Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Just a few thoughts on a Sunday night.

And here it is, Wednesday morning, and I'm just finding the draft of this post on my desktop. It was ready to post Sunday night, but the Internet gods were not smiling on me. Hopefully I will get our main computer back tonight and the whole house will once again be buzzing in happy wi-fi.

1. Remember two weeks ago when I was in Las Vegas where the air is extremely dry and my skin was like alligator hide and I said I couldn't wait to get back to Virginia for some humidity? I take that back.


2. I am very slow with technology. I recently got a smart phone that uses the Android OS. I successfully found Instagram. I know how to take a photo and post it to Twitter and Facebook, but that's as far as I've gotten. Also, I found Words With Friends and have been playing it with one of my word-nerd nieces. I've heard people say things like "I'm addicted to that game!" and I've totally blown them off. I'm addicted to that game.


3. My daughter downloaded Angry Birds on my phone. Did you know that if you tap the screen after you slingshot a little blue bird, he breaks into three pieces and each one blows something up? You're welcome.


4. Sunday night is my favorite meal of the entire week. Usually Ben makes dinner—perfect fried eggs. I think I'm a pretty good cook, but I can't for the life of me make decent fried eggs. Ben's are perfect. Tonight, however, he didn't cook because he damaged a tendon in his left arm yesterday, so we went to Chipotle for a burrito. Either way, Sunday night food is the best.


5. I am learning to appreciate Sunday afternoon baseball. We are Mets fans, and this happens to be a pretty good year for us so far, the first since 1986.


6. Abbey started her internship today with a wedding photographer. Today she second-shot her first wedding, and I got this text from her a little while ago: Ova. I'm exhausted.


7. Leah is in NYC with a group of teenagers who are singing at Avery Fisher Hall Monday evening. Apparently they've been singing hymns in four-part harmony in the subway. I so wish I was there to hear it.


8. I've taken a week off of any kind of working out since my race, and tomorrow will be my first day back in the gym. Because it's so miserably hot and humid, I'm going to run on the treadmill, and then do a Strive class. I hope I don't seize up.


9. I spent part of my afternoon listening to Patsy Cline songs on iTunes.


10. (because we can't end on an odd number) Tomorrow when the rest of America is grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, Ben will be smoking country-style ribs on his Big Green Egg. I'm making potato salad, baked beans, roasted veggies, and corn on the cob. And then I'll have to run again on Tuesday.

Thank you to all of you who have or had any part in serving our country. My family appreciates the freedoms you help ensure.

Be thankful ~

Saturday, May 26, 2012

P52 Week 21: Favorites


 I always look forward to summertime when I can have colorful flowers and herbs in the pots on my deck. I usually wind up with the same things every year, but I always look for a new flower to try. This year I saw these really cute purple and yellow ones and had to have them. The blossoms are tiny and they're just so happy!


For more P52 Favorites, go here.

Be thankful ~

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I finished.

This past Sunday I ran a half marathon. (The word run is used loosely here.) It was the Marine Corps Historic Half in Fredericksburg, Virginia—my first half marathon ever. And most likely my last.

When I began running a little over a year ago, I had no intention of doing long distances. My goal was to run a 5K in my 50th year, which I did in October—one with Noelle (she of the beautiful brown eyes) and another with Leah and Abbey. Somewhere along the way I was told that "If you can run 3, you can run 6. If you can run 6 you can run 10. If you can run 10 you can run a half." Kind of like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie only without the carbs.

So I took the challenge and signed up for the race last January. I found a beginner's training plan online and set off down the road to becoming a distance runner. The months of training were mostly pleasant, and I even enjoyed the long runs on the weekends, running some of my best paces on 11 and 12 mile days. If I could run those paces on race day, I would finish at just under 2:30, not bad for a 50-year-old novice runner.

Then came Sunday, the big day. The race started at 7 a.m., and the weather was cool (low 50s—perfect running temp) and clear. I thought I could do well.

Somewhere around mile 7 or 8 I suddenly realized I was cooking hot and could not get enough to drink. At every water stop I drank Gatorade and 2 or 3 cups of water, and still felt parched. The sun was beating down and burning my head and face. I don't know how it happened, but it went from pleasant to brutal in about 30 seconds. I walked way more than I wanted to, keeping my walks short and trying to get going again, but just couldn't seem to get into a comfortable rhythm. Every step was a huge effort, and I couldn't stop thinking about how far away the next water stop was.

Hospital Hill was murder, even though I had practiced running it many times in the weeks before the race. I walked about 85% of it. I wanted to sit down on the grass but there was no shade. At the top of the hill was a huge group of Marines cheering us on. I didn't want to give any of them the high-fives they offered because it would slow what little momentum I had.

In the end, I finished in 2:48, not nearly the time I anticipated, but I was happy to be able to cross the finish line running.




