We were so blessed tonight to witness the wedding of one of Strength Coach Son's closest friends from his high school swim team to her forever after love.
SCS has been out of high school for 12 years now and keeping in contact with these long ago friends has been difficult but this young lady has always been special to us. While high school students, this group of friends lead by A would regularly check the weekly menus posted on our refrigerator and tell me when to expect them for dinner. And it was not unusual to get a phone call from SCS to see if dinner could stretch for just one or two more guests..."We can stop at the store and pick up more lettuce or dessert, Mom. A & M want to come to dinner." When SCS went off to LSU for college these kiddos knew how much we missed him and would call to schedule dinner at our house so that we could catch up and so that the house would not seem so empty. When they went to visit SCS for the weekend, they would be certain to let me know ahead of time so that they could stop and pick up the cookie delivery for the guys at school and even promised that most of the treats would actually arrive at their destination.
When SCS graduated and started his engineering career in Houston, we had an annual reunion at our house on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. He would cook gumbo and a cornhole/bags tournament would be held in the back yard. Everyone knew the schedule and no one waited for an invitation...they just showed up...hungry and happy to see each other. It wasn't a successful evening until someone lit the fire in chiminea and the grown-ups worried about catching the fence on fire.
Today I listen to my younger friends with teen-age children stressing over dating issues and grade point averages and class rankings and college acceptances and homecoming woes and I just want to tell them to STOP! Enjoy every one of these minutes and dramas and hold them tight. They will be gone in just a few years...minutes really,,, and you will miss this time so much. If I could turn back the clock and relive our sons' high school years, I would do it in a minute. Would I change anything? Maybe...I might hope the ATS (Athletic Trainer Son) would make a few more friends in high school and hold onto the ones from middle school....I might hope that SCS was able to achieve the goals that he set for himself in swimming...I could skip the sleepless night waiting to see who made it home in time for curfew...I would definitely send someone shoe shopping on his own and I might be a little less strict in some areas. Did I do some things wrong...of course. But did our sons turn out to be responsible young men and deserving of our pride and respect...YES. I like to think that we had some thing to do with that but even if we didn't, I'm glad that they turned out to be the adults that they are.
And I am so glad that their friends think enough of us to invite us to their momentous occasions and that they remember us as fondly as we remember them. So, my friends with young and adolescent children, enjoy this time and encourage your children to keep in touch with the parents of the friends that they cherish so much. Those parents love them, too, and want to know what happens to them. It does take a village....or a group of swim parents...to raise a child.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
How are those fitness goals going, Mrs. D?
A little update on my fitness quest...my knee has miraculously stopped giving me problems. Seriously....overnight. (I think it heard the threat of a visit to the doctor.) Unfortunately it did not happen before the Rahr 5K and I was not able to join John and Leslye in the walk. John's goal was to NOT finish last. He achieved his goal with a personal best time, was not last overall and was not even last in his age group. So now, I have a new goal...when I do my next (first) 5K, I hope to beat his time. It was a pretty good time so I may fall short but we will see.
My Couch to 5K class members have zoomed away from me so our compromise is that we stretch together, do our 5 minute warm-up walk and then they take off their way and I plod along on mine. Skinny Runner Girl is doing really well and Mr. Mom is no longer worrying about his potential injuries so they are pleased with the class. Am I pleased? Well, I haven't given up. Last week during my 24 minute time on the course, I actually ran 6 minutes out of the 24....not consecutively but hey....it was 6 minutes! Now, my jogging pace is probably slower than most dedicated walkers' walking pace but tell that to my heart! It definitely feels the difference.
I have been able to convince strength trainer son to join me at the Y twice a week to be my personal trainer. We narrowly missed a reprimand the first day because non-Y trainers are not allowed on the floor but my skinny 5K "coach" realized that he was family and called off the Y police. Strength trainer son has been patient with me...for the most part...and my lack of ability to follow directions. Yesterday though I tested the limits of his endurance. We were working on dumbbell bench presses (look it up) and I could not get my arms in the right position. Nevertheless strength trainer son added more weight. The conversation went like this:
Me: This is too hard
STS: Ma, that's why they call them weights!
