This Time Next Year

Dana and I woke up way too early today for a holiday morning. 6:15 AM. Days ago we registered for the 8K Turkey Trot road race but it did not start until 9 AM so we definitely had at least another hour and a half to sleep. However, our house is filled right now with six dogs (only two are ours), five people (only two of us live here), one bunny rabbit (lives in the garage all the time), five fish (they live here too) and of course the thousand composting worms (all live in the garage with the Bun). That many beings in 1500 square feet of space equals too much chaos to sleep soundly. This was only compounded by the five snoring but beloved dogs who slept in our room with us.

As quietly as we could we dressed and slipped out of the house to make our way to the race start. Somewhere in between here and there I had my second or third breakdown since our guests arrived last night and I cannot speak for Dana but she might have had one also. After arriving at the race start and picking up the coveted long-sleeve race T-shirt, we decided we did not feel much like running so we got back in the car and headed to our favorite state park for a five mile hike instead.

I thrive in the woods and mountains - that is where my soul feels most alive. This hike was just what I needed and I cherish the couple of quiet hours Dana and I were able to spend together. We talked about everything and nothing. We talked about Sweepy-D. And then it occurred to me. This time next year we could have a newborn or the bebe could be making his or her entrance into this world shortly. Wow. I can't even think about Thanksgiving next year, where we should go, what we should do because everything will be dependent on where we are in this whole baby process. It will all be so wonderfully new and different....