Root to Rise (reprinted)

Kristin Armstrong writes for Runner's World and while I haven't had a lot of time to read my favorite mags lately, this article struck me. It's not really about running, but life. And since RW online doesn't let me share to blogger, I'm copying and pasting ('cause that's what I do).

Root to Rise
08/31/2010 5:02 PM
Today was a double sweat day. I ran early this morning, which created tension (in my body, not my mind – especially after mile repeats yesterday, whew) and I went to yoga this afternoon, to release tension. I think I am now so accustomed to sweating that my body goes from matte to full-on-open-pore- drainage in less than five minutes.

I stood on my mat, stretched out in triangle pose, with sweat pouring down my arm and plopping onto my towel; the teacher asked us to turn, firmly plant our hands and kick one leg up. "Push against the floor, use it to ground yourself. Remember you have to root to rise." With that single sentence, my zen concentration went out the window and I started obsessing over her words. I breathed and worked my way through all the poses, gladly flopping onto my soggy towel at the end of class for a blissful savasana. I wanted to be still and ponder the idea of rooting to rise.

Rooting to rise is a visual, physical concept in yoga, when what you are trying to do requires strength or balance. You literally have to push against the floor and channel your core strength in order to extend through the pose (and, if you are me, hold it without toppling over). You can see and feel your response to the applied energy of rooting your body. But rooting to rise is a viable lesson even in less visible scenarios.

It applies to marathon training, painstakingly building a deep base in order to have something to draw upon when the time comes to rise to the occasion of race day. With our longest run coming up this weekend (22 miles), I have already started to go there in my mind, preparing myself by collecting energy and harnessing positive thoughts. I subconsciously do this when I have something challenging on the horizon, making sure I am firmly rooted for the test ahead. I am not one to reach high for something without doing the work to ensure my feet are balanced firmly beneath me. I believe in the notion that the best fun is the kind you earn.

Rooting to rise pertains to my mothering, digging deep and trying to enrich the soil that nourishes my children. It's my job to root them; their job to rise. Only deep roots will enable them to survive the seasons of life ahead. It would be so easy to get caught up in the shuffle of school and activities, thinking I'm doing it right without stopping to consider if I'm doing the right things. My goal is to shepherd these children into adulthood, not just to school and sports. If I am not consciously rooting myself, my actions and choices will not stem from a place of intent.

It relates to friendship, and the investments made in the roots of my relationships. Relationships that are fruitful, or offer a canopy of shade, are the ones that have been deeply rooted and well tended. When crisis hits, the relationships that rise to surround you are the ones you have poured your heart into during ordinary times.

The time to root is today. Whether it means a strong and steady yoga pose, a hard tempo run, dinner alone with your spouse, reading a story with your child, signing up for that class you have always wanted to take, or making time for a friend, the way to root is to stretch, to go deeper, to invest your heart.

Crazy busy

It has been insane in the Moe household. Between work, running/training, more work, canning and trying to maintain a relationship, things have been crazy. I'm looking forward to October when the marathon is over, at least that will curb a bit of the training (though MS and I have talked about going to the Navy Ball next year so we can curb the training completely ... we both have a few pounds to lose before that).

I hoping my life will calm down eventually. Is that just a pipe dream?

Salsa and weekend

So last week we made and canned salsa with MS's aunt and uncle. I was really skeptical about how it would turn out, but we tried it last night and it wasn't too bad. It had a little more cayenne pepper than I would have liked, but luckily I have a lot more tomatoes so I can try another type.

It has been a really nice weekend. Saturday, MS and I went for a long bike ride/run (respectively). After vegging and recuperating, we went into town and did a little shopping. We priced out deep freezes for the house. The freezer upstairs has been packed full of ice packs and food and as sales come around MS always wants to "stock up". So I convinced him if we're going to keep stock piling we need a bigger freezer.

