I Run These Towns

I have run three 5ks this year. I'm used to running multiple half marathons and lots of 5ks and 10ks, but this year has been a challenge. Back in March I ran the Run for the House . I won my age group and thought I was back on track to begin running again. But my body had other plans, and I decided that in order to heal I needed to take a serious running hiatus.  It's been weird both physically and mentally. I'm used to logging lots of miles and as a result eating and drinking whatever I want without gaining weight. It turns out running burns lots of calories, so if I want delicious things like ice cream and wine I've got to burn it off. I'm at my heaviest weight ever, and it's all settled in my butt. Thankfully people are into that.  Mentally not running means I've lost my biggest way to relieve stress and a huge part of my identity. It's weird sleeping in on the weekends instead of lacing up my shoes and hitting the river trail. I see social media ...

This week we were out to dinner with friends, and one of them was telling us a funny story from college. He quipped, "It was the best day ever." When his wife looked over she asked to what he was referring, and I said it was the day he married her. She rolled her eyes knowing that's not what he'd said, but it raised a question. My husband asks the group, "Remove the big ones - weddings, birth of children - but what is your best day?" Nobody had a ready answer because that's a huge question. I've been thinking about it in the days since wondering, other than those huge life events, what is my best day? It turns out I don't have a best day, a single best 24 hours in my life. I have a series of moments that, when woven together, make up my best day. Take our wedding as an example. I loved our wedding, and I had so much fun. But to be honest it wasn't the best day of my life. It's stressful. It's expensive. It flies by in a blur, and ...

I am constantly searching for lasting perspective. Some major, life changing event will happen, and I will think this is it! This is the event that will help me gain major life perspective. I'll slow down. I'll take life in. I'll be kind to myself. And then there's the competing side of that: I can slow down when I'm old. Life is too short. There's too much to do/see/experience that I don't want to miss any of it! Say yes to every single social opportunity! When I lost my dad a little more than a year and a half ago I thought the deep perspective I'd gained would be permanent. Six months later I was blogging about my complete exhaustion. I think back now to how I felt last March when I wrote that blog, and I had so much energy compared to now. When will I listen to my body? I think we all know the answer is never. The question then becomes how will I balance a busy life and a chronic illness without sacrificing the things I don't want to miss? T...

I didn't read any parenting books before we had our son. Parenting advice is varied and nobody disagrees on the same parenting style. Plus parenting books mostly just stress me out. We're smart, educated adults. Sure we're going to screw up our kid (because that's part of the gig), but we'll figure it out. Lots of people with less resources than us have.  When my son was two months old I wrote what may be my most controversial blog about how parents have to prioritize what's best for them. I declared that I wouldn't leave the house with my hair wet or phone in my work attire. It wasn't intended to be judgmental. My point is that these types of things were important before I had kids and would remain so after I had a child. Two and a half years later what I wrote in that blog remains true to me. And it also goes to follow that even once you have children you prioritize what's important to you, whatever that may be. I think people use children as an...

I've been hospitalized three times in the last twelve months. I have to let you in on a little secret: I'm over it. For the first time in nearly 20 years of suffering with Crohn's Disease, Crohn's has defeated my attitude. People have always told me I'm so positive, and they don't know how I deal with it. The answer is you just deal with it. What's the alternative? But the last year and in particular the last eight months has wreaked havoc on my body and my positive psyche, and I'm not amused. I had an abscess drained in October, and the plan was to keep it draining until the abscess was healed. It's now June, nearly eight months since that procedure, and the abscess is still draining. It's as delightful as you might imagine. I've discovered things I never thought I'd know, like the best gauze for my constant abscess bandage is the 4x4 squares at Meijer. Tuck that away for future reference in case you need a constant supply of gauze. ...

In eleven years of togetherness my husband and I have been invited to 47 weddings. This includes five weddings this year. We've already received three invitations and two save the dates. We have attended 33 of the weddings to which we've been invited, and we plan to attend all five this year, taking us to having attended a grand total of 38 weddings by the end of the year. I've attended more weddings than most caterers. I also decided for purposes of this blog to try to find photos from all the weddings we've attended. I mostly succeeded, and I've discovered 1) my hair has really evolved over the last dozen years and 2) I have several dresses that were really fan favorites. I've been thinking a lot about weddings lately mainly because we continue to be invited to so many of them. In 2008 we attended six weddings, the last of which was our own in December. I've learned a lot about what makes weddings good (or average. The goal is to leave thinking i...

Last week my friend lost his battle to alcoholism when he took his own life. I've spent the last week reflecting and thinking about the impact that disease has on so many. My family and I drove 400 miles one way to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to celebrate his life. It was the most genuine service I've ever attended. I laughed, I cried, and I forgot about the way in which John lost his life. He was an alcoholic, but that was only a part of a wonderful human who touched so many lives. It's a disease we don't discuss or we discuss with shame, and so many people are affected by it. It forces those suffering to hide. My dad, Rick Jones, was an alcoholic. I talked to my mom before writing this blog because there is a stigma. It's hard to say those words out loud let alone see them on the screen. But alcoholism affected every member of my family in different ways. My mom bore the brunt of it, but this is not her story. My sister is six years older and had a different ...