Teamwork makes the dream work

I hate when the kiddo feeds me that line, such coach speak and yet, it is big stick week which always gets me thinking.  Teamwork makes the dream work.

Right now, I am in the middle of a very busy year.  This is a great year, and keeps getting better, but it is busy and it is easy to feel overwhelmed and then...teamwork makes the dream work.  If you have read this blog ever (okay, more than for just a post) you know that I like to workout.  That might be an overstatement, I workout because I can and I like the comradery.  During April, I was doing the OTF Marathon Month for ultra miles and, as is my custom, did too many inclines and hurt myself which meant biking.  Then, last week, I started my first Peloton PowerZone challenge which mean biking.  Catch a few themes there?

Yes, I am biking a lot (I have padded shorts, don't worry).  Yes, I am probably working out too much as I have had 4 days of 2 a day workouts over the past week.  Why you may ask?  Well, we have weekend plans and I will NOT let my teams down.  Sometimes, you have to dig deep and stand up for your teams.  

My OTF crew is bad ass.  We are running, walking, riding, whatever we can to get our miles in studio with guidance from true coaches; the competition is only against the person in the mirror but you never know who is being motivated by you.  I can promise you, people would be amazed to know they motivate me - although I tell them as soon as I remember to tell them.  Today was the last day to get our miles and we did it, I even got to run my last set which I hadn't done in 2 weeks (slow and steady but damn it felt good to run again).  We all cheered each other on when we hit goals, even if we hit them weeks ago - we made it through the month together and that was worth cheering.  Why did we do this?  A cool pair of orange socks. We did not let each other down.  We are a team, we made the dream work.

My Ride or Die Trying Peloton group is also badass.  We aren't in a studio, most of us haven't even met, yet we are doing our 3 + 1AR rides a week to get our team points.  As is the case with the OTF crew, we high five (virtually), we cheer each other on through messaging, we are there for each other.  Today ended week 2 for me, of 8 weeks - we have a long way to go but we will not let each other down.  Why are we doing this?  Satisfaction and bragging rights.  We are a team, we make the dream work.

What else has me going?  Event planning is one of my passions. I love hosting people, throwing big or small parties, big or small events that make people feel special.  Then I had to plan my own wedding.  I never thought a small beach wedding would stress me out but here we are.  Let's talk about the wedding crew.  Most people don't know they are in it.  We aren't having a wedding party other than our amazing boys yet I am getting more help and support from people than I ever knew I needed, and I need it.  Some of the support is hands on, some of the support is talking me down (this happens often), some of the support people don't even realize they are giving.  It is support via SoMe posts, jokes sent, texts, snapchats, phone calls (when I answer the phone) that have nothing to do with the big day (112 days to go).  To stay consistent I can ask why are we doing this?  True love and a lifetime together.  This teamwork that is happening?  Well, it is making our dream work - actually it is making my dream come true.

Are you still there?  Big stick week was all about coaches being there for the kid, his community being there for him, his crew being there for him.  Well guess what y'all, my coaches have been there for me without even knowing it, my community has been there for me, my crews are here for me.  They got me through every class, every ride, every oh what the hell moment of the week, every wedding planning moment.  Without even knowing it, my crews, my teams are my big stick - they are making my dreams work.  I only hope I am doing the same for them. 

Let is simmer - in a good way

Crafty people love finding old pieces of furniture, or junk, to recreate into something new.  Heck, American Pickers is on in my house often and it is amazing what those guys find and it is a treasure.  I have watched many a trash to treasure show and wished I had that kind of talent, alas, I have it in my head but not in practice.  However, let's move to my favorite room in the house - the kitchen.

I have this knack for making leftovers into something completely new and creative, in fact, some of my friends can attest to my reinvent left overs dinners I have hosted.  I don't even admit they are reinvented leftovers until after the meal is over of course, I have to have some secrets!  This isn't about those, if you want some ideas, you know how to find me; this is about reinventing something used into something new, specifically a chicken carcass.  Stay with me now - I promise I have a good point.

