You may have noticed that I haven't been writing much lately. I promise it's not because I've been sitting in bed all day, bingeing on ice cream and Netflix (as lovely as that sounds!), haha. I've just really been enjoying the last little bits of summer, and I've been trying to make some fun memories with my kids.
I feel like with my recent epiphany about my summer weight gain, I also had a change of attitude with everything else. I want to really, truly, enjoy moments in my life that seem to be flying by. My kids, for example--can you believe they are 12 and 10 years old now?! For some reason, I've been very aware lately that they are just growing into little adults right before my eyes. And I'm not ready for that.
When I first started my blog, I loved writing every day. I loved taking and posting photos, too.
Looking back, though, I feel like I may have missed out on some things because I was too busy thinking that I had to take pictures, or what I was going to write about--sometimes, I think it's better to just make memories instead of making sure to have photos of those memories. Does that make sense? For the past few weeks, I've been trying to just make memories with the kids, and not worry about anything else.
I'm not ill, or dying--that I know of, anyway--I've just been thinking a lot lately about living in the moment and enjoying as much as I can. A few days ago, I even got a book that confirmed what I was thinking: "It's Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool, Too)"--a memoir by Nora McInerny Purmort (Amazon affiliate link). She lost a pregnancy, her father, and her husband within weeks of each other a couple of years ago, and this book encompasses all of her feelings and thoughts surrounding the punches that life threw at her. The structure of the book is unlike anything I've ever read before--it's not in any sort of predictable order, but more of a jumble of random thoughts or an organized journal of thoughts.
Yesterday, our power went out for seven hours, so I finished the entire book (some by flashlight). I loved it! It was very funny, sad, sarcastic, witty, and relatable. It also made me want to really savor every moment of my relationships with the people that I love.
At one point in the book, when she knows her husband is going to die (he had a stage IV malignant brain tumor), she mentions that she wishes she could insert a USB drive into him and just extract all of his memories and thoughts so she could keep them forever. All the details about all the stories he'd told her, memorialized.
After reading that, Jerry and I had a great conversation about childhood memories, and I really listened--not just to the main points of what he said, but to each and every detail. I hope that we have several more decades together, but if we don't, I don't want to feel like I could have listened more or spent more time with the family.
Anyway, all of that is to say that I haven't abandoned my blog--I'm just taking a little break. Once the boys are back in school, I'll take more time to write (I do enjoy having memories written down!).
Right now, Jerry is at the movies with the kids. They're seeing a superhero movie, which is definitely not my thing, so Jerry always takes them to those types of movies. They'd been looking forward to their "guy time" for a couple of weeks.
I've been working on our plans for Virginia Beach. It's a LONG drive to get there (12 hours), so we decided to stop about halfway there, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The kids have always thought it would be so cool to go to Hershey, so we're just going to stay there for a night and then finish the drive to Virginia Beach. Eli is looking forward to going to an aquarium and fishing in the ocean; and Noah just wants to walk the boardwalk ;) It's fun to see what the kids get excited over! I'm excited to see some of my old Ragnar teammates, watch the From Fat to Finish Line documentary with them, and have a relaxing few days before school starts back up.
Speaking of Ragnar, the Another Mother Runner podcast that I was interviewed on is already up! The other podcasts I've been on had taken several weeks or months between the recording and airing, but AMR got that done so quickly. I haven't listened to it (I don't like to listen to myself talk), but if you'd like to listen, here is a link. Jen Roe was also interviewed, and she's hilarious (if you haven't already figured that out from watching the film).
I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Only a few more days until it's September!
I feel like with my recent epiphany about my summer weight gain, I also had a change of attitude with everything else. I want to really, truly, enjoy moments in my life that seem to be flying by. My kids, for example--can you believe they are 12 and 10 years old now?! For some reason, I've been very aware lately that they are just growing into little adults right before my eyes. And I'm not ready for that.
When I first started my blog, I loved writing every day. I loved taking and posting photos, too.
Looking back, though, I feel like I may have missed out on some things because I was too busy thinking that I had to take pictures, or what I was going to write about--sometimes, I think it's better to just make memories instead of making sure to have photos of those memories. Does that make sense? For the past few weeks, I've been trying to just make memories with the kids, and not worry about anything else.
I'm not ill, or dying--that I know of, anyway--I've just been thinking a lot lately about living in the moment and enjoying as much as I can. A few days ago, I even got a book that confirmed what I was thinking: "It's Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool, Too)"--a memoir by Nora McInerny Purmort (Amazon affiliate link). She lost a pregnancy, her father, and her husband within weeks of each other a couple of years ago, and this book encompasses all of her feelings and thoughts surrounding the punches that life threw at her. The structure of the book is unlike anything I've ever read before--it's not in any sort of predictable order, but more of a jumble of random thoughts or an organized journal of thoughts.
Yesterday, our power went out for seven hours, so I finished the entire book (some by flashlight). I loved it! It was very funny, sad, sarcastic, witty, and relatable. It also made me want to really savor every moment of my relationships with the people that I love.
At one point in the book, when she knows her husband is going to die (he had a stage IV malignant brain tumor), she mentions that she wishes she could insert a USB drive into him and just extract all of his memories and thoughts so she could keep them forever. All the details about all the stories he'd told her, memorialized.
After reading that, Jerry and I had a great conversation about childhood memories, and I really listened--not just to the main points of what he said, but to each and every detail. I hope that we have several more decades together, but if we don't, I don't want to feel like I could have listened more or spent more time with the family.
Anyway, all of that is to say that I haven't abandoned my blog--I'm just taking a little break. Once the boys are back in school, I'll take more time to write (I do enjoy having memories written down!).
Right now, Jerry is at the movies with the kids. They're seeing a superhero movie, which is definitely not my thing, so Jerry always takes them to those types of movies. They'd been looking forward to their "guy time" for a couple of weeks.
I've been working on our plans for Virginia Beach. It's a LONG drive to get there (12 hours), so we decided to stop about halfway there, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The kids have always thought it would be so cool to go to Hershey, so we're just going to stay there for a night and then finish the drive to Virginia Beach. Eli is looking forward to going to an aquarium and fishing in the ocean; and Noah just wants to walk the boardwalk ;) It's fun to see what the kids get excited over! I'm excited to see some of my old Ragnar teammates, watch the From Fat to Finish Line documentary with them, and have a relaxing few days before school starts back up.
Speaking of Ragnar, the Another Mother Runner podcast that I was interviewed on is already up! The other podcasts I've been on had taken several weeks or months between the recording and airing, but AMR got that done so quickly. I haven't listened to it (I don't like to listen to myself talk), but if you'd like to listen, here is a link. Jen Roe was also interviewed, and she's hilarious (if you haven't already figured that out from watching the film).
I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Only a few more days until it's September!