hmph

Well, I'm better. Still extra snot hanging around. Heart broken though. Should be my boys not the stupid Rangers in the World Series. Oh well. It was one of those years and really we were lucky to get as far as we did. Still my boys!

Dad came for dinner tonight. Stir fry. It was pretty good and he went home with two tubs of leftovers. I spent the evening and still not done changing my credit card number with everyone who uses it for auto pay - spectrum and such. I purchased from what, in the end, was a questionable online company many months ago and they keep trying to charge me an annual fee or such. I thought I'd gotten it taken care of with the company but apparently not cuz there was just another charge. So I just canceled the card. It's a pain. But the nice thing is that Capital One has already issued a new "virtual card" so I know the new number before I get the actual card next week. Lesson - no online shopping from random companies that advertise on Instagram!

Ran a couple times during the week. Had my first heel pain. I *think* it has to do with having been on my feet all day at school first. Tried stretching throughout the day on Wednesday and the run was better than Monday's but not painfree. We'll see how I feel tomorrow when the run is the first thing I do. 

Very much looking forward to sleeping late tomorrow. Luckily it's cooling off so I don't have to run as early to not die of heat!

Night!

Almost OK

Healthwise, almost OK. Baseball? Doing well!! 

Had a decent day at school. I finally don't feel like trash. Throat is okay unless I talk a lot or have to raise my voice too much. Which I didn't too very much. Still very little energy though. Oh well, two whole days to sleep :) Though I'm hoping to go for a run tomorrow. Or at least exercise. And give Slugger a good walk!

Back and forth, aggravating baseball. Benches cleared. Altuve hits a go-ahead HR top of the 9th. Pressley had a 2 inning "save"/win. It was amazing! Lead the series 3-2 and going home. Gotsta win one at home... People need to stop comparing it to 2019 WS. Please no. 

Gonna finish my book toboight. I've had to restrict myself to one chapter each night the last couple nights cuz of early alarms. Not tonight! But really, I don't have but about 40-50 pages left. Kinda sad to be saying goodbye to these characters and worlds. Guess that's what makes a good book!

Goodnight Blog!

Less Sick

I might even say better. Made it through the whole day at school. I think even a few students learned how to solve a quadratic equation with imaginary numbers. 

Although the throat is better, unfortunately the yuck has moved into the medal area. I sneeze a lot, which makes the throat hurt again. And scares the dog. He was just lying with me on the couch and I sneezed. Now he's on the floor. Which I guess is an improvement cuz he used to go outside. For a dog who is so protective, you'd think he'd get closer, trying to make me better. I think he doesn't understand why I'm making such violent noises and movement. My sneezes are generally not gentle!

Anyway, students were generally respectful of my need to speak low and not much. I think they were glad to have me back after they were supposed to learn on their own for three days. Which is exactly why I went to school today. Well, that and I've already used half my sick days! And it hasn't snowed yet!! But I'm gonna man up this winter and go to work even when the roads are gross. If I wreck the truck, can I sue them for making us go to school?

Know what I miss? Running. I had JUST started again!! Ugh. Hopefully Saturday I'll feel well enough to venture out. 

Back to watching baseball. We're winning :)

Sick

 I say this all the time but I really should write more. Not that I have a lot to write about or that anyone reads this. But still. It'd be good for me. 

I'm sitting here watching my Astros play in the ALCS again. For the 7th year in a row. Honestly, I didn't know if we'd get this far. But here we are. Playing against the Rangers. I really don't like them. 

I've been home sick all week. Last week was Fall Break and ended with the Kodiak Ultramarathons. I'm blaming lack of sleep and being outside in 28* at the start of the 100 mile and the 100k. It's been a while since I've really been sick, other than Covid last Christmas. And boy was I sick! A horrid sore throat and just a general need to sleep. I happened to have a doctor's appointment today but would have taken today too. So 3 days off sick - that's a LOT for me! I finally feel better after a long day (not really but felt like it) down the hill where it was 95+*!! I sweated the sick out :) I am still not good but I'll go back to work tomorrow. Only have to get through 2 days, right?!

On another note, I am reading a great trilogy by Nora Roberts. Dragon something. I'm almost done with book 3. I haven't hardly done anything but read, even before I was sick. Like all day for days! It feels good. It's been a long time. I'm not even sure the books are any good, but they're exactly what I needed right now. I've been in a slump. Haven't found anything that caught my attention. Or that I liked. Until this. Already thinking about what to read next cuz it needs to be something very different! Like a non-fiction. I think this one will stick with me for a bit. 

Okay, the boys are still winning. I need to continue getting ready for bed. Cuz I should be IN bed already. Hopefully I'll sleep well. 

Snowpocalypse 2023

 We survived the storm of the century! The first ever "blizzard"!! We spent 5 days at home (1 sick day, 2 snow days, plus weekend) and had several short walks and did some shoveling. Mostly we laid around :)

Here are pics in chronological order more or less:

                Wednesday        

                        Thursday

                            Friday

                                Saturday

                        Sunday (storm over!!)

BUT MORE TO COME THIS WEEK!!!!! I. HATE. WINTER!!!!!

