Baskets

I believe that our lives are full of baskets. Pam and I developed this theory a while ago and I always seem to return to it. We place our time, energy and resources into the various baskets and depending on the basket and where we are in life, we might put more in one then another. As I look back over my life, I typically have unhealthy baskets. I tend to place too much of myself in too few baskets which means I depend on few others and things to make me happy. I've been working on this while learning how not to overextend myself. It's been a challenge.

This past week has been full of all kinds of baskets. I have reconnected with some old friends and continued to develop the new ones. On Friday, I headed to the Mellow Mushroom with Casey for a "few" drinks and some good pizza! My buddy from grad school Creighton joined us- I've been trying to hang out with him since he moved here about a year ago! Stephen, his wife April, his mom and their beautiful baby girls joined us after a while. I stayed with them and had a "few" more beers and enjoyed their company. I hadn't hung out with them in a while.

After my extended dinner I headed down to Natty Green's to meet up with the Starmount gang for Andrew's birthday. I was early so I made friends with the pilot visiting from Tennessee next to me. He stayed with us for a few hours! Once the gang arrived, a few of us headed over to Grey's to continue the party! What a good time! After that party broke up, I got a text from Micheal and Karen who I have not hung out with in over a year! They were across the street. I joined them at McCoul's for great beer and some quality time to catch up! After we headed out, I headed to Cooper's to close the night with Jennifer and Carrie Mae! What fun- I think we even danced! So many different baskets in one night!

I managed to get up and hit Kiernen's spin class at 8:30am. I was a little rough but it was good. At lunch I joined the "Rush" girls to celebrate birthdays including mine! It was fun- my WW leader Linda even joined us! At 2:30pm, Alex came over for a nice long ride outside. My goal for the day was to enjoy the ride. I wasn't worried about my speed or the distance but wanted to focus on my old friend, the ride. It was amazing! We had such a good time. We climbed many challenging hills and got in about 40 miles! Whoohoo for us! Thanks Alex for helping me remember the love of the ride and for being a big basket in my world!

That evening, I joined Pam and Casey at the deli for some amusing and some serious conversation! I love these girls! I was so hungry from the ride! All I wanted was nachos! But it was a good night with two very important baskets. A nice way to end the day!

Sunday morning, I headed to the pool with Alex for a rough swim! I then ran home to get ready for church. After church I went to lunch with the gang! Crazy conversation and good food! That afternoon we attended Jordan's senior recital. She was amazing- what talent! Congrats to her!

It really has been a crazy week! I had a good tempo run on Monday night and a great last "heavy" leg day this morning until after White Lake! It was so good, I had no legs left for spin class tonight! Oh well!

But the baskets keep coming and I am trying to place my time and energies in those that are important to me and those that make me a better person. It's important to remember that as we fill our baskets, we also take from those baskets what we need as well. The give and take. Way too often I would give and then wind up with an empty basket. It's amazes me how much life has changed!