Weekend

This is one of those posts that Wiley would ask, "why are you writing all this?" And to him, I reply, "Once I write this stuff down, I can move it from the forefront of my brain; then I can start the new week. And some people may actually be interested!"

I'll say that my weekend started on Thurday - mainly because Thursday night was so much fun. Met up with the group at Chuy's for happy hour, then *finally* made it to Flipnotics to see Southpaw Jones and Matt the Electrician. Those guys were awesome, and I absolutely will go back to see them again. It was also great to spend some time with Mike, Mike & Kenny. :)

I decided to take the weekend rather easy since I've been doing so much stuff lately. So, on Friday night, I came home and read. All night. It was perfect. Saturday morning, after a quick run and breakfast, I read some more. I wanted to do something artsy in the afternoon, so I went to Laguna Gloria to hear Marjorie Moore speak about her work. (I love listening to artists give their thoughts/insights/perspectives about their pieces and art in general.) Then... I read some more. Yummy dinner at Java Noodles, then more reading. I'm happy to say that I finished my book! (more on that shortly)

This morning I woke up very early in order to get my stuff together and meet Maggie downtown at 5:40am. Luckily we were able to hitch a ride to the start of 3M, and even though we got stuck in major traffic, I met up with Shaun and Jeff only a few minutes late. So... 3M. It was interesting, that's for sure. Running with a 9 year old is fun! So many people cheered for him, "go little guy," "go big man," and "you are my hero, buddy." This came from both spectators and racers. Unfortunately for Shaun, he was tired from the get go. We started out at a good pace, but by mile 5 he was hurting. It became my job at this point to motivate him to keep moving, yet not push him farther than his 9 year old body could handle. I'm glad to say that by the end of the race, we made it under his goal of 2:30. And after a lot of walking and slow running over the last 5 miles, the kid pulled out 8:00 minute miles for the last mile. Sheesh!!

After the race, I enjoyed breakfast tacos, and about 6 cups of coffee, at Angie's. (Love that place!) I then drove down south to the gym with plans of swimming, but got a work call and instead ended up in the Arboretum for a few hours. Luckily I was motivated to go swim at the north gym - even though I only went for 30 minutes, I felt great. I wanted to swim forever. But, I had plans tonight and had to get back.

So... anyway, it was a really fun weekend. I spent a lot of "me" time reading, but still managed to make my way all over town (both by car and by foot) anyway.

Now... for the book... "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's amazing. I could write so many things that resonated for me in that book, but I'd essentially have to copy the book into my blog. So, instead, I'll grab a quote from her website that I feel explains a good part of what the book is about. I highly recommend it. (Thank you, P, for giving it to me!)

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY?

How well it worked. I found exactly what I was looking for during that year of traveling. In fact, I found more than I’d dared to hope for. Looking back on it now, though, I think that this amazing result was sort of inevitable. I’ve come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call “The Physics of The Quest” – a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: “If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared – most of all – to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself….then truth will not be withheld from you.” Or so I’ve come to believe. I can’t help but believe it, given my experience.