My mother recently taught me how to make chicken stock from scratch (yes, she held out on me for YEARS, what is that?!) - any stock actually.  You put the bones in a pot, cover it with water, add spices - I use mine on the stem from the garden - garlic, carrots, veggies that are ready to be used, whatever you want.  Simmer in your crockpot or on the stove overnight, strain, cool, scoop fat and freeze in 1 cup bags.  Who cares?  Why are you still reading?  Good questions, I don't know but here is what I think...

Today's world is in such a hurry to change, such a hurry to get things done quickly, such a hurry to buy convenience,  such a hurry to throw things away, such a hurry to be in a hurry...is it so wrong to slow down, throw things in a pot and let it simmer?  This doesn't just go for the broth (that is making my house smell amazing), this goes for life my friends.  Before you lash out from behind your keyboard, simmer your thoughts; before you react to a situation or an option, simmer the facts, your experiences and the facts and experiences from the other side; before you write something off as trash, simmer how you can turn it into something new that will open doors for life.

Take a minute to let things simmer and blend into something new, you might just be surprised at how amazing things actually are, or how amazing things can be.

Thanks Mom

5 months and 7 seconds - oddly like life

Full disclosure time, as per the usual, this morning, I was doubting all the things (code for myself) and almost canceled my OTF class this morning as it was the one mile benchmark. 5 months after the last blog entry, here I am writing about the mile benchmark again - wow. 

 But Erin, you like endurance runs. 

Yes, self, yes I do. But I am also a very competitive person and having taken the second month of quarantine pretty much off from working out other than a run from time to time, I am really only one month back into workouts and a mile benchmark (1 mile timed) 5 months to the day after the last one was daunting. 

See, 5 months to the day ago I was still working out at least 5 days a week consistently, traveling, working and functioning like a normal human - if there is such thing as a normal human. Today? Well, I am not sure what this has been but normal is not the word. Back to the fear and dread of the 1 mile. I am competitive with myself, and only myself as I think other people are amazing at what they can accomplish even if they don't believe it, and I knew that 5 months ago I rocked a benchmark at a studio in Oregon in no small part because of a letter that was waiting for me with altered song lyrics from Coach Stephanie and Teresa letting me know I wasn't running without my peeps. 

Back to today, I am intentionally trying not to push the speed to much in my tread blocks as not getting hurt is the goal which means I have to accept that, in order to stay healthy, I may sacrifice some speed and that is okay - it is GREAT. Today I was back with our OTF Murphy 6:30am crew, even showed up way early so Teresa and I could be next to each other on Tread 1 & 3 (socially distance tread spacing thank you very much), Khahn rocking tread 5 and Penny rowing us through it. Coach Hannah on the mic with her ornery demure, at .5 miles you are half way through you know you can probably add a little more if you feel like it smirk that makes us all smile and dig a little more. I was singing lyrics to no necessarily (not even close) the music that was playing in my head and had the mandatory in my life towel covering my total time. I stuck to my plan and increased at every hash mark on the 'track' (1/4 of the 1/4 mile) until I hit my stride then stuck it for .25 miles until an increase, then a .1 increase for each of the last hash marks. I did not die, I did not throw up (yes, the thought was there, it is a much mental as physical for me), I pushed my towel off at .2 to go and realized I wasn't going to hit my last time but at that point, there wasn't anything I could do about it and that had been my plan for myself. 

Self, you don't need to prove anything to anyone other than yourself and you rock today. You can push as hard as you know you can and no matter what the clock says, you are back in the swing of things and doing work. Well done self. 

That self talk was mixed with other salty language cussing myself out about getting it done and not quitting. Let's be honest, we all talk to ourselves and sometimes, it is not nice. In the end I added 7 seconds. Let me put that correctly, in the end, I only added 7 seconds to my mile benchmark after a very interesting 5 months and I am not in pain. You know what? I am pretty proud of myself at this moment. In fact, after the weight floor, I got back on the tread (we had to, this wasn't something I just did because I am crazy even though I am) and worked to get my 2+ miles today because I knew I could. 

