Ultimate Coffee Date: April 2018

Happy April!

It's time for our monthly coffee date, co-hosted by my friends Coco and Deborah. Stop by their blogs to visit the rest of the linkup. In the meantime, pull up a chair and let's catch up. It's been a busy, and somewhat sad, month.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

My mother-in-law recently passed away. When I think of her, I think of her kind and generous spirit. I think of how loving she was to her family, and how her family extended far beyond the customary definition. She cared about everyone. In particular, I think of the love she had for our son. I think of her sitting on the floor with him to color, reading to him, coming to watch him at swimming lessons. Looking at the two of them together was simply delightful. Our hearts are sad.

Read her obituary here.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run is this weekend. This is a busy time for me as the social media traffic and questions pick up and we push out all of the important information on our social media channels, not to mention covering the expo and the race.

This year it has been even more hectic with participants worrying about a potential snow event (so. many. questions.) and because my mother-in-law's services are right in the middle of race weekend. I am especially grateful to Heather, who has created countless last-minute graphics this week and is covering for me on Saturday while I am with my family.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I created a "happy box" to keep me smiling. I got a catalog from Natural Life, a company I hadn't heard of before. Wow, do they have some fun things that really speak to me! I know I'm supposed to be decluttering, but I couldn't resist these happiness reminders. The sloths are my favorite.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I decided to run the 8k instead of the half marathon at the end of the month. There is a 4-hour time limit, so finishing the race wasn't going to be an issue. However, I've not run farther than 8 miles in my recent training, and looking at the next few weekends in April, building beyond that was going to be unnecessarily stressful.

I want to run a strong race and push my pace to the edge of my comfort level. I can do that in an 8k, but not in a half marathon. After I made the decision, I felt so much lighter and actually started feeling excited about the upcoming race.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

We should catch up more often! Let's plan to have coffee again on May 5.