Tag: Running

Waking happiness

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I woke up to a little hand laying on my head and a pair of sleepy blue eyes staring at me. I hesitantly got out of bed and tripped over a pair of five-pound weights. Ugh. Open your eyes, Mary.As I headed out for a run, I hoped not to wake the snoring Maria in her room.

When I got home, Mario gave me a kiss -peck goodbye and headed out with Jon to school. Jon told me he loved me. Maria laughed at my silly antics and rode her bike outside while waiting for Maggie.

I got ready for work – a task I had no desire to perform. I wanted to stay home and play with Ri and plant flowers and pick up Mario and chat with Jon.

But, alas, life is not perfect. So I continued on my task and headed to work knowing that I’d see my darlin’ crew in a mere eight hours.

Good Morning!

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Maria woke me up this morning at 6:20. She jumped out of our bed and shot into her room. She was dressed in 5 minutes and back in our room asking when Maggie would be over. Can we say excited?!

Maggie took Maria to the school that Maggie teaches at today. it was the last day of school for Maggie’s kiddies so they were making sundaes and watching movies. Maria was pumped. Jon said she sat on the front door steps for 10 minutes waiting for Maggie to pick her up. Doll baby girl.

Meanwhile, Mario climbed in bed with Jon and me while Maria got dressed. I tried to gently sneak out from under his arm but he quickly opened his eyes and asked “where are you going, mom?” I told him I was going for a run and I’d be back soon. He did what I knew he’d do – begged to go with me. And I responded the way I knew I’d respond – ok. So, he hopped in the stroller with the iPad and we were off. We had to make the Tim Horton’s stop to get Timbits but only after he ate a graham cracker with peanut butter so he had some nutrients swarming around his system.

We returned an hour later in order to miss seeing Maggie taking Maria for the day (Mario would have been so angry to not be included to the party). On the way down the street, Mario and I engaged in his favorite game. He says “You don’t love me mom!” and I respond “of course I love you goofy” while I reach down and tickle him. He loves this game and we play it all the way home. I pick him up out of the stroller to take him inside, and he gives me a huge bear hug as we walk in the back door and get ready for school.

A good start to the morning.

Being conscious of treasures

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We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder

I am making a conscious effort each day to step back at certain moments in time, be it with the kids or work colleagues or Jon or by myself, and appreciate the moment for what it offers to me.  These small retreats build up, and by the time evening rolls in and I am putting on my pjs alongside Maria and Mario, I generally feel grateful for what life has offered me through the day (there are those rare evenings where even a day full of wonderful moments can be demolished by a child going through a temper tantrum). 

There are tons of books and magazines and blog sites touting the benefits of gratitude but it’s not until you actually make that conscious effort of practicing it that it hits home.  I feel more serene when I go to sleep, more hopeful during my day, more positive in my outlook.  Overall, I guess I would say I am more “happy” – whatever that looks like. I simply feel more alive and more connected.

Today, I got to take a run in the morning for the first time in two weeks.  Jon stayed with Mario while I ran through the neighborhood and lifted weights at the gym.  Listening to NPR for 45 minutes was the best gift I could receive from Jon.  On my run home, as I listened to Michael Jackson’s Beat It and looked at the gardens lining our street, I had one of those step-back moments.  I felt an intense swelling of gratitude for Jon, and his selflessness in letting me get up in the mornings to do the thing I love to do.  I also felt grateful for my legs – yeah, my legs!  For allowing me to be able to run the distance I am able to run and let my mind drift as I listen to stories and news on NPR.  It is such a treasure for me.

Later in the day, when I came home from work to find Mario and Jon already back from school, I felt that surge of gratitude rise again.  Mario popped out of the family room with a whopping smile on his face telling me to close my eyes.  When I opened, he had his home-made graduation cap on his head and the same smile across his face. 

“I graduated today, mom!”

Some in his class graduated to Kindergarten today but they let all of the kids make caps (always politically correct).  He was so proud of his creation.  We took a bike ride later to get his haircut, and while on the bike, he asked me to sing to him.  I sang him a rhyming song about how much I loved my boy cuz he was just like a toy, and his toes tasted like soy… (yeah, I know, pretty lame except to a four-year old), and he turned around laughing at me.  It was the sweetest moment.  I replay it in my head as I sit here tonight, and it still makes me smile as I think about it.  When we got to the salon, he made me move away from him while the gal cut his hair because he wanted to be alone with her.  He wanted to tell her how he wanted his hair.  I sat in the seat up front the entire time without him ever calling out for me.  When she finished, he got out of his chair, and walked over to me. 

