Girls on the Run

Tonight a friend from work and I went to a meeting for a really great group called Girls on the Run to check out volunteer options for their upcoming season.   And yes, I 100% keep singing that too "Man on the ruuuunnn, man on the ruuuunnn."  Anywho, they have chapters all across the country and the Boston area group is on the smaller end, but it seems like they're really gaining interest from different types of women who can help the team to grow in different ways, which is awesome.  

One of the more appealing factors for me was that while you train with the girls (ages 8-11) to run a big celebratory 5k in the spring, you also meet with them over the course of 12 weeks to talk with them in a group setting about friendships, teasing/bullying, self-confidence... all of the challenges that girls at that age are starting to face and deal with.  And then at the end of the 12 weeks you run a 5k with the girls-- no awards, no times, just a really fun, inspiring race.  

I know that I was personally really excited at the thought of getting to workout and run and overall spend time with the kiddos.  While I didn't want to necessarily be a coach, I did want to be a part of the process.  Welp, unfortunately it turns out that in order to be a coach and be involved with the team, you have to make after school practices (I'm talking 3:45-5:15pm) and you can't miss more than 4 practices over the course of the 12 weeks.  Basically, the stay-at-home moms and college girls at the meeting interviewed for those spots.

Scratch that option out for me because I cannot even imagine going to my boss and requesting leaving work early multiple days a week to go for a run.  I'm giggling just thinking about that conversation.

So my next thought was to sign up for one of the planning committees and try to join in where I can.  Nope-- the big celebratory 5k is the first weekend in May, which is the weekend that Brian and I volunteered to go to Baltimore to babysit Colin and unborn baby brother/sister while mom and dad go away for the weekend.

It looks like this might not be the best year for me to join the team, unfortunately.  It's a fun group of girls and a great cause, but I feel like if I'm going to devote that much time to something with the hope of interacting/making a difference with a kid, I would be better off signing up for Big Sister/Little Sister.  I'm also looking into joining the Junior League here in Boston, although I have a strong, strong feeling that the Yankee Junior League is leaps and bounds different from the Southern Belle Junior League.  That information session comes up this spring at some point, so I shall be in touch at some point.

The highpoint of the night was acting like a tourist and getting dinner and wine at... Cheers.  Because that's the place you go where everybody knows your name.  And they're always glad you came.  Except for the construction workers at the bar who we were fairly certain made fun of us for ordering wine.  At Cheers.

But whatever because Cheers?  I love the way you pour.