Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

leak stop & friday 5 at the farm

Hello, and happy Friday! I have one million thoughts and feelings to share but will distill them a bit.

This week my cup is full, running over actually, and I am humbled beyond words. The outpouring of love from people in my inner circle has been so fierce that I almost cannot look straight at it all. I know what a gift it is right now, how it is meant to be accepted and kept, and I intend to keep it refilling my heart for a long time. So with some deliberateness, I am storing it up. My normal tendencies might have me diluting it all and leaching it away with negative self talk or listening to critics too much; so instead I am applying a leak stop to keep that from happening. Just thoughts and intentions, really, but it matters.

Five Stories This Week I Forgot to Tell You:

  1. KFOR visited the farm. News anchor Ali Meyer and her very cool photographer Travis spent a couple of hours with us on Tuesday, and we made lots of happy memories. I can’t wait to tell you all about this.
  2. Date Night! Also on Tuesday, Handsome and I had a date night exploring Factory Obscura in Midtown then feasted on Tex Mex, late in the evening. Have you been? To Factory Obscura? (I assume if you read this blog tat we have plenty in common and you have eaten Tex Mex at least three thousand times.) Factory Obscura is a fantastic immersive art exhibit absolutely bursting with texture, creativity, stimulation, everything. My husband liked it ok, haha, but he also was glad we attended for free with Yelp. It’s not for everybody. It is very much for me. I want to go again. Go with me?
  3. Chores around here are pleasantly caught up for mid-January. (Side note: I accidentally typed MUD January, and almost let it stay. Because it’s so true.) Christmas is tucked away, the fields are 80% clean, the animals are fat and happy (except for Zsa Zsa, who recently had a moment of conflict with Pacino), and the house is pretty organized and clean. I feel those happy, late winter urges to scrub walls and purge clutter, to add green houseplants and order seeds for spring. It’s great to be caught up so all of this can be enjoyed day to day.
  4. Marathon training is warming up. I feel amazing. On week four now, my mileage is solid, and the speed work and tempo runs are so exhilarating! I think I have a good plan going (Hansons Advanced), and I certainly have all the support I could possibly dream of. The race is in 99 days. Eek!
  5. Books! This week I am rotating between Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr. It’s like approaching the same goal (wholeness and vitality) from two very different and complimentary angles (spirit and discipline). Next week I’ll read The Alchemist to be ready for a discussion dinner.

Okay, Handsome just left the room to make popcorn. I need to be part of that rainy day luxury. Thank you for touching base!

Oh! Bonus story, make this soup:

modified greatly from the original Run Fast East Slow cookbook

Happy weekend, friends. You are loved.

“Most people think they lack motivation
When what they really lack is clarity.”
~James Clear in Atomic Habits
XOXOXOXO

september new moon beginnings & a very special birthday wish

Last Sunday was exceptional in several ways, and since it was both the first day of September and the front edge of the new moon cycle, the time when we plant seeds and intentions for growth in the coming weeks, I am accepting the specialness of that one day as a gift meant to extend into the near future.

Early that morning I enjoyed an hour or so alone, reading devotionals and journaling my pre-dawn thoughts, teasing our scriptures that spoke to me.

Then I drove to a nearby park to run with some local friends, an indulgence I rarely allow myself. It was fun and sweaty and overall good for my soul. These runners are all chasing big goals, which motivates me; and they are each fascinating people, full spectrum humans who are just plain fun to talk to. If you are a runner, then you have probably experienced that strange and wonderful phenomenon of striking up deep and sudden personal conversation with the person moving in the same plane, just adjacent to your elbow. I am sure there is plenty of science and psychology to support this; all I know is that this unique shared space, the talking we do while running, is some of life’s best conversation.

Around mile 4 or 5, the group encountered a mammoth cottonwood tree, fallen from recent storms. Its trunk was maybe three feet in diameter and lying across the path. We all slowed to navigate the roadblock safely; then my new friend Lori nearly tripped on an unrelated twig. We laughed and immediately saw the connection to real life: That we can avoid the big stuff easily enough but get tripped up on the details. It was funny for a moment then the profound truth of it really stilled me.

