A Wonderful Visit

Once a year in the summer my mom visits.

Over the years we've visited almost every historic site in the area, so we decided to do something different this time.  This time we:

• Went to Busch Gardens, to the Food and Wine festival
• Went to the Roller Derby

We had a good time!

The only dark mark on the trip was a reminder of my mother's age.  She just turned 70 this year.  We talked about who will be the executor of her will, what to do with all of my crap in the basement, who makes decisions on her advanced directive, where the current bills are....

I didn't want to hear that.  Grandpa was 98 when he died.  My mom is going to live forever!

But don't we all think that?

My mom is safely in the Airport, with a magazine.  By 1 she'll be in the air and on her way home.  And it struck me...  I might never see her again.  

And that through hurts.  So very much.

But I'm going to dry my eyes and go on with my day.

Besides... she's going to try to make it for Christmas!

Delirium

I have now listened to the audio book and watched the unaired pilot... so I feel qualified to talk about:

Delirium, By Lauren Oliver:

The premise is rather out there (from wikipedia):

"The story is set in Portland, Maine, in an alternate present. Civilization is concentrated in those cities which escaped the severe bombings of decades past. Travel between cities is highly restricted. Electric fences separate the city from the Wilds—unregulated territory which was presumably mostly destroyed by bombs.
The totalitarian government teaches that love is a disease, named amor deliria nervosa, commonly referred to as "the deliria". A surgical cure for the deliria has been developed and is mandatory for citizens 18 years old and over. Lena has looked forward to the procedure for years, convinced as she is by the government that love is a horrible disease that must be destroyed from mankind's system."

 What people don't bother to point out that the "cured" adults are cut off from strong emotions.  There's not a lot of compassion.  There's not a lot of caring.  there is a rigid adherence to social order, rules and protocol.

Honestly, it sounds like this "cure" is basically a lobotomy.  Yeah.  I went there.  When the narrator talked about taking scalpel to brain, it convinced me that this must be some sort of super precise lobotomy.

My thoughts on the book:

1. The prose in the book is AMAZING!  I listened to the book, so it was even better!
2. The premise is out there... on the surface.  Yes, they want to wipe out the disease of love... but it's more than that.  You can tell that the government is trying to control the population by cutting off passionate emotions, leaving them docile and easy to control.  Looking at it that way makes it more thought provoking.
3. The book left me with a lot of questions!!!!
4. I thought the book took place in Portland, OR, not Portland, ME... for like most of the book.  OOPPS!

Then I saw the unaired pilot

 My thoughts:

1. They did the ENTIRE first book in a 45 minute pilot.  Where do they go from there?
2. The adults weren't... cut off enough.  Lena described the "cured" as people who were wrapped up, and cut off...  (or something like that).  These adults were... normal....
3. There were characters from later books in there...  (which didn't disturb me.)
4. The whole thing was too fast.  You missed the subtly of the government control.  You missed the subtle propaganda.  It came off as one dimensional.  I could have rather seen it built up over the course of a few episodes...  Where you see the breaks in the "perfect" lives that everyone is living.  Like in the book.

But seriously, if you've read the book, go to Hulu and check out the show.  Let me know what you think!

Spring Cleaning.... in the summer....

It happens ever year.  We reach a point where things MUST be cleaned.

Usually that happens when company comes.

This time around it wasn't that bad.  We had to de-pet-smell the upstairs, clean the counters, put away laundry.  I still need to clean the stove and clean out my car... but I have like 24 hours still..

This time around we've noticed that our house is lacking some things.  There's not enough lighting in the dining room when the Spousal Equivalent has people over for gaming.  We have an extra TV that should go into the guest room (or Goodwill), but we need a table to put it on.  And we needed a new desk chair.

Why??

The picture isn't crooked... the chair is.  5 years of wear and tear killed it.

I now have a list of the items that we need (shelving, lamp, TV stand) in my purse, and we'll begin shopping sales.