This year has not been the worst year ever for me, while it has been hard and sometimes has beat me into submission (also known as me curled up in the fetal position rocking slowly), it has not been the worst. The boys both are college graduates and have jobs lined up in their fields, Bill and I have jobs and stability, my family and friends are healthy. For me, that is not to say this has been a great year, but it has been not been the worst year, let's say it is 7 seconds more than it was when it started in January, and 7 seconds? Well that is damned good considering the insanity the last 5 months.

Butterflies - someone has them for you

It is no secret that I am the biggest supporter of my boys.  Home, school, sports, work - I will always have their back and brag about them to the point of embarrassment.  That is just the kind of Mom (& Daddy) I had so it is the kind of Mom I am.  I have never felt the need to apologize for it, I have never felt like a helicopter parent due to my pride - in fact, and if you as the boys they will probably agree, I am harder on them than other kids simply because I know they can reach their goals.  They both have all the tools they need to do work and accomplish whatever they set their minds too.  This is one of those proud moments for the kiddo - the one that used to be the short one.

Today I am on one of my random trips.  Some people think I am crazy, I am probably am, but sometimes I think you need to use your miles, get on a plane and go for an adventure.  This adventure took Alex & I back to Dayton - UD specifically - for the biggest game to date for our Flyers.

Today I dropped him off at the back of the Arena, a door I never knew existed in my 4 years here, so he could do work.  My son will never wear a basketball team uniform, will never make the winning free throw (and not just because he misses those - always) in a D1 game, will never be in the player hall of fame, but that kid?  He goes through the back doors to the UD Arena.  He, and his fellow managers, set up the benches, the locker rooms, the uniforms, the water bottles / towels / chairs with smiles on their faces.  If not actually on their faces, they have them inside as they know what a privilege their jobs are. Every time they enter the arena and hit the floor, they have the same butterflies the players do.  They feel every swish, every miss as if they were suited up to play.  They do their own shoot around before the players hit the court.  While I know in reality this is just shooting hoops with buddies, part of me wonders if they do it to make sure there is nothing wrong with the rims, the balls, the shot clocks.  There is nothing these managers won't do for their players, their coaches, their team.

It might not make sense to everyone, and it sounds irrational when you say it out loud to be sure, but tonight, as I am cheering on our Flyers, I will have butterflies for those men behind the bench.  For those who do work because they love it and because they know that it is their job to ensure everything behind the scenes works so their players can go and make the shots and get the win.

Moral?   Decide what you want to do, do the work, go through the secret doors and get it done. Somewhere, your mom, grandmom, dad, grandpa, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, or friend (okay, all of the above I am sure) have butterflies for you.  Know you are going to get it done right because whether you are the guys on the bench or behind it, someone has faith in you and knows you can get it done.

A thank you note - no, not that kind, the musical kind

It comes as no surprise (as I say it all the time), I like to sing.  I am not a rock star, not an opera singer, I am just someone who got blessed with my parent's talent and love to sing.  Good times or bad, I sing it out.  What do I sing and why?  We'll get to that.

My parents are strong people, they had to be with the lifestyle we lived.  We moved around and yet, they always made it feel like home no matter what.  I was raised that you have to live for today and tomorrow, you can't live in yesterday so I don't.  I was raised by these amazing people and I am stronger because of them.  I hold onto memories, not houses or towns.  (Okay - it appears UD is an exception as it is now Alex's home and it is hard to let go of somewhere that clearly runs in your family's soul but that is not what this is about so moving on.)  Yesterday, I was driving to the house I bought for Alex and me when he was 1 years old and I had a moment of pause. 

See, I have leased the house out for years and am now selling it.  Yes, it is just a house, it has not been a home in a long time, but yesterday was a little hard.  I drove up to my little house with the perfect red door that I painted and brick mailbox that was a birthday present and had a moment of pause.  I wasn't expecting the emotion, wasn't expecting the hesitation that I was selling Alex's first house, that I was selling my house.  I found myself having a hard time getting past it to be honest, and that is odd for me.  I will always remember the memories, the family and friends who made the little house with a red door a home.  Run for the roses, right?  That is what we Reilly's do.  It is okay for it to be hard, it should be hard, it's how you deal with the hard that matters.