Sunday, after a mini workout, MS went to work and I went to church, did some laundry, then canned minestrone soup. I keep seeing these commercials for Stouffer's stuffed melt and soup with tomato bisque so I'm thinking I might need to find a recipe for that and can that next. :)

Yesterday, MS and I went for a bike/run again (this is where he bikes and I run). We went 4.5 and I'm realizing just how out of shape I am. I'll get there, but boy I'm starting late. Then we ventured into town again before the storm hit and bought the deep freeze, carried it downstairs and set it up.

All in all, it's been a great weekend. I still have today off but I'm going to go into work for awhile and try to get some things accomplished for the week. It'll be a busy one again, culminating with my fitness test on Friday which seems to be a fail unless I get really lucky that morning and a half marathon on Sunday. Prayers are welcome! :)

Canning, Running, and Recipes

So I know I haven't written in a long while. I have had things going on, but I haven't had a chance to blog. For one, I have been really busy - good busy, but still busy. And for two, and the bigger reason, my computer has been messed up royally.

A few weeks back i was heading on a trip and so I had the comm nazi's at work clean up my personal computer and load a couple programs I needed for work. That was all well and good and Kenny G did a great job. But he also removed one of my paid-for AntiVirus programs and loaded a free one we use at work. Fine and good. It worked for a week...then i got a virus. Then it disappeared by the time I got my computer home for him to check on...then it came back but worse. So he fixed it. At least I thought he had, but it took a couple reboots for it to actually take.

Now I'm up and running again, literally and figuratively.

After my last post MS and I spent some time catching up since I had been gone for so long. Then I went to the Guthrie to see "The Scottsboro Boys" which is by far one of the best musicals I have seen in a long time. And the bonus is that after it leaves the Guthrie it's heading to Broadway! So I've seen it before Broadway snobs! YAY!

Last Monday, MS and I went to his aunt and uncle's for a lesson in canning. We made salsa and had a great time. We finished earlier than we thought we would and so Dianne and I made a couple apple pies too. I made the crust from scratch, natch, and she peeled the apples. Basically I made it though and it turned out really well. It was nice to know that I could do that from memory.

Then a busy busy week was upon me. Trainings, catch-up from being gone, budget woes, meetings, planning, etc. It was busy but great. I attempted salsa on my own one night while MS was away and that was a pain...I highly recommend doing that with friends. It took forever and the recipe I used (different from the Monday one) only yielded 3 pints. Blech. Oh well.

On top of all of that I realized that I am 5 weeks from a marathon and 2 from a half, so I got back in my running groove. I started up at the right time of year - no humidity and great temps. I got in 20 miles last week (7.5 yesterday) and took today off to give my knees a break. It starts back up tomorrow.

I really need to drop 10 pounds in the next 4 weeks so i'll be at last year's running weight. I'd be happy with 7, but 10 would be awesome.

Today I canned minestrone soup. Not sure if that was a smart thing, but it seemed to work. We'll have to try it in a week or so and see how if it still tastes as good as it smelled when I was making it.

Which leads me to my big question - what do all my cooking friends out there do for recipe gathering and storing and filing? I have a ton - books, internet print-outs, magazines, calendars, etc - and I'm looking for a good way to file them. I thought about setting up a blog and tagging them so I could access them anywhere, and I might still do that with a big disclaimer that these aren't mine but just reprinted and probably without permission. But looking for other methods too. Any ideas?

Angel Flight - Radney Foster

I love catching up with blog friends

Years ago I was participating in NaBloPoMo and I 'met' some of the most amazing people. And tonight I am playing catch up with ericjay. We initially started talking, I think, because of running, but then discovered we work in the same industry so we became fast friends chatting about the nuances of our co-workers. He's awesome.

