...Like a Monkey Taking A Sh!T In A Bucket

The very lovely Elkton Runner tagged me with some questions. Since I really have not been running or racing this year AT ALL due to my injury, I'm taking liberty with my answers and may rely on previous years to answer :-)


1) Most fond running accomplishment of 2010. I actually do have an answer to this one. It was earlier this week when I ran an 8:57 m/m. It feels so good to really run again! Really good!

2) What are my 2011 running goals? I joined the Run for the Bling of it group, so I'll be running 12 races in 12 months. I also want to be smart about my legs and continue to stretch and rehab them and not do anything silly like run too far before I'm ready. I  really need to be able to run my leg of the 1/2 Ironman at a 12m/m pace or under. This may seem easy, but it's not been in the books for me to this point. I would really be loving life if I could do it at a 10m/m pace, but I'm aiming at 12m/m because it will get me in under 7 hours and that is my goal this year.

3) My favorite race was when Dad and I did the 25k Hagg Lake Mud Run together. It was a beautiful February day and by beautiful, I mean BEAUTIFUL!! It was cool to do a race with my dad.

4) My favorite holiday guilty pleasure. I'm not a real sweets girl but I do love a good can piece of Almond Roca or some chocolate coconut balls.

5) My most embarrassing running moment? This has got to be at my 2008 Half Ironman. I was DONE when I got off the bike. Completely Toasted! It was super hot, my back was cramped up and I walked the whole thing. The husband was supportive and rode his bike along side me the WHOLE half marathon after I met him at mile 1. At about mile 10 he got super supportive and  told me I looked like a monkey trying to take a shit in a bucket. The funny thing was...
I Felt Like A Monkey Trying To Take A Shit in a Bucket!

And there you go...
Happy New Year!!!!!!

I Feel Good...NaNaNaNaNaNaNa...

Hooah as Pacino would say. Morale is high in this house!

I had planned to do my scheduled 20 minute interval run on the treadmill today but by the time I got around to it, I was STARVING because I hadn't yet had breakfast, my left glute that I pulled a couple weeks ago was talking to me, I had a little bit of DOMS because I did a leg workout yesterday even after my dad told me not to (Sorry, Dad!) and I could find no clean socks.

But I told myself "Self...none of that really matters if you put your mind to it...AND... if Birthday Girl Jen can run BAREFOOT outside, then surely you can run without socks. They are Nike Frees afterall...so be free of your socks!"

I had my best HIIT run since starting back last month. I added .31 (THAT's almost a third of a mile people!!! :-) to my 20 minute run since I started running again. I started my warm-up at 5.5mph and hit 8mph for my high point minute at the end. Hooah!!
...and no issues by going sockless.

 As I was cooking breakfast and channeling out my own James Brown...



...Steve laughed and said "Eating healthy, not drinking booze, and running is making you feel good? Go figure!"
hehehe 

Then I received this in my e-mail from a local trainer here in the Portland/Vancouver area and if you've got about 30 minutes to spare, you might listen to her talk about her top 10 ideas you might think about following this new year. I like them all. 
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN  

Username = reach

Password = goals

 

The Santa Trap

I knew the kids were up to something on Christmas Eve when I found them sneaking around corners and crawling around on the floor, room to room, with their ninja stealth moves before bed, but I found proof yesterday that actually spelled out their Santa Trap Itinerary:

Santa got very lucky to get in and out this year without detection :-)

I'm A Creature...

...Of Bad Habits.

I'm a good girl, but I sure have lots of bad habits and three of them hit me in the face this weekend. If two glasses of wine with dinner was good on Friday, then an entire bottle was welcome on Christmas day, and then a couple spills before bed on Sunday night to help me get to sleep in a bed that wasn't mine (BTW...this NEVER works out well) finished me off.

