Why my sister is better than Superman

Sure Superman is faster than a speeding bullet on land and in the air but how does he stack up against my sister, Angie, who just finished the SLC 1/2 Marathon with me last weekend?

Lets see...

Did Superman ever run a 1/2 Marathon? I don't really know for sure, but it seems awfully likely that he has - or that he could.

Did Superman ever run a 1/2 Marathon with Kyptonite in his back pocket - 'Enduring to the End' despite sleep deprivation, asthma and an injured foot?

I think not.

And this, my friends, is why MY SISTER is much more impressive than Superman.

Congrats Ang!!!

Look Ma! I'm an Impressionist!

New obsession : Oil Painting.

My favorite little-sister-that-has-a-name-beginning-with-'H' came over tonight and gave me a primer on oil painting.

OH MY GOODNESS! I am so hooked!

Here is my first meager attempt. I joked once to a friend at work that if I ever really took up painting I think I'd be an Impressionist. Sure enough...that is what came out of the brush - something that looks vaguely Impressionistic.

I love Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books and have been making sketches of his pictures for a while. Today I did a simple painting of our dear sweet "Toad". I'm hoping over the months and years I'll improve to the point where this stuff is actually show off-able. But I'm still pretty darn proud of myself.

Forgetting - and Hope

http://xkcd.com/379/

About 2 months ago I…. well… for the purposes of this post we’ll just call it a ‘loss’ - I suffered a rather major loss in my life. Odd thing was, other than a very few tears this “loss” didn't seem to affect me much. I went on with my life and honestly had 2 of the most peaceful, productive, athletic, creative and spiritual months I can remember for a very long time.

Looking back on it now it seems like the content censor in my brain (and yes, I’m sure I have at least 2 of them. One for input, and a very lazy one for output) saw the fateful message come across his desk and decided, "Nope- you now what? She’s really too fragile to handle this at present. I mean look at this place! Work is stressing her out. We’ve just come out of 3 straight weeks of migraines and there are chemical imbalances EVERYWHERE! Serotonin production and retention are at an all time low while cortisol is out of control! Nope, nope we are going to heavily redact this one before sending it for processing. It will be like nothing ever happened..."

Now, keep in mind - it’s not that I actually had forgotten anything. I was sad. I thought about what had happened and had tangible reminders of it every day. For some reason, however, there wasn’t as much sting as I would expect. I even remarked to friends and family that I was a little worried that the other shoe was waiting to fall.

Well, it did. Last Friday I got a rather strong reminder of what happened in February. It hit me with much more force than I would have ever anticipated. Mr. Censor (don’t ask why my female brain has a male censor, I don’t know why.) took a look around my brain and saw how much healthier I’ve been lately. I’m running, meditating, eating better, drawing, painting, writing, going to church, reconnecting with friends, (breathe!) and finding some balance with work and home. Well, I suppose he decided that it was time. Not just time to deal with Friday’s news – but time to finally read and process the entire first message.

It’s been a rough couple of days. I have to say, though, I am starting to feel hopeful. Hopeful that now I can *finally* (I said FINALLY…dammit!) begin the process of putting this whole sad chapter behind me.

Hopeful.

Hopeful that there really is a new better chapter waiting to be written.