Someday we'll meet, I'm sure. He thinks we'll end up at the same training some time, forget to tell each other we're going to be there and run into each other haphazardly. My thinking is we'll do that, but we'll forget the last part and end up talking about it later wondering how it is that we didn't run into each other. :)

It's all good. ericjay will still be awesome, and years from now, if we ever meet, that will continue to be a constant. :)

I went to a mall...voluntarily

Last night was great. Tim, this guy John, and I went to the local American Legion. They were having karaoke and Tim wanted to go sing. Okay. I'm not a big karaoke fan, but occasionally I'll have 'a moment' and go and participate.

Good thing I did. We were 3 of maybe 8 people in the bar, and that was including the karaoke lady, her husband, and the bartender. And other than the karaoke lady, we were the only ones singing.

Tim has a great voice and made me cry when he sang Collin Raye's "Love, Me". We also sang a couple duets, which was a lot of fun. I miss singing like that.

Today, Mary and I went on a little trip to Birmingham. We were bored and didn't want to sit around our rooms doing nothing. So we drove around wishing we could find a mall or a California Pizza Kitchen. Funny enough, as we turned the corner into the Galleria we decided to try, there was a CPK. :) YAY! Nothing better than a Roasted Spinach and Artichoke Chicken pizza. Mmmmmm.

But then we went to the mall to walk off all the food. Somehow we ended up at Ann Taylor's Loft and shopping for me - to ease into an update of my wardrobe from t-shirts and shorts to "grown-up clothes". She picked out an outfit, then an associate came over and basically Mary said, "Dress her." And they did. I tried on shirts, pants, sweaters, belts, necklaces, more shirts. It was funny. I'm easing into adding color into my wardrobe too. I actually bought an orange shirt and it does look good. I really wanted to find a red one, but with my coupons I have I can do that when I get home.

The best thing was that they had a 30% off your entire purchase if you buy a pair of pants at regular price. And then I could get 20% off if I signed up for their card. Initially I had forgotten about the first deal, so as the lady was ringing up my purchase and we were at $200 and only 3 items had been scanned, I thought the card might be a good idea. But when I got my total and it was almost half the cost, I was so stoked! YAY for deals!

Now I'm just hoping that when I get home, if I walk into ATL at our mall and say, "Dress me" there will be someone as nice and smart and patient as the lady who worked with us today was. :)

AND I got my hair cut. :) I have been very productive today. Now, I'm just listening to "Juno" on tv and relaxing. I did a load of laundry and I'm debating on starting to pack for my return. I have a few more clothes to add now. :)

Today was an exciting day

I tell you, I am learning a LOT at this course. It's awesome. The instructors are great and their insight is incredible. I mean, today...I learned all about...

Deviled Eggs.

I kid you not. We spent 20 minutes on deviled eggs and how they are a waste because with the time that it takes to make them you lose value on your final product. Because despite the fact that eggs are super cheap, first you have to boil them, then peel them, then slice them, then gut them, then take the guts and mash it up with some other stuff into a creamy mixture, then fill the eggs with said mixture, then you realize that they have a rounded bottom and won't sit on a normal tray so you'll have to slice the bottoms off a bit to make them flat so they'll sit on a tray, then you place them on the tray and sprinkle them with garnish (generally paprika), then carry them to your serving location, and then, because they slip and slide, re-straighten them on the tray so they look presentable.

THEN you'll have a guy come by and take 8 because they aren't filling (they're what people call "smash & swallow's") and then your whole purpose for buying them because they're cheap has just gone down the toilet because he just ate a third of your carton. AND the caterer is probably going to mark these up overall in price because they are a pain to make.

DEVILED EGGS. Seriously.

I have to laugh, because if I don't I will certainly go crazy. 20 MINUTES on deviled eggs. WTF?!?! But I laugh because it really is comical.

The class I'm in cracks me up because people aren't really paying attention and end up on tangents that aren't even close to what we're discussing. We were talking about seating arrangements today based on etiquette rules and precedence and a gal raises her hand and asks, "So, if your boss transfers do you get to keep your job or do you go with him?" Ummm...not quite on topic dear, and considering why you're in this class, that's not really a high priority at this time, even for you.

