Miscellany: Leap Year edition

I've always wondered why why call today Leap Year or Leap Day. Isn't today the day we don't leap over the 29th of February? Maybe we should call it...Unleap Year? Unskipped Day? Whatever the case, in honor of this extra "found" day, I'm tossing together a mishmash of what's running through my brain. Let's call it Leap Year goulash:

~I know you've probably had your fill of Oscar fashion commentary. But I just know you've been dying to know what the middle school set thinks about all the gowns and fashioning and posing. Well, thanks for asking! You've come to the right place.

Here's Maddy's notes on the hits and misses of the evening, a list she created on the back of her Oscar ballot:

My attempts to create a mosaic with these photos were disastrous (it kept cutting off everyone's heads) so you can link here for a view more of her faves. {Rebecca Miller is Daniel Day-Lewis's wife and received Maddy's ugly-of-the-year award.}

~ I'm very disappointed I couldn't participate in this freeze-frame event. I'm really good at standing still, too. Have you seen this yet?

I love how, when the people thaw, they just go on as if nothing happened. This would go right along with my silliness and spontanaeity new year's resolutions. I wonder what would happen if I did this tonight right before dinner? New leap year tradition?

~ Greg and I signed up for a 10K race in May. You're invited, too. Woodstock (Vermont) is a great town and the race sounds challenging (a little hilly) but beautiful on carriage trails through the woods, up around a lake, and--get this--past a bagpiper serenading the runners. This time I won't start right in front of the ambulance, I promise.

~This week we also got tickets to The Police/Elvis Costello concert this summer. Roxanne, anyone? Or, if you're more of an EC fan... Allison? Veronica? Can't wait.

~ Finally, I'm so thrilled with the response of the Letters to a Parent project. We've had over 2000 hits in the first month of posts, which is {I think} pretty great! Thanks so much to those who checked it out & gave feedback. This week's letter is from the wise and witty Marty of TravelinOma. I consider Marty to be one of the matriarchs of the blogworld (as well as the matriarch of a pretty wonderful family, from what I can tell). Thanks, Marty, for your Letter to Young Moms, from an Old One. There are some more great ones coming soon & the invitation is open to anyone who feels like piping up.

~ Well, have a wonderful weekend. Ours includes another predicted snowstorm, Maddy at a Model UN Conference at Bentley College (she is Spain & they are trying to propose ideas for helping in Darfur--pretty huge topic for middle schoolers, I'd say), Lauren at a Black-and-White semi-formal dance at school & also a jazz band concert, Sam at basketball, Greg coaching basketball, and me? Lots of spectating.

Running tunes

I only demand two things of my running music: it makes me think happy thoughts and it has a good beat to motivate my pace. Here's what I've got on my playlist right now. {You will see that I came of age, musically, in the 80s so I always include a little flashback for memory's sake.}

I couldn't figure out how to link to these so I created a iTunes playlist here.
A few of the songs didn't transfer so, where possible, I've created a link for the song.

1. All I Want is You/Barry Louis Polisar
{This is the first song in the movie Juno. It just makes me smile.}

2. Grace Kelly/Mika
{Love this one, too. I usually go back and choose it again at the end of my run.}

3. Starry Eyed Surprise/Oakenfold
{I first heard this on a Diet Coke commercial--you might recognize it from there, too.}

4. Monologue/She Wants Revenge
{The most Depeche Mode-sounding band of...when did it come out?...2005?}

5. Chocolate/Snow Patrol
{Good for walking or running. Very motivating, somehow}

6. Goodbye Girl/Squeeze
{So happy. And a little dash of something different to break things up.}

7. 1963/New Order
{Couldn't find my version of this anywhere to link. I'm sorry.}

