Freda Kahlo, again?

A night at Beth's always includes good friends, gallons of wine, and a game of some sort. Last night, it was girls only, with pasta with shrimp and Apples to Apples for dessert. I'm terrible at this game - I think way too much and I end up with zero cards. I stink at most games we play at Beth's - we're all competitive but luckily, no one seems to care who wins. We laugh outright at and with each other and are usually so completely unfocused on the game - I may groan at the thought of playing another round, but it's so silly fun.

Level 80!

It's a strange world occupied by demon lords and dwarves and trolls and elves and the occasional Jack O' Lantern when appropriate. Raiding, pillaging, plundering - millions of strangers and their pets band together 24 hours a day to fight off spawning monsters, fierce dragons and the inevitable rainbow pegasus. It's a secret social world of computerized leaders and followers, healers and fighters. A quick google of World of Warcraft garners over 49,000,000 hits. Maybe it's not so secret after all...

R.I.P.

Janet was lucky enough to take a fabulous trip with her dad last summer. Greece, Italy, a cruise - the vacation of a lifetime. She has wonderful photos and a lovely memory and yesterday, her father passed away. The Chickadees organized a shiva sort of party to take care of our good friend and the demonstration of support and love was quite remarkable. At all times polite and always well dressed, her father will be remembered as a gentleman.

Happiest place on earth...

It's not Disneyland, but it's right up there. I spend a lot of time in this happy little land of second graders. We laugh, we cry, and we have formed a little family - a community where everyone feels safe to imagine, create, learn. I'm a teacher, but also a judge, a nurse, a dentist, a mommy. No huge paycheck, but I do get bonuses of hugs and drawings of ladybugs and rainbows. I am lucky enough to have a great job where I love to go everyday. And the ocean view isn't half bad either.

refrigerator blindness

It started simple enough - the fridge needed a little attention. Containers needed to be tossed, things needed rearranging, a quick wipe of the little seal that runs around the door. Next thing I know, I've removed every item, put on the rubber gloves, and scoured every surface. It might look a little empty, but it sure is clean in there.

2:28:38

Mile 8 was the one where we hit the wall - mentally and physically. Jeanne suggested we walk a bit, something we had always planned to do but had not quite gotten around to slowing down. We walked for a brief moment and immediately felt our legs getting tight. If someone had told me that you couldn't stop running for fear of cramping, I'd have never believed them. Bt it's true, you have to keep going. Mile 12 was the best - spectators yell out to keep going and really do help. I'm going to go out to the next race and cheer some stranger on. 13.1 miles...Still on the endorphin high!

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...

In August, Jeanne and I had a crazy moment and signed up for a half marathon. No, we were not drunk, but we did tell everyone we knew what we were doing and my principal got in on the fun, too. January is a long time from August, not to worry, we've got tons of time! Now the time has come and our training has not gone as well as we imagined. Jeanne hurt her hip, I got sick, we both got lazy. Inconsistent is our middle name -our longest run to date is 7, maybe 8 miles, we skip weeks at a time, diet is a bad word. We're not hoping for a strong finish...we want an upright finish!