I can agonize all I want about other career paths, but let’s face it—I’m going to be a nurse, b/c that is what I’ve always wanted to be. Well, at least for the last 4 years J But I’m going to nursing school, and I’m going to be a nurse practitioner in a little clinic on the north shore. And Abe is going to be a DJ at WTIP. And we will go camping and hiking a lot. Maybe one day, I’ll even get him to sea kayak on Lake Superior.
Doesn’t that sound like the life?
Speaking of Abe, he and I are getting ready to move in together soon. Eep! We’ll be moving into a new place together in June. I’m so excited for this, for many reasons, but I also have lost sight of the fact that this is a huge step. I swore that I would never live with a significant other before marriage again, and so did he. But here we are—it just feels right. We’ve been together for over two years now. Sometimes it feels like we just met yesterday, other times it feels like we’ve been together for 200 years (in a good way). But more so than the length of time that we’ve been together, it feels like a good time to take this next step. I’m sure that we’ll have difficulties (I anticipate chores being an issue, as he likes his bathroom very clean, and I rarely notice), but I also know that we’ll be able to work through them together
These are some of the places we are considering:
Kenwood Gables:
http://www.highlandapts.com./apt_overview.php?id=36
Stone Arch Apartments:
http://www.stonearchapartments.com/
One Ten Grant:
http://www.onetengrant.com
We both have lived in brownstones for so long…we’re looking forward to living somewhere newer, with modern amenities. I’m a little freaked out about looking at “luxury apartments” but technically, they are all within our price range. It’s between Stone Arch and Kenwood Gables for my number one, and I think Abe is leaning more towards One Ten Grant, so that we can stay downtown proper. I’ll be happy with anything. I’m just really looking forward to moving in together!
Another post today!This article, from the NY Times Magazine, is simply fascinating. It's about the ideology of "nutritionism," and is just incredible. It's long (12 pages), but worth the read."Unhappy Meals"By MICHAEL POLLAN The story of how basic questions about what to eat got so complicated reveals a great deal about the institutional imperatives of the food industry, nutritional science and journalism.
Ok so I can't quite get the link to work, but go to www.nytimes.com and look for the magazine.
Here's a cute picture...me and Abe dancing at the Jen Hass/John Stubbs wedding in Omaha, NE, October 2005. Abe was best man. :)
I love science...
I love science. I haven’t written about this, yet, have I? I love science so incredibly much. I have no idea what happened. In high school I was Ms. French Club-AP English-Drama Club-President of Concert Choir AND the Music Honor Society artsy-fartsy little girl…I hated science. I kind of liked chemistry, but I think that was because my instructor was so crazy. I hated biology. Never took physics.
In college, I had to take one physical science and one life science for my general education requirements. I took “Rocks for Jocks” (Geology 1001) to fulfill the physical science requirement, and, because one of my good friends was a TA for General Bio and told me that she would never let me suffer that much, I took Anthropology for my life science. And during all that, I was either a theatre major or a women’s studies major. I may have briefly been an English major. But you get my point. Oh—and I also cried my entire way through college algebra.
But now that I have to take all these science classes for school, I am absolutely loving them. LOVE THEM. Despite the utterly disorganized chemistry instructor last semester, loved chemistry class. Stoichiometry and I had a real thing going. That and predicting products from reactants in aqueous solutions. Such a blast! And I whined every week about going to lab, but it always turned out to be the best part of my week (other than run club). I worked hard in chemistry class because I loved it so much, and my efforts will eventually show, once my chemistry instructor corrects my grade.
Now, I’m in Bio. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but so far I’m loving it too. I actually read some NON-ASSIGNED chapters on ecology the other night because I thought that it was so interesting. What’s happening to me?? I used to be really good at writing long winded papers on feminist theory; now I’m good at finding out how many mols are in 356 grams of C6H12O6 (1.98 mol). It’s crazy. Tonight, I’m going to go home, eat dinner, and then read about “Water and the Fitness of the Environment.” And I’m going to LIKE IT. Then I will of course do yoga and watch “30 Rock,” talk to Abe, and read some “Harry Potter.” I do have some fun, people.
I love science. I love it so much, I wonder if maybe I should be a science teacher instead of a nurse. Then I would get to take all sorts of crazy cool classes like Organic Chemistry and Genetics. Then I would get to be a crazy Bio teacher like Mrs. Molter and perform weird experiments and make my students bake a cake in the shape of a cell, and use all sorts of frosting and sprinkles to form the organelles and membranes (yes, folks, that is all I remember from high school biology). FUN!
