Failing public schools

An actual conversation that occurred at my house this week:

(While watching TV)
Me:  Chelsi, do you know in what country they have bullfights?
Chelsi:  No
M:  They have bullfights in Spain.  Do you know where that is?
C:  No.  Umm...Africa?
M:  No, Spain is not in Africa, it is in Europe.  Do you know where Europe is?
C:  No.  Umm...Africa?
M:  No.  (At this point I find a map and hang it up on the wall.)
M:  Do you know what this is?
C:  I don't have my glasses.
M:  That is not an excuse.  What is this?
C:  Umm...I don't know...the United States.
M:  No Chelsi, this is South America.  How did you graduate high school?
C:  We didn't learn this stuff.  Plus, I don't need to know it.

So, for the record...thus far, Haiti, Spain, and Europe are all in Africa.

Flashback Friday--Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon

February 2010

Today was my little sister's last day of college.  Here is my favorite collegiate memory with her.  

Running teaches me so much.  Really, running and biking, and just plain being outdoors.  I actually feel like I have wasted a sunny day if I don't go outside for long.

I could go on and on about how setting goals and being disciplined all come into play with training for an athletic event.  (#193)  Or how I have learned to push myself beyond my limits.  (#194) But then there is something, so satisying about it, so intimate with God and I, that it supercedes all of these things. (#195)

A few weeks ago, I was running on this same path I have 100s of times, late in the day.  On my way back, I noticed a bright reflection next to the path.  I suddenly realized that there was water next to the trail.  It was something I had never seen before and likely would rarely see, except for it was the right place at the right time.  Maybe this is some sort of omen.

196.  The experience of the feeling of whooshing wind while on my bike

197.  Coasting downhill after a nice uphill climb

198.  Having the balance of working hard and running hard

199.  GU packets

200.  The amazing spirit runners have shown in support for the Boston tragedies

(Speaking of...how the amazing technology and persistence of the law enforcement has allowed justice to be served.  #201)

202.  How exercise can relieve depression

203.  How there seems to be some innate part of me that is happier just running and running outside

204.  The fact that my sister just got a road bike

205.  The fact that I can eat whatever I want...ok...almost...

206.  I changed my first flat this week...all by myself!

207.  The fact that I can keep my bike safe and sound in my utility room

208.  The solace of long trips

209.  Seeing both the sun set and the moon rise in the sky

210.That my family has caught the running bug

211. Those moments when you say...wow...I might have missed this in a car

It amazes me how much people can overcome hurdles.

http://www.lifeisgood.com/good-vibes/team-long-brothers/

And cute dog pics (which can always make a day better):

http://www.lifeisgood.com/good-vibes/co-pilot/

Haha...http://www.lifeisgood.com/good-vibes/instagram-optimism-748/

I will have a great day today and hope you do too!

Ok, so I have a slight obsession with sloths.  Not in that, I have to collect every stuffed animal and Photoshop them into pictures with me (at least not yet), but sometimes, there are sloth videos too cute not to post.

http://www.weather.com/video/sloth-has-the-purr-fect-touch-36300

If whilst perusing the Weather Channel (to determine when to ride your bike, and therefore, when to be available for chat with your students), you find a cute cat/sloth video, yup, it needs posting.

P.S.  Why do cute animals distract me so much?

If someone would like to buy me one of each of these animals (and a change of heart from my roommate), then I would be a happy girl.  Just remember, my birthday is June 12.

Last Sat., I spent several hours cleaning.  (#186)  It was kind of atrocious, but I survived.  (#187)  And it was productive. (#188)

(Pictured above:  my Pintrest find--jewelry in ice cube trays.  I really have a lot of this stuff!  #189)

On Sunday, I had to balance it out with a trail running photography session at a nearby state park.  It was refreshing.  I felt a little adventurous  it was nice to go off the beaten off and get a little mud on my shoes.  (#190)

 


The green is finally coming out on the trees and I was actually able to squeeze this in despite the flood-like conditions here.  (#191)  Oh, and did I mention that I got in for free?  (#192)

I have much deeper thoughts that this, but I will have to share them another day.  I ran across this websit and thought I would share.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

180.  Using the last of the chocolate syrup as creatively as possible

181.  The creaminess of healthy, delicious avocados

182.  Fixing a bike flat--all by myself!!!!!  (Who needs fingernails?)

183.  Getting some bike levers to change my tires from a friend

184.  Having friends who listen to me vent

185.  The fact that I didn't actually get run over by deer tonight on my bike ride

Flashback Friday--middle school

Remember awkward middle school dances?

