How Friendships Flourish

There’s an element of sisterhood I find so very appealing presumably because I always had an instant friend in my own sister. Womb mates. Generational friendships are special and life giving when, like flowers, they are kept watered and tended.

Life change: my twin made a huge change and moved to N. TX. Specifically…moved in with me. We haven’t lived together since age 16. Did I ever mention how we would fight constantly? Probably for the best I don’t share those stories. As we are now much older and can communicate like adults, I don’t foresee fighting but the day is young. Jokes! Perhaps our opposite personalities do attract. Or else we just know we’re stuck with each other and that’s that. Nonetheless, she is here now and it’s been a welcomed change. I recall the first time I left my “hometown” – it was a little scary and unknown but one tends to get used to it. She most certainly will, as well.

Next up is a special visit from our neighbors when living in Norfolk, VA. It took some time but we developed a friendship with them mostly due to the fact we have a social butterfly mini and they had two beautiful, social dogs. The running joke was mini would refer to the dog’s owner as “Dog Dog”. She was not amused. It took awhile but mini eventually learned our neighbor’s names and referred to them by such. The real star of the show is our neighbor’s daughter, Jordan. Jordan and mini became fast friends; Jordan being an only child, as well, took to mini like the sister she never had. We’ve watched Jordan graduate from high school, then college, and now she’s on her way to PT school. Time flies. They braved the nearly 24 hour road trip to visit before Jordan returns to school. The highlight of the trip was our impromptu photo shoot at the Wichita Falls.

Lastly (not leastly), is a rekindling of the relationship between my best friend and I. We are a work in progress. I have prayed for her and us to find our way through this season in life – small steps. Granted I understand we will never be the same as we were but who says it is such a bad thing? We have reconnected over our love for similar television shows, notably the upcoming release of Hocus Pocus 2. Because YES! We take us day by day. It’s the only way we can.

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I ask you –

What is your city’s “notable” icon? I’ve only seen in photos, but I hear from a reputable source the Superman statue in Metropolis, IL is quite a sight to see.

Are there any relationships you’d like to rekindle?

Hocus Pocus 2: yay or nay?

Day in Photos, island edition

Let’s talk about my two favorite things: coffee and running.

Cafe Padre at Yummies Bistro

Perfectly cinnamony, any artisan-level coffee is just right for me. Yummies makes fantasticly fancy coffees for every taste. I’ve never ordered anything bad from there. They also have food, but who cares. More coffee, please!

Too bad I’ll be writing papers during this event because it sounds like everything I love in one weekend. Post-doctorate plans are already being made. Note to self: research how many times you’ll have to run the island because it’s not 13 miles long.

(not pictured) broken Keurig. Apparently it is an issue the company is well aware of because I have called in twice just on my own machines. There’s a particular model with a faulty mechanism which pops the heat sensor rendering the machine kaput. Or something like that. I bring my own Keurig on vacation and didn’t even get one cup of coffee before it broke. Hmmpphh.

Hoka running shoes seem to be the shoe du jour on the island. I never saw one runner in Brooks the entire week. Maybe they just don’t know what great shoes feel like. Or else they prefer their sandy toes in a different brand. Whatever works. I did see one sponsored cyclist mid-week. He had a fancy kit. Perhaps I should have asked if he would be participating in the HHH at the end of the month. But since I was dying from the humidity there was no way I was chasing him down.

Overall, I ran three times that week and walked dozens of miles…beach to condo, shop to shop, vehicle to restaurant. You know the drill. I won’t miss the humidity, but I do envy 80° days and nights. And fried fish. I adore fried fish. It’s practically healthy! For those of you sick of my island recaps, I’ll be back to regularly scheduled silliness soon. Right now, I’m still basking in my tan lines. Mini goes back to school this week. Standby.

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I ask you –

On a scale of 1 to I-would-literally-die-without-it, how much do you love coffee?

Do you find yourself walking more while away from home?

Please comment your bets on how tired mini will be after the first 3 days of school! Mine: she asks to go to bed after dinner.

