C25K, Supermom and a Crash

Well, it's been an interesting day.

For starters, I decided to start Couch to 5k this morning. Why? I have no idea. If you know me well, you might find this funny. I've always joked that I don't run unless I'm being chased. What's not funny is how out of shape I am. Don't let the skinny legs fool you - skinny does NOT equal healthy, or in shape.

You start with a 5 minute walk, then do a 60 second run, followed by another minute and a half walk, etc. I was so nervous while I was walking because I was literally scared that I had forgotten how to run. I kept checking the clock and looking around for cars. Turns out I remembered how to do it, but it felt awkward.

During the first 60-second run, I was having chest pains and I thought, there is no way I will live through this. Could I have a heart attack? Should I have had a physical first? Not to mention the damp, cold, 17 mile per hour wind that was blowing and setting my lungs on fire. The second run felt the same way, but after that it got easier. I guess my body accepted the fact that I was going to continue and it stopped having a fit. I survived and was planning to do day 2 tomorrow; however, the forecast is calling for chilly 22 mile per hour winds. I'm not digging that, so we'll see if I make it or not.

Later in the day I decided to take the boys to the library, because Corban has been asking to go. They were behaving fairly well, so today was the day to do it. We were playing in the kids area, when another mom came in with her two boys. They looked to be about 4 and 18 months. They looked at a couple of books, then picked up some dinosaurs...this is when I realized she was no ordinary mom. She was an "over-achiever." If you are one, no offense. I'm impressed, I'm just not where you are.

First of all we rarely actually look at books when we go to the library, so she had one up on me already. But then she showed off by calling all the dinosaurs by their proper names. What?! Her 4 year old knew the names, too, and she corrected him when he got them wrong. Some I had never heard of.

They discussed mammals and how they have hair, and that whales are also mammals. When she pretended that the brachiosaurus he was holding ate a dolphin, he said mom, I don't eat meat, I eat plants. How does he know this already? I don't this already. Christopher picked up a whale and said "Nemo." Which sounded like "me-mo," which sounded like "mammal" to supermom. I said, "oh no...we're no that advanced." Uh-uh. We know there was one of these thingys on Finding Nemo.

About that time she saw that she got some food on her pants at lunch...mashed potatoes. So now I'm thinking, the woman cooks at lunch time. I don't even remember what my kids had for lunch today. I'm just happy when they eat something.

In my defense, I will say that my kids eat a lot of natural and organic food...they're just really picky, won't touch vegetables and the only meats they like are bacon and chicken nuggets from Wendy's or Chick-Fil-a.

Anyway, I'm thinking this woman has got it going on. Her little one got antsy so they walked around for a few minutes. While they were gone Christopher wanted to play a game on my iPad and Corban grabbed the iPod that was in my purse to play Angry Birds. When she came back in I was all self-conscious, what with my kids playing games while at the library, when they could be getting educated. Thankfully Christopher and I were playing a matching game. I made sure to say, "Good job Christopher, you made a match! Let's find another match," so she would know we were playing an educational game, not a mindless, fun game that was turning our brains to mush. She scurried back over to the Legos with her kids - I imagined she didn't want them to be tempted by our brain polluting games.

When it was time to leave Corban asked if he could play the iPod some more in the car. I said, in front of her, "I'll have to think about it. It's not good to spend too much time playing games like that." Then as soon as we got to the car I handed it right back to him. (FYI, I really don't let him spend that much time playing because it really isn't a good thing. He has the potential to become an addict.) I don't know why I felt the need to act that way. Isn't that ridiculous? My word.

After they ate lunch and went down for naps, I needed to go pick Riley up from school. I hopped in the van backed out of the driveway and BAM, I hit something. Freaked me out. I never saw it coming, but an Alagasco van was pulling out of the driveway across the street at the exact same time as me. What are the odds? He never saw me either. Thankfully Dave was off today, so he went to get Riley while I stayed to wait for the police to get there.

They determined that we were equally at fault, so hopefully all we will be responsible for is the deductible. And I am loving the Alagasco supervisor that came out. He said he wants to try to get our deductible paid for by the gas company. That says a lot about the company and about him. I hope that works out. I don't even know what our deductible is, but I already got a repair estimate. A little over $4,000. That's a lot of damage for two cars going under 10 miles an hour!

I'm just thankful the kids weren't in the car and that it was minor, with no injuries. My back might need some adjusting, but it already needed that. It was downhill the rest of the day. I mean that in a positive sense...does that expression have negative connotations? It's all downhill from there. Anyway, I'm tired and my body hurts from all the running and crashing and I'm going to bed.

Night night.

Why Wait??

Today is the beginning of a new year, and with it comes the chance for a fresh start, right? Well, I have a question. Why on earth do we let the calendar dictate when we "get" a fresh start? If there are things in our lives that we want to change, why wait until January 1? Why do we give ourselves permission to go "all out" the last few weeks of the year, knowing January brings a new beginning and new (a.k.a., old) resolutions?

Why live in our mess any longer than we have to, when the book of Lamentations tells us,

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him." (Lamentations 3:22-24 NASB)

Yes, go ahead and make a new start today. And then make another one the next day. And the next. Every day is a new day, a chance to begin again, to make different decisions. If we are going to make resolutions, then let's resolve to remember His mercies are new every morning and that we are dependent on Him to maintain forward progress. Resolve to surrender daily and maybe the rest will fall into place.