time is flying...i hope my feet will!

it's funny, when you label a calendar months in advance, things seem far off. sometimes i think i can't even wait until it actually happens: Renza's arrival, visiting hodges in DC, the arrival of baseball season. But, ever since I've joined this program called Teach for America, life has whirled by. Rolled on like thunder. Hit me like a freight train. Whichever cliche you choose, time has seemed to travel so fast over these past two years. And the year I spent in our nation's capitol, I spent the whole time thinking life would never get any faster! If I only knew...

Anyways, it's here. The TAKS test happened last week. 10 months of academic instruction, and the high stakes test has come and gone.
25 school days left in my second year of teaching, 12 days til "alumni" induction. My second half marathon with Sarah Burks, in the great state of Tennessee, is happening on Saturday. So many things I've had "trackers" set for, (TFA lingo for a way to keep track of your progress-to-goal) are suddently going off like fireworks all around. These events are big, they're bright, they're exciting, they're loud, and then POOF, they're gone too fast.

Anyways, it's here. I told my students my half marathon is just like their challenge, the TAKS - something rigorous, something that requires focus and determination and practice - and anytime my babies have thought of giving up, I've reminded them that three days after the big test, I'm running 13.1 miles in their honor.

Three miles used to be a chore for me. And sometimes, it still is. But starting at Institute last year, with the structured days and the 15 or 18 hours of work and the little time for play, running became both social and essential in a way it never had before. Flashforward 6 months and I ran my first half marathon in Decemeber. 6 months later, I ran another in Montana. Then I ran another half in December in Dallas, and then in January, and now... it's the end of April. It's the end of my two years. These feet have a lot of miles on them, and though cheesy, my heart has been through a lot more. It has felt refreshing to put my kneecaps and my leg muscles and my poor toenails through the same stress my heart has gone through, learning about poverty and early childhood development and abuse and tender, kindhearted people.

Anyways, enough rambling, time to stretch. Time to pack my sneaks in their suitcase. Time to countdown the moments to seeing Sarah Burks, time to chug some gatorade, time to tell my kiddos I'm so thankful for them and the limits to which they have pushed me.

Thanks for reading. Peace. Love. Tennisshoes.