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An Ode to Running (my tribute to the people affected by the Boston Marathon bombing…)

A Georgia Peach (by way of Jamaica) eating a Georgia Peach!

Me at the end of last year’s Peachtree Road Race…

Since the Boston Marathon bombing occurred on Monday, I’ve been trying to describe just what I feel…Obviously, the person or people who created these deadly bombs are more sinister than ordinary murderers. Not only did the perpetrators of this heinous crime want to kill people, these perpetrators wanted to instill lifelong fear which can be just as grievous as an instant murder…Even for those runners who did not lose their lives or family and friends or limbs in the bombing, they may be forced to grapple with fear for the rest of their lives…I hope that is not the case…

I came to love running as an adult which is absolutely hilarious considering my childhood. If there would have been middle school superlatives like there are in high school, I would have probably been voted “Most Likely to Be Watching ‘The Brady Bunch’ With a Bag of Chips Instead of Running.” I came in just about last in all of my physical fitness tests as a child. (Do they still have these tests?) And at Sandy Springs Middle School, not only did you have to participate in physical fitness tests, you had to run laps every spring as a part of the school’s running program. I.HATED.IT. Not only was I a little chubby, I was just about the slowest person in my P.E. class. It was so demoralizing to huff and puff as I made my way around that dusty field behind the school as I watched my friends nearly glide by.

In college, I was told that I would have to take one P.E. class in order to graduate. I was elated that I could enroll in the walking class. I was mortified when I discovered all of the walking classes were full, and I had to enroll in a running class. But looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. The class was entitled “Fitness For Life,” and it was taught by this older white gentleman who was in great shape. I was so intimidated and for good reason. I was the slowest person in the class and since we had to run around the University of Georgia’s colossal campus, I sometimes got lost…In fact, sometimes my teacher had to run with me so I wouldn’t be completely alone so far in the back of the class. But by the end of the class, I could run at least four miles without stopping, and I lost 20 pounds! The teacher told us he wanted to inspire us to be fit for life. I don’t remember his name, and I’m not sure that I would recognize him if I saw him, but I if did see him, I would tell him I that I’m STILL running, I never regained those 20 pounds, and I’m committed to being fit for life.

Since I took that class, running has become one of the loves of my life. When I run, I feel free yet connected to all that God made around me. It’s like a miracle happens every time my legs carry me mile after mile. To celebrate 10 years of running, in 2004, I began training for a marathon. When I started training with a group, my longest distance was 6.2 miles as I started running the Peachtree Road Race in my ’20s. I wasn’t sure if I could do it…after all, I am still that chubby girl who prefers chips and television over physical exercise in my mind. But Saturday after Saturday, I met my training group, and we ran all over Atlanta through upscale neighborhoods in Dunwoody, around Stone Mountain to the hood in downtown. We started off running short distances and added mileage as we could. After a while, running 10 miles was a short distance! I’m still impressed! And as we added mileage, we would start earlier and earlier in the morning, sometimes running at 5 a.m. It was amazing to be running while it was still dark and to still be running by noon! I couldn’t believe that God allowed me to achieve this…What a gift!

In November 2004, I ran the Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. It was the hardest physical thing I’ve ever done…And to be completely honest, I was one of the slowest marathoners out there. In fact, by the time I finished, the finish line was packed up…But I don’t care. I DID IT! Even the homeless men on the street cheered me on as I made my way from Turner Stadium, past Piedmont Park, up to Lenox Mall, past Brookhaven and back….I have no desire to complete a marathon again. All of the training outside of the actual marathon takes more time than I have right now, but I still train with a running group every spring to prepare for the Peachtree Road Race…

As I reflect on the runners that were affected by the Boston Marathon, I just hope that they will continue to run in spite of whatever fear they may feel…I pray for the families who lost a loved one on Monday and for those who lost limbs…

Any thoughts?

 

 

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The Wedding Industry Heist aka maybe I should go in the wedding planning business

Hello World,

As you know (if you’ve been reading this blog), I got engaged on Christmas Eve 2012! For roughly two months after R.’s proposal, I was in a state of joy and almost disbelief. While our relationship seemed to be heading in that direction almost from the very start, I still found it hard to believe that after all of the time (years) I prayed for God to send the right man to me, he had arrived finally and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me…

Once I announced our engagement to friends, family, etc., everyone kept asking me whenis the date of our wedding. I had no answer for them. I was still trying to mentally adjust to being engaged let alone set the actual wedding date. This went on for January and February, and then all of a sudden, it occurred to me. If I truly did want to get married, I better start thinking of a planning a wedding. After consulting with R., we decided that a summer wedding would be nice. So I got to planning…

My Mom and Dad on their wedding day...

