The Cat Came Back, A Friend Who Inspires, And A Regret That Has Weighed

You know how it is, when you have that cat that comes into your yard, right?  The one that chases your wild birds and tries to kill and eat them?  What do you do with said cat?  Some people, (I'm not saying who) have caught said sorts of cats, driven them a number of miles away, and dropped them off.  Sometimes, to the dismay of these people, the cat comes back. 
So you can imagine the dismay of the Amazing-Wonder-Steve when he takes me every morning from the hotel where we are staying, drops me off about 3.5 miles away (at the Mariott where my conference is being held) and I end up showing up back at our door, knocking and asking for water.  =) 
I'm pretty proud of myself for continuing to run, even here in Hawaii in my semi-vacationing state.  I actually haven't done it every day, but have done about every other day.  It has been a lot harder here, than in Kodiak, because:
1. It is hot here!  The temperature when I got back from my run was 88 degrees!  The high in Kodiak today is going to be in the mid-high twenties. 
2.  There are hills here!  In Kodiak I have been running on a track to avoid getting chased and eaten by bears. 

The first run I only made it about 2.9 miles before I called Steve and asked him to come get me, but today I made it door-to-door---3.5 miles! 

"Who is this girl?"  You're asking yourself.  "Running on vacation and becoming a vegetaquarian?  Do I even know her anymore?" 

The question I'm asking myself is, "Who do I want to be?"  I'm working on becoming that kind of Allie.  As it turns out, she is active, and a vegaquarian. 
One of my contemporaries (and good friends) by whom I feel inspired is Sarah.  I really can't say enough about how amazing I think she is, or how much she inspires me to be a better Allie.  She isn't didactic about who she is or what she's about, she just is herself, without apology, and it works for her.  She's brilliant in every sense of the word.  I want to be more like that--more like her.  I think that could be a good fit for my life. 

While I'm talking about Sarah, I want to mention two things:
1.  If you want to read really great discussions on movies, books, current issues, etc, and also see pictures of (and get recipes for) really great food, check out her blog.  She really is brilliant and witty and just inspiring in a lot of ways.  
2. When I got married, I could only invite a certain number of people and still fit the "package" that I could afford.  Steve and I invited our families, and that left room for only a certain number of friends.  Because of this, Sarah, and her boyfriend (and all-around great guy) Mark, were not invited to my wedding.  This is something that hurt Sarah A LOT.  What made it worse, was that almost none of Steve's family ended up coming to the wedding, so I actually had PLENTY of room for Sarah and Mark.  What made it EVEN WORSE was that Sarah threw me a bachelorette party before the wedding, and she invited a lot of people, but it just happened to turn out that the only ones who came to the party were also going to the wedding.  So Sarah was the only one at the party (which she threw for me) that wasn't invited to the wedding.   It remains, to this day, my most sincere regret.  Sarah knows me really well, and she loves me and is a good friend, so she has forgiven this, but I want to state here, publicly, that not having her at my wedding, and hurting her like that, is the thing I regret the very most in my life. 
It's something I've needed to say--and to share with her--for YEARS, but I've been too chicken-shit to say it.
Sarah, I love you, I admire you, and I thank you for being a good friend to me, even when I haven't been as good a friend to you.  I miss you, and I love that you are who you are and are living your dreams!

The new Allie is working at better speaking the truth too, even when it's hard. 

Cheers!