What is that smell? It smells like the rodeo! Horses? No, not horses. More like cows. No, not cows, just the leather. That's it! The smell is leather.
The smell is the leather seats on my fantastic new car!
The car came about 10 months early, but it became necessary when I realized that I was going to have to sink some money into my newly-paid off tiny car. I figured, what the hell, instead of sinking that money into repairs, I might as well just sink it into a new car.
I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Ford Escape XLT with loads of fun stuff.
I feel like a grown-up. And the price was right. Unfortunately I didn't have a great deal of time to save up for a downpayment, so I had to drain my savings. I will therefore be driving for a while, and not flying anytime soon. And I will be pinching pennies until my savings gets to what it was.
But I have a sweet new ride!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
At Least My Legs Work
My car may be broken, but my legs work fine.
While my car sits in the shop, getting fixed, I put in a 4 mile run. Average pace: 12:30. Woo-hoo!
I did not get in a long run this weekend. Oh, well. I'll let my legs heal. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself.
Meanwhile, my sister and brother-in-law are on the phone, pimping me out to a coworker of JJ's. I find the situation highly amusing.
Cheers!
While my car sits in the shop, getting fixed, I put in a 4 mile run. Average pace: 12:30. Woo-hoo!
I did not get in a long run this weekend. Oh, well. I'll let my legs heal. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself.
Meanwhile, my sister and brother-in-law are on the phone, pimping me out to a coworker of JJ's. I find the situation highly amusing.
Cheers!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
In the Warm, Furnished Prison
It rain today. It rained a lot.
Yesteday, it was just cold. Mom and I went to the Renaissance Festival (where we ran into four rodeo buddies, one of my favorite students and one of my dad's good friend - who, as it turns out, now works at the HFD station 2 miles away from my apartment!). It was bitterly cold, but not rainy.
Today, I heard the distant thunder and saw the not-so-distant lightening. Today's mileage was supposed to be 11 miles. As I woke up and gathered my running gear, I had a feeling I'd be back in bed shortly. Yep - when I arrived at our starting point, the coaches were cancelling the run because of the lightening. So I drove home, went back to bed, and reemerged 3 hours later.
After I woke up, I sat at my dining room table, determined to finish grading. You see, I volunteered (with pay, of course) to be a grader for these district exams. I will never do it again because the pile of exams never got shorter! But today, I finished my last exam, bringing me up to around 2,000 exams. And they weren't scantron - they were 3 paragraphs per exam. So I read close to 6,000 paragraph answers. But I sat and finished it, occasionally taking a break to play scrabble, work out, chat on the phone.
At 3pm I finished. And I decided to grab some lunch and head to the gym. Unfortunately, my car decided to not cooperate. All of a sudden, as I was trying to pull my car into a parking lot, my car decided it didn't want to turn. It stopped turning mid-turn, causing me to almost run into a pole. I had to force the wheel over, feeling as though I was going to break something. AND my battery light came on. I somehow managed to make it home without getting killed (seriously, turning frightened me). I called up Stephen, who came over and diagnosed it as a belt problem. The very belt he's talking about is a new belt - it was just replaced in March before a trip to Baton Rouge. It turns out that the belt was not properly put in, because it had fallen. It wasn't broken, it was off of the thing it's supposed to be attached to. So I have to wait until Monday (because the shop is closed tomorrow). Monday I will call them (I have to walk to work now, in the cold), and Tuesday I will take it in. I'm hoping I don't have to take Tuesday off from work to get this taken care of, but I might have to. Argh!
So, until my car is fixed, I am trapped inside my apartment. And tomorrow, the cold rain is to continue, which means I'm really trapped inside my apartment.
Sigh.
Yesteday, it was just cold. Mom and I went to the Renaissance Festival (where we ran into four rodeo buddies, one of my favorite students and one of my dad's good friend - who, as it turns out, now works at the HFD station 2 miles away from my apartment!). It was bitterly cold, but not rainy.
Today, I heard the distant thunder and saw the not-so-distant lightening. Today's mileage was supposed to be 11 miles. As I woke up and gathered my running gear, I had a feeling I'd be back in bed shortly. Yep - when I arrived at our starting point, the coaches were cancelling the run because of the lightening. So I drove home, went back to bed, and reemerged 3 hours later.
