Do you ever wonder how other people spend their days? Do you ever sit around, just obsessing about me, wondering what I'm doing at every living moment? No? Oh.
Well I'm still going to blog my day. I MAY even take pictures but I will not guarantee you anything!
6:00 am - the alarm goes off. The alarm always goes off at 6 am. We never get up at 6 am.
6:20 am - Tyler mentions to me that it's 6:20. I grunt something in return.
6:30 am - Tyler asks me if I'm going to get up and have a shower with him (sorry for that image). I grunt something in return.
6:40 am - the alarm goes off, yet again (brutal). What kind of alarm, you ask? The loud beeping type, not talk radio or anything nice. Loud beeping. Tyler sleeps through anything else.
6:50 am - Tyler gets out of bed. I vaguely think about how the world is so cruel to have any time before 8:30 am. He's in the bathroom. I wait until he gets the shower going. I drag myself out of bed.
7:07 am - we leave the house. Impressive! We had planned 7:00 am, so only 7 minutes late, considering a 6:30 get-up time would have been preferred, was a victory.
7:30 am - Between 7:07 and 7:30 we managed to go to this great place called Gabz - Tyler goes there every morning for his coffee and muffin. The reason we had to leave before 7:15 was because I wanted a breakfast bagel, and that takes them a little longer to make. The breakfast bagel was delicious. It's so nice (and unusual) to get food out that is fresh and made with real egg and not like some weird egg concoction from a milk carton, you know? This place is owned by some French guy, and they bake everything fresh in there - croissants, breads of all different kinds, pretzels, everything. They're AMAZING. They make great cookies too. I got my coffee (in my mug from home - DON'T USE PAPER CUPS! IT'S A WASTE OF EARTH'S RESOURCES! *SCOWL*), my breakfast bagel; Tyler got his coffee and a breakfast english muffin. I dropped him off at work at 7:30. "Why did you drop him off?" you ask. Well, because he didn't work Friday because we had Scott's wedding, but people at work needed "his" van.
7:50 am - that's my guess at the time. I got home. I put away some dishes that Tyler washed yesterday evening. I got a big glass of water, I checked my 3 email accounts (one for work, one that I use all the time, and my old one because the university sends me mail there), and I checked my blogs. Then I wrote this post, and now it's 8. I'll let you know how things progress.
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8:00-8:40 am Upon the realization that today is registration day for fall and winter courses, I search online and choose my courses. I can't register until 12:00 pm (that's my "online appointment") but at least I know what I'm doing. It should be ok.
8:40-9:00 am Put on a load of laundry, made the bed, decided what was for dinner, made a short grocery list, took out some frozen chicken for dinner, got a snack (cherries). Got settled in on the couch to start reading articles for my research paper on Christian eco-feminism (it's due tomorrow - bah - thought about how tired I am!)
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9:00-9:45 am Read an article entitled "Ecology of Religion", and ate lots of cherries. Mmm, cherries. Tyler picked them up at a fruit stand on his way home from working in Kelowna last week.
9:45-11:00 am Napped - I had that eye-sting-ing feeling that happens when you've had too little sleep, and I realized that I was reading every paragraph multiple times to understand, so it was nap time. I only intended it to be 45 minutes, but as usual I slept through my alarm. Felt much better upon awakening.
11:00-11:50 am Got started on an article entitled "Women's Studies in Religion"
11:50-12:00 pm Checked work email, corresponded with my "boss" regarding some weeks I'll be away and worked on setting up a meeting. Made coffee. Mmmm.... coffee. Contemplated lunch.
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12:00-12:15 The incompetence of U of C continues. As my delicious Kicking Horse organic, shade-grown, fairly traded & delicious coffee brewed, I applied for my Fall and Winter courses.
-Initiate Rant-
I got into all of my religious studies courses, but the two music courses (for my MUSIC degree) rejected me saying I didn't have the prerequisites. My foot! Of course I have the pre-requisites. I need these two stupid courses to graduate. I sent an email to my advisor, but of course she's on mat leave, so then I forwarded it to the email her out of office message recommended. This email address doesn't have a name attached to it, because of course that would involve some level of accountability. BAH! I have never not had a problem with getting into music courses. This is my 5th (or 6th? eek) year of this. At least it's my last one. It just seems that all of the sub-par admin workers have been sent to the music department to work.
