Where Were You?

I heard this song this morning.  It will probably get played a lot over the weekend.

And so I ask . . . where were you?  Where were you on September 11, 2001 when you heard about the attack on our country?  How did you react?

I was a senior at Bob Jones University.  At 9:00, which was just after the first plane hit, I started Spanish class.  I remember about halfway through the class that one student's cell phone rang.  The teacher was annoyed since phones were supposed to be turned off during class & he quickly silenced the call.  When class got out I remember seeing him in the hall on his phone, likely returning his missed call.  Later that day I found out that his mom was the one calling him, telling him about the attacks. 

Keep in mind of where I was at the time.  There were very few TV's on campus.  So news of the "outside world" didn't come instantly.  This was also before the days of smartphones.

So after Spanish class I went to the next room which was the "Language Lab".  Basically you had to spend so much time in there each week doing language exercises, listening to tapes to improve your speaking abilities in the language you were learning.  I think I spent about 30 minutes in there. 

We had chapel Mondays through Thursdays at 11:00.  Since I had some time to spare I decided to walk to the library to check my email.  There weren't a whole lot of people in there but I didn't think much of it since it was during a class hour.  Checked my email but there was nothing about the attacks.  I probably could have gotten on some sort of news website but I didn't.  I was probably there about 15 minutes so I started heading to the FMA (Founder's Memorial Amphitheater) for chapel.  I remember the campus seeming empty.  Not a lot of people out.  Again, I thought it was weird but didn't put much more thought into it.

Once I got in the FMA I met up with 2 friends.  And they asked me if I heard about the terrorist attacks.  What?!  They said some planes had flown into the World Trade Center.  I also remember one friend being a little nervous because she felt these terrorist would want to do harm to Christians & a place like BJU, especially in a general assembly like chapel, would be their perfect target. 

Chapel wasn't like others before.  Dr. Bob updated the student body on what was known at the time, which wasn't much.  It had only been a little over 2 hours since the first plane hit.  They weren't even sure yet who the attack was from.  I remember him also saying that there could be as many as 10,000 people killed in this attack, considering it was in New York City & how many people usually are in those buildings.  That just blew my mind.

He chose for the school day to go on as usual.  Classes would continue as normal.  To this day I still have mixed feelings on this decision.  Yes, there was no good in just sitting & worrying.  But there were students from New York or Washington, DC that were scared for their loved ones.  I had one friend who was scared because her dad worked at the Pentagon & she couldn't get a hold of anyone in her family.  She finally got to talk to someone later & was relieved to hear her dad was ok.  But I felt bad that she had to try to focus on class while worried about her dad.  It didn't seem fair.

That day I was having lunch with a friend.  He had a class at noon so I had to wait for him to get out.  So I went to the bottom of one of the girls' dorms where a TV was so I could watch the news & see this for myself.  Seeing that 2nd plane hit the other tower just didn't seem real.  It was something you only saw in movies.

That night President Bush spoke to the nation & we were able to see it as another general assembly.  There were a lot of tears.  A couple of my friends had actually been inside the World Trade Center just that summer so to see those towers crumble to the ground was hard to watch.

Patriotism was amazing after that day.  I think there was an American flag in every dorm window.  My roommates & I even bought some red, white, & blue lights & strung them around our window.

So that's my story.  I've seen one of those reposting status' that says how I couldn't tell you what I did last Tuesday, but I could tell you what I did on that Tuesday 10 years ago.  That couldn't be more true!

Again I ask, where were you?

I get to do what?!

This past Monday I had my monthly OB checkup.  We were able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler, which was a big surprise to me since I didn't think it would have been possible for another week.  We also discuss my insomnia issues.  My doctor agreed that exercise could help to help wear me out (as if I'm not worn out already).  But he decided to prescribe Ambien so I could have a better guarantee of sleep.  So far I've only used it 3 different nights & it's definitely helped.  I still wake up once each night for a bathroom visit but that's to be expected.  At least now it's not taking me up to 2 hours to fall asleep.

While discussing my exercise routine, which has hardly been "routine", he suggested that I pick up the pace on walking just a bit.  I had been doing a slow 20 min. pace, mostly because I wasn't sure what I could handle.  I mentioned that in reality I don't enjoy walking since it just makes me want to run.  His response:  "Then run."

What?!  Me?  You remember who you're talking to, right?

He suggested that I just slow my pace down a bit so it's not too much impact but said I'd be just fine since I've already been a runner.  There just won't be any marathon-type runs.

So on Wednesday I decided to give it a try.  I even put on the singlet I used to wear for a lot of my long runs.  It just to hang really big on me.  I prefer my singlets loose.  Well, it's not loose anymore.  I couldn't believe how much I had filled it out already!

Since it had been over a month since my last run (a final pre-pregnancy run that I was very happy with) I decided to run as if I was just starting out.  I would walk for 2 min. & then run (well, really it was a jog) for 2 min. & continued this for 30 min.  The running times were weirdly tiring considering it was so much slower than I used to be, but it didn't completely exhaust me.  And each time I ran I loved it.  I wasn't starring at the clock waiting for the 2 min. to be up.  Really, I probably could have gone longer but I want to be careful.  The only difficulty I had was with my knees.  They felt as if I had been running for 15 miles.  And that night the rest of my joints from the waist down ached so bad.

Being given permission to run is huge for me.  Even though I had a complication-free pregnancy with Shaylin & she was completely healthy, I will always be considered high-risk.  But now to be allowed to still do something like running makes me feel almost "normal".  I don't have to just live in a bubble & be afraid to do anything.

So far I've only run that one time.  My joints just hurt that bad.  I would have run today but was just too full from lunch so I simply walked.  Hopefully I can get into a better routine & keep this up.  Then I'll have to find out just how far into the pregnancy I can continue running.  It would just be hilarious to run while 8 months pregnant!  I'll just have to find some way to hold my giant belly!