After I woke up, I sat at my dining room table, determined to finish grading. You see, I volunteered (with pay, of course) to be a grader for these district exams. I will never do it again because the pile of exams never got shorter! But today, I finished my last exam, bringing me up to around 2,000 exams. And they weren't scantron - they were 3 paragraphs per exam. So I read close to 6,000 paragraph answers. But I sat and finished it, occasionally taking a break to play scrabble, work out, chat on the phone.
At 3pm I finished. And I decided to grab some lunch and head to the gym. Unfortunately, my car decided to not cooperate. All of a sudden, as I was trying to pull my car into a parking lot, my car decided it didn't want to turn. It stopped turning mid-turn, causing me to almost run into a pole. I had to force the wheel over, feeling as though I was going to break something. AND my battery light came on. I somehow managed to make it home without getting killed (seriously, turning frightened me). I called up Stephen, who came over and diagnosed it as a belt problem. The very belt he's talking about is a new belt - it was just replaced in March before a trip to Baton Rouge. It turns out that the belt was not properly put in, because it had fallen. It wasn't broken, it was off of the thing it's supposed to be attached to. So I have to wait until Monday (because the shop is closed tomorrow). Monday I will call them (I have to walk to work now, in the cold), and Tuesday I will take it in. I'm hoping I don't have to take Tuesday off from work to get this taken care of, but I might have to. Argh!
So, until my car is fixed, I am trapped inside my apartment. And tomorrow, the cold rain is to continue, which means I'm really trapped inside my apartment.
Sigh.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Trotting for Turkey
My Thanksgiving tradition continues with the completion of another Uptown Park Turkey Trot. This is not my favorite race, probably because the course isn't that interesting. I must say, however, that the changed course was an improvement, but this year the weather was terrible!
The cold front came in late last night. The temperature at the start was 40 degrees with very strong gusts of wind. I ran with Lori, and our first 4 miles were surprisingly great - all sub 13. The last two miles, however, sucked. The wind was stronger, we were getting colder, and I could barely move my fingers and legs. I was miserable. Still, I finished at 1:19, which isn't my best 10k time, but I don't think it's my worst, either. And mile two was a sub-12 minute, which made me giggly (and out of breath).
But that's done and it's almost time for turkey. I made the turkey again this year, as well as the homemade cranberry relish, asparagus and pumpkin pie-cups (I didn't have a pie plate but had cupcake tins). Mmm. Turkey....
Happy Thanksgiving!
The cold front came in late last night. The temperature at the start was 40 degrees with very strong gusts of wind. I ran with Lori, and our first 4 miles were surprisingly great - all sub 13. The last two miles, however, sucked. The wind was stronger, we were getting colder, and I could barely move my fingers and legs. I was miserable. Still, I finished at 1:19, which isn't my best 10k time, but I don't think it's my worst, either. And mile two was a sub-12 minute, which made me giggly (and out of breath).
But that's done and it's almost time for turkey. I made the turkey again this year, as well as the homemade cranberry relish, asparagus and pumpkin pie-cups (I didn't have a pie plate but had cupcake tins). Mmm. Turkey....
Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sorely Happy
Lori, my running buddy, has been going to a personal trainer and adores her, so she convinced me to tag along with her training today.
Dear Lord, my ass was kicked today. My quads are going to be extremely sore tomorrow. And yet I topped off the hour-long, grueling weight session with a 3 mile jog this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to put in 4 miles tomorrow. Let me rephrase that: I will put in 4 miles tomorrow, but I might be shuffling it.
Today, being Monday, is a Weight Watcher meeting day. Total WW weight-loss: 21 pounds! Add the three pounds I lost before joining WW, I've lost 24 pounds since moving to Clear Lake. Most of my clothes are fitting and I am finally seeing the difference in the mirror. I haven't weighed this in 3 years (before one of the most emotionally devastating weeks of my life). I'm at the weight I was when I did my first play at Company Onstage.
This is strange, but I feel like the bad/stressful things of the past three years haven't happened. I mean they have, but I feel like they are way beyond me. Gone are the emtionally tiring days of being in a pseudo-relationship with someone who didn't feel the same way. Gone are the days of being in another relationship in which I lost myself and stayed unhappy for too long. Gone are the days of being in a job that stressed me out so badly that I had anxiety attacks before arriving at work. Gone are the days of hating myself for allowing myself to give in to food to comfort me. Gone are the days of wishing that I could just erase those years. With each stressful situation, I gained weight. And now that I've finally lost it all, I feel as though the bad years are finally over and I've grown from lessons learned from those experiences. I feel like I can close old doors and open new ones.
