Thankful to BE.

Note: This post is not about Down syndrome, Ellie, toddlerhood, or any of the things you usually read about.  It's just about me and a weekend away.

This weekend, I got away for a bit.

I need to start by saying that my friend Christina is amazing.  I've posted about her before, or just go check out her own blog, right here.

Did you make it back from Christina's blog?  Good.

On Friday after work, I picked up my dear friend Christina and we road tripped our way a few hours southwest to the sweet little college town of Charlottesville, VA.

We had a little hotel mishap, wherein we were given a smoking room, although I'm fairly certain when I made the reservation online there was no option, and Christina is allergic to smoke, but hey, friends in the area have a futon, and Christina crashed there, which is another story, and let's just say I have the best friend ever.

Anyway, picked up the race number, wandered the cute little pedestrian mall area, and in the morning, it was off to the races.  Or race.

The race was super, and one of the hardest courses I've ever run, but there were a lot of complaints in the early miles that the markers were off.  If they were on, my first mile was four minutes faster than my second, and while I slowed a bit, I know I didn't slow down that much.  Plus, even with extra distance for not running tangents and going around people, the GPS units of everyone around me were off by 0.4 miles, which is a lot for early in the race.

I'd give the race four stars for beauty, four stars for difficult hills, and zero stars for course markings.

I had a good race, but not a great time on those hills.  I missed age group awards by one minute, and one place, although I'll be honest and share that my age group isn't a huge demographic in a college town.

After the race, I met up with Christina and a friend of hers, and we wandered the farmer's market, ate pastries and drank tea, and browsed Charlottesville.

Thanks, Kimmie, for being a great tour guide!

"There is no wrong weather for coffee." Amen.

Independent bookstore bags.  I should frame one in my classroom.

After that, it was off to get cleaned up and explore a bit of the outlying areas, including a bookstore, a coffee shop, and a winery.

Time to be.

My friend Cara writes a blog about being.

As Christina and I sat in a coffeehouse, surrounded by fun little details, enjoying excellent service, munching on great little pastries, we talked about time to be, to get away, to relax.

King Family Winery was fantastic with lots of space to walk, sit, picnic, and relax outside.

Much of our conversation over the weekend was about connection, and how we pursue connections within our community.

So here's my takeaway for you.

Go call a friend.  Or email.  Or text.  But find a way to go be with someone who is important in your life.