I said right after the race that I would never do another one. Now that I'm two days removed and the soreness is beginning to go away, I can see how a person might want to do another one. (My family is laughing at me right now.) However, I'll make sure it's one in the late fall or early spring. 

Be thankful ~

Friday, May 18, 2012

P52 Week 20: Mothers



Last week my middle daughter and I spent a few days in Las Vegas so she could interview at a few middle schools there (she's an orchestra/strings teacher). No, really. I didn't put a single quarter in a slot machine, and we went to church twice while we were there. Anyway, I was thinking while we were in Sin City that I must be a really dedicated mother to not only let my daughter move there, but to go with her. And we had a great time!

So here we are at the Hoover Dam (some random woman took the photo for us)


And coming down from the  mountains at night


For more P52 Mothers, go here.

Be thankful ~

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Home again.

Those of you who are friends with me on facebook know that with a little sprinting through the Cleveland airport, daughter Leah and I made our connecting flight yesterday and were home by 9 pm. As we were flying in over the mountains of western Virginia, we just stared at all the green. It only takes a few days in the high desert of Nevada to realize you like a little humidity and grass in your life. Don't get me wrong, the desert is beautiful in a very rugged way, and the thing I loved about Las Vegas was that you could turn around in a circle and see the mountains everywhere. The lack of any moisture in the air, however, was hard to take. My nose was sore, my skin looked like the back of an alligator, and we drank two cases of bottled water in four days. And there's just something really odd about having static electricity in your hair and clothes when it's 95° out.

So I was very happy to get home. Until I tried to go for a run this morning. My legs screamed, my lungs heaved, and I cut a five-mile run down to three. That may be the first time I've quit a run early, but, baby, that humidity killed me. Tomorrow I have another short run and that's it until Sunday.

Here's the forecast for race day:

Sun May 20

Few Showers
79°
59°
Few Showers
Chance of rain: 30%
Wind: NE at 8 mph 
 
 
Now in the interest of conserving energy and carb loading, I'm going to eat a blond brownie and go to bed early.
 
Be thankful ~

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Las Vegas Day 3: Schools and Hoover Dam with a little French thrown in.

This will be the shortest post in the history of vacation posts because I am so. very. tired.

This morning Leah visited a middle school on the well-to-do side of town. She loved the school and I loved the area. Of course. We both have expensive taste. Then in the late afternoon we went out to see the Hoover Dam, which was pretty cool even though it was 95° and we were not feeling all the walking. On our way back through Boulder City, we stopped at a tacky tourist shop and looked at overpriced turquoise jewelry that we were assured was handmade by Navajos. Except that the Indian lady in the mall back in Virginia sells the same stuff. Anyway, I decided we needed food more than we needed $75 rings, so we left. After that we came back to the hotel and chilled a little bit, then went to dinner and now we're back home behind our locked and bolted door hiding from the prostitute on the corner out there, and no, I'm not kidding. They don't call this Sin City for nothing.

Anyway, here are just a couple of photos du jour.

The view from the ritzy neighborhood.


Standing atop Hoover Dam looking out on Lake Meade.  The white shows where the water level used to be. There's been a drought since 2008, so the level is down a lot.


Standing on top looking down. I was feeling woozy doing this. Woozy is a medical term.


I don't have pictures of myself with any of my kids at very many famous landmarks (do I have any?), so this is pretty cool. Some random woman took it for us.


It is now my turn in the shower and then I have a date with my very comfy bed. Au revoir.

Be thankful ~

Monday, May 14, 2012

P52 Week 19: Still Life



Very late this week. I blame real life. Sorry!

I am loving my new (to me) 50mm f1.4 lens. I feel like, even though I have trouble holding perfectly still, I'm getting much clearer photos. I love the textures. Happy spring!


For more P52, go here.

Be thankful ~

Las Vegas Day 2: Sunday

Woohoo! Made it through two days in Sin City and even went to church twice today. One of the things Leah wanted to do on her survey trip out here was visit a couple of churches, so we went to one this morning and the other this evening and loved them both. In between we walked the strip. Don't judge. Here are the day's most interesting moments, with some commentary.

Yes, that's gas for $4 a gallon. When I saw that, I was glad we didn't upgrade to a bigger car. We've been driving all over the place and the gas gauge hasn't moved off of full yet.


After morning church, we changed our clothes and went to visit the famous Las Vegas strip, just so we could say we did. We thought we'd probably be safe on a Sunday afternoon. We were amazed by so much, but mostly by how many people bring their kids here. I can't imagine.


Sensory overload. We learned that you can make money doing anything here. One guy was playing jazz guitar. Another guy had a cooler and was selling bottles of cold water. A woman had a cat dressed in a pink T-shirt that said "Pimp." There was a sign in front of him telling you to put money in the jar and take a picture. Of a cat in a pink pimp T-shirt.


