Pretty Much Perfect

Over the last 5 days I have found myself really thinking about things more deeply than normal. I like it. I'm not sure exactly what has brought about this change, but I hope I linger in this place for a while. 

It started on Saturday, after my long run. The schedule said we were supposed to run 9 miles on Saturday, which seemed a bit too short to us. So, we decided we'd do 14. Well, we ended up running 11. It was probably the most entertaining training run of my life. All 5 of us that are running the 50K ultra marathon together in 9 days were there, plus another friend who just finished her first 50 mile race (WOOT! WOOT!). It was a 7:00am Saturday morning run, which no one was thrilled about, but we're busy girls with more on our weekend schedule than running, so ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Luckily, LA showed up with a dozen donuts! Granted, no one really wanted one before the run, but I at least pretended to be excited and ate half of one before we headed out on the trails. Immediately upon entering the woods it was obvious that this wasn't going to be a quick run through the forest. There were trees down blocking the trails all over the place. We were doing an equal amount of obstacle course climbing and running. 

 

Here's a picture of some of the girls trying "really" hard to move a fallen tree. Hahahahaha! Yup. We are dorks, and we love it. We also found a man-made rickshaw on the trails and decided to try it out. It was all fun and games until LA fell out. Oh wait. That was fun too! And it marked her second major fall of the day. 

After we finally completed our 11 miles of running, we celebrated in the parking lot with delicious donuts (that really did taste good at that point). And we talked about our upcoming trip to Vermont and all of the logistics. We even planned out our matching outfits. Oh. Ya.

On the drive home I couldn't help but smile as I thought about how lucky I am to A) have such an amazing group of girls to run with that are constantly making me laugh and B) be healthy enough to be able to literally enjoy an 11 mile run. 

So that was Saturday...

Then on Monday, as I ran laps around the driveway after work, Liam started talking to me about the weather. "Is it hot?" he yelled. 

"NO, it's not hot," I yelled back.

"Is it cold?" he asked.

"Nope. Not too cold either."

"It's pretty much perfect," he said.

And once again, I just started thinking about how perfect it really was. Yes, the weather was perfect, but not just that. Everything. My new home is pretty much perfect. My new job is pretty much perfect. My family is pretty much perfect. Ah....another moment.

Then on Tuesday I started a 3 day training called EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction). There were only about 12 people there for training, and before the class started I noticed an old woman standing in the back of the room. She seemed too old to be a teacher and I watched her husband (I assumed) tell her to take good notes, and hug her, give her a kiss, and walk out. Hmmmm....that was odd for a teacher training...

Once the training began, everyone had to take a turn introducing themselves and tell what school they were from and what grades they taught. When it was the old woman's turn to share, she stated that her grandson was having a very difficult time with his reading and that she was there so that she could help him. 

Gulp. This was a $1500 training, and this old woman was there solely for her 9 year old grandson because nothing else has helped him successfully learn how to read. My heart was so happy for that little boy, and once again it got me thinking. The first thing that I thought about was a different little boy that I tested last week on his letters. When I pointed to the letter "F" he told me that he didn't know what the letter was called, and he didn't know what sound it made, but he knew it meant Facebook. Now, you might laugh about that, but really, it's not funny. If we were all as concerned with the learning and development of our children as that grandmother is, the world would be a better place.

I must say that after 2 days of EBLI training I finally feel equipped with the skills necessary to help struggling readers! And that has also left me thinking... I have been a teacher for 11 years, and for the first time I really feel like I am going to be able to help that group of kids that just doesn't pick up on reading as easily as other kids. That is an awesome feeling!

So, for those of you who have been asking, "How's the new job?" "How's the new house?" "How's the new school year?"

The answer...pretty much perfect.