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July 20, 2007
that nasty...
...little meme, for which no one will tag me. The eights, many of which have been ganked from those who've come before me:
1. I got up this morning, of my own volition (no D waiting at the end of my driveway), at 430 AM and ran 14 miles. Well, D did meet me around 545 to run the last 8. And it was wonderful to have the company. And I am now a stiff MFer.
2. This one is hard to explain. But when I sing, and I *mean* the singing (that is, I'm not just belting off whatever with the radio), my eyes water and my nose really tickles. This also happens when I'm talking with an enormous amount of sincerity.
3. I've never dreamt that my teeth fall out, but I dream about falling *a lot*. I'm always falling slowly, and often it is toward water, and I dream I'm trying to steer myself to the water. I never land.
4. At 18, I lived in Colorado Springs and worked three jobs, and rode my bike to each because I had no car. I didn't have a plan for life. Marriage? Coast Guard? Professional Aerobics Instructor?
5. I have a cone-shaped head. This makes it difficult for any sort of hair style to lay properly on my head. Bangs have always looked ridiculous on me, for instance. This is why I have only two ways I can wear my hair: all-one-length long, or all-one-length short. (And yes, I'm preoccupied with my hair right now. Bear with.)
6. I think horseback riding is cruel. I've done it before, and I'll admit was a great deal of fun. But I just can't imagine that it's fun for them. And the argument "They [the horses] LIKE it," doesn't hang for me--horses can't talk. Also, we don't do circuses, and we rarely do zoos. I do like to *eat* animals, but I don't like to see them in cages.
7. As a child, I thought I was special and my existence meaningful--I thought I was meant for Greatness. Over the years, I've learned that that's a pretty common thing for a child to think of herself, and that one has to work to be special and meaningful. But it's worth it. ;) Even if I'm special because my secret ninja skillz involve super-fast pbj assembly.
8. I have arthritic toes.
9. My H has amazing legs. No, they're not from my side of the family. But I admire them nonetheless.
Yeah, I did nine. Sue me.
Posted by mryonker at 10:05 AM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2007
cup noodles, other
So, you know those Maruchan Ramen noodles called "Instant Lunch?" They should be called "Instant MESS." You think you're saving time boiling water and feeding the hordes some nutritionally void carbohydrates for lunch, and then you get an hours' worth of picking up noodles, one by one (because there ain't no "sweeping" or "wiping" a noodle, that's for damn sure) from ALL OVER THE HOUSE.
No, I did make them stay at the table. I don't know how the noodles got onto the bathroom floor.
In other news, the fall marathon schedule appears to be set. In preparation for D's imminent Boston qualification at the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon, we're running a few 10Ks and then running the Green Lakes Endurance Run (heretofore known as the GLER).
No, we are NOT doing the 100K. Just the 50K. B was quick to point out that the GLER is in AUGUST, the hottest time of year here, and that we are nearly out of our minds. That he is really beginning to question my ability to think rationally. That I am a bit selfish for leaving him with three young children to raise on his own.
I assured him I would only be gone for, oh, 7 or 8 hours.
Posted by mryonker at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
what I'm doing...and doing...and doing
Oh, the camera works again. Apparently I had the battery in backwards, or something.
I blame stuff like that on the lack of RAM in my brain. Clearly I need some kind of upgrade.
Posted by mryonker at 01:16 PM | Comments (3)
July 14, 2007
wagers
In addition the pact I set with myself to NOT cut my hair until my diss is done*, a wager now exists as even more incentive for me to work:
B has bet me that he will finish the upstairs bathroom before I finish a full draft of my dissertation.
This is a good-natured wager, with the winner only earning bragging rights.
I am SOOO going to win this one. That bathroom has been raw studs for two years now.
