Stumbling upon quaint mom and pop shops makes visiting small towns a real treat and Black Bear Books in Boone, North Carolina is no exception.  

After freezing our snowballs off snow tubing, Allan and I decided to warm up in a bookstore that touted “FIREPLACE” on its marquis.  Sipping hot chocolate next to a fierce fire while reading a local newspaper seemed like a delightful way to defrost.

Upon entering the bookstore, we were surprised by its large stature.  At the back of the store, the girls quickly located the children’s section complete with stacks of award winning literature, a train table and wooden puzzles. 

In such a cozy atmosphere, we found it all too easy to settle into this homey bookstore.  Once we found the regional children’s literature section and a collection of the owner’s son’s favorite books, the girls and I swayed in wooden rocking chairs as we read books from each collection. 

The owner, Karen Walker, welcomed us into her second home with free hot chocolate for the girls and coffee for Allan.  Her hospitality warmed us better than the fireplace. 

Ms Walker shared some of her favorite children’s books with the girls and her own life’s story with Allan and me.  We enjoyed a brief history lesson of her family and the remarkable journey that brought her to settle in Boone. 

Allana curled up in the corner of the children’s stacks reading book after book while Emmalynn played with the puzzles and I snuck away for a few minutes to explore the adult fictional regional section since I prefer bringing books home as souvenirs rather than t-shirts or trinkets. 

While exploring the store, I discovered the employee’s favorite picks, which included some of my favorite reads, such as Pillars of the Earth and Wicked.  Meghan, a young sale associate, offered a brief description of some of the other books spotlighted on the shelves and explained that Ms. Walker holds a contesteach month to see which employee’s picks sell the most books. By choosing Tom Robbins Jitterburg Perfume, we helped one associate get a little closer to winning the prize. 

I returned to the regional fictional literature to continue my hunt for a book set in the Appalachians.  After reading the titles and their summaries over several times, I found one that offered just the scenery I craved: Cataloochee. 

For the girls, I grabbed the Appalachian ABCs and coincidentally, Emmalynn and Allana both selected regional books as well.  Allana chose Jack and the Dragon, which tells the adventure of an Appalachian folk hero.  Emmalynn picked Blue Bowl Down.  Its lovely sing-song pattern deserves a banjo accompaniment.

Ms. Walker continued to pour the hospitality along with the coffee and our visit at Black Bear Books lasted nearly two hours.  So taken with Allana’s love for reading, Ms. Walker offered her a free copy of one of her many Magic Tree House Books and Allana chose Magic Tree House #17: Tonight on the Titanic.

As we wrapped up our visit at the register, Allana noticed Ms. Walker’s collection of gems.  Allana expressed her love for rocks and Ms. Walker insisted that we pay her friend, Doc, a visit at his gem mine before we left Boone as most of the gems proudly displayed in her case came from Doc’s Rocks Gem Mine.  Excited about the prospects she would find there, we promised to take Allana the next day upon Ms. Walker’s recommendation.  To hold them over until then, Ms. Walker gave each girl a gem, however, Ms. Walker and our experience at Black Bear Books was the most precious gem we uncovered that day. 

 ***Photo of Karen and Chris Walker and their son, Caleb, was borrowed from The Mountain Times.***

For years, I have coveted over a platter that hangs in my friend’s kitchen.  Her young child’s precious handprint forms a turkey in the center with the words “Give Thanks” cascading over the top of the dish. 

I have always loved that memento and vowed someday I would take my children to a “paint your own pottery” place to create the same platter with them. 

Truth be told, I don’t have patience for paint your own pottery places.  Those places drain the life out of me.  There’s way too many color choices and way too many breakables lying about for my four year old to literally act like a bull in a china shop.  Therefore, my inability to make stupid decisions paired with my “You break it; you buy it” fear has kept me away.  I simply avoid the scene entirely and we find other ways to let our creative juices flow without shattering dishes along with our self-esteem. 

