Day 234

I've often heard people say that the best thing about growing older is gaining wisdom. Or self-confidence. A greater ability to home in on what's truly important. I'm not sure I'm any more self-assured than I was, say, 10 years ago (I'm still 100% comfortable in some areas and a second-guessing mess in others) but, yes, I do know more now. Mostly what I know now - and not then - is that I should let go of most things. Chill out. Embrace experiences. Be grateful.

What I think is one of the best things about growing up - at this stage of my life, at least - is having the opportunity to get to know, and love, the little people that some of my favorite people have brought into this world. At first it seems strange that these charming children, whom I see but two or three or four times a year, are so quick to give me a hug (or so easily entertain me with a late-night Gotye cover concert) - and that my boys are equally familiar with their parents, my friends. Then it all makes sense. I know that impish grin and (burgeoning) quick wit. And I so get the plucky spirit that sparkles in those navy-blue eyes.

Day 229

Things that made today fantastic: 

1. An awesome and inspiring lunch with my friend Jed.  (Check out his mod pet furniture design studio.) He has an exciting new business in the works and it was so fun to hear about its evolution and to talk about five-year plans and making things happen.  

3. Meeting week-old Baby Lane. He's got his big bro's sweet face. Love!

4. Two little boys who were incredibly excited to cheer on their dad and "Michael"/"Mike Balzano" (what Kai and Julian call him, respectively) at their softball game. Jules was practicing his chant in the car on the way to the game: "Go baseball, football, Daddy!" When I revealed that there is no football in baseball, he switched the cheer to "go, Daddy, go." 

It's a very down-to-earth team: The players chill with their fans.

4. A serendipitous run-in with Jen, Caleb and baby Julia at New World Tortilla. (PS: My vegan rice and beans wrap could have fed our entire family.)

5. Fresh, frozen yogurt (topped with mango chunks) at the new SoYo shop on Pine Street. (I find their branding to be a bit confusing. In case you were wondering - I was, at first - it's not soy yogurt... it's straight-up dairy. But it is good. Very good.) 

6. I bought two new bras. And they fit. TMI, yes. But this major accomplishment had to make the list.

7. This awesomely hilarious HuffPo piece on TomKat by Deb Baer. 

What made your today great? 

Day 228

I spend a lot of my life wishing I were more like other people... that I possessed more of UB's hell-yeah-let's-do-it-ness. That I had the discipline and focus of my friends who get up and run seven or eight miles before work. Every day. But I also wish I could just chill. Relax. Like my mom does. 

I wish that I were as brilliantly creative as my artist friends--and also more strategic and less emotional, like my business-minded buds. I wish I was a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller... Not really. (Actually, yes. 5'6 or 5'7 would be nice... and it'd be great to have a little bit of hand-eye coordination so that when someone tossed something for me to catch, this wouldn't happen.) 

I could go on and on... 

.... yes, I could go on and on and I don't think I'd ever get to wishing I were more like Steve Jobs, much as his Stanford commencement speech moved and inspired me (and pretty much everyone else). But just because I'd never really thought about it. Until I read this article in the current issue of Wired Magazine. The piece basically examines the profound influence that Walter Isaacson's bio of Jobs (which long has been on my to-read list) has had on so many people. According to this worth-a-read article, you read the book and you become a Jobs worshipper. Or you become a Jobs rejector. To my surprise, my responses to the sidebar quiz designed to assess where on this spectrum someone falls, I scored solidly in the latter category. A rejector.

But I still admire the guy's drive. And definitely his passion. A lot. Which lead me to walk away from this article realizing that I can learn a lot trying to be a little more like all of the people who, in some way, inspire me. 

Who inspires you? 

Day 227

Me to Jules: “What did you do this weekend?”

Jon’s parents watchedthe boys while we celebrated our 8^th anniversary in Montreal.

Jules: “We ate ice cream before our dinner.”

Jon, with a smirk: “Really?”

Jules: “Yes. It was Grandma’s idea. Papa said we neededreeaaal food but Grandma wanted to get us ice cream.”

Me, about to crack up: “Oh. So you and Grandma were sort ofon a team?” (“Yes.”) “What else did you do?”

Jules: “We had vanilla cookies. And we had gummies shapedlike men.”

