Fahrenheit 73

The degree in which the shredder was working in my house Tuesday.

It was a pleasure to shred...

All literature allusions aside (hee hee... and consance)... I spent the majority of Tuesday organizing and shredding.

Let me preface anything else by saying that this is the second time I've typed this entry... blogger freaked out of me and didn't publish the first one, due to some technical difficulty, thus erasing my entry. So as you read this rather long entry, remember to summon up a bit of sympathy for my wrists and fingers.

So, I was convinced to buy this book called, "Getting Things Done," which contains pretty interesting strategies on getting organized. I'm a packrat and not the most organized person (I have organized messes), so I decided to give it a try. I had to first, however, organize and clean my office. That meant I had to pull out my filing system and update it. I haven't updated it in 2 years. I had old files, and lots and lots of random piles of mail and papers spread ALL over my bedroom and office. Sigh. I had to clean all that stuff out first.

I spent 3 hours going through papers, files and using the shredder. Amongst things I found...

1) Phone bills and electric bills from my last apartment in Baton Rouge... I moved out of there in July 2002.

2) Taxes from the past 10 years. How many years are we supposed to keep them?

3) Car repair receipts from a car I got rid of three years ago.

4) Starbucks management stuff... I haven't been a manager in almost two years.

5) Bank statements from the past 10 years.

6) Painful memories - photos, papers (including the lie-filled "bomb" dropped by my evil ex-district manager at Starbucks), highlighted cell-phone bills, ticket stubs, letters, etc. ALL OF THAT WENT IN THE SHREDDER

So I cleaned out my old files, re-used folders and created new ones. I now have an HISD section, a section for my current car, a race section (now I have a place to put bibs and finisher's certificates and registration forms), a section for my TRF, updates on banks, stocks, health insurance (since I got a new one a year ago). The only thing I haven't thrown away are my medical bills from a surgery I had three years ago. Can't I throw that away?

My next action step is to clean out my office, which has, as of late, been resembling a landfill, filled with teacher shit. Tomorrow afternoon, I plan on boxing stuff I can take to my classroom (and storing that in the garage) and packing up stuff I won't need for the next few months, since I'm moving out soon. I vow that my office will be used as an office instead of landing site for random stuff.

Oh, and I have been running. I realize that my posts have been less running-oriented, but y'all will just have to suck it up and get over it.

I did Kenyan Nights last night and came to the following realization: Hills, I can do. Sprinting, I can do. Sprinting up hills... I cannot do. In fact, I was happy just to be climbing those steep motherf****rs without pulling a hamstring or killing my Achilles tendon. My warm-up mile was an 11:30 mile, which made me happy. Our next speed trial is next Wednesday, and I'm hoping for anywhere between an 11:30-12:00 (it's getting hotter, so I'm allowing some leeway). Although if it's below my previous 11:24, I'll be a very happy bunny!

Tomorrow: 6 miles around Rice, a meeting with my department chair, a trip to the gym and the organizing of my office.

Cheers!