Then, last week Allana, Emmalynn and I attended a birthday party at You Do the Dishes in New Tampa.  My girls were thrilled to paint a small figurine and begged me to paint more.  Finally, I felt the inspiration to paint a handprint turkey platter.  The timing was perfect.  The staff was so helpful and hands-on that my anxiety over perfectionism and colors was greatly reduced. 

Ready to gobble up more fun, the girls were so excited to paint a dish for Mommy.  I couldn’t believe what angels sat before me.  Allana picked the colors without hesitation and Emmalynn avoided knocking over shelves of pottery.  Plus, the supportive staff helped make our handprint project a success. 

A few days later, our turkey handprint platter was ready.  I couldn’t wait to see how it came out!  I finally possessed my own precious timeless piece to hang in my kitchen! 

And then, my heart sank.  A large crack appeared down the center of the platter.  My precious turkey dish was now trash. 

I began to feel sorry myself and whined about not having a turkey platter for Thanksgiving.  I had waited years for this dish and now it seemed I was the real turkey. 

The owner explained that occasionally the heat in the kiln will causes pieces to crack and she reassured me I could make another at no additional cost. 

Even though I could easily make another, could I replicate the whole experience?  Would my children be as willing and well-behaved as before? 

Then, I realized how ridiculously shallow I sounded.  It’s just a dish. 

I should be thankful that my children have hands to make turkey handprints. 

I should be thankful that I can even afford to make this dish when other families lack food for their dishes. 

I should be thankful that I have a car to drive to pottery place and a home for us and all our belongings. 

I should be thankful that I have two healthy children and be grateful for every moment we spend together even when they drive my crazy. 

I should be thankful for my health and my husband’s health. 

From this experience, I was grateful for my cracked dish and the lesson in humility it gave me.  Like the dish, my life is not perfect but it’s full of many blessings.  So, for my husband, my two beautiful girls, the occasional cracked dish, the handprints and marker murals on walls and the many other messy blessings in my life… 

I give thanks.

“So you really hurt yourself, didn’t you?”  Tiffany asked me the other evening.  “It has to be bad, because I know you.  You’re a shake-it-off kind-of-gal.  I’ve seen you run through some pretty bad pains.  You rest and then you’re back on your feet in no time.  But this has got to be bad if you’re not running for weeks.”

Yes, it really is that bad.  Taking deep breaths still hurts, so I can’t even imagine how I could run when it feels like I am being crushed.  The pain conveniently sits under my bra line, so underwire brasseries only make it worse. 

For the past two weeks since I crashed my bike, I’ve tried differently physical activities to test my limits.  Swimming hurts.  Mopping and sweeping the floor is a painful chore, but at least now I have a valid excuse for an untidy house. 

Fortunately, sitting at my computer is pain free, which is doing wonders for my backside.  Blogging, shopping on-line, tweeting on Twitter, updating my Facebook and watching videos You Tube do not require heavy breathing.  Well, I guess it would depend on what videos I view on You Tube and of course, I am referring to comedy sketches, because laughing still really hurts.  What did you think I meant?

“What does a mommy blogger runner write about when she can’t run?” Lori asked me the other day.  Then, Tiffany also commented on the variety of interesting topics on Run DMT since my injury.  At least I am expanding my blog’s reading audience!

So, what exactly does a “mom on the run” write about when she isn’t running?  She writes about how she has missed running for a fortnight and feels like her body is turning to mush.  And have I mentioned my face is breaking out too?  I need my stress release again.  I want my ultimate “me time” back before I lose my mind as well as my body.  Since bruised ribs take about month to heal, I only have one more fortnight to go!

Due to my sore ribs, sawing logs has been my only recreational activity as of late.  But even with sore ribs, sleeping has been a difficult task.  Then, this past weekend, my DH and I bought a new mattress. 

The rule of thumb for mattresses suggests buying a new mattress every 10 years and at the 12 year mark, our old mattress desperately needed to be replaced.

