Maybe Not, But Then Again Maybe So

This upcoming weekend Steve and I were scheduled to do the San Antonio Half Marathon. After traveling last weekend and planning to drive to Florida for a family Thanksgiving next weekend, we decided to pull out. We just decided the monetary and physical costs of a quick weekend weren't worth it. We're getting old.

My goal for 2008 was to complete a half-marathon a month. I don't have one planned for December, so I will probably end the year with only eight. I also planned to improve my time with each half-marathon, but that certainly didn't happen.

Am I disappointed? Not really. I enjoyed the half-marathons I did complete, although I didn't achieve the times I would have liked. I skipped a few for various reasons, but that was okay, too. According to my calculator, I wogged over 100 miles in half- marathons alone, which I think is pretty good.

Sometimes in achieving a goal, you forget what you've achieved along the way. You tend to think that just because you didn't achieve THE goal, you achieved nothing. But you have to look at all the things you do in attempting the goal. Because sometimes the real achievement is not THE goal, but all those steps and efforts and accomplishments you made just to get where you are, wherever that may be.

So was completing 12 half marathons my goal? Wogging 100 miles? An eventual super-respectable time? Sure, they were all my goals at some point. But looking at the big picture, I am happy with where I am.

I did what I did, and I did good.

Just a Picture

Lynnette took this picture on our recent trip to The World. Today it just seemed appropriate to post. For one thing, I'm tired from a quick road trip weekend, and my brain is somewhat numb.

But on a bigger scale, I just imagined what if it really was God writing in the sky? What if on a regular basis, He wrote messages to us?

Then I realized that He does. He does when the day is beautiful and we just want to sit and enjoy. He does when the day is dreary and we need to find the good things in life. He does when it's cold or rainy or snowy or cloudy - or whatever.


He writes messages to us every day, if we will just take the time to find them. And, no matter what the message is, He always signs it with, "Love, God."

The Old Stomping Grounds

This weekend I am in Mississippi, visiting GDizzle. Right now I am in the Mississippi State University Bookstore, using its internet. On the grounds of this university, I earned my undergraduate degree, met my husband, and had my wedding. MSU is located in the town of Starkville, where I was born and grew up. I'm back where I started and spent the first part of my life.

It's neat to see how the university has changed over the years. Many buildings I frequented have been torn down, rebuilt, or made bigger. The swimming pool where Steve and I met has been replaced by another building. Streets have been rerouted and new buildings have been built. While much has been changed, much is still the same.

As I walked across the campus, I still remember the feelings of walking to class. I still remember students and professors and buying books and standing in line to create a schedule. I still remember what it felt like to be here.

I guess that's the best part of memories. Though the physicality of things may change, the memories don't. Though a building or a person may no longer exist on this Earth, what those things meant to your life will always be with you. Though the very thing you remember has been replaced with something else, in your memory and life that thing remains as it was.

If we're lucky, we can visit the old stomping grounds and remember. We can look at what is and remember what was. We can remember the moments and the people that created our life stories. And we can be thankful, because it is those stories that make us who we are.

Just When I Think He's Done ...

... Shaggy the Cat finds a new bed and a new friend. Of course, this is the Disney NYC Store Bear, so I think he's still trying for a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Happy Birthday John!