3August2011 Quickshot: B-day Feast

D made supper for her daddy's birthday last night.  The food was so good but being able to celebrate a loved one's birthday  IN PERSON was priceless. 

1August2011 Walking Lessons from a 4 year-old

This morning M decided she wanted to be my walking partner.  She loves "going" anywhere and my daily walk was her only apparent outlet, so she laced up her pink tennies, emulated some of my stretches and pronounced herself ready to go.  

I'm still on Pacific Time so we got a later start than usual.  By the time we walked onto the road the sun was well up and the humidity was already high.  We walked about a hundred yards and M informed me that, "Running is better exercise than walking." The she smiled and took off.  After 20 yards she stopped and said, "Let's walk backwards."  I declined on both counts.  

A quarter mile into our 3 miles M declared, "It's hot and my bottom's sweaty."  Quickly followed by, "You said we were only going on a LITTLE walk."  A hundred yards later she couldn't go any further.  So I picked her up, put her on my shoulders and continued our walk.  

I learned a couple lessons about partnering from M this morning:

1. A good partner will help you with pace, a poor partner will slow you down.
2. A good partner encourages you to keep going while a poor partner may stop your progress.
3. A good partner lifts you up while you may end up carrying a poor partner.
4. No matter how cute or lovable they are, not everyone makes a good partner.

These are pretty simple lessons but boy are they important.  Especially for us as we plan, evaluate and determine who our partners are going to be for our next step.  Be careful who you partner with!