Gratitude

This month, I'm participating in National Blog Posting Month. I started last month but got in a little late. The plan is to post something every day in December. The theme for December is thanks.

Years ago, while going through a bit of a rough patch, I learned about something called a gratitude journal (it was probably something on Oprah, but it's not as corny as it sounds). The idea is to write down the things you are grateful for -- count your blessings. For awhile, a couple of friends and I e-mailed each other every day with our gratitude lists. For awhile after that, I kept a physical journal. Funny thing is once the rough patch eased up, I wrote in it less and less -- the more I had to be grateful for, the less I kept track of it.

When things were bad, it was hard to find things to be grateful for, but I could always come up with at least a few. It seemed important to look at the bright side of life. I guess I had to remind myself it could always get worse. I always had a place to live, food to eat and people who cared about me. And when I dug deeper, I could find plenty of good things in life.

But when things are good, I think I take it for granted and don't thank my lucky stars for what I have.

Looking back through the journal I kept, I see I often wrote that I was grateful for my health, my pets and my loved ones. That still holds true, but should never go without saying.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

I'm sipping a chai, watching the snow fly this morning. I was planning for today to be a day of rest and recovery after yesterday's 5k (it really was a big deal for me). But despite the snow and slippery roads, we're supposed to drive to the S.O.'s mother's house for a belated Thanksgiving dinner. Which means today is going to be more stress than rest.

Maybe I should be drinking Irish coffees to prepare myself for the drive and the dinner.

Or maybe I should just follow the dog's lead and go back to bed.

Slow and steady wins the race

While I didn't technically win the race, I did finish my first official 5k -- and I ran the entire thing. My finishing time was 32.24, which was two minutes behind the fastest woman runner. I'm pretty proud of myself for reaching this goal.
The day started out overcast and chilly, with the temperatures in the high 20s when we began the race at the Fountain Creek Nature Center. The sun peeked out for a few minutes, and once I was moving, the chill disappeared.

A group of about two dozen people gathered to run and walk to benefit our local nature centers. A recently failed tax hike means the nature centers won't get funding from the county, so they can use all the monetary help they can get. The nature centers offer great programs for kids and adults alike, teaching us about our local flora and fauna and providing a beautiful natural setting for picnics, hikes and runs.

I started out at the very back of the runners but well ahead of the walkers. I managed to pass a man and his son and a couple so I wasn't the last runner to finish. I came away with a nature center T-shirt and a pair of running socks, not to mention the sense of accomplishment I feel right now.All in all, it was a very good day.

White Friday

The day after Thanksgiving has come to be known as "Black Friday." I've never been one to get up and chase the sales. I've either had to work or if I had the day off, slept in. Some of those sales start as early as 5 a.m. There isn't much that will get me up that early, especially on a cold, dreary day. This part of Colorado doesn't normally have white Christmases, but this year we got a white Thanksgiving -- sort of. It started snowing yesterday evening, and this morning, we have a nice little mantel of white.

Of course, not everyone thinks the snow is great.

10 things I'm thankful for today

I am thankful:
For a roof over my head
For my family and their health
For space heaters and warm pajamas
For friends who read blogs (and those who don't)
For good coffee and sweet potato pie
That I don't have to drive anywhere today

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thirsty

I missed out on the beginning of National Blog Posting Month for November but have posted every day since I found out about it. Today, I'm having a hard time coming up with something to write about.

So, instead of writing something less than profound, I'll share a picture. Because who doesn't love a picture of a cat drinking from the bathroom faucet?Ok, probably lots of people. But I know there are plenty who do love it, as evidenced by sites like this and all the cat-drinking-from-the-sink-related videos on YouTube.

What I read: "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

I know I had to have read "The Grapes of Wrath" at some point in high school, but all I could remember about it was the daughter named Rose of Sharon and the fact that the Joads had to leave Oklahoma. I must have read the book at a point in my life when I thought times would never be tough, or perhaps I really just disliked my teacher at the time and projected that onto this book. Whatever the reason, I didn't remember much about this book, and that's a shame.

