Diary 4/26 - 5/2

Daily thoughts that may or may not be helpful.

Saturday, April 26

Tonight was Rex’s senior prom. I remember the day we met him in the Philippines at the age of two. His foster parents carried him in, and we finally set eyes on the boy we had waited for. Infertility, once cursed and dreaded, became the blessed gateway to grow our family. Now Rex is at his senior prom. His school has a tradition of inviting parents to the dance. Students and parents walk down the long staircase and are announced while people clap and take pictures. Then, when the procession is over, the first dance of the prom is with son/mother or daughter/father. It was really sweet. I thought of the passage of time. It hasn’t felt too fast or too slow, but just right.

Monday, April 28

Tonight, Asia’s college culinary class hosted an event for family and friends. The students cooked international food, and we went around the buffet as the students explained their dishes. It was delicious. A year ago, at this same event, Asia connected with the chef/owner of an award-winning restaurant. He offered her a job, and she has worked there for the past year as a cook. I’m writing this entry a few days later, so I have an update. The day after the event, Asia submitted her two-week resignation. She learned a lot in the restaurant, but wanted more work/life balance and new experiences. I’m proud of her for making a wise, values-based decision. She pondered it for a while and made her choice. She’s leaving well, and I trust the chef will give her a good recommendation. I’m excited for what she does next.

Wednesday, April 30

This spring, Asher gave the track team a try, mostly for the social aspect. Yesterday was the final meet of the season. The coach put him in the 400 meter dash. This was only the second time he ran it in a meet. Asher broke the school record and qualified for States. Three minutes later, the guy who previously held the record beat Asher’s new record. Oh well, it was a nice run! At the end of the meet Asher replaced an injured runner in the 4 x 400 meter relay. They ran him first because he had never practiced a baton handoff before. Leading off, Asher beat the new school record time, but being in a relay, it didn’t count for the record. The relay also qualified for States. What an incredible meet, especially for a freshman! When I asked him what the difference was between this meet and the previous one, he said that this time he prayed before he ran. I like that his mind was on the LORD.

Thursday, May 1

Why did I wear these pants today? Why are they still in my closet? They’re brown dress pants that, every time, remind me of the oopsie pants in elementary school. Back then, the school nurse had “oopsie” clothes on standby should any kids have an accident. We all knew that if we saw a classmate with the telltale articles, they had had an oopsie. Well, one day, I peed my pants, and the nurse lent me the oopsie pants—dark brown corduroys—no doubt which she acquired at Goodwill on an in-service day and which were chosen to remind you of the reason you were wearing them in the first place. It was some unconscious psychological method to get you to control yourself in the future. And it worked! I never peed my pants in elementary school again (But I did poop my pants in junior high). I need to get rid of those pants; they bring me down.

Friday, May 2

I committed to sharing not only the wins but also the attempts, like applying to be a speaker at NADA. I’ll find out about that in June. But I have another aspiration—to complete a sprint triathlon. It started as an inquiry in my mind during spin class one day. I had been enjoying spin classes for several weeks when I realized the three pieces of a triathlon could come together for me—swimming, biking, and running. I was a competitive swimmer while growing up, so I can already do that. It seems that more people can’t swim than can’t bike or run, so maybe swimming could be an advantage? And I’m not a great runner, but I did run ten miles once, so running a third of that in a sprint triathlon is doable. And I know I enjoy biking. To see what biking and running would feel like together, I biked for 12 miles and ran for 3 miles today. I felt pretty good! Turns out this is called a Brick because your legs are supposed to feel like bricks, although mine didn’t, so I’ll pretend instead the B is for Bike and the R is for Run, and if you do it too hard, you feel ick. More to come on this, but now I can’t back down.

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