Compassion and the week's events

Between shootings, contaminated mail, gas explosions, and another potential school shooting, this week has been full of scary, violent news.  However, I cannot be grateful enough for missing qualifying for the Boston marathon by 45 second.  45 seconds and I would have ran that race.  I didn't understand at the time why it happened...it had been a hard year and I thought that it would be a grand culmination to balance everything out, but it didn't.  I guess that there was a bigger plan amiss here.  So, I guess that this makes #180.

I am so grateful that the opposite of pain is pleasure (181), ugliness is beauty (182), hate is love (183), and bitterness is compassion (184).  For better or worse, Americans are becoming acclimated to tragedies and responding with a conditioned outpouring of thoughts, prayers, and cries for justice.  We are learning to cope with such a multitude of horrific events that as a nation we are forced to make the decision whether to get angry and stew or demonstrate compassion and love.  I learned this on such a personal level within the last year that I feel as if I understand on a very deep level that love, compassion, and forgiveness are hard.  However, it is only with the backdrop of each of these uncomfortable feelings that we truly appreciate the loveliness each of these kind things can be displayed.  We are a deeply divided nation at a time that seems to only rally around the agreement that violence should not occur on such a frequent and massive scale to innocent people.

I am not trying to gloss over the tragedies.  In fact, I have had personal struggles this week that have compounded the national tragedies.  However, when I feel like I evaded death, it is hard to have a bad week.

"Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment, we rise above ourselves."--Mason Cooley

Penelope

Penelope the Opposum

Penelope was a squirrelly marsupial

Wriggling out of traps

Running to and fro

Until the trap snapped

 

The look on Penelope was one that was stunned

Now I am sure the look has changed

As today she was gunned

 

Penelope lived a sad, sad life

She only wanted food

But food was the end of her

Even without a bad attitude

Flashback Friday--Laurel's Wedding

Janice, Kristen, and I

Laurel's Wedding

April 2004?

I love my class.  Let me repeat:  I love my class.  Last night, we discussed gun control and the North Korean craziness.  I threw in some info about Invisible Children lobbying to Secretary of State John Kerry.  They were very, very engaged and watching them tell a latecomer about Kim Jung Un was great.  They said that they have learned more from this class than any of their other classes.  All the students stated that they learned more from the classroom discussion than they did from the book.  A few students stated that if it was not for this class, they would not have known about the sequestration and budget cuts.  One student stays up half the night watching CNN (although I don't know if this is totally good).  They pick their reflection topic each week based on the classroom discussion.  This week, they are pretending to be U.S. Diplomats deescalating the conflict in North Korea.

I had already contemplated trying my hand at this.  I just found this website, which may be a key to things he likes.  http://kimjongunlookingatthings.com/page/2/

Dear Great Leader,
I would prefer to call you Kimmy.  Is that okay?  I can come over and play basketball with you if that would make things better.  I am from a land where basketball is a way of life, but stink at it.  You have a great, great chance at beating me winning.  I heard that your country has little food and natural resources.  If you put away the missiles, we can probably find some cheeseburgers here in this country that we could give you.  We all have a little too much to love anyway.  That is really what is saving us from formerly fatal car crashes.  So, if you hate us that much, slowly take away our diet of processed saturated fat and sodium.  Our bodies cannot handle the deprivation.  Besides, we are less cautious than ever texting while driving.  Therefore, we will die either way.  You may as well let us kill ourselves.  Besides, feeding your people just enough will allow them to continue to live to work for you and to keep the country in order.  We will forever revere you as fearless, even if you do not launch any more missiles.  You steal our cheeseburgers, we will say it was your idea.

Thanks for being awesome,
The American People

P.S.  Dennis Rodman says hi.

