Four Year Celebrations

Last night it was just my wife, daughter and me. My son had a sleepover birthday party he was attending. We had promised our daughter that we would get frozen yogurt tonight just the three of us. When we got home from the softball game my daughter had taken a shower and put on her pajamas having forgotten about going out for the frozen yogurt. When the time came to go out she didn’t want to get change so we convinced her to go out in her pajamas. To say that we “convinced” her would be a stretch since we had to basically drag her out of the house. Normally we would have just taken her order and brought back the frozen yogurt. However; this particular yogurt store was self serve and the whole concept is to make your own frozen yogurt sundae. Since our daughter didn’t want to get changed from her pajamas we took her in her pajamas to the nearby store.

She was very funny as she was very concerned with the fact of seeing someone she knew while being out in the public wearing her pajamas. I guess there is a great deal of self consciousness in an 11 year old and my daughter was exuding this last night to a point where my wife and I were laughing so hard. As we drove to the yogurt store I would make gestures outside the car to the fact that my daughter was wearing her pajamas and all she kept saying was “Daddy you are so mean!” I may have been mean but it was very funny especially when we pulled up to the store and my daughter didn’t want to get out of the car. She finally acquiesced and went inside but the whole time she was inside she tried to hide behind me. She didn’t see anyone she knew and seemed very relieved when we got back into the car.

As we got back into the car she asked if I was going to write up this episode in my “blog”. Of course without missing a beat I said, “Yes”. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to document this very special scene. She was so concerned with seeing someone she knew she barely took any frozen yogurt in her cup and couldn’t wait to get back into the car. Yes, there was a sigh of relief emanating from the back seat as she entered the car. I did find this very funny and my wife found equally as funny. Thankfully our daughter is a good sport and didn’t take our laughing to heart. We maybe “mean” but it was all in good fun and it was a very fun evening with the three of us. We spent the rest of the evening watching television and just hanging out on the couch. We may have not done much but it was a great evening nonetheless because we were together and that is what matters most.

This morning I had been given the go ahead to work out since I didn’t work out yesterday. Before heading off to the gym I did watch the usual CBS Sunday Morning Program with my wife but much like all the other Sundays my son wasn’t with us. He was at his sleepover and my daughter was still getting her beauty sleep. After watching most of the program I was heading off to the gym for my long run of the week. I broke down earlier this week and joined a new gym since my current membership was about to expire. I did my best to find a reasonable membership and one of the positives of this economy is the fact that good deals do exist. I was able to find a membership actually less expensive than my current membership.

I made my way to the new gym which is open 24 hours a day so I don’t have to worry about the hours on the weekend. Hopefully the hours will remain constant and I won’t be face with what happened at the other gym. I was able to get in an 18 mile run and it felt very good. I did run at least 18 miles last week when I was in Colorado but those 18 miles were very hilly and I did “feel” it after the run. Today I was feeling great at the end of the run and I think having the extra day of rest did help with a much better run. I am on tract for the marathon at the end of April and hopefully I will be able to accomplish my time goal of 3 hours and 20 minutes to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

The work out was over and I made my way home. The children were ensconced in their homework and yes, they had homework on the weekend. My daughter always seems to have homework and is working on yet another project. My son rarely has homework on the weekend but was selected as the “Star Student” and had a poster he needed to turn in. The poster was title “All about Me” and yes, it was all about my son which was very cool. He wants to be a baseball player when he grows up and that certainly makes sense since he has such a proclivity towards anything with a ball! It was a great poster but most of the credit on the poster has to go to my lovely wife. My son did what he thought was necessary and then my wife did what she thought was necessary. It was indeed a masterpiece.

The day did not end when the homework was completed there was one more event left for the weekend. I was celebrating my 4 years in the Gamblers Anonymous Program. I had the honor and privilege of celebrating this with two other wonderful members that were also celebrating 4 years in the program. These two members are good friends and one of those members is a very dear friend. Recovery is amazing because 4 years ago I didn’t know either of these 2 people and now they are certainly friends. The celebration was great and having my family with me was such an added bonus.

This would mark the second time my family was by my side as I celebrated a birthday in Gamblers Anonymous. The first time was three years ago as I celebrated my first year. Year two was celebrated at “camp” and last year my family was still in New Jersey. There was a great deal of love in that room today and I had tears in my eyes when I spoke to my family. I am so blessed and so fortunate to have them in my life and I owe them so much. I can’t bring back the time I missed but I can do my best to make the very best of the time we have together. Today was an extra special great time and yes, recovery is incredible!!