Third Time’s a Charm

Happy New Year!

I actually started writing this letter after the 2013 Boston marathon and left it to rest. After reading it again, I realize it was written from a place of anger and confusion. I decided not to use my original and begin again. New beginnings. Or maybe it’s old beginnings with a fresh prospective, either way here I am.

As the saying goes, “Third time’s a charm.” Well, I am hoping it will be.

I ran my first Boston marathon in April of 2012. We had such a fair weathered training season I had a feeling race day might not be in our favor. That feeling was correct, coming by the way of heat. A whopping 92 degrees worth of heat!! There were many emails from the Boston Athletic Association telling me speed kills, be sure to hydrate but don’t over hydrate and if I’ve never run a marathon before consider deferring. I ran. I finished. And immediately decided I wanted to run again for a “normal” experience. There was no way Mother Nature would throw another 90 plus degree day at us again.

I was correct. She gave us a beautiful day but two sad souls had something else in mind. They took it upon themselves to take the glory from thousands of runners and turn a day of triumph into a day of fear. They did just that. Once again, I knew I had to run again.

Which brings me to today. I am training for the 2014 Boston marathon. There are three reasons I am running. First, to show the sad souls that dedication, pride and love trump fear…always. Second, to support this city. I am Boston strong! Most importantly, and why I’ve always run, to raise awareness about stroke. Over the past three years I’ve run various races for Tedy’s Team and The American Heart Association. When I started running for Tedy’s Team stroke was the third leading cause of death in the United States it has since dropped to number four. That being said, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds which means there is still work to be done. Please learn the warning signs we never know when we will need them.
F.A.S.T
Face Drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven?
Arm Weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
Speech Difficulty – Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
Time to call 9-1-1 – If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get the person to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared.

I’m asking for your support through your good thoughts and a generous donation to the American Stroke Association. I am especially proud to run on behalf of those I know personally and the many I do not who have had a stroke and desperately need our help. I’ll do all the hard work and you can run with me in spirit.

Donations can be made by clicking this link:
http://tedysteam2014.kintera.org/kristi

Lots of love and thank you for your support,
Kristi

P.S. Your tax-deductible contribution, sent as soon as possible, is greatly appreciated! Every dollar makes a difference toward stroke research and education. If your company has a matching gift program, please send me the matching gift form along with your check – and potentially double your donation!

The Day After Christmas

‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through house…yeah that’s all I got. But it really is the day after Christmas and it was a wonderful day!! LAL had a day filled with, cars, princesses, books, puzzles and most importantly family. David’s sister, mom and step father came over to spend the day with us.

Now that Christmas is over its time to reflect. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a friend about the magic of Christmas. We were saying how, as adults, we get caught up in what did you get for whom, where we have to go, how are we going to afford everything we want to buy, are the kids going to be happy, etc… That’s not very magical. It’s so easy to get caught up in the what, rather than the who and why.

Last year I went crazy and bought LAL tons, too much to be completely honest. It was chaos here and talk about over stimulation. We made a decision at that point to keep Christmas simple going forward. My strategy this year was three gifts each plus stocking stuffers. Surprisingly, I actually kept to it!! I’m proud of myself. Christmas morning was much more manageable. They all loved their presents. Smiles all around.

Back to the magic. After that conversation, I figured maybe I should start making some magic and seeing the magic that is right under my nose. First, in an effort to teach LAL Christmas is not only about them, we took a charity ornament off the tree at the Y. We purchased a coat for a young boy. It’s definitely becoming more of a challenge telling three toddlers we’re not purchasing for them. But after some explaining they understood. We also made gifts for their grandparents along the lines of this from Pinterest. Sadly I think it only works with black permanent marker. We tried it with colored and it didn’t work out so well.

Something else that always warms my heart are Christmas lights. I personally don’t enjoy crazy over the top light displays. I’m more of a simple elegance type girl. This is how I decorated our house

I love seeing a lit up Christmas tree through people’s windows.

Every once in a while marketing teams hit the nail on the head with their holiday commercials. Here are my three favorites. Two of the three are from this. The coffee commercial is from a few years ago but never ceases to get me choked up.
Coffee

Air freshener

Computer

Though these commercials did not make me run out and purchase their merchandise, I do think they are very special.

And last but not least, Christmas PJs!!!!!! I don’t know why but for some reason I LOVE Christmas jammies. I’ve always done it for LAL but this year I stepped it up a notch and got them for David and I, too!!

I hope you found the magic in your own special way.