Commitment (or why I'm going to run 3.1 miles in the freezing cold)

Tomorrow, I’m going to run the Commitment Day 5k at the same time as thousands of people across the country.

I’ve never been a runner. I’m the chubby kid who finished last in every gym class race, I’m the lady who pants and puffs on an inhaler if I have to run one block to catch my bus home.

I signed up because, through a surprising and wonderful turn of events, I found myself in the marketing campaign:

The Robber

I’ll be in and out in two minutes. It’s just inside the door. We’re at an elementary school in a safe town. Who’d be out thieving on such a cold, blustery day anyway?

  

All of these thoughts ran through my head as I rationalized the decision to leave my car unlocked when I retrieved my kindergartener from her after-school program last night. Locking the car would have meant lugging along my purse, a deceptively heavy pit of electronic gadgets, kids’ toys, and enough credit cards to give Suze Orman a small stroke. I already had an occasionally obstinate 2-year-old to carry, and so I left it. I left it all on the passenger seat and walked into the school.

If you read the title of this blog, you can probably guess what happened next.

Travel Journal: Disneyland 2012

Last week, Sam and I took the kids to Disneyland.

I was invited to help with an employee reward trip; it was a rare and wonderful opportunity to combine business with pleasure and bring my family along.

This was our first foray into air travel as a family of four. The flights to California went as well as could be expected. Thank goodness for my iPad, the game "Where's My Perry?" and Felix's propensity to fall asleep easily while sitting upright in a moving vehicle (a genetic blessing which appears to be linked to the Y chromosome).

Oedipa's Story

Free kittens.

They were the most magical words I'd seen in the Humboldt Sun since my own byline.

It was 1999, and Sam and I had just moved to Winnemucca, Nevada. My college dreams of a career in journalism had brought us to this dusty mining town, half a continent away from our family and friends. It was lonely. We didn't fit in. We lived in a duplex that ached with disappointment, despite being painted an impossibly cheerful shade of teal.

The ad led us to a trailer park at the edge of town, where a group of children had gathered stray kittens to keep them safe from coyotes and other perils of the desert. You could say that we rescued Oedipa, a frail and tiny Siamese mix with bright blue eyes and white "socks" on her feet. The truth is, we needed her as much as she needed us.

A letter to Evie (almost) on her 5th birthday

Dear Evie,

Before you were born, I promised us both that I would use my blog to document the precious and fleeting days of your childhood. I'm not a scrapbooker or an artist, but I'm fairly confident in my ability to type words onto a screen - so these sporadic and heartfelt posts are my answer to the lovely baby books and handprint art that your classmates' moms are surely making as we speak.

I blinked, and 5 years passed. Already, I wish that I had written more.

10 Things I've Learned About Weight Loss

1. I am good at losing weight. I've had at least a dozen successful weight loss efforts in the last 20 years. The trouble is, I am equally successful - perhaps more so - at gaining weight and have done it exactly as many times. At least I'm starting with a solid foundation of knowledge and experience.

2. I thrive on competition and social reinforcement. I like attention. I like it when people notice my weight loss. I still carry the keychain I earned at Weight Watchers for losing 10% of my starting weight. I'll even share my "before" photos on Facebook. Perhaps this is why my weight loss efforts tend to sputter out and lose energy farther down the road. What happens when I reach my goal weight and the fun of losing is gone? This time, I think I'll enter some fitness competitions or maybe even take up a sport.