A fair maiden, the hunchback and a wee little fairy!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Sarah's "Barefoot" Running Experiment III
Days Four, Five and Six
OK, so I took two days off. Yesterday was a beautiful day! It was a perfect October Tuesday. The air was crisp, but not cold and the sun was out. We went on our usual route with a little more spring in my step. My knee started hurting at the end, which alarmed me a bit. With all the pain I've had in my life, my knees NEVER bother me. They are the one part of me that don't hurt. So, what happened? I ran around the yard a bit with Asha and did some yoga. It seems fine now. In fact, I'm not even sore today. Maybe I need to press a little harder.
The hardest thing about running, for me, is actually my tummy. I've been under a lot of stress this year and don't know if I have an ulcer or just some really bad indigestion, but running makes it jiggle around and that's no fun.
OK, so I took two days off. Yesterday was a beautiful day! It was a perfect October Tuesday. The air was crisp, but not cold and the sun was out. We went on our usual route with a little more spring in my step. My knee started hurting at the end, which alarmed me a bit. With all the pain I've had in my life, my knees NEVER bother me. They are the one part of me that don't hurt. So, what happened? I ran around the yard a bit with Asha and did some yoga. It seems fine now. In fact, I'm not even sore today. Maybe I need to press a little harder.
The hardest thing about running, for me, is actually my tummy. I've been under a lot of stress this year and don't know if I have an ulcer or just some really bad indigestion, but running makes it jiggle around and that's no fun.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sarah's "Barefoot" Running Experiment II
Day Two and Three
I wasn't as sore from yesterday's run as I thought I'd be. My calves were stiff and some of the muscles in my feet felt like they had worked in a way that they never had, but I was pleased that my usually sore hips and shins were doing ok. Also, the insides of my elbows were sore. Perhaps it was from keeping them too rigid while pushing the stroller? (Keep in mind that I also have fibromyalgia, which means I'm really sore most of the time, so the thought of running is terrifying to me. The idea behind the footgloves is that it will help improve my form and thus create less chance of injury. I already walk several miles a day, but need the happy brain chemical boost that running offers to endure the depression that comes with the dreary Pennsylvania winters.) Speaking of winter...
I wasn't as sore from yesterday's run as I thought I'd be. My calves were stiff and some of the muscles in my feet felt like they had worked in a way that they never had, but I was pleased that my usually sore hips and shins were doing ok. Also, the insides of my elbows were sore. Perhaps it was from keeping them too rigid while pushing the stroller? (Keep in mind that I also have fibromyalgia, which means I'm really sore most of the time, so the thought of running is terrifying to me. The idea behind the footgloves is that it will help improve my form and thus create less chance of injury. I already walk several miles a day, but need the happy brain chemical boost that running offers to endure the depression that comes with the dreary Pennsylvania winters.) Speaking of winter...
Yes, that's ice on the babyjogger and snow on the ground. I didn't have the courage to slip on my footgloves in this weather. In the afternoon, however, I put on smartwool socks and my regular Saucony sneakers and at least wanted to take a long walk. During the walk, I thought I'd try a few short sprints to see how I felt. First of all, the nice warm cozy sneakers were more comfortable than my footgloves, but when I ran I could feel my whole body jiggling. I didn't feel that with the footgloves. When I was running with the footgloves, things felt smooth and I felt light. With the sneakers, I felt the pound pound pound of my feet hitting the ground. I was worn out much faster and could only run a short way.
Today is day three and I feel like I slept on a bed of rocks. My body is killing me! OUCH! Erik is out with Asha so I'm going to try to go on a footglove run without the baby. I'll see how that goes.
UPDATE: I ran with Emma on day three without the stroller. The great thing about this is that we could go on the grass and vary the terrain a little more. It was great! Poor Emma, though, is an older dog and had trouble keeping up in the end. If I actually get into this, we may have to get another dog.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Sarah's "Barefoot" Running Experiment I
Day One
Now that I have my footgloves, the babyjogger, and rain cover for the babyjogger, I have no excuses not to get out there. Today, I awoke to a dreary, rainy 39degree day. Seriously? I'm going to start my barefoot running experiment today? I geared up with a rain jacket and turtlefur ninja hat, pulled on my footgloves, dressed the baby in warm clothes, strapped her into the stroller, affixed the rain cover, and tied the dog onto the stroller. Finally ready. 