-End Rant-
So, Fall:
my music history course when they let me in - Classical and Romantic music
"New Religious Movements" with Irving Hexham
"Recent Religious Thought" with somebody Joy. I haven't had her or Hexham before but I suspect I'll like Hexham very much from reports from others. My music course will be painful because it's with DeLong and he's unbearable.
Winter:
more music history - Late Romantic and Modern Music, with some guy I've never studied with
"Council/Canon/Creed" with Anne Moore - that'l l be a great time
"Advanced Studies in New Religious Movements" with Irving Hexham
"Intro to Women's Studies" with someone I don't know. I needed a 200 level non-music course, so there you are.
I'm still contemplating lunch...
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12:15-12:52 - Ranted to Tyler about the U of C stuff, decided on a hot dog for lunch (mm mmm nutrition!), started reading an article entitled "Women's Studies in Religion"
12:52 - the power went out! Great. I silenced the stupid carbon monoxide detector that goes all nuts whenever there's a change in power and lit some candles, including the 5 "emergency candles" that was one of Lyden's gift to us for Christmas. We knew they'd come in handly! Continued reading my "Women's Studies in Religion" article.
1:42 - After almost an hour in the dark, the power came back on! Brilliant. Finished reading the "Women's Studies in Religion" article, (it was loooong), checked work email - just more spam. Boo to spam!
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1:42-4:00 - Research, research, research! I had given in to the fact that I was not going to get my F3 homework done for tonight and would have to go from memory, but I still decided to email my prof and ask for an extension on my paper. I could hand something in tomorrow, but even with an extra day it could be oh so much BETTER. Well, I got my email in reply - extension until Saturday! Yay!!! I've narrowed my focus to "Rosemary Radford Ruether & Christian eco-feminism", rather than just Christian eco-feminism on its own. I am VERY enjoying this research.
My friend Marilyn called so we ended up talking for a while - 20 minutes perhaps? That was good because I was waiting for some documents to print anyway, and was planning on a short break. After collecting and printing the last of the articles found online, I'm now off to Safeway for groceries. It's pretty rainy...should I wear my rain jacket or drive? Hmmmmmmm.
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Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
run time
It seems all I post about is running and school, and occasionally work. But oh well. It's my blog, I can write about whatever I want. :)
Today I ran 7 km in 53 minutes, but that included a stop at McDonald's to go to the washroom. Man, what would I do without that McDonald's? Last week I ran 15 km total for the week, and my minimum run amount was 5.5 km. That meant, no matter what, I was travelling 5.5 km, it didn't matter if I had to walk part of it, the distance was getting done. This week is a minimum 7 km week, except for the runs I do with Christine - since we're doing a sprint tri, we only need to run 5 for that. I may have to have a few minimum 7 weeks before I up it to 9.5, but we'll see. The most exciting thing about this run was that I managed it in 20 degree weather, and it was only partly cloudy. Yay! Seeing as heat and sun are the things that are going to kill me on my races, the fact that I ran all 7 in those conditions are a good move forward as far as I'm concerned.
I've started getting articles for my Christian eco-feminism essay. Yay! Look at me, getting articles a whole 6 days in advance. I have like 30 books on the topic too, but these articles give me a good overview so that I have some idea what I'm talking about.
Tyler's been working out of town this week. You know how I feel about that? NOT HAPPY.
>:(
Oh well, at least he comes home tomorrow. :) We get to hang out all day Friday too b/c it's Scott's wedding that day! Yay Scott!
I am shooting to run another 7 (maybe 9 if I feel good) first thing tomorrow morning - as in 6 or 6:30. At least it will be cool and I'll beat the traffic (I run on sidewalks but there's a couple of streets I have to cross that have lights). Plus there won't be anyone out and about - today there were tons of 12-14 year olds out on the streets. Maybe they have a day off? They can't ALL be skipping. I wouldn't mind, but they're all pretty rude. (Now, to clarify: not all 12-14 year olds are rude, it just seems all the 12-14 year olds in my neighborhood are rude).
Anyway, I should probably read those articles - I suppose finding them isn't good enough. ;)
RK
Today I ran 7 km in 53 minutes, but that included a stop at McDonald's to go to the washroom. Man, what would I do without that McDonald's? Last week I ran 15 km total for the week, and my minimum run amount was 5.5 km. That meant, no matter what, I was travelling 5.5 km, it didn't matter if I had to walk part of it, the distance was getting done. This week is a minimum 7 km week, except for the runs I do with Christine - since we're doing a sprint tri, we only need to run 5 for that. I may have to have a few minimum 7 weeks before I up it to 9.5, but we'll see. The most exciting thing about this run was that I managed it in 20 degree weather, and it was only partly cloudy. Yay! Seeing as heat and sun are the things that are going to kill me on my races, the fact that I ran all 7 in those conditions are a good move forward as far as I'm concerned.
