Routines

-
I want to write more often.  Everyday, a least one idea runs through my head that pulls at me to write down, but I rarely do.  I plan to start carrying around a little striped moleskin I received in my stocking so I can capture these fleeting ideas.

This afternoon, let's have a quick chat about routine.

For me, routines are usually helpful and intentional.  These days, I eat before I run.  I run before I teach.  I make dinner for my family.  I read before I sleep.  During the school year and the work week, I have a pattern that I can count on for stability and balance.

During the weekend, I have a few routines too.  I like to eat pizza on Fridays.  I run my longest run, usually with a friend, Saturday morning.  I try to go to church on Sunday.

Then, there are my routines with little Misha.  We read before he goes to bed.  I sing him the same songs as I tuck him in at night.  He watches an episode of "Elmo" while he eats oatmeal for breakfast. I give him a cup of water AND a cup of "nilk."  He wants to cuddle and read as soon as he gets home from "school."



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Vie Boheme

-
Image
Nearly a week after our return to the bitter cold, the chill leaves you chapped and achy (or never leaves you at all), I dream about our sixteen days wrapped in the warmth of Nicaragua's sunshine. Truly, I cannot imagine a more ideal event to close bittersweet 2008. Mike and I spent the last hours of the year reminiscing (and swimming) at San Juan del Sur's popular harbor beach. Amid a soccer tournament and a dog promptly urinating on the tower of a boy's finished sandcastle (I could not invent this- the boy's gasp and pout was utterly picturesque), we toasted our rum and cokes (real coca cola to Mike's infinite pleasure) to the joyous and less than joyous moments of the passing year. To Obama (goes without saying, of course). To our first year as dog owners, to Rachel. To grad school, electronic music, Orange Mighty Trio, marathons, home cooked dinners and sunny breakfasts. To a room of one's own (sorry Mike) and the brief but satisfying discovery of cabl...
Read more

How to keep pink cheeks in the winter time...la ti dah.

-
Image
Holy hooligans, it's been a while! Winter has settled in here in the Twin Cities. The sky today is perfectly white, the trees are naked but for the pines and a few stubborn maples, and the ground is brown and frozen. Get out of the city, you might mistake yourself for living in the tundra. To survive Minnesota winters requires one to mindfully nurture a special resilience and odd admiration for the bitter cold. It's a skill that I work on every year. What keeps me smiling through the winters? Mostly small things... 1. My favorite coats: big pockets, high collars, horn buttons, elegant embroidery. It sounds trite, but lovely clothes can brighten my day! A nice coat is well worth the dollar. 2. Getting outside: I try to spend at least thirty minutes outside each day. A walk with Rachel, walking to the bus stop, going running (if it's above 20 degrees), walking on my lunch break at work. Once you get moving...the cold is a little more bearable. 3. Planning dinners...
Read more

A New Kind Of Marathon Training

-
I have been doing a lot of running lately.  It is unlikely that this surprises anyone, my family least of all.  But this training cycle is a bit different.  My sights are set on Moose Mountain Marathon, the shortest distance of the three fall superior races.  I have run a few trail races including the spring Superior 25k (an out and back that covers that last portion of the fall races), but this is my first trail marathon and it could take me upwards of seven hours so I need my body in tip top trail specific condition.  Fortunately, my longtime running buddy Rose is an ultra-runner.  For the last few years, Rose has been encouraging me to sign up and train for a longer trail race.  "If you can run a road marathon, you can run a trail ultra," says Rose.  I've been hesitant to commit for a few reasons: 1) time it takes to train for a trail race (driving time to trails + more time running=more time away from home) 2) amount of energy it takes to ...
Read more