Joy to the World

I had mentioned in one of my last posts that I was having some health issues. Well, I had the tests done and I am, in fact, healthy. Nothing is wrong! You're all stuck with me for a while longer.

I have a huge weight off of me. I feel good and now I can start catching up on the sleep that I didn't get during the course of the week.

In other news, Keller's last day at his old school was yesterday. We told him he was graduating and getting ready to go to preschool at the Big Boy School. We made a pretty big deal about it and I made him a graduation cap and we had a graduation dinner last night. He was really happy and I think he's pretty excited about going to the new school. I hope he is at least. I guess we'll see how things go this week.



Well, now I get to enjoy my weekend. Hope everyone has a great one!

You've Got a Friend

At the urging of many friends, I have finally set up a Facebook profile thing. You can check it out here.

I am still very unsure of the whole thing. What do you do with it? I know there is a "wall" that you can post comments on. And you can send messages to people through it too. But how is that any different than just emailing someone? I get that you can find people on there. In fact, I found some people I went to high school with that I may ask to be my friend. And I get that you can post pictures for all your friends to see. But, in all honesty, it kind of makes me feel old.

So, my doctor told me on Monday that I wasn't allowed to have any caffeine. Well, I didn't have any on Tuesday or Wednesday. But I caved today. I have a client meeting in about 45 minutes and I need to be on fire! Well, since I haven't had any coffee in a couple of days, I'm flying right now. Seriously. I'm a little concerned that I'm going to go crazy in my meeting and my client is going to be frightened. Or maybe she'll just think I'm extra excited about the work we're doing. Yeah, that's it. That's the angle I'll go for.

Today is my Friday. I am taking off tomorrow all the way through to next Friday. Yahoo! It wasn't the original plan to take that much time off, but it just worked out that way. And I am definitely looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is Keller's last day at his current school. We are having a "graduation" party for him. I made him a little cap and we'll have a little scroll diploma for him. Then we'll have a congratulatory dinner at Red Robin. Maybe even some ice cream will be involved. I don't want it to be a sad thing for him. And then starting Monday, he'll be visiting the new school. I cannot wait to see how he likes it.

Ok, I need to go walk around some. I have to get this caffeine high under control!

Everybody's Talking

Last night my child made everything that is going on just simply disappear for a little while.

We went through the usual bedtime routine, with John giving Keller his bath and getting him into his pj's. Then we played a little. The occupational therapist that was part of Keller's evaluation gave us some great tricks to get Keller to calm down at night. Which have really helped. Anyway, we played and then read stories. Then it was time to get into bed.

We have gotten into the routine that we read a few stories either in the chair or on the floor but the last one is always in bed. So, we read the last story in the bed and it was time to say goodnight. Keller has chosen this time to be his "talk time" and tells one of us that he wants to talk. Last night, it was me that was privledged with talk time.

We talked about his new school and all the new friends he's going to make. He's starting to understand that his current friends will stay at the current school while he will be going to the new school. But he will always be able to see his friends from the current school even though he won't be in the same class. He is starting to get a little excited about the new school, which is great. I mean, his excitement varies and sometimes he doesn't want to go. But I think that's pretty normal.

He then asked me if I wanted to get into bed with him. Now, Keller's bed is a toddler bed. And I stress the word toddler. He is almost too big for it, so you can only imagine how I'm going to fit in there. Well, I balled myself up and got into bed. We cuddled and continued talking. He asked when he would see Mee-ma and Bee-ba (my parents) and I told them they were coming to see him next week. He asked about Uncle Jay and Aunt Nancy (my brother and sister-in-law) and I told them we would see them later. He was satisfied with that.

Then we just talked about silly things and off to sleep he went. It was really a wonderful moment. I have always loved putting Keller to bed because it was our family time. But now that he wants to "talk" at night, I absolutely love it. It's wonderful.

It's amazing how such a routine thing can make you feel wonderful.

