Beginning rejuvenation

This past weekend was lovely, even as the temperature is dropping a bit early here in New England.  E has found a great martial arts resource in the form of a man who has been training for many years on some of the things E has been interested in (also for years).  So our Saturdays will hopefully frequently be E going to learn from this person.  I am delighted that they have been able to connect.  Especially when one loves something that ends up being on the fringe of what is out there (big commercial martial arts gyms are usually one of a small handful of the arts out there, targeting a specific audience), and combining that with the fact that this is an interactive art that takes group time, repeatedly, to learn, it's (even more) fortunate when people get together to share something they are passionate about. 

Along those lines, I hope to look for a bellydance instructor (or groups) shortly.  I miss dancing.  But I did get to work out a bit this weekend - my lovely sister visited us Saturday night and stayed with us.  We chatted over dinner, and over postprandial knitting.  I am yes, still working on a little sweater for Sprout that I cast on for many months ago.  I'm using 100purewool, which is just lovely stuff.  I hope to finish this up soon since the temperatures are indeed starting to drop - not all at once, but we did have a frost warning (!) this past week.  Anyways, on Sunday morning my sister encouraged me to go running with her. She is a runner - she ran cross-country in high school, and she is a hasher.  She kindly paced herself with me and did less than I know she could have, as I plodded along, gasping, in 8-minute intervals, with 2-minute walking peppered in.  I probably ran for a total of 24 minutes, with breaks, which may be small potatos to some, but was a happy big deal to me!  Also, my sister diagnosed my running stride a bit - apparently I'm not really stretching out my lower legs and using my calves and ankles actively to help propell me along.  Interesting.

Sprout is teething, and teething yesterday evening with a vengeance (read: much crying and unhappiness).  We gave him a bit of children's painkiller to help him feel better enough to fall asleep later on at bedtime.  Poor kid.  He looked OK this morning, although a bit more short-tempered than he usually is, perhaps due to teething and painful gums, or just getting older and fed up with Mommy sometimes.  I packed mostly chunk-free foods today for him, along with some peeled apple pieces from the apples we picked yesterday.  I was looking forward to it, but it was a subdued outing - E was not feeling well and was very quiet, and D was also a bit out of it, as his gums must have been hurting him and I think he was getting ready to cut a tooth.  Ah well, we have a bag of apples now for eating.