The end of The Haiku Project - November 2016

Well, I went almost a full three months before I lost steam. It was fun while I could keep it up!

November 1

November baseball;
that's how I'll probably die
These boys are so good.

November 2

Game tied in the 8th
extra innings; FREE BASEBALL!
rain, then ... win it all.

November 3

I found a new trail
surrounded by red forest.
Peaceful autumn run.

November 4

Train is too crowded
everybody, please go home
Chicago? All blue.

November 5

Couch couch couch couch couch
Don't make me get off this couch
Couch couch couch sofa

November 6

I voted today
informed, exercised my rights.
Thank you, Suzy B.

November 7

So tired of Donald.
Please don't vote for that asshole.
What a total jerk.

November 8

As I go to bed,
I grieve for the USA.
You fell for a con.

November 9

Colonoscopy:
A one-day, six-pound weighloss.
Tomorrow, I gain.

November 10

No, dumb GOP
you don't understand what it's
like to feel afraid.

November 11

Surround yourself with
smart people and you'll never
lack for true knowledge

November 12

OH GOD IT'S SO COLD!
Scraped the windshield this morning.
Hi, autumn. You suck.

November 13

I ran a 10K.
I did not die, but only
because I'm stubborn

November 14

I'm wearing a dress
my sister ordered; medium.
clearly, it's mis-marked.

November 15
We will not sit down
This election is a joke
Poor, stupid voters

November 16
Just keep your head down
And wait for four years to pass
I miss smart people

November 17
Training runs can suck
Sometimes, it's hard to run long
But ya gotta go

November 18
I've missed the magic
Of Rowling's fictional world
Yay, Fantastic Beasts!

November 19
Planning vacations
Is at least as much great fun
As going on them

November 20
Sometimes I miss Mom
In those moments when I think
She'd be super proud

November 21
There is no such thing
As too much avocado
Please pass me the guac

November 22
There may never be
Any coffee I like more
Than my first red cup

November 23
It's Thanksgiving eve
Annual Eric dinner
I have such great friends

November 24
Love is like gravy
It makes everything better
Except maybe pie

November 25
Enchiladas Pie
Coffee Pizza Scalloped Corn
Turkey Turkey Burp

November 26
Fastest dialog
Have to pay close attention
I love Stars Hollow!

November 27
A good candle can
Make home smell so much better
Than bitter defeat

November 28
Today I wanted
To sleep until noon and then
Stay under blankets

November 29
I need new knitting
Needles; not really "need" but
Can I have some please?

November 30
My work is better
Than your work because we get
Beef tenderloin here

The Haiku Project - October 2016

October 1

10k in the rain
Stupid, stupid, stupid me
Trained for just a mile

October 2

Relaxing Sunday

Morning coffee and movies

All day on the couch

 

October 3

Waiting for Friday
Cubs play first post-season game
Go for 11

 

October 4 

Early morning run
Makes me feel strong all day long
Sorry 'bout the rhyme

 

October 5

Autumn sucks; shut up
you annoying, crunchy leaves-
precursors to cold

October 6

Sometimes work is hard;

It's almost always worth it.

Pride in job well done

October 7

Birthday tour goes on!

This time headed to Hudson

Biff! Amanda! Dogs!

October 8

Bourbon and baseball
a big TV and great friends
my life is perfect

October 9

Debates are better
with honeycrisp apple pie
and all the bourbon

October 10

Jake Arrieta
is my spirit animal
Pilates? Yes, please.

October 11

Today we honor
National Coming Out Day
Stand firmly in love

October 12

I don't want to hear
of third-party candidates
Save it for next year

October 13

My garden is gone
I will miss my outdoor space
Fall can kiss my ass

October 14

Compassion is the
most under-used resource in
America now

October 15

Tomorrow, I fly
Memphis is waiting for me
It's still summer there!

October 16

Walking in Memphis
the city captures you fast
with music and love

October 17

Dinner with Amy!
So grateful for my sweet friend
Thank you, laundry room

October 18

There's nothing like fun
at the old ballpark, even
if it's not your own

October 19

"You are my people,"
LeVar Burton told the crowd.
That guy is awesome.

October 20

I always miss Mom
When I'm watching a ball game
She would love this year

October 21

Beauty lies hidden
in a most unlikely place.
The smart ones seek it.

October 22

I don't know 'bout you,
but tonight's ballgame makes me
believe in heaven.

October 23

Leaves crunch underfoot
the chilly air fills my lungs.
Fall running is good!

October 24

Science is awesome,
but it's scary trying to find
something in my brain

October 25

Two months 'til Christmas!
If it has to be so cold,
look forward to that.

October 26

Around the table,
old friends trade stories and food;
laughter never dies

October 27

Faced with decisions
that challenge my thought process
I can't sleep at night

October 28

i carry your heart,
cummings wrote so long ago.
Tomorrow, I read.

October 29

"Take me or leave me"
we sang all those years ago.
I sure miss my friend.

October 30

Sometimes, you have to
get over yourself to be
the best kind of friend.

