Short of our bodies’ natural functions, we continually stop a repetitive task only to start it up again throughout our lives. The pup will chase a ball seemingly endlessly, only to reach a point of exhaustion, catch her breath, and start all over again. We get to choose what things we want to start and which we want to leave behind; it is all up to us.
On Thursday, work and life were hectic. I could have taken the pup out any time in the morning, but from Wednesday’s long run, I wanted to give her a break and wait for an opening in the Mrs schedule. When she was open, I was not, and she took the pup out for the normal around-the-block mile n a half walk while I was on a conference call. In my head, I kept thinking I would take her out later.
As you can imagine, later did not come. We had an open house at the girls’ school where we spent a few minutes in each classroom to listen to the teachers introduce themselves and hear their hopes for our children over the next school year. This will be the last time we do this for one and the second time for the other; it’s school, and it’s essential.
For example, one of the girls noted she was having difficulty understanding her math teacher and spending much time on third-party sources to “get” the material. I completely understood where this came from after a few minutes in the same class with the same teacher. It was the last class of the day, in a room with the AC cranked higher than the rest, and the teacher’s voice and speech pattern was something I had to focus on to understand what message she was trying to convey.
Granted, I have encountered a lot of accents, and everyone communicates differently, but this was something I had yet to have to work through before. I understood the words, and the phrases seemed to be correct; it was a very subtle way the teacher’s tone, combined with the spacing of the words made it difficult for me to understand. Even trying to describe it is difficult. To this, I need to invest some time as it will help our daughter and others in the same class who reportedly have noticed similar behavior.
We got home late, and there was no more time to walk the pup, and I chose not to write anything either.
Yesterday, the pup n I went out in the morning for our hike before my first conference call, and we put in nearly five miles with the 30lbs of gear. The weather was excellent but hazy, so I got no pics.
Later in the day, Mrs and I took the pup out again for another three-and-a-half-mile walk, so she was pooped at the end of the day.
However, no matter how exhausted she was, I grabbed a couple of glow-in-the-dark balls late last night before bed and had her full attention. She followed me out in the backyard and played fetch for a bit before I got bored and came back inside for the night.
Stopping is natural; starting again is a choice we make. Here, I am beginning again.
Thank you for listening.
Mama’s Friend