On running, umbrellas, and bongo drums

So I went running last night, inspired by my friend Lauren and all her talk about endorphins. And I inadvertantly ran for a full 30 minutes. Yeah, that was NOT on purpose. I wanted to do about 20 minutes, but once you get that far from home, you, uh, have to get back home. So I ran. And this being the first time I have run in...a while...I thought I was going to die. Those last 6 blocks were KILLER.

And then I got home (without dying, but thanks for your concern) and decided to walk for a few minutes to cool down. And that's when I saw him. This guy was running along the street that intersects my street, and he paused in his run to hold onto the fence and...retch. And then he ran a few more steps and retched some more. And then he continued his run and I continued my cool down walk and a minute later I saw him stop further down the street and lean over, put his hands on his knees, and retch again.

Poor guy! I hoped, for his sake, that he was training for a marathon and this was the 17th mile of his 18-mile run for that day. That's pretty tough of him. What a guy.

BUT! The point is - I was NOT that guy! I ran, and I felt awful while running, and I didn't yack. Celebrating the small victories here, people.

And another small victory / blessing in disguise - Since I didn't leave my house today until after the torrential rain started, I did the whole umbrella thing successfully. And by "the whole umbrella thing," I mean that I used it to avoid getting wet. Go me!

And in related news, last night Matt and Josh came over to practice their musical extravaganza for my birthday party on Friday night, and Matt brought the bongo drums that they want me to play in accompaniment to their guitars. And, uh, I'll need to work on that. But you should know:

For a good time - recite silly poems, like this one by Judith Viorst, with bongo accompaniment.

I wanted small pierced earrings, gold.
You gave me slippers, grey.
My mother said that she would scold unless I wrote to say how much I like them.

Not much.

Just TRY to imagine how A-M-A-Z-I-N-G that was with bongos in the background.

Blog out.

P.S. I killed it. Last night. In my roommate's bedroom. With the toilet plunger.