Espanol

Why is my home page now in Spanish? I don't want to use la google for my internet searches. How did my computer become bilingual overnight?

Full Saturday

On Saturday morning I ran 15 kilometers with Jon and Mario. Actually, I only ran with Mario - Jon left us in his dust. I finished in 1 hour 29 minutes - a new world record! And by "world" I mean within my house. My eight remaining toe nails are still connected to my feet and I have no blisters. Unfortunately though, I cannot lift my legs to go up stairs. I should have stretched more and sat in the ice bath longer. I also wish I had known that there would be unlimited free beer after the race. I would not have driven to the race.

Saturday evening I went to an indoor soccer game in which Jon and several of our other friends played. They easily lost, but I missed the end because I ended up going to the Emergency Room with Adrienne and Tad, her boyfriend who was kicked in the knee within 8 seconds of running onto the "field". His knee cap ended up being a few inches from where it should have been. He was able to leave the hospital on crutches but not after we spent a few hours there. I haven't been to the ER since I lived in the same city as Jackie. She made every holiday exciting.

Grandpa

My grandfather died last Friday and I made a sudden trip to Pennsylvania over the weekend. Despite the reasons for the trip, I greatly enjoyed the time with my family. It was four days spent laughing and crying - but mostly laughing. Grandpa was a great man who taught his family by example. He was stern, but as he got older he mellowed out and I always looked forward to my visits with him over the holidays. He told decent jokes that were always (usually) clean.

Some of my fond memories of him include when we left him at the restaurant after celebrating his birthday. He paid for the meal. And as he was taking care of the bill, we got into our cars and left. Because people had switched cars, no one realized that he was not in any of the cars until we were back at his house.

This is also the grandfather for whom I made jello shots on his 80th birthday.

The following video is him singing around the camp fire at a family party. I have been singing this song to myself all week

And Then I Saw My Boss Naked

I had a rough Tuesday.

5:30 - Woke up, got outta bed

7:00 - Arrived at school for grading

7:30 - Staff meeting. Watched a video about generic drugs. Sat through lecture from principal about being on time. Reminded that Open House was that evening from 5 to 7.

8:30 - Students begin to trickle into classes because there is still no tardy policy!

9:30 - 3:40 - "taught" classes. By "taught" I mean that I presented information to scores of people although their reception was limited. Put up with "Bum Day" the second day of the Spirit Week from hell. How does smearing white powder under your nose as if it were coke qualify as spirit-building?

4:00 - Dinner with the new teacher because he's on the edge. I don't know if it's the edge of quitting or going postal, but it's the edge of something. Listened to his struggles.

5:00 - 7:00 - Open House. No administration was in the building to give us direction but I was able to get some work done.

7:30 - Swam a mile at the gym

8:20 - Showered

8:22 - Went to the locker room. Saw my principal wearing only his glasses. Because I wasn't wearing my glasses I did not recognize him until I was about a meter away. I struggled through an awkward "Hey, how are you?" and wondered whether I should call him "Mr. _______" or by his first name, which I have never actually done. It just doesn't seem right to address someone formally when they are wearing the most informal of outfits.

8:26 - Drove home

8:45 - Arrived home

8:46 - Began my whiskey-tastic evening

Kickball Injuries

Last week I made a great play in kickball. I slid into home plate during the last play of the game. It would have been very dramatic if I hadn't been out at 2nd, and 3rd. I was the last out of the game, we were down by 14 points, and I thought to myself, "Who cares about rules - I'm just gonna keep on running until they stop me." And nobody did. So, I kept running. And to end the inning on a ridiculous note, I decided to slide into home. However, I don't know how to slide, so it was more like falling with gusto. My team loved it. Unfortunately I cut up my knee and I was bleeding for the rest of the night. The blood would not have been such a big deal except I was going to a party afterwards, at which I only knew a few people. I made a great first impression with my blood running down my leg and dirt spots all over my clothes. It didn't help that everyone else was dressed up as if they were headed to the symphony. I stuck out like a sore thumb - or a nailless toe, which I currently have two of. But that's a different story.

This week at kickball I was pelted in the face with the kickball. I know it's just a kickball, but John throws hard and I did nothing to remove myself from the missile's path, which would have ended at the opponent and resulted in the inning's last out. Unfortunately, my face was in the way and I was left dazed and confused. Seriously, my face was tingly for the next 3 innings and I'm sure it was not due to all of the candy corn consumed in the first inning.

I'm preemptively placing myself on the DL for next week's game.