Feelin’ Groovy…
Someone other than Abe has read my blog! The thought makes me feel very cool, and somewhat nervous (what did I write about again??). But neat. The person has her own blog, so if someone ELSE other than Abe is reading this, you should check it out-- http://runathena.blogspot.com. She is an amazing runner and writer. I had commented on one her posts, and so she checked out my blog, and commented on one of mine! Neat. Further incentive to keep up the blog.
So. It was decided a couple of weeks ago that we would not run the Frozen Half. Val actually sent me a post from another Blogger, who had written a post about the last year’s race. It reminded me of why I hated it last year, and why I didn’t want to run it this year. So, we’re not doing it. Since that decision has been made, I’ve slacked off a bit—gone from 4 days a week down to 3, but I prefer to think of it as resting up for marathon training.
Speaking of, marathon training commences on February 10th! Val created an awesome training schedule for us. I wish I could figure out a way to upload it here. She kept some old stuff, threw in some new stuff and added lots of little races along the way. I am so excited to get started on this. I really hope my knee holds out!
In other news, I finally joined MDRA (Minnesota Distance Running Association). So what, right? Well, so, now I really feel like a runner, like I can claim that elite label. I never win a race, I’m sure, but I like knowing I belong. And it only cost $20!
144 days until Grandma’s!!!
Steph, John, Val and me (in my trademark pink!) at the 2006 Resolution Run!
Me, John and Val
New Year’s Eve to remember…
On New Year’s Eve, Val, Steph, John, Jim and I ran the Resolution Run 5K. In the middle of a snowstorm. It had been raining all morning, and I prayed that the rain would turn to snow by the time of the race. I thought that running in the rain would be miserable.
Well, I got my wish, but I must’ve failed to realize that a) the snow would fall as hard and fast as the rain; and b) that the wind around Calhoun is always fierce, thereby making a steady snowfall into a blizzard. Plus, it was cold and I was way under-dressed.
I had my second thoughts, and so did a lot of people—only about 50 out of the 200 registered for the race showed up! I only showed up because of Val, and she only showed up because of me. Once that was established, we both wanted to bail and get coffee. :)
But the gun went off and so we went. I had planned on going for a PR, but thought better of it once we started. Val and John wanted to take it easy since they had a half-marathon coming up. We ran straight into the wind and snow for the first mile. I ran with my hands shielding my eyes. At one point, I thought my contacts would fall out of my eyes, because there was so much water in my eyes.
I happened to look at my GarminTM and saw that I had already gone 1 mile. I looked up, and saw that I was already at the playground! I was happy. I had already run ahead of everyone else, and since the wind seemed a little better on this side of the lake, I decided to still try to make my time goal of 30 minutes or less.
The rest of the run wasn’t too bad…I thought that maybe I could run it all and not take walk breaks, but I couldn’t. I took some sporadic walk breaks, including a 30 second about 1/3 mile from the finish line.
I finished in 30:27. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But still it was fun, when all was said and done. I truly thought about bailing, even after we had started. I kept thinking, this is miserable, I don’t want to run in this. But then I remembered Abe, standing at the finish line in the blowing snow and cold, and how he comes to all my races, no matter what time of day, no matter what the weather, just to stand around and watch me cross the finish line. Every single time, Abe is there to cheer me on. I thought about Abe, and decided to keep going. I didn’t want to make him stand in the cold for nothing. His support means the world to me.
Besides, if I’m going to climb mountains, I’d better get used to snow, cold, wind and extreme discomfort. :)
Back to today:
Since my knee is feeling a little funky, I decided to go for a walk over lunch today, and do an hour of yoga tonight, rather than run 4 miles tonight. I forgot how wonderful it is to get outside at lunch—get some fresh air, see other people…must do this more often. At least 3 times a week, study schedule pending!!
My GarminTM did not work in downtown, however. I did the USATF thing, and mapped my route. It turned out to be 2.5 miles! My walk home (according to USATF) is 1.25 miles. So, with walking, I got in 3.75 miles today—close to 4. Tonight, I shall do an hour of yoga, and really stretch out my right leg.
Also, my race calendar is filling up!
February 10th—Valentine’s Day 5K
April 21st—Half Marathon in St. Cloud
April 28th—Crazylegs 8K in Madison (so my parents can see my run!
May—TC 1 Mile & maybe a duathlon?
June—Grandma’s!
July—Duathlon?
August--?
September—Iron Girl!
October—TC 10 Mile
November and December---rest :)
Fun! This may not be my summer of triathlon, but I’d definitely like to do at least one more duathlon this year. Probably after Grandma’s, but we’ll see. Fun!! I like doing races.
Ok, time to start yoga again. Namaste.