Me: “Besides food, what did you do?”

Jules: “We went to the dog park. Grandma dropped her applethere. She dropped it by a bench.”

For the record, I know that they also went to the playgroundtwice—and spent almost the entire day at ShelburneMuseum’s Circus-palooza. And no doubt, Grandma and Papa read dozens ofbooks, pitched lots of baseballs and built loads of Lego structures. They werein good hands.

And Jon and I had a fantastic time - in part because we were armed with great recommendations. We stayed at Auberge Les Bon Matins, a colorful B&B downtown. My friend Dan had recommended the place last November but it had been booked. This time, we were luckier: there was room in the inn. Friday night, we arrived, settled in and walked to get some late-night sushi at Sho-Dan (thanks, Nicole!) 

Like Jules, Jon and I had a weekend that basically revolved around food. After kicking off Saturday with a run up run/walk up, run down Mont Royal, we had eggs and waffles and about a pot's worth of coffee back at the Inn. Then we hopped on the Metro to the Jean Talon market... after browsing the colorful stalls - each one seeming to outdo the last - we meandered over to over to Alep, a Syrian restaurant that came highly recommended by Bob, for lunch. Alep was closed. We spent a few minutes in a cute boutique and played with a handsome Calico cat. 

Then we hoofed it to St. Hubert (what appeared to be a garment district) for the great Cuban fare that Scott told us about. The sign on Caya Coco's door said to hang tight... they'd be right back in 15 minutes. We were hungry. And thirsty - so ran across the street to ShiShi Desserts for an appetizer: lemonade and mini cupcakes. Which turned out to be a good thing, as the super sweet owner told us that the Cuban resto-bar had become a full-time hookah lounge. Had we not ventured down for rice and beans, we would missed out on our midday Dulce Le Leche and Passion Fruit cakes. (Jules wasn't the only one savoring dessert before meals.)

The ShiShi baker recommend that we head a couple of blocks over to see whether Tapeo, a hot newish tapas bar might be open. Alas, it was not. But it looked awesome. Def on the list for next time. 

Now famished, we went back to the market and stopped for the first food we encountered. It was a taqueria and I'm not sure I'd recommend it. More browsing the market, then we jumped back on the metro to St. Catherine, did too much shopping and stopped to refuel with coffee Americanos. 

For dinner, Reinhold and Pam recommended L'Auberge Saint-Gabriel. I can't even describe how amazing it was - the food, the art, the service, the dental-floss dispenser in the restrooms - I highly suggest checking it out for yourself. Post-supper, we hit the Port for the fireworks. (Left early, gawked at the awesomeness that is Notre Dame... and marveled at the incredible, electric energy of Montreal.) 

Thanks, all, who helped make this such a fab weekend! 

Day 224

This box was sitting on our doorstep when I got home. 

The label read as follows:

Apparently, Jon made some sort of football bet with his friend Derrick. Derrick apparently lost and had to send us some pizzas. Derrick... the guy who, when I Jon and I met 13 years ago, listened to Jon's stories of our "dates" and informed him that I indeed would become Jon's actual girlfriend. That perhaps I was even "the one." Derrick told him all of this before he met me. And, actually, I never spent all that much time with Derrick. 

But I  love Derrick -- Derrick, the structural engineer whose undergrad degree is in English. Derrick, who went on to receive his MBA (I think). He's got a case of the "liberal arts" as much as I do and a has this witty way that always makes me smile. (I love that all family gifts come to the "Micco Household," despite the fact that I'm the only Micco here.)

Though Jon keeps in touch with Derrick regularly, I've seen him only twice and talked only about more 3 times in the last decade. So. Can he still be one of my favorite people? One could argue that he is, after all, partly responsible for prompting the establishment of the "Micco Household." 

Day 222

I'd like to share this little modern love story:

Girl walks into a bar. In Queens. ("Elvis" is performing, collecting money for the children. In a year or so, it will be revealed that there were no children. The philanthropic Elvis is a fake and a scam.)

Girl hits on Boy. 

Flirting and beer-drinking ensue. Numbers are exchanged. 

A strange courtship begins. Girl and Boy go for runs through Forest Hills, meet up at the bar and the bowling alley. Their contact is sporadic. Boy continually insists he is moving to Spain. To build bridges.

