Inner Fortitude

Although I'm enjoying my running time, I don't think I'd be able to train for this 1/2 marathon in December on my own. I feel immense gratitude toward my two running partners for keeping me going. Knowing someone will be waiting outside my door at 5:30 AM, expecting me to be ready to run, is a great motivator.

But my running buddies are off to the beach next week, so it's all on me.  I cannot slam the alarm off and roll over and go back to sleep, no matter how much I want to. I need to keep the momentum going.

We're running 45 minutes to an hour 3-4x/week.  We're slow, probably averaging just over a 10-minute mile, but hey, we're doing it. I have immense respect for my neighbor who is 20 years older than me and keeping pace. Her husband (our fearless leader) is almost 60 but he's been running most of his life. M. is new to it and I think she does a phenomenal job.

I'm off this weekend to visit my best friend in Cincinnati. We met when we were sophomores in college and have been pretty much bonded at the hip ever since. We alternate visiting one another and this year is my turn. I've packed running gear, including I-Pod and stopwatch, and hold out great hope of running at least once if not twice over the weekend.  Trisha is the one who started me running in college. Unfortunately, she's almost blown out both her knees and isn't supposed to run anymore. Not that that stops her, but she's not supposed to.

I expect to sit down at Trisha's computer and do a bit of blogging over the weekend, but in case I don't, everyone have a fun and safe weekend.

Activity Ideas for a Pre-Teen?

At the end of this month our 11-year old niece Katlin is going to come up and spend the weekend with us and you all must help me. I want it to be one of those fun, magical, "Aunt Dena and Uncle Blair are the coolest people on the planet"  weekends. But I'm drawing a blank.

On our side is that this isn't one of those forced activities.  She wants  to come for the weekend.My sister-in-law shared with us that Katlin told her that if anything ever happened to them (meaning my sister-in-law and her husband, Katlin's parents), she wanted to live with Uncle Blair and Aunt Dena.  How precious is that, I ask you?

But what to do with a pre-teen in 100 degree North Carolina heat? If the river is up, we're thinking maybe a 3-hour kayacking trip. Also, Katlin has been to England several times and inherited her grandmother's teapot collection and is big into afternoon teas. She has a little recipe book for things like cucumber sandwiches, scones, and other snacks that go with tea so we thought we might spend some time in the kitchen. (I know, I know. I'll be careful. And hopefully Blair will be there to supervise in case we need to use the stove.)

But if anyone has any other ideas, send them on. I'd prefer it be a weekend spent bonding vs. watching movies or TV. I'm trying to remember what I liked to do when I was eleven. Play with  make-up? Ride bikes.  I also had my cousins around to play with and we did a lot of neighborhood activities. 

I caught the tail end of a report on NPR that said directors of national parks and other outdoor places are worried. It used to be American kids growing up spent the majority of their time outside either playing or working. But in the last several decades there's been a severe reversal and people--kids especially--don't go outside like they used to. This is translating into less people wanting to spend time camping, going to national parks or participating in any kind of touristy outdoor activities.  I hadn't thought about it in those terms, but that makes sense. As kids, our parents sent us outside in the summer with instructions to come home when the street lights came on. No way I'd do that with a child nowadays.

Sorry, got sidetracked. To sum up, please share any ideas you have for aunt-uncle-neice bonding time. Thanks! 

When An Article Doesn't Work

I'm fortunate in that most of my article-writing skill comes easily for me. I research and interview and put in the time but for the most part I don't struggle to pull an article together.

Not so with this week's project. An editor friend asked me to write a humor article for the medical cat journal she produces for a University. A lot of the articles in the magazine are straightforward, fact-based text. She liked the idea of adding a dash of humor to the mix. We decided I'd do a sort of Letterman Top-1o list about why cats bring humor to our lives. But she also asked I interview a few experts and sprinkle in their opinions, to give the article a bit of weight.

Honestly, I expected to toss this article out in an afternoon.  Hasn't happened. I have been playing with this thing for 3 days now and it's still not coming together. The problems are several-fold:

1. I always tense up when writing for a friend. I have that whole "need to prove I didn't get the work just because it's a friend and therefore I must submit genius-level work" complex.
   
2.  I'm having a much harder than anticipated time melding the "funny" and "serious" aspects of the article.
3. Word Count. A simple 1000 words is usually no problem. But for an article that revolves around a Top 10 list, I'm struggling to fill the space.
   

I was hoping to submit the article this week but it's not in the cards. I need to just stick the article away for a few days and come back to it with a fresh perspective. Frankly, I have the nagging feeling my best bet would be to scrap what I have and start over. I'm working too hard to make things flow which is a red flag that the pieces just don't fit together.

A few dear writer friends have offered to read what I have and give suggestions but egads--I'm so unhappy with what's there I shudder to hand it off to anyone else. Might be time to put the ego aside and do just that though. 

Docile Kitty?

No no no no no no no no.  NO.  Uh-uh. This can't be happening. My Olivia, my baby, my kitten, my silent-mewing sweetie-pie, just barked at me to pet her. I swear it was a full out "You will do it NOW - ROWR!"  cat bark.  But this can not be. Olivia is my gentle soul of a cat. She never makes a peep, just sits and stares at you with wide eyes until you do her bidding.  Silence is her constant companion.

To the contrary, Lucy, our tuxedo cat, won't shut up.  If she is in need of anything--water, food, playtime, combing, fresh litter, by God, you will hear about it.  And she doesn't even pretend to be nice about it. Her voicings have a definite "move your ass" quality to them.

What if Lucy has tainted Olivia? Dear Lord, I can't handle two of them bossing me around. I depend on silent angel Olivia to temper the storm that is Lucy-Cat. I always thought I wanted them to be friends, but now I'm not so sure.

I better cut this short and go comb Olivia. I'm afraid of what might happen if I don't.