Find a Reason to Celebrate Every Day

My mom is of the mindset that every day is a day to be celebrated. We always find something to cheers to when we go out to dinner–no matter what.

So when I finished my second marathon last week, taking 40 minutes off my last one, clearly that called for some celebration. My parents left my apartment shortly after we arrived back here after I finished, so my mom thought we needed a proper celebration.

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And who was I to complain? She had over some friends and family–and I even convinced Lacey, Shannon and Eileen that hanging out in NJ with my family for the afternoon would be fun.

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Bailey also calmed down enough to get near my cousin’s baby without spazzing, which was nice. (Although there’s obviously places he’d rather be. And clothes he’d rather not be in.)

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My mom ordered sandwiches.

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And had trays of orange chicken (which I attribute to about 47 of the 50 pounds I had to lose) and her ziti.

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Baby yogi doing happy baby?

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You can’t see her onesie terribly well here, but it says “I’m crawling here — NYC Marathon.” My expo excitement was not limited to just buying things for myself.

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No, you cannot steal her. Sorry. I would be very upset that I did not get to steal her first. And her mother would probably be upset, too.

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Proud parents. (And a girl who needs a haircut.)

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Also, I guess now’s probably the time to break it to you. I actually won the NYC Marathon. I actually ran it in less than half the time it took me to run my first one. I let Firehiwot take all the glory because I wasn’t ready for the attention.

Or, um, my dad is a whiz at PhotoShop.

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Hey dad? Guest post on how to remove everyone else from your race photo?

25 comments on “Find a Reason to Celebrate Every Day

    1. Theodora Post author

      @Kimra: Yeah. He didn’t. I’m really half-Kenyan. I would actually imagine changing the clock was easier to do than removing the people.

      Reply
  1. clarissa

    agree, your dad is awesome! and I super love the old photos behind you in the photo where you are sitting holding the baby. congrats on winning the marathon in your father’s eyes.

    Reply
      1. clarissa

        @Theodora: YES! now I see it, something tells me the new marathon poster won’t fit on that shelf!!

        The female on the left caught my eye since my mom has one similar to that of herself and her mom. It has always been one of my favorite photos.

        Reply
        1. Theodora Post author

          @clarissa: It won’t, but there are quite a few other shelves 🙂 I know, I love old photos like that! This one is of my paternal grandparents; my mom has cool pictures like that of her parents in our front hall.

          Reply
  2. Michelle

    That picture is awesome! How cool of your dad.

    Bailey is so stinking cute. You should post more pictures of him in clothes!

    Reply
    1. Theodora Post author

      @Brie @ Brie Fit: They are pretty amazing 🙂 They’re definitely a big part of the reason I haven’t gone completely off the deep end since being laid off–I’m so lucky to have them so close by.

      Reply
  3. Michelle

    This post had me grinning ear to ear and reminds me of how proud my family was when I ran my first marathon after shedding a good 70+ pounds. They told EVERYONE. My mom would even tell strangers at the mall and somehow work it into everyday conversations.

    Reply
  4. Jen

    Hey hey! I caught onto your blog over the last month. I’m a new runner (in NYC) who has been running for a year and just started blogging about it. I’m doing the 9+1 program with NYRR to get into the 2013 NYC Marathon and can’t wait to run all of the NYRR half marathons next year. Your blog rocks! Any advice for getting involved in the NYC Blogging community?

    Reply
    1. Theodora

      @Jen: I’m so sorry I just saw this! Send me an email and I’ll make sure we invite you to some events! 🙂 I’d also suggest just tweeting with people!

      Reply

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