Food For Thought

I was cleaning out our refrigerator today and thinking it is much like my life. As dumb as metaphors are, I couldn't help but think this. I have arranged and rearranged our fridge at least 5 times since we have been in this house. I keep switching out drawers and shelves and re-categorizing food items until it feels just right. I have exercised this obsessive-compulsive behavior with other things in the house as well, but somehow the fridge needs constant maintenance. This is the same inventory I keep taking with how things are going overall here in Florida. I like my daughter's swim team,I despise her new school. Marc loves his new job responsibilities, I am so over the insects. I like the island we live on, I hate the surrounding area. I like the house and neighborhood, I detest the humidity and constant rain forest rain.

After a fun play date at the park yesterday with some other PTA moms, I decided I might even be okay with some of these women as friends....but how much do I want to relent, restructure, rethink what it is I look for in girlfriends to make it worth getting to know them? I mean, I never used to put flour and sugar and cereal in the fridge before, but here I am forced to do so because bugs like to visit the pantry. I never thought I would get along with Southern chicks, but some of them are pretty funny. How much of my attitude do I need to clean up and rearrange? Food for thought.

Funny thing happened this morning. It was the first morning in ages that is has not rained (has not, you read that correctly), and yet, I did not run early. I set the alarm and laid there for a minute with every intention of getting out of bed. The next thing I knew, it was an hour later and I had missed the group. I got email from most every single one of them, demanding my whereabouts.

"Where were you, Quad A? Did we sleep in???"
"AAAA, we waited and waited for you, but when the sun finally came up, we decided to leave without you" (the sun doesn't come up until nearly 7 am here).
"My grandma came out today to run with us and said she can take you, Quadruple."

And so on. I love that this group is this feisty and that they hand out garbage already to the new girl. I love the guilt they shovel on thick. I love that they have already given me a nickname. Mostly, I love that I feel completely at home with all of these perfect strangers. This is no surprise to me, since I think runners are runners wherever one travels. There is no fashion show, no makeup, no catty competition or discussion of material goods. Mostly, it is people who spit and sweat and tell off the cuff jokes and simply want to, well, run. It is the other part of my world, the mom world, that is so much harder to organize and categorize....to get to feel just right.

Our running group is putting on the annual "Jungle Jog" this Saturday. I hope Marc can clean up there and kick some humid ass. There is one guy around here who tends to run and win all the local 5Ks, so I am hoping Marc can get it in that extra gear and move it past this one skinny dude. I think Marc has it in him if he digs deep enough. All of my Sun Runner friends are running/cheering/eating pancakes there, so it should be fun. There are tons and tons of 5Ks around here, but not many fall marathons or half marathons locally, so everyone tends to travel for longer races. Crazy Dr. George is going to Baltimore next weekend for a marathon, Craig is traveling North to Jacksonville this weekend for a half, the group leaves in a few weeks for the Marine Corps Marathon. Marc's boss is wanting to put together a local race that the company will sponsor, so I was trying to convince him to do a half marathon with an optional 5K. I think he is on board.

Because I missed the alarm, I got my run in later, in sweltering heat, with the boy in the jogger and the girl on her bike. I have not ever *ever* sweat like I did on that run. Sunscreen burning my eyes, sun blistering hot off the pavement, it was a miserable experience. I cursed myself for missing my wake up call. Ry and I dropped Owen off at school 4 miles there and then 4 back the same way. When we got to her school, several people came up to me, people I do not know at all, "Hey, I just saw you running...." Or, "Hey, were you just running along...." At least four people commented on our lunacy for running in the heat. On the way home, someone pulled up next to me and rolled down his window, "Don't you get enough exercise in?" It was Owen's swim coach, Scott, making fun of my obsession. I crossed the street, almost home, and saw our realtor waving at me from her Beemer. She later sent me an email asking me why I am such a nut case. This island is just way too small sometimes.....just like my fridge, I think.