Life happens pretty fast.
Maly’s first job interview
Grief and the trots
I have a really good friend who I’ve coached for a few marathons. She lost her mom on January 14th. Jess and I usually communicate via text messages or in person. Our conversations as of late have been more lengthy, so we’ve exchanged a few emails. Upon learning about her mother, I did as best I could to provide some empathy and words of encouragement. Not so much running encouragement, but life and grief encouragement.
I told her about my dad dying in 2006 and how hard that hit me. I told her about how I still think about him every day and I still grieve. But that grief is different now. That grief is good now.
She wrote to me today and said: “Grief comes for me the way runners shits do – inconvenient, messy, watery, and I’m not in the place to deal with it. But you find a way to either suck it back in or just let it rip.”
Reflections of trees in the rain
Monday morning greeted us with some much-needed rain. Elise is in Sealy with mom to help out with a doctor’s appointment. Mara and I were up and at it early for the start of a new week. Our commute to school was in a downpour.
We parked in our usual spot and waited our turn for the crossing guard to get us through the intersection in front of the school. We were walking on the sidewalk on our way to the front entrance; to the spot where we normally hug and say our goodbyes before the front entrance.
“Know what I like about the rain?”
“What’s that?”
“I like how you can look at the sidewalk and see the reflections of the trees.”
I honestly don’t think I’ve ever taken notice of the reflections of trees on a wet sidewalk. I don’t know why, but I got a real kick out of Mara pointing that out to me this morning. I think it’s those little things that kids notice and, if we’re really lucky, they’ll make mention of it for us. It’s a reminder to slow down, look around, and take in the little things.
Yesterday was Monday. It was a Monday after a pretty rough weekend. Maly, Mara, and I went to mom’s house to help out with post-surgery care, which turned into a lower intestine ulcer-induced 911 call on Sunday morning. All of Saturday and Sunday were really rough. Elise was back in Austin for work, so the girls and I were on task at Grandma’s house and it was just rough. I may or may not share some details of that experience at a later time.
In the meantime, Mara’s had a rough go of it. She was left to her own devices for the vast majority of the weekend. And her “own devices” meant no devices. I took the tablet away because I don’t want her wasting her youth away before a screen.
This is beside my point. Mara had a less than great weekend. And she really misses Elise. Elise has been with my mom since December 29th. The holidays came and went. We had COVID. New Years was, in a word, blah. And yesterday was the first Monday of a full school week. School started on Wednesday of last week on the heels of the holidays. Now it’s back to “normal.” Mara was sad on Sunday night when we got back from mom’s. And she was suffering from the blues on Monday morning knowing she had to go back to school.
So, after school, I decided I’d take her to the Karst Preserve, which is just a short drive from our house. We walked and talked, and I showed her the two caves. And she told me how she’s really interested in facts about nature and animals. And we just had a nice time together on our little preserve walk.
Epiphany
As sad as it is. I’m calling it a Christmas. Sitting on the couch, listening to my Christmas jazz playlist, and just finished my last Christmas Artbook.
The girls and I had dinner together. I started a fire and let the girls roast marshmallows and make s’mores as we watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I treated myself to a nice nog and Coke.
Now it’s time to turn off the tree, shake my blues, hit the hay, and carpe diem.
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. Merry Christmas!
All week with no social media
It wasn’t really intentional, but I realized I haven’t been on social media beyond a Facebook messenger conversation on Tuesday to coordinate the sale of some old toys.
I have to say that it’s been a very nice break. I don’t miss Instagram or Facebook at all. I think I might just keep this up. No clue how I’ll correspond with my run club though. Guess I’ll have to figure it out.
The last night of Christmas break
Mara and I read the second to last book of the Magic Treehouse series. Our goal was to finish the series during the Christmas break. We got close. It’s been a work-in-progress for probably 6 months. We’re guilty in getting caught up doing other things and not reading. There would be many weeks between books.
Part of my holiday blues is that the Christmas break is officially coming to an end. School starts back tomorrow. Tonight’s a school night. It’s back to “normal” and that ever-present Christmas spirit will be gone. The lights won’t be on the trees in the neighborhood. There won’t be Christmas music playing on 95.5 during the ride to school. And I could tell Mara was sad tonight. The same way I always was as a child when it was the night before school started back up. For me, it was always that Christmas was coming to an end. The experiences were coming to an end. Going back to school wasn’t that bad, it was that Christmas was over.
I’m living vicariously through Mara. And I’m sad. I’m sad for me and I’m sad for her. Another part of my holiday blues is coming to a realization that another year has passed. She’ll be 10 soon. She’ll be in 5th grade next year. She’s not going to be our little girl much longer. As my theme seems to be these days, another realization that life is fleeting. Children grow up too fast.