I'm still 10 pounds from what I was at my lightest, but those 10 pounds didn't really come from that much stress. It came from going on a cruise, a cruise with WAY too much food and not enough of a gym to keep me interested. That and just adjusting to a new position at work.
I've already lost 24 pounds. 10 pounds is no problem. By the Houston Half Marathon (almost two months away), they should be gone.
Cheers (with water or diet coke, of course)!
Dear Lord, my ass was kicked today. My quads are going to be extremely sore tomorrow. And yet I topped off the hour-long, grueling weight session with a 3 mile jog this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to put in 4 miles tomorrow. Let me rephrase that: I will put in 4 miles tomorrow, but I might be shuffling it.
Today, being Monday, is a Weight Watcher meeting day. Total WW weight-loss: 21 pounds! Add the three pounds I lost before joining WW, I've lost 24 pounds since moving to Clear Lake. Most of my clothes are fitting and I am finally seeing the difference in the mirror. I haven't weighed this in 3 years (before one of the most emotionally devastating weeks of my life). I'm at the weight I was when I did my first play at Company Onstage.
This is strange, but I feel like the bad/stressful things of the past three years haven't happened. I mean they have, but I feel like they are way beyond me. Gone are the emtionally tiring days of being in a pseudo-relationship with someone who didn't feel the same way. Gone are the days of being in another relationship in which I lost myself and stayed unhappy for too long. Gone are the days of being in a job that stressed me out so badly that I had anxiety attacks before arriving at work. Gone are the days of hating myself for allowing myself to give in to food to comfort me. Gone are the days of wishing that I could just erase those years. With each stressful situation, I gained weight. And now that I've finally lost it all, I feel as though the bad years are finally over and I've grown from lessons learned from those experiences. I feel like I can close old doors and open new ones.
I'm still 10 pounds from what I was at my lightest, but those 10 pounds didn't really come from that much stress. It came from going on a cruise, a cruise with WAY too much food and not enough of a gym to keep me interested. That and just adjusting to a new position at work.
I've already lost 24 pounds. 10 pounds is no problem. By the Houston Half Marathon (almost two months away), they should be gone.
Cheers (with water or diet coke, of course)!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Vacation Days #1 and #2
Vacation day #1 was ok. I jogged 10.5 miles in the morning (the first 8 were fine, the last 2 just sucked), graded some exams, went shopping with the Pregnant one and her husband, graded some more exams, went to my mom's house and fell asleep.
Vacation day #2 was also just ok. Thunderstorms came into the city during the night, cancelling the trip to the Ren Fest that my mom and I planned - we were not enthused about traipsing around in mud. So I spent the day grading. And shopping. And going to the movies. And more grading.
A word about the grading... I volunteered to grade district benchmark exams because I wanted the money. I have about 1700 exams to grade (seriously). Between yesterday and today, I've graded 425. They're not hard to grade, but my brain shuts down rather quickly because I'm reading the same responses over and over and over and over and over. So how am I clearing my mind? Going shopping, which is defeating the purpose of grading these for extra money.
But I have a radio converter for my iPod now, a new calendar, a new CD, and cute new shoes. So tonight, I'll be camped out on my couch - grading more. I hope to get another 250 done before I go to bed. And presently, I'm wearing my purple LSU pajamas, a yellow camisole, and black-and-cream lacey heels. Let me tell you, the shoes just complete the pajamas. :)
Cheers!
Vacation day #2 was also just ok. Thunderstorms came into the city during the night, cancelling the trip to the Ren Fest that my mom and I planned - we were not enthused about traipsing around in mud. So I spent the day grading. And shopping. And going to the movies. And more grading.
A word about the grading... I volunteered to grade district benchmark exams because I wanted the money. I have about 1700 exams to grade (seriously). Between yesterday and today, I've graded 425. They're not hard to grade, but my brain shuts down rather quickly because I'm reading the same responses over and over and over and over and over. So how am I clearing my mind? Going shopping, which is defeating the purpose of grading these for extra money.
