Today, the 25th of December, is a good day to have the day off. For many, they will start the day with a hope and a wish and then the magic of day begins. Some will have wonderful days and some will have shitty days. What I have come to like about it is my run. This year we were lucky enough to have some snow fall overnight, not a lot, but, it made it cold and clear to run.
I had stayed up too late last night, like many parents find themselves on Christmas Eve wrapping the last of the gifts. I enjoy wrapping in that I get to show off how much I like to wrap stuff. I do have horrible posture so it makes wrapping a tough on me, from my own fault. I like to see how pretty it looks with the gifts wrapped and the lights of the tree looking so pretty. I don’t like to put too much on the gifts. I want to give my family everything, but, that doesn’t always happen. I like to find things throughout the year and stock pile it for the end of the year. Seems to make it easier.
I was able to get up and moving around 5. I know how I am, so, I figured that if I got out of the house by 6, I could, feasibly get back 7 or so, give or take some change since it was icy out. Due to the ice, Yak-Trax were put on and off we went for a loop around the lake and then the neighborhood, since I wanted to get a full 5 miles.
The song that started in my ears once we started our journey was Dwight Yokum, Thousand Miles From Nowhere. It was just after 6 when we left. We as in the dog and I. She was using her new Light Hound dog harness. It makes it so much easier to see, especially when there is snow on the ground and the light is reflecting onto the snow. That first mile I felt like I was just moving along. It was amazing. I did take off the spikes to run in the slush, since it’s less water in my shoes that way. I haven’t looked at the breakdown of the run yet, but, that first mile.. Wow, It was good. The second mile however, was less than stellar. I could feel the cold air making it harder to breathe and I could hear the wheezing coming from my chest. Walked more than I wanted to, but I feel like it was still a good mile. After I was able to get my breathing under control again, I was able to just run. I don’t know if I would say that I let my thoughts wander so much, but I was doing some thinking while I was out.
I have been giving some serious thought to what do I really want. And in doing so, I pondered what does it take to retire? Both of my parents just retired. I thought about those who lived on a fixed income and rent a place vs those who already own a home. I would think that if I had to pay rent and I was living on just what my retirement is, I would like to have as much of that income be there for other things. So I thought about what will it take to buy a home. I am thinking this is something I am going to work very hard on in the next year. I would love to retire earlier by doing something that gives me freedom to live in peace. I have asked myself over and over again, what is it that would give me the most happiness in the career life. Hands down it keeps coming to writing and some massage. Mostly writing though. Which makes me wonder what my next step will be to get that going. What I found was that a writer writes. And by doing so, they get better at it. So, in that respect, I am going to work on writing on a daily basis. I may not publish something every day, but, who knows. I am trying to think in the mind set of what can I do today to get me closer to my goal. I will just have to work on it.
I thought about the day. Christmas Day when I was young. It was such a big lead up to the idea of Christmas Day. We would get up super early and make coffee for our parents, which is how I learned to make coffee when I was a kid, and then wait. We would sit there, in our jimmies waiting for the big moment to arrive when my dad would let us start with our stockings. I love the stocking that used to hang in my parents house. My grandma made them us, each a little different the next one. Mine had a bell on the toe of it and it said Angel. I loved it. I always felt like I was somehow super special when I would get little things that my sisters didn’t get. One year, we all got pillows. There were three pillows with blue flowers on it, and mine had pink flowers. Once, the stockings had the California Raisins in them, and mine had a stuffed Santa Bear.. Which I still have on my bookshelf in my room. Even up until I graduated high school, I felt like Christmas was the greatest day.
My first year in the Navy, I was stationed in Mayport Florida. Far far away from my family. I wouldn’t see them for a while. I was stunned with how disappointed I was in that first year. I somehow thought I should still be spoiled. That is still true for me in some ways. I know that there are going to be years when everything is amazing and wonderful and there are going to be years when I feel the let down. I am always surprised, every year. Mostly I have great years, but I have learned to not expect what I did when I was 6. I’m not 6, so, I will have to accept it as it is. I am a very spoiled woman, whether it’s Christmas or not. I don’t look forward to working tomorrow, but I am glad for the day off in the middle of the week this year. And now, it’s time for me to take of the family. Until we are here again, Merry Christmas, Have a Happy Hanukkah, Peace be with You, have Kwanza, and if you don’t celebrate, have a happy hump day!
The Morning High Runner 