I Run These Towns

Last year I threatened to rename this blog "I Brunch These Towns" because I was doing that more than running. I am thinking of maybe a third of the year (in the winter) I should simply brunch these towns and then run these towns the other two-thirds. I'm only being mildly facetious because running in the winter can be lovely. Also brunch is somethin g that should happen every weekend regardless of season. Last weekend the temperatures were in the 40s, and it was ideal running weather (albeit a little windy). Unfortunately I did not run once. Brunch: 2 Running: 0. Last week my son had a stomach bug which made running next to impossible. I did squeak in one short run on the treadmill but that was it. By the weekend he was back to himself and finally allowing us to get into our extensive brunching and friend visiting schedule.  On Saturday morning we headed to Detroit to meet with friends at P arks & Rec Diner in the renovated Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) build...

Being normal is overrated. I mean what is nor mal anyway? While I imagine a lot of us want to liked, fit in, be p opular (even as adul ts and even if we d on't admit it) . I'm happy t hat our society has begun to embrace nonconformity. I think we should be celebrating what makes our children (and us) different. Celebrate intelligence, creativity, quirkiness, passion and kindness in whatever ways they manifest themselves. Take the traits we have and highlight them. We're all our own awesome. While I think it's critical to celebrate the personality differences that make us who we are, I think it's another thing to feature societal differences created outside the control of the child. For the second year in a row I've been severely irritated by the myriad daddy/daughter dance posts on Facebook, and I've decided I can't keep it in any longer. I think the posts are lovely. I love seeing my friends' lovely daughters dress up with their dads and go to...

I've lived in Michigan for ten years, but it still doesn't feel like home. I've recently come to the realization that it may never. There are things I really love about living here, and there are things I really do not love about living here. My husband and son are here. I have amazing friends, a house I love and a job I'm passionate about. There's a lot to love, but then there are the things I hate. I hate the winter. I hate it with a fiery passion. Even this mild winter annoys me. Granted with climate change winter is kind of weird everywhere, but it really gets to me. I hate that there's no sunlight. It is depressing. I wish I didn't have to drive so much. Even living downtown still requires lots of driving in Michigan because this place was built for cars and discourages any other kinds of transportation. But really what it all comes down to is that this just doesn't feel like home. I only lived in Morgantown, West Virginia for six years. My paren...

Despite my running/exercise enthusiasm I don't describe myself as athletic. Tenacious, yes; athletic, no. My tenacity is what generally helps me reach my running and exercise goals. My persistence is what got me up at 6 am five days a week in college to go to the gym. Stubbornness pushed me to a PR in my last marathon despite not training. It led me to start tumbling in high school because I loved cheerleading so much. It led me to hundreds of crunches every night while in high school and college (I think that was capacity combined with insanity). At any rate my athleticism has long been bolstered by my determination. I was a cheerleader for ten years while growing up. I loved everything about it. I wasn't on a competitive, successful squad, but I loved cheering. In high school I started attending tumbling classes with some members of our rival high school's squads (a squad that was a very successful, state champion team). I wasn't the best tumbler in their class, ...

Ten years is a long time. A lot can happen in a decade. Ten years ago I moved to Michigan from Norfolk, Virginia. I left the familiar confines of my family, a job I enjoyed and a city I'd grown to love to move nearly 800 miles north to Lansing, Michigan. I followed a boy and a job to a place where I didn't know anyone. Not one single soul. It was quite the adventure. I hated winter immediately. In my first week of my new job I stepped into a melty snow puddle and ruined my favorite Gianni Bini shoes. I loved those shoes. I can only get them at Dillard's . You know what Michigan doesn't have? Dillard's. I disliked winter intensely and immediately, and that has not lessened much in ten years. The boy didn't last long. I broke up with him only a few weeks after I moved here. The job was fascinating. The legislature was a fascinating creature that I grew addicted to rather quickly. There's one thing about working in the Michigan legislature - it either grab...

Let's face it - life can be mundane. It's so easy to get bogged down in the details of life and the myriad tasks we have to complete rather than apprecia ting the beauty in those details .  Last week one o f our city managers passed away unexpectedly, and it has me thinking a lot about the banal tasks required of life. This man was young (only 48). I kept imagining that over the weekend he was living his normal life worrying about whatever we worry about . It all feels so important and then two days later he is gone. Since my dad passed away nearly four months ago I've struggled a lot with the humdrum of daily life , and this death has torn open that wound. I've always had trouble adjusting when excitement is over. Whether it's been the excitement at the beginning of a new relationship, looking forward to vacation or running the next big race, the let down once the excitement die s down has always been a challenge for me. That's one of the reasons we...