“What do you think, mom?”

“You look awesome, dude.”

He walked over to the mirror and put his hand through his hair, and nodded his head up and down.  He knew he looked good.  Man, I am grateful for that nut. 

When we got home, Jon told me that he called Maria at Grandma Ionno’s house.  Patty told him how Maria kept her and Joe laughing throughout the day with her quips.  She was telling a story to Patty and Joe and Joe closed his eyes.  She looked at Patty and said “I guess the story was a little long – no wonder Grandpa fell asleep!”  That girl has got a personality to last a lifetime, and I am grateful beyond words to have her in my life (and I miss her like mad – get home, pumpkin girl!).

I am thankful for this consciousness of treasures I continue to sharpen in my daily life.  Now, off to a good-night’s sleep.

Time with my little guy

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Trade your expectation for appreciation and the world changes instantly. Tony Robbins

I woke up with Mario this morning.  Maria got to see a late movie and sleep over with a girlfriend.  Mario agreed to take a stroller ride with me if I let him get donuts at Tim Hortons.  I allowed him to get donuts if he agreed to eat a graham cracker with peanut butter beforehand (I knew if he did that he would not even be hungry for much of a donut and I could eat the rest!).

Much to my amazement, Mario spent the entire stroller ride talking to me and finding all sorts of animals along the way.  He spotted birds and squirrels and a rabbit sitting in a yard.  Of course, it was a game to him that he had to win.  Every time he found an animal, he’d pump his fist in the air and yell “I win!”  But it was much better than having him play on the iPad, which is usually what he wants to do.  He even talked to me about what he learned at school this week (do you know what anemones do, mom? I do!). 

I am so appreciative of this time with my little guy – totally unexpected and wonderful.  It started my holiday weekend off on a much-needed good note, and changed how I viewed my tiny little world this morning. 

Life doesn’t get much better – donuts, fresh air and sweet chats with my guy. Now, we can’t wait to add Maria to the mix!

This Morning

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This morning brought us:

  • Dad
  • Laughter
  • Wild Kratts
  • Double Stroller Running 
  • Timbits
  • St. Patrick’s Day Green Sprinkled Donut
  • Light Rain
  • Magnolia Blooms
  • Daffodils
  • Squirrels
  • Olentangy River
  • Rocks
  • Deer Prints
  • Woodpeckers
  • Mario’s Heron
  • Geese
  • Toes in the Mud
  • Hand Holding
  • Frisbee
  • Appreciation For Weekend Adventures

I Am Because We Are

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I took my time getting out of bed this morning.  Jon lovingly rolled out of bed at 7:10 am to take the kids downstairs.  They have reverted back to their old wake-up time – 6:30 am.  Brutal on a Saturday morning.  Especially when nursing a head cold.

Maria headed back upstairs after heading down with the boys.  She cuddled her body against mine and rubbed my hair trying to get the tangles out (an act she loves because I inevitably say “Ouch!” and she retorts “That’s how I feel when you brush my hair!”).  She begged me not to go on my Saturday morning run complaining that I never spend Saturday mornings with her.  I explained to her that I spend all of Saturday day and night with her outside of my run, but that didn’t matter one bit in her mind.  When she knew she would not get me to skip my run, she begged me to at least get up and carry her piggyback downstairs.  I asked her to give me 15 minutes.  She counted down 15 minutes on the clock and when that 15 minutes expired, she sang “Cock-a-doodle-do!”  She is a nutball.

As I got dressed and looked outside at the bleak morning, I resolved I would do a short run – 5 miles – and call it a day.  My head hurt from my cold, my nose was runny and stuffy and my eyes felt droopy.  Jon always asks why I would choose to go outside and exercise when I felt like that but to me, it helps.  Opens up those sinuses, right?!  On my first leg of the run, I felt heavy in the legs and I thought I may take the mileage down to 3.  But something happened as I jogged down my second hill and saw a group of runners – male and female – running up the hill.  They looked my way, smiled, waved, and yelled “Good day, heh?”  I returned the morning hello and felt energized.  After another mile, I jogged by a woman walking her dog who I see often on my morning runs.  Her dog yapped and she shrugged her shoulders at me saying “I wish he’d know you by now and not bother you with that barking. Do a mile for me!”  I waved and continued. 

M&M posing at the tile shop they went to with Jon and me later in the day.