October 31

Don't be such a jerk
that you can't realize just
how good you have it

The Haiku Project – September 2016

Day 1  - September 5

I have decided
to write a haiku each day

my fiftieth year
(With apologies to my friend Janie, who reminds me that this is actually my 51st year. Whatever. I screwed up the new millennium, too.)

Day 2 - September 6

Weekend memories
Fill my soul with such delight

Never felt so loved 

Day 3 - September 7

Stop making mistakes
I made before you were born
Learn, and make new ones

Day 4 -September 8

people walking through
the airport seem not to know
they are not alone

Day 5 - September 9

Dole whip with rum's good
Champagne with Chambord is, too
Let's toast to 50

Day 6 - September 10

My feet are so tired
Worth it because of my new
Fairy godmother

Day 7 - September 11

I'm home once again
Familiar smells, sights and sounds
But I miss palm trees

Day 8 - September 12

Mementos from trips
Provide a sweet reminder
Of yesterday's fun

Day 9 - September 13

You will not find a
Liver in a cooler here
Writers don't save lives

Day 10 - September 14

I don't like watching
Regretful downward spirals
So ... good luck with that

Day 11 - September 15

Alanis and I
Do not agree about what
Isn't ironic

Day 12 - September 16

just hand me coffee
and as Bob is my witness
no one will be harmed

Day 13 - September 17

last night we found it
the speck of dust onto which
we'll scribble stories

Day 14 - September 18

It takes just a few
Days to get used to sharing
Unlimited hugs

Day 15 - September 19

Thirteen-point-one miles
Will not run themselves, and so
It's back to training

Day 16 - September 20

Mammogram today
And a Pap smear, too - because
I really love life

Day 17- September 21

a day set aside
for international peace
it starts inside us

Day 18 - September 22

18 years ago
my favorite show premiered
many thanks, Sports Night

Day 19 - September 23

We all have bias
but if we try to see beyond
it can get better

Day 20 - September 24

Celebrating love
with extraordinary friends;
joy shared is more joy

Day 21 - September 25

sometimes even I
am a fool when it comes to
understanding you

Day 22 - September 26

the truth is, she goes
all the way to eleven
right across the board

Day 23 - September 27

What someone else thinks
pales in comparison to
the actual truth

Day 24 - September 28

Sometimes you have to
go crashing into the ground
before you can bounce

Day 25 - September 29

5:30 a.m.

spin class makes me want to die

did it anyway

Day 26 - September 30

Gray, rainy Friday

windows open, I smell fall

really not ready

Staring down the barrel of 50

Oh, you guys. YOU GUYS. This is not as easy as I am making it look.

Actually, that's not true. Turning 50 is easy. Handling the emotions that come along with it? That's another thing entirely.

I'm going through all the stages of grief - denial, annoyance, pizza, claustrophobia, anger at Trump supporters, tequila and baking - at the same time. This is bullshit, you guys.

I'm grateful to friends who have let me cry/weep/have a level four nervous breakdown with them over the past week or so. The tears are right near the surface these days, and I am powerless to hold them back. I've stopped trying.

Not panicking. It's out there. It's gonna happen whether I want it to or not (Lord willing.) I am not going quietly into that AARP-festooned hootenanny of middle age, but as God is my witness, if one more person tells me that age is a number, I will not be held responsible for my actions. I. Will. Cut. You.

See, over the past few years, I've seen myself change, and not for the better. I have never felt pretty. Ever. Except for about two days back when I was about 19, I have not felt like I had my looks going for me. It's not easy to be a girl and not be happy with the person looking back in the mirror. I joke that my awkward stage lasted until last week, but really ... I'm not joking. (Although that is entirely why I developed a sense of humor.)

Anyhoo, over the past year or so, I've seen myself becoming less pretty, and when you start out not very pretty to begin with, it feels like a tragedy. If the mirror tells the truth, I will never be as pretty as I was yesterday.

It's downhill from here, and it's breaking my own heart.

Yes, there are lots of things I can do now that I didn't do 10 years ago. I like myself - the whole of me - more than I ever have. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'd like to have the self-love I have now, and the body and face I had 20 years ago.

That's not how it works.

And no matter how many times I remind myself of amazingly beautiful women who are my age or older, the truth is I am not Helen Mirren. I'm not Diane Lane. I'm sure as hell not Angela Bassett (who has obviously made a deal with the devil himself.) So I'm just doing what I do, and moisturizing regularly, and hoping maybe nobody notices that I've hit this milestone.

So I'm trying to look at it like that picture - clearly, rockin' it into a new decade.

It helps that I have amazing examples of women who got there before me. My strong sister Jenn, who leaped (probably literally) into her 50s when chemo was an all-too-close memory, and two other sisters who paved the way (and proved that wrinkles are not, in fact, a foregone conclusion.) And my besties from Lifetime who have welcomed me to this exclusive tribe with open arms. As Donna said last night while I was trying desperately not to collapse into a pile of self-pity in yoga class, "Welcome to the club. We've been waiting for you." And I'll be damned if she doesn't make it look so beautiful and graceful, it seems like a place I might want to be.

