My mom asked me the other night when we spoke on the phone, “when are you going to write on the internet so I know what’s going on?” 🙂  So, Mom, this one’s for you…

Here’s what today looked like (and given how early I got up, I’m going to bed very soon. I’m exhausted.)

3:30 – start waking up before the alarm. No, I’m not a fan of that. Felt awake.

4 a.m. – alarm goes off. Now, I’m tired. Hit snooze.

4:10 a.m. Ok, time to get my ass out of bed, without waking up Bill, or Callie the cat, who I cover up with my fleece bathrobe since Bill likes to keep the room very cold. Good sleeping weather, he says.

Next hour – eat breakfast, wake up with an infusion of caffeine. Feed Ruthie, who’s sleepy. Pack lunch.

5:10 a.m. – Get Ruthie ready for a walk. She hears the rumbling of plastic grocery store bags,which we call “poop bags” and she goes insane.

Get back from our short walk about 5:30. Bill’s just coming downstairs and can’t believe we’ve already gone. By the way, there are some people already leaving for work by this time, I found. I had my headlamp on my head to see exactly where she did her “business.”

5:45ish, getting ready for my own run. Talk to Bill, drink more water and head out finally around 6 after doing a bit of stretching and taking some Sports Beans with Caffeine.

Run for 4.59 miles.  All of my miles were under 10 minute pace (phew, I was beginning to feel like I couldn’t do it anymore. I’ve been doing a lot of “easy” running in the heat and humidity we’ve had of late.)  I didn’t see any triathletes swimming in Silver Lake this morning but I did see some beautiful sights.  It was a lot cooler this morning than it has been. Only about 53 degrees so I actually pulled out my arm warmers.  In August!! 

At the beginning of my run, I found myself crying. From stress, exhaustion, or exhilaration at being able to get out there and run in such cool weather, for taking time out for “me,” or from a combination of all those things, I am not sure what caused it.  I am sure, however, that anyone driving by probably thought I was either a nut or hurt (if they could think coherently that early), but I didn’t really care.  That doesn’t happen often but when it does, I know I have some things to work through and a run is a good way to do so.  I was listening to this song on my iPod, Falling by Mindy Smith. I think she has an awesome voice. Very mellow.

We have a lot of wetlands and marshes in my area. It was cool enough that the water in the closest wetland on Rte. 129 had some fog/mist rising from the water.  I know that it’s invasive, but the purple lupine weed does look really pretty in the mornings.

When I ran past Silver Lake, the sun was hitting it “just so.”  The water had a goldish glow to it, and the sun hit one of the docks and the house behind it in a way that made it look like  a painting.  I should say that one dock in particular has actually been converted into a floating bar. My husband, Bill, keeps wondering aloud what he can do to be able to take a ride on it one night.  It’s been out on the water in the daytime and at night in the dark. It just yells “summer and relaxation” to me every time I see it. I automatically feel more relaxed.   Anyway, it was at about this time that I realized my legs just continued to feel strong today the whole run through.

We are extremely busy at work as our LLM students have already arrived. LLMs are foreign-trained lawyers who come to our school for a Masters in law.  Igave two tours which are an hour long, and met with a student in between. So I talked basically nonstop for about 3 hours.  Because our library is so large, it really does take a while to get through it, and many students commented that it is really unlike anything they’ve ever seen. And it is.

Anyway, the student with whom I met in between is one I hope to meet with several times over the course of the year.  This is somewhat rare, but always appreciated. She gave me a thank you card for meeting with her and said how wonderful it was to have a reference librarian with subject expertise meet with her.  I don’t know if I’m an expert in much, but it was nice just the same. I keep all cards like that one with me in my office, taped or attached to my wall. I keep them from faculty and from students and coworkers alike. That way when I am having a bad or really long day, I look at the notes and it reminds me why I do what I do.  I really needed something like that.

So all in all, today was a good day. It’s funny but when I first drove into work, I thought to myself, “well, even if the rest of the day turns all to hell, at least I have this morning under my belt.”

Here’s hoping the rest of you reading this out there have a workout or run again soon where it makes you feel the same way. Glad to be alive and have two legs that can propel you forward and through so much, not just the physical, but also the mental part of life.

Thanks for reading.