I could have cried, and if I had, that would have been fine but I didn't.  Driving away, I turned up Abba - loud - and starting singing Thank you for the Music.  Why not my soul song Dancing Queen?  Well it's simple, I was literally thanking my parents for giving me music.  Music helps me cope with life.  I was singing and laughing about closing a chapter of my life - I was coping in my own way and moving on.   I am not saying I won't have another moment of pause when I sign the closing papers, won't drive by the house in a few weeks, months, years, and smile.  That I won't have to sing again and that it will be the same song.  In fact, I can almost guarantee it won't be, I am fickle like that, but for now?  Well I am saying thank you for the music Mom and Daddy, thank you for always letting me dance and sing in my own way, to my own orchestra. Thank you for giving me music and teaching me to be strong and look forward to tomorrow.  Thank you for the music, for giving it to me.

Flying into the future with a blue dog & flying kid

I ended last year as I have the past 2 years - with a race on New Year's Eve and one on New Year's Day with the kiddo.  As I watched him (far, far) in front of me I was moved at the beauty of watching him run alone on the path.  It was peaceful despite the music rushing through my ears and I was moved at how he looked so free, just him and the road.  Amazing.

Of course, there were many pictures after the fact and as I reviewed them, it struck me how much he has grown the past 3 years.  I don't just mean physically, although he could put his head on my shoulder the first year and now I have to put my head on his, I mean mentally as well.  He is a confident kid running at the front of the pack without a second thought.   He is no longer nervous walking into school, onto the basketball court, onto the field.  He knows he belongs and just goes to work - whatever the work happens to be at the time - always looking forward.

Yesterday I was cleaning out my briefcase and found his old Blue's Clues mailbox sticker. He gave me this sticker when he was a little boy and I taped it to my monitor where it stayed until I got a new one last year.  Clearly, I couldn't throw it away as it still remains with me, in my briefcase.   The past came rushing back of him solving whatever mystery Blue had for him that week in his big chair.  Even then, he knew he would solve the problem.

What's the point?  I could have easily gotten stuck in the past with those pictures, with that sticker; it was easier when he was little and I could hug away the problems, the fears, the scary parts.  There past where my little angel thought there was nothing his mommy couldn't do but I don't want to do that, or go back there.  I loved spending time with him as is our tradition, I love that sometimes he still needs a hug (yes, I hug him even if I don't hug - he is an exception to the bubble), I love that he ran out front into an unknown future and does so every day.  I love that one day he has a problem that will 'end the world' and the next day, he goes to work and figures it out.

Moral - I don't do resolutions but I do embrace the present and look towards the future; my kiddo reminds me of that, even if he doesn't realize it.  We sit down in our thinking chair or we put one foot in front of the other and we solve the problem.  The past demands it of us.

I don't run with my phone, or a camera, so I didn't get a picture of him a head of the pack
but thanks to one of my running friends, I will always have this one of the kiddo flying.

Today we fight

I had lunch with 3/4 of the CN Mafia (great group of friends aptly named by one of the fiancees); we were sampling food for the reception, it is an important role that we HAD to do.  You know, because none of us have ever eaten at Fuddruckers before...hee hee hee :)

Anyway, while we were sacrificing buffaloes in honor of our hungry tummies, we were talking about life and death.  All of us are of the mindset that when it is time to go, it is time to go.  But we are all fighters.  There is nothing that we wouldn't fight through if we put our minds too it (we are forged in TM mud after all).  

Today, a friend is fighting for the right to live literally.  He is going for surgery for a new heart.  Yes, this is the same person that had a heart 'die' on him months ago while being prepped.  Today, the heart is viable and will be his.  We tough girls all made it clear that once we are gone, we are donating everything that can be used.  EVERYTHING.  If someone gets to live on, live on!  We certainly don't need it anymore.

