Foggy

I've been in a fog the past few days. A fog induced by a silly summer cold. Which led to me not running Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Well, honestly, I probably would have only been able to run one of those days anyway, even if I hadn't had a runny nose and stuffed up ears, as Ryan went down to NJ Monday to help his sister, Meghan, out after her hip surgery, and didn't get back until last night. Is he a good brother, or what?! :-) This meant that I was on single-parenting duty for a few days, and while Sam was really good while Ryan was gone, I just didn't have much, if any, time to run, as I had to get her to daycare on time in the morning so I could get to work early so I could leave early to pick her up. Oh, and squeeze a few necessary household chores in there too. And get to bed early so I could try to get over this cold. Phew. It was a bit of a whirlwind there.

Anyway, Ryan made it back safe and sound last night, and all of us, cats included, were happy to see him. I was determined to get a run in this morning, as the plan had been for this to be a "high mileage" week for me. And by high mileage, I mean 40 miles. Due to missing that one mid-week run, there is no way 40 is going to happen, but I figured if I got in 6 today and 6 tomorrow, I'd bump my mileage up over 35, and I would be satisfied. So, I dragged Ryan out of bed early at 6:15 this morning, so that he could take over at the breakfast table, where Sam and I had been eating toast and reading her (current) favorite book, "The Art Lesson." She is obsessed with this book, and has very particular ideas about finding certain images in the book and reading certain pages. Poor Ryan did not appear to be up to the challenge of such an energetic toddler at such an early hour of the morning, but I headed out anyway :-)

I headed toward the powerlines, surprised to find that I was running into a thick and low fog, cutting visibility down to almost nothing. The grasses and brush were shroaded in dew, and the spider webs looked like delicate works of art, strung out between the strands of grass and admist the bushes. I actually felt pretty good running, which was a nice surprise, and I got in the 6 miles in just under 54 minutes.I came home to find Ryan and Sam sitting on the couch, reading "Good Night Moon."

Ryan said Sam seems older, even after just being away for three days, and it is amazing how she is slowly but surely becoming more of a kid and not a baby. Her phrases are expanding and lengthening, and just the other day, she said "Mama, 'mere please now" - her first four word sentence - and "I like it!" She is also beginning to really remember certain images in books, or the gestures I make to go along with particular lines, like the gestures/sounds we've been making for the swirling wind in "The Foolish Tortoise," and has fun finding things as we read along, like the mittens in "Good Night Moon" or the turtles (she can say, turtle! Who knew?!) in "The Art Lesson." Anyway, as always, it is fun to watch her learn and grow, and I love to see that she is finding such joy in books :-) Gotta keep the dorky Raymond genes going!