Foul day

So, my roommate hardly goes a day without cracking me up.  She was referring to an excessive amount of alcohol, saying that she would probably have to go to "A1 classes."  When someone told her that it was steak sauce, she said, "I meant A11 class."  After laughing and correcting her, someone else said "I have never had steak sauce at an AA meeting."  Good going, Chels.  Now you have sparked a whole new addiction.

170.  Debit cards
171.  Calculators (for the mathematically challenged, like me)
172.  Electricity (thank you, Thomas Edison)
173.  ATMs
174.  Text messaging (because leaving a voicemail is too much work)
175.  Having the priviledge of knowing amazing people doing equally amazing work around the world
176.  My aunt and uncle in Swaziland getting a new house and jobs at just the right time when their firsts didn't work.  You can find their photography (which they sell to fund their trip) at:  https://www.facebook.com/hafphotos/info

177.  Cuddle time with my parents' cat, Zoe, while I am doing less than pleasant activities on the computer

178.  Running late for an appointment and seeing this.   It was kind of like God saying "I got ya".

 179.  Having ducks laying in the middle of the trail last night during my bike ride.  They were pretty unphased with the people passing by.

Craziness is still going on in our Utility Room (apparently the dead cat had not been removed) and there continues to be a pile of work for me to get done, but I am really joyful and excited about what is to come and little things about every day.

I realized that my sisters and I are all sort of in this weird in between phase, just waiting to figure out where life is headed next.  We are all at different phases, but eerily similar situations.  So when the door closes, keeping praising God in the hallway.

So, onto the list we go.

160.  Dinner with my cousin

 

161.  My cousins choosing Taylor University

162.  My cousins being so close

163.  The way that they have grown up so much and yet are so excited to see what's next

 

164. Playing tag during Sunday School 

 

165. Beating all the kids at tag (running's practical side)
166.  Surviving a long night working at the ER
167.  That all shifts must come to an end
168.  Having leftovers for lunch
169.  My green striped dress

Ok, so my sister tells me that my animal story is turning into a soap opera.  The cats have been hanging around (outside the house now that it is warm).  They cuddle and snuggle on each other and I just want [my parents] to keep them.

See?

 

 

They now meow outside the Utility Room door, because they don't want to crawl under the house.  I haven't rewarded their laziness.

 

So, this morning (around 2:30am), I saw a non-cat in our utility room.  I woke up this morning to find an opposum on my bike.  Yup, our nightmare in real life.

 

Oh, but this gets better (or worse).  When our landlords came over, the opposum was gone, but there was a dead cat behind the boxes.  We heard meowing the other night and it got louder when I attempted to move the boxes.  Thinking I was hurting it and that it could escape, I left it.  So yup, I killed a cat.

I ran across a book yesterday that was called "Change Your Words, Change Your Life".  It has already spoke a lot of truth to me (which I may reflect here at a later date).  However, it was further affirmation that what I am doing here is a good thing.

142.  Nail polish
143.  Nail polish remover
144.  That I still have all my toenails (hey, when you're a runner, this is something for which to be thankful)
145.  That nail polish covers a multitude of sins I do to my toenails
146.  That not wearing a coat to my parents' house yielded in the discovery of my old spring trench
147.  Pedicures
148.  Those little designs you can get on your toes
149.  That I still have all my toes and fingers (as clumsy as I am, we all should be amazed)
150.  My $30 washer and dryer that seems to get a lot of use (especially during marathon season)
151.  That we had cats in our utility room and not mice or raccoons, or oppossoms, or people
152.  Alarm clocks
153.  Blackout curtains
154.  NPR news
155.  NPR Tiny Desk Concerts
156.  Finally finding a pair of running shoes that fit
157.  Commercials from the '90's (which has been my latest obsession)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CjDm4sy9xA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TA3c1YqCiI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B02DGmkqDDU

And, apparently, I really could just be happier if I had chewed the right gum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCiaj3HfTwY

158.  The surprise of liking a drink only bought for nostalgia (they had these everywhere in Aruba...and they weren't that good)

I told Chelsi that these have to become a staple in our house.  They were only 50 cents for a 6-pack.

