Yesterday I ran my first race. I never expected to win or even be near the top I just wanted to push myself and have fun. It was a ten-mile race and the first mile was a crowded run with everyone trying not to trip each other. Mile two it starts to thin out with the slower runners fading. I also started to notice I was passing people. those who had gone out in a burst of energy only to start falling off the pace they had set. Mile two had a big hill so so started to walk, and as I passed them I started to feel pretty good about myself. That was until mile three. On the hill on mile three I thought I was hot stuff until I caught a glimpse of the guy leading the race, he was already on his way back. this is where reality set in. Not only was I not hot stuff, as I found out today I was sixty something in my age group. I also found out I was beat by people in the sixty year old age group. Nothing can give perspective like reality! I ran a good race for me and I am happy with my time, all other expectations should be left at the starting line.

Few things can make me smile on the inside like some foods can. You know what I mean? There is just some food that is good or even taste great, but others transcend the taste and become more of a memory inducer. Tamales for example. My family eats them at midnight on Christmas. I hated them as a kid, couldn’t stand the taste. Now, like Pavlov’s dog, I salivate at the thought of that moment when I get a plate of warm tamales and black beans. And of course a mixed berry pie is right up there as well. It has to be with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting on top of a warm piece of pie. It also must be snowing outside for the full effect. It reminds me of our move to Colorado all those years ago. In our new house looking out the window at the mountains feeling the great adventure we had undertaken to move away from the familiar to a place unknown. Today I know it was the right decision and we have enjoyed our kids growing up here, but the pie can bring back that feeling of adventure and can warm my insides like a fireplace filled with a roaring fire! One caveat to the feeling, low-calorie or sugar-free pie do not give the same feeling. They more give a feeling of regret than anything else!

In the last two years I have gotten back into running. Mostly because I am turning fifty in a year and a half and I can’t afford a corvette. I set a goal of running a marathon before fifty. The more I think about that the crazier it sounds. I am, on purpose mind you, going to torture myself for a distance of 26 miles for no reason? By no reason I mean, no one is chasing me, no one is paying me, and I am certainly not going to win anything. I am the only thing keeping this goal alive. I could go sit on the couch and nobody would care but me. The fact is if someone else was trying to push me to do this I would tell them to take a hike. There is nothing greater than setting a goal and actually accomplishing it. What I can’t understand is why I couldn’t set a goal of winning a hotdog eating contest? Instead I found the most painful and useless goal and made it mine!

I have a little problem with American computer companies tech support. I don’t care if they are India, all thou it is sometimes hard to understand what they are saying. Sometimes it is the phone sometimes it is I have a hard time with the accent. It isn’t that the are taking jobs from Americans. These guys usually have advanced degrees, are smart and help keep the cost of a computer down because they are paid a lot less. My problem is that when I call they treat me as if I have never heard of a computer.

I know they have to deal with everyone including people who think the CD drive is a cup holder. I think they can, in the first few minute asses that I am competent and know computers and could skip the remedial steps I just explained I have already tried.

I have restarted the computer. I have checked my connections. I have tried another user or computer. It did work yesterday. I did try reinstalling.

Come on! get past the script and get on to helping me fix the issue. I called not because the obvious was not already done but because it is really broken. And if you put me on hold while you read through the FAQ’s make sure your hold music isn’t Barry Manilow!

How is it every girl who becomes a star as a child grows up and goes nutty? Is it fame or working in hollywood that makes them lose all sense? Have you seen these girls? My daughter watched every one of those Disney shows with the girl stars and now I see in the news just about every one is in rehab or needs rehab. Of course where there is issues with these kids the parents are not far behind. Coming from a stable family would give these children a fighting chance but instead they have parents from the dark side and as soon as money gets involved you can kiss parenting goodbye! In this country we have passed all kinds of laws to protect children from working too soon. We stop them from too many hours at school. We even make sure that they are not abuse. So which one of these laws stops applying once they reach Hollywood, it seems all of them!

In one of my favorite movies “Forest Gump”, his mom uses a statement to help him understand that we really don’t understand. She says “life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you gonna get”. I would like to amend her statement to “Life is like a box of diet chocolates”. Even if I find the list of chocolates and find a flavor I like when I bite into it something still isn’t right! Maybe it is the season I am in, ever time I think something is going my way the other shoe falls. A few weeks ago someone hit my son’s car. The guy is going to pay for it and I was thinking I would just let the dent stay and use the money to buy badly needed tires. Then the car breaks down. I am thankful that I can cover the repair now but it would have been nice to get a little ahead instead of breaking even. Some times it feels like I am shoveling coal into a steam train. I shovel faster and faster and still the train keeps going slower and slower. I know it is a season, and I don’t want to come across as ungrateful. I just saw all news about Oklahoma and they are in real need, I just like using this blog to vent every once in a while. It’s like therapy, only much cheaper!