The blogging bug has bitten me. I feel like slapping down some words down in this space only I don’t have any wisdom to impart or grand things to share. However, in the spirit of a new Testosterhome tradition, I’m going to set a timer for 10 minutes and just write. Verbal diarrhea doesn’t sound so nice, but that’s what will probably spew out.
Ten minutes. Go!
I’m somewhere beautiful. (Actually, I was somewhere beautiful. I wrote this almost a week ago but am just now getting around to publishing it. I’ve enjoyed writing without feeling that everything has to be timely.)
Hint: There’s a lot of sand and blue sky and water, and my kids smell like the Gulf.
I’ve been reading a lot as well as mentally coming up with the characters and general plot of the chick lit book I’m finally going to sit down and write. I used to want to write a great literary novel – something similar to what Anne Tyler, one of my favorite authors,
Aside from diving back into fiction, I’m running again. And feeling how old I have become. I have a leg length difference. I’ve lived with this physical and fairly significant discrepancy for a long time, but I have never felt it so acutely. I once could run for miles and miles and experience only an occasional ache or twinge if I, say, landed in an unexpected dip in the road. Now nearly every stride taunts me (feel that shockaroo, oldie!), but I keep going. I’ve met a lovely mom-friend who is my running buddy. We meet early. We run. I yammer on. Then I usually apologize for yammering on. She keeps inviting me to run and to yammer. I push myself but not too much. And despite the achy (old) hip, I feel good. I am one of those weird people who actually enjoys running.
I have several speaking engagements coming up. Most of them are geared for mothers, but I have one that will address an audience of parents of tweens and teens. I have lots to say on the dignity of the body and helping to raise children with a healthy body image. I’m thrilled about these opportunities, but this one in particular is going to require some supernatural help. First off, because as much as I’m an expert in hazardous waste removal raising all of these stinky and prolifically pooping littles, I’m well aware that the challenges I face are mostly of the physically-exhausted variety and that the emotional fatigue will come later when my children are older and still may throw tantrums but possibly won’t want to hug and makeup once the fussing and shouting has abated.
Second, I admit my own body image has been a little shaky for myriad reasons lately despite the empowering feeling running again has given me. I can’t seem to lose the last 5 to 7 pounds from my pregnancy with Thomas. I don’t want to live in that awful limbo where I’m bound by the belief that when I lose those last few pounds, life will be perfect and I will love the way I look every day partly because I know it’s not true. But mainly because I’m at a perfectly healthy weight carrying around these extra few pounds and don’t want to get stuck on an arbitrary number. Been there. Done that. The allure of being 5, 10, 20, 30-plus pounds thinners is far more appealing than the reality of it.
And that’s a wrap. Ten minute’s is up. Random but fun.
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A side note: I’ll be a guest on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air show tomorrow 8 a.m. EST. Tune in if you can!
glad to have you back blogging, even if its just for ten minutes :)
Jess recently posted…I Blogging
I like your 10 minute self too! And I can so identify with the 5-10 lb. mental battle. Ugh. Thanks for reminding me that life is not really that much different/better if the scale needle is a little to the left.
Nancy recently posted…A little back-story
Thanks guys! I can’t really decide what to do with this space because it feels like a poor showing to just blog every once in awhile – or write random stuff for 10 minutes. But that’s my inner perfectionist rearing her (not-so-pretty) head. This 10 minute hodge-podge writing is what works for this season of my life and if I’m happy with it, then I need to just accept it! Blessings!
Hello Kate, I must say, I feel like it’s a gift whenever you blog and your emails arrive in my inbox. You are a known quantity to me, and your posts provide a lift to my day. Let’s see – you posted on 9/18 and I’m finally reading it on 9/26! Yes, there are seasons in life and I have found that honoring them is a way of being grateful to God for them — especially those seasons where we don’t understand or see the gifts that inevitably will make themselves known — all in God’s good time.
So glad to see you here again. And I like the format. I’m at a point in my blog where I write exactly what and when I feel like it. And I rather like that in the blogs I read too. I like the ten minute spat of writing. I used to enjoy it so very much when I was teaching composition and I’d assign ten minutes to my students and join in myself. I’d do it with pen and paper just for fun. It’s not where my blog is right now. I’m in a more formal mode currently but I do find it very fun to read. I guess I’m sort of doing it in this comment though. And now I’m going to take a page from your book and avoid the Facebook suck and go write on one of the many blog posts I have in progress….
I totally understand the frustration with being 5-10 lbs above the pre-baby weight. I never ever lost those last few pounds with Mary, and she was 4. And this was despite running 15 or more miles per week and doing strength training. I knew I was healthy, but even the BMI calcs said I weighed 5-10 lbs too much. Very frustrating. Of course, right now I’m 20-30 lbs above that range, so I’ll save worrying about persistent weight plateaus for next year.
michelle reitemeyer recently posted…George at 2 months