Hello everyone! Sorry I have been a bit absent lately but I am sure you can understand that not a lot has been happening in the world of running worth blogging about for quite some time. Hopefully that will change this year and we can get back so a sense of normalcy with racing in person. Honestly, if I have to see one more virtual race registration I think I will lose it! Wait, I probably already have lost it, several times! Ha ha!
I don't have much time this morning but I wanted to just say a few words about kindness that has been shown to me lately. I know there is a lot of hate out there, but there is also a lot of kindness and love, you just have to look for it. Or, maybe you also have to give it to get it. Maybe it is another one of those things that isn't always free.
I want to just give a shout out to several people who are for the most part, strangers to me, or I have only known them a very short time. When I recently went to Connecticut to do a home health job, the couple I lived with was so wonderful to me. They were so kind and caring and spent so much time shoveling snow and making sure I wouldn't slip on ice when I went to my car each morning. Some mornings I would come out and my car would even be cleared off for me already. They made me some Jamaican food and brought it down to my apartment for me and even though I couldn't stay, they invited me for dinner one night. I was heading back to Colorado already and didn't get to have dinner with them, which is a bummer because I would have loved to have more authentic Jamaican food! So, thank you Cheryl and Ian!! Oh, and their next door neighbor who helped clear snow also!
I also want to give a shout out to a patient of mine in CT who is a mechanic and owns his own garage. When he found out I was headed back to CO he arranged for me to get my car in at his garage and have his son look over it and give it an oil change to be sure it was ready for my 2000 mile drive home. They would not let me pay! I told him I did not intend to get that service for free and he said, "It seems like you have had a stressful time lately, if we can take the stress out of wondering if your car is trip-ready, that's what we will do." How nice and wonderful was that??? I'll tell you, super nice and wonderful! So, if you are in Wilton, CT and need to take your car somewhere for work on it, I recommend Precision Performance. Everyone there was so nice and even gave me some tips on places to check out before I left CT. They were quick with my service and my car ran like a dream all the way home. So, thank you Pat and gang! Oh, and Pat texted to let me know he got new shirts for the business and is sending some to me and my husband for St. Paddy's Day. Again, how nice!!
A quick shout out to a patient I met when I was in CT in 2020, Joreen. We have kept in touch and when I was there this time she drove me around on the weekends to show me new places I didn't get to see before and some restaurants we could try out together. She has been a great conversationalist also!! Thank you Joreen!
And as a tiny side note...when I was doing my laundry one day I met a lady and we started chatting and she gave me her number and said we could meet up and go out to eat to try some new places. She said, maybe I can help make your time in CT more enjoyable. I am telling you, some of the nicest people in the world live in CT, I am sure of it. We texted several times but were not able to meet up, but it was still a very kind gesture. Thank you Cheryl. (a different Cheryl!)
Now a few home favorites...
As you all have probably noticed, we got a crazy winter storm here over the weekend. If you don't know this then you either don't live here or you watch even less news than I do! Well, my hubby was down in Texas replacing my dad's hot water heater and then Snowmageddon hit. His flight got canceled, twice now. He still hasn't made it back! Today he is on a flight that will hopefully be a go.
Yesterday was a nightmare trying to get out of our driveway and out of my neighborhood. Chris had the truck at the airport so I had my baby car. Well, we got 35 inches at our house. So, there was no way my baby was making it through that. I spent two days shoveling trying to keep up which was probably a fruitless effort on my part. We have a long driveway so I could not possibly shovel all the way to the end but I did start trying so I could get out and see my patients.
Well, I thought I had it good enough, but as it turns out I didn't, and got my baby stuck with snow, that then just became ice stuck to my car about halfway down my driveway. I spent over an hour digging it out and breaking ice up from under the car so I could back it up to the spot I had shoveled all the way to pavement. I hate to think how ridiculous I looked doing this! Any of you who know my car know that I drive it in the snow all the time and it performs like a champ. It was just too high for it.
My neighbor, Joe, came over with his 4wheeler with a plow on it and started trying to help me clear a path on my driveway. The plow broke off and he had to go back home to get something to fix it with. I told him I was going to walk down to the fire station and see if I could find someone with a truck and a plow to run a strip from the frontage road to my house and into my driveway. I am the first house as you enter the neighborhood so it is not far.
Well, as it happens, I saw a man plowing the parking lot of the building across from the fire station so I asked him if he was a private plow and could I pay him to run a strip down the road to my house. He said he wasn't a private plow but he owned that building that is why he was there. I asked him if I could pay him. He said, "Get in." He introduced himself to me as Chad. Well, well, well, what a nice name! That is my brother's name, who of course, I love dearly!! I figured it was a good sign! He plowed a strip down the road and up my driveway for me and then went back to finish his parking lot!! Thank you Chad!!
So, I could now get my car to main roads but forget about getting down side streets in my car, it wasn't going to make it. I had Joe's number in case I got stuck, he told me to call him if I needed help! How nice!! I decided not to chance it so I parked as close as I could get on a main road where my car wouldn't accidentally get hit and walked to each patient's house yesterday. The longest walk was a little over a mile and it was windy and cold. My bag is not light either so that one wasn't that fun. I figured I could use the exercise and I need to lose a few lbs anyway. Luckily that patient's son had a truck and took me back to my car after we finished our session!! Thank you again for kindness!
I'm sure I am leaving some people out, but I believe you get the idea...there are a lot of nice people out there and certainly they are willing to help out a stranger. I think for the year we have had it is nice to hear about nice people!!
Before I go I will give a little shout out to my hubby Chris who is always willing to help others, and I am thankful he was able to go to Texas to help my dad. Thank you hubby!!
Ok, hopefully our roads and paths are cleared today so we can get out and enjoy a nice run on a cold but sunny day!!
Here are a few pics from my house:
Happy Tuesday!
Kristi