shoes back on

the day before christmas eve and im up at 7 am.. WHY am i awake?? sleep in, gina! sleep in!!!  nope.. for some reason, i just cant anymore, regardless of what time i go to bed.( insert BIG frowny face here.)    i hope this phase ends before too long!  so, well, i am up.. may as well do something.. it had been- uhm... yeah, like a MONTH since i went for a run.. (i shamefully admit)   so i figured time to get those running shoes back on.  for the life of me i just dont know what happens to motivation sometimes? where does it go? where are you mr. motivation??? when will you return?  ok.. well he peaked his head around the corner yesterday and i yanked him by the collar and went for a run. AWESOME! beautiful south florida morning.. super cool out(even wore a jacket- WHAT?! yep.)   went along the intracoastal, sun rising on my left moon falling on my right.  so much to take in.  passed a church and a  maintenance crew was getting the grounds all set for Christmas eve service(i can only guess?)   i love the smell of fresh cut grass.  and while i dont care for the smell of gasoline at ALL...i LOVE it when i smell those two together.  its one of those smells tied to childhood memories.  brought me back to sitting on the riding mower with my grandpa mowing their big hilly yard.. i used to think we would tip backwards going up the hill and i would be crushed beneath he and the lawnmower.haha.. the good ole times;)  yet, i totally loved it.  

shortly after that nostalgic smell, i picked up on something else.. not so nostalgic though.. the smell of construction.  if you dont know, this time of year three years ago, we were completing a maaaajor renovation on our home.  the project had taken approx. 10 months so far..  it was christmas time.. we had been staying in a friends (a very gracious friends) cottage for FIVE months, we thought it would be two.. but you know how that goes..i was ITCHING to get home. i wanted to wake up in our house, have christmas with our family, have more than 500 sq feet of living space!!!!  the walls had seemed to just close in on me the last few weeks of cottage living and i was going to do whatever it took to get home.  so we did, but that is another story in itself.  so, i smelled the concrete block, the tar paper, the sheet rock, the mud, the dampness that lingers in an open house under construction.  and all i could do was say thank you Lord, that we are home this christmas.. that chapter is complete-THANK YOU!  it feels like more than three years ago, and i am so very grateful.  :)

so, there is this street, my one mile markerish.. elwa.. and im looking.. gosh, elwa.. youre not as close as i remember??  uhm, yeah, gina.. thats what happens when you slack!  elwa, elwa, elwa...? you out there?? and just when i thought the street had disappered off the face of the earth.. there she was!  my green light to head back home.. past the field that looks like bunnies would have fun hopping around, past the house under construction and finally grass and gasoline.....so glad i got those running shoes back on.