A Win or A Bust?

The Travel:

Last Monday at 7:00am, Japan time, 5:00pm Sunday evening Texas time, my husband drove me to the airport so that I could fly home to see family and do some work. I flew 2 1/2 hours from Okinawa to Tokyo, had a 4 hour lay-over in Tokyo (thanks to the delayed flight to Detroit). Then I had a 12-hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit. The delay caused me to miss my Dallas flight, so I had to fly to Minneapolis then down to Dallas. I arrived at 10:30pm Texas time and went to my cousin’s house to stay for a couple of nights. We arrived there at 11:00pm, which made my travel time about 30 hours. I wasn’t all the way home, but close enough, so I will call it a win.

Fort Worth Fun:

My cousin and her husband were so generous in opening up their home to me, my mom, my sister, and the 2 nieces. Getting all the way to Lubbock from Okinawa in one smooth trip seems nearly impossible, so adding in a little stopover in a beautiful place was a smart alternative. My cousin’s home has everything you need: a comfy bed, a big couch (which I never sat on), tons of food (which I ate a lot of), and a beautiful pool (which is where we played all day long). It was a perfect time to catch up with the family. There were no clocks, no agendas, and no reason to rush to be anywhere. What a treat!!! I would say staying that it was another win.

Time to Get to Home:

On Wednesday morning, we made the 5-hour drive to Lubbock, and immediately met up with the rest of the family. Having all of the family together felt like such a gift and another win.

Thursday morning, I woke up, went for a slow sluggish run, but embraced the amazing weather. West Texas may not be as beautiful as Okinawa, but I sure enjoyed being able to breathe! There are trade-offs in everything, and this month, I am embracing beautiful, cool mornings with clean, fresh, crisp air with no humidity. After my run, I rushed to get to my mother-in-law’s house because morning coffee with her is one of my favorite things! Our coffee dates last for hours, and we never run out of things to talk about. While sipping coffee, I got a text from my brother. The house we were supposed to buy as an investment property would not be going to closing. Long story short: it did not have a clear title, and we were not prepared to wait for several weeks or months to see if it would ever clear. We asked for our earnest money to be returned. Now we are back to figuring out our next investment opportunity.

Thursday night, while having 99 cent tacos (which were amazing), we decided to head to the store next door, and low-and-behold, the new Texas Tech head football coach was there! We bought 3 little footballs, got them signed, and took some pictures. It was such a random and fun experience and a win.

 

Friday morning, at 5:00am, I woke up for another sluggish run. UGH! I finally have perfect running weather, and my legs would not move! It was another tough run. NOT GOOD. After a quick clean up, I was off to help paint one of our rent houses. I got stuck painting closets, which means no air circulation, and it got hot fast, so I took the nieces, and we were off to have some fun! Shopping and milk shakes were a great way to recover from running and painting. Friday night was a quiet evening with some of my real estate business partners, and a finally a good night’s sleep. My Friday was filled with work, play, and friendship.

Saturday, I crashed 2 parties. First, I drove out to the middle of no-where to attend the most beautiful baby shower for my brother’s best friend. Then, I met up with my other brother and his girls to attend a birthday party for my cousin’s daughters. I LOVED seeing my beautiful cousin, and the kids had a great time.

Sunday morning, I slept in, and then went for my final run for the week. It
was slow; I was sluggish; I became frustrated. This run week had been a total bust.
I finally have wonderful weather, and my legs did not want to cooperate. My
niece called it a Half Bust because I got in half the miles
and half the running that I would normally do, but this Monday morning I
reflected on my week. I flew halfway across the world. I had quality time with
so many family members. I went to parties. I almost bought a house. I met the
head football coach. I swam. I played. I napped. I drove several hours across
the state of Texas. I did a lot of cool stuff in a short amount of time, so I
think my week was a WIN!

Some weeks, we have time and energy for solid, good runs. Some weeks, we do
a lot of other important things. Some weeks we balance both. Most of the time
life is an ebb and flow. We do what we can with the time we have. If we take a
little time to reflect, we give ourselves grace during the times of ebb, and we
celebrate the WINS and accept the Half Busts too.