To Fall, With Love

Ahhhh… Fall, why have you kept me waiting so long?

I love everything about you—the cool, crisp air you blow through my hair, how you make me smile just looking at your vivid beauty—the blazing oranges… bold, fiery reds… sunbursts of yellow and gold… You’re absolutely breathtaking. I want to embrace everything about you. It’s amazing what energy you give me as I breathe in the intoxicating smells of crumbling leaves, fireplaces ablaze, apples ripe and juicy, your comforting casseroles, chili, apple crisp and cinnamon stirred cider. Your natural sounds of crunching leaves and geese honking overhead provide the perfectly calming background melodies to my afternoon walks. The days of endless entertainment you bestow upon us...the festivals, visits to apple orchards and pumpkin patches, trick-or-treating, wine tasting, hay rides and bonfires… I’m forever thankful for your presence and wish you’d stay awhile longer. I don’t mean to disrespect, but tell Old Man Winter to stick it. It’s you I want, Fall, for just a month or two longer.

There are a lot of reason people like living in Wisconsin – the Badgers, the Packers, the cheese, the brats, the beer, family, good farmland, good schools, good paper, hard workers and friendly faces. For me, I suppose it’s a combination of all of those, but it’s the change of seasons, (and family of course) that keep me grounded here. Truth be told, as much as I bash winter, I’d miss it if I didn’t have it. But, seriously, why must you stick around so long? If you haven’t gathered from my ode to autumn, it’s the season I love most of all. Always have. It’s a time of year I look forward to with giddy anticipation after a hot, humid summer. And it’s a time I forget how much I’ve missed when that first cool breeze kisses my nose.

For my family, the month of October kicks off all kinds of fall-time fun. Ella has constantly been asking when she can jump into a pile of leaves. Our trees are still fully loaded so we have a few more weeks to go. But that little girl was so desperate for a frolic the other day that she took out her little rake and scrounged up every fallen leaf she could find and made one very pathetic heap. She didn’t care. She jumped right in with a huge smile on her face and threw those 20 or so leaves up in the air with the pure joy that autumn brings.

Jaisa is still taking it all in. We went for a walk on the Fox River Trail yesterday and I kept putting freshly fallen leaves in the tray on her stroller. She got all excited and started patriotically waving them about like little flags. It’s quite possible that both my girls got it bad for fall just like their mom.

In the weeks ahead, the family and I will be discussing (and hopefully deciding on) Halloween costumes, picking out pumpkins, visiting our absolute favorite apple orchard (it’s not just apples, folks), creating mountains of Halloween crafts, gorging ourselves on caramel apples and candy, and of course later giving thanks for every last bit of it.

Fall, I’m so crushing on you right now.

Got a favorite season? What are some of your favorite traditions?

Mom on the Run

Guess what? After years of protest, my body finally gave in.

I LOVE RUNNING!

To fully understand my elation at this latest revelation, take a trip back with me….
In high school gym class, the day I dreaded all year was the day we had to run the MILE. It was one measly day, one measly mile, and it practically had me breaking out in hives every single year. I would actually contemplate giving myself a sprained ankle or talking my parents into this being “the year” to get my bunions removed (its hereditary…thanks, Mom). Never work. I had to huff and puff it around the track one, two, three, four times… Every. Single. Year.

I tried running in college too, pushing myself every day to LIKE it. I still hated it. So I stopped and started walking instead…which by the way, isn’t for wusses (reminds me of an article I wrote once). I still love to walk and take them with or without the girls all the time.

Persistence Pays Off
About a year before Jaisa was born I decided to give running the good ‘ole college try (again). The first week was brutal. But somehow and for some reason I stuck with it just a little longer than all the other times I’d tried. And there it was… over this immense internal hurdle was EUPHORIA. I finally discovered what everyone referred to as the “runner’s high.” And just like that, I was hooked. I’m a running junkie.

Don’t get me wrong, my story is nothing spectacular. I’m not doing marathons all over the country and running 10 miles a day “just for fun.” Oh no. I keep my runs short and sweet, just for kicks. Over the summer I ran my first 10K and participated in the Green Bay Packers first ever 5K. I ran it with my brother and man, was it fun! Packers fan or not, who wouldn’t have the time of their life charging out that tunnel and circling around the bowl with 2,999 other runners? I know I did.

Up next is the Fox Cities 5K tomorrow morning. I talked my friend Nellie into running it with me. I ask. She said “Yeah, why not!” And now don’t I look the fool because this friend of mine, this mom of two, just announced that she’ll be running a half marathon at the “Happiest Race on Earth” – Disneyland in January! You go, girl!

A Minor Obstacle

So here’s the bad news… A few weeks ago—just two days before my 15-year-class-reunion, mind you—my back goes out (old age, here I come!). I was lifting Jaisa off the changing table, like I do about 5 times a day, and this time I felt a pinch down my left side and I spent the next 15 minutes on the floor rolling in pain. It’s getting better, but come on, it’s been three weeks! Now the pain has rudely maneuvered its way around my hip, making running oh so enjoyable. But I told Nellie, “I’m running Saturday come hell or hip replacement.” Let’s just hope neither is in my future. An offer for a massage, on the other hand, I will not turn away.

Time to beat: 28:43 (never said I was Speedy Gonzales). I don’t care so much about the time, as much as just doing it (this blog is not endorsed by Nike). This is one thing I do for ME. And bad back, you can’t take that away from me.

Are you a Mom on the Run? Share your latest adventure!