After breastfeeding and co-sleeping for several years, I had forgotten what a good night’s sleep felt like.  After the kids moved into their own bed a couple of years ago, I found myself sleeping on a slant, leaning into the center of the bed caused by the weight of my DH’s body.  In the morning, my back ached from the slanted sleeping.  So, the kids were out of our bed and I was as well spending many nights sleeping on the couch.  For the next couple of years, I complained about my sofa slumbers (or lack of) to my DH, but my complaints went unheard. 

Then recently, my DH started suffering from stiff necks and like so many husbands, once they begin to feel the slightest discomfort, it becomes a problem.  Fortunately, the problem was solved this past weekend with a wonderful new mattress, which was delivered this week.

My comfy, cushy new cloud mattress is like a dream.  I’ve been sleeping like a log for the first time in years!  Unfortunately, reclining and sitting up are still very painful due to my bruised ribs, but the pain is so worth it, because once I lie down, I saw logs soundly all night long.  Now hopefully all this wonderful rest will help heal my ribs more quickly.

Parents and educators understand the importance of teaching problem solving skills to children.  Sometimes it can be difficult to sit back and watch children fumble through mistakes to learn the best path; however, through real-world experiences the process becomes more meaningful. 

By demonstrating problem solving skills, we guide our children to make informed decisions and determine the best choice.  Children’s books make great tools to help teach our children this process and with the aid of Hot on the Range, problem solving and decision making skills are modeled to young children.  

In Hot on the Range, a young horse discovers the best way too cool himself on a hot summer day in Texas.  Through a series of events, Chester learns that sometimes the best way to do something for one isn’t always the best solution for another.  As he fumbles through his mistakes, he eventually uncovers the solution to his problem with the help of his master.  Through trial and error and patience, Chester discovers the best solution to his problem. 

Typically in juvenile fiction, the elements of fantasy and humor teach lessons to young readers.  The author, R.D. Jentsch, uses real animal behavior and instincts to teach problem solving to her audience.  When reading this story, young readers will learn how a horse survives the Texas heat as well as understanding the decision-making process.    

Since my girls (ages 7 and 4) love horses, they were instantly drawn to the story.  David C. Bryant’s beautiful water color illustrations held their attention.  Parents and educators will appreciate its simple lesson on problem solving and trial and error.  

Hot on the Range is available at Amazon or you can visit hotontherange.com.  R. D. Jentsch’s second book, Froggy and Friends Go to the Creek, is due to be released on August 29, 2009.

This same friend mentioned that she wasn’t the biggest fan of sports drinks, so her trainer recommended coconut water to replenish her electrolytes after working out.  Of course, I hadn’t heard of this.  I chuckled at the thought of me smashing a coconut to get to the coconut water with me wearing most of it and half a coconut shell as a hat.  After all, straws don’t simply pop into the side of a coconut. 

With a quick search on-line, I found these nifty little cartons of O.N.E coconut water on-line, which comes with a straw and pops into the top quite easily.

I have to admit.  The idea of trying coconut water intrigues me even if it is minus the rum and a paper umbrella.  The whole natural sports drink appeals to me, as it lacks food coloring and high fructose corn syrup which are the main ingredients found in many of the popular sports drink. 

Upon researching the benefits of coconut water, I learned that “the electrolytes in coconut water helps you get rid of fatigue and refreshes your body to the core”, which puts a whole new twist to Harry Nilsson’s lyrics. There’s electrolytes in the coconut, so drink it all up…. There’s electrolytes in the coconut, so drink it all up.  Besides replenishing my electrolytes, I learned that coconut could really “relieve a belly ache” by cleansing the digestive tract.  Plus, coconut water has twice the potassium of a banana.

But most importantly, if I contract intestinal worms a little coconut water can help rid me of the nasty little buggers.  Hey, I watch House.  It could totally happen. 

So, have you tried coconut water?  What did you think?