Now that I have my footgloves, the babyjogger, and rain cover for the babyjogger, I have no excuses not to get out there. Today, I awoke to a dreary, rainy 39degree day. Seriously? I'm going to start my barefoot running experiment today? I geared up with a rain jacket and turtlefur ninja hat, pulled on my footgloves, dressed the baby in warm clothes, strapped her into the stroller, affixed the rain cover, and tied the dog onto the stroller. Finally ready. 
My toes were screaming, "It's freezing out here! You've got to be kidding!" I walked about one-third of a mile and then started to run. I'll be honest, it felt great! It felt like running in the rain when I was a kid. I only ran for one minute, then walked four more, then ran for one, walked for four, so on and so forth. I've gotten many warnings not to start too hard, too fast.
What amazed me is how the acorns and sticks on the road didn't bother my feet at all. My ankles felt stable and my hips felt fine. When I got home I ran through the yard on the soft grass, which was heavenly! I wish there were barefoot running trails that were all grass and moss. My feet celebrated the end of our run.
When we got in, I dried everyone off and made some wonderfully warm chai. My feet were happy to get into some wool socks and out of those cold, wet footgloves.
We'll see how I feel in the morning.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Happy Anniversary
For our anniversary, I got Erik his most favorite thing in the whole world: ice cream cake! Even at our wedding we had two ice cream cakes stacked together for our wedding cake. He couldn't resist sampling the frosting before we got out the camera. That's OK, it's his anniversary!
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Today is Our Anniversary!
Erik and I have been married four years ago today! In four short years we have been through a lot together. We've had three home addresses and I've had four studio addresses and am now studio-less. We've been on numerous fun trips. And we have adopted a child from India. The thing that stands out to me the most, however, is the day-to-day joy that we find in one another. We joke about the one anniversary where I said, "Gee, Erik I'm not sick of you at all!" The truth is that day in and day out I'm excited when he comes home; I enjoy his company; his laughter is food for my soul. I feel completely loved and excepted by this man and in that I feel like I can do anything! We make a good team, Erik and I. Here are some pictures from our courtship, wedding, honeymoon and beyond! This is the first picture Erik and I took together just a month or so into dating. We were just young, crazy kids then. 
In June 2004, Erik and I went to Chicago to attend Deirdre and Alex's wedding. I really fell for him over this trip. Can you blame me, though? Look at that man!
October 8, 2004 Erik asked me to be his wife. 
October 8, 2005 Erik and I got married!
We went on a fabulous honeymoon that Erik planned in secrecy. He took me on a three day train trip to Seattle (yes, we're those wacky people you meet on trains!) and then we flew to Hawaii.
In June 2004, Erik and I went to Chicago to attend Deirdre and Alex's wedding. I really fell for him over this trip. Can you blame me, though? Look at that man!October 8, 2004 Erik asked me to be his wife. October 8, 2005 Erik and I got married!We went on a fabulous honeymoon that Erik planned in secrecy. He took me on a three day train trip to Seattle (yes, we're those wacky people you meet on trains!) and then we flew to Hawaii.Monday, October 05, 2009
Vocation and Personal Satisfaction
I take the doctrine of vocation very seriously. For most of my life my primary vocation was as a student. In fact, all but the first five years of my life and three years after Hillsdale College have I *not* been a student. Since I'm still working on my MA thesis, I'm still a student. Most of those years as a student were to prepare me for my adult life. I have known since I was a small child that I was being called to be an artist and I trained for years and years to be able to have some facility in that vocation.
Now my primary vocation is that of Asha's mother. In my previous life as an artist and a student I got a tremendous amount of satisfaction from completing papers, graduating, finishing artwork, accepting new challenges, working out a new design, solving logistical problems with sculptures, etc. As a mother, the satisfaction is wholly different. At the end of the day I do not feel satisfied at a job well done. I cannot see the fruits of my labors. In fact, my home is usually even more chaotic and I am more tired at the end of the day. (In my vocation as a homemaker I would find some satisfaction in a delicious meal or a polished floor.) I am well-accustomed to delayed gratification. It took nearly five years for the Joseph and Mary sculptures to be completed, but the celebration of finishing was palatable. With being a mother, there is such a different way of measuring satisfaction that is so unbelievably alien to me.