After a few months, girl moves across a bridge, to Manhattan. 

Shortly thereafter, Boy shows up at Girl's door, insisting that they do dinner. (Note: In their three-month, sporadic "relationship," Girl and Boy have never shared a meal.) Girl, now working at a ridiculously crazy start-up that has her toiling away 19 hours a day in a 3 square-foot space, obliges. They dine outside at a laid-back upper Upper East Side establishment. She is wearing stained khakis.

A more traditional dating relationship ensues. There are dinners, movies and museum visits. There are many trips across the bridge. Life is good. 

Fast forward 2 years. Boy invites Girl to move to Colorado with him. Girl says likes her life in NYC publishing. 

Boy moves to California to live on the beach with Boy's younger friend. Girl is pissed. 

~To protect the innocent, the next part of this story will be summarized to this: For awhile they break up. But still visit and talk. It's all very dysfunctional. However, to deal with this drama, Girl trains for a Marathon with Team in Training, at the encouragement of Gabby Studenmund. She raises more than $5,000 for leukemia and lymphoma research and runs 26.2 miles in London. During this adventure, she meets amazing people, including Eliana Agudelo. ~

Boy decides to move back East to be with Girl (and near his family). They agree that Vermont sounds like a nice place to live.

Girl lands a fellowship in the nutrition department at UVM. Girl moves to Vermont with her cat Charlie  (may he RIP...)

Boy gets an engineering gig in Vermont.

Girl flies out West. Girl, Boy and all of Boy's belongings, including an awkwardly shaped chair procured in South Africa, spend 6 days driving across Canada in a Subaru Impreza. 

One year later, Girl and Boy buy their first home.

Then, Girl and Boy adopt Dempsey.

The next summer, Boy's BFF proposes to his girlfriend. Then Boy's other BFF proposes to his girlfriend. Weeks later, Boy proposes to Girl. (Sorry, Boy, Girl is a Journalist. Journalists state the facts.)

They plan a big wedding for October 9, 2004 (Happy Birthday, Deb Baer!). They send out Save the Dates, then ditch this plan and reschedule a teeny tiny ceremony atop Mt. Philo for July 17, 2004. Girl's mom says that sounds just fine to her - whatever makes Girl happy - but don't be surprised if people think that Girl is pregnant.

Girl is not pregnant. 

This happens:

Lots of excellent things occur: new nephews and another niece, parties round the fire pit, dancing in cabarets, another marathon, trips, hikes, house dormers, exciting new jobs, softball games, etc. (And some bad ones too: Chuck dies.)

Girl and Boy adopt two kitty sisters.

Girl gets pregnant for real. Thirty-five-and-a-half weeks later, this guy is born.

Life really gets fun. 

And then girl gets knocked up again... and 40 weeks later, this guy is born. Life really gets crazy, which is as it remains today, exactly eight years to the day that this photo was snapped by HT. 

Which - really - is just how the Girl likes it. 

Day 221

Before the glow fades and I get swept up into the chaos of the day, before I start focusing on all of the things on the to-do list that don't get crossed off, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the important thing that (finally) did. 

Today, I got up at 5:30, put on my running clothes (laid out in the bathroom - so as not to disrupt Jon - the night before), drank a glass of water, ate 5 cherries (stalling) and got myself out the door by 5:45. I did my standard 4-mile loop. Five minutes in, my legs were itchy and my chest was tight ... but two sweet bunnies hopped across my path... and when the trees opened up to the lake, I noticed that the clouds hung low in front of the mountains. The image was like one you'd see on an inspirational poster, or a book about finding your Zen. Perfect. I stretched on the bridge to the sounds of screeching gulls "harmonizing" with some delicate dark bird whose pretty sound I did not know. Down below, there was smooth driftwood on wavy sand, deep-blue water with so many concentric circles breaking out on the glass-like surface where the river meets the lake that I thought it might raining. It wasn't. So what were they: fish? frogs?

And when I got back home, the teeth-brushing wrangle and bagel battles didn't break my stride. I know I need to run every day to keep sane. (And I don't... hence...). And I don't know why I was able to stick to my morning plan so easily today but I'm glad I did. 

Because it's most certainly going to be a manic Monday. Happy one to you!

And tell me: What helps you stick to your exercise plans?