A couple pieces of pizza with those glasses of wine on Friday led to 5 pounds of the unhealthiest potato dish known to man on Saturday, which led to an unconscionable amount of bean dishes on Sunday. burp. Which led to no gym time yesterday when I COULD go. I wondered who Mai wrote this note for that's been floating around the family room for a week, but yesterday, for sure, I knew it was mine:

The worst for me is when I slack off on working out. Three days of no workouts and I'm sure you know how I felt when I jumped on the treadmill to find the belt not willing to spin. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
But I prevailed.  I don't care what the husband says about pushing random buttons and uplugging and replugging over and over again... SOMETIMES. IT. WORKS!
Hooray! I spun out 3 miles and the last one was an 8:57m/m. HECK YA! I was so salty and sweaty that while I did my stretches, my dog basically licked my face off. Who needs dermabrasion with help like this??

One More Day...

...of gorging myself with yummy Christmas foods and then my brain will be back on the task at hand - The Sport Of Triathlon.
With my new tires, my matching cap and goggles, and the discovery of my long lost tri shorts yesterday, I am READY. TO. RUMBLE.

The highlights of Christmas, of course, started with the kids' Christmas joy. That was closely followed by my Sister-In-Law's face as she opened her gift from me...

...it was supposed to be a generic gift exchange between the women but I rigged it after I saw a silly post she did on Facebook a week or so ago about being in love with Jacob.

Then my MIL made my favorite potato dish that contains something like 5 pounds of butter and ritz cracker crumbles and then with plenty of wine in my tummy, I still managed to win the longest game of rummy ever. It had 10 rounds and some wacky changes to the rules, but was lots of fun....especially since I WON!

Now we're headed down to Eugene to a BIG family gathering and I'm just going to try to control myself a little better, but it doesn't seem likely. The spread at this party is usually incredible.

Merry Day after Christmas!! I hope you are all enjoying your new toys :-)

Merry Christmas!!

Well, I'm still anxiously awaiting my Secret Santa present, but I guess I'll have to survive a few more days. In the meantime, look what Santa Steve brought me :-)

Church was beautiful last night. Amazing music by The Brown Sisters . Good conversation and laughter were had with family at the pizza parlour and then we watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull before sending the kids to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. We woke to screams of "I GOT A FISH! I GOT A FISH!" and now that the coffee has hit my brain, it's time to get ready to head out for our family celebration at Steve's parents.

I leave you with my very favorite Mai video. I hope this Christmas has brought out the child in your heart:

All I Want For Christmas...

...is my two front teeth. The tooth fairy had to make an appearance last night and I heard a certain Grammy wanted pictures:

Happy Christmas Eve to all!  ~ And Happy Birthday to my Mom and Dad - Yes!! Their birthdays are both today!
I was so excited to be done with all the shopping and I finally got the fish transferred over to the bowl and remembered to feed it.

A purple fish with pink rocks...the wee girl is going to love it!

 ABBY asked me if Steve and I exchange gifts. We do. He's very good at knowing just what to get me. He doesn't like people telling him what to get them and he doesn't like telling people what he wants. His theory is that if you are close enough to a person to give and receive gifts with them, you should already know what would be the perfect gift for them. Unfortunately, I'm not as good at this game as he is.

There is a tie for my two favorite gifts from him. The first is from Valentine's day many many moons ago - maybe our first V day together. He gave me red tulips (my favorite flower) and wrote, played, and sang me a song. Any wonder I married him??!!!

The other gift I most love is hanging in my office where I see it every day. About four Christmases ago, he put together a little collage picture frame with a picture from our wedding, the wee ones and our pets (that are both now in pet heaven) and a beautiful poem.
Our Family. Our life. What's important. No gifts needed!

Do you and your spouse or significant other exchange lavishly or keep it simple? I'm not against lavish ;-)
...I just don't REQUIRE it  :-)
Tell me what your favorite present was from your spouse in holidays past!

Merry Christmas, Julie

My entire life, even as an adult, was always filled with Christmas presents from my parents. Even the first few years after Steve and I got married, there was quite a bit of gift exchanging between the parents and us, the siblings and us, and on and on. As the years have gone by we've tried to focus more on just the kids in the family, and I find it much more enjoyable to watch them open presents than to open them myself.

