Sometimes I Write

We got up early after a bad night’s sleep with children not staying in their beds. We went to Dr. Zack’s for our weekly visit and then straight to the gym where the lady in the daycare smiled and said, “We haven’t seen you in a while…are you dropping off all three today?” Apparently when you drop off three kids it makes you a bit memorable to child care workers. I smiled and said, “yes, well you’ll be seeing a lot more of us from now on” as I silently promised that to be truth. As you walk out the door they cheerfully say, “Have a great workout!” and I wanted to say back, “You too!” (hehe) Afterall, THEY are now in charge of my three balls of energy! Benny and I did have a great workout…one that was long overdue. I cut about a minute and a half off my mile walking time. Yeah Niki! I can’t believe it’s been three months since I’ve been to the gym. Getting back on the treadmill isn’t hard at all…getting to the gym from my house is the challenge.

On the way into the gym we struck up a conversation with a 60 something year old woman. She was incredibly friendly and we joked about trudging back to the gym. She found me again right after I weighed in and said, “Don’t you just hate that part?” I replied, “Yes, but I want to track my progress so it’s a necessary evil”. She said she’d been working out for five weeks and hadn’t lost a single pound and neither had her daughter that was with her. I encouraged her not to give up and told her we both need to stick with it. She said “No matter what I do I’ll probably never look like her” indicating a slender and muscular woman on a machine close by. I said, “Well, I don’t think we’re necessarily supposed to look like her. God gave us all different body types and I just want to look like me – atleast the me I’m meant to look like”. She looked into my eyes and said, “You’re really a beautiful woman…good luck with your workout”. I had just been blessed by a stranger when I looked less than stellar – no makeup, my hair pulled up in a bun, baggy workout pants and plain old t-shirt. Did I bless her in return by encouraging her not to give up and reminding her we’re not all supposed to be slender, muscular gym bunnies? I hope so. I saw her beauty as well…she was kind to a stranger, she was there with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to be alone, and she was trying to better herself even though it was difficult. Beauty really is all around me.

The day got difficult when Benny and I made a decision that left our children in tears…we have to give Girly away. Yes, I know…I’m really sad about it too. Petey’s allergies have taken a drastic turn for the worse and we think Girly has something to do with that. She is the perfect dog and I am shocked at the depth of my emotion for an animal I’ve had less than a full month. She is amazing and I will be sad to see her go. Our friends that have three little girls are going to take her and see how the husband’s allergies do with her. They have been looking for a dog. If they decide not to keep her, giving her back to the neighbor is still an option. Max and Zoe cried hard for what seemed like 30 minutes. Girly ofcourse got right next to Zoe and kept licking her leg to make things better. It was an emotional decision, but since we want our child to be able to breath normally and not be scratching constantly, it was a no-brainer. As soon as Max calmed down he began his own Art therapy, drawing pictures of Girly and making a sign that said,”A dog I love…1 dog”. So sweet yet so sad. It really seemed to help. We’ll still have her for another week while our friends are out of town, then we’ll drop her off at their house. My kids will still see Girly when we swap babysitting with this family. I hope that’s a good thing.

God, I hope Pete outgrows this so we can get another dog someday. If that happens, please bless our family with another dog like Girly. sniff-sniff!

I’m off to worship team rehearsal. Blessings to you all!