Wake up feeling New

It amazes me how different runs can be.  I ran five miles in Central Park on the 30th. This morning I ran four along the East River.  With the encouragement of other runners and bikers, the five miles felt natural and my muscles believed in what I was doing, despite the ice and hills.  During this morning's run I consistently reminded myself that I just needed to log a little bit of time.  I had nothing to prove and the bland responses from the majority of the others on the path were just part of the experience, or not part of the experience. You have the choice to remove yourself.  Regardless, it was a wonderful run because of the way it left me feeling afterwards.  A little bit of yoga and some Faith [thanks Faith!] inspired free weights and my body feels more awake than tired.  All in all, this transition from 2010 to 2011 has been fabulous.  

In order to keep from getting overwhelmed or disappointed I try to regard every holiday, with the exception of family focused ones, as just another day, but one with a theme.  I like theme parties so that's usually successful.  Even just trying to plan the 31st I started to get fussy, but Cameron and Lindsay are fabulous roommates and let everything stay low key.  

We had three rules: 

          1. No Throwing Up

          2. No Crying

          3. Low Expectations

I can proudly say that all three of those rules/goals were accomplished.   Cameron, Lindsay, Andre and I hung out around our place for awhile, getting ready [thanks Mom for the dress!] and drinking what we already owned and didn't cost an arm and a leg.  Last night a large portion of Manhattan bars were charging $25-$150 to get into.  We stopped over at a friend of Andre's who lives a few streets down and I semi-incoherently discussed public health with a girl named Bridget who is pursuing a Masters in it at the London School of Economics.  I wish I we could be real friends because I was just a little inspired by it all.  Every population is under-informed about something and with all the research we do, we need to communicate it.  But, for the point of this entry, I digress. 

Around 11 we headed to midtown and got out around 51st, knowing we couldn't get in near actual Times Square. We ended up in Central Park in this perfect Gazebo.  We could hear the Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block singing and still got a sense of the craziness, but without the pushing and actual crazies.  We were in the ideal location for the post-countdown fireworks. Sitting in this gazebo with friends, surrounded by trees surrounded by city, looking at all these people bustling about, minding and not minding the snow and each other... I couldn't have asked for a better place to be.

We headed towards the village and decided to go home instead.  For the case of my pocketbook it was probably the best decision.  We said Happy New Year's to people on the street and they joyfully said it in return.  There are certain things that just make me love holidays in the city; friendly strangers is at the top of the list. 

I snuggled up in my new pajamas [thanks, Anna Jo], woke up a few times throughout the night, and finally got out of bed around 8am, the earliest I've been up in days. I felt good. I made some coffee for Andre and myself and sat on the couch for a bit. Andre left for work, I did the dishes, swept, folded up the inflatable mattress and restored the apartment to something close to a pre-New Year's look. I made my bed, went for a run, did some yoga and lifting. I had breakfast. Cameron and Lindsay took out the recyclables.  Things feel pretty right.  Thank you, world.