8. Because We Can/Fatboy Slim
{This is perfect to boost me to go just that much farther. Or further.}

9. Let's Go Crazy/Prince
{Dearly beloved....pure adrenaline and memory, this one.}

10. Made Up Lovesong #43/Guillemots
{Good catch-your-breath song.}

11. Bullet the Blue Sky/U2
{I always, always have a U2 song. In England (pre ipod) this was the tape I ran to.}

12. 1979/Smashing Pumpkins
{Nice beat, good song.}

13. Play That Funky Music/Wild Cherry
{Sam's favorite song & it makes me laugh. I probably strut-run a little when I hear this.}

14. Such Great Heights/The Postal Service
{Also love this song in its slow version but this keeps me going.}

15. Speed of Sound/Coldplay
{Sometimes this is my first song I listen to. Also good for slowing down.}

16. Life in a Northern Town/Dream Academy
{My all-time favorite cool down, post-run walking music.}

I'm on a quest for more. What are your favorite adrenaline-boosting songs?

Confessions of a prodigal runner

I have recently (well today) returned to running. Running does not make it easy to return. Running doesn't embrace you and throw you a welcome back party when you come crawling back. Oh no, running isn't so forgiving. Running, once scorned, seeks revenge and vengeance when you come back. You have to Prove Your Faithfulness again before it's sweet to you. You ache, you cramp, you can't breathe. You start to wonder if that sofa with those quiet slothful reading moments might be more your style (and--in my case--they are). Maybe running and I have grown apart. Maybe we aren't meant to be eternal companions or even short-term acquaintances.

But then.

Oh, the freedom of letting go and running and the feel-good rush at the end! Then I remember why I fell in love with running in the first place.

****

I have had three running eras in my life when I took it seriously and did it regularly:

First, there was the running in England phase. Because we had heard that most college students added extra pounds while in London studying, my friends and I swore we would not let that fate befall us. I got up early every morning and ran. Well, first I walked, then I walked fast, then I alternated walking and running, and finally I was blissfully flying down the paths of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. If I timed it right, I sometimes saw Princess Diana in the backseat of her blue Jaguar, leaving the palace in the morning. Running was freedom, energy, thinking time.

One time I decide to run at night and ask one of the older guys (as in 23 years old) living in the same building to come look for me if I'm not back in 45 minutes. He looks at his watch, marks the time, and says "okay." Because the park is closed, I run through the streets of W2 and into Notting Hill. The streets, they are confusing. It's dark. I get lost. I utter prayers as I run and run and try to figure out how to get back. Two hours later, I return, ready to reassure the London police that I am, in fact, alive and well. Surprise! My time-watching guy has already gone to bed, oblivious that I have been stumbling through the streets of London at midnight. Then I realize I had been running the whole time. I decide at this point that maybe this running thing was going to stick around.

****

The second era of running was a stretch of time before my wedding. I don't think I need to say more here. I ran because I wanted to look great for my wedding. I was disciplined, I ran my heart out, and the minute we returned from our honeymoon, I put my shoes in the closet and plugged in the FryDaddy.

****

The third running era was long--for most of my mid- to late-20s. These were the mommy boot camp years, with three kids under 5. Running was a release, an opportunity to leave the house and just be. No diaper bag, no hand holding, no encumbrances. Just me and running. I loved it.

At one point I decided to run a 10k. The morning of the race I decided that, since it was my first race, I would just start at the back...there was no point in holding up any fast runners behind me, right? That was a big mistake. I ran the WHOLE ENTIRE race with an ambulance (hired to provide first aid if needed and to signal the end of the runners) rolling slowly behind me. This bothered me on many levels. I really hate people watching me run and this meant that two young guys were watching me for a really long time. You can't tell me there weren't some jokes at some point about the sad slow girl trudging along in front of them. It also just felt so ominous, like buzzards waiting for their future meal to die. "Are you done yet? Now? What about now?" I kept waving them to pass me but it must have been against the rules. Or they were really funny jokes. I finished, though, and it felt great & all was forgiven (pretty much).

****

So today began phase 4. May it last long and may running take me back and trust me again. Until then, I'll continue paying my penance.

{Next post: let's talk about running music}