Any day is a good day for random happy news, right? I therefore declare today to be:

 “Random Happy News Day”

Happy News: I’m signed up for a free online course through Stanford University: EDUC115N ~ How to Learn Math. Others in my department are taking it, too, so we will have a lot of opportunities for collaboration and discussions about the topics we’re covering. The course creator, Jo Boaler, describes it this way:

In July 2013 a new course will be available on Stanford’s free on-line platform. The course is a short intervention designed to change students’ relationships with math. I have taught this intervention successfully in the past (in classrooms); it caused students to re-engage successfully with math, taking a new approach to the subject and their learning…. (source)

Source: https://class.stanford.edu/courses/Education/EDUC115N/How_to_Learn_Math/about

Happy News: When we move I will no longer have to deal with this traffic on a daily basis (sometimes multiple times a day). This is the traffic I hit taking Gabe home from school. There is a similar traffic experience taking Gabe to school (or to soccer, or Andrew to play rehearsals)…

That’s happy news I can’t follow with anything else. That, my friends, is something that makes me so happy I could sing. We will turn, therefore, to running business…

Running News

I am turning into an every-other-day runner who runs 3 – 5 miles at whatever pace suits me that day. To be fair… this is probably a good thing for my body. I have asked more of my body in the last year and 3 months than I have asked of it for decades. To be honest, however, I want “more” and I’m the type of person who needs structure, goals, and plans to make “more” happen. There are three things I feel like I’m leaning toward as running goals:

1. Running higher mileage most of the time injury-free. (A)
2. Run faster (overall… not all the time). (B)
3. Becoming stronger and more “fit” in more diverse ways. (C)

(A) I miss running for a long time and for long distances. I enjoy my 3 – 5 mile runs, but I truly miss what running 6 – 8 miles on short days feels like. I miss back-to-back weeks where I run 30+ miles. It is terribly frustrating (for whatever reason ~ who am I?) for me to know I’m not in Half-Marathon shape. Is this an unreasonable goal? I don’t know. What I do know, is that if I reach this goal… it won’t be overnight!

(B) If I can run the speed I’m running now, I can run faster. This is true, I know, because when I started I was slower than I am now. This is true, I know, because an 81 year old runner ran a marathon in 3:30. This marathon story is not brought up so I can try to compare myself to him, but to ask the question, “What makes Stephanie the best runner she can be?” Being faster can. be. done. I just need to do it. If it matters to me, then I should do it!

(C) In April when I was doing the 30-day challenge and Jillian workouts I felt very powerful and strong. During the winter soccer practices when I could fit in a yoga class 2 – 3 times a week I felt powerful and strong. My basketball background has weightlifting and cross-training as part of it’s training base. I would love to figure out a way to fit things like this in regularly ~ not just as a monthly challenge.

Whew! Thanks for listening to my running-rant!

Do you have any happy news to share?

Do you have any suggestions for me regarding my goals?

How do you become fit in diverse ways?

This morning before my eye appointment I had breakfast at Kick Stand. I love local coffee shops. I have also loved spending my birthday money for quiet working breakfasts…

I got a diagnosis on an eye problem I’ve been having for awhile (like, over a year) and I’m happy to have a plan of action for it. No details. Eyes freak Glenn out and he’ll be reading this!

There are a few things I look forward to about midday runs: bright sunshine, people out and about to look at, the gratifying feeling of completing something that you thought you might not do (it’s so easy at 2:00-5:00 PM to say, “I’m tired! I’ll just run tomorrow!”), and breaking a good sweat because of the temperature.

After my 4 mile afternoon run (new spot!) I had a healthy snack…

Later I had another snack because we weren’t going to have dinner until after 8 PM…

Tonight was the culmination of a lot of hard work for Andrew: Hamlet!

He’s critical of himself (like most of us) but I thought he did a fabulous job (and he got lots of compliments from other parents). Tomorrow we find out who is in the ‘dream cast’. Andrew’s Theater instructor ran two Hamlet casts and is choosing the best actor for each role for a dream cast. One of Andrew’s dearest friends was Hamlet in the other cast. I’m sure that he’ll be thrilled if he’s chosen, disappointed if he’s not, but happy for his friend if she gets the role. They’re very supportive of one another…

This is play #2 in a row where Andrew dies in the end…
I’m a proud mama!

How was your Thursday?

What makes you a proud parent/sibling/spouse/teacher/you-name-it?

• I love my boys all of the time. There are times when I’m disappointed in their actions/in-actions, but they will always have my love and support. Andrew could have been cast as a tree in the play (there were no trees) and I would be proud of him!

Do you have any plans for the weekend?

• Jazz show and soccer tournament!

I’ve moved a lot. Growing up I lived in 4 – 5 different places (although sometimes in the same town). When I was in college I changed rooms, dorms, and apartments quite a few times.

I’ve moved even more since Glenn and I got married. We started out our journey (which is almost a 16 year journey!) in Gwinn, MI.

#1 – Gwinn, MI (apartment rental): Gwinn is the town without a traffic light (and apparently the apartment that wouldn’t seat 4 for dinner without a card table!)…

#2 – Escanaba, MI (house rental): We had a cat named Peanut who loved to play (we gave her to a friend when I found out I was pregnant)…

#3 – Adrian, MI (apartment rental): Here Glenn is bringing Andrew home from the hospital for the first time… 

#4 – Blissfield, MI (house purchase #1): Moving day! Wave back to my dad!…

#5 – Marquette, MI (house purchase #2): I only chose this picture so you’d feel sorry for us that our basement flooded and fixing it required large amounts of construction…

#6 – Westland, MI (house purchase #3)… Hopefully Mary will forgive me for putting up a picture of her without asking! Here she is reading with the boys in our lower level (it was a tri-level)…#7 – Canton, MI (house purchase #4): I must love you that I’m sharing this crazy Halloween picture of me. I’m 6′ tall without those 6′ heels! My family was beside themselves (especially my 6’7″ brother who never has someone to look at face-to-face)…

#8 – Flagstaff, AZ (house rental)… We called this the “Holy Crap” house because it was so big and pretty. Turns out it was also not well insulated, really far from the bus stop, and had a driveway that was probably at a 45 degree angle…

#9 – Flagstaff, AZ (town home rental): Here we are in front of our town home (Andrew is in the doorway looking out at us and taking our picture). It’s been a great “layover” for the year…

#10 Flagstaff, AZ (house purchase #5): This is the trail that is 0.2 miles from the house we just bought in Flagstaff! We still have to have an inspection (I keep telling myself: calm down, sister!)…

AHHHHH! I’m so excited!

More news to come as the move gets closer!

Questions:

Should I write a book about moving/packing/adjusting?

Have you moved a lot (have you ever moved three years in a row?)?

How far from your home (house, apartment, town home, etc.) from your favorite running spot?