Sick Baby, Shorts and Lattes {Three Things Thursday}

A wave of shock and then relief rushed over me as I pulled into the driveway. A silver sedan was parked in front of the garage and from around the front of the car, I saw a man walk toward the front door.

"Hey! Daddy's home!" Miles said excitedly.

Thank. Heavens.

I had just returned from picking up Miles from school, a trip during which Si had cried the entire time. I had made it home, made it to the end of the day after staying with a sick baby for the day. Well, two days.

And I had made it to the end of my rope. As much as I tried, as much as I talked myself through things, as often as I took deep breaths, the days had worn on me. The crying, the struggles with napping – I'm not just cut out for this part of parenthood.

But Mark was home ... when he wasn't supposed to be. and he was telling me to go. To run.

Thank. Heavens.

1. The shorts streak continues. This Indiana weather has been odd, to say the least. There have been wicked winds and wild swings in temperature. Our snow totals in the city have been negligible and school has yet to be canceled once. On Tuesday, with a snow storm looming, it was mid-40s in the afternoon. In February! Insanity!

When Mark came home from school, I greeted him in a pair of shorts and my Saucony Guides (which I have dubbed Pink Lemonade on Strava) and asked if I could get in a quick 3-miler. He took the baby and happily obliged me.

While I was happy to have a half-hour of me time, I was just as happy (if not more so) to be running in shorts. I donned them in December for a hot and humid long run that left me soaked; I wore shorts the day I ran with Scott Jurek in January. And, now, shorts in February was crossed off.

Now, March ... I'm looking at you.

2. Speaking of snow, we got a little bit of it last night. Fort Wayne lucked out by being in a dry pocket so our total was less than 2 inches. So sorry, kids – no snow day for you. Miles did have a delay so after dropping off Si at daycare, we had some time to kill. I considered heading in to work for a smidge so I could catch up and he could color but opted for Starbucks. He asked for a pink drink (strawberry frappuccino), and I went with a Chai latte.

I usually steer clear of Chai lattes because of the sugar but I discovered on the app that I could order it with Teavana Oprah cinnamon Chai, steamed nonfat milk and a couple pumps of sugar-free vanilla syrup. It was so, so good. And just what I needed as I've been a bit congested the past couple days. (I blame Si and a well-meaning drop or two of peppermint oil inside the nose, which actually causes inflammation.)

3. One of the side effects of staying home with a sick baby, especially one who wants to be held/nurse all day, is that I spent way too much time on my phone checking Facebook ... and letting those things on Facebook get to me. Someone I know through professional channels and happens to be in the health/fitness industry posted this:

I love when overweight people get startled and say "you almost gave me a heart attack!" I want to be like "do you say that to all of your meals?"

I had to do all I could not to get into a semi-public discourse into what I saw as a derogatory post. I knew that it would not accomplish anything but I also didn't want others to see my name attached to it.

Don't get me wrong. I have been guilty of judging people – when I see folks guzzling liter bottles of non-diet soda while waiting for children to be finished with sports to grocery carts full of chips. But I try to catch myself and reframe my thinking so that I come to the situation from a place of compassion and concern rather than "I know best" place. There is just so much we don't know about a person if we only look at the outside, and (my huge beef) weight is not the only marker of health. There are plenty of skinny people who have poor heart health, bad eating habits and don't exercise.

Also, the way it was worded, the poster made it seem like overweight people want to eat him. Sorry, bud, they don't. Not even close. And you might want to think about the things you say if you want those same overweight people to hire you to help them get healthy.

Grr. I'll stop ranting now.