You Inspire Me - Week 2

I watched three full hours of NFL Hall of Fame speeches last night.  Yep, I love football, but I also love to get inspired and motivated.  A couple speeches were so-so, a few were okay, but the last two were powerful.  Both were filled with stories of football memories, but they were more about teaching lessons about how to be successful in life.

But my inspiration this week is not a NFL hero.  It's about an ordinary woman whom I've never met.  An ordinary woman that has to do extraordinary things to live a normal life.

Today's Inspiration: Army Blogger Wife, a.k.a. ABW

I've been fortunate to come across ABW's blog over the past few months through a mutual friend.  She writes about coping with being the wife of a soldier, while raising their three children.  Her husband has just been deployed for his fourth tour - this time to Afghanistan, for a year.

Fourth Tour.  Afghanistan.  For a Year.  I Cannot Comprehend.

ABW inspires me because she not only has to play the role of mother and supportive wife, but for the next year has to keep a sense of normalcy for her children, while her husband is serving his county on the other side of the world.

On top of all the everyday tasks she must take on by herself, she must find strength in herself to be a strong mother for her children.   There's no 'Go ask Daddy' diversions when she doesn't have the courage to say no.  There's no 'Honey, I need a girl's night out' demands when she's had a stressful day.  No husband to open the pickle jar or to rub her feet at night.

My husband has always taught me to prepare for the worst, but to always hope for the best.  That phrase means so much more to the wife of a soldier.  In this recent post, she describes an absolute heart-wrenching scene at at deployment briefing for family.  ABW's 9-year old daughter got up in front of a group of hundreds of people to ask, "Is my daddy going to come home?"  Can you even imagine having the emotional strength as well to comfort your children?

I don't know ABW.  I've never met her.  Yet, every night before I fall asleep, I find myself thinking about her.  I pray that her family copes well over the next year.  I hope that ABW will have the strength and courage to be the strong presence for her children while Daddy is away.  I want her to have friends around to help her and support her.  I anticipate a safe return of her husband so that she can have the 'normal' life that I have.

My husband served 20 years in the military in the Air National Guard. He was only on active duty twice. Once he stayed at the base...and came home EVERY night.  The other time was a 2-week 'tour' to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Both of those times were hard for me, but I knew it wouldn't last long and I knew he was on American soil. It was only a matter of time before I was able to smell and touch him again.  

I'm sure anyone who has spent time away from someone they love will always speak about the little day to day things that many of us take for granted.  So today if you find yourself complaining about your husband's quirks, think about ABW.  Think about not having those little quirks that drive you crazy and how much you would miss them if he wasn't around.  Appreciate the moment.  Cherish the times.  Think about what others endure for us.

De-Stressing the Stress

Today's healthy food recipe is inspired by A Stressful Day.

Ingredients:
A kid-friendly seafood restaurant
A VERY understanding husband or friend
A crappy camera phone to document your experience

Begin by ordering FANCY pre-dinner drinks.

A beer for your husband...

 

 ...a dragonfly mojito (in a classy beer mug)* for yourself.

While enjoying drinks and adult conversation, distract child with crayons and Star Wars Legos.

  

Savor every last calorie and bite of cedar plank salmon with shrimp and broccoli.

When finished, top off the night with a delicious soy chai from Starbucks.

Stress levels should wane within a few hours.

Enjoy!

*feel free to substitute wine, gin, vodka or really any alcoholic beverage in place of mojito

My Stalker is Afraid of Me

I’ve had my share of running encounters over the years.  I’ve had firecrackers thrown at me from some rebellious teens. 

 I’ve been hit in the back of the head by a bat.  Not the baseball kind, the gross kind.

I’ve had a dog scare the crap out of me, befriend me and then tag along with me all the way home.

I’ve even witnessed a gas station burglary.

Okay, so there wasn’t a gun, but he was wearing a ski mask – SCARY…just pretend you didn’t read that Mom!

Then there was that recent “Attack of the Gnats” episode.

Occasionally I’ll get a honk (because I would like to think I look good but) probably because the driver thinks I should get the blankety blank off the road.

But one thing that remains constant is my daily run-ins with my stalker, Crazy Legs. Technically, I guess I can’t really call him a stalker since I think he’s afraid of me, but if I had a stalker, I would picture him to look like Crazy Legs.

This man I call Crazy Legs runs through my neighborhood and I often see him if I’m out early enough. He’s an odd man with an unusual running style. I would say he’s somewhat of a cross between Gene Wilder from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Shaggy from Scooby Doo. It’s actually his hair that looks crazy, but his gangly appearance coupled with his very awkward run / speed-walk style gallop makes the name Crazy Legs even more fitting.

Whenever I see him approaching, he quickly dashes to the other side of the street to avoid me.  My guess is that he lacks social skills because I refuse to believe I look THAT scary when I’m all sweaty and very raw-looking.



This morning, I ran hill repeats. To properly run these, you start by finding a GIGANTIC hill. Then, when you reach the top, you run back down and repeat this series six times. You finish it all off with a 30-minute cool down. Let’s just say I’d rather eat sardines over a plate of chopped liver, but it makes me a stronger runner and that’s why I do it.

