Blame him. . . .

It is his fault.

I haven't been getting up early enough to run before work. It is his fault. Look at how cozy and cute and warm and snuggly he is. Could you really get out of bed in the cold dark to run on a treadmill in the basement when you have a warm, snuggly buddy 'nuggled up next to you?

I think not.

I rest my case.

Work

I wish I could share more about my work. I will. There are ways that I can do so, but I err so far on the side of caution, that I never discuss it.

I am a clinical psychologist and I mostly love what I do, but it is rather solitary in that I share so little about my day. Some days are good days and some days are rough days, but they are almost always interesting days.

Today was a busy day: I ran three miles in the morning, then volunteered for an hour-and-a-half in my daughter's classroom (boy were they noisy today), before I rushed to work. I had a disability evaluation that included an IQ test and a memory test. Those generally take me about three hours not counting write up. I then had a half hour in which to go to the bank, eat, and finish a different psych evaluation. I then had a 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30. While I am never going to complain about being too busy, I am nonetheless thrashed.

As I said, being a psychologist in private practice can be very solitary. I had things happen today that I'd love to discuss with a coworker. Nothing terribly significant or terribly unusual, but, nonetheless, how much of your day do you like to just share/chit chat with others about.

One of these days, I will tell a bit about disability evaluations. They are generally interesting. It is such an interesting position to hear people's stories day in and day out. People have interesting stories to tell and I enjoy learning from them. While the following has nothing to do with today's evaluation, I always know that I am in for an interesting life story when I feel as if I need a diagram to identify the various family relationships as who is siblings with whom and who shares a parent with a sibling. I've got a good memory and when I need a diagram to remember the various family players, you know it is generally not going to have a good ending.

Food for thought.

So, maybe when one already has had three different fathers for their children, it might be time to consider not having any other children with any other men. Just a thought.

Joy is. . .

Getting to 8:00 p.m. without caving to the relief that Afrin brings.

A cat so fat that she spills out of her kitty bed:

And, twinkling trees (they sound crinkly too):

Today's only goal

I have one, and only one, goal today: make it to 8:00 p.m. without using Afrin Nasal Spray.

Operation Rice Bowl

My husband was raised Catholic and, during the first couple of years of our relationship, we attended mass together at Stanford's Memorial Church. Though I had previously been introduced to Catholicism, this was the right time and the right place for me to open my heart to the Catholic Church - especially as presented at Stanford.

It was there that I was introduced to Operation Rice Bowl.

From their website:

Each year, Operation Rice Bowl calls us to pray with our families and faith communities; fast in solidarity with those who hunger; learn more about our global community and the challenges of poverty overseas; and give sacrificial contributions to those in need.

We have done scaled-back versions over the years, but this year I wanted to take it on a bit more. Operation Rice Bowl traditionally does the rice bowl mean on the Fridays when Catholics are fasting, but we have something else that we are doing on Fridays and I like the idea of a simple, quiet meal to end our Sundays, so I have moved our rice bowl meals to Sunday evenings during Lent. And, as I am not Catholic and as our family does not attend a Catholic church (we go to St. Andrew Christian Church), I feel perfectly comfortable altering it to meet our family needs.

For our first rice bowl meal of Lent, we are eating in solidarity with the people of Haiti. From their website (to nearly the bottom of the linked page):

Haiti Recipe

Prepare a simple meal from Haiti in solidarity with our brothers and sisters impacted by the earthquake.

Rice and Red Beans (serves 4)

½ cup fresh parsley
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp dried thyme
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil
1 cup rice
2 cups cooked or canned kidney beans
1 ½ cups vegetable broth*
1 cup water

*½ can Cream of Celery soup + 1 cup water or juice from the kidney beans may be substituted for vegetable broth.

In a large saucepan, add first 5 ingredients into 3 Tbsp of oil. Heat through and add rice. Brown the mixture slightly for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir and serve hot.

It was really quite delicious. Each member of our family had one simple bowl of rice and one glass of water.

We started with the Operation Rice Bowl Prayer:

Operation Rice Bowl Prayer

God of all people, Hear us as we join in prayer with our brothers and sisters in need. Bless our Lenten fasting, learning, and giving. May your generous love for your people be our guide as we reach out to all who live with hunger and poverty. Amen.

During dinner, we talked about the children in Haiti and how so many of them were going to bed each night without having had any food at all that day, not even a simple bowl of rice and beans.

After dinner was over, but before the kids got a Sunday break from their giving up of candy for lent, we read our church's recommended bible story for today. From Mark 12:28-34 (NIV), we read about the greatest commandment:

²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

²⁹"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[e] 30}Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'^{[f] 31}The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[g]There is no commandment greater than these."

