The good stuff- Santa, GNO, wine, run, food, friends!

Thursday I went for a run while George played with his friends at preschool.  It was the first decent run since the injury and it felt SO great to breathe deeply, move swiftly, and endure for longer than 30 minutes.  Maybe it was endorphins but the songs that I heard on the Pandora Station seemed to be a perfect soundtrack for the things God has mightily done in my life the past few weeks.  I normally do not listen to music while I run because I like the sounds of my breath as I inhale and exhale and how they coincide with my feet as they pound the earth beneath me, but today almost without a thought, I put the ear buds in and God talked to me through music.  The air was crisp, the sun was bright and my hopes were high for a strong comeback into the runners' world.  I was not disappointed in my body's ability to jump right back into a trail run, hills and all.  Thank you, body. I have a lot of gratitude and respect for you.  And in that same breath- thank you, God for the creation of such a magnificent miracle, the human body.

This run was followed by a London Fog (steamed milk, black tea and vanilla) and a 99c Store errand.  Can I just say that I love the 99c store?  I know I have mentioned it before but it is such a nice change from Target, where I unload four items of junk and one bag of dog food (the only item I planned to buy) onto the belt and never charge the card for less than $100.  At the 99c store however, I unload a WHOLE CART of junk and it is never over $25.  I wish they sold our brand of dog food so I could avoid Target altogether.  I don't think the ability to avoid Target is humanly possible in America.  Who disagrees?  OK, I see no one does. Let us move on.

Thursday night we went to the Farmer's Market for a tree lighting.  There were Carolers and a happy Santa.  He was a good one too. We got there just in time because George was the last to tell Santa what he wanted.  He asked for a remote controlled helicopter and play dough and …..what was the third thing? I am certain Santa remembers.  We got kettle corn, played with friends, saw the bubble man and saw lots of Christmas lights on our way to and from.  On the way home I got a text from an acquaintance down the street. She wanted to know if I would come over for a glass of wine with a few girl friends.  Why, yes, that sounds like a fabulous idea….if only the husband would acquiesce …..and YES, he said this was just the thing to break my almost reclusive habits lately.  He didn't say it quite like that, but its kind of true.  After the injury that socially isolated me, I have been a little slow to return to the real world where people hang out with folks other than their kids and husband!  So after stir fry (prepared and cleaned up by my wonderful husband) and after my boy was bathed and read to and tucked warmly in bed…off I went to drink a glass of wine with some women.  WOW.  I don't really know how to describe in words the next 4 hours of my life.  Fun, feeling normal, smiles, laughs, wine, snacks, home made warm chocolate chip cookies, more laughs, stories told, a Southern accent that did not belong to me. The other girls knew my friend from down the street from church and bible study.  One girl did not know anyone else there either (like me) and turns out she lives across the street from me and has three young children just about George's age.  We got to know each other pretty well and by midnight it was the three ladies who live on this street left standing in the kitchen around several empty bottles of wine, cookie crumbs and open chip bags.  There were persimmons the neighbor brought from a tree in her yard as well.  Its good to have friends, especially when they live two short minutes from your front door.  Thats called community folks.  And I've never been more thankful for it.  Little George and I ended up at this girl's house the very next night to meet her three little ones.  They were so much fun and had lots of new and different toys so George had a blast.  I'll call her Berkeley from here on out because she graduated from UC Berkeley and is a true Berkeley-ite.  She's a no-plastic-policy-holding, to-the-right-hugging, prius-driving, progressive-thinking, lovable and downright wonderful lady.  I can't wait to get to know her better.  I returned to my warm house and was hit by the smell of home made pizza as soon as I walked in the door.  My husband had worked all night on home made sauce and toppings to make us Stromboli and a pizza to enjoy.  Robin Hood (the cartoon version) was cued up and ready to watch.  What a fun night.  And to top it all off, he did the dishes for the second night in a row while I put George down.  Can someone tell me how I got so lucky? Anyone? Sunday Berkeley and I plan to go to Manhattan beach with our husbands and kids.  They promise snow and fireworks on the beach.  Who wouldn't want to do that?! Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow!