Let’s go… Slaho!

I haven’t gotten in front of the computer much over the last few days. Just had a lot on my mind I guess… and stuff I really didn’t want to write about, really, though maybe I should have for my own sake. Then I noticed that it had been 5 days since I blogged. And THEN I realized that with school returning to session I need to get more disciplined if I am going to continue blogging. The first week is never too intense, but week two is, and if I don’t separate some time to jot down my thoughts, they will never see the light of day… or in this case the light from the computer screen. So today I resolve to write at least once every two days… even if what I write is gibberish, or just two lines. Maybe I should return to writing some of my Short, Short, Short, Short Stories which I have abandoned writing over the last couple of years. I need to let the Short Story Muse inspire me so that I could return to doing that. Or maybe I should shoot a couple of slahoems (Slaho’s poems, for those not knowing the lingo) out. Or maybe I should continue working on my book on Young Adult ministry, the one I started writing over two years ago, but just haven’t transferred to the computer.

I don’t know where my mind will wander, but I definitely have to write! It keeps my mind focused and it helps me to organize my otherwise random thought process. And it forces me to come up with questions and answers while I am running, which I am going to be doing a lot more of as my training intensifies for my upcoming ventures. So the challenge is on! School is back in session… AND SO AM I!!

Here’s to WRITING!!

When I woke up this morning I had a strange urge… chocolate milk. It had been a long time since I had chocolate milk, one of my favorite treats as a kid. When I was growing up my dad would wake me up every morning with a nice cold glass of chocolate milk, sometimes made with Hershey’s syrup, and sometimes made with Quik. Regardless, I remember thinking as a kid that there was no better way to wake up. And these were the thoughts that were going through my head as I drank down my cup. Man, those little things in life can sometimes spark the best memories.

Last night I was looking for a spark because I was a bit down. Looking through Facebook I read about the meteor shower that was going to coming into the Earth’s path (or vice versa) over the next few days. I’ve always liked shooting stars and this was going to be the best opportunity to see one for a long time, and the best time to view it was going to be between midnight and 5 am. So after watching a DVD with Dania last night, I decided to head out. But before I headed out I did something then that I usually reserve for right after I finish my run, or sometimes even until the next morning. I gave Dania a big kiss and told her I loved her, and then went to the beds of my sleeping kids and gave them each a big kiss also (thank God they didn’t wake up, and in particular the baby, because Dania would have been REALLY ticked off). NOW, I was ready for my run. You see, I realized that however unlikely, leaving for my jog may be the last time I see my kids. Any moment just might be my last. Just 36 hours ago that was true for an acquaintance of mine.

Yesterday was August 11. It was my mom’s 79th birthday. 79 years is a long time, but it seems that nowadays a lot more people are reaching that age. My mom has gotten there but only after going through a number of trials, most specifically a long bout with cancer, which fortunately she has overcome for the time being. But it has left her week and tired. The treatments really left her a shell of her former self physically. She’s nowhere as strong as my grandmother was at that age, and she went on to live to be 100. I’m not sure how long she’s going to be around, but I must admit that I am very fortunate to still have her, and I have to take advantage of the time she has left here whether it be for another year or for another twenty. You never know when that moment will come.
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I’m in the process of putting in a new microwave in my house. Somehow or another the handle of my other one came off and the paint started peeling off of my last one. It has been in pretty bad shape for a long time, but I never seemed to find the time to take it down and replace it with the new one we bought some 5 months ago (It’s one of those over the stove ones). It also made it easy to put off the job because despite its decrepit appearance the microwave seemed to still work pretty well.

Well I took down the microwave only to find out that I have to make three new holes in the kitchen cabinet above my stove to install it because the new microwave attachments lie in different locations than my other one even though they’re from the same manufacturer!! How retarded! And I don’t have the tool necessary to make one of the necessary holes, the one for the power chord. So, since I need to get the proper attachment to my drill to make the hole, I have failed to finish the project. And for the time being we are without a microwave. And that soooooo sucks… and at the same time it doesn’t.
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It is hard for me to fathom because I just don’t feel old, but it has now been 21 years since I graduated from high school. I could have been born on my graduation day and been legally drinking a mojito today as I wrote this, which by the way would be nice, but I just don’t have any peppermint available at the moment. When I graduated from high school most of my current students’ older siblings hadn’t been born yet! And they themselves weren’t going to be brought into this world for another four or five years! Much time has passed since I walked the halls of my high school… as a student anyway, seeing as I walk those hallways every work day of my life, but that’s another story.

High school was a great time and I have a lot of great memories from that time in my life. I learned a lot, I grew a lot - physically (almost a foot in the four years) and spiritually - and I met a bunch of wonderful people during that time. It was great last year being able to get together with a bunch of my old mates to celebrate those four years that I shared with them in what seems like a whole lifetime ago, and at the same time like just yesterday.

The truth is, though, that I have found that for myself what truly defined who I am was my experiences in elementary school… my good old days at St. Brendan Elementary. I would dare say that most people would say this about high school, and though I can honestly say that I definitely enjoyed high school more, it was elementary school that dictated how my life was going to turn out. I think that this is why five years ago I went through such a great effort to find everyone from my elementary graduating class to have our 20 year reunion from St. B. And after a lot of effort it turns out that I was able to in one way or another to locate every single living member of that class (the one classmate not living being Liana Hidalgo, may she rest in peace in the presence of our Lord). I was excited about the prospects of bringing everyone back so we could all relive these all so important and formative years, and for some reason or another I REALLY believed that I coerce EVERYBODY to attend. Silly me.
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It’s amazing how I’m in summer vacation and yet I can’t seem to find the time to write. Every time it looks like I have a second to get in front of the computer and write, something else comes up that I either have to do, or that I planned on doing…

Case in point today… First get up and clean the house. Then go to mass. Then come back home and prepare for my Godson’s pool party in our place (which by the way was a great time for the family, though I ate so much pizza that I still think I have some coming out of my ears!) After the party it’s clean up time. Then get the kids bathed and ready for sleep. After that I have to make a grocery run because we are out of milk and bananas, two staples in our house. Of course it becomes an actual grocery run not just a minor one. Come back and shower to remove all the chlorine of course… don’t want to sleep in that stuff. Finally, go online and print a bunch of stuff for a planning meeting regarding the relay I’ll be running in November. That gets me to now.

Sure I could just get to writing now, but you all know how long winded I am. But if you notice I didn’t run today, which means I’ll be running tomorrow morning at 6:30, before I take the boys to camp. I can’t write until two in the morning (which I find myself doing as my writing goes on and on and on while my brain wanders in infinite numbers of directions) today and then sleep a measly four hours. So I get on and just do this to make sure I don’t lose the habit of at LEAST writing something.

I already know what I want to write about this week. Let’s hope I get to my two main topics plus the ones that pop into my head as the week progresses… #1. Class Reunions, #2. The Humanity of Jesus Christ, #3. Who knows but I’m sure it’ll have my head spinning with ideas by the time I write it… I just hope that I can keep all my thoughts on the two topics I’ve been going over in my head for days now organized so that my blogs will be true to the feelings I first felt when they popped into my head. We’ll see what happens. By the way, if anybody wants to know my thoughts on any of a number of other topics (not to learn from me, I’m not doing this to teach, but maybe just to start conversations, or possibly, and even more fun, arguments) feel free to make suggestions. It’ll stimulate my brain and challenge me to think, something that I think that many of us are afraid to do sometimes, because the truth is that thinking may be dangerous. And sometimes sharing those thoughts may actually make us something we don’t like to be… vulnerable. So throw me whatever you got, and let’s see where it goes.

UGGH! It’s already 12:15 am! Gotta sleep! Well, good night all! I’m a gonna read some Sherlock Holmes until my eyes can’t stay open no more…

NOT QUITE DONE
I know that I like to dream big
There are so many things I want to do in life
But you think my dreams are folly
That’s because you don’t see them from where I lie

Stop trying to shoot me down
I’m flying much higher than you can aim
Keep your eyes on your own goals
I promise you that I’ll do the same

You said I wasn’t strong
I couldn’t tackle the obstacles in front of me
You say I don’t belong
But I’m exactly where I am meant to be
I have taken my first step
And that’s one more step than you’d ever take
Which means I’ve already won,
I know that I have won
But that doesn’t mean I’m done

You always tell me there are limits
That the things I want can not be attained
That I should fear the worst
But to me it seems it’s you that’s afraid

Don’t you want to see me shine?
Or is it too much to have to share the spotlight?
Has jealousy consumed your soul?
It seems your envy has messed up your sight

You said that I was crazy
That I was too reckless to get through this trial
You say I can be lazy
Yet it’s me whose gone that extra mile
I’m the one whose put the right foot first
While you’ve stayed standing there flatfooted
Which means that I’ve already won
I know that I have won
But that doesn’t mean I’m done

I have so many goals ahead
I’ll fight for them ’til I’m dead
And though I know I’ve already won
I’m still not finished… No, I’m not done