a life beyond running shoes.

i saw him last night. (ALL of him for that matter) ian mckellen as king lear. oh my gracious!!! i have never seen such amazing performances. the entire cast was outrageously awesome. it is what real talent looks like, with real theater, and real performances. i am spoiled now. it is such a performance that i will still be telling my kids about it 10 years from now.... because i was there AND stayed awake the whole time.

finally!!! i got to run with my running partner. it is amazing how quickly 3 miles can go when there is conversation, laughter, and motivation..... it was wonderful. i think we are both in pretty good shape.... and even discussed a potential race. it was so nice to catch up with her semester, family, work, training, etc. the best part was realizing that when we met our old friend the hill, it was done easily and without hitting the pause button on our chat. it took so much less effort than my encounter with the hill the day before. amazing how a little bit of company can make something difficult seem less torturous. i assume that is the metaphor for struggle in life, or life in general. when we live our lives with other people, the load is less burdensome. but it is hard to get past the idea that we have to manage it all by ourselves. i am a prideful creation who does not like to ask for help, yet i physically feel the benefit of running with a partner. i may not get there as ...

my run on saturday made me acutely aware of the fact that i run in shorts. running down ocean parkway (envisioned by architect olmsted in 1866, this path connects prospect park to coney island) at 7:30 am means i come face to face with different groups of folks walking to shabbat service dressed in long black skirts, wigs, hats, black suits, kippots (or yarmulke), and tzitzit (tassels). i on the other hand am in a tank & shorts bobbing along listening to postal service & feist trying to get in my 5 miles. i am aware of the uniqueness of new york where cultures really do collide. case and point, i turn off ocean parkway and passed a woman in a full burqa. i often see arabic woman wearing head scarves (especially in our new neighborhood), but this was the first time i had personally seen the full burqa. then take my walk to lunch with my friend on sunday after church..... we come across a block party of high end sports cars..... lamborghini, porshe, ferrari, etc. that was...

tee, hee..... right?! well, sometimes i think i'm not.... like when hanging around john's family where EVERYONE is competitive (almost). but... the reality is that i am. i can just choose when to tap in to it. like with my new nike+ sport pedometer. i go out and jog, it records my time & distance, it links it to a website. on this website you can start challenges or join a challenge. i challenged one of the other pastors that my husband knows to see who could run the most miles in 30 days. i figured we could both use the motivation. a little competition never hurt anyone, right?! but now i want to win. like on tuesday... out for a run with the jog stroller in the middle of a great pace around the full loop, feeling good, thinking about trying for another half loop..... increase the mileage. and the nine month old starts falling a part. like he is hungry or something because the bottle he had an hour ago is not still sustaining him. kids can be so demanding! i resig...

i can honestly say that i have failed to fully appreciate the fact that we get the new york times . mostly because i would rather watch what not to wear , read other people's blogs, or whatever novel i am engaged with. but this morning, after my run outside.... i sat on the floor to stretch with the book review section. the essay this week was about allan bloom's book and the debate that has continued to ensue regarding the famous love of mine.... the literary canon. his book (published in 1988) claims "that abandoning the Western canon had dumbed down universities, while the 'relativism' that had replaced it had 'extinguished the real motive of education, the search for a good life....that many earlier contributions were just watered-down versions of Heidegger, Nietzsche, Weber, Freud, and other Continental thinkers.'" what is interesting is to know that this debate continues. as an english teacher by trade (yes, one that fails to use capital letters...

one thought i had for our meal week is to do homemade pizza on friday nights. in our old neighborhood, i could find pizza dough for $2.50. in our new neighborhood, rent may be cheaper but the pizza dough ain't. SO.....i made my own. it actually got twice as big as this. we made BBQ chicken pizza (without cheese for our older son). his cheese allergy is what prompted this "at home pizza." we can't do take out pizza on a whim. that has its perks & pitfalls. one - it is easy for a meal. the other hand - it saves me from greasy pizza which helps the waist line. anyway.... we had pasture raised chicken roasted from monday night left over, so we smothered it in bbq sauce with red onions & cheese...yummy! this morning we hit the farmers market again. the egg lady was not there nor was the milk guy. argh! i did pick up a flyer about pasture-raised dairy & meat... here are some fun facts: pasture-raised beef are grown in less crowded & stressful condition...

since trekking into the farmer's market via the subway weekly, i have become a bit more adventurous with our activities in new york mostly because we are no longer limited to where we can walk to..... (almost 9 months) so, today the boys and i ventured down to coney island with some friends. we basically just played in the sand for two hours, dodged pieces of glass, and ate lunch around 10am. it was a great way to spend $4 on the subway! (especially since the 87% humidity is gone and it was a lovely 74 degrees & partly cloudy - perfect beach weather for this fair mom) (almost 2 and a half)

so, where did i go? i'm not really sure. it isn't like i have been idle. we are pretty much settled into the new apartment.... our pretty new chairs for our living room (which was painted since this pic). we didn't have enough seating and had to get some more cool place for people to put their rumps when they come to visit. our foyer.... i have a foyer. i have a place to put & display all of my great photos & my hutch with my china. and my pretty new bedroom. i have been reading a ton..... this was our most recent book club book. we met about three weeks ago and had a great discussion. i just checked out the follow-up book to this from the library. i met with three women to dialogue about this book. it is all about chastity.... from a christian perspective. it is about the best book i have read on christian living. i am in the middle of this and just working through it slowly. it is overwhelming and challenging all at the same time. i wrestle with what does it ...