While I was with friends, Handsome made some exciting progress on the Batmobile. If I haven’t told you yet, he is transforming a 1964 Ford Thunderbird into a real and true Batmobile for use in our Outreach events. This project deserves lots of its own posts and photos, which I will tend to soon. But for now, just know that seeing him enjoying this work is so gratifying, so heartwarming.

Midday, Handsome and I ran a few errands together and decided to swap a planned zoo date for a spontaneous bonfire gathering at the farm. We sent out a handful of invitations and gathered a few things to eat. Then we luxuriated in the cool dark of our living room until dusk, when friends started filtering in.

Two couples from different social circles plus two young adult couples (very sweet kids of our new friends Francis and Latonya) helped us fill the deck. We all nibbled on plates of food and chatted easily about everything. We learned a lot about each other, and I was amazed by the accidental chemistry of the tiny group. Don’t you love it when that happens? We meandered onto topics like religion versus spirituality and energy healing and barefoot grounding, and (my favorite topic that night) the power of music to evoke emotion and inspire us, especially during worship. The six of us adults were all from varying backgrounds. This never ceases to amaze me, how unique our upbringings can be, even as we all seem to live in this homogenous American culture. And we danced! Lynn is a professional dancer and studio owner and an excellent conversationalist, and I love her. She so generously taught me two simple foundational steps, and we practiced barefoot on the wooden deck. Later, I asked Handsome to dance with me to What a Wonderful World, and one by one each of our friends took someone’s hand. Soon everyone, of all ages, was swaying and humming under the lights. Moments like this sear into my heart’s memory in the best way.

So if all of that beauty from last Sunday could be packaged and promoted, laid as a wrapped gift at the doorstep of each new day this month, then September should be quite beautiful. We can expect movement and connection. Dancing and fireside safety of communal spirits. We can look forward to teenagers and young adults and married couples surrounding and warming our own love nest. Running with the rising sun and unexpected lessons from fallen trees, good meals and great music and attention to detail, these gifts will infuse our threshold month with beauty. Crossing over from summertime to autumn will be graceful and intentional, and for all of this I am already so grateful.

Speaking of young adults, Jocelyn will be 24 tomorrow. Every time I to speak her name or write about her, it hurts more than I expect it to. She is ok, I believe, but I miss her so much, we all do. This is not the first birthday of hers when we have been separated but this time it feels different. It feels riddled with misunderstanding, and that make the grief of apartness more difficult. They say that grief is love not yet fully expressed, and this is so true with my girls. Ever big and little things I crave to do for them or say to them, it binds up in my throat or in my belly and ferments a little. Enough has happened over the years that in grand ways I do trust that God will move in His time and even restore what the locusts have eaten away. That is an assurance that never trembles.  But the aching to connect, that intense craving to share in her beautiful life and to have her share in ours, it is strong.

Happiest of birthdays, my magical girl. Thank you, friends, for sharing your love and energy with us last Sunday. The healing energy from those gatherings will carry us through, I already feel it. Happy September!

XOXOXOXO

whoooooshing into summertime

On Friday morning I was blissing out, running east into the sun and against wind as hot and stiff as a blow dryer. It was the first day of summer and I luxuriated in every detail. I drank them in. Gnats perished on my glossy shin bones. Saltwater dripped into my mouth and eyes. I inhaled wildflower pollen and sunscreen and celebrated the heat rising up and pounding into my shoes. My work for the week was caught up, and we had a fun weekend planned. That previous night I had even dreamed of Jocelyn in that way that always reassures me she is okay and maybe even dreaming of me, too. I was smiling-with-my-heart-and-mouth-open while I ran, watching neither pace nor distance. Just happy to be on the go.