Island Life in Photos

Back to South Padre Island we went! It’s sad I had to go to the beach to see any measurable rain. Speaking of rain, all of Texas is so dry. We encountered no less than a dozen burnt patches of land between N. TX and the island. Also a full-blown fire in progress. Send rain.

We spent a lot of time at the pool and a similar amount of time in the ocean. 7 bottles of sunscreen later…

Landshark is my go-to. No idea why I like it but I only drink it at the beach. South Padre’s proximity to Mexico is an invitation for the spiciest, most authentic tacos in the world. And since I can’t resist cilantro, I purchased some Cilantro Sauce at the local Farmer’s Market then proceeded to eat it at every meal. I’m on vacation.

Speaking of food, I also ate my weight in fish and limes. Oh, and gelato. I ate a lot of that, too. Really I only ate a lot of gelato because I was the designated driver on vacation and responsible for picking up our meals. So when asked to deliver gelato, I charged adequate tax on my Uber eats-esque services. One bite for me, one bite for you. Fair is fair. It was 90°, as well, so there’s that.

When in Rome… seeing as how it was quite cooler than North Texas, I took everyone’s advice and brought my running shoes! Somehow I only had to look at the sand and suddenly it was inside my socks. Magic. Between early morning runs and coffee 2-3x a day, I’m the most relaxed I’ve been all year.

I would share more, but there’s a stack of laundry to be done and I still have to de-sand our beach accessories. I feel a procrastinap coming on.

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I ask you –

Did you vacation this year? Where?

Have you encountered an extra dry season?

Tell me how much laundry you do when you return from a trip. Avg 3 loads.

REPOST!! I’m a Pioneer!

The post below was originally published June 7, 2021. At this moment, I’m probably basking unashamedly on the beach with a cup of coffee. Hope you’re having a wonderful day, as well!

I need friends. Running friends. Running friends who only run when it’s incredibly hot outside and I can’t go out there to run. Too much? So I joined Strava.

Find me on Strava!

Then I decided to channel my inner woman of the wild and become a canning master! Next up: living in a hut and churning my own butter. Right. I know.

Strawberry Jam!

Jam

As a writer, grammar and spelling are important to me, as well as consistent fonts across a document. It’s my job. I appreciate when someone’s email signature line is short, concise, and, most importantly, legible! You may be asking how an email could possibly be anything other than legible; rest assured, I’ve seen it all. It’s not pretty.

Full disclosure: I don’t believe everything I read on the internet. Tell me you don’t either. So I did my own research. Turns out it is true!

My dreamer mindset got a little excited, to tell the truth. But as for adding it to the bucket list? No thanks. The part that negated all my dreams was “The real-life walk would be grueling, filled with scary animals and diversely bad weather.” Nope, nope, and nope. Next, please.

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I ask you –

What’s your Strava information? Please comment below. I need friends!

Have you ever canned anything? What should I can next?

Tell me something on your bucket list!

A Weekend Away

My good friend Dan sends me some of the most thought provoking articles.

“I Tried Slow Living in a Remote Welsh Cottage, and This Is What I Learned” by Kayleigh Dray was just what I needed. It was truly perfect timing because I was already fielding questions from mini regarding our trip to NE Texas to visit my parents, aunt, and sister. Her actual words were “What will we do?” Answer: just be. I spent my time wandering around a giant field and watching dozens of hummingbirds. They’re so fun!

In preparation for the visit, I had to move around a run scheduled for Saturday because I knew the humidity would be brutal and incompatible with any running plans. I started a 5k training plan – probably forgot to mention it. Not for a race though. I quickly realized if I’m not training for something, then my tendency to “get around to it” doesn’t motivate me well enough to actually “get around to it” especially where the treadmill is concerned.

Fortunately I have been able to accomplish two outdoor runs, both involving random rain. This is me not complaining. Except for the one that included lightning which made me run faster, it’s been good. Also, it was suggested I try graham crackers before a run. Quick carbs, easy to eat early in the morning before my stomach wakes up – simple, right? Well, my grocery store was out of cinnamon teddy grahams (my preferred alternative to graham crackers). I bought the store brand instead thinking there probably isn’t much difference. Wow. So wrong. Now I need to eat these individual packages of awful, pseudo-teddy grahams. Oh yay.