I made it to my turn-off. I could choose to take a left and head up the hill to the gym or head straight towards downtown.  Seeing others energized me and I continued toward downtown.  When I passed a bus stop, the two older men sitting on the bench commented  “Lookin’ good hunny.  Keep that body moving.  Uh-huh.”  I nodded at them appreciating their subtle encouragement. I continued through downtown into Short North and up King Avenue.  I ran over the bridge and caught a glimpse of Mario’s favorite bird (heron) standing tall on a rock in the water.  I thought of Maria and Mario and my full day ahead with them.  I smiled.  I thought of Jon and a full week with him this week due to his lack of travel.  I smiled.  I looked at the road ahead and the run I was soon set to accomplish.  I smiled. 

An old African Proverb suddenly entered my head: “I am because we are.”  My sis had sent me this proverb in a card a while back.  I thought back to the warm people I had seen on my run, my family, my friends, the pre-historic heron, and how fitting the proverb was for my Saturday morning run.  I repeated it over and over as I ran home to spend the day with Jon and M&M.

The joys of snow

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Old man winter decided to shower us with snow today. Finally.

Snowflakes danced on my nose and eyelashes as I ran through the neighborhood this morning. My IPod died on me ten minutes into my run. Irritation and anger raced through me for not charging it the night before. However, as I continued to run and pout, I heard vibrations of snow on the trees and a trio of birds still chirping away in the 15 degree weather. I changed my thinking: rather than be irritated for 60 minutes, I became grateful for the glorious morning and the snowflakes and the weekend and the opportunity to be by myself for an hour. The results were much better, indeed; I had a most enjoyable run.

Maria teaching Mario early

I came home to a trashed house – the remnant of a crazy week juggling colds, homework, work, and kids’ addiction to electronics. As I began to clean, I sat Mario down with a phonics workbook. He is having trouble with his ABC’s and we are trying to think of ways to help him learn them. When Maria was his age, she had numbers and letters down pat. Mario’s teachers tend to put less emphasis on rote memorization and more emphasis on creativity. I like that style of teaching but I still want Mario to learn the basics! Then again, he isn’t hitting Kindergarten for another year and a half so I should probably just chill.

All Maria needs to hear is that Mario needs to learn something and she transforms herself into “teacher-mode.” She set up a desk and asked Mario to sit with her. She quizzed him on letters and when he got them wrong she gently told him “that is not right, buddy; let’s try it again.”  He surprisingly hangs in there with her, even letting her lead in the ABC song. He gets to “LMNOP” and he mumbles something incoherent and continues on with Q and then straight to Y. I have no doubt that Maria will straighten him out and get him reciting his ABC’s in no time.  She is a born teacher – even giving Mario a report card based on his ABC’s (“You did ok but keep practicing.”).

After an hour and a half of cleaning, Jon and Patrick and Mario left for Marion to see Jon’s mom and dad, and I stayed home with Maria and Alana (Mario ended up staying with Grandma and Grandpa Ionno after just pleading to them one time to spend the night – he is spoiled). The girls stayed in Maria’s room for a while playing a game that scares me. One of them is the mom and the other the teenage daughter. The daughter screams at her mom and tells her she hates her and drives off in the family car. It seems to always start this way. A snapshot of the future? Let’s hope not….

Maria has inherited my ADHD so after a short time of playing that game, she was ready for something new. She threw on her coat and went outside to play in the half-inch of snow. Alana followed. I continued to clean the counters. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I answered and saw the girls giggling around the house. I went back to cleaning. They rang again. I opened the door and they both lobbed tiny snowballs at me. I stood in the house with snow falling off me. Should I get mad about the snow in my house or the snow on my shirt? Should I get mad that they interrupted my cleaning.  No.  Instead I got even!

I threw my coat and shoes on and chased them around the yard until I got ’em both with snowballs. Since we were covered in snow, we decided to try to build a snowman. The snow was light and fluffy and sparse, which prompted both girls to tell me there was no way to build one.  But I always remember my dad’s actions on a summer day at the farm months ago. He had bought Mario a kite and Mario wanted to fly it but there was absolutely no wind. Everyone told Mario he could not fly it; that is, except my dad. He took him outside to give it a try. With a hill and a will, my dad ran down the hill with that kite flying high in the sky behind him. Mario jumped up and down with sheer joy on his face and we all stood in awe.

The girls with Alycia Snowy

And, following my dad’s footsteps, Maria, Alana and I made ourselves a sweet, little snowman. It took lots of work – the girls shoveled their hearts out – but we did it. Alycia Snowy Ionno is her name and she is a beauty.