However, this year I signed up to do the Bloggie Gift Exchange that Tina organized, so I knew there would be at least one gift coming my way :-)

I've been waiting patiently and when I got home from the gym yesterday, Steve came back from the mailbox and said I had a present!!!!!! But, it wasn't from my secret santa. It was from Team In Training. A new earwarmer AND a blinking light! Training officially starts January 29th!!!!

Maybe my Secret Santa gift will arrive today. I'm feeling spoiled :-)

Are you all done Christmas shopping? I finally finished last night. Now I just have to remember where I hid the fish ...and remember to feed it for the next two days while it's hidden away.

Yay Me!

Last Run 3 mi

00:30 /09:58 pace

3 mi treadmill run 

It's just nice to actually see 9s in there instead of 10s  :-)
I actually ran most of it at 9:50 but with warm up, it dropped me down to 9:58 m/m.
YAY ME! Told you those beans would help!

Swimming in Beans

I was surprised yesterday when I was able to whip out an hour total on the stepmill, stairmaster, and elliptical with relatively little back pain. Just sitting...or standing...or laying down hurts. In fact, when I was cooling down I thought this stint with geriatric back pain was over, but as soon as I got off the machines it started up again. Sigh.

Even after an honorable mention in Q's Christmas Poem , I managed to talk myself out of a run today and was only able to talk myself into a swim with the promise of a sauna afterwards. The first mile was pretty forceful and productive and again surprisingly pain free other than my elbow tendonitis (I see that you see that I'm falling apart here...) but after that, I started to peter out, fizzle out, poop out, and just plain got tired of pretending I was swimming anywhere very fast, so after 45 minutes I called it good and sat in the sauna. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Arrived home to find myself face planted in a bowl of 1/2 BBQ and 1/2 Sour Cream and Onion potato chips (thanks husband :-) and now I'm swimming in beans...or rather, they are swimming in me. Life is good!
I promise to run tomorrow. First thing. For Sure. Powered by beans. Watch out.

Monday Morning Dance Party

It took everything I had to get motivated enough to drive to the gym last night. When I arrived, I parked in the basement of the parking garage and sat there in the dark for a full 10 minutes trying to decide if I should go in or go home.

I finally went in, sat at a few machines and then headed back out to the car. I figured if I didn't want to be there THAT much, there was no point. I still haven't ruled out mono. My throat still hurts, I still don't have great energy. However, I woke up this morning excited to be alive and started planning all I would get done today and even visualizing my workout at the gym.

Steve got out of bed and with all that free King size room, I laid there contemplating my day while I threw my legs way out and reached my arms above my head into a nice big stretch...
and pulled a muscle in my back and now I can't move. I can barely type.

I'm not physically dancing...but I'll sing along with you this morning as I remember to acknowledge that things can change in a minute and I need to be happy with where I'm at. Although I'm not moving much, I WILL make the MOST of this day!!

Dance on...

Early Christmas

Grammy and Grampy arrived today for our early Christmas together. We'll be back down to see them next Sunday, but the presents must be delivered before Christmas!

We did A LOT of watching Jack's new lava lamp...

Spent more time than would seem necessary figuring out how to conquer the Bop It Bounce...

Moved here and there trying to get comfortable while reading an entire Wimpy Kid book...

Cuddled up with Grammy...

...and now they've left to head home and we miss them already :-(

...but Mai has her new pink boom box to remind her of them wherever she goes...next to her on the desk when she needs to google something, on the counter in the powder room when she's gotta go, back out into the living room while looking at the lava lamp and dreaming about what the elves will bring tonight...

 

The boys have gone to see Tron, so us two girls are going to cuddle up snug as  bugs in a rug and get lost in the magic of Polar Express.