I can't believe I didn't remember Steinbeck's poetic prose:

In the middle of that night the wind passed on and left the land quiet. The dust-filled air muffled sound more completely than fog does. The people, lying in their beds, heard the wind stop. They awakened when the rushing wind was gone. They lay quietly and listened deep into the stillness. Then the roosters crowed, and their voices were muffled, and the people stirred restlessly in their beds and wanted the morning. They knew it would take a long time for the dust to settle out of the air. In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood. All day the dust sifted down from the sky, and the next day it sifted down. An even blanket covered the earth. It settled on the corn, piled up on the tops of the fence posts, piled up on the wires; it settled on roofs, blanketed the weeds and trees.

Or the strength and courage of a family plagued by misfortune and tragedy:

Ma looked down at her hands, lying together like tired lovers in her lap. "I wisht i could wait an' not tell you. I wisht it could be all--nice."
Pa said, "Then Granma's bad."
Ma raised her eyes and looked over the valley. "Granma's dead."
They looked at her, all of them, and Pa asked, "When?"
"Before they stopped us las' night."
"So that's why you didn' want 'em to look."
"I was afraid we wouldn' get acrost," she said. "I tol' Granma we couldn' he'p her. The fambly had ta get acrost. I tol' her, tol' her when she was a-dyin'. We couldn' stop in the desert. there was the young ones--an' Rosasharn's baby. I tol' her." She put up her hands and covered her face for a moment. "She can get buried in a nice green place," Ma said softly. "Trees aroun' an' a nice place. She got to lay her head down in California."
The family looked at Ma with a little terror at her strength.

I feel like I just read this book for the first time. It got under my skin. I dreamed about it. I thought about how we would handle such desperate times. Despite today's economic climate, it's hard to imagine having to live the way the Joads did -- 14 people traveling in a truck made by cutting away the back of a sedan, sleeping under a tarp, eating little more than fried bread and black coffee. It often occurred to me the reason this book was so sharply opposed when it was first published.

A kind of insurance developed in these nights. A man with food fed a hungry man, and thus insured himself against hunger. And when a baby died a pile of silver coins grew at a door flap, for a baby must be well buried, since it has had nothing else of life.

Talk of unions and strikes and even a kind of socialism, disguised as helping those less fortunate must have scared the haves and stirred the have-nots.

The great companies did not know that the line between hunder and anger is a thin line. and money that might have gone to wages went for gas, for guns, for agents and spies, for blacklists, for drilling. On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. and the anger began to forment.

Above all "The Grapes of Wrath" is beautifully written and worth reading or re-reading.

It was featured in this year's All Pikes Peak Reads, but I was late in reading it and getting in on discussions. I see it as a timely selection.

More photos

Views from the Piedra River Trail near Pagosa Springs

Sandy

We hiked in Great Sand Dunes National Park. My photographs don't do it justice. It's incredibly stark and beautiful. We'd like to go back in the spring when the water is flowing and the plants are lush. Hiking up sand is hard work but a lot of fun. A great ending to a great weekend.

Steamy

This is the Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs. The hot mineral springs are toasty and the rooms are comfy and quiet. My significant other gets brownie points for creating this romantic weekend getaway.

I plan to put up more pictures from the weekend in the next few days.

Piedra River Trail

We took a trip to Pagosa Springs. This picture is from our hike along the Piedra River Trail. After this, we soaked in the hot springs and had a tasty mocha latte at a cafe and gallery owned by a really nice couple.

UPDATE: If you're in Pagosa Springs, make sure you stop by The Quaking Aspen for some organic foods and some cool photography.

Frosty

It may look like a dangerous thorny plant but it's just the balusters on our deck, covered in a wicked frost.

How does anyone ever learn to read this language?

As I've mentioned before, I work with the Children's Literacy Center, tutoring and acting as a site coordinator. It's fulfilling helping the kids, and they really enjoy it.