So today, we fight for him.  We fight for his amazing wife and his two great kids.  We fight for everyone who can't fight for themselves.  Everyone is unique, has different opinions on right and wrong, politics, religion, you name it, but everyone deserves the right to fight.

Angels watch him as he fights today, and let him know that we are fighting for him too.

Friday Night Lights

I am not from Texas, but I have lived here longer than any other place in my life. My son is born and raised here; my boyfriend and his son are as well. Maybe it is in the Texas blood, to be born knowing intrinsically what Friday Night Lights are...

I went to high school in Virginia and Ohio. I don't think I ever paid for a football game, and I know we didn't have reserved seats or turf fields (and yes, I acknowledge that it might be different now). I remember them being a place to hang out with your friends. To get away from your parents for a little while in a safe place. I am a big school spirit person so I was there to cheer on our teams too. And while the latter is still true here in Texas, there are things that are different.

We have season tickets with parking passes to the games. They are awesome seats - 50 yard line, no one in front of us, season tickets. At this school, as previous posts mentioned, the history is so ingrained that I think there were as many adults without kids at the school anymore as there were with kids still there.

I remember the old bleachers and grassy fields, but these stadiums are new and big and shiny (the public schools are even more so) with real seats. And yes, they are turf - no grass here.

Everyone is at this game, everyone knows that during football season, this is where you are on Friday nights. To me, who didn't grow up with it, it is amazing to watch the community be all about this one normal Friday night game...and to be that way every week.

What's my point? Well, simply that it is a new world that my son will be going into - be it at this particular high school or one of the other catholic schools, it's a new world that he seems to slide right into without fail. I have been to a few games before, but now? It seems so much more real...and I think I finally understand what people mean by Friday Night Lights.

PS: The Rangers won by 1 point (not 1 touchdown, 1 point) and yes, I was screaming as much as the next person in the 100+ degree heat.

Is the new year now in August?

I just signed up for a boot camp for the month of August. Why August? Because I was asked by a friend so I did it.

I have since been supported by a number of other friends/acquaintances that have done the same thing! It is a often discussed fact that health club memberships go up in January and probably right before bathing suit season, but August? That is the start of the school year, so really it is another beginning of sorts. Could that be what is motivating us?

What is your school year resolution? Boot Camp anyone?

Then 2010 happened

And blogging stopped abruptly after what must have been a Cat 4 day.

Wow - spring, it has been that long. FB has really taken off and, while I swore I would never participate I am full on involved now. Even to the point where I exchange fun little quips with the parents via our 'walls'. Twitter is still lost on me, I have to do it for work, but at home? Who really needs to have a minute by minute accounting and would we really want everyone to know? Uh, thank you, no.

Listening to the ipod and The Best is Yet to Come just starting gracing my ears, good time to hear that song. It is still songs that can trigger memories (good or bad, happy or sad) but for some reason, this one is always a happy one. Despite the fact that it does bring back a night watching the beautiful fountains and thinking about all that my future held.

Well kids, the future can hold so very much more now and here I go into it, like a Cat 4 storm.

My newest suitcase

So I decided to start a new journey in my life. Partially to make some extra money and partially because I love it when I can help others to feel good and relax. I don't know where this journey will take me but I do know that I am looking forward to the challenges, opportunities and new destinations that will go along with it.

The latest climb...can't wait to scale it to the summit.

December

I love December.

I am one of those odd people who actually enjoy snow, winter is my favorite season. I now live where snow is a four letter word and something that, if even only 20% in the forecast, completely and totally shuts down the city.

This December has started off rough, but, I have to believe it will only get better as it is DECEMBER! Christmas is coming, the kids will be out of school soon, adults will be off of work, and the New Year will be here before we know it.

The New Year brings us all the chance to learn from the past and run into the future. It isn't a time to say you are going to change this, that and the other, it is a time to be thankful for all you have and jump into the next year with two feet as everyday is a chance to shine again.

No - everyday isn't easy, isn't fun and isn't full of peace, but everyday isn't miserable and lonely either. Everyday is what we want to make it.

Here's to all the great days coming in December and the days that have passed, great or not, that have helped form who we are.