Hey, May!

May is going to be awesome. I know this because:

• Leith got called out to Ft MacMurray for 3 weeks today. This would normally throw me into a fetal position, but with our financial diet in full gear, 21 days of 12-hr shifts sounds pretty good to us!! Hello, overtime!!
• His office did fix the paperwork screw up, so we did get paid in full…which means all my bills will be paid today – yay!!
• I get to pick up my bugz’ first dance pictures this week
• I’m going to see my bestest Suzi this weekend for a training run in Cochrane, just 4 weeks before the Footstock half marathon!
• I get to buy new underwear!! Woohoo!
• May means almost summer, which means PLANTING MY GARDEN!!! The nursery in my living room is getting out of control…
• The start of morning coffees out on our deck 🙂
• Erin is going to have her baby this month!
• The greenhouses are in full swing, which means I can go and get all my beautiful flowers for my yard soon!
• It’s Celiac Awareness Month
• I have a new treadmill to play with, and it’s oh-so-beautiful
• I get to keep Shredding, which is giving me oh-so-beautiful arms 😉
• There’s sunshine everywhere, and long daylight hours for playing outside
• I’m thisclose to getting my devil IUD ripped out!
• I can buy groceries at the farmers’ markets soon – outside! In the sun!
• The first baby wearing walk of the year is on May 23
• We will be celebrating our 5-year anniversary on May 25 – so far, so very good

Although we’re guaranteed to have a few ups and downs, I’d say we have a lot to look forward to this month!

What are you excited for in May?

Counting up

Sooo…April was kind of a bust in a lot of habit-keeping areas. One thing that fell by the wayside was counting my gifts. So while this list is short, with a lot missing in the middle, rest assured that I did not miss any of my gifts in the past 4 weeks. I just neglected to write them down 😉

248. Silly wisps of fog being chased away by the morning sun

249. Fluffy yellow dresses

250. Excellent customer service, via social media

251. A fresh, clean house

252. Measuring cups and spoons that click together!

253. This moment

254. A lunch bag full of healthy snacks for us

255. Flourless chocolate cookies

256. Quiet snuggles and Gravol

257. Sunshine and no jackets!!

258. Seeds planted, and waiting for the ground to thaw

259. Fuzzy soft puppy ears

260. Earth Day: celebrating the world around us

261. A return to bikram yoga…and surviving

262. Less pain than expected after a 15km run

263. When they sneak into our bed to snuggle

264. Playing for hours in the sunshine

265. Seeing friends, talking to friends, feeling love everywhere

266. Surprise visits from my parents

267. Freshly tilled earth

268. Their bathtub giggles

269. Good, real, healthy food for us, every day

270. +20 degree weather in the still-early spring

271. The chi weenie frolicking in the fresh air

272. A strong body, for running, yoga, yard work, playtime

273. Swinging in the sunshine

{run}

The sun has just dropped below the tree tops, but hasn’t sunk below the horizon yet. There is still a sharp sting of springtime snow in the air, but all I need is a light jacket.

Every so often, the rustle of a bird nesting.

Adele coaxes me on, sounds rolling in the deep from my pocket. No earphones tonight. I want to be present.

The gravel crunches under my shoes while the blue Alberta sky fades into a dusky springtime twilight. My stride lengthens as I crest a hill, smoothly transitioning back to a comfortable pace.

My body works, but doesn’t burn. It surrenders to movement and ebbs and flows with the world around me. Up onto the asphalt, down into the dry, sandy quad tracks in the ditch below.

Four deep brown eyes watch me from the stillness of the trees. Suddenly, white tails flash and they are keeping pace with me for 20, 30, 50 metres. Silly human. Gone, back into the underbrush with a grace I could only hope to have.

A few more miles, breathing gently and full of peace.

A sign tonight that, no matter what happens in this world, no matter how many problems arise, no matter how many battles we fight:

I can always run.