Running With Reason

Yesterday (of a rest day) began an exciting, wonderfully worthy cause that I am endeavoring for the next month.  I found in my internet travels, with my obsession these past two months being this marathon training, a virtual running race, The Peace Marathon, that is raising money to buy prosthetics for kids who lost limbs in the terrible Boston bombings two weeks ago.  The Peace Marathon (virtual race)

As a runner and as a human being, I was feeling a little overwhelmed and a lot of shock with the whole event.  What does one do when one of the thing they love the most is so viciously attacked in such a horrific way?  Running has been my glue and my thing in my adult life; some of my proudest accomplishments have been through running (and or triathloning) and when my life felt like it was at the lowest of lows and my heart feeling it had been pummeled into bits, running was my solace and my quiet place away from my troubles.  I am sure there are worse things than a missing leg/arm/finger, and yet, to imagine that someone could take away a child's ability to run, play, reach out and touch or hold hands on a particular side, the thought is terrifying.  To also think that someone would use such a cowardly attack method to try to drive people away from something so amazing and awe-inspiring, that is not terrifying, it is rage-inducing.  It makes me want to fight and use all the strength I have against such evil. 

So here I am, not fighting in the most obvious way, but in the way I know best and the one way I believe will lead to the most healing of hearts, minds, and bodies.  It is my peaceful middle finger to the actual people who did this and a warning to those who are out there contemplating similar or worse atrocities.  I am excited to follow others who are joining in the journey with me; so far there are over 400 registered runners and over $17,000 donated (which sounds like a lot, but that may buy one prosthetic for a child).  I hope anyone reading this will take time to click on the link and either sponsor their favorite runner or lace up their shoes and get 26.2 miles in (can be spread out over the month---runners are chill like that!).  If anything, pass along the message, send this link to your favorite runner, get the word out that terror such as Boston 4.15.13 will not weaken the good, but will only make us stronger and push us to fight (peacefully) harder. The Peace Marathon (virtual race)   

Domesticity In Progress

I am not a gift needer and I always have a hard time expressing a want/need at gift giving times, much to the chagrin of my mother and my husband.  However, somewhere around the time I was getting my hiring appointed by the school board, I had a conversation with the husband about imagining that we had back to back desks so we could both be doing work in our office.  I received my first grown up desk for Christmas, and we commenced with turning our once single office that had two recliners into a double office (which still has two recliners).  The transformation is so cool!  One of my goals is to declutter my life bit by bit each day so all that remains is what I really want and need.  Starting in the office and having a beautiful finished result is motivating and calming at the same time.  We see what we can do with our concentrated efforts on a particular space and if we need a breather from working on the small areas of chaos, we can have that moment of reprieve in our sanctuary of an office. 

Along with the desk, I received a Komen KitchenAid mixer.  Another of my goals for 2013 (not resolutions-they are just defeating) and beyond is to cook more meals and bake more often.  I enjoy creating and I am a detail oriented plan follower so cooking/baking has always suited my personality. We have been doing some work on getting our kitchen more conducive for eating and cooking.  We swapped the dining table and our chest freezer which will make it easier to eat at the table when it is not 0 degrees outside (no basement under that part of the house = very cold house section).  We purchased and put together a tall skinny bookcase to tuck in one of the kitchen corners so I could get my recipe books off the counter, freeing up a tad more space.  The bread box is still in existance and living on the counter, but its days are numbered and I am finding more inconspicuous places for things I don't use/need everyday.

 I took the KA for a whirl a couple of times this week with much success.  First, did you know there were so many things you could do with Jiffy baking mix?!  It is the shiznick when it comes to things you can do with it.  The stuff seems to be mainly flour (white but beggars cannot be choosers-and perhaps they make whole wheat jiffy and I don't even know yet) plus baking soda and salt.  I made both cinnamon rolls and sugar cookies with the mix.  The cinnamon rolls were an homage to Grandma's own pie dough kind.  They are famous for Richardsons; the Jiffy mix was a close replication of the GR rolls but they were not as flaky.  Tonight, I shredded up a zucchini and made mini zucchini bread loaves; I was totally only going to have a small baker's taste but half a mini loaf later, wow!  This recipe will be made again!   