All in all, I finally feel moved in, unpacked and settled.  I like this feeling!

Well that race kicked my ass....

I don't know what happened, but I have spent the last weekend in a stupor.  After a late race, and being soaked apparently something in my gave up.  I slept until 9 on Saturday.

I never sleep that late!

We saw How to Train Your Dragon 2.  It was great, go see it now!

Sunday, I decided that I was going to get up and run before church.  My plan was to hit the trail at the park.

6am-  I hit the snooze.  I'd run the neighborhood
6:30am- I hit the snooze again.  I'd take the dog on a long walk.
7am- the dog would get a snort walk
7:30-  I didn't even get breakfast.

I did get to church and sing, but man... I was still exhausted!  I still am a little foggy!

I didn't get out to run this morning either.  Tonight I need to lay out my running clothes so I can get out early enough.

Feeling all sorts of defeated, I went to work.  There was yet another ceiling leak over the weekend, so I went in to survey the damage.

Then an email came.  My July 4th race is cancelled.  Reading between the lines... I'm worried about the other races with that company.

Cake.... Cake might make today better.

Rev 3 Glow Run Williamsburg

Or the race that almost wasn't..

Friday afternoon is rained.  Poured.  Like a monsoon!  Then it stopped!

When we left for the race it was sunny.

While we waited for my co-worker's kids it started to cloud up.  We could see the storm rolling in.

The race was set for sunset, about 8:30.  At 7:30 the sky opened up.  Thunder!  Lightening!  Downpour.

great....

And all of a sudden, it stopped.  At 8:45 we were given the go ahead.

There was a chaotic air around the whole race, which given the weather, I understand.  But seriously.... no porta poties at a race??  We also had an announcer that like Miss Othmar, from the peanuts.  The race map had no mention of a water stop....

Anyways.. we all lined up in the chute... and then were told that we were running out from the back end of the chute...  Ok....

The race began, and we ran.  In the dark...  It's a glow run so that was expected.  After a quarter mile my glasses were so water spotted that I shoved them in my bra and ran blind.

The best part?  Some guy at mile 2 (and 2.75) put his speakers on his porch and blasted music!

I don't know my time.  I don't really care...  the race was chaotic, and I don't think I'll do it again.

But I did it!!

Next race:  The Independence Day Classic 8K

I seriously must be crazy

Tuesday my stomach staged a revolt that kept me home from work.  I took naps, ate saltines, and cuddled with my dog,  (Misty was rather excited about having mommy home.)

Somehow I got it in my head that I wanted to run a half marathon.

One of the races that I signed up for had a half marathon component.

So I decided to switch my registration to the half...

but I committed to doing the 5K with my friend.

So what did I do?  I signed up for the Shell Yeah challenge.  Yeah.... I'm running both races.

Totally crazy.

The question was posed:  am I training for the half marathon?  Yes and no....  I'm doing plenty of races between now and then.  I'm going to try and get out for longer runs on the weekend.  My problem is week days.  Unless I want to get up at 4:30, I have to run at night.  And I don't like running with everyone and their mother's cousin hanging out outside.

In the end, I'll do what I can do.  If I end up walking most of the half marathon, it's ok.

The important part is starting and finishing.

It's Monday again...

This weekend was rather low key and quiet.  I didn't feel particularly well, and can't remember what I did...

but I have a LONG list of crap that I should have done.  *cringe*

On Saturday, the Spousal Equivalent went out to Dunkin Donuts, and I sent in my order for iced coffee.  I completely forgot to ask for artificial sweetener... and drank a large sugary drink.  I felt off all afternoon!

I had grand plans about hanging curtains upstairs (It might help stem the whole "it's ungodly hot up there" problem).  I had plans that involved mopping floors and cleaning my bathroom.  I did manage to wash clothes.  I even put them away.

Sunday seemed like it was a large build up to the Tony Awards.  Groceries were bought.  I made a crockpot full of margarita Chicken.