What I don't understand is how the heck anyone ever learns to read the English language. There are no hard and fast rules. Really. There's "i before e, except after c or when it sound like a, as in neighbor and weigh." But what about height and weird? And one the kids taught me: "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking -- like in ceiling or quiet. Oops. Guess that one doesn't follow the rules either. (Hey! There's another one right there.) When a kid is struggling with a word, you can't always tell him to sound it out. Think about sounding out the word "phone" or "one." Then you see words with "gh" in them, like "through" (makes the "oo" sound), "though" (makes the long "o" sound) and "cough" (makes an "awf" sound) and things just spiral into insanity.

Luckily kids are really smart and really resilient, so they take this in stride. They trust us when we tell them that's just how it is. They work hard to remember the rules and don't get too frustrated by the "naughty words" that don't follow the rules -- or any rule at all. Seriously, look at "two." What kind of word is that?

Here's an interesting factoid for you today:

Studies have shown the relationship between language development in early childhood and later success in reading. Parents and other family members have great influence on a child’s development of language and other pre-literacy skills.

No pain, no gain

We've all heard the slogan no pain, no gain. I always subscribed to the idea of no pain, no pain. I worked out. I just never believed I had to hurt in order to be in shape. When I did wind up with sore muscles, I knew not to push myself quite so hard next time. I think it worked for me. Granted I've never really been buff, but I'd like to think I look OK.

But now, I've gone and done it. In taking up running, I have caused myself pain in the name of fitness. I know there's a difference between muscle pain and joint pain. I've experienced both. I know to stretch and work through the achy muscles and to rest and rehab achy joints. But this latest pain is worse than achy muscles or sore joints, and it's not something I can really work through.

I have a blister on the arch of my foot! I didn't realize my sock had bunched up there. And I must have been in the zone, because I didn't feel it until walking around later. And I could sure feel it today when I ran. I'm not going to let it stop me. If Tiger Woods could win the U.S. Open with a broken leg, surely I can run with a little blister. I mean, sure, he had to play one of the toughest games of his life, and I just have to get through a non-competitive 5k. But, yeah, they're comparable.

Four books I want to read by the end of the year

I know I'm being overly optimistic thinking I can get through these. But I'm going to give it a shot.

1. "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
I'm halfway through this one, but it goes on the list because I have to finish it.
2. "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama
I want to know more about our next president.
3. "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama
Ok, I want to know a lot more. And I got a discount at Amazon.com for ordering them together.
4. "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Polan
I started this but haven't finished it. It's not much fun. But I feel it's "important" to read. This is the one book I'm not sure I'll get through. But I'll give it another shot because it comes highly recommended by two different friends.

I can get through these books if I sit down and read, rather than let myself get distracted by what's on TV or some stupid computer game. I do have other things I have to get done (besides TV and computer games) so unfortunately, I can't just sit and read all day. I would if I could.

Always preparing

I've thought of a side benefit to training for a 5k run: When the zombie apocalypse comes, I'll have the stamina to outrun them* -- or at least I'll be able to outrun all the people who don't work out, giving me time to get away.





*Of course, if they're the fast-moving variety, I'm still totally screwed.

Did you ever notice

Did you ever notice when manufacturers try to market something that's traditionally male-oriented -- sporting goods, tools -- to women, they often don't change much except the color? You want a set of household tools in one handy case? Well, because you're a woman, here's a pink one! You want a set of golf clubs. Hmm, you're a woman. You must want them in pink! Not pink? Ok, here's some in pastel blue! Oh, you don't want pastel colors either? Hmmm. Oh, here we go, here's a set in beige ... with flowers on them! They're even making football jerseys in pink. Huh. I thought the Denver Broncos colors were orange and blue, but here's a women's version in pink.

I get the Pink Ribbon items, although I don't think everything has to actually be pink in order to get the word out about breast cancer awareness. But I'm not addressing the items that are pink for a cause. I'm talking about things that are pink (or flowered or pastel) just to try to appeal to women.

