Category Archives: Winter Weather

Things Have Kind of Fallen Apart This Week

Posted on 1 March 2010 | 2 comments

Over the weekend, it was my intention to get all of my grading finished for the students at both Burris and BSU, but it didn’t happen because of my stupid computer. I am about to get a really big flash drive, so I don’t have to depend upon my computer anymore. It’s beginning to act like it might crash again soon.

On Saturday, I spent the morning editing some student work, making all sorts of great comments on their papers, and typing up some professional documents (letters of recommendation and the like). When I sent my students’ work to them (supposedly with my comments), they both wrote back and said that they couldn’t see the comments. My lovely computer decided not to save any of the changes I had made and instead only re-saved their original documents. Awesome. I decided to check on the other documents I had spent the morning writing to see if they were safe and sound. No dice. Everything I did on Saturday had to be re-done on Sunday, so I lost my grading day. Boo.

Other than the loss of some documents, the weekend was great. It was Abbie’s birthday weekend and we went to Ivanhoe’s and gorged ourselves on ice cream. I had a vanilla malt with chocolate chip cookie dough in it, and I ate a delicious grilled cheese sandwich and some cheesy fries as well.

On our way to Ivanhoe’s we went geocaching, which is a whole new experience for me. We found a couple of caches in two of my favorite cemeteries, but the one that was supposedly by Matthew’s Covered Bridge was nowhere to be found. Either it was buried in the snow, or someone had stolen it. We had a great time romping through the snow to try to find them, though!

On Sunday afternoon, after I had rewritten all the work I had done on Saturday, we went to Welliver’s which is a smorgasbord in Hagerstown. We go there every year for Abs’ birthday, and we always end up eating way too much. I had more food than I thought I could possibly eat, and as a result I got pretty uncomfortable last night. At least I didn’t get diarrhea or throw up as a result. I did however sleep for about twelve hours. I am just not used to eating that much food, but I suppose I felt like I should because it is so expensive, and I definitely don’t want to do it again any time soon.

I felt like I could eat that much food because I ran nine miles this weekend: six on Saturday and three on Sunday. It felt pretty good, but my “recovery run” on Sunday felt harder than the six miles on Saturday. I guess it was because my legs were already so tired from the long run that I exhausted them on Sunday. I am looking forward to next weekend when we get to go to Indy on Saturday morning for the practice run, but I am looking more forward to it because it signals the beginning of Spring Break.

Of course, Spring Break is an oxymoron. Spring Break should be called Spring Catch Up on Everything. I have to finish out the schedule for my Burris students, do the taxes, work on my dissertation proposal, grade everything under the sun, and a couple of other things during the “break.” I am sure I will succeed in getting it all accomplished, though, because I always do.

On a sad note, my cat Mojo died last night. He has been sick for a long time, and the vet couldn’t even figure out what was wrong with him. When we went downstairs this morning he was just lying there in the middle of the floor. Dead. At least he is no longer suffering, and he got to eat like a king last night. We got some extra special food for the cats yesterday, and he ate most of the can. Of course, he threw all of it up, undigested, half an hour after he ate it, but he still got to have one delightful last meal. Now, sadly, he is in the freezer in a garbage bag, waiting for the ground to thaw so I can bury him by Mushi or with the other pets at my parents’ house.

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I haven’t done much in the way of memorizing, nor can I think of something new to be thankful for today.

I do not want to list my food consumption or my exercise.

Peace.

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Posted in Food, Relationships, Running, Winter Weather

I Ate the Whole Thing

Posted on 15 February 2010 | Leave a comment

My Burris secret buddy gave me a peanut butter heart for Valentine’s Day. You all know how much I love peanut butter, and that I can’t eat it at home because of Bec’s death sentence, so I opened the heart with a little gleam in my eye. Well, probably a little more than a gleam, and I broke off one serving (one quarter) of the heart and placed it gingerly on my tongue. In that moment, I experienced all the deliciousness that Reese’s has to offer. I let every nuance of the peanut butter and the chocolate ruminate in my mouth until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I ate the whole thing. In one sitting. All 720 calories worth. And, damn was it ever satisfying.

I didn’t feel so bad about eating the entire heart because I knew I was going to go play racquetball this evening. What a blast! Kellie and I are pretty evenly matched, but she is a tennis player so she has a slight advantage. In fact, she won all four games, but we got a good hour long workout and had fun to boot. She also got to see my amazing catlike skills at ball chasing. Apparently, I have a difficult time locating the ball and then catching it. She says I look just like Tom from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Minus the bulldog, it’s a bit like this:

Tomorrow I am teaching Rachel’s class because she is snowed in again in Columbus or Germantown or wherever she lives.

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I am thankful for friends who are as wacky as I am.

Food: banana, juice, chocolate milk, burrito frozen thing, Guinness, Reese’s heart, pasta with veggies, IPA, decaf Americano

Exercise: played racquetball, walked the dogs, walked from RB to Burris and back

Seeing the crowd, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

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Posted in Beer, Food, Gym, Winter Weather

Lent-y Goodness.

