Tales of the Ordinary Days

Zeke decides to steal the driver's seat after his dog park adventure With Boise's typical sunny skies and high desert warmth (that seems to avoid the midwestern cold), we humans + dog are acclimating well to our new surroundings. The only difference between the humans and the dog is that he misses his snowy back yard and furry playmates in Omaha.  I keep reminding myself that if my biggest worry over the move is the proper socialization of the pup, we are in good shape. But it doesn't stop me from feeling bad for Zekers. As his human brothers before him, Zeke really loved the open run of our Omaha yard. With the house situated on a busy path for neighborhood dog-walkers and neighboring dogs, Zeke had constant interaction with both dogs and people. Boise is a whole new environment for him. We are living in the foothills, overlooking the city, and although our cozy retreat is perfect for Garrett and me, Zeke gets bored quickly. The quiet of our little house offer...

Post-run cheers on a sunny day in July a year ago. The reason for celebration ultimately turned into a bust. But the celebration of a friendship and being at each other's side every step of the way is real. Garrett refers to my running friends as my gal pals. We wake at the crack of dawn to run, cutting it up through the morning darkness. 5:30 is our meet time. And depending on the meeting point and travel time involved, our average alarm wake-up call is 5:15 a.m. "So what did you and your gal pals talk about this morning?" is a typical Garrett question. I then brief my curious husband on our specific subjects over the approximate 55 minutes of run time together. They generally include analysis of our life while rehashing events from our last run and humor in our daily musings. We certainly don't take ourselves too seriously. But we equally take very seriously our role in being each other's accountability partners; the most influential personal boar...

Happy Valentine's Day! Although Garrett and I spent Sunday apart, I was surprised with this beautiful bouquet of flowers greeting me upon my arrival home on Monday. Two cards were delivered in the mail as well. Both sweet and very thoughtful. But like the flowers, very unexpected. Thoughtful words and gifts, out of the blue, are always special. Genuine acts of kindness. A Valentine's Day forgotten became a Valentine's Day remembered. Sunday, Day 69 of my 90 days off, was the big V-Day. I was in Chicago finishing my Girls' Weekend. Garrett was in Denver preparing for a Monday on the ski slopes with his son. Other than a text back and forth, V-Day was an afterthought for both of us. We both knew this when we made plans for the weekend and didn't think the worse of the other. No expectations. As I read through FaceBook posts on the holiday of note, they were filled with words of love and pictures similar to the one above. But one particular post on a fri...

Saturday, Day 68, I joined some of my high school friends in Chicago. Just coming off of our 30 year class reunion, I was very excited for this hurriedly planned weekend (at least for me). I had meant to blog about our reunion weekend in Remsen last September, but as was common for me those fall months, time slipped by with no posted story. I will give it a short summary as I believe it's never to late to share. The reunion was fantastic. A night of sharing friendship and life with the people I grew up. Fast forward thirty years. Before leaving Omaha to make the two hour trek to Remsen for the reunion, I went to a baby shower. An older lady at my table asked what I was doing for the rest of the day. When I told her of my reunion in my hometown, Remsen, I loved her enthusiastic response on my trip. "The 30 year reunion was the best! You will have a ball. No one cares about so-called success milestones of the past....kid accomplishments, schools, cars, jobs. No bragging...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me.... Not a partridge. But a great day. Lemonade came in many forms. Here's a quick synopsis: 5:30 a.m. - Ran with my gal pals. Bearing my soul to my best confidants under the light of the pre-sunrise moon: Priceless. 7:00 a.m. - Climbed back into my warm bed with sleeping hubby. Thoughts of catching another hour of shut eye were diffused by a tempting hot bath. With a cup of morning coffee prepared by my thoughtful husband, I wallowed in hot water and bubble bath glory. 9:00 a.m. - Haircut and color by my long-time hairdresser. My every six week appointments are as much sanity as vanity as she and I take turns playing mentor and counselor to each other. Hair is still brown. Hints of gray have now disappeared. Curls are added. 11:30 a.m. - Robbie stops by to pick up Creighton tickets. Lots of laughs over the newly 'retired' couple making lunch and planning their days. Always love our Robbie. Lots of lemonad...