Baby Steps

So... coming back to running after a year and a half hiatus has been all about the baby steps. I've only been doing one or sometimes two 20 minute interval runs per week and maybe one other short run. I'm trying to keep in the front of my mind that the end result I want is to be able to run pain free again. The other result I'm looking for is a good race at Pac Crest this year. Anything besides that in the running department is just not important. So I'm taking baby steps with the actual running, but I'm making huge leaps by sticking to my stretching and I'm almost convinced, most importantly, that the shoes I'm wearing are where it's at. I have given up flip flops. The main reason I was wearing them so much was because my achilles hurt so bad that they seemed my best choice - a shoe with nothing rubbing the achilles - but I think they were exacerbating the problem (which is probably why I was told by both the doctor and the PT to not wear them).

I am still occasionally wearing my asics that I cut the backs off of..

...but for the most part I am barefoot or in my Nike Frees. After two weeks of nothing but the Frees, I put on my Asics last week and they felt so stiff and weird...like I had them on the wrong feet. Nope. Right feet, just more confining than my Frees. Then a while later I ran a quick errand in my rain boots because it was dumping here in Portland and I didn't want my Frees wet for my trip to the gym later. Again...I felt like I had them on the wrong feet...

...but didn't realize for about 30 minutes that I in fact DID have them on the wrong feet. Who says you have to be 3 years old to carry off this look?!

I'm super proud of my 20 minute interval run today. I felt strong and somewhat pain free and I've added .24 miles to my 20 minutes since I started. I'm still only at 2.08 mi in 20 minutes. When I was at my fastest, I was hitting 2.5 miles in 20 minutes of HIIT, so I've got some work to do. If I could dream a bit it would be to get back to easy 9m/m and then I'll start a new running dream.

So I got my run done, hair washed (I do it at least once a week whether it needs it or not ;-)
and actually flat ironed it, which I'm now regretting because I looked out the window and the weather looks perfect for a bike ride...but I'm meeting SIL and MIL for Christmas Shopping and Happy Hour later so I musn't mess up the do, 'cause it's not getting re-done!

Have you turned in to that woman you swore you wouldn't? You know...when you were 16 and saw moms running around town in wrinkled khakis, no make up and hair in a scrunchy and you couldn't understand how they could leave the house that way? I've been here for some time...

Honoring What Is True

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. - Anna Quindlen

In October, I attended The Women of Faith Conference in Portland. One of the guest speakers was Marcus Buckingham. I liked what he had to say and bought his book Find Your Strongest Life.  He starts you off with a quick questionnaire that can be found HERE.

I've taken it several times, the first couple with top of my head answers and this last time, really thinking them through, but I generally come up with the same top three roles.
My lead role is Motivator or Caretaker. As a Motivator, your strongest moments are when:

• You laugh - and also when you cry.
• You make others laugh.
• You are told, "You're an inspiration to me."
• You are able to take charge of a group and raise their spirits.
• You plan a celebration for someone and see her reaction.

As a Caretaker, your strongest moments are when:

• People confide in you.
• Your friends come to you over others.
• You anticipate what someone else will love and get it right.
• You relieve others' stress.
• You find a productive way to include someone who has been left out.

My supporting role is Creator. As a Creator, your strongest moments are when:

• You figure something out.
• You spend time by yourself reading, writing, preparing your mind.
• A fresh insight dawns on you.
• You have an in-depth conversation with someone.
• You get a chance to show your expertise.

The best thing about this book is his philosophy that you must search for your strong moments - not those things that you are necessarily good at, because those moments might be the very thing that is draining your life right out of you. You may be an excellent accountant, but if going to work every day is sucking out your life's blood, is it really the right place to be focusing?

I think a lot of us are just getting by in life. We are hanging on by a thread many days. There are some things we cannot change, but there are strong things in our life that we can focus on to lift ourselves up.

