Darais Days

Ammon and I read the Bible in 10 days! Well, it was the children’s version. It was the Read, Wonder, Listen Bible, and oh my goodness, it is the best Bible I have ever read. It was so moving, so beautifully done. I corresponded with the author a couple of times in the last week because I want to buy this Bible, but it is out of print. She said she would keep an eye out for me. What a beautiful thing to have created and put into the world. I am grateful to her!

It was a Wednesday, so lots and lots of driving. Today had math, swim, dance and Young Women’s in addition to all of school drop offs and pick ups. I finished by taking Mary to Young Women’s at the Wiglama’s house, where I just parked outside and studied maps of the ancient world for an hour. It is very helpful to actually know what you are supposed to be teaching, and right now Ammon and I are going deep on the ancient world. So it is helpful to study the map. My back has a pinched feeling from driving so much, so part of me was wishing I had worn walking shoes and spent the time walking. Next time I have to be someplace an hour, I will make a note to self and do that.

Mary had a great time at Young Women’s. She made s’mores, woof’ems, and talked a lot with her friend. She was very happy, and I was happy to see how many friends and friendly spaces she has here in North Carolina.

On Monday morning I met with Pastor John for an hour and a half. I cried a lot. It is the first time I have cried since the week my mom died. He said a lot of very helpful things. I really loved how he reminded me that in John 19 Jesus tells the thief that this day the thief would be with him in paradise. He also said that back in those days crucifixion was effortful, and you didn’t just get crucified for nothing. So the thief had clearly done some bad things. But in spite of that, he was going to join Jesus in Paradise that very day. That brought me so much comfort.

I made pot roast again today and prepped the chicken enchiladas for the next day.

Lydia was very sick and overwhelmed from all of her work, so she skipped harp. I did a shortened run on the treadmill, worked a lot with Ammon, and did my hours and hours of driving in the afternoon and evening (pick up Mary, take Ammon to math, pick up Clarissa, take Clarissa to Math, take Ammon to dance, take Clarissa and Marina to swim and then to Michael’s, and Abe saved the day and picked up Ammon from dance–and also attended the last parent observation class of the day at 6. Thank you, Abe!).

Well it’s Saturday, so the day’s not over. I am back blogging at the Lucky Tree Cafe while Mary has her art lesson. She is currently in the acrylics class and in about half an hour Aparna and Aarna will join us for the watercolor session.

This morning Ammon absolutely crushed it to win our family 5k. Abe ran with him, and as they neared the final stretch he kept getting faster and faster until he was running a 7:30 mile. His average pace was 10:05! I ran behind Mary and Marina, and I kept urging them to stop walking and run. That shows how slow I run! I was running behind two girls who were walking, and most of the time I couldn’t even keep up. I finally did pass them at the end and caught up to Clarissa, who only took two brief walks and ran steadily the rest of the time. We ran the final leg together and as we approached the final final stretch, she said, “Mom, I am going to conserve my energy and at that corner I am going to sprint!” to which I replied, “I am sure you will beat me but I am going to keep running and go ahead.” Sure enough, even though I was running as hard as I could, I heard the patter of determined little feet, and as we neared the end she flew past me! I was also proud of myself. I woke up at 5am scared of the 5k, but I didn’t stop to walk once and I got a sub 12 min mile, which is HUGE for me! It is also the most I have possibly ever run because the 5k’s on my treadmill are actually 2.9 miles, probably because I run them too slow and don’t cover the mileage in time. Hopefully that will change soon.

Right now Mary just finished a beautiful acrylic and is now onto watercolor. I have to pop over to Highland to practice for tomorrow later this afternoon, and Clarissa has Lola’s birthday from 4-7, which means we have to go get a present at some point. Abe and I were going to possibly go on a long walk and garden, but I have a rash on my inner thighs from running and walking is hard. My thighs rub together even with my thigh protector on, and I am embarrassing myself reaching up my dress to adjust it because it hurts so much to have that skin on skin rubbing!