Almost Another Year/Birthday

 Running so far this week -

Mon - 5.93 miles at 9:15 avg, evening boot camp with Jenny

Tuesday - 10.16 miles at 8:32 avg solo run

Wednesday - no running, but evening boot camp with Jenny

Thursday - 8.09 miles, 8:05 avg with Raj and Craig

Friday - 4.14 miles, 9:06 avg with Jenny, Lisa, and Kathryn

Time sure does fly especially as the year is running out.

• Sunday is the end of my 44th year and the start of my 45th year, and 1 week later...
• Another Christmas is just around the corner, and 1 week later...
• The celebration of 17 years of marriage and the start of an 18th year just after that
• As well as the end of and start of a new calendar year at the same time

There are plans and promises and hopes and reflections on the past year.   The good and the bad.  There are the big things you wished you had done and then the little things you were glad you did.

It's a good time to really consider what it means to live in the present and not take things for granted that you have.   The clock ticks away and the moments become days and the days add up to a year.

Here is a little thing I did, at the end of November, planted a tomato plant in the upside down planter that Jenny's Dad gave her one year.

 
Kind of late in the year, but I figured that there were already a few tomatoes on it and some blossoms that have since turned.  With some care and some luck, the plant will survive through the one or two frosts we might get and will keep growing into the spring, just like last year's early girl I planted.








And the bigger project, which began right after Thanksgiving but should have been done about a year ago, that's coming along also and should be completely finished, finished on Wednesday after the cabinet is put back in, sink and toilet connected, and some baseboard/trim put back in place.  It already smells like new construction!

And the bigger project, which began right after Thanksgiving but should have been done about a year ago, that's coming along also and should be completely finished, finished on Wednesday after the cabinet is put back in, sink and toilet connected, and some baseboard/trim put back in place.  It already

 


smells like new construction (which is much better than what it was smelling like when it was moldy and rotting!)
















Birthday wishes/hopes -  With so many things in the world more important than how some 44 year old guy feels on his birthday, it seems kind of petty to worry about it. But, every year I'm always wondering the best way to celebrate, and usually I end up doing something that I might have done on any other occasion during the year like having dinner out at Carraba's with the family.  But, that's ok.  It doesn't have to be anything big.  It's what is inside that counts, and spending time with the people that mean a lot to you.  And if you can remember to live your life like every day is the start of a new year and if having a birthday is what it takes to remind you of that, then that is a wish come true and a celebration right there!

For my pre-birthday celebration, or in other words, celebration of the end of another year of living I'm going to , you guessed it, go for a run.  I would like to do one of those runs where you run a mile for each year, but not this year, I'll start smaller and see if I can do 1km for each year.  And, since this is for completed years, that cuts one off of the total, so only 44km to run, instead of 45.

Or maybe I'll just run 14 to 18 miles, not sure yet.

If I was going to wait until Sunday, then I would have to run 45km, and probably run it looping around the neighborhood since Jenny will be on her long run.  Sunday is Jenny's long run day, and I wouldn't want it any other way, not even on my birthday.   Because, on Sundays, I am the "Sunday Morning Master" as Thomas calls me, where I get out of bed (ok, I have been sneaking in a shorter run recently, but no one seems to notice too much) and make cinnamon rolls, or take the kids for doughnuts, or maybe choose your own destiny/adventure (I mean food) at Panera.