*I wondered aloud, briefly, while running with D the other day, whether or not a TRIM would count as a cut. She berated me vehemently and accused me of near-cheating, and warned me that she would be policing the length of my hair from now on to make sure I don't try anything sneaky. And while we're on the subject of my hair, I'm going to record in the next few days, just how much hair I lose when I wash and brush it. And how it seems like soooo much because it is so freakishly long now. Seriously, I look like Cousin It. And no, I can't take a better picture; my camera's broke and all I got is this Photobooth crap (which locks up my MacBook frequently--bleah). And aiming the laptop camera at my own back to show my hair but NOT my fanny is nearly impossible (end of hair and fanny are mere inches apart). So this is all you're getting. Oh, and here is a great pic of me and my family + T and Ch + my aunt R and uncle J from our summer trip.
Posted by mryonker at 01:42 PM | Comments (2)
July 12, 2007
small worlds
This is my old friend Mike.
Years ago we struggled side by side through the great Dr. Page Laws' honors seminars at Norfolk State University and sat next to each other in alphabetical order to receive our diplomas in 1999.
Then we went our separate ways: me to an MFA program across town, he to be a chef in NYC. And then we diverged yet again: me to a PhD program here in Syr, he to Japan to teach English. We lost touch until this year, when he found me via the internets to wish me a happy birthday. After all these years, he remembered me and my birthday. What a guy.
And what a guy he is. Mike doesn't post to his own blog very often, but when he does, it makes my day. His pictures are always ecstatic and colorful. He is an amazing runner and posts great stories about biking up Mt. Fuji and marathon reports.
Anyway, it looks like he just had a birthday recently, so I just wanted to give him a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! here. In addition, though, I want to think about Mike right now, and what great adventures he's having on the other side of the world, because my beloved Runningburro is leaving for the other side of the world in a few weeks. I will miss her terribly, but reading Mike's posts reminds me that she and Rainbowhair will have an amazing time in China.
So I'm hoping Rb will blog with pics, so I can live a bit vicariously through her.
But most of all, I hope to be able to visit her while she is away and have a bit of an adventure of my own. I even am dreaming that she and I can run this crazy-ass race together.
The first section which covers approximately 9 kilometres takes the runners up to, across and down the Great Wall of China. This part of the course is marked by steep ascents and descents of up to 10% and consists of thousands of steps. Runners are advised to run slowly going up and down the mountain, as well as to walk when passing the steepest parts of the Great Wall. Full marathoners will complete this section of the course twice.
Ouch. Well, they keep the course open for 8 hours. We could do it! And I would definitely have to buy a camera, and I would pose with my mouth hanging open and my fingers in a permanent peace sign. I could be like Mike.
Posted by mryonker at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)
July 10, 2007
oh, the places I'll go
Our Illinois/Iowa trip was fabu. I still wish we could have flown, but the big van with armchair recliners and a TV/VCR/Playstation did the trick. I don't know that it made being in the car for a 20-hour stretch *comfortable*, but it certainly could have been far worse.
Now we are back home, and I am officially running the summer camp taxi. This week is dance camp for the niece, Ch., and H has weaseled her way into a "helper" spot for the camp. Big J and Ch. are also in a soccer club that meets two nights a week for the rest of the summer (thankfully this activity is within bike-riding distance for them).
Beginning next week, H will be at the studio for summer intensive every day for two weeks in a row. She starts on her pointe shoes, and she is out of her mind with excitement. I will just grumble a minute here to say that ballet shoes, costing as much as they do, should really come pre-assembled. They don't. You get the shoe, and then a length of ribbon (which seems flimsy to me), a length of elastic, and some hasty instructions for sewing each into the shoe. I am no seamstress to begin with, and then I have to carefully stitch-in-the-ditch some very unraveling ribbon and some very thick elastic...H had to take her shoes in so her instructor could salvage them. Oh! The Challenges of the Dance Mom!
The last week in July is a week long of soccer camp for Big J and Ch. with the coaching staff of SU. The youth soccer league Big J will be playing for in the fall hosts this camp up here in a North Country school district, which will make it nice that I don't have to drive them TOO far.
August I will wrap up my online class, which seems to be going really well for some of my students (those who turn work in) and really scarily for others (those who are still on my roster as registered but have not turned in one sentence since the beginning 9 weeks ago). We'll hop back into that van with the armchair recliners for a getaway to WV, where I will sit in my cabin alone and write while my mom entertains my kids.
Posted by mryonker at 10:40 PM | Comments (4)