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My Lurker, Sarah
My Lurker, Sarah
I met my first lurker today. She lives four blocks over! How about that!!! I’ve actually met a reader who lives in my town. I always used to day dream that this might happen someday. But I figured my town is kinda small and the world wide internet is pretty big so the chances were slim. So when she emailed me it kinda creeped me out, in a good way.
And you know what, my lurker is awesome! She isn’t creepy at all! If I could order a friend out of a catalogue, I’d order Sarah. In fact she’s so perfect with her perfect house and her perfect husband, I’m wondering if she secretly eats bath tub caulking or something. We went on a walk today and found out that we have five trillion things in common! And she lives four blocks away! I have to pinch myself. I’ve always wanted a friend who only lives four blocks away. Just think of the barbecues we could have and the lemonade we could sip. She has the perfect back yard with perfect chairs for lounging too. I am in like Flynn!
The only catch is I have to make sure she never comes to my house. She’s allergic to cats and her husband is a neat freak (in the admirable I wish I was you sort of way). If they get one glimpse of my carpet they’ll probably both fall over dead. Even the red light Post Paris Party trick probably won’t work. Her place was so perfect, it was right out of a magazine. I can’t wait for Toby to meet them, he’s probably going to break out the lighting equipment and start photographing them right on the spot. The cool art on the wall, the geometric patterns, the retro furniture, the apple laptops… I’m not sure what I like best, Sarah or her house! Sarah’s husband is an artist too and I can tell he and Toby are going to get along smashingly. Either that or they’ll hate each other.
I tell you, nothing but good has ever come from this blog. Some of my friends and family shake their heads and wag their fingers at me. They warn me of stalkers and all the crazy people who are out there just waiting to pounce on an innocent blogger like me, advertising every detail of my life for the whole wide world to see. But (knock on wood) NOTHING BAD HAS EVER HAPPENED because of this blog. It has been nothing but good thing after good thing.
Let me count the ways:
1. This blog saved me from going crazy with boredom when my dead end job in corporate-land was going nowhere.
2. It challenges me to look for the positive and entertaining details of life that would normally be forgotten. It’s forced me to record things in such a way that I feel like I’m really living my life. Even bad days are fun now because I know they’ll make a great story later.
3. This blog has put me in touch with long lost friends who googled my name hoping to find me long after email addresses had expired and phone numbers been disconnected.
4. The friends I meet through this blog actually have similar interests with me. They actually get me and they don’t think I’m a freak! Which is more than I can say for all the friends I made in school just because I happened to sit behind them in home room.
5. This blog has brought me work on projects that I actually enjoy. It’s furthered my career in ways that I never thought were possible.
6. This blog found me a friend in my very own home town!
If anybody out there is afraid to start blogging, let this post persuade you to cross over to the dark side. Who knows you might meet your very own personal lurker who’s just as perfect as Sarah.
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Running the 5K
Running the 5K aka The Stupid Thing of the Day
I must be trying to kill my baby. I ran a 5K today. And it’s not like I’m some kind of athlete who runs three miles at the drop of a hat. I do run from time to time, and three miles isn’t going to kill me but I absolutely did not train for this race one little bit.
I signed up for it way before I knew I was pregnant with the idea that it would kick me into gear and get me running again. I have a friend who lost 30 pounds just because she up and decided to run every single race she came across. It’s a great way to get motivated. She’s so motivated she got me motivated just talking about it. So she signed me up too.
The day of the race got nearer and nearer and I didn’t have the motivation to train because I’ve been feeling pretty peaked but I didn’t have the guts to drop out either. So I decided to run it anyway. I mean there are all kinds of mothers who don’t even know they are pregnant yet and they’re doing drugs and smoking and who knows what else, and their babies survive. I figured I’d just take it slow. Worse case scenario, I walk the whole thing. That’s not going to kill me.
What I didn’t count on was that it was going to be fun! I didn’t count on feeling competitive with all the other women running. I didn’t count on the neighbors along the route playing inspirational music full blast and cheering me on. So many people were clapping and yelling out “Go 704! Go 704!” as I ran by, all red in the face. I couldn’t let them down. So I ran. I ran the whole dang thing and I didn’t puke once! I actually felt better than I have for days.
Near the end I kinda made a buddy with another girl. Both of us were running slow. She says, “Not bad for a Smoker, eh?” and I answered back “Not bad for being eight weeks pregnant either.” She gave me an incredulous look and asked me if my doctor knew I was doing this. Nope, I haven’t even seen a doctor yet. We discussed it for a good minute and both agreed that the baby would probably be okay. But I do fully intend to inquire about the 5K and the food poisoning and the 3rd degree sunburn and the cold/flu from hell. This poor baby is really getting a rough introduction into my life.
At the same time maybe this is a good start for my baby and my new role as a mother. I was so impressed by a few other mothers that were running with strollers. One mother had her five-year-old and eight-year-old running right along with her. In fact all three of them kicked my butt! I want to be that kind of mom. I want to be that mom running with a stroller. I want to run with my kids someday just like my dad used to run with me. It’s a great way to start life.
Hopefully, I haven’t ended this little life before it even gets a chance to start. I’m home now and I feel a bit tired and achy but the aches are in my legs just as much as they’re in my gut area so I think this baby is going to pull through. In fact I have these achy feeling all the time even before I ran. Every day I wake up and expect to miscarry and every day there’s no blood. We’re just hanging in there, this baby and me.
But seriously, I do intend to take it easy from now on. No more 5K’s.