I also thought a lot about.. well.. everything.

Months ago I decided that I wanted to get back into the theater.  I was going to audition for a musical.  Sunday I decided to give that some thought.  I've been running more and more races.  Heck, I am still seriously considering adding a half marathon to my schedule for October.  Do I have the time?

The answer came to me hard.  No.  Not this summer.

Instead of grand plans, I'm going to take things a week at a time.

This week's to do list:

1. I've placed all my critical chores on my post it.  Do ALL of them
2. Work out every day.
3. Be mindful of evening snacking.  I'm not hungry, I'm bored.
4. this weekend go on a longer run
5. Hang those damn curtains.
6. get up into the storage room to clean up a bit.

The most important one?  Number 1.

The rest of my 2014 Race Schedule

• June 13- Williamsburg REV3 Glow Run
• July 4- Independence Day Classic 8k
• September 6- Bay Days 8K
• October 4- Crawlin' Crab 5K (my goal is to try the half marathon on this one next year... though we might be silly and do it this year)
• December 7- Christmas Town Dash 8K

What does this mean?  Well I'm missing races in August and November for one.

The second is that I've spent a lot of money.  (I already have a February race in mind....)

The third is that I need to keep myself moving!  I have a goal in all of this!

1. I want to fit into smaller shorts for my Alumni parade in 2016.
2. If I can raise the funds, I want to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  (hopefully also in 2016)

I fell off the wagon, hard

I weighed myself at home for the first time in AGES.

The number was scary.

And I only have myself to blame.

There really are no excuses.  Just life catching up with me.

1.)Headache
 I've had a headache off and on for ever a week now.  More on than off.  The cause?  Well, I went to the Chiropractor to see if that is the cause.  I could also be the weather.  Or hormonal.  Or an unlovely combination of the both.

2.) feeling blah
Of course, I've been incredibly down for the last week or so as well.  That kind of down where you want to hide under your bed because you feel lost and alone in the universe.  I don't know why, and it sucks.  I strongly suspect hormones.  The only problem is.... the hormones have arrived almost two weeks early!

3.) Schedule
Thankfully, this week schedule isn't a problem.  I need to get out and exercise in the morning.  When the Spousal Equivalent works at 7, I go out to run at 5:30ish.  When he works at 6... I get up and take him in at 5:15, not leaving me time to run.  The solution?  Either get up at 4:30.... or try to remember to work out when I get home.

Sadly, option B hasn't been working.

Needless to say, some of this I can control.  Some I can't.

All I know is that I need to pull myself together!

My YouTube subscription list is VERY crowded!

In the last few months I've added quite a few vloggers to my YouTube subscription list!

And they are in a few categories.

JVloggers.  These people are westerners living in Japan.  I love hearing about the cultural differences.

• kanadajin3- She seems very young, but is enjoyable to watch!
• OkanoTV- I just started watching them
• Rachel & Jun- this is interesting.  They are married.  Rachel is American and Jun is Japanese.  Because of work they live in different countries.  
• Sharla in Japan- a woman finishing up her schooling in Japan.

BookTubers- they all read WAY more than I do.  I'm actually embarrassed by how little I've been working at decreasing my Mt. To Be Read.  (Though I haven't bought a physical book in ages....)

• booksandquills
• Katytastic
• polandbananasBOOKS (with her other channel polandbananas20)- her other channel is quite enjoyable, but I adore her enthusiasm!

And ones that defy a category

• Clisare- Irish vlogger.  
• Cristina Rad- she's from Romania, and an Atheist.  very interesting to listen to!
• ItsWayPastMyBedTime- Carrie Hope Fletcher is playing Eponine in the London production of Les Miserables.  But her videos are more than that.  I recently watched most of her vids.  Seriously, watch her!
• And of course vlogbrothers- the one that started it all for me.

I think I'm subscribed to over 40 channels.... so this is just a few.

Who should I add to my list?  Anyone important that I'm missing?