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January 30, 2008

the day after

Here is how well my friends around here know me: for my birthday yesterday, I received home made chocolate chip cookies, some unknown but delicious cream cheese-y lemon bars, a pudding cake, a loaf of cranberry-nut cheddar bread, and some spicy apple-cranberry sauce.

And B made me his scrumptious boiled dinner, which I ate with an entire stick of melted butter. Just kidding. No, seriously.

Today, the kids are having a snow day (well, it's probably more aptly called a "high winds and ice" day). Big J is bouncing a ball against the door to the upstairs; H is tap dancing; Little J is running his Tonka dump truck through the house repeatedly.

Me? I'm eating nachos, grading papers, and listening to Jimmy Buffet. I need something tropical. 10:30 in the morning is probably too early for a Bahama Mama, huh.

I'd settle for a patch of sunlight on the rug in the living room. That I'd get a Bahama Mama is more realistic, though.

Posted by mryonker at 08:19 AM | Comments (6)

January 28, 2008

hope springs from training

The marathon training season has begun. Clearly, right now I cannot cannot cannot hack the hours of daily training that preparing for a marathon requires. But I pine for the set structure of those weeks, knowing which days are early-up-and-out days, which are gone-until-noon days, which are sanctioned sit-on-your-duff and recovery-eat days.

So, instead, I'm training for the half. Still some structure, but none of the extraordinary time commitment. Instead of 18 weeks, I only need 12. Instead of 3 twenty-mile Saturdays (which really take up the whole day; 4 hours of running and 12 hours of couch riding), there are a couple 10 and 12 days, which are completely doable and uncrippling.

The training schedule makes me feel a little like normal again. Moving into the schedule reminds me that the weather will not be cold and the ground covered in feet of snow forever--by the time the race comes runners will hope the day doesn't get too hot.

What's more, I'm running with J. It will be her first half, and so my role as running-support-buddy makes it so that her goal (to finish) trumps any goal I would set for myself. That is, her goal is my goal. And I like that.

Posted by mryonker at 08:21 AM | Comments (6)

January 14, 2008

virtuous by comparison

Emerging from my silence to triumphantly announce: Even with the beginning of the semester upon me, even with the dissertation, even with 3-hockey-game weekends, and even with the inordinate amount of traveling I am doing this month...even with all of this,

I still do not have mushrooms growing in my bathroom.

I must be doing something right.

Posted by mryonker at 06:28 PM | Comments (1)

January 07, 2008

dry spell

Blogging here will be light-to-nonexistent for the next month or so. :)

Posted by mryonker at 03:07 PM | Comments (1)

January 02, 2008

bumpy cookie

We returned last night from the annual southerly pilgrimage, which this year included an additional westerly jaunt to MLA in Chicago for me.

On our way home, we decided to stop over in Baltimore to visit a friend and celebrate the new year. Little J, always on the lookout for new treats, came over to the kitchen table where my friend and I were sitting with some coffee and catching up. He leaned in to my neck and asked, sotto voce, "Can I have a bumpy cookie??"

Neither my friend nor I could figure out what this "bumpy cookie" thing was, so Little J pulled me into the kitchen to show me the bumpy cookie.

It was Star Crunch, probably my favorite of all Little Debbie's snacks. Which now will forever be known to me as the bumpy cookie.

Posted by mryonker at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)