I just shook my head. I feel a little like I'm back at Sem where people liked to tell their stories...partly for attention, partly because they really felt like they knew it all...and so they raise their hand at every opportunity, "At my workplace, we do this..." It's just funny.

I spent most of this afternoon texting back to work because it was a) more fun and b) more productive.

Don't get me wrong. I love that I'm here at this class - this will be beneficial for me in the long run, I just have to find how it will work with my workplace because this is really geared for our higher headquarters locations. But some of the nonsense does make me laugh.

So for kicks, I and another gal in the class went out for dinner...to an awesome Italian place that had the best service I have ever had. And the highlight, other than the deliciosio food, was when Mary asked the waiter, "Do you have any bread?" And he repeated back, "Breasts?" and she smiled, "Uh, no. Brea-D." He started laughing, "I'm so sorry. Slip of the tongue. Yes. I'll bring that out for you." When he came back he said, "Here's your breaD." hahaha He was a great waiter.

I need to run now though...that food was way too yummy. Too bad I can't move.

Odd

Okay, this might just be me, but this seems really stupid. At CB2, which I normally like, these are $25 a piece! You can get the same thing at Lowe's for $6. I like the concept, but $25 or $50 for two? Really?

Typical

I'm in Alabama and, surprise-surprise, it's hot. And muggy. I just left this weather! Things back home were beautiful today and I'm still hot...and sticky! Ugh.

But I can't complain too much (well, I can, but I'm going to try hard to squelch that desire) because I have some awesome lodging. My work isn't known to splurge for the peons, like me, but this time they stepped it up. I can only assume it's because I'm going to a training with people who are normally treated like this.

Seriously though, I have a two room suite - a bedroom with a big bed and tv, a closet complete with 2 robes, a bathroom with a toothbrush and toothpaste along with the other normal amenities provided, and a sitting room with a loveseat, chair and another tv. Plus a mini bar! Nice. Moe's classin' it up today.

Too bad the room is far from everything I need - like a place to buy food. I have no rental car so I'm subject to my feet or taxi's. And I'm tired and broke. Tomorrow I'm going to have to make friends with someone...this girl does not do well without food and my trail mix is almost gone.

I'm excited for the course though. It will really help me, my bosses, and my career. It's a nice next step up, so hopefully I don't screw it up.

Oh, and I planned really well, as usual. It's supposed to rain all week. When I had looked last week to see, rain was not in the forecast. Now it's there all week. And did I bring an umbrella or rain coat? nope. Good thing I'm not made of sugar. :)

An amazingly busy week

Boss2 has been awesome as of late and as of late he has worked hard to get me into a short training course that would help me immensely in my job, even though technically the course isn't for my job description.

Well, it's been up and down the last couple weeks and finally two days ago it was confirmed that I have a seat for the next class, which just happens to start on Monday...in Alabama. Uh...okay.

So the last two days have been a whirlwind of me finding a person to sit at my desk while I'm gone, tidying up all my projects and cleaning up my desk so JH doesn't have to deal with my normal mess. So in that aspect, this class has been the perfect addition to my already hectic life.

In other aspects, this is the worst time of year for me to go. A lot of projects and suspenses are coming due in the next week - the week I'm gone. But I have a lot of great co-workers.

Kenny G helped me today to get my own computer up and running faster and hooked up the process I need so I can check my work email on it. I tested it tonight and it works great! JH was so awesome and patient this afternoon while I was running back and forth trying to figure out what she needed to know and what could be passed by. I gave her the quickie tour of my office and the bosses as well so she knows where everything goes and what needs to be done.

I have all the confidence in the world that JH will do well and I got almost everything that I needed to completed. The rest can and will have to wait until I return. Luckily the class is shorter than I had first thought, so I'll be back a little sooner. And my computer is working so as long as they have WiFi in the housing the school provides, I'll be set.