So I geared myself up by setting my iPod to some blood-pumping music like Bring To Life by Effervescence Evanescence and then I sprinted up the last 50 meters of the hill. 

When I made my way down, there he was! Crazy Legs was approaching me in the distance.

I reached the bottom of the hill and before we could sharply collide, I turned around for my next ascent. Oh GREAT!  Now Crazy Legs thinks I’m running away from him!  I continued upward, reached the top of what seemed like Mt. Effervescence Everest, I GASPED, HUFFFED and PUFFED and made my way back down again.

 
And that’s when I realized my so-called stalker is afraid of me. Instead of chasing me down, like any crazy stalker would, Crazy Legs was running the opposite direction, away from me.

I was all ready to use my best Karate Kid moves on him too! 

 

But Crazy Legs was gone before I had a chance to say “Wax On, Wax Off”.

Alas, perhaps one day I’ll meet my so-called stalker. Who knows, he might just be a brilliant man with a charming and *effervescent personality. But until then, I think should change his name to ______. What do you think?

p.s. I’m a runner, not an illustrator…don’t hate.

p.p.s.  I put my game face on this week for the Dons over at Word Up Yo. 





Kudos to Liz, Natalie and KLZ for making us step up our WOW game.

You Inspire Me - Week 1

Sunday is a good day for inspiration.  It's a day to reflect on the past week and to prepare for the days ahead.  With that in mind, I've decided Sunday is an excellent day to write about a person that inspires me.

I got this idea from Lula Lola's post last week about the person she most admires.  What an excellent idea!  So with that in mind, I thought my first post should be about a very special woman - my mother.

This is why she inspires me.

She is very patient and forgiving.   I wasn't exactly the sweetest of girls growing up.  I was a typical snot, if you will.  I talked back, rolled my eyes, disobeyed and disrespected.  I'm not sure I could have dealt with me as gently as she did.  Yet, she has always been forgiving of my flaws and was patient enough to know I would eventually grow out of it.   I'm so thankful she did and so grateful for the relationship we have today.   

She has a very GREEN THUMB. My mother has plants throughout her house and grows the most beautiful flower beds each summer.  I'm convinced her garden grows if she simply looks at it.   A few years ago, I noticed the most gorgeous plant, in full bloom in her living room.  She told me the plant was a gift she received when one of my sisters was in 9th grade.  My sister is now 43 years old!  A-maz-ing! 

She is very accepting.   When I married Cedric, she not only welcomed a man with obvious differences and what some would label as baggage, she fully accepted everything about him, including his child.  Keelan officially took over the reigns as her oldest grandchild when he was 8-years old.  There is no such term as a 'step' child or 'step grandchild'.  She treats him no differently and fully embraces him with the same love as her ten other grandchildren.  I continue to be so honored by this act of love.

She is selfless and humble.   We recently took a trip to a local museum, when a bright-eyed little girl suddenly came running up to my mother to give her huge hug.  I had no idea who the girl was but I could tell she meant a lot to mother by the tears that welled up in her eyes.  She later went on to tell me that she was one of the girls she spent some time with the past school year while volunteering at a grade school, reading to children with special needs.  I had no idea she did this.

She goes out of her way for people.  Making others happy is what make my mother happy.  When we visit, she will make me a special meal because I'm selective in my food choices.  She will whip up a batch of chocolate chip muffins in an instant if my boys ask for them.  When she visits us, she will clean for us...because she wants to! She never forgets a single birthday or anniversary for anyone and always sends a card that arrives EARLY.   She prays a lot for others and never asks for anything in return.

She kept everything from my childhood.  On our recent visit home to visit my parents, she brought an old box and asked if there was anything I wanted to take with me.  Inside the box was project after project that I completed throughout my years in school.  She kept everything from parent-teacher notes to programs from my piano recitals.  There were school pictures that I'd rather forget were taken and papers I don't even remember writing.  But there it was, a collective memory saved just for me.  It inspired me to be better at doing this for my kids.

She's very active.  I guess maybe that is where I got my active gene, but my mother has more energy than a room full of toddlers.  She's 69-years old and will still make snowmen in the winter and take trips to the park with her grandchildren in the summer.   She walks daily to stay active and fit and has more friends than I could ever imagine to have.  I know if I haven't heard from her in a few days, she and my dad are traveling somewhere or spending time having dinner with friends.  She still shovels snows, scrubs the floor without a mop, and can sew just about anything she sets has in mind.   With any down time left, she will challenge my dad to a bowling game that they play together on their Wii, which is simply hysterical to watch. 

She always see the goodness in everyone.  I cannot recall EVER hearing my mother say a bad thing about anyone.  If a person is flawed, she'll find some goodness and will seek the best in anyone.  Imagine if we could all have a little of this trait!

She reads my blog!   I know this would scare a lot of people, but I have nothing bad to say about her.  So if you're reading...I love you Mom!