Posted on 10 February 2010 | 1 comment

I suppose I shouldn’t attempt to add one more thing to my already packed days, but Lent is coming. It’s coming next Wednesday to be exact. Or if you’re Orthodox, Clean Monday is, well, next Monday. No offense to my Catholic friends, but the Orthodox are hardcore, much more so than the Catholics; they don’t take Monday and Tuesday to live it up. Lent starts on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, instead of the Ash Wednesday after Fat Tuesday. There is no Mardi Gras for the solemn Orthodox. You are supposed to begin cleansing yourself and looking toward the forty-odd days ahead. Great Lent.

I just learned that for the staunch Orthodox observer Lent involves a strict, almost vegan, fasting, just for a portion of the days though. Of course, giving up all of those animal products is indicative of Christ’s suffering and our willingness to follow him to the cross. More importantly, though, the Orthodox fast for Lent calls the follower to give up olive oil and wine. How is a Greek expected to cook anything decent without olive oil? And, is using corn or canola oil cheating? What about drinks? What do you serve to drink with dinner if you can’t have wine? I guess most of my answers can be found here, at the Orthodox Church of America’s website.

What cannot be found on their website are my own answers about my own spirituality. I have not been practicing any form of spiritual practice lately, and I haven’t been to church for two weeks. I feel like I don’t have time for God, which is not a good place to be in. I am writing this dissertation about spirituality, and I don’t have time for God? That doesn’t add up. So, my goal for Lent is to be more mindful of God, more mindful of my actions, and more mindful of others. I need to spend time contemplating God, God’s creation, and the ways God continually blesses me, even when I don’t take the time to notice.

What form will this increased mindfulness take? I am not sure. I might begin by picking up my prayer rope, which I haven’t used in a while. I might continue by re-memorizing (for long term memorization this time) the Sermon on the Mount. I might try meditating on the glories of nature while I run. I might even read a theological text or two over the course of the forty days. I do know that I will do something, because I feel a new kind of vacuum growing in my soul. I am having trouble coping with things that normally wouldn’t cause a minor blip on my screen. So, of course, I feel a little guilty like a good Greek girl should.

When I have troubles, I go runnin’ back to Jesus. But when life is good, I fail to give him any recognition. I have no excuse. I think this is what Lent is for: thinking about these things. It’s a time of joyful, but contemplative, purification. I am purifying my spirit by acknowledging my lack of acknowledgment. I see no reason to get to Lent each year and realize that I still have not been cognizantly acknowledging God throughout the year, and yet each year I get to this point in the church calendar and find myself at a loss for words. And not in a good way.

I can’t even say, maybe this will be the year in which I remain attentive to my Christian life throughout the year. I know it won’t be. I know that at this time next year, I will think to myself, Oh, shit, it’s Lent again, and I need to figure out where I am spiritually. I will be in much the same place I am now, and still unhappy with who I am in Christ. Maybe that is the secret to a fulfilling Christian life, to continually recognize how little we are growing. Maybe it’s like AA and you have to admit your problem. Hi, my name is Corby and I am a stagnant Christian, I would say at the first meeting. I am not growing. Right now. Well, maybe a little. It takes time to grow. This song reminds me of how God loves us, whether or not we grow by leaps and bounds.

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I am thankful for the liturgical calendar because it reminds me each year how far I have to go and have far I have come.

Food: banana, juice, pure bar, chili, soy peanut butter sandwich, chocolate milk, pizza and bread sticks, cauliflower

Exercise: walked dogs, 35 minutes on the evil machine, walked from Burris to RB

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Posted in Dissertation, Food, Grace, Religion, Vegetarian or Vegan, Winter Weather

