Brian D. Mains

So it goes . . .

Recent Posts

  • Gratitude is Attitude: April 30, 2019

    Gratitude is Attitude: April 30, 2019

    The Taste of Cincinnati kicked off along Fifth Street, Downtown, Cincinnati Saturday May 26, 2018. Detail shot of Pompilios Tiramisu Cannoli. Photo by Joseph Fuqua II for WCPO
    1. Pre-boiled hard boiled eggs – Sometimes, I just don’t have the time to boil fresh eggs.
    2. Audiobooks – I listened to Meb Keflezighi’s 26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career during my morning commute.
    3. My public library system – I was able to check out Meb’s audiobook through the Libby smartphone app with my Kenton County Public Library card (Support your local library!).
    4. Inspiring interviews – I get to hear and share the story of a local man who has trained to run his first marathon after receiving a heart transplant last fall. I’ll share the story here as soon as it hits the air and online.
    5. My own running – The butterflies I’m starting to feel as the Flying Pig Marathon weekend approaches. I’m running a one-mile sprint, 10K, 5K and half-marathon over three days. It’s called the 3-Way Challenge with Extra Cheese.
    6. Another chance – I’ve set a few new personal health and financial goals. I only partially met some of those goals yesterday. I’m grateful for the chance to try to meet them again today.
    7. Smart Planner Pro – Related to those goals, I’m glad I persisted in using the Smart Planner Pro journal that I purchased last week. Using it felt a bit overwhelming at first, but now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, it is really helping me stay on task.
    8. Dressing up – I wore a pair of black dress pants, a blue-and-white checkered button-down shirt and black dress shoes to work. A co-worker said I looked like I lost weight and I feel more confident thanks to what I’m wearing.
    9. Free food – I get to sample a bunch of free desserts as a guest judge for this thing called Best of Taste, which is part of the annual Taste of Cincinnati food festival held each Memorial Day weekend in the Queen City. (Hopefully, I still look slimmer after eating all those sweets 😋)
    10. Morning texts from Tirza – Around 9 a.m. each morning my fianée texts me a positive good morning message. Today’s text, “I hope your day is good! I still love you even though you didn’t get the Justin Timberlake May meme.” I still don’t understand the JT May meme.
  • What I’m Grateful For: April 29,2019

    What I’m Grateful For: April 29,2019

    The photo was taken at eastern-most end of Friendship Park during a mid-April run in 2019.
    1. Running through Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park after work on a lovely spring day
    2. Lazy Sundays with Tirza
    3. An Everything bagel with fresh avocado, lightly flavored with coarse sea salt for breakfast
    4. Texting with friends early in the morning about plans for participating in the Flying Pig Marathon weekend
    5. Running into a former work colleague whom I respect
    6. Second, third, fourth and sometimes fifth chances
    7. The one Diet Mountain Dew that I drink to kickstart my Monday work morning
    8. The location of my cubicle near the giant bay windows at work
    9. Sunshine coming through those windows
    10. The laughter of those who sit near me
  • Family Easter Dinner

    Family Easter Dinner

    My niece suddenly starts pointing at people sitting at my parents’ dinner table and announces their gender.

    “Dude, girl, girl”

    Niece

    She stops once she gets to my fiancée. I’m sitting between her and my fiancée. I lean over toward my niece.

    “What about her?”

    Me

    She pauses for a few beats as she looks at me and then scans the table.

    “She loves you.”

    Niece

    .

  • She’s the One For Me

    She’s the One For Me

    Myself and my fiancée at Swamp Rabbit Brewery in Travelers Rest, South Carolina, after we both completed our last legs of the Ville to Ville Brew Tour Relay on Saturday, April 13, 2019.

    I can’t remember what prompted her to say it the first time. It was early in our relationship.

    Being human is hard

    Song listened to while writing this post

    Perhaps it was during a conversation over drinks when I shared concerns about my nephew’s occasional challenges in social or familial situations.

    Maybe it had to do with another family member or a friend or coworker or something reported in the news that day.

    The first time I remember her saying though, I knew she was the one for me.

    The sentiment reflects so much of what I love about her and the reason why I asked her to marry me this past February.