Half Mary

A couple of days ago I signed up for my third half marathon. This may sound like I'm an experienced runner, but I'm not. The first one I ran/walked with Team in Training. It was a fantastic experience and probably would never have done a half marathon without them. I walked a second one and experienced blisters like you've never seen and it was miserable. So, enter apprehension. I REALLY want to run the entire thing. I'm in full on Couch to 5K training mode to prepare myself to actually try to run the whole thing. I'm excited about this because one of my best friends is doing her very first half marathon with me. Another friend (a more experienced runner who claims she won't be faster than us) is also joining us. We decided to to the Rock'n'Roll. It is the first year one has been held in St. Louis, so I'm excited to have a little musical motiviation each mile.

Hopefully, stating my intentions on this blog will motivate me to keep up my training. Look forward to many more posts about running and how I'm doing. I think that is the only way I may make it through this!

Cut and Keys

Sunday when I arrived home from my "roughing" it adventure, I started doing laundry. While doing so, I lost my balance (because I am a complete klutz) and stepped on something and cut my foot. It wasn't super deep, but being on the sole of my foot it bled. a lot. And now it hurts like a son of a gun. In fact, after running and walking about 3 miles, I was limping last night.

To make matters worse, somehow I managed to lose my car key. I think it fell off my keychain while I was running. I had to call my mom in a panic to drive me to work. After work, we found the spare key but now I have to get another key made.

Ah, the drama of my life!

Cabin Fever

Ugh. I've had a terrible summer cold for the last week. Seriously, it's like I can't breathe through my nose and am coughing. I feel so much better than last week, but I'm not completely over it yet!

In spite of not feeling fantastic, I went away with one of my best friends, Alison, and some of her friends from a previous job for the weekend. We went to a bed and breakfast that allowed us to have a cabin all to ourselves but delivered breakfast AND dinner. Oh, and stuff to make s'mores. This place was AWESOME and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone. The owners were so nice and the place was beautiful. Since I'm not planning to take a vacation this summer, this was just the relaxing getaway from home for the weekend trip I needed! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

(view of the cabin from the "front" door)

(view of the lake behind the house-Alison gives it the thumbs up!)

(Saturday it rained in the morning so starting a fire Saturday night was difficult. Here is Alison ripping apart a phone book to feed the fire.)

(Here are the firestarters. I let them worry about starting the fire.)

(While the others started the fire, Erica sat on the porch patiently.)

Great weekend overall!

Blind Dating

One of the "perks" of being the only single person in most friend groups is the set up. And by perks I mean terrors.

It is usually a multi-step process for me:

1. Excitement: OMG!!!! I can't wait to meet the guy _______ thinks would be great for me! They sound SO awesome! This could be THE ONE!
2. Anxiety: o.m.g. this could be THE ONE. and then proceed to put complete pressure on myself.
3.Fear: What if he doesn't like me? What if I'm not what he expects? What if he's not what I expect? What do I wear? Should I look them up on facebook?
4. Acceptance: Ok. This will be whatever it is. (Usually I've ended up asking for as much info as I possibly can and then finding them on facebook to glean even more information.)

Then, the date happens. Which is usually bad, if it even happens. If it isn't bad, it is isn't good i.e. date is condescending, doesn't show up, tells you he acts 21 when he is 32, meets you once and months later (and clear fb stalking) asks about you...

Most of the time, I end up thinking...Really? This is who you think would be a good match for me?! Why?

Of course, you can't ask your friend that because it is most likely their friend/family member/friend of the family/husband that they set you up with. You can't offend. So I sit, offended and confused. And without a date.

So, dear friends, think this through a little more. Just because two people are single doesn't mean they make a good couple.

UPDATE: Within one hour of posting this, a friend who I know doesn't read this blog called and asked me if I was interested in meeting the brother of a friend of a friend. And I can't see him on facebook. Let the games begin!

Quick Hello

Sorry for not posting, but with summer school, I'm exhausted. These little kiddos are wearing me out! They are so funny and are quite entertaining with their questions about EVERYTHING!

Anyhoo, not much new going on...I went to a local tea room/cafe with my friend Sarah and her little baby Caroline where we pretended to be "ladies who lunch" yesterday. Today I got my hair trimmed and went to ZUMBA. Pretty low key day!

Clang, Clang, Clang went the trolley....

I belong to our local chapter of Junior League. When I was first invited to join League, I envisioned stuck up ladies who lunch. Couldn't be further from the truth. While most of the women are married with kids, a large majority are professional women.

Anyway, yesterday was the first meeting of the provisional class or the potential new members. Being a board member this year, I decided I should make an appearance. Part of this meeting was going over info about Junior League and the other half was a trolley tour of our town!

We spent two hours on the trolley enjoying the sights, history, and some mimosas! Overall it was a fun time and every time I go on the trolley tour I end up learning something new.