Then a whooshing, tttzzz-aaahhh sound assaulted my periphery from the left. The shadows were all behind me, and my music was a bit too loud, so all of my terrible reflexes ignited at once and I jumped mid stride, yelped, then screamed because my own yelp scared me, and all of this nearly caused an approaching female bicyclist to wreck. She wiggled on her two-wheeled vessel, gave her own little yelp, and stuck her muscular legs out to either side to regain balance. Her arms stiffened, and her helmeted head twisted to look back at me and, thankfully, laugh. We both started laughing so hard that I had to stop running to catch my breath. She pedaled away (almost) calmly down the trail.

About 45 minutes later my new BFF had changed direction and was headed toward me now. I saw her from a reasonable distance, started laughing again, quite involuntarily, and she also laughed a little but punctuated the whole exchange with a head tilt and Robert Duvall-style half-nod that said as plainly as any unspoken gesture can say, “Fool me once…”

Maybe she didn’t realize we were BFFs.

I regained my composure (mostly) and jogged in my very own lane past her, definitely surrendering the opportunity for some last minute eye contact. Still running into the glare, still lapping up my own sweat, still loving that so much hard work and consistent effort lately had brought us to the brink of a true summertime weekend. The luscious details are icing on a cake of Overall Life Satisfaction, and I am forever grateful.

I wish I could find this bicyclist and apologize for nearly wrecking her. And ask her if she is always so apt to being almost wrecked. I also want to know if she felt as happy that morning as I did, barring our near miss with asphalt. She definitely had that glow, that strong energy of Life Right This Minute, and I love thinking about it.

The End.

friday 5 x 5 at the farm

Farm life has been pretty great this week. All things considered, including some frigid January weather and long days of complex work for Handsome, things are clicking right along. We have landed at another weekend satisfied and happy. And definitely ready for some R & R.

For this Friday, I offer you five lists of five items each: Photos I missed, excellent meals enjoyed, scriptures that have lit my heart right up, links to other articles and podcasts, and some personal wishes I have been feeling. Let’s go.

Photos I Missed

  • While cleaning out a raised bed and turning over the soil with my spade, I unearthed (quite literally) a tangle of baby snakes. They were average, harmless garden snakes, but it spiked my heart rate anyway. No photo.
  • Every sunrise here is gorgeous, but Thursday’s was exceptional. I was outside early, doing morning chores without my phone and missed documenting moment after moment of the kaleidoscope color show. Everywhere I walked on the farm, the eastern sky, and even the western basin that caught its glow, stopped me in my tracks. Just dazzling! The sky maintained its splendor for so long that eventually I sprinted back to the house to text my husband, “I love you so much, please find an east facing window as soon as possible.” He did, and he quickly replied with a photo he took, daybreak over the Oklahoma Capitol complex. It was a particularly heavy day of Commishing for him, so I was really happy he took that brief moment to enjoy some beauty. When nature shows off like that it’s so easy to see that God is in control of everything.
  • Klaus continues to be the wold’s leader in both jumping hay bales and collecting unwilling black cats, though I have no photos this week to prove it.
  • This might have happened last week, but it would have made a great photo had my phone been in my pocket: I was entering the brick chicken coop and caught sight of something in my vertical peripheral. Barbie Chicken was sitting on the door frame directly above me, inside the building, looking upside down at me with that very specific poultry sneer. We made eye contact and she blinked several times before I could look away. It was awkward. I still think something else was going on at that moment. But we will never know.
  • I had a few really great runs this week, and while a post-run selfie is not out of the question in my life, none have happened in a while. Just know that day after day, I come home from a workout in a much better mood than when I left. And how amazing it is to be able to work up a good sweat in sub-freezing temps! Photographic evidence or not, running is occasionally pretty magical.

Great Meals

  • I ate a phenomenal Gyro salad at an OKC restaurant. I mean SO GOOD. I was stuffed and happy. Delicious.
  • Lunchtime wraps with some kind of deli meat, a pile of spinach, and a little cheese, pan-grilled dry in either a Lavash or St. Joseph’s pita bread.
  • Savory, veggie-heavy, eggy oats for the win. Forever and always.
  • Soup! I keep making myself small batches of protein-heavy, veggie-loaded soups, and my belly has been very happy about that. The more celery and mushrooms the better, and yes to turkey-black bean chili over a big green salad.
  • Protein smoothies with a little “PB Fit” spooned into them at the end, instead of actual nuts. It’s pretty good. I saw this idea on Instagram and was skeptical at first, but it hits that craving without the avalanche of chopped walnuts or sugary trail mix, ha.