Thank goodness I can wash it down with ice cream which is exactly what I needed after a weekend of decidedly cooler temperatures (only 95°!) but with much higher humidity. Running out there would have never been a good idea. And it definitely didn’t epitomize the concept of slow living.

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I ask you –

Any interest visiting remote places?

Have you ever bought a food that didn’t taste like expected?

I’m on vacation next week. Should I bring my running shoes this time? I’m thinking yes.

Day in Photos, pt 6

The long weekend of mini’s return to midsummer Texas finally arrived! In probably not chronological order –

First, beautify the nails. Sure, ballet shoes cover her toes but it’s proven women who wake up and see their toenails painted experience higher levels of YAY hormones. Totally made that up, but it’s true for me so why not.

Prior to mini’s homecoming, I said see you later to someone with the biggest heart and passion for Airmen. It’s been an incredible few months working with Maj Green – I will miss him and his huge family. Key Spouse life.

Without further ado – I present to you my little ballerina. She rocked her performance and is such a helper to the other young ladies.

It wouldn’t be a weekend without my sister visiting. We have too much fun together.

Overall, the weekend was a success. Nevermind the outdoor temps of 112°. I believe mini had an incredible time. And I’m thankful mini’s dad made the very long trip to support her dance dreams. Everything went by so quickly; before you know it, school will be starting again and we’ll be in another loop of school, dance, repeat.

I feel the heart palpitations returning already.

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I ask you –

What plans do you have for the upcoming holiday weekend?

Do any ballerinas read my blog?

Large crowds: yay or nay? Mostly a nay for me.

Box o’Books

I’m very sad to report it’s been months since I’ve been to the library. So when I realized I had a few extra minutes – aka town with trains – I detoured and made my way to the book haven. This time I was able to find a new book I’ve been eyeballing (no pun intended) for some time. What’s with these authors who only publish one book a year? Don’t they have jobs? Geez!

With the opening of our newest base coffee shop, Common Grounds, I find myself visiting about once a week. Sometimes it’s for solace, sometimes for coffee, sometimes just to sit amongst the books. As there’s a large, indoor playground, it has just the right amount of background noise and joy for me to write, read, or ponder life goals. But mostly for coffee drinking. Though lately my drink of choice is hot tea. Anyway.

My goal to read at least one book per month sort of floated away. Hello, distraction. I better get busy reading for pleasure because soon the only thing I’ll be reading is journals on research. And some topics are so flat out boring it can be hard to keep your eyes open. Remind me not to be a dull doctor. In the meantime, I’m going to spend my time reading Michael Connelly and books about overcoming anxiety.

This is fun, right?

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I ask you –

What are you reading lately?

Do you frequent public libraries or prefer to obtain your reading online?

Pick one: coffee or tea! Predominantly coffee, of course.

Pirouettes and Parking

Dentist appointment last week went well! Post-meal flossing albeit a dedicated task is worth it. As I’ve never had a cavity or filling, the nice dental hygienist told me I was 1 in 10,000. Nice as it sounds, I doubt I’m 1 in anything because…really.

I’ve been rewatching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was several years back when I started the show – I had no idea there are now 7 seasons. Clearly I don’t watch much television.

Not sure if I should put this on my blog, but I’m doing it anyway. Some weird things are happening at a neighbor’s house. Not the naked neighbor’s home. Cars without license plates, other random vehicles early in the mornings. This also happens to be the house I always find spare change near. One week I collected 31 cents. What a bargain for me!

Mini’s dance performance debut is at the end of the week which means…she’ll be home for a few days!!!!! I’m so excited to see her and hug her and kiss her and call her George – I mean mine. Jokes. We just have to make it through rehearsal, nail polish, lip gloss, hair buns, and other diva-ish things I know little about. I need coffee just contemplating it. Unfortunately, her dad’s family is unable to come like originally planned but thanks to technological advances I feel confident she can wow them with her abilities.

Public service announcement: it costs nothing to be a decent human. All that’s required is don’t be an asshole. Believe it or not, there was a car parked to the truck’s right prior to this photo. If it had been my car, a photo might have not been my first choice. Decent humans can suffer from distress.

