Holidays for single people CAN be slightly depressing…especially since most of them are about family. Now, Halloween is typically not a depressing holiday for singles. It’s usually the ONE holiday where singles go out in their skimpy costumes and find a friend for the night. HOWEVER, I am not of that school of thought…AND most of my friends are in the parenting stage, so the days of “going out” are long gone. Having said that, my friends are anything but unsocial.

On Sunday morning, I got a text from my oldest friend. She and her hubby decided to come down to my neck of the woods for a fun pumpkin patch experience and invited me to join in the fun/bring my camera and shoot their baby’s first Halloween pics. : ) I met them at the pumpkin patch, then spent a couple of hours hanging out over lunch and froyo. Their son is a dream child and was so mellow and angelic. It was wonderful to hang out with them for the afternoon. They live in LA, so I really appreciated having them in my hood!

How cute is this lil punkin? : )Since I’m always behind the camera, I have very few shots of myself. Today, I decided to change that up and handed my camera over! I’m celebrating a birthday later this week, which means that Lisa and I have known each other for almost 30 years. HOLY CRAP!

After hanging with them, I ran to the dry cleaner and spent a SPOOKY amount of money, then ran up to hang with some other dear friends. I am so thankful that my married friends ALWAYS include me in the fun. I never feel like a fifth wheel and I’m Auntie Awesome to their kids, too. And while I’m the friend with the camera, I’m never made to feel like that’s why I’m invited!

If you’ve got single friends, PLEASE don’t be afraid to include them in your family plans! It’s so fun to be a part of the memories…and it also helps to show us how to be inclusive when it’s our turn, too!

Here are Jenny Lee and I just before the trick or treating commenced. I showed up without a costume, so she forced me to wear the kitty ears! Since I’m partial to cats, I didn’t mind. : )Then the trick or treating fun began. This was the first year the kids really had any clue what was going on. They learned to say trick or treat and that it meant more goodies for them…but they couldn’t quite understand why they knocked on doors and then didn’t get to go in for a visit. : )

I hope you all had a fun evening and that you got more treats than tricks! I saw some great costumes, some scary and slutty moms (sorry, it’s true), and some tween boys who weren’t dressed up and were running around with pillow cases. But most of all, I saw families and friends having fun together…and though Halloween isn’t a true “holiday” it sure did feel like it!

“If you are uncertain about change,
think of the beauty of Autumn.”

On Sunday, I attended a women’s program that my dear friend Jenny Lee’s church put on. The quote above was passed out to all the attendees and it has stuck with me all week long.

I don’t know why, but I feel like change is coming in some way, shape, or form…and I don’t fear it at all. I just keep thinking of the colors that have changed outside my window, the way leaves are on the ground each morning in a sweeping design left by the wind, and the coolor evenings.

I hope you approach change in the same way, too, this season!

I’ve considered a sprint triathlon for years. I did some research, found the “easiest” for beginners, and then never did anything about them. I set a personal goal for myself and then ignored it for years.

Until this weekend.

A couple of months back, I learned that the city where I work would be holding their first annual triathlon. The course went straight through our property. It felt like my goal had been resurrected and was hunting me down. I finally felt like I couldn’t ignore the goal.

One of my best girlfriends is expecting her second baby and I knew her husband had wanted to start working out again, but had lost his training partner. I emailed Matt  one day on a whim and asked if he’d be willing to start jogging with me, but prefaced it by saying I probably wouldn’t be able to run more than five minutes at a time. I wouldn’t call myself an athlete and have NEVER been a runner…not even as a kid. I dance, I golf, I waterski and snowboard, but that’s about it. I can do all of those things for hours on end, but just can’t seem to get my runners groove.

So, Matt showed up at my house at 6:15am a few mornings a week with his stop watch and “trained me.” He’d tell me when to job and when to walk. We’d stretch and then he’d drive on home. It was motivating and more helpful than I can put into words. When he finally signed up for the race, I was excited, too. I knew that doing it with a friend would be much more fun than going alone.

On the morning of the race, I woke up to rain. This was not in the forecast…but in spite of my stress (and gurgly tummy from too much carbo loading), I actually had a degree of anticipation. There were 200 participants and the course was all laid out. I knew the path, was familiar with the terrain, and was as ready as I’d ever be. My goal was to finish under 2 hours, but really, I would have been happy to finish at all.

The racers were all called to the starting line. The mayor gave brief remarks. The air horn went off. The runners ahead set off. We were on our way.

I had butterflies in my chest and worried that I wouldn’t be able to catch my breath. I was afraid that I wouldn’t survive the first hill.

But I did…and I kept going. After about a mile and a half, my buddy Matt asked if he could pull ahead. I encouraged him to go, even though I was worried I’d lose my motivation for running, but I kept trucking along.

In spite of the rain, I began to get hot around mile 2. I decided to pull off my fleece and walk for a bit and gave myself a street light as a distance marker. Once I got there (only a minute later), I started the jog again and then kept going until the transition stage! I only walked ONE MINUTE! I was so proud of myself!!!

The bike ride was going to be my saving grace. Being a prolific spinner, I knew 12 miles would be my breather…and it was. In fact, I was able to catch up with Matt on the bike! It was a slow and WET 12 miles, but we got to the transition area together and then made our way to the pool.

Now, I’m a pretty strong swimmer, but when we got there, fatigue had set in AND it was a TOTAL cluster. I jumped in and immediately laughed. I truly thought I’d drown, but my buddy kept egging me along and encourage me to keep going, all while we were getting elbowed by our fellow competitors.

Finally, we finished and made our way to the finish line. Matt grabbed my hand and we ran through together with our hands in the air. It was a moment of victory.

No, I didn’t run a marathon, but this was a personal challenge and I’d completed it. It felt sweet…and TOTALLY exhausting…and I couldn’t have been happier!

Freaking out at the start…dark and rainy!

Incredibly joyful, and still wet, at the end!

Oh, and by the way, we had made a random goal of finishing under 2 hours and guess what?!?! We did it in an hour and fifty minutes. ROCK.STARS!