A Mixed Bag

Posted on 6 February 2010 | 2 comments

1) It’s no secret that I greatly dislike snow. This morning my hatred for it was slightly alleviated because while I was outside, Bec made me some tea and I drank it with a nice bowl of oatmeal after I shoveled for about an hour in order to get the car out to go grocery shopping. I needed things like juice and milk that couldn’t wait until next week when the snow thaws. I am not stupid enough to think that my shoveling for an hour, possibly moving a half-ton of snow, is anything nearly as traumatic as other people all over Appalachia losing power. I have been in a situation with no power before. It wasn’t pretty. We cooked and heated with our fireplace which we were lucky enough to have. In the house we live in now, we would just starve and freeze. Or walk, if the car was snowed in, over to Ed and Abbie’s and starve and freeze with them. Snow is so pretty when you don’t have to be out in it, and it’s a great blessing when your power isn’t out because of it. This is our street.2) For this second point, I am going to do something tricky. I am going to combine my failure at running my four-mile endurance run with my success at going to the nasty gym. I am sure some of you remember from last winter how much I despise the gym. I don’t like to sweat in the middle of winter like it’s summer. I sweat enough when I run outside in the cold air; I don’t want to be chained to a conglomeration of metal and plastic sweating like a whore in church. Besides all that, those machines make you repeat unnatural motions. I tried an arc trainer today, thinking that it would be more like running. Wrong! It was more like going up steps while falling backward off a ledge on a tall building like bad guys do when they’re being chased by cops in the movies. I kept thinking I might seriously fall off the damn machine, so I switched to an exercise bike. Just one time I would like for someone to invent an exercise bike that positions the rider in the same position as a regular bike positions the rider. Instead, you get to sit like someone has shoved a pole up from your tuchas through the top of your head, and better yet, you are sitting on a padded stool instead of a bicycle seat. My hips/legs are sorer from this worthless gym workout (1 mile on the arc and 6 miles on the bike) than they would have been from running the four miles I was supposed to run. And, I would have felt like I had accomplished something. As it is, I ache and feel like I should have just walked to and from school to do my work. Walking in eight to ten inches of snow would have been a good workout. This is the horrible machine I had to ride for 15 minutes before I just couldn’t take it anymore.

3) I am giving up most of my vow. I am breaking down and having a couple of beers, and since I already cut my hair, there isn’t much left to hold onto except the vegetarian thing, which is still in full force. I don’t take this decision lightly, but I think I need the stabilizing force of beer in my life. I am not saying this to be trite or funny, but beer is a depressant and it seems to help me sleep (which I haven’t been doing well lately). It has also been proven in several studies to fend off the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and it seems to make me be able to focus more on a specific task. I haven’t been doing so well with focus. Two different people from two totally different walks of life, in two different conversations at two different locations and times, have suggested to me that I am much more spastic and not nearly as jovial or easy to get along with when I don’t have my beer. One of them told me that in the past six months, I have not appeared to be myself and that I always seem distracted. I have read that beer helps people who have problems focusing to focus. So, I think I am returning to the land of the beer-drinkers. At least I have six beers sitting in the fridge at home waiting to be consumed. This is the beer I am going to drink when I get home.4) I was just thinking about our trip to the liquor store today. I got carded and since I didn’t have my ID, Bec had to buy the beer while I waited in the car. Magic. I’m 35 and still can’t buy. This is me at 35.

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I am thankful for flexibility in life. I am also thankful that I was able to free my bicycle from her snowy abode in the bike rack.

Food: juice, chocolate milk, oatmeal, tea, burrito, chips and salsa, ginger ale, peanut butter granola bar, porter, veggie burger, broccoli

Exercise: shoveling snow, dog walking, arc trainer, stationary bike

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Posted in Beer, Biking, Food, Gym, Insomnia, Running, Winter Weather

I didn’t post last night

Posted on 30 January 2010 | 1 comment

because I was tired and the right side of my face feels like a colony of meerkats has invaded and taken up residency. I think they spent a good portion of last night constructing their little huts/tunnels in the sinus cavity directly below my right eye and near my jaw. In fact, I think they are using my upper-right molars as grounding for their infrastructure.

Mucinex does nothing to get rid of meerkats. The huge horse pills don’t work on meerkats at all in the same way they work on the Mucus family in the commercial. The Mucinex is probably being used by them, as we speak, to paint their walls, carpet their floors, and spruce up their kitchens and bathrooms. The one side of the pill is a pretty blue color, similar to the blue of my living room. It might look nice inside my sinuses.

Since I didn’t write yesterday, I will use this post as a moment of foreshadowing today. In just a few minutes, I am going to go get dressed in my running clothes, drive to Anderson, and run around Shadyside Park with my brother. Today’s run is a four-miler in 18º weather with a bit of a breeze. After we run, we are going to go back to his house and move his bedroom downstairs, or we will go eat lunch. Then we will do whichever we did not do first.

After spending some time with my brother, I plan to come home and make some pot-pies for a family at school whose lives are being disrupted by cancer. I am making vegan pot-pies, chocolate chocolate-chip cookies, and salad. I hope they like the meal; if not, I hope they are comfortable ordering pizza. Whenever I hear of someone with breast cancer, I always think of Suzie and how I should have been there more for her, done more for her family, or at least sent a card every once in a while. I just feel this intense guilt when I think about it, that I could have done more.

Finally, tonight we are going to try out a new restaurant in Muncie. We are going with the Combers to Two Johnny’s. On their website, which takes forever to load, the restaurant looks much fancier than what I think it is. Essentially, from what I can tell, it is a soup and sandwich joint that offers other cuisine for dinner. I am going to try some soup and a veggie sandwich. I love soup in the winter.

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I am thankful for sleep and kleenex.

Food: banana, juice, oatmeal, chocolate milk, almonds, apple, chinese buffet, superman ice cream

Exercise: walked the dogs, walked from Burris to RB

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Posted in Food, Relationships, Running, Vegetarian or Vegan, Winter Weather