It's a strange place. Right next to a casino you have Ross (of the "Dress for Less" slogan) and Denny's.


This sign in the parking garage may well be my favorite of the entire trip. 


After we parked in the garage, we tried to get to Las Vegas Boulevard but couldn't find our way out to street level. Finally we gave up and walked out the way we drove in, only there were no sidewalks. We wound up hugging a concrete wall and sort of sidling our way along the very edge of the street. Yes, my daughter led me astray here. And I followed.


And then we saw this sign. But you know what they say: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?


Our goal for the day was to find the awesome fountain in front of the Bellagio, the one made famous in the Ocean's Eleven movie. If you've never seen it, do it soon.


The Bellagio.


After an hour and a half, we were ready to get out of there. Rather than illegally walk on the street to get back to our car in the parking garage, we followed signs, crossed pedestrian bridges, and walked through the Aria casino to get there. We were very ready to leave.

More views of the mountains every way you turn.


Our redneck vase of flowers from the Mother's Day church services.


Now it's dark and we are safely cocooned in our hotel room with every lock locked. We'll be out when it's daylight.

Be thankful ~

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Las Vegas Day 1: Travel

In case you didn't know, I am in Las Vegas for a few days with my daughter Leah, who is interviewing for teaching jobs in some local middle schools. I have never felt more "country come to town" in my life, and words are seriously failing me to describe all the sensory overload I'm experiencing. So in lieu of words, I'll just share a few photos from day one, with some minor commentary.

Here's Leah on the first flight. At this point, we have not yet taken off out of Richmond and the pilot is explaining that our flight will be rerouted because of some bad weather around Chicago, and because of the rerouting, we have to go back to the gate to get more fuel. Well yes, thank you, let's do that. Because of the getting-more-fuel thing, we will subsequently miss our flight out of Chicago. Off to a stellar start.


The United ticket counter in Chicago, made up mostly of people from our flight. You can't really appreciate how long this line is. We were thrilled to be among the first people there.


The psychedelic moving walkway in O'Hare, which I used no fewer than six times in my finally successful quest for a wireless mouse.


The Rocky Mountains.


Canyonlands in Utah.


Approaching Las Vegas. It's pretty much a high desert bowl surrounded by mountains.


The famous strip.


On the ground. It's completely flat, but every direction you look there are mountains. It's gorgeous.


More mountains.


Literally the first thing we saw when we got off the plane.


Woohoo!


Priorities.


Day two has proven to be just as eventful. Photos coming tomorrow.

Be thankful ~

Las Vegas

Daughter Leah and I are safely ensconced in our hotel room just down the road from the Las Vegas strip. We began our day with the first flight being delayed over an hour, thereby causing us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago before we even left Virginia.

Stellar.

It was a long day of travel, but we finally made it, safely got dinner, and here we are locked down for the night.

I'll write more tomorrow if I survive my first night.

Be thankful ~

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Itchy

Don't you just love a good nap in the sunshine?


You know how sometimes when you wake up, you have an itch?


You start to stretch an . . . yeah . . . there it is . . .


and then as you turn to scratch one side, you realize the other side has an itch . . . ooo . . . and there's another . . .


and you wind up turning in circles trying to scratch them all


because some of them are hard to reach


and maybe you can't . . . quite . . . get . . . there . . .


and finally you've got them all and now you're awake and ready to go?


Yeah. That happens to me too.

Be thankful ~

*Thanks to Mansquared for the photos*

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Randomness.

I've been having a lot of fun playing around with my new lens, which takes super-sharp photos even though I can't hold still. I'm always swaying or shaking or breathing or something. Nevertheless, it's the lens I leave on all the time now and gives me better results than anything else.


I love the fact that I can see the texture of the petals.

In other news, Abbey is finished with her semester and will be home after commencement (she's staying to help). She had to move out of her dorm room today, so Man-squared drove down to help with all the schlepping and to bring a bunch of stuff home. Yes, it takes two trucks to move that girl. I have no idea where we're going to put it all. She's bringing home some artwork, in particular this bust she sculpted of my Jewish grandfather, who we affectionately called Poppa.


If you've ever wondered why I occasionally use a Yiddish word (like schlepping, which has the idea of carrying a lot of stuff—but it's more dramatic than that, like someone who has too much luggage in the airport is schlepping all their stuff), that's where it comes from. 

Abbey and a few of her friends went to the annual senior picnic at the Falwell Farm, and sent this cell phone photo. That's Jerry Falwell Jr., the chancellor of Liberty U., standing next to her.


It's hard to believe she's been there three years.

