BORED AT WORK

And you know I must be really bored if I'm actually going back to blogging after all this time. I don't know why it is that I keep getting away from it. It's a nice release for my verbal diarrhea, even if no one is really reading any of it. I should try to blog more often. Yeah, 'cause I never say that.

I think Facebook has killed blogging for a lot of people, or for me at least. I waste so much time on there, but it's such a neat way to keep in contact with people I haven't been in touch with in ages. It is also a great way to socialize without having to get off the couch. Ironic that it's called Facebook when there is absolutely no face time.

I haven't been up to too much lately. Well, that's not true. Since my last post back in May, I trained for and completed my second marathon. It was the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC. I did not do terribly well. I think I'll save the details for another post - most of my photos are on my home computer.

School's been going pretty well this year. I completed my first successful season as cross-country coach of the school team and it was a blast! Although coaching didn't require that I do much other than show up, tell the kids, "Run" and then stand around until they were finished, it was great seeing them in a non-music related setting. It was also neat getting to know students other than my own.

I want to write more. I want to write on a daily basis. I am posting this now so I will at least set the ball in motion. See you tomorrow. Maybe.

EASY DOES IT

Last night I watched one of my all-time favorite movies, A League of Their Own, and absolutely loved it. I know all the lines and just wait for the scenes that choke me up. What a fantastic cast and script! I love that there are a handful of movies that I can call upon to "take me away" - if only for two hours.

I've grown rather comfortable with our evening routine of cooking dinner, doing dishes and then crashing on the couch with The Huz, our laptops and the television. After so many years of not being able to relax, not knowing how to handle free time without an overwhelming sense of guilt creeping in, it's a giant relief to be able to just BE.

I no longer feel that nagging emptiness in my soul. While I still have a touch of wanderlust, I no longer feel like there is some undiscovered destiny for me elsewhere on the planet. I am somehow satiated and it feels good.

I wonder if that's what marriage does? Or being in your thirties? Or both?

2008 was a crazy year: A sabbatical from my job; a month in India; a wedding. At the beginning of 2009, I made a deal with myself to let it be an easier year. So far, it's been nice to be content.

LEAD HEAD

Ugh. I've got the Mondays pretty bad today. I think it's because I woke up around 4:30, rolled over, and fell way back into a really deep sleep. When the alarm went off, I had to climb up from the depths to turn it off. My brain feels like it's full of lead and - nearly five hours later - I just can't seem to get things moving.

Interesting how I seem to be able to be wide awake in the mornings on weekends. Like I can't wait to jump up and start the day. Maybe because I'm allowed to do whatever I want. Just 25 more days of school and then I am free....

Yesterday The Huz and I traveled south with two others to attend the funeral of the Mom of one of our friends. She had been sick for a while with congestive heart failure and other things so it wasn't a total surprise. I was glad to be there for Jeff, as he was really there for me when my Dad died.

Those days were a giant blur, but one clear memory that always pops up was of Jeff and I walking down by the lake. He was there when I needed to get out of the house. He listened when I talked about my Dad, and he was there for me when I didn't want to talk or think about anything at all. Just knowing that he was there provided me with a sense of comfort and support.

WHERE YA BEEN?

I been around. Certainly not blogging though, that's for sure. I just watched the Dean Karnazes documentary Ultramarathon Man and remembered that I had seen him run his 50th in New York back in 2006. So I went back to my long-abandoned blog to see if I had posted anything about it. Sure enough, I had.

Then I started reading through my old blog entries and realized, "Shit, I used to be really good at blogging. WTF happened?" Life happened, I guess. It's gotten too easy to end up on the couch with The Husband (aka: "The Huz"), checking Facebook and watching bad television. I kind of miss writing for the hell of it. And so, here I am, once again.

It's been a great school year. I can't believe it's already May and we only have five weeks left. The spring concert was a success and now things are beginning to wind down. I've been running a lot and have signed up [again] for the Marine Corps Marathon. I bailed last year because there was just too much else going on. (Did I even mention that I got hitched?) Now I feel like my heart is in it for the right reasons. I am really looking forward to starting the training plan in June, and am currently working to build up a decent mileage base.

There's been a 10-ton blanket of humidity draped over the world today, and the sky finally opened up. Hopefully this rain will chill things off a bit. But it's come with thunder and lightening too, so I think I shall sign off before I fry my Mac.

Cheers for now.

GROUNDHOG DAY

[DISCLAIMER: Rather than list a bunch of bullshit excuses about why I haven't posted in 5 months, I am just going to pretend like I've been here all along. And I think I'll refrain from promising myself to blog every day, as I know damn well that isn't going to happen.]



So this morning I went for an ultrasound. The technician was this little Indian guy and he was truly 'jolly' - a quality that I don't attribute to many people. But he was definitely jolly, and I took his presence as a sign from the universe, reminding me that a year ago today I was in India, surrounded by thousands of jolly Indians at the District Conference.

My technician had a very soothing manner. As he rolled the wand back and forth over my abdomen, he calmly directed me to "Breathe iiiiiiin.... and breathe oooooouuuut." He pointed out my liver, spleen and kidney ("looks just like kidney bean, right?")

When he finished, I remarked, "Well thanks, now I am done with my daily pranayama." His face lit up and he laughed.
"You do pranayama every day?" he asked
"Well, not as often as I should," I confessed.

It was as good as the experience could have been.

I went to an endocrinologist a couple weeks ago to find out why I am having women issues. She did a lot of bloodwork and, in the process of discovering I have like zero estrogen, she also found an abnormality in my liver function. Hence the abdominal ultrasound this morning. Last Friday I had an MRI done on my head to make sure there was nothing structurally interfering with my pituitary and hypothalmus. Crazy shit.

Driving home from the MRI, I had a weird, fatalistic moment. I really got to thinking about how we are so much more than our bodies. That our selves (souls, perhaps) really make us who we are, and our bodies are mere instruments. However, our instruments can fail. And even if we think we're immortal or invincible, we are so very fragile. It was a bit much.

Anyway, that's my story for the day. That, and I am off playing hooky. The weather is lovely and I should really take advantage of the sunshine while it's here.