But I have a radio converter for my iPod now, a new calendar, a new CD, and cute new shoes. So tonight, I'll be camped out on my couch - grading more. I hope to get another 250 done before I go to bed. And presently, I'm wearing my purple LSU pajamas, a yellow camisole, and black-and-cream lacey heels. Let me tell you, the shoes just complete the pajamas. :)
Cheers!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
It Didn't Stop There
As I felt threatened Wednesday (see Wednesdday's blog), yesterday I WAS threatened.
The whole story is kinda long so I'll give you the abridged version. On Thursday and Friday, the student was still not nice to me. Yestersday, instead of writing class notes, he was writing something else. He left it behind - it was written in a weird code. Being that I'm both intelligent and determined, I studied the note and figured out the code. It was 95% about me and 100% scarey. In it, he said "I will kill her smling will I do...f**** I am so disturbed." He went on and on and it sufficiently freaked me out. I turned it in, the kid was called down and he will not be at my school for a while.
If anyone wants to hear the whole story, let me know. But I think the school handled it the best they could, the kid was in serious trouble.
My mom freaked out, and so did some of my friends, but I feel safe. I am no longer walking to school (at least, not anytime soon). The student was not taken into custody due to his cooperation and his parents showing up, so I'm going to be careful. I don't think he's going to hurt me (I think he's more angry with his family life), but I've got some big guy friends (one's a coach and the other has a weapons permit) who said they'll come over if I ever feel safe.
I feel pretty safe, but this situation just makes me realize how lonely and vulnerable I am over here sometimes. Thankfully I have a whole week off from school and can just relax.
The whole story is kinda long so I'll give you the abridged version. On Thursday and Friday, the student was still not nice to me. Yestersday, instead of writing class notes, he was writing something else. He left it behind - it was written in a weird code. Being that I'm both intelligent and determined, I studied the note and figured out the code. It was 95% about me and 100% scarey. In it, he said "I will kill her smling will I do...f**** I am so disturbed." He went on and on and it sufficiently freaked me out. I turned it in, the kid was called down and he will not be at my school for a while.
If anyone wants to hear the whole story, let me know. But I think the school handled it the best they could, the kid was in serious trouble.
My mom freaked out, and so did some of my friends, but I feel safe. I am no longer walking to school (at least, not anytime soon). The student was not taken into custody due to his cooperation and his parents showing up, so I'm going to be careful. I don't think he's going to hurt me (I think he's more angry with his family life), but I've got some big guy friends (one's a coach and the other has a weapons permit) who said they'll come over if I ever feel safe.
I feel pretty safe, but this situation just makes me realize how lonely and vulnerable I am over here sometimes. Thankfully I have a whole week off from school and can just relax.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Uneasiness
I felt threatened at work today.
Last year, I had a student harassing me. I nipped that one in the bud. This year, I have a student who has no respect for me whatsoever and he's belligerent and combatative towards me. Today, after I gave him detention for refusing to do his work, he gets mad at me and proceeds to write. Later, I found his writing and it wasn't his assignment - he was venting. He wrote that he felt much "rage and anger" towards me, called me a nut, etc. In fact, he used the terms "rage" and "anger" over and over.
Of course, I talked to the administration. The counsellor said he was angry about something else, and that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But that doesn't comfort me.
Being a teacher isn't easy. Here's a prime reason why.
Last year, I had a student harassing me. I nipped that one in the bud. This year, I have a student who has no respect for me whatsoever and he's belligerent and combatative towards me. Today, after I gave him detention for refusing to do his work, he gets mad at me and proceeds to write. Later, I found his writing and it wasn't his assignment - he was venting. He wrote that he felt much "rage and anger" towards me, called me a nut, etc. In fact, he used the terms "rage" and "anger" over and over.
Of course, I talked to the administration. The counsellor said he was angry about something else, and that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But that doesn't comfort me.
Being a teacher isn't easy. Here's a prime reason why.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
More Hot Marines
I registered for the first Marine Corps Half Marathon just a few minutes ago. It's in May, in Virginia, and I'm excited. But one part of the waiver makes me laugh:
"In the event the Historic Half is delayed or cancelled for any reason, inclugin but not limited to: fire, threatened or actual strike, labor difficulty, work stoppage, insurrection, war, public disaster, flood, unavoidable casualty, acts of God or the elements, or any other cause beyond the control of the Marine Corps Marathon there shall be no refund of the entry fee or any other costs of Athlete in connection with the Event."
