"Happiness is like a butterfly.
The more you chase it, the more it eludes you.
But if you turn your attention to other things,
It comes and sits softly on your shoulder."

– Henry David Thoreau

So what does one do when life seems to be caving in and everything goes wrong?

I can tell you what this girl does:

1) Count my blessings for all the things that are going right – even if it's just an uneventful day at work (instead of getting murdered per usual- maybe it's true that you don't get more than you can handle…).

2) Turn to the people who build me up most.

3) GO RUN A 5K  and GET COVERED IN COLOR!!! Duh!

Color Me Rad was an AWESOME event.  I went with a bunch of friends from boot camp ,and- despite the fact that I felt bad Adam didn't come and wasn't completely myself– I still managed to have a pretty good time.  It certainly didn't hurt that it involved two of my favorite things: running and getting completely filthy. 🙂

It definitely was great to spend some time with the boot camp crew.  I have been missing them terribly… possibly even more than the actual exercise. I didn't bring up what happened between Adam and I with them -even though his absence was brought up a few times– because I didn't want to dampen the mood at all.  After all, the day actually belonged to Kelly who joined in at the last minute and decided to run in her wedding dress (size 16  restructured to fit her new size 4 frame) as a "trash the dress" session.  It was the perfect act of closure- as phrased by our team: "Best divorce party ever".

I was so proud of her to be able to put that gown on and trash it publicly.  After all the ridicule she endured from her ex about exercising and getting healthy- it was the perfect act of defiance.  She is in charge of her life now, and his attempts to control and manipulate her aren't going to work anymore! She got numerous cheers from random runners as we explained why she was wearing it, and she deserved every one.

I think everyone in our group had an awesome time.  We were definitely as colorful on the outside as we are on the inside by the time we finished.  It was just a great chance for everyone to just cut loose and enjoy each other's company.  We came to have fun, and even the ridiculous traffic on the way there wasn't going to get in our way (we found ways to entertain ourselves… a few cars full of boot campers- it wasn't too tough lol)

After the race, a bunch us went out for some Mexican and margaritas (my first in a long time  SO YUMMY!!!) …. and no, we did not clean up first.  I'm not sure that the staff knew what to make of us. All the silliness- possibly induced by the combination of alcohol, dehydration, and our general childish behavior when we get together- was exactly what I needed.  Sometimes you need to act like a 5 year old to cope with being an adult… 😉