Also, I ran my 12 miles today and my Achilles tendon didn't hurt much at all. It was definitely stiff and tight while I was running, but I didn't get that sharp pain I had on my last long run. I did a lot of walking on the hills, which they say you should do when your Achilles is acting up, but still ran a respectable 2:20. No more long runs now until race day, which is May 20.

So I've taking my epsom salt bath, rubbed my calves with peppermint oil, and now I'm going to get horizontal. TTFN.

Be thankful ~

Monday, May 7, 2012

Wisdom from Sticky Bean.

I love getting texts from my daughter telling me all the funny things Bean is saying. He's at that really awesome 2-almost-3-year-old stage when they talk a lot but don't always make sense. And sometimes they make too much sense, as in the following examples.

This morning Bean asked what that noise was. Deb told him it was the A/C, and Bean asked, "Why you not turn the A/B/C off? Because you'll get stinky, Mom?"

Then tonight Deb and David were getting ready to do their Insanity workout when Bean reminded her, "Dig deeper, Mom!"

Tomorrow will be the first long run I have really dreaded. It's my last one before the race—12 miles that mostly follows the race course so I get the benefit of running all the hills. I'm stashing two bottles of Gatorade at strategic points and have my Honey Stinger Waffles ready to go, but my Achilles tendon is not looking forward to it. I'm going to massage my calves tonight and rub peppermint oil into the tendons, but I'm not sure it's going to be as much fun as the last long run. If I ever had any thoughts of doing a full marathon, they are long gone. Thirteen miles is as much of a beating as this body wants to take.

I'll be back with an update tomorrow.

Be thankful ~


Sunday, May 6, 2012

A very long, very fast weekend.

I feel like I went to South Carolina and back in the time it takes to blink.

Last Friday was the long-awaited day my daughter Leah walked across a big stage to get her master's degree. She made it through a very difficult two-year program with all A's. Yes, folks, that's a 4.0 average at the master's level. I could gush about how smart she is (and she is), but she also works her brains out and deserves every A she gets. Ben and I are very, very proud.

Friday morning she wrote on facebook: I'll have the master's degree special with a side of honors, please. No B's on that, please.

So we left Virginia Thursday morning for the drive to South Carolina, expecting to get there around three in the afternoon in plenty of time to have dinner with Leah, Abbey and her roommate Marly, and my parents, all of whom were meeting us there. Except for Leah, who lives there. I just had to clarify that last sentence.

About halfway through North Carolina, we stopped to get some lunch at Jersey Mike's Subs. (Exit 153 on I-40, in case you're ever going that way. Get a #2, Mike's way.) We were sitting at a red light waiting to turn into the shopping center where Mike's is located, and when the light turned green and Ben stepped on the gas, the car freaked out. It wouldn't go, the check engine light came on, and the gear indicator (the one that tells you whether you're in first, second, drive, etc.) started flashing. With 250,000 miles on it, I can't say I blame it, but it sure was an inopportune time for the transmission to die.

So like the good New Jerseyans we are, we went inside and had a sub first because we have priorities. When we came out, we fired up the old Droid and found the nearest transmission shop, which was about 7 miles away. I hope your transmission never dies when you're on I-40 in the middle of North Carolina, but if it does, go here:


Andrew is a great guy, very friendly and totally honest. We appreciate all he did for us that day, and enjoyed spending time getting to know him and his family.

Ben was able to nurse the car there by manually shifting, and we figured we'd have the fluid and filter changed and just try to get to Greenville in time for graduation the next day.

After much code-reading and book-consulting, it was decided that the shift solenoid was bad and should be replaced. That involved ordering it from a nearby town, Andrew's guy going to get it, and installing it. And there were several test drives. During one of them, Ben told Andrew his testimony and listened to Andrew's story. The abbreviated version is that Andrew's mother is a Christian who has been praying for her son for many years. So God sent Ben Sargent that way to share his testimony and give Andrew a tract.  We're counting on God's Word not returning to Him void.

We could see evidence of a Christian influence all over the shop.



In the process of installing the solenoid, they noticed there was this little plug thingy that wasn't plugged in like it should be. So they plugged it in and *poof* happy transmission.

Five hours, $250 for a solenoid, and one tract later, we were on our way with our car as good as new. Or at least as good as 250,000 miles gets you. We made it to Greenville by 11 pm. It might not have been our plan, but we both agreed we were willing to pay $250 for the opportunity to witness to a guy whose mother has been praying for him.

Graduation day was blustery and busy, but so much fun to share with Leah and what family members could make it.

See that intensity? That's what gets you a master's degree with a 4.0.


Leah, Marly, and Abbey.


With Dr. Stephen Jones, university president:



A friend found this one on the BJU website:


The next graduation will be in May 2013, when Abbey earns her degree from Liberty University. Then we'll be down to ONE CHILD IN COLLEGE. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

And all the people said Amen.

Be thankful ~