Ironically, the Magic Treehouse book we read tonight was “Thanksgiving on Thursday.” It’s the book where Jack and Annie are magically sent to Plymouth in 1621 to help prepare the first Thanksgiving feast for the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims. They were also sent to find a third kind of magic that would turn three worlds into one. This was done by bringing together themselves, the Wampanoag, and the Pilgrims as a community.
It usually takes us 45 minutes to read one of those books. She was tired when we were done. She was ready for bed. I told her I loved her a million times. And I told her “Merry Christmas” as I turned off her light and gave her a wink.
Tossing seeds and trail maintenance with Mara
Mara and I went for a walk today. Christmas was a bit lackluster because of COVID and we were all being pretty lazy. Work was really slow as it is for a lot of places the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Mara had been camping out on the couch watching TV. I finally couldn’t stand it any longer. None of us were hanging out with each other. And I feel really badly for Mara. Maybe it’s the second child thing. Maybe it’s my schedule, responsibilities, stresses, excuses are all different nowadays. I know one thing for sure, she’s not going to be a kid for much longer. And I love hanging out with this kid. And she’s always game for doing whatever.
So I grabbed her and told her we were going for a walk. And she excitedly obliged. So we walked the Burner trail along Slaughter and tossed a bunch of old sandia pepper, moonflower, and impatiens, over the barbed wire fence. And then she hung out and watched as I cleaned up some dead mesquite limbs that were impeding the trail. And we talked about stuff. I don’t remember what all we talked about. I remember telling her about mesquite, how to identify it, and how it’s good for smoking meats.
We stopped and watch three does grazing on the pipeline. Mara told me about a dream she’d had recently.
Call it seasonal depression. This time of year I always get all mushy and sentimental. And very cognizant of time and mortality. The days and years get shorter and shorter. Kids grow up so damn fast. I still think Mara’s only 4-years-old. I still think I’m only 40.
The Omicron Christmas
Elise and I went to a Christmas party last Saturday (12/18) and some long-time family friends’ house. We’ve admittedly had our COVID guard down for a while. We’re both fully vaccinated (but not yet boosted). So we went to said party unmasked. And had a grand ol’ time hanging out with friends.
On Monday I woke up and knew something was wrong. I knew I was getting sick. Probably a cold. I kept feeling worse throughout the day. I nudged myself out the door during lunch to go for a run. Usually a run will right whatever’s wrong with me. That wasn’t the case on Monday.
Come Tuesday I was feeling really crummy. And so was Elise. I took a COVID test and it came back negative. Elise thought she was having symptoms of cedar fever. Both of us were getting worse.
On Wednesday late morning, Tara brought over a couple COVID tests for us. Elise went first. Positive. I went next. Positive. Five minutes later I had to hop on a Zoom call with the CEO and VP of HR for the job that I’d just started 3 weeks prior. Thankfully, despite my recent diagnosis, my spirits were high and the meeting went really well. And come to find out, our head of HR had just tested positive for COVID the day before as well.
Later that evening, Mara spiked a fever, had a headache and was nauseous. Thursday came around and Maly got it too. Four out of four had COVID, just in time for Christmas.
Steve and Joanne were supposed to drive down from Des Moines to spend Christmas with us. Elise had a telemedicine appointment on Thursday morning to inquire about quarantine times, and solicit advice about her parents driving in. Doc said Steve and Joanne should stay put.
So it was a quiet Christmas this year with just the four of us quarantining by ourselves. In the grand scheme of things, it could’ve been a lot worse. Mara’s bout with COVID was fast, furious, but short-lived. She was almost back to normal by Christmas Eve. Elise was pretty much back to normal. I never really got laid out, but maintained this steady state of feeling at around 70%. Maly took the brunt of it. She was laid out with a fever for a good 24 hours. She finally started looking human again late Christmas morning.
We all watched A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. Maly stayed up late because she’d been sleeping most of the day. I was ready to conk out at midnight but Elise reminded me that we had Santa duty.
Like a kid, I excitedly woke up early on Christmas morning. And Mara wasn’t far behind me. She and I hung out by the base of the Christmas tree with Blue and Loki. Mara played with the toys that Santa had left her. In that moment I found a little solace in the notion that this might be the last year where she has toys under the tree. It’s so damn sad that she’s not going to be our little kid much longer.
It was a quiet Christmas. Just the four of us. There weren’t many presents under the tree so the hubbub was relatively short-lived. But I think we were all okay with that. At least that’s what everyone said. We had cinnamon roll pull-aparts and egg casserole for breakfast before we started putting away the carnage from presents. Maly went outside and started putting together the lacrosse goal that Santa brought her. I started braising the short ribs that Elise ordered from HEB.
The rest of the day was pretty low-key. We hung out in the front yard for an hour. Mara colored. Maly shot goals. Elise raked leaves. I talked to mom on the phone. Cedar pollen brought us all back inside.