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I ask you –

What shows are you currently watching or rewatching?

Is the weirdness at that house illicit substance related or am I being paranoid?

Tell me your kindest words for people who park like I’ve shown!

Yes, I’m Still Thinking

As I continue to traverse the stages of shock within utter humility, my mind is blown that I’m attempting to get a doctorate. You know the Journey song “Don’t Stop Believin”? Yeah, that’s me. Perhaps a doctorate isn’t the wildest idea in my history – I did join the military at age 28 which is still almost incomprehensible. But the smokescreen of doubt lingers. Do I have what it takes? Funny thing is I don’t worry about failure. Once I get started, I know I’ve got this. It’s the getting started part that worries me. When I look back on the moment I received the phone call stating I had passed my master’s capstone (essentially the final mountain), I was speechless. I looked around my big empty gym and took in the silence. Then I smiled the biggest smile I’d ever had until that point. I’d done it.

Shortly after I shared the good news with anyone who would listen, someone asked what’s next? I recall answering something to the affect of this is it for me. When the thought of a higher degree crossed my mind, I told myself ‘that’s not me’. Why not? Because it can be me. In time that passes so quickly, it will be me. In the meantime, much work remains.

I haven’t shared the news with mini yet. Perhaps the scope of it will be lost on her; that’s ok, too. But I did speak with her on the phone a few nights ago. Typically we video chat but she was with other relatives and it was late, etc. I had a tough time grasping how old she sounds on the phone. Not “age old” but “mature old”. She’s very matter of fact and wise in all her 6 years. She was also exhausted so anything she could do to stay awake was fair game. She had been struggling that night with a headache – when I asked questions related to how it came about, her answers were child-like, then I remembered she’s still my baby.

Proof

Me: Have you been drinking enough water?

Her: No, I haven’t drank any.

Me: Well, that may be part of the problem, honey. Did you hit your head on something while playing?

Her: Maybe!

Nothing like a conversation like that to bring life into perspective. I can hear the conversation in my head right now. “Mom, why is (this, this, and this) happening?” Me: I don’t know. “Well, you’re a doctor!” Leave it to a child (my child) to make you question your education.

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I ask you –

What song resonates with a journey (no pun intended) in your life?

Have you ever limited yourself with the phrase or mindset of ‘that’s not me’?

Share a moment where a child put you in your place. If you dare.

What do First Graders do?

Besides the first grade draft (which is blogged about here), I officially have a kindergarten graduate. Turns out some parents were highly irritated their child(ren) didn’t have an actual graduation ceremony. It’s kindergarten, not college. Sheesh. My philosophy is the more we “graduate” our children, the more they become desensitized to the accomplishments that led to them walking the stage. Seriously…what do you do to graduate kindergarten? Answer: show up, don’t be (too) weird, and attempt to learn. Sounds simple to me.

But I digress. Mini has grown a few inches, lost a few teeth, and learned to read and write. She’s kind, thoughtful, and has a very real sense of right and wrong. She also loathes celery. Her friend-making skills are exceptional, too. To me, this is what kindergarten is all about.

Same wreath, same mini but taller

And she’s excelling at ballet. Her very first recital is in June so she and her classmates took their official photos a few weeks back. Adorable. Her opportunity to pirouette across a professional stage has resulted in many man-hours and dollars dedicated toward her craft. Not to mention the “parent dress rehearsal” and “costume rehearsals” I’ve been a part of. Those tiny tent things are super claustrophobic. Next year she wants to participate in jazz/hip hop. Help me. And send cash. Where are the inexpensive activities?

Anyway, the year has somehow flown by; feels like I blinked and ta-da here we are. Mini is excited yet nervous about next school year because she says “I don’t know what first graders do.” When I said first graders learn even bigger words, she began to rub her head. I feel ya. She has summer homework, too: read 30 books before school resumes in August. I definitely think she’s up for the challenge. The real question … is everyone else?

little brown curls

Update: she lost another tooth the last day of school. If the Tooth Fairy is a stock option, I suggest investing.

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I ask you –

Any words of advice for a first grade mom?

If you have children, what are their ages/grades?

She didn’t get grace from me. I trip over air.