Maybe it's because I've always been a bit of a tomboy. Maybe it's because I have three older brothers who I always felt a need to compete with. Maybe it's because I grew up watching ERA demonstrations and hearing about Title IX. (Shut up. I know I'm old.) Or maybe I just don't like the color pink. It's probably all of those things but I don't understand trying to make these things more girly.

On the other hand, if the item is made with the same quality as the men's version, but sized to fit a woman, I'm all for that.

Movie night!

10 Reasons Movie Night is better at home:

1. No driving required.
2. Parking is better.
3. The snacks are cheaper.
4. You can have healthy snacks if you really want them.
5. You can wear pajamas.
6. You can snuggle under a blanket.
7. You can pause the movie if you have to go pee.
8. No one talks on a cell phone during a pivotal scene.
9. If you fall asleep, you can rewind the movie.
10. No one kicks the back of your seat.

Change of plans

Looking through a two-day old newspaper this morning, I came across a brief about a 5k run to benefit the El Paso County nature centers. The LiveWell 5k takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving instead of Thanksgiving Day. So while it's not technically a "turkey trot," the Fountain Creek and Bear Creek Nature Centers are awesome and are struggling for funding. And I think it's close enough to the day that I'll still need to burn off calories from the leftovers. The entry fee is the same, so I've made the decision to run this 5k instead of the YMCA 5k.

Now, I have to convince myself that it's time to bundle up and get outside for my run this morning. Brrrr.

Update: I managed to motivate myself to get outside and run for 20 minutes. I'm glad for the new running pants I bought to help keep me warm.

Tales of the unexplained

My favorite TV show is "Ghost Hunters" on the Sci Fi channel. In case you don't know what "Ghost Hunters" is (first of all, stop reading now, click that link above, go get the earlier season DVDs and watch some episodes. I'll wait.) it's about a real-life group of paranormal investigators and it's creepy and fun. I wouldn't call it a reality show. While it focuses on real people, there's no conniving or backstabbing and the drama is usually provided by things going bump in the night -- or disembodied voices saying, "You don't belong here."

Having watched the show for a couple years now, I have convinced myself that I could deal with something paranormal if it should occur. I think I could look at a strange happening and decide if there's a scientific explanation or not. And if there wasn't a reasonable explanation and I believed it to be paranormal, I think I could be rational in dealing with whatever's there.

With that said, I had a strange occurrence in my home last night. I'm 90 percent sure it wasn't paranormal but I've yet to figure out what happened. It was scary in a way that a ghost could never be.

We have a smoke alarm/carbon monoxide detector outside our bedroom. It's a newfangled one that actually says, "Fire. Fire." or "Carbon Monoxide."About 3:45 this morning our smoke alarm sounded. "Fire. Fire," said the monotone alarm. But the voice along with the shrieking of the alarm got us out of bed pretty quickly. The dog ran and jumped into my arms, shaking. Before we really got our senses together to start our escape, the alarm stopped.

Because the Significant Other was already out in the hallway by this time, I got it in my sleep-addled mind that he had turned off the alarm -- he hadn't. We moved from room to room -- the dog still in my arms -- looking for anything that might be smoldering. It's been cold, so we've had electric heaters plugged in. But they were off and safe. The furnace actually kicked on after the alarm stopped so it wasn't the cause. The stove was off. No smoking appliances or electronic equipment. No explanation.

The alarms are linked together, so maybe when one has a low battery, rather that chirping (and making the dog crazy) like the old ones did, these go off. Seems like a silly design to me. We have to find the manuals and see what it says about low batteries.

The only other explanation I can come up with is we now have a ghost -- even though we never had one before -- and he likes to play with smoke alarms ... at 3:45 in the morning ... when it's freezing ... and windy ... and snowing. I think I'll do a little more investigating on my own before I call in TAPS.