wherein i say what's what

I confess....this is going to be a wildly random list with varying degrees of gravity.


Thing that bug me lately:

• An ad for a gym that suggests Washington is "dangerously close" to making our health decisions, so you should take control first and join a gym. I'm all for fitness, but I don't quite see how joining a health club equates to a vote against government involvement in health care. I want health care and my treadmill time (well, someday...). I align valuing fitness closely with wanting more preventative care.



• Parents pushing a stroller with one hand while smoking with the other.



• Loud gum chewers on a crowded train.



• People who don't get that allowing two people who are truly in love to marry is the absolute best way to affirm the institution. And that marrying before the state isn't the same as marrying before the church...allowing people to legally wed does not mean the Catholic church needs to bless the union.



• Electronic-induced unawareness.



• Not following the "stand right, walk left" rule on the escalator. And assuming it is because I'm lazy that I'm standing and not walking.



• Injuries that don't heal, even when you are "good" and on total rest.



• Doctors who give you trouble refilling pain medicine but who can offer no real way to treat your chronic condition (even though I do understand the drug-seeking fear).



• Walking three people across and not falling back to make sidewalk-room when someone else approached from the other direction.



• Expecting a "thank you wave" for stopping at a crosswalk.



• The fact that no one thinks offer a seat to the old lady until they see someone else do it and then suddenly everyone offers a seat to her husband.

etc.

I confess...I'm scatter-brained today...

• I am not at all surprised by the Senate results



• I have been thinking a lot about health care and how it presents an odd intersection of social and economic matters....this may eventually get its own post.



• When I was little, I thought the note on the side of my cup at McD's that said "please put litter in its place" meant to fill the cup with trash after you finished your soda.



• My apartment complex cannot write a posting without multiple typos. It drives me batty but has also become a game to me....they are "excepting" donations, posted "reminds" of certain rules, and want trash in the "shoot."



• My hip still hurts. I am in denial. I haven't done a "regular" week's workout since Thanksgiving.



• I think late January and February are the roughest time of the year. It has been cold for so long but there's no end in sight. Last year, we had no Spring and Summer didn't show up till July.



• I need a real vacation. With umbrella drinks.



• I am re-reading The Red Tent, probably for the fifth time. I love it each time, especially the early sections. I have no real ties to the underlying Biblical story and often wonder how it would be received by people who are very religious.



• I love Men of a Certain Age. It may be my favorite show on right now. The shine has begun to wear off a few of my other staples.



• I chew too much gum. But I also hate hearing people chewing it on the T...I blame my step-dad who always told me to keep my mouth closed....



• I listened to a man on his cell yesterday try to explain being in favor of gay marriage by noting that church marriage and state marriage are different. I sent him many mental marriages and he finally got them when he asked his phone-mate whether they'd consider someone married if they got hitched by a judge.


• I want a burger. This happens once every two or three months. I rarely eat red meat (not for health reasons, just rarely want it) but figure my body must need some sort of boost every few months. The craving stays until I have the burger and then merrily goes away. Very unlike chocolate and cookie cravings which never go away.

owwww

I confess...I only have one bullet point to write (besides this intro):

• MY HIP HURTS (b/c I got a 2nd cortisone shot to treat bursitis and my body does NOT like the shots for about 48h).

go me.

I confess...I'm going to brag.

I'm having a hard time right now. Back to full work weeks, "behind" even my modified running goals b/c I've felt awful, still having hip problems.... So, I'm going to tell you (and myself) some vignettes and tidbits that you may not know (though I know them...) about me. All positives.

• I like to compliment strangers. More than one has said I've made their day.
• I saved my dad's life once. He stopped on the side of a road to go ask directions but didn't fully put the car in park. It started rolling, he tried to hop in and began to fall under it. I got over and stepped on the brake just in time.
• I send random "thank you" notes to random people sometimes who've just made me days better or whom I admire.
• As a camp counselor, I got a shy little girl to yell at the top of her lungs...probably for the first time ever. And convinced her she was smart (she was 5 and could read adult novels to me aloud). I later learned about spousal abuse in her home. I know I was a bright spot for her.
• I ran a half-marathon in 2007...this from the kid who was so out-of-shape she was excused from the mile run in junior high because she nearly stopped breathing.
• A professor once said to me "You sling the vernacular hash, but you know what you're talking about." I like that.
• I lost around 35 pounds. More if you consider that I gained a lot of muscle. That's while dealing with a binge-eating problem.
• I broke the finger of a 6th grade boy who picked on my friends...we were all in 2nd grade and he harassed a bunch of my friends (all boys) on the bus daily. He didn't bug me (I guess bugging little kids was fine but bugging a girl was not) but I got mad at him. I didn't get in trouble b/c he was probably too embarrassed to tell how it happened.
• In 4th grade, we did this Book-It thing where you had to read a number of books a month to "earn" a personal pan pizza. The teacher made my goal higher than the rest of the class because I read a lot already.
• I try new foods and love my veggies after being a VERY picky eater as a kid.
• I found my IQ test recently. 141. I am told that's pretty darn good.
• I get up every morning. That's a bigger accomplishment than you know.

for me, not you...but you can read it

I confess....this post is for me, not for you.

It is my reminder to me that I will be okay if I cut back my mileage. Really, I will. In fact, I got through December pretty much okay and I was WAY down due to injury. Yes, the scale crept up...but I know that was because of eating habits, not the lack of miles.

Even with a very low December, I finished 2009 at 2592.2 miles (treadmill + other walking like from the T to the office). I generally aimed for 50mpw....I wanted an average of 7mpd but 50 is so pretty and round and gave me extra room for injury weeks etc. I ended up higher (even using a lot of my "banked" miles).

And I limped into 2010 recovering from bursitis (and the treatment for it).

I do not like New Years Resolutions. I think change comes when you are ready....not when the calendar so commands. But, a year is a handy measuring device and my little running log does yearly totals. So, my non-resolution...my reminder to myself...I will aim for 35-45mpw...and will be OKAY if I'm on the lower end...or even with less if it is smart healthwise (i.e. injury, illness, etc).