We watched Elf while I shredded short ribs. We all FaceTimed with Steve and Joanne for a couple hours. The girls both went to bed and Elise and I watched A Christmas Vacation. I think that’s the movie that has become my must-do Christmas ritual. It ended right at midnight and I felt like Christmas was complete.
It was a bit of a solemn Christmas. It was 80-degrees here in Austin. We all had COVID. Steve and Joanne couldn’t come down. We couldn’t do anything because we’re quarantined. Even if we didn’t have to quarantine, I don’t think anyone really wanted to do anything. But, we were all here together, and I guess that’s what Christmas is all about.
As I type this, in true form, I’m suffering from some mild post-holiday blues. I went for a run later this morning and then drove to 7-11 for coffee after taking a shower. When I turned the Jeep on, there was regular pop music playing on 95.5 instead of the 24/7 Christmas music.
I feel like we were a bit robbed of Christmas this year. But, in the grand scheme of things, we were together. And, again, that’s what’s important. There’ll be more Christmases.
The 2021 Christmas Newsletter
2021 year in sport
I think my running in 2021 might be over. Elise, Mara and I all have COVID. My mind is inclined to go for a run, but I don’t think my body could keep up with that inclination. I’m sitting here mustering the courage and strength to walk to the mailbox.
Running, LAX and Christmas-themed weekend
The weekend started with the run club’s annual tour of Circle C’s Christmas lights on Friday night. Every year the crowd gets larger. The whole club has been getting larger as well. It’s been amazing to see this crew grow. Most of us hung out in the parking lot of the community center after the run for some beers and to chat.
On Saturday we all got up early and humped it to Lockhart for the Outlaws (Maly’s club team) LAX at the Ranch lacrosse tournament at Two Wishes Ranch. The Outlaws beat both Forged and the Jalapenos. And for the third game, the coaches mixed and matched all three teams for a free-for-all final game. It was really fun to watch all of those girls, from three different cities (Houston, San Antonio, and Austin) come together in a couple teams and get to know each other and laugh while playing each other in lacrosse.
The high on Friday was 81º. It was 53º, cloudy, and windy as all get out on Saturday morning. It was cold. Elise, Mara, Michelle, Stacy and I were shaking like leaves on the sidelines all morning. The wind was brutal.
After the girls’ second game, Elise, Mara, and I decided to leave the tournament to drive into town to get lunch. You have to get barbecue whenever you’re in Lockhart as it’s the barbecue capital of Texas. Elise had never been to Lockhart, so I took her to Kreuz Market. Thankfully we got there right in time. After ordering a pound and a half of brisket, the crowd started piling in and a huge line formed. The brisket was amazing. We also got sauerkraut and baked potato casserole. Elise loved it so much that she wants us to take her parents there whenever they’re here for Christmas later this month.
Saturday night we went to dinner with our friends Pete and Lindsay and then to see the Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis Holiday Shindig at the Paramount Theatre. We had dinner at Group Therapy in the Hotel ZaZa. Everything was fantastic until Pete’s and my halibut showed up. We both decided to send our plates back as the halibut was tough and chewy. We both acknowledged that we’re not the types to send food back, but I wasn’t going to pay $40 for a piece of burnt fish. Aside from that, it was a great experience. Our waiter and manager took care of us. We didn’t get our meals replaced because we were in a hurry and thankfully we’d both ordered a salad, so we didn’t leave starving.
After dinner we walked over to the Paramount to see Bruce & Kelly’s Holiday Shindig, which was a ton of fun. We got front row seats on the balcony which was an awesome vantage point for some funny stories and classic Americana Christmas songs.
The WILIA Marathon
WILIA stands for “Where I’ve Lived in Austin.” I ran to every address at which I’ve lived since I moved to Austin in 1994. I thought it was going to be a few meters more than a marathon. It turned into 27 miles.
I lived in Teresa Hall for a year when I first moved to Austin to attend St. Edward’s University.
After moving off campus, my college roommate and I rented a townhouse off Tinnin Ford for a couple years. It was cheap and in a really shady part of town. Now that part of Austin is expensive, gentrified and coveted.
My girlfriend, a couple of other roommates, and I rented a house off West William Cannon for a while. I did this without my parents’ knowledge or approval. They found out and were vehemently opposed to me “shaking up” with my girlfriend, so I moved out.
I decided I wanted to live by myself, so I rented a 1-bedroom at Bristol Square (affectionately known as the Bristol Method) off of east Oltorf. I met some of my best friends while living there. We shared a breezeway together and raised all kinds of hell. This was also the complex where Elise serendipitously moved into the apartment directly below me. I asked her out on our first date in the parking lot of the Method. The rest is history.
After Elise and I became serious, we rented a 2-bedroom apartment together at the Method. We’d both graduated from college and got engaged.
After we got married, we decided we’d move further out, so we rented a nice 2-bedroom apartment at Monterey Oaks. We lived here for a year while we saved up money to put a down payment on a house.
We bought our current house in January of 2004 and have been here since.
