Running and Birthdays

Today, I woke up at 7:00 am, searched for running clothes, stretched, and hit the roads in below freezing conditions.  It was the first time I had run in conditions like this in years.  It was 13 degrees Fahrenheit, snowing, and slightly windy.  By 9:00, other runners were out in our neighborhood.  It took me a very long time to complete my 10 mile run, but I did it.  As I stumbled back into our house, my speech we so slurred that Nate was barely able to understand me.  It's humbling moments like these that remind me how precious life is, and that I will always need to work harder than others at simple things I used to take for granted... and speech is sometimes one of those things.  

The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation is working on putting my profile page together for the Dystance4Dystonia team.  It will be finalized on Tuesday.  Either way, I have made a commitment, and I need to stick to it.  The training has been terribly painful and time consuming, but I need to follow through.  This is by no means finished (if you're reading prior to 2/20/13) but here's a link to my incomplete profile:  Nicole Oliver is Running for Dystonia 

My little sister turned 22 today.  It just doesn't seem possible.  I remember my 22nd birthday.  I was in a very different place in life when I was her age.  It was not a place I was proud to be in or where I was happy with myself, but life goes on.  God pulls us through life's toughest challenges as long as we keep the faith.  I'm far from perfect, and maybe I needed a terrible wake-up call during those few years in college in order to help me to become a more compassionate, loving person.  I often think of the sacrament of reconciliation during this time of year, but I had a terrible experience once that drove me away.  A priest told me he didn't think I understood how serious my sins were.  Amen and onward.

I am extremely proud of my sister.  She's finishing up her Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics at SUNY Geneseo and currently student teaching.  She was initially terrified that teaching would not be for her, which is why she simply minored in adolescent education.  One can do so much with Mathematics in combination with a strong master's degree, but she just didn't know until recently what she wanted.  She just went through a terrible break-up, and something she realized very quickly was that teaching these 7th and 8th graders each day makes her so happy, that nothing else matters.  She loves working with these kids. They are generally rural "simpletons" and not where they should be academically for their age.  She finds mentoring these young kids exceptionally rewarding.  

We (my siblings and I) were fortunate enough to have an incredible public education through the Williamsville Central School District.  All of us did well, but my sister did the best, graduating in the top ten of her class.  I now realize how fortunate we were that my dad moved our family out of a failing school district so we'd receive a decent education as kids.  I know it was a financial struggle to afford to move into Williamsville on a single household income, but my dad's a pretty smart guy.  It's an investment that is finally paying off.  He's mellowed out over the past few years... it's really nice...

Speaking of birthdays, I decided to buy my husband an early gift for his almost 33 years on Earth.  I asked his permission first, as I figured it would be a practical investment.  He has been talking about furthering his education since we met, so I bought him a new laptop figuring he could use it for classes.  I thought he might be upset at the idea but he was more overwhelmed with gratitude.  My dad set it up completely and made system recovery disks for him yesterday.  Today, he spent the entire day playing computer games while watching hockey.  LOL.  Baby steps...

You know, it's sick.  I can't believe I am going to be 30 soon... :-( But that's another blog entry...