Well, let's hope no one bombs or takes over Virginia because then I'll be out $64.
Cheers!
"In the event the Historic Half is delayed or cancelled for any reason, inclugin but not limited to: fire, threatened or actual strike, labor difficulty, work stoppage, insurrection, war, public disaster, flood, unavoidable casualty, acts of God or the elements, or any other cause beyond the control of the Marine Corps Marathon there shall be no refund of the entry fee or any other costs of Athlete in connection with the Event."
Well, let's hope no one bombs or takes over Virginia because then I'll be out $64.
Cheers!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Saturday and Sore Legs
Why do I run the long distances? Because it feels so good when I stop.
Today's run was a 9-miler. Usually, I've been averaging 13:30 minute paces on my longer runs, but this one was in a 13:01 average pace! And all of the mile were pretty consistent. Lori, my running buddy, had never run a 12:49 mile, and that was what we did at mile 6, so she was very excited.
Today's run was good because I broke in my new shoes. Due to an unexpected bonus check from HISD yesterday, I splurged at Luke's Locker and bought new running shoes (I'm switching to Asic Kayanos from the Asic Evolutions for more flexibility), two new pairs of Wright double-layer socks, and a box of GUs in the new flavor: mint chocolate. Damn are they good! I'm going to buy another box when I go into the city today (since I don't think my running store over here carries them) and keep buying them until their expiration date runs out. I think they're just a special winter flavor, but they really are good!
I am really sore now, probably because of the new shoes and the fact that Lori and I pushed it. But it's a good sore - it hurts so good.
Now I have social plans today - a coffee date with one guy, and dinner plans as well.
Cheers!
Today's run was a 9-miler. Usually, I've been averaging 13:30 minute paces on my longer runs, but this one was in a 13:01 average pace! And all of the mile were pretty consistent. Lori, my running buddy, had never run a 12:49 mile, and that was what we did at mile 6, so she was very excited.
Today's run was good because I broke in my new shoes. Due to an unexpected bonus check from HISD yesterday, I splurged at Luke's Locker and bought new running shoes (I'm switching to Asic Kayanos from the Asic Evolutions for more flexibility), two new pairs of Wright double-layer socks, and a box of GUs in the new flavor: mint chocolate. Damn are they good! I'm going to buy another box when I go into the city today (since I don't think my running store over here carries them) and keep buying them until their expiration date runs out. I think they're just a special winter flavor, but they really are good!
I am really sore now, probably because of the new shoes and the fact that Lori and I pushed it. But it's a good sore - it hurts so good.
Now I have social plans today - a coffee date with one guy, and dinner plans as well.
Cheers!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Thanks, June
June inspired me this evening, unbeknownst to her. I read her blog, and she wrote about how we bloggers usually censor ourselves or how sometimes we write to a specific audience.
I know I do. And I always felt like I had to. Why, might you ask? Because too many guys that I've had relationships or psuedo-relationships with know about this blog (some I told, some found it for themselves) and I always wanted to be careful with what I said because I didn't want them to know my current social status or thoughts. Or I didn't want people to become worried about me when I'm really stressed or depressed. And sometimes I use this blog as a passive-aggressive/nonconfrontational method of getting certain information across.
Well, screw that. I am so tired of being dodgy sometimes. I will no longer censor myself because writing makes me feel better (writing and running are my therapy sessions) and censoring myself doesn't allow everything to come out. AND I'm just tired of avoiding.
So here it is. I will write freely and if people don't like what I say, they don't have to read it.
So there.
I know I do. And I always felt like I had to. Why, might you ask? Because too many guys that I've had relationships or psuedo-relationships with know about this blog (some I told, some found it for themselves) and I always wanted to be careful with what I said because I didn't want them to know my current social status or thoughts. Or I didn't want people to become worried about me when I'm really stressed or depressed. And sometimes I use this blog as a passive-aggressive/nonconfrontational method of getting certain information across.
Well, screw that. I am so tired of being dodgy sometimes. I will no longer censor myself because writing makes me feel better (writing and running are my therapy sessions) and censoring myself doesn't allow everything to come out. AND I'm just tired of avoiding.
So here it is. I will write freely and if people don't like what I say, they don't have to read it.
So there.
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