A Walk to Remember...

Our days around here have settled into a pleasant little rythm, I like that. No day of the week is the same as the next, and each accomplishes something different. I'm really having to learn "NO" and balance. I like that too! I needed that!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Mady is in school from 9:00 to 1:00. And after both carpools I head home for my green space and excercise (BY MYSELF!!), then a few hours of quiet work. John's been walking with me when he's home, which is awesome, and something we haven't done since we were young and single...just the two of us.

I had my whole lovely morning planned out today...a sweet but sweaty walk with my hubby then home for a shower and some research on Human Learning just before I needed to head back out to pick up Mady-Moo. I have the US 10k coming up on Monday, so I've been walking at least 5 miles at a time. And today was no different. We'd planned to walk the full 6 miles. So we drove both cars to Downtown Woodstock, left his car, and went back to Hobgood Park to leave mine.

If you live in the area you know that the walk down Town Lake Pkwy. is very hilly. Which is great practice for the 10k, since 41 (where the race is) is just one big hill after the next. So we set out, small water bottle in my hand, we had planned to share. We had a great time, oblivious to the fatal mistake ONE of us had made sitting in the Hobgood parking lot. And just as we're nearing the end of our journey; sweaty and hot, and ready for a shower, John digs in his pocket for the keys only to come back empty handed.

Now my husband is a fireman. So, I didn't flinch. I just KNEW he was joking. So, I reached around and dug into his pocket myself only to feel a sudden rush of terror. There wasn't a darn thing there. Yes. We were going to have to walk that same 6 miles back to the car, with a now empty water bottle, and a mid-day sun high in a cloudless sky. It sounds like a bad cowboy movie. It felt like one too.

We turned around and headed back. All John could do was laugh, and after the first 10 minutes of plotting my revenge, I joined him in the laughter. Instead of going back the exact same way, we changed things up and went down Rose Creek because it was flatter and shadier (at least once we made it that far). And, oh how I wish I'd had a video camera. At one point (about mile 9.5) while being chased by a cicada through the woods, I plain ol' bit it, because my legs literally gave up and refused to move anymore. It took us several minutes before we could get going again. The laughter was just too much.

John kept telling me he had to pee, but refused to. He kept saying his body needed the extra hydration. And that it was going to be the difference between life and death for him. We were both a tad dramatic about the extra miles.

Oh, we laughed. Laughed until we hurt. Literally. We clocked it on the way back, legs numb, clothes soaked, sunburned cheeks. It was just over 11 miles. And no, I didn't get ANY work done today. And I still haven't had a shower. But, we made a memory and embraced our "NOW". Something we've been talking a lot about at church lately and how important it is in relationship! Nothing I would have EVER planned. But, it's something we shared and connected over...for 11 long miles.