I love my ball!

My bouncy ball! No - wait- I was about to say mini van, but got started watching my favorite episode of Dora. The one about the bouncy ball. I love the way Boots says "My ball is bleu!" But I digress. As I was about to say, I LOVE my mini van. I am serious. I love the way the dry cleaning fits. I love the way my groceries fit. I love the way the dog fits. And Harry loves seeing out the window, having all of his stuff with him, and the 6 disc CD changer that plays Ernie by request. Or Elmo. My convertible did not have a 6 disc changer. Heck, it didn't even have a CD player!
Last September I traded in my cute little Cabrio for a light blue Town & Country mini-van. I was a little distraught the day the donation people came to pick it up, but I honestly had not driven it since the day I bought the van. I have spent the past few months happily cruising Northern VA neighborhoods.
TODAY IT GOT WEIRD! Today I am in NJ. In the town that I was born. Today, I am driving past the places I used to drive past in my old convertible. The one I had in high school. You see, until recently, I was a convertible kind of girl. I will surely go back to them at some point, but I've been happy with my mini-van. But there is just something very weird about driving one on the streets you used to be driven on as a child. And cruising in a mini van in the same parking lot you used to "cruise" for guys - granted, that was the movie theatre end, and I was at the Whole Foods end. It's just weird, that's all. Weird. Weird like teh first tiem an adult tells you a dirt joke. That kind of weird.

Running in Circles

Ever feel like you are running in circles? Not just in every day life, but in your running/training. I mean, granted, I run around in circles most of the day while chasing around my precious toddler and trying to accomplish simple things like finding my toothbrush under the bed so that I can brush my teeth or mail a few bills after peeling the sticker stamps off the refrigerator door.

Now, back to the actual running in circles. This whole childbearing age thing creates quite a viscious circle. You are running like a champ...your pace is faster than ever...you're running more races than ever...then BAM - you're pregnant. So you temporarily slow down or need to stop running for a while. You concentrate on creating a nice, safe, healthy environment for the baby who is sucking the life out of you. You give birth. Your life is turned upside down (or for some, right side up). You enjoy every moment, except the part when you're ready to start really pushing your body to the limits again. You start building the miles all over again. Speed work really sucks, but you are determined to get back to your pre-baby pace (ha!). A few months later you're almost there. You are running 5 days a week. You are racing every couple of months. You feel great -- even though you are pushing 35+ pounds while racking up the miles. Then you decide you might as well have another baby before you need dentures. So...BAM - you're pregnant. There goes all that hard work AGAIN. You chill. You try not to beat yourself up. You live through yet another preganancy and birth. Guess what?!? Its time to start all over again.

But it IS worth it. And guess what -- supposedly after giving birth your heart can pump more blood faster and your oxygen in take is greater. Meaning -- you will be FASTER and more EFFICIENT than ever before!!! So keep on running girls.