Big-girl job and all the trimmings

Yes, last post was in August; time passes quickly here and I am often caught up in living life and not doing enough of writing about it.  I want to be able to stop and reflect on things that have happened at a more regular schedule.  So anyways, let's start by jumping forward a bit; I HAVE A JOB.  Well, I've had jobs since I was able to babysit, but what I have now is a Job-job.  My loving Grandma has been asking me for years if I have a job, the subtext of that being, "Do you have some full time career that you can use with that pricy college degree you will now be paying off until you are 85?  Does it pay a decent salary, benefits, and can you abandon that extra part time you do now that you are more financially secure?  When can you take some time off to come and see your Grandma (even deeper subtext there!)."  Well, Grandma, I am happy to tell you pays me money, gives me benefits, but more importantly, I am doing something so worthwhile and exciting and something I really enjoy and that feeling of accomplishment and purpose is worth so much more the financial boost this job can provide.  GR, I will probably not be leaving the restaurant any time soon; save for some crazy manager and employee antics, I have plenty of reasons to stay: I generally like taking care of customers and I do make some gas monies here which will be infinitely helpful when it gets closer to July.

More about my job is going to come later.  The first few days have been focused on training for the guided reading program, some of which I was involved in using during my long term this fall.  We transitioned into winter benchmark testing where we (we meaning Nate, the other hired reading teacher, and I) observe and learn about the process from retired Cranberry teachers (such wonderful women---they are sweet and cool and funny and kind---it has been a blast getting to know more about them) and then trying our hand at these mid-year assessments.  The progress in some of the kids is astounding; one guy we started working with today and needs to continue "trying on" higher levels because he has gone up so much from the fall! Today I rearranged my desk so I could also use the shelf beside me, I don't have many desk knick-knacks, but I put my shoe-a-day calendar from my sister-in-law, and I can't say that I dislike my desk being right beside a bare Christmas tree and an internal view of the human body (our desks are in what is used sometimes as a science lab).  On top of my official desk complete with body torso full-o-organs, I have an official mailbox and parking pass.  I have felt like a drifter for so long that these little extras are like super sweet perks and job-swag!       




 

London Wrap-Up

Well the Games are over.  I suppose not having a cable hook up did not really seem to matter seeing that all the headlines were up online hours before the delayed broadcast anyways.  I did watch a handful of swimming, track and field, some water polo, rowing, and some other odds and ends.  Looking at the medal count and the records that fell over the Games, it is impossible not to be impressed with not just the United States medalists and participants, but all the athletes representing different countries, different cultures, different athletic philosophies and how we all come together to share something that unites us.  I like to think that the world of athletic sports is another common language among people, like art and music.  The test of strength, skill, stamina (both mental and physical), courage transcends race, gender, and creed and not only reveals something about ourselves, but also helps us learn some compassion for those who share our passion.  As you may have ascertained at this point, I am an idealist when it comes to how what we do should always be done with the hope that it makes us better.

So to wrap up my take on the best of the best from London 2012, here are my fave five, which was impossible but you can read all the best action blurbs and decide for yourself.

  

Not only did Oscar Pistorius get the chance to run the 400m and the 4X400m relay, he proved his worthiness when he advanced to the semifinals.  Watching him run was like watching a small flame turn into a full blaze.

This girl did NOT get her due credit at all.  Two Olympic records, a World record, five medals.  Allison Schmitt is the un-Lolo Jones in her classiness and coolness.  She put it in the water, won some kick ass races and that's all that matters.

Not the 'It' girl going in and definitely not the center of attention during all the Wieber drama, but again Gabby was an athlete who didn't need to talk the talk because she put it all in her performance. 

I enjoyed the G.B. runner, Mo Farah, winning both the 10,000KM and then the 5,000KM.  This picture really says it all about how a win like that must feel. 

Much should be said how U.S. women rocked this Olympics.  I am sad their accomplishments, medal counts, records will be outshined by the retirement of Phelps or the unprecedented repeat of Usain Bolt.  But between the beach volleyball duet of Jennings and May-Treanor defending their title as queens of B.V., the women's basketball team earning their fifth gold medal, and this set of swimmers setting several world records, there is plenty of pride and admiration to be shown to these ladies. 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Reading

If there were an updated version of this not all-history book, Generations by Strauss and Howe, I would swallow it up and read it with a quickness. 