I'm really looking forward to this class. It's not only needed for my job now, it's a great stepping stone for my future career - the job that I want.

Next step: Signing up for the Master's course I need for that job as well. But I think I'll wait to do that until I return. :)

I'm a lucky girl

My boyfriend is the best. He proved it again last night.

I have been on Phase I of South Beach for the last week and Saturday night I was whining...a lot...about wanting popcorn. I got to the point where I took it out of the cupboard, a pack out of the box and sat it on the counter. That was after a day of smelling a bagel that I had on my desk.

Anyway, I'm not allowed to have either while on Phase I, and I did hold strong. But Sunday when I got home from work, MS had chicken, green beans, sugar free jello and sugar free fudge pops. Yum! That's ALL allowed on the eating plan and this was such an awesome gift.

Then today, my mother called him to see if he would show YOBs kids the fire station and fire truck. And he did. He took time from his lunch hour to show them all around on an impromptu tour.

He's wonderful. Moments like these remind me why I'm with him. <3

A great day

My sister and niece came to join me today and we hit Downtown to check out the Sculpture Walk. Our town has numerous sculptures come in for the summer. It's awesome and always fun to walk around. We had been talking about doing this for a long time, but it finally worked out.

So we hit the sculptures at 9 and walked for 3 hours, going up and down the streets and in and out of shops. It was great!

After lunch we went to a local museum and had a blast. We also ran into our mom and other niece and nephew (Mom's watching YOBs kids this week) there. There were some cool exhibits - one on corn, one on hot air balloons, another on diners and drive-ins, and a brilliant one on underwear*. :)

The rest of my day was supposed to be running errands but I decided nothing I had on my list was vital today (a couple would have helped but not vital) so I have just vegged. I needed this after a long weekend of work. I do need to type up a list of all the things I do. That's a long story, but Boss2 wants to add another tasker and swap one out (not really possible but he and MS think it is). So I might do that tonight. But I'm kind of thinking about going to bed early.

I did attempt a "real" bun tonight. My friend SBK showed me a trick with a sock, but I'm not sure I have it right yet. I need to work on that.

I'm just rambling now...maybe it is time for bed.

*I'm debating on putting the text traffic down on this one. My nephew and I had some fun with this. Hmmm...I'll think about it.

My new water bottle!

I drink so much water now, my new hobby is peeing.

Christmas in August

I'm in a quartet, as some of you may know, but onr of our parts seems to be dwindling as of late, so the rest of us left are thinking of just becoming a trio. This is okay with me as I love singing with the other two anyway. And we're keeping the arranger, which is beneficial.

Anyway, KC and I working on a Kids Christmas party for the children of our co-workers and she and KCM(her hubby) are thinking that we should sing this (below). I've always liked Jewel, so to sing one of her arrangements would be awesome. :) I'm kind of excited for this. :)

Better than yesterday

I was a little more motivated today than I was yesterday, but still not where I need to be. I got assigned another tasker - actually two - today. Yet another additional task to add to my list of many that I do throughout the year. Some take more time than others, so it sort of balances out. God bless Boss2 - he asked what they could take off my plate, but there's really not anything that comes to mind.

The good thing is that I don't start the new taskers right away, so I have time to catch up with the rest of my stuff. I just need to do that now.

I did find, on one of my work sites, a bunch of articles and techniques to beat the afternoon slump and how to start in the AM. I'm going to read those tonight and see if there's something I can implement to help.

How To Be Alone

This resonnated with me today, for some reason.

