6 superficial reasons why I Run.

It's 7am and I am supposed to be out running my mile and half or 3 quarters. But I'm not and I've lost track of why I went back to it. Maybe I need some refocusing:

1. To avoid thinking about food. Sad but true- I love food. But the last couple of years have proven that certain foods are becoming my enemy. Ice Cream after dinner, Gluten, cheese made from sheep's milk. It's all falling by the wayside. Morning are when I do most of my eating, and running helps me not to eat things like gluteny foods and cheese made with sheeps milk.

2. To become less irrational about our adoption adventure. I feel cheated by the US domestic system somehow, but thats not true. When I run, even for the 20 minutes I'm doing it, I see things for how they really are and come to God inspired conclusions of how I MUST behave if I am going to be mature about it all.

3. To wake up. As a follow up to numberr 2, I am most irrational between 7 and 9 AM when I am groggy. Showers used to do the trick, but now I need that morning run.

4. To plan my day with the Kiddies. Today is library day followed by Ben and Jerry's free cone and then a quick trip to the Museum. Or maybe the other way around, it doesnt really matter much. I'll run with the littlest Kiddie, since she adores singing and chatting about animals while we run. I like listening to her and takes my mind off of how much I hate running.

5. To do something hard. I hate running. I think its the dumbest sport out there. Hence, I am doing it, day after day, week after week. Except Sundays, but I'm going this week on Sunday afternoons.

6. So my sister in law wont call me a fat American in June. Learning to be gluten free on a budget has lead to some natural shedding of poundage, but running helps too, and makes it less likely that I will stick out like a sore thum among all the skinny russian girls I'll be in contact with in June. Like my sister in law, who my size 8/10 figure is too fat. She doesnt care that I weigh less now that I did at our wedding and that my wedding dress still fits. I'm still fat by Russian standards. I mostly just want to get along with out a discussion of weight.

Alright then. So running at 9:30 with the littlest Kiddie.