awkward

We had a new substitute teacher here at school today, so I decided that it would be polite to make idle talk with him. When he told me his name, I thought that he said "Shark". So I went on and on about what an awesome name to have. His name is not Shark. It's something totally boring like "Shawn"' or something. (No offense, Shawn.)

Awkward.

bragging (again)

So today I was at the mall (because that's where my bank is... this just might be the death of me) when I stopped by a little store that sells hair care products. (I am out of shampoo.) I ended up buying over $100 worth of shampoo and other hair products for a mere $18. I'm pretty sure I have magical powers when it comes to sales.

a nerdy story

So we are currently wrapping up our unit on electromagnetism in my class, so we are obviously discussing induced currents. Which means that we are also discussing the meaning of the word "induced". (As it turns out, most 16-year-olds do not know the meaning of "induced". (Definition: to cause or to make something happen, as in "induced labor" or "chemically induced coma") Side note: the "induced labor" example freaked out the boys in the class. They asked me to please never mention labor ever again. I obliged.)

So anyway, our school's theme this year is "make it happen". Our new headmaster is a go-getter kind of guy. So I suggested to the class that we replace our school theme. Instead of "make it happen" it could be simplified to "induce". Great idea, right?

(I don't think the kids took it seriously. So I suggested it to my colleagues. I don't think they took it seriously either.)

physics fail

we watched this video in my class today. is it mean that i find it kind of funny?

favorites

every teacher has a favorite class. Mine just happens to be the last class of the day, which is so convenient because that means I always go home in a good mood. Awesome, right?

So a while ago, they decided that whenever anybody in the class did something awesome (meaning answering a difficult question, stumping the teacher (this doesn't happen very often - what can I say, I'm pretty good) or asking something insightful, the rest of the class starts up a slow clap in celebration. For those of you who do not know what a slow clap is, it is pretty much what it sounds like. You start clapping slowly, then gradually increase in intensity until you have an all-out celebration. (Sometimes this includes banging on the tables, hooping and hollering, etc.) To be honest, it's pretty awesome.

So yesterday was the senior's last day of school. (They're spending the next few weeks doing service projects.) So all of the juniors got together and decided to do the ultimate slow clap in honor of the seniors. So they clapped once at 2:05. Then they clapped again at 2:15. Then once at 2:23. Then again at 2:28, 2:32, etc. until the very last minute of class there was an eruption of applause, jumping, cheering, and congratulating the seniors on successfully completing high school. They thought it was just fantastic that I had no idea why the entire class would randomly clap once while I was in the middle of saying something that was, in all honesty, not that interesting. (At first I thought they were applauding me and was quite flattered. I was wrong.) How is it possible to NOT love these kids? (Answer: it's not possible. Obviously.)

bring it on

So, just let me brag about myself for a minute. (Since I'm pretty good at it.)

The last time I went on a real run was last August. I broke my foot. Then my eyes stopped working and I started slamming into walls and such if I so much as walked briskly. Poor poor me, I know.

Today, I ran seven miles. In a sub-9-minute mile pace. (Just barely. They were something like 8.9 minute miles, but still. It counts.) Not bad after a 9 month sabbatical. And I ran it on a treadmill (with a .4 incline, thank you very much). I hate treadmills. Almost as much as I hate rap music. (Which is a lot, in case there was any question.)

But I have this coworker named Chris. Back when my eyes stopped working, I got lots of pity from lots of people. Pretty much everyone except for him. He made fun of me. Which, in all honesty, is exactly what I needed. Feeling sorry for myself got me absolutely nowhere. And while it's nice to know that people care, having the rest of the world feel sorry for me also got me nowhere. But being made fun of made me laugh and feel like a normal person. And for that, I love Chris. (Don't tell him that. He's all finicky and weird about mushy stuff like that. He won't even admit that we're friends. We are "friendly". Whatever. We're friends whether he likes it or not.)

But I'm getting off topic here. Last week, I was telling him about how I am registered for a marathon in October and was worried that I wouldn't be able to train since I still have trouble keeping my eyes open when I move any faster than a slug. And again, I got no pity from him. (Surprise, surprise.) In fact, he may have thrown something at me and then told me I was an idiot. (Have I never heard of a treadmill? Really?) As much as I tried to tell him that I hate treadmills and lose my sanity after about 8 minutes, he refused to listen. (As much as I love Chris, listening is not one of his strong points.) Instead, he told me that if I really wanted to run a marathon in October, I had to just make it happen. My excuses are lame. I deserve a better life than I am giving myself. I can do anything I want, have any man I want, but I have to stop holding myself back. Blah, blah, blah. Kind of irritating at the time, but totally true.

So here I am, making it happen. I bought myself a nice long playlist of running music for my ipod (meaning early 90's country music), headed to the gym, set the speed to an 8:50 mile, and ran for seven miles. Monday is incline work, Tuesday will be a nice slow(ish) run, more hills on Wednesday, shorter runs Thursday and Friday, and 10 miles on Saturday. By October, I will be marathon ready.

So I hope Mom and Kate are ready to get their butts kicked in St George.

contradiction

Today I charged my Garmin wristwatch, with hopeful anticipation that I will be able to run in the near future. (And by run, I mean run, not run into. I'm already really good at that.)

Today I also turned in my garage key to my apartment office, since I haven't used it in 8 months and it will save me $40/month.

Apparently for me, running is a little more important than driving. (Mainly because I have a personal chauffeur. Hehe.)