Scriptures in Synchronocity

  • II Corinthians 3:17 liberty in the spirit of God
  • Romans 12: 2 transformed by the renewing of our minds
  • John 16:33 be of good cheer, God has overcome the world
  • Psalm 51: 12 joy of salvation and a free spirit
  • Romans 8: 31 spirit of God has set us free

Input!! So nourishing!

  • Oprah’s interview with Larry Dossey, author of The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. Thanks for this nudge, Brittany!
  • Run4PR podcast, especially the interview with Coach Meghan, who talks about ups and downs and the importance of not just hard work but also passion. Loved it so much. Her advice applies to runners at every skill level.
  • My friend Dee wrote all about her garden dreams. Ahh so lovely!
  • There is a Netflix series called The Paleo Way which is pretty great. The host interviews one special farmer over and over, and if I every write down that farmer’s name I think my whole life might change for the better. Find it! Help me out!
  • Hungry Runner Girl wrote about eating disorders and a healthy body image while raising daughters. Man. Lots of wisdom coming from a young mom.

Personal Wishes

  • To realize some running goals. Even if they are long term.
  • To create and maintain more space in my life, from my body to our home and calendar. And then to put that space to really exceptional use. I keep forgetting to tell you about the paintbrush metaphor!!
  • For the growing season to start!! Springtime countdown will start soon!
  • For renewed closeness with Joc. I miss her a lot and have been dreaming heavily again.
  • For some private breakthroughs in the hearts and circumstances of a few men in my life.

What is a highlight from your week? I would love to hear. And I wish you the most restful, most restorative, happiest weekend possible. Handsome and I get to spend our next few days with a mix between extended family, just each other, and a small group that has become our “church,” sort of. Life is beautiful, and I am so thankful.

“No one is eating anyone else.”
~Dee Nash
XOXOXO

marathon monday: a super fun runners’ quiz

Howdy! Happy Monday-After-a-Holiday! We had an amazing weekend here at the Lazy W and are ready for everything these new days bring us. Work that matters, good food, Shark Week on TV. All of it. I hope this finds you healthy and motivated for a fresh, new week yourself.

Today for Marathon Monday I am snagging this fun idea from Janae, the hardcore, effervescent, and really speedy Hungry Runner Girl. It’s just a running quiz. 20 easy questions. A fun way to get better acquainted with each other aaaaaaannnnnnnd perhaps motivate Yours Truly to get back out there for some much-needed miles. Let’s do this.

 

1.  Would you rather run along a beach path or on a mountain trail? I’d love to go on a nice, long run that includes both, but if you’re making me choose then I’d take the mountain path for sure because hills are what I crave most. Then I’d drive back to the beach with a book and a cooler full of icy diet coke to recuperate.

2.  If you could choose the flavor of Gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be? Do they make cherry limeade flavor? That sounds delicious.

3.  If I gave you a $100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it? Compression socks (dying to try these) and a new phone case/arm band, hopefully one that is tight enough on my skinny arm. That is, assuming I already have a fresh pair of great shoes.

I am in love with Brooks Pure Flow. Running shoes are literally the only garment in my life for which I care about the label. And I care about it a lot. So much.
I am in love with Brooks Pure Flow. Running shoes are literally the only garment in my life for which I care about the label. And I care about it a lot. So much.

4.  Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run? I guess a plan is best. I have enjoyed this recent hiatus and the freedom to enjoy other types of exercise, but life is so busy that not having a running-training plan often means I just don’t run, no matter how much I want to. Back at it this week though!

5.  Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill? The latter. Start downhill to build momentum then climb-climb-climb!

6.  When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do? Elliptical, lots and lots of yoga, and different HIIT videos with light weights (15#). I like Jillian Michaels lately. Also, 8-minute-abs and time with the foam roller. Although those barely count as “working out,” they do feel good and make a difference in my body.