2022 was a year

I entered 2022 excited because 22 is my lucky number. Not sure how lucky the year was. There were some definite lows but yet a couple of highs. 

On the last day of February, I had to call 911 for Dad. He was incoherent and couldn't really walk. It was VERY scary. Long medical story short, he has prostate cancer. He didn't think anything was "really wrong" so he didn't go to the doctor and now he sees one at least every 3 months, forever. The cancer is treatable but not curable so he'll be on fancy meds for the rest of his life, which will be a long long time. I took a leave of absence for the last quarter of the school year and Dad lived with me for about 2 months. All this time, Boo was with Kresse (God bless her!) and she was missed. This spurred Dad into getting well enough to move home. The unexpected benefit was that Boo got used to be around other dogs and now tolerates Slugger! It was a challenging several months but I am SO glad that I was close and able to be there for him. Dad turned 80 yesterday and is a little slower but good, considering. He comes over for dinner at least once a week and takes care of Slugger when needed. He still does search and rescue and radio and such. Moral of the story is go to the doctor!!

Read the previous blog post for the summer activities. They were pretty good! 

School started like normal and only a few teachers/students were out with Covid and it slowed down once we all got into the swing of things. I still mask every day. I finally succumbed to Covid the week before Christmas. Almost 3 years - not bad. I took on a major role as WASC Coordinator. This means I'm in charge of our accreditation which is up this year. I write a huge document and wow the folks who come to visit in April. Fingers crossed. 

In November, my Astros became champs again!! And today, New Year's Eve, I finally got my celebratory tattoo :) I'm ready for 2023. 

Goals accomplished: hiked Sugarloaf and ran a marathon; 300+ run miles, 100+ walk miles, 100+ hike miles. 50 books read. 

Several other goals were purposely not met like the whole-house generator and the fencing of the property - hopefully by this time next year, I'll own more of the property surrounding my home! I memorized a few Scripture verses, but not 10. And I don't know that I really memorized them but I know the gist and can recall it when I need it, which was kind of the point anyway. I think I'll keep that goal but make it more like 6. I'll be going to Houston for Opening Day and maybe NoTX in October for a wedding. We'll see. I also am planning Alaska again (this got derailed cuz of the Dad stuff). I may have to do the 50th state while I'm 50. Close enough.

In 2023, I'd like to get out more. I would like to build a few friendships into stronger relationships. I hope to get some landscaping things done at the front of the house. And run and hike and walk :)  

Summer 2022

 On this, my last day of summer break (basically), I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on a very good summer (this will be long - I should have blogged more of this individually!). It was an excellent mix of getting stuff done and sitting around doing nothing. Productive yet relaxing. I'd like another week or two of course. But I think I'm ready.

Where I went:

Started with an EXCELLENT girls weekend with Karie in Palm Springs. We sat by the pool for endless hours, chatting, laughing, being still. It was glorious. We ate good food, drank, and laughed and laughed. It was exactly what I needed without knowing I needed it!

Couple of weeks later, Slugger and I had a nice, short road trip to San Diego. He put his feet in the water and had lots of small walks. He was VERY good in the hotel. On the drive home we went the very long way and had several good walks and snacks. 

As has kind of become tradition, I spent the 4th of July weekend in Temecula with the Whites. As always, MUCH fun was had and memories were made. We had tea, discovered a great used book store, antiqued and laughed - that was day one. On Sunday Thomas and I had a breakfast outing and then he went with me to Walmart (such a trooper, my Godson!). Then Karie and Ben and I went to a speakeasy (yes!) so I could enjoy my first professional Bees Knees - SO good! That night we all went to the Lake Elsinore Storm game. They lost but the fireworks were nice. I went home the next day. SO MUCH FUN!!

My summer ends with another trip to San Diego tomorrow for an AVID conference. Not really vacation, but going to enjoy the swanky hotel!

What I did:

I gave myself a LONG to-do list and spent ALL summer slowly making my way through it. First, I dealt with the weeds and then I cleaned the house. Like really cleaned. Then it got fun :) I ordered 8 tons of gravel and ended up having to spend a LOT more time than I expected moving it to where I wanted it. But now I can park not in mud on the lower side of the house in the winter. I also am on the schedule to get the house painted and for the whole house generator to be installed. Oh, I stained the "new" buffet. I also re-adhered the cork in the she-cave after it all fell down. That wasn't planned! Plus a bunch of little things like shredding a bunch of old documents.

I FINALLY hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain! I was alone (saw one other person the whole trip) and hiked - poles, boots and all. It was difficult but I'd do it again!

I ran. And I ran. I FINALLY figured out the toe blister thing and so I was able to up my mileage quite quickly. Maybe too quickly at the end. BUT I accomplished an actual, literal bucket list item... I ran 26.2 miles - a marathon! From my house to Little Bear Springs, with Cougar Crest in the middle. (That was a stupid idea, btw). Ultras, here I come :)

I think that's about it. Slugger and I walked almost every day - he even got up to a 1.67 neighborhood outing! We hung out with Dad. We drove to the PO a lot. We watched a LOT of TV (Alias, Blossom, Bones). It was a VERY GOOD summer!!!