This is an exercise straight from the book (Find Your Strongest Life):

• Life throws a lot of moments at you: Some strengthen you, and some don't. Take the Strong Life test and share it with others. It can help you cut through the clamor of your life and pinpoint your strongest moments.
• Learn to quiet your mind and receive the emotional signals life is sending you. Only then transmitting your plans, goals, and dreams out into the world.
• See weakening moments for what they are, take their power seriously, and promise yourself that you will act to move them out of your life.
• Don't "do more to feel more." You will wind up feeling less.
• To pinpoint in vivid detail the strong-moments in your life after you've taken the Strong Life test, try this exercise: Take a pad and draw a line down the middle of it. At the top of the left write a big "+" sign, and on the right mark a big "-" sign. Carry the pad around with you and anytime you find yourself in a moment where you feel successful, in flow, in control, energized, scribble it down in the "+" column. Write it right then and there, in the moment; don't wait until the end of the day or the the week -- you won't be specific enough. Anytime you feel the opposite -- unsuccessful, you can't concentrate, out of control, panicked -- scribble it down in the "-" column.

Do this for two weeks and see if you can find areas that are making you feel unsuccessful or not lifting you up. Can you get those moments out of your life? Great. The bigger picture, though, is to find and focus on what your strong moments are. You want to get more of that in your life. Don't focus on the weak moments, focus on the strong moments!! One of the most important things this has taught me is that I need to take the focus off of things my children do that seem to me to be negatives and focus on what their strong suits are. Wee girl is messy. I need to get over it. Wee girl is funny and loves to sing and act. Prosper it!!!!!! Encourage it!!! Feed it!!!

I swear, if you do this exercise for a week or two, you will be amazed at the day to day things you can rearrange or focus on to make your life stronger and ultimately more joyful. When you find a strong moment, get as much out of it as you can. Make it happen more often!!

• Did you take the test? What are your lead and supporting roles?
• Think about yesterday or this morning...What strong moments did you have that you want more of? 

Monday Morning Dance Party

I feel like poo but I'm still trying to get into the dancing spirit. Anti-biotics finished...throat pain, headache, and earaches returned.

TGIM? Sure. I'm gonna go with it! Make it a good one!!

Dancing The Night Away

The first video is just the girls showing off their mad dancing skills last night.

The second video is going straight to America's Funniest Videos.





Katie was so upset with herself, it took a good 10 minutes for her to be able to laugh about it with the rest of us.

I'm Gonna Crack This Little Nut

So...After primping and preening and finding the right stuffed animal to match her purse...

...and picking out the coolest new Hannah Montana heels...

Little Miss Mai attended the Nutcracker with Mama, Grandma, and this little nut...

...named Katie, who says she doesn't believe in Santa Clause anymore. Well, she believes he "may" have existed a long time ago...but he definitely didn't fly through the skies in a sleigh. I showed her the cool gloves the elves left me and asked her to explain THAT!
HA!
Then, since she is spending the night with us, I asked Mai to find an extra stocking we can hang out for Katie...just in case she had been good today and the elves might need some place to stuff her present tonight.

I'm gonna crack this little non-believing nut before her time with us is over.

Do YOU hear the sleigh bells? I still do...

The Simple Things

I made a Christmas list and hung it on the fridge for whoever might pass by and wonder what images I have flashing through my mind this season. It contains things like a bike trainer, new bike tires, snow shoes, a Garmin. But the thing is...not a single one is at all important to me (well...maybe the bike tires) and I could really never get any of those things and not give them a thought ever again. I'm easy that way...but I figured in case we won the lottery and Steve wanted to buy me something, I should supply him with some ideas :-)

However, this week The Elves left Mama something besides chocolate in her stocking ~ a pair of colorful fingerless gloves from the $1 aisle at Target. That's really all it takes to make me happy.

So I'm simply satisfied. No more gifts needed. A little colorful fun for my hands and the rest is unnecessary...although I would love a card...with a handwritten note...containing the word Christ...and Love.

Merry Christmas!