³²"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

And, that, my friends, is the heart of Christianity for me.

Notice Name Nurture - Sunday, February 21, 2010

Last year, our Reverend challenged us to "Notice, Name, and Nurture." I was going to make it a weekly Sunday project, but then I let it slip by. We were again encouraged to do so during this Lenten season. So, I start again.

As I was driving home from church, I was observing the icy world in which I find myself living and I am reminded of how much I have recently been craving some sign of Spring. I am so tired of the cold and snow and ice. It's been an unusually snowy winter at the edge of the Prairie. Normally, Overland Park is cold, but rather dry. We usually have about four or five snows of around five inches that sticks on the ground for several days. This year, by contrast, we've had snow on the ground almost continuously since right before Christmas.

Currently, it is icing.

And, so I noticed this craving. And, I am naming it "Anticipation."

Anticipation fits nicely with the Lenten season. It is during the season of Lent that we prepare for and anticipate the return and resurrection of Christ. It was the time Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness. It is a time of reflection, anticipation, and hope as well as a time of fasting and abstinence.

Now, the difficulty is in the nurture part of Notice, Name, Nurture. How can I nurture want, desire, awareness of not having something wanted? How can I nurture what feels like deprivation?

Well, it would be like chocolate. If I had chocolate daily, would that chocolate taste as sweet? If every day was filled with flowers and blooms and 75 degrees and running without concern for clothing needs. If every day was easy and without care, would it be as welcomed?

I long for and anticipate the first snow crocus in a way I probably never appreciated when I lived in California with the year round flowers. I long for an anticipate the day when I can pull on a pair of shorts and a shirt and go for a run without concern for being too cold (or too hot).

These are joys I would never have appreciated to the depths of which I appreciate them if I had them year round. And, so without anticipation, there is less joy. We appreciate more the things that we cannot have whenever we crave them. And, so, I notice and name anticipation and I will appreciate the times without so that I can better receive the joys they bring when they arrive:

asparagus
flowers
sun
warmth
running without concern for cold
sandals
raspberries
tomato, basil, mozzarella salad
kids playing in the cul-de-sac

50 by 50

I've set a goal for myself of running a marathon in each of the 50 states by the time I turn 50. I've not yet run one and I've already turned 40. Yikes!

Years ago I felt as I imagine some of you might have felt: running? Joy? That does not go together. But, over the years, running has brought me joy. As has goal setting.

On April 10, 2010, I will be running my first marathon.



I chose the Olathe Marathon as my first marathon for many reasons: first and foremost, it is down the street from where we live and I thought that my home state should get first dibs. Additionally, Garmin is the major sponsor. Garmin is the reason we live in Kansas, provides us a paycheck that both bought our home and keeps the heat on in the cold winter. Also, I doubt the running would have stuck without my trust Garmin Forerunner as a training coach. Finally, Eric deserves to be there when I cross the finish line following my first marathon because there is no way I could have accomplished that goal without his support. No way at all. He has been so giving and patient with my training.

I have been running for about three years, but have never been as consistent in my training as I have over the past year. This is the first winter I have ever run outside. Let me tell you: this California Girl does not take well to the cold, ice, and snow and this has been the snowiest of the eight winters we have lived in Kansas.

Though I have been consistent, I have also been severely derailed recently. I think it started in mid-December when I started getting sick. I developed the worst sinus infection I've ever had and was really sick the entire time we were in Ohio visiting my in-laws. By the time we returned to Kansas, I was sufficiently better as to be able to run again. For the next three weeks, I ran back and forth on my street in mid-teen temperatures. Then, we left for a four-day Disney Cruise during which I ran only one day. And, then it was single digits outside and I moved to the treadmill. Next, I hurt my knee and had to keep off of it. Just as I was ready to dive back into my training program unmodified, I got ANOTHER cold/sinus infection. And, that is where I stand now.

But, today. . . Today, I start back.

I will try to not dominate this blog with running as it is only one part of my life, but it is a major focus.

This week I have the following runs:

Monday - Easy 8 (for which I will rise at 5:30 a.m. to run; cannot say that it will be an outside run).
Tuesday - VO2 Max 9 miles w/5 x 1000m @ 5K race pace
Wednesday - Scheduled Rest
Thursday - Easy 11
Friday - Recovery 5 + 6 strides
Saturday - Long 17 with 14 at marathon pace
Sunday - Scheduled Rest

My goal is to rise before dawn for all of these with the exception of the Saturday run. I also reserve the right to run them shorter or slower as my knee and cold dictate, but I am hoping to get as close to this as possible.