Text below (from a website so I hope it's all there):

If you are at first lonely, be patient. If you’ve not been alone much, or if when you were you were not okay with it, then just wait. You’ll find its fine to be alone once you’re embracing it. We can start with the acceptable places, the bathroom, the coffee shop, the library, where you can stall and read the paper, where you can get your caffeine fix and sit and stay there. Where you can browse the stacks and smell the books, your not suppose to talk much anyway so its safe there. There is also the gym, if your shy, you can hang out with yourself and mirrors, you can put headphones in. There’s public transportation, we all gotta go places. And there’s prayer and mediation, no one will think less if your hanging with your breath seeking peace and salvation. Start simple. Things you may have previously avoided based on avoid being principles. The lunch counter, where you will be surrounded by “chow downers”, employees who only have an hour and their spouse work across town, and they, like you, will be alone. Resist the urge to hang out with your cell phone. When you are comfortable with “eat lunch and run”, take yourself out to dinner to a restaurant with linen and silver wear. You’re no less an intriguing a person when you are eating solo desert and cleaning the whip cream from the dish with your finger. In fact, some people at full tables will wish they were where you were. Go to the movies. Where it’s dark and soothing, alone in your seat amidst fleeting community. And then take yourself out dancing, to a club where no one knows you, stand on the outside of the floor until the lights convince you more and more and the music shows you. Dance like no ones watching because they are probably not. And if they are, assume it is with best human intentions. The way bodies move genuinely move to beats, after-all, is gorgeous and affecting. Dance till you’re sweating. And beads of perspiration remind you of life’s best things. Down your back, like a book of blessings. Go to the woods alone, and the trees and squirrels will watch for you. Go to an unfamiliar city, roam the streets, they are always statues to talk to, and benches made for sitting gives strangers a shared existence if only for a minute, these moments can be so uplifting and the conversation you get in by sitting alone on benches, might of never happened had you not been there by yourself.

What a fun day!

I love days like this! I was supposed to take photos of my friend's kids today, but we woke up to a nice rain shower and very gray skies so we're going to reschedule.

Instead, I spent the day doing laundry and baking. It was awesome! I made chocolate chip cookies, PB cookies with dark chocolate kisses, zucchini bread (1 big loaf, 1 mini loaf) and banana bread (1 big loaf, 3 mini loaves). I'm debating on making more cookies, but MS will be home in less than an hour so I should probably be done. I want to make oatmeal cookies and snickerdoodles yet, but maybe tomorrow.

It has been a great day. *sigh*

It's a new month

August is here. K&E are starting a new life this month. It's in the plans for me to go to a course that will help my career (crossing fingers it all goes through). All of these changes are for the better. Everything is great and another reminder that life does not stay constant (and if it did I think the monotony would kill me).

So today, I need to reclaim my life. This month will be that start. I'm going to write more. I'm going to eat better (I'm back on the SB blog too). And I'm going to focus on self-care. I'm going to find myself again and work on becoming the woman I was meant to be.

Great weekend

I had a great weekend. Despite having a cold ALL weekend long (I blame the deep tissue massage for releasing all the toxins I had held down so long and making me sick), I had a great weekend.

Sunday I got to hang out with the awesome Debbie. We hit GDC for some brunch and then we went to a mall. Yes, I said, "Mall". I'm so not a mall person but I survived and even bought some t-shirts at the Gap (gasp!) that were on sale for $10. I also found some new artwork to hang in my apartment.

Then I got to go to the Guthrie and see "A Streetcar Named Desire" starring Carlos from Desperate Housewives. It was AWESOME!!! Wow. Love it. Of course, now I want to see if Marlon Brando really did the role of Stanley justice or not. Then again, I'm not sure if I want to see the movie because that might ruin my experience of it - like watching the movie after reading the book. Hmmm... dilemma.

Today, cold still intact, I met up with AmyO from grad school and her daughter Sig. We headed to the local coffee joint and had a great hour and a half together. We've been trying for months to get together so this was perfect. So fun.

And now I'm home. The drive was good. I listened to NPR the whole way and got a little edumacated and was able to not crash every time I sneezed. I'm looking forward to a quiet night at home. I need some rest so I'm not sick all week. Too much to do at work to be sick. :)