I'm White...and Some Swimming Stuff

Without a tan, I just don't feel quite right. Kind of like my friend up there. Something is missing.
I've never been someone who goes to tanning beds on a weekly basis all year round or anything that regular, but I've definitely used them in my time and I've always been a sun baby in the summer months. I'm used to my skin being at least a little tan year round.

Last year I found out I had squamous cell cancer on my leg... and now I'm white. I'm so white that I can see my age spots, that I never even knew I had. I can really see the sun damage to the elasticity of my skin and I'm feeling a bit like that cat...not just that something is missing (my tan) but that I've gained something...a LOT of wrinkles!

My point? Don't have one. I just miss being tan. Silliness it is! But here's to a life filled with SPF50 while I'm out swimming, biking and running! I hope you'll join me in my SPF safety!

Speaking of swimming...

I started my triathlon journey as a non-swimmer. I could tread water in the ocean and always "thought" I knew how to swim but my first trip to the pool and not being able to make it one length without feeling like I was dying was an eye opener! So...TNT taught me to swim. They taught me so well, in fact, that it's probably my best leg of the race. I'm a top of the middle of pack swimmer in my age group. How's that for average? I'll take it!

I have two swimming goals this year. I would like to drop 2 minutes off my swim leg at Pac Crest and I think that it is totally doable. The other goal is less about the race and more about becoming a better swimmer and stepping out of my comfort zone. I've refused to this point to work on my breathing. I breath every other stroke. I don't practice breathing on my left side... as it annoys me. I don't try taking more strokes before taking a breath... because it annoys me. I like to do how I do it because I'm free to let my mind wander, pretend I'm a fish and not think...but I think it would only help me to work on these things and really do my drills this year...'cause doing what I've been doing is perfectly good and getting me average results, but I'm in the mood to push myself and maybe move up a notch on this leg of the race...so here's to being a faster and more efficient fish :-)

I received some correspondence from the TNT Oly coach yesterday:

Coach Beez: Good evening Julie,
I didn't see your name on the team's roster this year. Which Pac Crest distance are you joining this season?

Me: The 1/2 again!


Coach Beez: Awesome!!  (coach) Glen is going to be broooo-tal this year..  hee hee


*********************************
ya...hee hee hee diddly hee...Bring it!

Pac Crest Half Iron

I'm totally excited to say that I'm training with Team in Training again this year (4th time!!! - 1 marathon, 3 triathlons) to race at Pac Crest Half Iron in June. If you don't know my story and how cancer has affected our family, here is my link to my TNT page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/pctri11/jarts

If you have never raced with TNT, I can tell you it is an amazing emotional experience. If you are looking to train for your first marathon or triathlon...again...an amazing experience. You'll have great coaches and great companions along your journey.

Here's a little video that sums up this beautiful race :-)

Monday Morning Dance Party - Huh Sukka?

Dancing makes Mondays brighter :-)
TGIM!!

Lookin' good's a state of mind.

I Feel Like Making Love

Ki and I headed out for our usual dog walk earlier. It's gorgeous in P Town today. Blue skies and lots and lots of sunshine. With my face to the sky like a sunflower, I'm struttin' along listening to Kid Rock sing me his tune...

Baby, when I think about you
I think about love.
Darlin, couldn't live without you
And your love.

If I had those golden dreams of my yesterday
I would wrap you
In the heavens
And feel it dyin (dyin, dyin) all the way

I feel like makin
Feel like makin love
Feel like makin love
Feel like makin love
Feel like makin love to you

Baby, if I think about you
I think about love.
Darlin, if I live without you
I live without love.

Good times...Me and The Kid all lost in our own sunshiny world...
...When I slowly come to the conclusion that there is a man in a truck slowly cruising along beside me trying to get my attention. I pull out an earbud and look to him expectantly.

He says to me "fixed?".
I say to him "fixed to do what?"

"I'm looking to breed." says he.
 "uuuuuuhhhhh.... huhhhhhh....?" all smart looking with my slackjaw, says I.
(oh. dear. God...did he just say what I think he said? He wants to breed with me?)