Guys, this isn't an easy one for me. I'm probably not done crying, and I don't know what it's gonna look like as I move through it. Bear with me. (Do not bare with me, however. Gravity has arrived, my friends, and it is an unforgiving whore.) I have a lot of good stuff coming up during the coming year, and my 50th Anniversary Tour is going to be epic.

Even if I'm wrinkly. Even if I'm not as pretty as I dreamed I'd be. Even if I never run a 10-minute mile, finish a tri in less than two hours, fit into my skinny jeans, have a thick head of hair or leave the house without under-eye concealer. Because here's the thing:

I am still here. I am still dancing, and laughing, and cooking amazing food (you should see the pasta salad I just made!) and still being a damn good friend to those I love. I'm still here, guys. And my face may have aged, but I have not yet grown up.

Second star on the right, my friends. And straight on 'til morning.

Cold day in July (or, the beginning of the fairy tale)

It was 10 years ago this month that my ex moved out.

If I'm honest, I'm still pretty angry sometimes. Angry, because that bastard stole eight years of my life. In those eight years, I could have been out finding the person I'd spend the rest of my life with. Instead, he stuck with me until someone else came along.

(Note that I didn't say "someone better." In every way, the man downgraded. Idiot.)

There's this song that the Dixie Chicks covered, called "Cold Day in July," and it goes something like this:

The moon is full, my heart is empty
all night long, how I pleaded and cried
You always said the day that you would leave me
would be a cold day in July

Well, it wasn't a cold day. It was a blistering July day in Chicagoland, and one of my best friends came over to rescue me from the torture of watching the leaving. Brian dropped the top on the Jeep, and the two of us spent the entire day driving all over hell's half acre. Music blaring, hair flying, we drove.

And when we arrived back at my place, I was well and truly alone. For the first time in my adult life, really, I was single. Didn't wanna be, but like Mick says - you can't always get what you want.

It took a long time and tears before I even decided I would move on. But once I did ... there was no looking back. The person I am becoming barely recognizes the girl I left a decade ago. And sometimes it scares me to death, because I do not know how this story ends.

Sometimes people ask me if I'm afraid of dying alone. If I'm honest, I do have moments when I'm afraid it'll take awhile for people to find the body, especially if I kick it in winter. But the truth is, I won't die alone unless I turn into an asshole. (Spoiler alert: I don't intend to do that.) I'm not alone now. But damn, was I ever alone during the eight years I was with my husband. I was an island. I thought I was on that island with him, but in truth, we had our separate islands.

And so, here I am. Ten years later, still figuring it out. But all that really means is that I'm still growing. Still becoming. It's a good life. It's not as full of romance as I'd planned. There is no white picket fence.

What there is, instead, is a girl who knows herself. Who isn't afraid to be authentic. She understands boundaries, and she understands her worth. She invests in people. She loves thoroughly and well. She cries a lot, but she laughs more. On a scale from one to 10, she feels at an 11. She's barefoot and tan, she hasn't combed her hair in a couple of days, and she had coffee for breakfast.

She's living happily ever after.

a decade

He used to say we didn't need Valentine's Day. That our love was so special, it could be celebrated in any day that ended in "y." That flowers, chocolates, shoes ... such gifts shouldn't be relegated to one day a year, but rather showered upon the object of one's affection on a random Tuesday, because 365 was just about the right number of days per year to celebrate how special we were.

But then one day, I realized random Tuesdays never happened.

It will be exactly 10 years tomorrow that I finally relinquished my grip on marriage. Things started falling apart in December. In January, it became clear that there was someone else. February rolled around and I was done trying to compete.

In a moment, I made the decision to do something good for me instead of beating my heart against a brick wall. And 10 years later, I'm the same girl while simultaneously so completely different.

That night, I chose to surround myself with music and love. My life became a quest for more, an opportunity to find my edges. See, once you fail at something you thought you could not fail at - like marriage - failure becomes so much less scary. I started doing things. I started trusting myself and those around me.

I started living.

I took huge bites out of life - sometimes more than I could chew at a time! But in 10 years, I've propelled myself forward in my career. I've discovered things I truly love to do. I've learned so much. And yes, I've become an athlete.

I have actually improved the health of my heart. What was once broken can, indeed be filled.

The years have not passed in a vacuum. Truth be told, I don't think I would have survived without you, dear friend. Whether you've been the one who answered the phone in the middle of the night, or you proofread my resume when I was trying to figure out how to afford important things like a roof over my head, or you've bought me dinner, or played me a song, or just listened to me ramble, man do I owe yo all the gratitude. Your willingness to love me through it has allowed me to become something more than I was a decade ago.

Human beings have relentless capacity to become something they currently are not. We're more than resilient; when untethered, we are unstoppable. And as I stare down the barrel of 50, I'm grateful to have discovered all this about myself ... and I'm oh, so ready to see who I become in the next 10.

Happy Independence Day to you.