Going For A Ride

I took him for a ride today. The days of bounding in and out of vehicles a faded memory. Insecure, I convinced him to let me place his two front feet on the bumper while together we floundered a pair of ailing back legs in. A challenging thirty seconds but it was worth the struggle. The youthful expression, I will always remember, crept into the corners of his face and his tail matched our heart beats. We were going for a ride.

A short drive later, I climbed in the backseat of my car with Mr Blue Eyes and we waited in the school parking lot for our Brown Eyed Girl to exit her school. There he was. Sitting up, alertly looking out the window. Unsure of the destination or task before us. But, we were going for a ride.

We have been on many, many car rides together, he and I. Our very fist ride, we bumped cross country from Iowa to Colorado with one of my oldest friends. That first trip would be just the first of many times we would drive that rout together in pursuit of instinct and feathers.  

The best drives we ever took together were over the summer of 2006. That was the summer I worked training horses. He was my barn buddy, my co-pilot in his daddy's shiny new Dodge. Early mornings he looked out the passenger window ready to start the day and by late afternoons he rested his head on the center console while I stroked his ears and we listened to country music all the way home.

We have traveled thousands of miles together.
Most of which I know I took for granted.
None of which he did.
I know he looked forward to each and every one.
I know that neither one of us will look forward to the day we take those last 10.

Looking Forward

The kids and I just finished up with dinner. Handy Man is cleaning up his work area after another long day diving head first into our master bathroom overhaul. (God Bless that man for being everything I need him to be. Husband, Father, Plumber, Framer, Electrician, Mechanic...)

It's a New Year.

What on earth happened to 2016?

I know if I had been more diligent in blogging last year, I would easily be able to scroll through hours of self refection. (cue self realization and note personal goal for 2017) Without sharing the details of every day and every moment, I know that it was windy at times but mostly sprinkled with days of calm weather and sunshine.

I think life, like the stock market... real estate market... roller coaster, is filled with ups and downs. Ups and downs that ebb and flow from week to week, month to month, and even year to year. Peaks and valleys.

For me, I think 2016 started and ended with my Brown Eyed Girl. We started 2016 in a valley with the diagnosis of her auto-inflammatory disease. Scared. Unsure where this journey would lead us. Fearful that this disease would take hold of her in it's unforgiving and crippling grasp. A few medication changes along the way. Then just before Thanksgiving, we were told that they were definitely categorizing her to be on the very mild spectrum of CRMO. She was doing really well on the treatments. More than they could ask for. In fact, she responded so well to her medications and was doing so well for the last 6 months that she was taken off ALL of her medications.

My Brown Eyed Girl smiled her full, happiest smile.

If she can keep trucking along with out a flare up for the next 6 months, the doctors will consider her to be in "remission."

That is the sum of all that mattered in 2016.
Everything else that was in between just fell into its place.


2017

I woke up this morning greeted with a a new day, a new year, a new opportunity to write in the first page of a blank 365 page book.

I loved my husband.

I patted and kissed our yellow-haired, Boji Man. Thankful that he was wagging his tail today. I honestly wasn't sure a week ago if he would see 2017 for himself. He's a good boy. The best boy.

I left to meet an old friend for a run this morning. The first long run of the year, on a sleepy Sunday that's part of new goals for 2017.

Last year, I took a hiatus from running. This morning, I was reminded why I liked to run. Not for the sport itself, but for the relationships along the way. A few years ago, running reconnected me with one of my oldest and dearest friends from elementary school. We trained for our first half marathons together. Since then, I ran along side of an old high school friend as she crossed her first half marathon finish line. I have paced with so many other beautiful, mother runners. I trained with another elementary school friend for our first full marathon in 2015. And then this morning, I was blessed to start training with another high school friend of mine as she prepares for her first half.

All of these amazing women running along side of me. Talking like the young girls we once were as we placed one foot in front of the other.

For 2017, it's family, friends, health, faith, love, and laughter over many miles. One foot in front of the other.