That makes sense but it doesn't make it any easier! I cannot say that he enjoys these training sessions but he is humoring me....think of it as couch rent.
On the other 2 or 3 days that I go to the Y alone, I use the weight machines (strength trainer son uses only free weights) and walk on the treadmill. I start at 3.0 mph and go up .1/mph at each new song on my playlist. And that is when my own personal concert begins! My ipod is loaded with songs that have a good pace and beat to them...and that I like. (No sense listening to things I don't like no matter what the pace.) I lip-synch along with my music (at least I hope I am lip-synching) and try hard not to add the hand motions that I feel the music needs. So far no one has moved away from my treadmill but I do get some confused looks from the true fitness freaks. (I think those are caused by those aforementioned hand motions!) So what are my current favorite "silent sing alongs"?
You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon
Call Me Maybe (The Glee version)
Marry You by Bruno Mars
Done by The Band Perry
The Longest Time by Billy Joel
Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
Telephone by Lady Gaga
Turn on the Radio by Reba McIntire
Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland
Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
Pretty varied playlist but it works for me. I try to spend about 30 minutes on the treadmill.
So what's your favorite background workout music? Are you also guilty of a lip-synch concert on the treadmill? I need more encouragement, friends.
The next time you see me, you won't notice any change in my appearance (except for looking more and more like my Dad) but I am not giving up on this goal. Slow and steady wins the race....and a reward of Seattle's Best Pumpkin Pie Latte helps, too.
My Couch to 5K class members have zoomed away from me so our compromise is that we stretch together, do our 5 minute warm-up walk and then they take off their way and I plod along on mine. Skinny Runner Girl is doing really well and Mr. Mom is no longer worrying about his potential injuries so they are pleased with the class. Am I pleased? Well, I haven't given up. Last week during my 24 minute time on the course, I actually ran 6 minutes out of the 24....not consecutively but hey....it was 6 minutes! Now, my jogging pace is probably slower than most dedicated walkers' walking pace but tell that to my heart! It definitely feels the difference.
I have been able to convince strength trainer son to join me at the Y twice a week to be my personal trainer. We narrowly missed a reprimand the first day because non-Y trainers are not allowed on the floor but my skinny 5K "coach" realized that he was family and called off the Y police. Strength trainer son has been patient with me...for the most part...and my lack of ability to follow directions. Yesterday though I tested the limits of his endurance. We were working on dumbbell bench presses (look it up) and I could not get my arms in the right position. Nevertheless strength trainer son added more weight. The conversation went like this:
Me: This is too hard
STS: Ma, that's why they call them weights!
That makes sense but it doesn't make it any easier! I cannot say that he enjoys these training sessions but he is humoring me....think of it as couch rent.
On the other 2 or 3 days that I go to the Y alone, I use the weight machines (strength trainer son uses only free weights) and walk on the treadmill. I start at 3.0 mph and go up .1/mph at each new song on my playlist. And that is when my own personal concert begins! My ipod is loaded with songs that have a good pace and beat to them...and that I like. (No sense listening to things I don't like no matter what the pace.) I lip-synch along with my music (at least I hope I am lip-synching) and try hard not to add the hand motions that I feel the music needs. So far no one has moved away from my treadmill but I do get some confused looks from the true fitness freaks. (I think those are caused by those aforementioned hand motions!) So what are my current favorite "silent sing alongs"?
You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon
Call Me Maybe (The Glee version)
Marry You by Bruno Mars
Done by The Band Perry
The Longest Time by Billy Joel
Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
Telephone by Lady Gaga
Turn on the Radio by Reba McIntire
Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland
Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
Pretty varied playlist but it works for me. I try to spend about 30 minutes on the treadmill.
So what's your favorite background workout music? Are you also guilty of a lip-synch concert on the treadmill? I need more encouragement, friends.
The next time you see me, you won't notice any change in my appearance (except for looking more and more like my Dad) but I am not giving up on this goal. Slow and steady wins the race....and a reward of Seattle's Best Pumpkin Pie Latte helps, too.
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