To good friends!

Yesterday I had to pay a few bills and it wasn’t until I hopped on the computer this morning and realized that I dated every single check wrong, and not just by a couple days either. I really thought yesterday was the 16^th. Good grief, where has June gone? It’s almost over! When this month started I said I’d gather and donate a bag of things from different places in my house each day. Well let me tell you, I have definitely collected and donated or thrown away way more than 30 bags already. I wasn’t as organized as I had set out to be, nor did I take a picture of a giant pile of bags like I had intended to but like I said, time really slipped away from me this month. Surprisingly though I think I was probably close to doubling my goal of 30.

 And in addition to the septic tank pump, I also bought something else new this month, a steam cleaner for my upholstery/mattresses. Although I surely could have found a used one somewhere or borrowed one for an extended period of time, I needed it right away so I bought one of the first steam cleaners I saw (online) and even splurged on shipping. I don’t know if it was completely justified, but I’m not really feeling very guilty about like I thought I would so I guess we really did need it. I’ve already used it dozens of times and I am really happy with it. So if you’re not participating in the buy nothing new challenge, or if you too find yourself needing to rid your house of every last germ, I’d recommend the Bissell’s Little Green Compact Multi Purpose Cleaner. You will be surprised and disgusted at the stuff this guy sucks up.

I also wanted to update everyone on Sunday School. This past week was my 4^th week and according to Patrick, I’m the “best teacher ever.” He’s so sweet, but unfortunately it’s not actually true. The lady who I am replacing has been teaching Sunday School for 55 years! And to top it off she is one of the kindest, most patient people I’ve ever met with the sweetest Southern accent I’ve ever heard. Even though she’s teeny tiny, she’s left the biggest shoes to fill. Someone asked if I thought I’d be there for 55 years. I feel bad that if we move, I won’t even make it to 2.

Oh and I also received the coolest gift EVER this month. I got a BOB double jogging stroller from my friend. She went to upgrade and she GAVE me her old one. Real quick, for anyone who doesn’t know anything about jogging strollers….not all jogging strollers are created equal, not even close. BOB is like the Ferrari of jogging strollers. It’s flashy, it floats and it’s FAST! When Patrick was a baby I didn’t know what a “jogging stroller” was so I used an umbrella stroller and got a lot of funny looks. By the time I was pregnant with Shannon I realized I was the only one running around base with an umbrella stroller and I knew now that it was time for a double stroller, I should get a jogger. Well I found one on Lejeune Yard Sales  for $20 and was stoked that no one would look at me funny anymore. I don’t have many pictures of BEAST #1 but I’ll tell you it was cumbersome, difficult to turn and elicited a full body workout for every run, and yes people still looked at me and my 1990’s stroller funny.

Beast #1

My first "jogging stroller"

At some point during my marathon training, my friend let me push her BOB for a race. From that moment on, I was in love. The kind of love though that teenagers have for a celebrity crush. Like yes this is the best looking, nicest thing I’ve ever seen, yet it’s completely unattainable. Unattainable because BOB’s are expensive, like many high school students get their first car for this price expensive. So after that race, I was okay with just acknowledging that the BOB is the greatest thing out there, but I’d never have one. Because they’re so nice, even their resale value was two to three times what I spent when it was time to replace BEAST #1. Yes, it was sad. After close to 1000 miles with Beast #1, I needed a new stroller and found a steal on Amazon for $120. I was so excited when that box came in the mail and I still love that stroller so much, not because it is even close to a Ferrari but because we had so many good runs together.

The first time I ever pushed a BOB

Beast #2

So anyway, this was supposed to be a quick rundown about jogging strollers, but as you can tell, if you’ve spent as many hours as I have with jogging strollers you become very opinionated and a tad nostalgic. Well, around the time Laura was born I noticed a family moved in right down the road and there was a BOB parked in their driveway!!! I felt like I had won the lottery. Not only have I not met many people in my neighborhood, but I never thought I’d meet one with two kids who also likes to run! So when I finally worked up the courage to introduce myself to the mom (4 months later) I used the BOB in my pick-up line, “So if you’ve got a BOB, you must like to run?” She replied cooly, “Eh, yeah, hah, I guess, I used to, but no I don’t run too much.” In my head I’m screaming, “BLASPHEMY!” “YOU HAVE A BOB BUT DON’T LIKE TO RUN! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU SPEND A MILLION DOLLARS ON THE BEST STROLLER EVER IF YOU DON’T RUN MUCH!!!”  Then the real kicker, she got the stroller for $20 bucks in Hawaii from a couple who no longer needed it and gave it away on a whim. Well I didn’t know it at the time, but Liz and I would become super good friends and our kids even more so (Patrick and Liz’s daughter, Zoe were actually classmates too, and already best friends).  When Liz upgraded her BOB a few weeks ago she gave me her old one which I not only love because it is the greatest stroller that ever lived, but also because it calls to mind our conversation the day I met her and it reminds me to be less hesitant about meeting new people and making new friends. One of my biggest regrets is not going over to Liz’s sooner to introduce ourselves. Now that they are getting ready to move, I really would love to have those 4 months back where all I did was wonder about the family with the BOB who just moved in.

Zoe and Shannon, Oliver, and Patrick