Shoes!

My shoes have arrived! And they are wonderful! Oh, I am so happy with my shoes. They are brown and pretty and were so very, very cheap. 70% off makes it so much better.

Teething

Well, I am getting into the swing of work. I am bored out of my mind. The baby is sweet and cute, but games appropriate for an eight month old are pretty boring when you're in your twenties - especially when you play them for eight-nine hours every day. Over and over again. I think she is relaxing a little bit though.

Anyway, this week she has started teething. So, she is crabby and doesn't want to sleep. I was sitting there, holding her, and I look down and she is chewing on my shoulder. She has a very small mouth, and she looked pretty ridiculous, but very cute. Sometimes I wish I had a camera phone or something.

It's really not that bad. She is a good baby; she doesn't cry much and is easily quieted when she does start to fuss. I keep on expecting her to start crawling. I thought she was going to do it this afternoon when the cat was a couple of feet out of reach. She got into crawling position, but didn't quite do it. She does crawl a little bit, but only backwards.

She's very cute, I just wish I could take a break during the day at some point.

Review: Media 5 Miler

Besides the weirdness of seeing my high school guidance counselor Dr. Deady a)Outside of school b)Running a race, it was very nice. The course was a little sucky - very hilly, lots of turns (according to Dr. Deady there were 32 turns - I took his word on that), but a lot of community involvement. I didn't really need the Mardi Gras beads - who gives out beads in the middle of a race anyway? - but giving them to a kid on the sidelines was fun.

The people on the sidelines really made the race. Little kids chanting encouragement, old people with hoses and sprinkers, groups on lawn chairs cheering the runners on, chalk scribbles on the road and homemade signs...it was very nice. I really enjoyed it. The weather was fantastic, which compensated for the so-so course. Apparently 1200 people entered the race, but they spread out after the first mile.

I was quite pleased with my times as well. My splits were:

Mile 1 6:58
Mile 2 14:30
Mile 3 22:00
Mile 4 30:00
Mile 5 37:10

Oddly, they were all very even, which helped me remember them. I'm really happy with the splits though. I didn't think I had that many seven minute miles in me - I've settled nicely into a slow long distance pace. I'm not sure if I will run tomorrow - if the weather is nice, I'll take advantage of it, but we are kayaking, so I don't feel obligated to run.

Anyway, good race. I will return next year if I am in the area.

hrmph.

How in the world do I attract so many weirdos? It would be okay if they were all mildly cool like the Can-I-take-a-picture-of-your-hair-for-my-art-project-weirdo, instead of irritating psuedo-spam weirdos like the latest bunch.

The heat!

Bleah, it has been very hot. Too hot. Heat advisory hot. As a gesture of respect to the heat advisory, I waited until 6pm to run and only did four miles. I've been managing the heat pretty well, I think. I've taken to ducking my head in water before I leave - my hair is still pretty long, so it holds the water for a while. At the halfway point on my eight-mile run, I swing by West Chester University and re-wet my sweat band/soak my head. My first race is on Friday, but it's supposed to cool down after Thursday's thunderstorm. Plus - free massages! I never get a massage (extra money goes towards books/movies/races), so I am looking forward to this.

Otherwise, stuff has been quiet. My sister left for California on Monday, I'm almost done re-reading The Stand and I have two more books lined up. I start work next Monday, which will be interesting.

Waitlisted No More

I got into the University of Pittsburgh.

I am shocked and confused. I was settling nicely into Philly, now all this. I guess I should call and see what I can do to work out the details.

Oooh...exciting. But stressful.

argh.

Man, I have got to stop reading Orson Scott Card's blog. John mentioned he wrote a column on homosexuality, so I decided to take a look to see how the other side justified their disapproval. On my way, I ran into his latest column on obesity.

Now I'm all frustrated and irritated. This guy is obviously trying to take a shot at the scientific establishment and he sounds good, but he's just wrong. God, it's so blatantly wrong and subtly framed in anti-European, anti-science wording, but at the same time he is trying to use the lingo. Like that creationism trash that attempts to use science to back up the biblical version of evolution.