Our claim to fame is that we are the home of the World's Tallest Man, Robert Wadlow. He died at age 22 from complications of an infection in 1940. He was 8' 11.1" tall. This was the only time we actually got out of the trolley so it is also the only picture I have.

Today, I taught my first day of summer school. Instead of being the librarian like I usually am during the school year, I am teaching an orientation for incoming 6th graders. Boy, these kiddos have a million questions! I forgot how inquisitive they are and also how needy they are. It is nice to get to know these kids before the year starts, but I think I'll really appreciate my job after this!

Target Treats

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but I just didn't feel like anything exciting happened. I went to work for the morning to prepare for summer school and then had a Junior League board meeting in the evening.

Today I got the chance to have lunch with a great friend and meet her baby girl for the first time. Sarah and I went to elementary school together and kind of lost touch for middle school, reconnected in high school, lost touch in college, and then reconnected again. Isn't it crazy how you can leave and enter each other's lives and still remain friends?! Anyhoo, Sarah had sweet Caroline in April and I finally got to meet her today. I didn't get a picture, but trust me when I say she is ADORABLE! And has a FULL head of dark hair.

Then I moved on to Target. Ah, Target....my frenemy. I love Target and I'm pretty sure Target loves me if for no other reason than I seem to put a giant dent in my bank account every time I go there. I was on a mission to find a dress Joi had posted on her blog, but when I found it, it didn't fit me right.

However, I managed to find this cute dress instead:

Not completely sold on the dress yet, but we'll see. It comes in several different colors/patterns.

Also, I couldn't pass up this nail polish either.

(Sally Hanson Insta Dri in Jade Jump)

Insta Dri and in a cute color? In my basket it went. I just got a mani/pedi the other day, so I'll have to wait a few more days until the polish I have on starts to chip. I'll definitely take a picture when I paint them and let you know how I like it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Why Reading is Important

I've been holding off on this post since Saturday night, mostly because it upsets me so much.

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article entitled "Darkness Too Visible: Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with abuse, violence, and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?" Basically, it is saying that YA fiction is too dark and depressing.

And to that I say: Isn't being a teen often dark and depressing?

As a voracious reader, mostly of YA fiction because of my job, I find this a difficult article to swallow. Yes, a lot of YA fiction is darker than I remember reading as a teen. Heck, I loved the Babysitters Club books, Anne of Green Gables, and the like. However, controversial books were also my cup of tea. I remember the first time a book made me cry (A Taste of Blackberries, which has a similar kid dies of bee sting allergic reaction a la My Girl) and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret (still counted as one of my all time favorite books).

(We must, we must, increase our bust!)

For me and many teens reading is a form of escape. I can lose myself in a book and enter a world completely different than mine. And for even more teens, it is a way to seek help or understand that other people are going through the same things.

After listening to Jay Asher talk about how many students, parents, and teachers thank him for writing 13 Reasons Why, I can't believe people don't understand the power of YA fiction.

This realistic, showing the real world for what it often is, fiction is what my students beg to read. Every day I get asked where my "drama" section is located. What they really mean is where are the books I can relate to, help me understand my life, or escape into someone else's problem.

So, WSJ, next time you want to post an article about the dark side of teen fiction, why don't you actually bother to talk to teens. Find out why they are reading this stuff. Because I guarantee that if you did, you'd find out life is dark, not the YA fiction .

House Hunters

I've lived in my house for almost 6 years and it still isn't decorated. I may be able to put together a decent outfit, but when it comes to my house I've got nothin'.

Enter Joi. Joi and I went to college together and while she spends most of her time working as a high school teacher, she moonlights in decorating. In short, she is amazing. So, after begging her to help with my house for some time, we finally met up for some thrift shopping and brainstorming. (There may or may not have been some french toast involved as well.)

We had a great time chatting, shopping, and people watching. Let's just say that Goodwill and Salvation Army are a great place to see Snooki poofs, horrible clothing, and no teeth.

Here are the fruits of our scouting trip:

We found all three items, the little brass container, floral tin, and elephant, at the Edwardsville Flea Market.

Oh, and I got a pair of brand new shoes from the Edwardsville Goodwill.

All in all a good haul for my first time out!

Summertime

Ahhhh, summer break is here! Oh, how I have longed for summer and now that it is 90+ degrees outside I'm not quite sure why I was so excited. Sweating as soon as you walk out of the door isn't exactly my idea of fun, however not having to get up before Mr. Sun and going to work is definitely worth it. I think. Unfortunately, I am working summer school so my vacation is a little shorter but half days are better than nothing!

Summer is also a lovely reminder that I am single. I'd like to go on vacation but a solo vacation is not my cup of tea. And trying to coordinate get togethers with married or coupled friends is like trying to have an audience with the Queen.

So, I will be reading A LOT this summer, hopefully turning myself back into a runner, and losing a lot of weight. Summer of improvement has begun!