Things my 9 year old daughter has done lately:

• She just got her blue belt in karate.
• She jumped off a diving board.
• She went from half walking/half running (also known as “wogging”) to running a full mile at a time.
• She suddenly completely outgrew her running shoes with no warning, overnight.
• Right after replacing said running shoes, we noticed she was an inch and a half taller. Again, pretty much overnight.

Oh, and that’s just what she’s done the past couple of weeks.
It’s been quite a summer already, and it’s only about half over.

A year ago, I smoked my last cigarette.

It was a hard thing to do. I gained back half of the weight I’d lost. I had a serious lack of energy while on the medication I used to quit.

But I gained a lot, too. (Besides 30 pounds!)  One big thing being time. You can’t even imagine how much longer my days are without that hourly smoke break. I no longer smell bad. I have the lung capacity to do things like run. I never have to stand outside in extreme cold or heat. I feel like a healthier person.

And that’s just a handful of reasons.

There are still some awkward moments. I’m still not always sure how to fill all of my extra time, and I still sometimes crumble when faced with stress. But it gets easier. Sometimes I still crave one. Usually for more emotional/psychological reasons than anything else. But generally, I’m ok. How do I spend my time now? As an endorphin junkie. Instead of getting up in the morning and running out to smoke, I get up and get ready for my run.  And that’s an ok way to live in my opinion.

It took me a whole year to get back on track with my diet, but I’m finally there… Finally eating right again along with my workouts and feeling really good about myself. I’m back on track and I’m not giving in this time.

…go driving to the farthest star.

Today’s post is all about circles. To be more specific, wheels.

Yesterday, at 2.97 of my 3 mile run on the elliptical, I decided to kick it up a notch, resulting in a bolt snapping off and the whole thing coming apart on me. It’s done for, and I decided I can’t afford even a cheap treadmill as a replacement right now.

This morning, we jumped in the car to head to my daughter’s swimming lesson. Didn’t get far before realizing my car was making an awful noise at me every time I accelerated. Said some prayers that it wasn’t going to explode. After another minute, realized it had to be a tire. Glad I didn’t decide I could swing the money for a treadmill, since I wasn’t getting a choice about new tires. Needless to say, we never did make it to swimming.

I told my daughter she’d better keep me away from her bike for the time being.

I totally just stole that title from one of my kid’s blog posts for this week.

We’re settling into this whole summer vacation thing, and trying to find the right balance. The weather here decided to get super hot a little earlier than usual. So the shebikesIrun theory is mostly out the window for now. We’ve been running our family mile outdoors in the mornings (early morning and it’s already sweaty out), followed by me running 3 more on the elliptical with the air blasting. Then I have enough time to grab a dry shirt and rush off to her swimming lesson.

I have t say, it’s hectic, but I feel pretty accomplished getting that much done by 10am. That leaves the afternoons for more swimming and sunshine, or bike rides and outdoor play for the girl, or much needed naps at times. I still feel like we’re having a lazy summer.

I need to bring yoga back into my routine… I’m lifting weights 3 days a week, running 4 days a week… and we go to yoga class one evening a week. And it isn’t enough. I need the flexibility, and I need the peace it brings me. So there’s a goal for next week; fitting in more yoga.

At this rate, by the time the summer’s over I’ll be getting up at 3am and be fast asleep by 9 at night to fit in all the things I’d like t be doing. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.

Still trying to sort out the eating thing. I’m really not putting enough effort into that issue, and I need to be.