, it's actually dripping and I've not brought any Kleenex, so my glove is covered in snot. AWESOME.

This 5K felt like an eternity, but it took us exactly 31 minutes to run 3.1 miles, which means we averaged 10 minute miles! I couldn't believe it. We're so studly.

Mid-December Update

So, I can't remember ever being more excited for a trip home to Michigan. This is due to several factors:

• I get to spend more than a weekend. We're actually going to be home for like 5 days! It's not like before I didn't want to spend more than a weekend at home, it was just that I worked for an agency that operated in full-on panic mode from approximately November 15 through the end of January.
• We have snow here. Snow in Boston actually makes me like this place more, mainly because it covers up the dirtiness, and things seem peaceful, at least for a little while. We got dumped on last night, about a foot, and it was a glorious walk in. One of the funnier things I saw was that someone had made a very small snowman in the middle of the sidewalk, and pretty much every dog that had walked by must've decided it was a good place to pee. Poor yellow snowman. I also saw a lab with snow all over her snout, which I love... But anyway, if there is snow HERE and I'm loving it, I will love the snow at home even more, because I know it's not covering up filth, and because the peacefulness there isn't just a feeling that I would get, but actual peace.
• I really truly love Christmas. I reached the point years ago where I stopped caring if I got anything at all for Christmas, and after that, it started being a lot more fun. I just love being home and chilling out with the fam. It's the best.
  

Here's my favorite quote. It's something good to think about as we enter into this election year:

"A great nation is not saved by wars. It is saved by acts without external picturesqueness; by speaking, writing, voting reasonably; by smoting corruption swiftly; by good temper between parties; by people knowing true men when they see them, and preferring them as leaders to rabid partisans or empty quacks." ~William James