Allergies

I can't believe it's almost May already. Where has April gone? And where are my allergies? I feel like usually they have started by this point in time and I've only had a couple of days where I noticed some very slight symptoms. Is the pollen just slow to get going this year due to some crazy weather? Or is this a lighter pollen year? If so, you won't see me complaining. I would be more than happy to avoid allergies altogether. I'm a little surprised though; usually the 2nd half of April, all of May, and sometimes even into June my allergies are so bad there are some days I can't even put in my contacts. I hope the late start to allergies means good things for my body and not just a postponement of allergy season.

Strawberries

Today strawberries were buy one get one free at the grocery store.  They actually look ok considering the time of year, and I definitely haven't been eating as much fruit (or veggies) as I should be, so it will be so nice to get some back into my diet. That is one of my favorite things about spring/summer, the decrease in produce prices and the increase in produce quality. I'm not a big veggie eater, but even I enjoy heading to the grocery store, or even better, the farmer's market, to buy some fresh stuff and toss it all together in a salad or use some tomatoes and make some bruschetta. And I absolutely love when the perfectly ripe fruit hits the stores and it goes on sale, especially raspberries. Yum. It's hard to beat fresh fruit and veggies. I know it's still a month or so until they are really fresh and actually in season, but it's nice to have a hint of that already.

I Heart Endorphins

I used to be a pretty serious runner. So much so that I even managed to run the Twin Cities Marathon in 2009. Once I got pregnant and had Charlotte, running took a back burner for a long, long time. I still exercised by taking walks while pregnant and in the months after Charlotte was born before it got too cold, but I really let things slide when it came to running. Now that spring is back and with it some gorgeous weather, and Charlotte is finally big enough to use the jogging stroller, I've been getting back out there. Boy, has it been tough. I love it though. I've only gone 3 times in the past week, and only a couple of miles a time, but I'm really pleased that I've been able to do any running at all. I love running so much. It's been a part of my life for so long now. I've never really been great, but I do it because there is nothing else like it, and I never feel stressed or anxious about life once I get going. When I hit the road running my mind is free. Sometimes I think deep thoughts, sometimes I pray, sometimes I just think about my day and my schedule, but it's never stressful thinking. And sometimes I'm so tired and out of breath that the only thing I can think about it how hard it is to keep going. I love that feeling too. My mind just empties of everything else except running and getting one foot in front of the other over and over again. It feels great to finish those runs, knowing it was a challenge that I faced head on and won. Although 2 miles didn't used to be such a challenge. That's what happens with so much time off and pushing a jogging stroller. Hopefully soon I'll be in a little bit better of shape and able to go a little further. And hopefully Charlotte will keep enjoying the ride and not get too bored. I'm a little worried to go more than 3-4 miles at a time anyway because I don't know how enjoyable that is for her. I have a ways to go before I get to that point though, fortunately and unfortunately. For now I'm just going to enjoy the chance to get out there and run a couple of times a week.

Bad Day

Sometimes technology is not as good as people think it is. Especially when you save something and go back and find it is deleted and have to start from scratch. And then you can't think of what exactly you said and how you worded it, only that you know you really like how it sounded. And there is no way you can recreate the same words and feeling behind them but you have to try because it's important that you do. But no matter what you write you still like how it sounded the first time. And it makes you very frustrated because it was perfect and it should have saved but somehow something went wrong with the computer and it didn't, even though you did everything right. Stupid technology.