strong legs and full bellies

I just received a phone call from a man. I had called him earlier, gotten voicemail, and hung up. He called me back, and I asked for the person I was originally looking for. He stated the name of the person whose number I had called - not the person I was looking for. I apologized for the wrong number, but before I could hang up he started explaining how relieved he was because he thought I was a bill collector. The question I have now is why he would call back if he thought I was a bill collecter?

This is the end of a great weekend. Yesterday I ran my first race - the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong Legs 10k. I really enjoyed it and plan on doing another before too long. We started at Turner Field and ran a loop that took us north before coming back to Turner. We passed the MLK memorial and quite a bit of the ghetto. As we ran past two soup lines I couldn't help but think how far they would get just on the cost of my shoes and clothing. (Before I could feel bad about it, I remembered that many of them choose to be homeless and live without responsibility.) The hills were challenging but doable. The weather was cold but refreshing. Michal, Jonathan, Angela, Charity, and one of our old friends Sarah ran. Michal had her own personal cheerleader, Claire, and Mama was the team photographer and stuff holder. Michal beat all of us, though I have to be fair to Jonathan and mention that he ran at my pace. Our friend Sarah, who has a 6 month old, was far ahead of me until the last mile. I didn't check the time as I finished and the results aren't out yet, but I think it was under 1:10. It was slower than I'd expected, but I'm beginning to think my Nike+ thing on my ipod isn't calibrated right - so maybe I haven't been running as fast as I thought I was. Regardless, we had a good time. I'm really pleased I did it, and am looking forward to more.

Today is Jamie's birthday, so we had a gathering to celebrate at the Residence a la TanJoe last night. Even after most of us spent the afternoon napping, we only managed to hang out til around 11. I think we are definitely getting old. Joe did a fine job manning the grill, as well as keeping the firepit thoroughly doused in gasoline for all our s'moring pleasure. Tanya made sure we were all fat and happy with potato salad, baked beans, and cheesecake.

I've spent the evening (again) working on my room. It never gets clean. Sometimes I just don't care anymore. After the lovely day at church, and the afternoon with the parents, Michal, and Jonathan, I have very little motivation to do anything except veg. My mama outdid herself again with lunch. We had basmati rice, chicken that had been in the crockpot with mushroom soup so it was really juicy and tender, black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, and fresh tomatoes. She cooks the green beans in a wok with garlic and I could eat them until I'm sick. Then Michal made brownies. Mmmm...

It's back to work tomorrow for a 2-day. It's going to be a good week. I have work stories, but I'll save them for another day - maybe tomorrow.