It's just the way I am

I'm one of those people who loves something like mad for very short periods of time. Then I get bored and move onto something else that I love just as much, dumping the previous obsession forever.

I was like that with scrapbooking. I went to one of those Creative Memories parties and lost my mind. This was one of the best ideas EVER. I promptly dropped over $150 on albums (pages come separately), stickers, decorative scissors, stamps, photo croppers, hole punches... I found my calling, baby. But the minute I brought home my booty ready to scrap my little heart out, I knew I was in over my head. I looked with dismay at the filing cabinet chock full of unmarked, undated, unfiled "memories" and my creativity flew out the window never looking back. I tried a half-hearted page on one of the kids then promptly dumped the stuff I bought into that same cabinet. Every time I walk past it I feel like a failure. And I never open it. Ever. I can't anyway.

Then there was the birdwatching debacle. All of a sudden I was an amateur ornithologist. I made Scott buy me top-of-the-line binoculars and I got books on identifying birds by sight, call and even silhouette. I must have been quite the sight peering up into the sky with my binoculars trying to make out if the bird I was spying was a house finch or a cardinal. Sigh. That one lasted a whole summer. I still remember a lot of the songs and calls so at the very least my kids think it's neat that I know what a chickadee sounds like.

So naturally when I started running in 2001, Scott (and frankly, even I) was skeptical. I mean this is what I do. It's my thing. I bought expensive sneakers, went to the Running Room to get "Coolmax" instead of going to Walmart to get t-shirts and even bought an mp3. But to everyone's surprise, I kept it up. That year I ran and ran. I found neat running trails in my neighbourhood, ran on streets, in parks and even a few 5K races. And this May I'm signed up for my first 10K race. Finally a "fad" that stuck. For years. And it's a healthy one, too. Especially for a woman who's pushing 40. Yay me.

Unfortunately last October I got a shiny new red hybrid bike. My first one since moving to Ottawa in 1990. What fun! I could finally ride bikes with Scott and the kids. Of course, when I got it I also had to get a matching helmet, bell and water bottle. From October to when the snow started to fly, I rode my new bike far more than I ran. So much that I'm thinking of getting one of those comfy gel seat covers. Can you see where this is headed? The typical Karen behaviour is starting to rear it's ugly head. I just hope I don't stroke out trying to run my first ever 10K after only training on a shiny red bike. With a matching bell.

kxx