TOAD

Some place to swim....check.  A bike.....check.  Running shoes.....no...ick...owie...um....YUCK.  Hey!  I don't often admit it but I'm related to some people who absolutely love to run.  They love running so much they have a running shoe, running clothes, running gadgets kind of store!  Every family has a freak and Toad is ours.  Feeling sick?  Run   Need to think?  Run   Fresh air?  Run   Wanna relax?  Run   One of my favorite childhood memories is of Toad.  He used to, and still does, run track.  We lived in Pocahontas, Iowa.  I would race across the track after each event that he ran and take him his huge jug of orange juice.   There was one race that sticks in my mind.  It was a relay, Tom was running his leg...as they began the hand off Tom ended up on the ground covered in red cinders, in slow motion, I swear!, Tom handed the baton to Toad.  Even as a kid I was broken hearted, then Toad took off as if he was running from Mom after she caught him trying to light the ditches on fire.  In my mind, he won the race, I'm old...let me have my memories the way I want them :).  That race was an excellent example of the Keleher spirit.  Take what you want and run like hell...no no no.  Life is going to throw you on the ground, you gotta roll life over, pick up your spirit and come from behind to kick every one's ass.   Share life lesson for the day....check. 

So I pack up the littles and head to Burlingame to the finest running store EVER....A Runner's Mind, 1199 Howard Avenue, Burlingame, CA.    Monte, had me stand, walk, walk some more outside and found the perfect pair of shoes....well....accept they're running shoes.  OOOO they are comfy and they look cute with my jeans.  Seriously, I hate running but these shoes are so sweet I might actually be kind of excited about taking them home and setting them by my "running" stuff.  HAHAHAH I'll have to post a picture of my "running stuff".  One of these days I'm going to make another trip to Burlingame and get one of those so stinking cute running skirts.  Give me a few months so my jigglie parts aren't quite so jigglie.   So now it's time to pay up on the bribe to the kids.  We head to the candy shop which is right across the street from A Runner's Mind.  I found magnetic, white, reflective ghost shapes.  I had to have them for the truck.  After the bribes were purchased we "ran" across the street, yes, I was winded after just that!  I showed my sisterinlaw Jenny my so darn cute ghosties and told her they would make people go oooooooo when the car lights caught them.  She made me say it again they would go ooooooo and there was a silly little motion with my hands.  If you know me none of that surprises you, I do lots of demonstrations of what people do...it adds more to the bar stories.  So we all get a giggle over what the people are going to do when they see the ghosts.  I pack up the littles and we are headed home.

FLASH to Monday morning.  It's 4:30am and my alarm is going off.  Hit the snooze and pray.  4:45 am again it goes off.  Roll out of bed, remember my new shoes and start getting dressed.  Toss the laundry in the dryer and out the door I go.  WALKING...a person has to warm up you know.  So I jog a block then walk to the park where I plan on jogging around and around and around.  It's called Circle Park...because it's in kind of a circle.   I almost made it around - it was say 3/4 around when my lungs were screaming, my legs were, well...they were fine.  I walked a bit ran a bit walked a bit ran a bit cursed the idiot who said I would do this....then I was feeling pretty good.  It's 5:45 AM and I'm out here doing something I swore I would NEVER EVER do and I'm doing it because I WANT to....not for anyone but me.  Can I get a HELL YEAH!  Anyway, the guy who lives on the corner and goes to work at about 5:45 pulls out of his garage, I jog across the street and as I jump onto the sidewalk I see a blob about the size of half my foot hop.  His car lights hit me as I see this and karma kicks me in the fanny once again, I'm making that little OOOOO sound that I made when I was teasing Jenny about what people would say at our ghosties on the truck - to top it off - I'm making the gesture that goes with it.  I'm sure that toad was scared by my little sound.  GAD...no scream?  No blood curdling scream?  If I'm ever attacked how am I going to get any one's attention?  OOOOOO  bah - maybe it was because I had no air left in my lungs from running....I'm sure that's what the problem was.  Well, TOAD, I missed you Monday, but you're on my list!!!  With the trash cans, skunks, sprinklers and a few homeless people....  Officially....day one was a success!