It shocks me that he is even making this argument. Look at the rise in childhood type II diabetes! And what about IV placement? How about surgery? Extra layers of fat make it difficult to gas and complicate surgery. For example, what if increases are regional and a national increase is not evident? He's right in that we don't know enough. I love how he only pointed out research money coming from weight-loss companies and completely skipped over the money coming from the fast-food industry.

...and I don't think I'm going to make it through the homosexual column. I'm already fuming mad and I'm only half way though. How do people read this garbage, much less believe it?

Two things

I called my great-Aunt two days ago to thank her for her graduation gift. She is 83 years old, but still aware of what is going on around her. After she finally figured out who I was, the following conversation took place.

Her: What are you going to do now?
Me: Well, I am going to medical school next year.
Her: Medical school? For what?

At this point, I'm pretty sure the expression on my face was quite funny.

Me: Uhm, to be a doctor?
Her: A doctor?
Me: yeah, a medical doctor?
Her: For what?
Me: Uhm, pediatrics?
Her: Oh. I guess your Mom had a lot of influence, eh?
Me: Uhm. yes?

It was a bit of a strange conversation, but we are talking about the woman who almost fell off the stage at my sister's bat-mitzvah. The family has no shortage of stories about this woman and her sister, who is infamous for being late to her own funeral.

Then, yesterday I set off to see the house in Mayanuck. My landlord-to-be gave me directions, which I cross-referenced with Google Maps, my father and a paper map of Philadelphia. While I've traveled into Philadelphia a lot, my great-Aunts actually used to live there and we would drive in fairly frequently, I've never driven in solo. But, after checking four different sources, I thought I'd be okay. Silly me.

My plan had been to take 202N to I-76 E and exit at Belmont. It seemed fairly simple. The alternative route was to take the Blue Route in, but I felt more familar with I-76 E. So, I get on I-76 E without a problem and settle down in for a twenty minute drive. Then I notice the exit numbers and names do not match my directions. Uh-oh. So, I pull over, call my father and consult the map. Of course, my father is on the road and his advice is to exit and 'consult the toll-person.' Well, it turns out that somehow, I got onto I-276 E. I have no idea how it happened - I sort of suspect I was supposed to exit at Valley Forge, but at the time, my father had suggested that as a potential way to get onto I-76 E, so I didn't seriously consider exiting at it - or pay any attention to it.

The first toll-person told me to make a u-turn, get back on I-276, exit at the first exit and consult the next toll-person. Lacking a better idea, I went ahead and did this. The next toll-person told me to follow the signs to I-76 E and get off at Exit 16, the Belmont exit. This matched my original plan, so I cheerfully set out to do this. Unfortunately, you have to be in the proper lane fairly quickly and my plan of staying in the middle lane immediately failed. As I flew past the I-76 E exit, I was faced with an immediate choice of staying on I-76 W or going to Conshohocken. I choose Conshohocken and found myself on route 23, with no clear way of getting back to I-76 E. Just take right turns, my father said. Well, that's a nice plan - if there are right turns to take! So, I just started making turns and got to see parts of Conshohocken. Eventually, I found a guy, asked directions and managed to get back on I-76 E. Of course, there was a ton of traffic, but I saw signs for the Belmont exit.

After I got off the Belmont exit, I only got lost two more times. I finally managed to find the proper street and then my landlord-to-be came outside and directed me towards the correct house. The house itself is great. New appliences, porch, yard, basement, nice big bedrooms. I am very excited.

Getting home wasn't as bad. I found I-76 E without much of a problem, then just exited when I saw a slightly familiar road sign. I ended up near Lima, but I knew my way home from there (Rt 1 all the way).

Then my Mom laughed at me, but that's okay. It was mostly frustrating, rather than scary. And now I have a decent story to tell. Everyone wins!