7.  What is your preference—>  Out and back, point to point or loop runs? Oh man. Every type of run has its joys and benefits. I started a couple of years ago with millions of tiny loops, so I know that works for me. But I do find myself craving out-and-backs a lot. Especially in beautiful new locations.

8.  If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, it would be —> Good shoes as soon as your budget allows (see above). And good earbuds for music, too.

9.  Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs? When I run here at the farm, of course, I see the llamas out back. They’re not wild but they are curious. Sometimes I see deer in the adjacent forest. Once the buffalo got out of his pen and was wrecking everything while I was running in the back field. The horses tried to get my attention for this but I was in the zone and not easily distracted. That was a scary way to enter the barn, all full of endorphins and still listening to loud music. And I am still keeping my eyes open for Oklahoma’s Sasquatch.

sasquatch

10.  Ever gotten lost while out on a run? Thankfully, miraculously, no. Which is amazing because getting lost while driving used to kind of be my jam. (Ask Handsome.) I once went running wild in the downtown streets of Austin, Texas, and up and down the river there, and even located coffee afterwards and then my hotel room with no problems. Yay for GPS!

11.  If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days… what would that meal be? I love this question. My answer is: watermelon, cottage cheese, and a dark green salad loaded with raw, crunchy veggies.

12.  Capris or shorts… what do you run in most often? Capris when I am in public and shorts when I am alone.

13.  At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go? I usually feel stiff and caged in for the first mile, fussy and clumsy the second, and marginally better by the third. I think it’s always mile four when I actually feel like I’m warmed up and ready to start working.

14.  What do you do with your key when you run? I loop it through a snap on my phone case and just keep a death grip on the whole thing. I recently tried tying it in with my shoelaces but was a nervous wreck the entire run, constantly checking to make sure it was still there. Every little stick or pebble I kicked made me think the key was gone forever. Very distracting! LOL

15.  If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be? Hmm. I don’t know about relive, but for so many reasons I would like to redo this year’s OKC Memorial Marathon, my second full. I made tons of mistakes. Then again, it was such a valuable learning experience. So no, let’s leave it alone. Instead, let’s relive that Zombie 5K obstacle course that was so much fun! Before our starting gun, a zombie sprang out of the woods and terrified me so bad I bolted ahead of my running group, alone into the woods. It was pretty funny and set the tone for the whole race. I had a BLAST. And I think it was in 2014, just a week after my first full, which was a good run, so I was still feeling really strong and happy. Yes to reliving great memories.

zombie run

16.  What type of run is your least favorite type of run? Any run, no matter the distance, when I feel like I am in a rush to finish because someone is waiting on me or there is a tight schedule. It stresses me out and makes me feel guilty for running at all. I often skip a few planned miles just to get back home. Which puts me in a bad mood. For this reason I tend to grab my miles after my most important chores are done but as early in the day as possible.

17.  What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on? Slimming back down (I gained some weight during this past marathon training) and just plain ol’ stress relief.

18.  When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start? If I run here at the farm, it’s a short walk downhill to the back field loop. Otherwise I drive between 8-10 miles to one of a few different nearby tracks. We have amazing hills in our area that I crave so hard, but it’s just not safe to run straight-out. Because, you know, Sasquatch.

19.  When running in daylight—>  are sunglasses a must or an annoyance? A must. For sure, must. If I run at daybreak or sunset, even if I don’t really need sunglasses, I still feel weird without them on my face.

20.  When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting? I hate that feeling of having not completed the miles I said I would. Another reason the training plan/commitment is effective for me. My friends on social media may tire of it, and for this I’m a little bit sorry, but it definitely helps me stay on track. No pun intended. : ))

Capture29-403x275

Okay, that was fun! Now if you are a runner, please answer some of these questions below in comments! I’d love to know more about your style and habits. It’s so interesting to me. Thanks for sharing these questions, Janae!

Now I am off to do those most important chores and grab some miles before the week gets hectic. Hope your Monday is fantastic.

Run while you still can.
XOXOXOXO