Some parents have said that a good day is when no one ends up in the emergency room, nothing is on fire, and everyone has all of his or her limbs. Can I find satisfaction in the affirmative? Asha learned a new word today, or asked to go to the potty? This type of satisfaction is something that I'll have to grow into. In so many ways, those are her accomplishments, not mine.
Everything in my life up until now has prepared me to do one hundred other things that do not include being a mother. I admire people like Brother Lawrence who've found joy and beauty in the everyday mundane domestic tasks of service. I devour essays by Wendell Berry that celebrate the beauty of domesticity. My experience of domesticity, however, is that it is this unending cycle of needs that once satisfied it is only a matter of time before the need re-emerges. Rather than finding the beauty in the cycles of need, I find that I have little satisfaction in my work.
My ever-gracious, amazing husband finds a great deal of satisfaction in a well-run home. His calling is that of a hotel manager and even though he isn't presently doing that, it's in his veins. He loves the smooth operation and pleasant experience of visiting a well-run hotel. He approaches the home in much the same way. There are so many things that I don't even have to worry about because he has such a smooth system that makes the behind-the-scenes operations seamless. I am his opposite. I find satisfaction in seeing the work of my hands, or with a difficult problem solved. I'm energized by motivating others to good work. I prefer working with a team or people who all have different tasks. In so many ways, domesticity doesn't suit me.
Yet, here I am. Perhaps being in roles and situations that are not perfectly suited to our dispositions we strengthen those places where we find weakness. Can I see this new vocation as an opportunity to grow, to stretch, to be a little more like Brother Lawrence?
Now my primary vocation is that of Asha's mother. In my previous life as an artist and a student I got a tremendous amount of satisfaction from completing papers, graduating, finishing artwork, accepting new challenges, working out a new design, solving logistical problems with sculptures, etc. As a mother, the satisfaction is wholly different. At the end of the day I do not feel satisfied at a job well done. I cannot see the fruits of my labors. In fact, my home is usually even more chaotic and I am more tired at the end of the day. (In my vocation as a homemaker I would find some satisfaction in a delicious meal or a polished floor.) I am well-accustomed to delayed gratification. It took nearly five years for the Joseph and Mary sculptures to be completed, but the celebration of finishing was palatable. With being a mother, there is such a different way of measuring satisfaction that is so unbelievably alien to me.
Some parents have said that a good day is when no one ends up in the emergency room, nothing is on fire, and everyone has all of his or her limbs. Can I find satisfaction in the affirmative? Asha learned a new word today, or asked to go to the potty? This type of satisfaction is something that I'll have to grow into. In so many ways, those are her accomplishments, not mine.
Everything in my life up until now has prepared me to do one hundred other things that do not include being a mother. I admire people like Brother Lawrence who've found joy and beauty in the everyday mundane domestic tasks of service. I devour essays by Wendell Berry that celebrate the beauty of domesticity. My experience of domesticity, however, is that it is this unending cycle of needs that once satisfied it is only a matter of time before the need re-emerges. Rather than finding the beauty in the cycles of need, I find that I have little satisfaction in my work.
My ever-gracious, amazing husband finds a great deal of satisfaction in a well-run home. His calling is that of a hotel manager and even though he isn't presently doing that, it's in his veins. He loves the smooth operation and pleasant experience of visiting a well-run hotel. He approaches the home in much the same way. There are so many things that I don't even have to worry about because he has such a smooth system that makes the behind-the-scenes operations seamless. I am his opposite. I find satisfaction in seeing the work of my hands, or with a difficult problem solved. I'm energized by motivating others to good work. I prefer working with a team or people who all have different tasks. In so many ways, domesticity doesn't suit me.
Yet, here I am. Perhaps being in roles and situations that are not perfectly suited to our dispositions we strengthen those places where we find weakness. Can I see this new vocation as an opportunity to grow, to stretch, to be a little more like Brother Lawrence?
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