Friends: Old and New

This long, holiday weekend I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with some quality people. My hip has still been a problem and I have not run since before the aborted Bogg's race.

The mood in RBRland has been dour at best. This weekend I was able to see, once again, just how fucking lucky I am.

Thursday

I started the long weekend with one of my all time favorite humans, LA Run Buddy. We hung out and caught a movie since she was going to be gone all weekend visiting people in L.A. and spreading the news about her impending motherhood. (Yes, you all heard it way before the beautiful people of L.A. Ha!)


Friday

I was off on Friday for the Veteran's Day weekend. I called up a buddy of mine that recently had a stroke to see if I could come visit. (Ok, full disclosure, I went to visit him at the rehab center on Tuesday and he had been discharged that morning. Oops. Way to be on top of it, RBR)

He was trying his first foray at one handed, wheelchair baking. He was making cupcakes for his brother's birthday. I have 2 black thumbs when it comes to baking, but I have a black belt when comes to sampling baked goods, so I told him, "Hells yeah, I will come 'help'." I hung with him and his super cool family for a few hours before I had to take LA Run Buddy to the airport. His brother, sister-in-law, and their 3 children are taking care of him. Amazing people all of them.

We decided that pineapple upside down cupcakes baked by a stroke victim* have no calories, which is good for me since I ate 4.

I stole this picture from Google images, but this is exactly what they looked like. Delish.

*He actually calls himself a stroke volunteer. He smoked like a train, did not exercise, and despite being a diabetic for 14 years partook generously in the fruits of his own labor as a pastry chef. He is on the wagon now and has not smoked since the stroke 3 weeks ago. He is also the model physical therapy patient and he did not eat even one cupcake!

Saturday

Jo Lynn and I decided to go for a "walk" at Sunol Regional Wilderness Park. I put 'walk' in parenthesis because her last email to me in planning for this "walk" was "just bring 32-40 oz. of water and you should be fine."

That morning I was filling my Camelbak in preparation, and hubby says,

Hubby: I thought you were just getting coffee and going for a walk?

RBR: *sigh* Yeah, this is a Jo Lynn walk. I have to earn my freaking coffee.

When most women say they are going to get coffee and go for a walk, you imagine strolling along some pretty bike path sipping a latte. Not if you go with Jo Lynn. So filled the Camelbak.

Jo Lynn, most adorable trail dog ever, Boomer, and moi. (Pic stolen from Jo Lynn's blog.)

I had never been to Sunol and it was beautiful. There is a place they call little Yosemite because of the rock formations and there were gorgeous views of Mt. Diablo in the distance. Obviously, since it was gorgeous I took exactly zero pictures. Nice one, RBR. Documentation FAIL.

Another picture stolen from Jo Lynn

Jo Lynn is recovering from surgery and I am pretty sure she is not supposed to be dropping my ass on the hiking trails, but it was exactly what I needed to get back out there. I have been wallowing a bit because of my hip and sometimes I forget that what I really love about this sport. is going somewhere beautiful and spending time with people I like. It does not really matter how fast I am doing it.

Little Yosemite, Sunol Regional Wilderness Park (pic stolen from Google Images)

Fortunately for me, the surgery slowed Jo Lynn down. Since she hikes faster than I run, I would have had no chance of keeping up with her at her normal hiking pace. (Aren't I a peach? I am grateful the woman was slowed by painful bone surgery. Line to be RBR's friend forms here)

Sunday

Then a friend of mine from San Diego came up for the weekend to celebrate her grandmother's 98th birthday. I have not seen her in over a year. We have been friends for almost 20 years. She moved to San Diego, had children, and things just change, but this weekend it was nice to reconnect.

RBR and J at Grandma's 98th b-day. Damn, Grandma is not the only one getting older.

The take home message from this weekend for me is that, friendships take work to maintain and I have not been taking care of my friendships. I include my immediate family in this. Sometimes I forget that just because I am thinking about someone, or even talking about how much someone means to me that does not mean that they necessarily know that. I get so wrapped up in the day to day shit that I forget to take care of what really matters.

I am very lucky to have a lot of really incredible people in my life, both in my immediate world and farther away (and some that I barely know that have helped me more than they can imagine). I would not have made it through this year without their support. I want them to know how much they mean to me.

Yeah, yeah, I am in one of those moods, if you have not gotten one already, be expecting some sappy ass emails.