post script

My mother reprimanded me for throwing licorice.
I am thoroughly repentant.

Cool points of interest from today:

*We picked our first tomatoes in our garden today.

*I had an interesting conversation with a Buddhist friend today. We talked about death. I know...slightly morbid. But it was kind of cool.  He's Buddhist. And a doctor.  We were discussing the actual moment of passing.  He asked me if I had ever seen anyone die. (I was there when my grandfather passed away.)  His first death was actually in surgery.  A man died on the operating table.  He asked me if it had felt like something left the body when it died.  I said yes.  He said he doesn't believe in souls (because he is Buddhist), but the scientist in him wants to know if something actually leaves the body and how much it weighs.  He wants to weigh the body both before and after death to see if there is the slightest change.  Oh Oscar.  Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
*I went on my first actual bike ride in about 15 years tonight. My bum hurts.
*I took dinner to a family in the ward tonight.  They have a 4-year-old little boy.  When I ran in and dropped off food, the little boy said, "are you mommy's teacher?" I said yes, but I wasn't teaching, just dropping off food this time.  He said "Thank you so much for this wonderful food!" He's adorable.  Bless the 4-year-olds.
*I may have maimed my roommate this evening. I tossed a piece of licorice to her and apparently threw it harder than I thought. I heard it across the room.  It also left a welt and a lump on her forehead. I'm a bad person. I promise I won't throw licorice, ever again.

Pretty Sure Old English Makes Everything Better:

The Hokey Pokey

O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinsitral pedestral to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke.
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from heaven's yoke.
Bessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say,  'tis what it's all about.

Thank you Facebook for sharing this wonderful moment with me.

Problematic

I have so many things to write about and very little desire to do so. I guess that's what happens when you get home SUPER LATE/EARLY and then have to recover quickly for the upcoming work week. Here's the slightly expanded bullet list:

• Just got back from Washington. Fantastic trip. Love my family. So much fun to spend time with them. Highlights: flying kites on the beach, family barbecues, hiking in Olympic National Park, sunsets on the Oregon Coast. 
• Ran my first 12k in Washington. Less than 13 minute miles. Kind of impressed with myself. The course was beautiful-basically ran through a green tunnel with the Puget Sound on one side. Downfall? There are no rolling hills to train on in Utah. Kind of had a hard time getting myself in the mental groove. Still can't run listening to music. Can't find a steady pace with it. I suppose that means I'm still on a quest for the ideal play list. 
• It rained. A lot. I know. The Pacific Northwest? Unheard of. I'd forgotten how wet it really can be. We still camped in it. I came home with a cold. It's okay. Ironically enough, the warmest we got was at Crater Lake (7000 feet with lots of snow?). Personal favorite moment was watching the two single guys dressed for Hawaii-not kidding fluorescent tank tops, shorts, and sandals wandering around in the snow with British accents. I giggled. 
• Miracle of the day? It happened. We actually got home around 5:00 am. It was a long, rough night. I couldn't really sleep until about 7:30 so I opted out of 9:00 am church. We planned on waking up in time for the 1:00 pm meetings at our building but at the last minute decided to go to church with roommate's brother to his singles ward. As we drove to American Fork, roommate commented about how her car felt funny and that she should go get her tires rotated tomorrow. Cue: Strange noise and tug on the car. She shredded her tire. We called her parents and her father and brother came as a rescue party. We were putting rocks behind the tires when a van passed us and stared backing up toward us. We assumed it was the rescue party. As it turned out it was our own Good Samaritan Couple. Cliff and Karen. Bless you both for your willingness to serve on a hot Sunday afternoon. He works at Les Schwab. We could have easily changed the tire, but he did it super fast. She stood and talked to us for a minute and told us that their church had a camp out earlier in the weekend so they cancelled their Sunday meetings. Maybe he wanted to get his Sunday worship in anyway? I was grateful. There are good people in the world. Pay it forward, yeah?

All in all I call it a good trip. I don't have plans for a while. I'm hoping that means my life will fall back into its general consistency which allows me to do such niceties as blog.  Happy Sabbath.


***Oh yeah. Update. I still don't really use the internet at home. It's SO NICE. Technology doesn't have to be such a huge part of my life. I'm okay with it.

Nebraska in all it's glory...

So I decided to come home for Memorial Day. Every time I come home I have that realization that I really do like this place. Nebraska really is a great place to live. I don't even mind the weather (ie, the humidity). Roommate and I are still training for the 12k in 2 weeks. I think after this trip we're finally convinced that we might survive it. We ran 6.2 miles through the biking/walking trails of Lincoln. Side note: they ROCK! Side note.5: I didn't say we were fast, I just said we did it. My legs were super tight after the drive. I think they were rebelling to 14 hours in the car. We'll have to see what happens after the drive home. They may not speak to me after it all. Wish me luck...

oh air conditioning...

I'm currently sitting at my car dealership getting my oil changed and having them look at my air conditioning before the wickedly warm summer months arrive. We apparently broke a record last week with 90. I didn't mind the lack of air conditioning in my car, but the girl I carpool with doesn't like being warm or sweating-she's from Oregon. I'm sorry I didn't blog last Sunday. I honestly didn't have time. (It's amazing what you have time to do when you are killing time on the internet all the time.) I chose to spend the day with some old roommates, one of which has recently become a mother. We played with the baby and discussed everything from "If you could ask God one question, what would it be?" to "If you could throw a party with no monetary restraints, what would you do?" I miss those girls. The year I lived with them was a great year. [insert transition] I've recently had a paradigm shift of sorts. I got a new/additional calling at church. I'm going to be the stake leader for Special Needs Mutual. I've only been twice and they are taking their summer recess so I'm going to get a break, but I'm so excited for the calling. The youth amaze me. I could say so much, but I don't feel the need to express this all online so ask me about it someday if you really want to know. Last night was the closing social and I like any other new leader, manned the drink table. It was so fun to watch the kids, but the thing that blew my mind was the music they played: the Macarena, the Backstreet Boys, etc. I remember when those came out. I was riding the bus to middle school the first time I heard the Backstreet Boys. The Macarena phased in to Junior High. Those songs are SO OLD and yet the kids had a great time. I guess some music is really timeless. ***garden update*** My garden is growing!!! I have peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and possibly spinach growing. THEY AREN'T DEAD!!! I'm feeling good about that. Yay me!

I have a goal...

Last week I registered for a 12K. This concept is totally daunting to me, but I think I can do it. Right now, it's not about time. Can I finish in x hours? x minutes? etc. Nope. It's about, "can I finish without stopping?" Friday afternoon roommate decided that she wanted to run a 5k. Currently my favorite idea in the world is that she asked me Friday afternoon and we ran it Saturday morning. No problem. Did I have a fantastic time? Sure. I had a great time. Running around a farm is all sorts of fun in the spring time. I saw lambs, goslings, and a bunch of other delightful animals (including dogs chasing geese and brides posing for bridals waiting for the perfect moment to take the picture so there isn't a runner in the background). My actual time, not that great. The important part was that I finished. I didn't stop. I wanted to. There were hills and I didn't want to run up them, but I did. It was good for me, right? Right. Perfect reward the experience? Breakfast with the old roommate her new baby. Okay. He's not that new, but he's still new to me. We had a good time. Perfect reward part 2? Evening in a hot tub at a resort with old friends. So fun and relaxing. This weeks goal? Go farther. Done. In other news, I also planted tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. My peas look lovely. Not seeing much of the lettuce and spinach. Don't know exactly how I feel about that, but we'll figure it out soon enough. I may even plant something else over it. We'll see how ambitious I get. Happy Sabbath.