 

 As I said, this book is not all history.  It is perhaps only at most 20 percent history; the book touches on and mentions historical events but rarely goes into explaining what they are.  A person with a shallow history knowledge base would find this book confusing.  The rest of the book is a proposed social science theory that throughout all of the US's history there are four types of generations cycling to create a particular, unique constellation of characters on the US at any given moment.  The four generational types each have identifying qualities they use to filter current events and happenings within them and in their world.  The authors use the 4-generation type model to show how sometimes we experience history "repeating" itself.  Huge amounts of data have been compiled into this work and organized in a way that even someone without a Masters Degree in History could work through this book.  If you take on the challenge of reading this book, don't lose heart in the first few chapters which focus on the theory of the 4-generational cycles; what it is, how it works, why the authors feel it fits over other models of generational theory.  Once you get into the second part it will flow much faster.  The second part breaks American History, from the Puritans (starting at the beginning of their lives in Europe) through a "prediction" of the future up to 2069 (I'll talk about this prediction in a bit), into five distinct cycles that have occurred and are happening right now.  At anytime during these cycles there are four generations playing key roles; one in early childhood imbedding experiences and nurture/non-nurture of older generations, one in rising adulthood beginning to assert activity that directly impacts the shape of history (sometimes, especially in the case of those who are sent off to a war, shaping themselves), one in midlife adulthood at the political and social zenith of their strength and influence, and one in elderhood holding onto glory from past days and serving as stewards and wisdom to the youths now coming to power.  And while there are always four generations moving, they are of four different generational types, explained in significant depth in the first part of the book (so don't skip it!), and the interaction between all four types of generations depending on where they are at a point in their life cycles, has determined the cause of American history, its major and minor events and how each different generation views them and reacts (or not).  Don't get glued into the boundary years for the generational cohorts, even the author explains there are outliers within the group-the study just doesn't focus on the outliers.  The present for the book, published in 1991 (the last president in office at press time for this book is George H.W.Bush and there is no talk of upcoming elections or candidates), ends with my supposed generation, the Millenials, in youth.  I won't give away the future the authors predict.  I don't want in any way to make it seem like the authors are fortune tellers looking into their crystal ball to come up with specific events.  There is nothing specific; Strauss and Howe just project their model and make suggestions of vague happenings of what the next cycle might include (awakening, outer-driven social motion, secular crisis, inner-driven social introversion).  It is a book worth diving into and giving it some time to read about the varying perspectives of those closest to us (children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents).  Why do they not always see what we see?  A plausible answer is strongly argued for in this work.

Highly Anticipated Olympic Moments

So I missed a good chunk of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in London while I was at work; what was on TV was not audible.  I watched the (very) few videos on NBC's website.  If there were a written story/director commentary to go along with the stuff I saw I think I would have been really entertained by the whole thing.  I lack cable at home but trust me there will be sporting moments I do not miss.  I am trying an Olympic live video app for my Ipod with notifications of events I bookmark.  Speaking of the events, here are the things I am most looking forward to seeing/watching at this year's Olympics.



Will this man be as wickedly fast as he was the in the last games?  He was electric to watch and he was a newcomer to the running/track world.  I am interested to see what a few years of coaching and direction will produce.



Gymnasts make gracefulness look so easy!  You know what is going through my head if I am Miss Douglas here?  Not whatever is making her look so cool and collected (like catching that bar on the way back down at a rapid speed was just like yawning or blinking).



There are more women on the US Olympic team this year than men.  This girl (Missy Franklin) is 17.  17!!  I am looking forward to seeing more US ladies on the swimming podiums this year.  Let's get some relays, gals!



Yes, he has smoulder, but he will provide some of the greatest races because he will be up against...



I'm not picking a favorite here, I just want to see the fastest races possible.



This guy just won the Tour de France!  And no he's not taking a break, he is competing.  I have to catch me some of this action.



How fierce are these women diving off for the Tri?!  And while it's all about the biking, I will be rooting for the girls who conquer in the first leg in the water.

 

Divers are gymnasts on speed.  To do something so beautiful while falling through space, I don't even have the proper words to show how awe-inspiring good diving is.



I like this picture of the marathon trials in Houston.  Look at their hands; I love the skimpy running suit with the gloves because it is probably freezing!  It won't be freezing during the August marathon in London.  I will be excited to watch the runners and find out where the course takes them.

That is just the short list of what I really want to watch this year.  There are others I always enjoy-syncro swimming, fencing.  

Movie Favorite

On a crazy hot day interspersed with wicked thunderstorms, I am sewing and watching Roland Emmerich classic The Day After Tomorrow.  Happy rain showers everyone!