159.  Having a great bike ride on a warm day and running into my friends along the way

It is funny how optimistism can really stop nay-sayers in their tracks (take it from me firsthand).  When people have a laundry list of complaints in therapy, I ask them for what they are thankful.  I seriously get the deer in the headlight look.  "What?"  "Huh?"  "I am not thankful for anything."

Eventually, after several suggestions, we have created a list of a few items.  I know that I was like this when I started the project.  There are still so many times in my mind when I am plagued with what I don't have...negative thoughts...jealousy, hurt, you name it, it's there.  Then I start my gratitude list.  I keep coming up with more.  Then I realize, man, this can swing either way...either for good or bad.  So I decide to focus on the good.

120.  Regular trash and recycling pick up
121.  Dropping off cardboard for the homeless shelter down the street
122.  The public library
123.  Grocery stores within a mile of my house
124.  The rail to trail next to my house
125.  The extension of this rail to trail last year for miles and miles
126.  My insulated water bottle
127.  My morning eggs (in the microwave...with veggies)
128.  Making my own schedule at work
129.  The taste of coffee (which now really seems to have grown on me..so much, I want it all the time)
130.  Lots of regular, plentiful sanitized water
131.  Flushing toilets
132.  My Brita filter
133.  That spring is finally here
134.  That salt doesn't cost an arm and a leg anymore
135.  That Christopher Columbus discovered America
136.  That people were willing to fight for my independence
137.  That my forefathers created laws and a moral code for this new nation they had founded
138.  Avocados (so good, so creamy, so nutritious)
139.  DVR
140.  Watching Dancing with the Stars and the Bachelor with my roommate
141.  Starting out sulking because I had a bad night and then turning my frown upside down with a movie and spiked ice cream with my roommate

Flashback Friday---prom

Dancing with the Stars had Prom Night this week.  I thought I would share my own.

I seriously thought that this was the greatest night of my life.

The last few days I have been pretty grumpy.  I have tried to focus on the right things, but it is hard when I just felt like I was on a treadmill (even though I was productive).  Therefore, this post is needed.


110. Using Sharpies to write lots of notes at work and home
111.  My dad's sense of humor

112.  Learning so much from my students

113.  Having a fantastic, cooperative class

114.  Having the freedom to have flexibility with my class

115.  Having enough sun after work to go on a bike ride

116.  A wonderful lunch with my favorite Hawaiian :)

117.  Crock pot cooking...who can argue with a warm dinner that is already ready when I get home?

118.  Still getting visits from the Easter bunny at 28

119.  Eating lots of Easter candy this week (nope...I am not sick of chocolate)

Ok, so continue my list of things that make me happy (I seem to be on a roll)...

90.  The freedom that comes from running
91.  My GPS watch
92.  Stretchy, wicking running clothes
93.  How optimism can crowd out icky feelings
94.  Good smelling candles
95.  My thick hair
96.  That I worked myself out of a deep, deep productivity hole
97.  That I have been blessed with good health, both mentally and physically
98.  That I have an amazing family
99.  Having  fantastic hairdresser

100.  My curly hair
101.  The crunch of yummy chips
102.  How there are so many different spices to cook with
103.  That I can even taste the different spices
104.  That I was given a working coffee maker
105.  That I have friends and family who are good forgivers
106.  Getting plugged into a fantastic church
107.  That, for some odd reason, I have people who think I am fantastic
108.  The ability to get up every morning and face a new day
109.  My new journals

You know, sometimes there are moments of clarity in my life.  As I struggle at times to see where I am going right now, I have to admit that there are glimpses of gratitude that pull me back to my present state.  (#86)  When I was visiting my "nephews" in Virginia, I was totally blessed with their presence.  Little squirmy active people who love to run and play with bubbles top my list of favorite people to accompany.  I feel like this deserves a few pictures.

 

 

Where exactly is the hart?

Let me be perfectly honest:  I loved hanging out with these boys and hoped to do it sometime again soon.  They are the cutest, most adorable people I know.  However, I am not ready for every single second of my day to be taken up with little people.  I can do things in my free time, like bake artichokes (#87)...

...and file taxes at 11pm (#88)...

...and go on runs any time I want (#89)
.