My Mom and Dad on their wedding day…

A few years ago with the help of a financial counselor, I revolutionized my finances and began aggressively budgeting and saving. Since then, I have become a certified cheapskate and proud of it. One of my favorite mottoes is “It it’s free, it’s for me.” So imagine my shock when I discovered the average wedding costs $25,656, according to theweddingreport.com!!! I mean according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the yearly median family household income is $62,273. So a wedding for many Americans costs almost half of their yearly salary! Am I the only one that thinks this is crazy at best and downright irresponsible at worst?! And then when you factor in that the divorce rate is between 40 and 50 percent, many couples are just wasting money…In fact, I’ve heard that some couples are getting divorced so quickly that they are still paying off wedding expenses when they get divorced! How crazy is that? I’m not getting married to get divorced, but trust and believe that I’m planning a bargain basement wedding! Mama didn’t raise no fool! (Sidebar: Do you know the average cost of a wedding in 1945 was about $2,000? That’s what I’m talking about!)

So if you are thinking of getting married and having a decent wedding, let me just give you a few of the stats so that you can plan accordingly…These figures are based on a wedding of about 136 guests, which is the average amount of people that are invited to a wedding…

I have found that the greatest wedding expense is the cost of the reception…

The reception location costs $3,226, and the average cost for reception food is $4,757. If you want to serve liquor which you very well may need after adding up the costs, you will need to fork over $2,456 for reception bar service…

And if you want to read to see the rest of the numbers, please go to theweddingreport.com.

Since I am a certified cheapskate, I have become obsessed with cutting down the costs of planning a wedding. My goal is to have a tasteful wedding without going into a debt and allocating the majority of our wedding/marriage money for an off-the-chain honeymoon…

So I have a couple of questions for you today…

How much do you spend on your wedding/honeymoon?

Was it worth the costs?

And if you are a certified cheapskate like me, please share your tips on how to trim wedding costs short of getting married at the courthouse!

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Presents An Anthology of Sisterhood THIS SUNDAY!

Hello World,

As you can see just from the home page of my blog, I love my DST! Being a part of  Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated has enriched my life more than I anticipated when I became a giddy member of DST in Spring 1995! And that is hard to imagine! The day after we were presented to the University of Georgia campus, I proudly wore a Delta baseball cap, a t-shirt with two hands formed in a huge pyramid, dangling golden elephant earrings and the matching necklace and Delta socks (if I am remembering correctly). Although my line name is “Comet,” I was nicknamed “Triple Nalia” by line sisters because of all the Delta paraphernalia I wore that day and the days afterward. It was a fun time…Since then, however, my understand of sisterhood has grown much deeper beyond all of the hype that comes with being a Delta!

Soror Ruby Dee

And this year, the year of Delta’s centennial, I am especially proud to be a member of a sorority that is just as committed to sisterhood, scholarship and service as it was when it was founded in 1913 by 22 women at Howard University! And to commemorate our centennial, some of my sorority sisters joined together to create An Anthology of Sisterhood: A Compilation of 22 Shades of Red. The anthology is the brainchild of my Zeta Psi Chapter Soror Dr. Francene Breakfield. The book sprang forth from her dissertation in which she conveyed the meaning and importance of Delta sisterhood in her life from the “big sister” that mentored her as a high school student to a high school student that eventually became a “little sister” because of her influence. In fact, sisterhood has so inspired Breakfield that she formed a “support group of dissertation-challenged Deltas called ‘Doctoratebound.'” In the anthology, Breakfield, along with her co-editor L.D. Wells, coalesced 22 Deltas from 10 states who contributed more than 100 original poems, essays, short stories and lyrics. And Soror Ruby Dee, the world renowned actress, wrote the foreword and contributed a poem of her own!

“Each chapter of the book highlights a different author and allows her to share her voice and unique experience of sisterhood. Topics include positive relationships among women, spirituality, friendship, sorority life, sibling rivalry, and gender equity,” says Breakfield.

From left to right, Sorors Francene Breakfield, Neicy Wells and Katreisula Bryant Graham, contributors, along with Soror Taria Ellis Brittian, center

One of my favorite stories is about the “Sistagurl” that all women have on the inside…This is the woman that warns us when we are dealing with no good or trifling man but we continue to entertain his foolishness anyway, hoping that somehow he will change or we will change him…In this story, the author recounts morphing into a CIA agent to spy on her man to make sure he was not seeing another woman. “I would get out of my car and lay on the pavement to look under the small crack at the bottom of his garage door to see if I could see another set of wheels next to his truck. I jumped his fence to see if I saw shadows in his bedroom window.” I’m not proud to say I have been an CIA agent a time or two in my dating career…LOL…

If you would like to buy your own copy of An Anthology of Sisterhood: A Compilation of 22 Shades of Red, join contributors at Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Southwest Branch, 3665 Cascade Road, Atlanta 30331, this Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m.  for their book launch! Books are $22. If you cannot make the book launch, you can also buy the book at sisterhood.biz, barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.

Any thoughts?