Oh! The Humanities! The ramblings of a misplaced animal scientist

Meet Sam: our elf. When I was a kid at Christmas, there was just Santa. And Jesus. But I didn't grow up in an incredibly religious household....at least not until I was in middle school. Mom would take us to church on Easter and Christmas. We were those people. That's not the subject of this rambling, though. I'm just saying there was not an Elf on the Shelf. I was a little later having kids than others my age. I watched others on social media with their elves and the antics of said elves. "Oh I am for sure not doing that!" And I didn't. But when Joseph was 3, he started preschool where he first learned that some houses have elves, and he asked why we did not. I told him that a request had to be put in with Santa to get an elf assigned to your house. He begged for me to ask Santa for one. I "did." However, our elf, Sam, was incredibly shy. He brought little gifts and left notes and stuff, but he didn't come out. And he absolutely did not cause mi...

Sometimes I think I must be solar powered. The SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is real with me. I always knew that SAD was a thing....I knew that it was called SAD, but it wasn't until I sat down to write this post that I realized that SAD didn't stand for Seasonal Anxiety and Depression. That made more sense to me. And, yes, I'm self-diagnosed so don't come at me. I do feel SAD this time of year. Usually, I can make it through the holidays before it really sets in, but this year, I'm feeling it earlier than usual. Possibly this is because I'm working full time now. I've been incredibly lucky to be able to not have a "job" (I know that being a stay-at-home mom is a job, but it doesn't pay well, so again, don't come at me), and then to work part time with incredibly flexible hours for nearly 2 years before money in and money out became a bit too unbalanced. I'm thankful for my job. I love it MOST of the time. I'm happy that I have ...

My first half marathon September 2013. I cried at mile 10 because I hated it so much. Afterward, I couldn't wait to do another. I miss running. I am trying to get back to it, but it's frustrating that I have to start back as a walker after knowing what I used to be able to do. I was never fast. Most true runners would probably have scoffed at my pace. I overheard one of the guys from the Frankfort (KY) running group say that if someone's pace is 12 min/mi, they shouldn't even bother. I was standing behind the group at the starting line of the Midsummer Night's Run in downtown Lexington, KY in 2013. That has always stuck with me. I'm happiest when I'm running in the 12s. Honestly. But back to my point: I loved running. I loved the half marathon distance. I loved competing against myself. From 2006 to 2016, running was a major part of my life (with the exceptions of my 2 pregnancies...I had trouble running while pregnant). I really should sit down and try to m...