A friend lost, A lesson learned

I ran into an old friend at the gym the other night on my way to a weightlifting class. We quickly caught up and I asked about a few people we both had known when we had worked together. I was particularly interested in one lady, Cathy, as I had thought about calling her every few months since I had last seen her two and a half years ago. When I asked about her, my old work friend said, “Oh. She’s dead. She died last June.” 

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I had really admired Cathy and even though we hadn’t spoken in a long time, I considered her one of my good friends. How could this have happened and how could I not have known about it?

Because I did not get the chance to say goodbye, I have decided to do it here and send it out into the universe. So, to the best Norwegian knitter and joke teller that I know, I will miss you and your hilarious stories of the Peace Corp and our gabbing sessions over silly TV shows. Thank you Cathy for your warm friendship and for always making me feel like I had a seat at the table. I will miss you.

Lesson Learned

The loss of this good friend caused me to think about others I hadn’t spoken to in a long time. So I picked up the phone yesterday and called one of them. And it was so good to talk to her.

My challenge to you is: Find someone you’ve lost touch with and call them, or email them, or send them a postcard. You’ll be glad you did.

P.S. I looked back to see where I was in my life when Cathy died and turns out, I was doing this. And the funny thing is, Cathy would have gotten a real kick out of that.

Feliz Diada de Sant Jordi

Happy St. Jordi's Day! For those of you not familiar with this fabulous Catalan holiday, it's a sort of Spanish Valentine's Day. As part of the day's celebrations, the men receive books and the women a single flower. If you find yourself in Catalonia during this time you will see the streets filled with book and flower shops. It's a beautiful sight. And who doesn't love receiving flowers and books?

Don't Be Trashy

In honor of Earth Day this year, Eric and I joined in a local clean-up effort. We were handed big plastic yellow bags and cloth gloves and sent to a local lake front to see what we could find. At first we thought the area hardly seemed in need of a clean up, but little by little we began to fill up our bags. An old newspaper, discarded chip and candy wrappers, soda cans, and water bottles tossed to the side of the trail.

As we ventured further off the path we began to find more carelessly thrown garbage and the bags got heavier and heavier. An old hat, some styrofoam containers, metal scraps, plastic bags, even some 'unmentionables'. As I lugged around that garbage bag I began to spot smaller pieces of trash that I hadn't noticed before. Bottle caps, plastic hair clips, straws and napkins. Our bags were filling up fast.

Although our bags were full, we had a hard time heading back to the community center. Seeing how much better the area looked after only a couple of hours made us want to stay out there all day. But we knew there were other volunteers and we had to get back.

So on this Earth Day, I want to challenge you all to take a look around. If you see a piece of garbage, pick it up. If we all pitch in, think of what a difference we can make.

**REDUCE**REUSE**RECYCLE**REDUCE**REUSE**RECYCLE**

On the Other Side of the Finish Line

I did it! Despite the frigid 41 degree temperature and the patchy light freezing drizzle, I ran my first 5K. As we lined up at the starting line I realized I hadn't felt that pre-race nervous feeling since high school. The race ended up being shorter than I thought it would be and yet longer at the same time. I don't think I've ever ran such a distance in my life at that speed so you can imagine the sense of accomplishment that I felt as I crossed the finish line. "I actually ran that far?" I thought. I almost couldn't believe it.

Though the time isn't so important, I will admit it anyway. I ran my first 5K in 33:40. (I have to brag that Eric pulled in at 23:30.) When I first attempted this feat a few weeks ago, I clocked in at about 45 minutes. So I was pleasantly surprised when I rounded the final corner and saw the time clock with only a 33 minute number. It was at that point that my inner sprinter kicked in and I'm sure you won't be surprised to know that I smoked a few runners in the last 1oo meters. (Sorry pink velour track suit lady - I couldn't help it!)

So thank you for all the cheers and support. And I must ask - now that I've managed to make it across the finish line, how about you?

Happy Friday!

I came across this clip today (thanks to Rachel Maddow's Tweet on Twitter) and since it brightened my day I thought I'd post it here. I dare you not to have a smile on your face by the end. Enjoy and happy Friday!