Happy Wednesday!

Turn! Turn! Turn!

Beware, I think this post is going to get a little philosophical and introspective. You've been warned.

It's funny how life moves in cycles. I don't know if 'funny' is the right word, but you know what I mean. The year 2008 has been a very ugly year for us. We've lost loved ones, we had family members ill, we needed to move Keller to a new school. Now, I am facing some health issues of my own. I don't want to get into details until I know more, but I have to get some tests done and I'll know more next week.

I was thinking back to 2004-2005. This was the beginning of the worst and best period of my life. The worst being me leaving my job, having a very complicated pregnancy and getting my identity stolen. The best being the birth of sweet Keller. The way I felt then is much how I feel right now, which is why I brought it up. That feeling of complete helplessness and not knowing if things will ultimately be all right. AH! That feeling bites. And that's how I feel now.

But, everything did turn out all right. The cycle of life continued and the issues we had in 2004-2005 were resolved, for the most part. So, in my heart, I feel like everything will be all right now. But I remember in 2004-2005, getting to the "everything will be all right" part took a really long time. And it wasn't pretty. So, I'm a little scared of the current path to "Everything will be all right."

I decided to take next week off from work. I'm not going anywhere. But that week is the week before Keller starts his new school and we will be bringing him there each day. So, I'll be spending most of the week with him, which is great. I just need to get my head together. I feel like I'm spinning right now and I just need to step back and regroup. Hopefully I'll feel better by the end of the week.

Hey- I just realized it's Tuesday. No wonder I feel shittier than usual. Oh well. Wake me up when it's Wednesday.

I Want You To Want Me

Ok, that sounds a little desperate. But it's really true.

Now that I'm, ahem, in my 30s, I don't think it's worth it to be doing something you just don't love. I mean, yes, it's rare to find a job that makes you jump out of bed in the morning. But, I think you should at least have a job that doesn't make you contemplate throwing yourself off a bridge everyday.

I'm not saying this is how I feel about my job. I actually like my job. I really love writing. But my passion, as you all know, is running. And I love coaching. Seriously, I find it so rewarding to help someone reach their fitness goals. I have heard so many people say how they never would have believed they could run a race and they were so proud they did. Hearing that makes me want to cry (in a good way) and it inspires my own running.

So, I've been thinking long and hard and I really want to try to coach full-time. I don't know how I would go about doing this, seeing how I already have a full-time job, but I want to try and make it happen. And I could still work my job now.

Anyway, I have been kind of working my ass off trying to promote my coaching services. I've taken out ads online and have been doing various other things. I was hesitant to bring this up on my blog because I didn't want to sound desperate. And I'm not. Up until this point, I haven't been trying to make this a full-time gig. But now I think I want to.

How can you help, you ask? Well, promote the you-know-what out of my website: http://www.coachjenn.com/. And tell anyone you know that is interested in running that they definitely need a coach. And you just happen to know a great one (that would be me). People often think that they have to be a really competitive, experienced runner to need a coach. So not true. Anyone that runs can benefit from having a coach. I've coached true never-run-before beginners all the way through to experienced runners looking to reach a new goal. I compare the process to that of a personal trainer's role. If you wanted to learn how to lift weights correctly, or develop a new strength training program, you'd hire a personal trainer, right? Well, I'm a "personal running trainer."

And I coach in a lot of different ways. For individuals, I primarily coach online through email and phone calls. It works because everyone is busy and this way they get the benefits of having a coach without having to carve out time to meet me. Plus, I can coach anyone anywhere. You could be in Thailand and still get all the benefits of me. :) But, I also coach individuals in-person, and I coach groups as well. If you and a friend want to start running, or train for a certain race together, I offer group rates. And I'm still coaching groups through Fleet Feet Sports.

Whew. I'm not used to promoting myself. But if I want to make this work, I need to get the ball rolling.

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a great weekend.