Hmmm, haven't written anything in a while. I always think of all these great things to write but then just don't get around to writing about them. I think I have too many things to write about so I get overwhelmed and don't write anything. I have to remind myself why I started this blog in the first place. This is a place for me write about whatever I want, whenever I want and however I want. I did not start this out to entertain people - although I am quite pleased when I find out that I have loyal followers. It actually surprises me sometimes to find out who is actually reading these posts. I get regular comments from people who I know read every single post (Hi, Dee!) and I appreciate the support quite a bit. But every now and then I will get an email or comment from someone random who I had NO idea was reading the blog and it always amazes me.
Anyhow - I am thinking about chocolate tonight since tomorrow morning I am getting up bright and early (and I mean EARLY) to run in the Hot Chocolate 5K at National Harbor. I'm excited about it for many reasons, not just the chocolate, although that is a very nice carrot dangling at the end of the stick. My sister is running with me - her first 5K ever. I'm so proud of her!! At this moment she is driving down from Philadelphia with her cute little baby Lev and her big crazy dog Stanley. Many obstacles have been thrown in her path: a lingering chest cold that doesn't seem to want to quit, difficulty fitting runs into her busy life of working mother of two children under 3, etc., etc. But she is determined and so we will run together for chocolate tomorrow. I can't wait.
This race comes at an opportune time. We just made it through our first Thanksgiving without our Tato. It was hard, but I almost feel like some sort of numbness has set in because we got through it with minimal emotional breakdowns. There was definitely a palpable tension throughout the week but maybe that's just part of this whole grieving process. Grief is a weird thing. Having never experienced it before I wasn't sure what to expect. I still don't know what to expect but we are forging ahead and taking one day at a time. Having this race right in between the two major holidays is really a blessing in disguise. At first I thought - oh, what bad timing. Right in the middle of the holiday season - who in their right mind plans to do something like this at this crazy time of year? But because it's something we've never done before it almost feels right, like we're creating new traditions for the rest of our lives that still lie ahead of us. Quite often it feels almost wrong that life is marching forward and that our Tato is no longer marching along with it. Doing something new and different helps to dull that feeling in some way.
Christmas lies ahead of us and we are looking forward to it instead of dreading it. We will all be together in the house where we always had our Christmases before - my parents' house. People have asked us if we are going to go somewhere else for Christmas this year - they've suggested that it might be too hard to have Christmas at the house this year. Not so. Having Christmas somewhere else would be a terrible idea! It wouldn't feel right. Even though doing the Hot Chocolate race is providing something new and different, the actual Christmas holiday itself must stay the same because that is our family tradition.
So I will run across that finish line tomorrow and I will raise my cup of hot choclate to the sky and shout "God is great, beer is good and people are crazy!" Hahahaha - no, I probably won't do that, but I had to throw that in there because that is something that my Tato would do. I will definitely be thinking about him tomorrow as I run alongside my little sister, creating a new tradition in our very traditional family.
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