Him (nodding his head downward near my feet): "Your husky. She's real purty. I got a male at home that I'm fixin' to breed."

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....................


Me: "Yep. We're fixed.... Ummmm... Have a great day?"

Blame it on my Cowboy Kid.

The Fashion Show

Got Husky?

I actually thought the carpet looked pretty clean before I kneeled down to stretch after my run...
#1 Rule to visiting my home: Don't wear black.


So...Mai decided to put on a fashion show for me the other night. She had four outfits she wanted to wear down the catwalk. She supplied me with a program for the evening...

Categories included:

Pretty
Hot
Teen
Easy

I looked at this list and became a little nervous that one category was "Hot". In previous days I would have assumed she would either come out in a swimsuit for "hot weather" or in a snow suit "which would make her feel rather warm"...but earlier this week she asked if she looked Hot and when I asked her if she knew what that meant, she said Sexy. I asked if she knew what sexy meant and she said "Yes, Cousin K told me all about it last week!"

Then I looked further down the list and saw she had an "Easy" category and I was afraid to even ask.
Fortunately she meant easy as in a tank top, pull on skirt and flip flops..."See, Mama...it was so easy to put on".
ahhhhhhh...
cool.
My kind of category.

I Choose

IT’S QUIET. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met.
For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love . . .

No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy . . .

I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace . . .

I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I choose patience . . .

I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I choose kindness . . .

I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness . . .

I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness . . .

Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I choose gentleness . . .

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.

I choose self-control . . .

I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

From When God Whispers Your Name
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1994) Max Lucado

A Christmas Miracle

We're officially in the holiday spirit around here. Tree is UP!
I stole a holiday tradition from Abby and told the kids we could sleep around the tree the first night. I ran to the store for cookies for the elves and I returned to find Mai had made our big family bed and assigned sleeping spots

Now for the Christmas Miracle. I want to re-share one of my favorite Christmas stories from last year...I love having kids!

A Christmas Miracle

It's a dog eat dog world...especially in our house lately. As I eluded yesterday, we had another such incident in the early morning hours. In a nutshell,  Ki scarfed down ChiChi's face like it was a chocolate and peanut butter covered bone. Whatever happened, we missed the massacre...only finding the leftover pieces. Mai, of course, was devastated by the results.

I wracked and wracked my brain to remember where ChiChi came from, but Mai does most of her own "aminal" shopping these days, and I really had no idea where she picked him up... so I gave up. Many hours later, I knew I needed to re-do the grocery shopping that was interrupted earlier in the day, so I hurried over to Winco under the pressure of the great winter storm warning we were having. The store was packed and crowded and grumpy with people not wanting to get stuck at home with no provisions. I was whipping through the aisles, bumping into people, pushing the rude entire aisle takers forward with my cart when out of the corner of my eye I spotted an entire shelf stuffed full of bug eyed stuffed animals. Gray and pink, gray and pink, pig after elephant after pig. They somehow looked familiar and I realized THIS WAS THE STORE!!! Like a crazy woman on Black Friday, I frantically started pulling those little buggers off the shelf until I found at the very back corner, one lone brown chihuahua. Holy Christmas Miracle of Miracles!!!! I am Mighty Mouse ~~~ HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could barely hold in my excitement all evening, until finally I asked Mai to bring me ChiChi's remains so we could try to fix her. In our house, the elves come every night with a little treat as soon as the Christmas tree goes up, so as I held ChiChi in my hand, I told Mai, "I just don't think I have the talent to save her. Wait a minute, Mai!!! The elves! The elves! They are master toy craftsmen, I bet if you left ChiChi and a note to them by your stocking, THEY could fix her up."
Mai's eyes lit up and she got to writing.

Dear Elves,
Can you fix ChiChi?

Off to bed she went, and off to work I went...
Good as new. Or in this case...Brand New!

Mai woke up before me to find ChiChi in pristine condition. When I arose, I found this:
Dear Elves,
Can you fix Max?
I love you

ruh roh.