Holy Toledo, A Christmas Miracle!

Just when I  had all but given up on Christmas Miracles, Toledo snuck up on me and it was a true Christmas Miracle indeed! I never thought I'd find myself driving all the way to Ohio just to run in some silly Santa themed virtual race, eat at a cheap diner, and shop at the Goodwill, but that's exactly what we did! And honestly, it was GLORIOUS and felt like a true miracle! Sometimes you justs have to cut loose, throw caution to the wind, and "run" with a crazy half cooked idea in order to feel alive and well. And that's exactly how we ended up in Toledo, Ohio, less than 24 hours after our Jingle Belle debut!  We may have gotten a little wild, and kicked our heals up ever so slightly, but we didn't catch "the Rona" and nobody had to bail us out of jail so I count it as a successful adventure!  It made my heart happy and offered a short reprieve from the reality of reality...

Jingle all the way

'Twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was quiet not even a mouse. We were all headed out to run a fine race, so we were loud and rowdy all over Mird's place!

I'm going streaking (again!!)

It's scary and it's true. I'm going streaking!!!!!!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Air Force One!

Like superman, I've decided to be brave today.  Please be respectful, as I'm going to talk politics.  A little background to get us started. I've been dragging stray dogs home my entire life. I hand dollars to the homeless, donate used stuff to Love Inc, take meals to friends in need and I volunteer in all forms and fashions. I'm a generous giver and a getter alonger. I don't like conflict so writing this is very much out of my comfort zone. But I'm channeling my inner superwoman powers and I'm sharing my thoughts because after yesterday I feel compelled to do so.  

Kindred Spirit Will Have to Wait

Mird and I had this awesome plan to chase down one of my bucket list items this year. It was planned on my birthday. It was supposed to be an awesome display of me honoring my destiny. Oh and we planned to sneak in an all natural (as in clothes optional!) 5K race while we were at it and get North Carolina done. It was a solid plan. 

Forget about that bass...It's all about that food!

Let's be honest, running kind of is all about the food.  I can admit a big part of why I love running so much is because it provides me freedom to eat as I like and not worry too much about my weight. Before I fell in love with running I struggled with weight management. Running truly is liberating! I'm sure many runners share the sentiment. Well this most recent adventure included a lot of scrumptious food so this race truly was, "all about that food, 'bout that food...".

This One's Rated R for language

We can all agree 2020 is off to a shitty start. So far we find ourselves living through a pandemic and  the social and economic fallout of said pandemic.  Meanwhile, Americans are faced with an election that is deplorable with no great option of a leader to help guide us through this nightmare.  And amid all this, when we need our friends and family the very most, we're being asked to social distance, stay home alone, and for the love of God keep our damn hands to ourselves (but don't you dare touch your face with your hands that's a big no no).  I'm actually sitting here watching the Sunday morning show and there's a segment explaining how to safely hug people. It's ridiculous. Yes there are countless lemons in 2020 so far and those are some numbers that, like Coronavirus numbers, seem to keep growing.  Well, Mird and I didn't let this all get us down this past week. No, instead we went ahead and took those GD lemons and made some fucking awesome lemonade together. And then we went ahead and added vodka to it and drank that shit like it was going out of style.  My liver definitely needs a vacation from that vacation!  

Riverbank Rendezvous

The other morning a friend asked me innocently enough if I was still blogging.  I had to giggle out loud because I had been struggling to work on this story the past few days, but I just can't seem to do it justice.  I can't seem to capture the importance of this one.  Our little rendezvous in May, it was special and it came at a significant and special time. So Mary, this one's dedicated to you thanks for asking about the blog and all my fellow 25K runners that second weekend in May way to kick ass!

The Pocahontas Challenge...

I'm sitting here wondering if I'll ever see Mird again, wondering when we'll be able to just go for a run and get a cup of coffee afterwards and DRINK it while sitting at Starbucks.  And I'm thinking about how much this whole situation totally sucks.  Seriously, I'm ready to throw caution to the wind, break the law, and drive recklessly (or carefully whatever it takes) to the middle of the mitten to hang out with Mird and the rest of my GC friends...I'm ready to let Herd Immunity Rule.

The back up plan

Usually for St. Patty's Day Mird and I (and a bunch of our awesome runner friends) head to Clare to run their 10k and eat green pancakes.  It's just what we do to celebrate this particular holiday. This is our tradition!! This year the race hit our nephew's birthday, March 14, so I decided to forego the race and head to eat birthday cake with the Smiths while Mird manhandled some green pancakes. Divide and conquer so to speak.  Mird signed up everyone she knows who is willing to run 3 miles to run Clare's 5k with her. We'd go our separate ways for the morning and we planned an after party at mom's that night. Well the universe wasn't quite in order for any of those mass gatherings to occur as Friday the 13th of March we found ourselves entering the twilight zone, I mean Covid-19 Era...and