A Few of My Favorite Things

It's been nice the past week or so to have some down time at home.  Later bedtimes for the boys, no heavy studying routine for J.P., and overall, a slower pace for all of us.  All good things come to and end, of course, and we'll all be grinding again next week.  Still, for now, I'm having a cup of coffee and thinking about some of the things I've most enjoyed this holiday season.

• J.P. and I had an awesome 5 mile run together mid-morning of Christmas Eve.  We ran in the neighborhood, 5 miles at a 7:41 pace.  That's about as fast as I can comfortably run without exerting myself in a way that turns a training run into something more painful.  As I've said many times before, I appreciate every run I have with J.P.  At my age, I'm an injury away from having my running life significantly curtailed.  Knowing that helps me enjoy, even more, any run we have together.
• The boys and I have practiced baseball, outside, quite a bit with the help of the unseasonably warm late December temperatures.  We long tossed on the field at Christ the King a couple of day before Christmas.  An older, grandfatherly man complimented the boys on their throwing, after we finished, telling us he had coached his twin sons many years ago, when they were young.  The last two days, we've been to Rose Park.  We practiced pitching and I hit the boys some grounders.  Yesterday, I threw batting practice to them.  As J.P. is getting stronger, the baseball really jumps off his bat when he barrels it up.  
• Our latest games at home to play together, as a family, is Hearts.  We're all very competitive, of course.  Usually, I win, and J.P. gets surly and/or Joe gets upset, but not always.  There's a lot of trash talking and the ridiculous singing of an old David Bowie song by J.P., Joe, and me when one of us gives Jude the queen of spaces.  "I'm happy, hope you're happy, too.  Ashes to ashes, . . . ".
• We watched Spiderman - the original Spiderman move w/Tobey Maguire - and Joe loved it, as did I at the time it was released.  I told the boys it was, in my view, the original movie from the modern Marvel Universe.  I think it marked the point in time when the studios realized they could make a Marvel movie and multiple sequels, and people would flock to the theaters in droves to see them.
• Reading.  Lots of reading.  Always.
• I've enjoyed running, along, in the afternoons.  Although I won't hit 1,000 miles this year - too busy and two or three occasions where I took a week or so off of running due to back or knee issues, or being sick - I've had a good year of running overall.  I'm finishing strong, for sure, with my pace per mile dropping to 8 minutes or under and most of my runs four or file miles long.  I'm relatively healthy right now, which is a blessing.
• We've gotten a lot of time with Jude's parents, which is always nice.  Christmas morning, they came over to exchange gifts with us.  Last night, I made a pot of chili and we celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary together.  
• We went to church on Christmas Eve, outside, at St. Henry's.  It was a special service and I was glad to be there with our family, Jude's parents, and Lauren Bashion and her children.

Now, I'm headed to the office for a bit, then, hopefully, I'll get home for the afternoon.  J.P. starts back with basketball practice today, so he's easing back into his routine and, I guess, I am, too.