I've started getting articles for my Christian eco-feminism essay. Yay! Look at me, getting articles a whole 6 days in advance. I have like 30 books on the topic too, but these articles give me a good overview so that I have some idea what I'm talking about.
Tyler's been working out of town this week. You know how I feel about that? NOT HAPPY.
>:(
Oh well, at least he comes home tomorrow. :) We get to hang out all day Friday too b/c it's Scott's wedding that day! Yay Scott!
I am shooting to run another 7 (maybe 9 if I feel good) first thing tomorrow morning - as in 6 or 6:30. At least it will be cool and I'll beat the traffic (I run on sidewalks but there's a couple of streets I have to cross that have lights). Plus there won't be anyone out and about - today there were tons of 12-14 year olds out on the streets. Maybe they have a day off? They can't ALL be skipping. I wouldn't mind, but they're all pretty rude. (Now, to clarify: not all 12-14 year olds are rude, it just seems all the 12-14 year olds in my neighborhood are rude).
Anyway, I should probably read those articles - I suppose finding them isn't good enough. ;)
RK
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Yesterday Christine and I biked 20 km and then struggled our way through a 2.5 km run. She's a much better biker than me, but I'll get it! It was so much fun - we went and got helmets first and then off we went. On Saturday after my art history final exam we're going out again. It should be fun.
Tonight is the LRT Prayer Experience that I've been planning for the last little while. I've really enjoyed putting this together and I hope it goes well tonight. I trust it will.
My final exam for Religious Studies is next Friday - and you know, that kinda sucks. I wish it were sooner, because now I only get Sat/Sun/Mon off before school starts again. I was thinking I'd have closer to a week. :( That is followed by the 3 weeks from Hades - 16 hours of school a week for 3 weeks. But then that class is over and I'll have another sweet, nearly stress-free weeks of "Women and Religion" with my new very favorite prof, Anne White. Before you know it, it'll be September and I'll be entering my second last semester at U of C! WOO!
RK
Tonight is the LRT Prayer Experience that I've been planning for the last little while. I've really enjoyed putting this together and I hope it goes well tonight. I trust it will.
My final exam for Religious Studies is next Friday - and you know, that kinda sucks. I wish it were sooner, because now I only get Sat/Sun/Mon off before school starts again. I was thinking I'd have closer to a week. :( That is followed by the 3 weeks from Hades - 16 hours of school a week for 3 weeks. But then that class is over and I'll have another sweet, nearly stress-free weeks of "Women and Religion" with my new very favorite prof, Anne White. Before you know it, it'll be September and I'll be entering my second last semester at U of C! WOO!
RK
Saturday, June 16, 2007
I sit at 89.5% in Art History now - I did considerably better than I expected on the slide exam - 75%, getting 4.5 out of the 6 points. Yay, Jesus!
The paper I wrote on Byzantine representations of Jesus actually turned out better than I expected as well. I handed it in today - so I'll probably get it back next Saturday, just in time for the final exam. Gag!
Unfortunately I miss Tuesday evening's class, so that kind of sucks - it's no good to miss the last class before the final. I'll have to email my prof.
So, all I have left is the Art History final (next Saturday), research paper for Religious Studies due Tuesday the 26th, and the religious studies final, which I still don't know the date of (silly registrar).
Christine and I are taking a triathlon training course - it's 5 monday nights, 2 hours a night. It should be TONS of fun. I anticipate looking very silly. I'll definitely be cataloguing the embarassments here.
Alright, back to Greek architecture...
RK
The paper I wrote on Byzantine representations of Jesus actually turned out better than I expected as well. I handed it in today - so I'll probably get it back next Saturday, just in time for the final exam. Gag!
Unfortunately I miss Tuesday evening's class, so that kind of sucks - it's no good to miss the last class before the final. I'll have to email my prof.
So, all I have left is the Art History final (next Saturday), research paper for Religious Studies due Tuesday the 26th, and the religious studies final, which I still don't know the date of (silly registrar).
Christine and I are taking a triathlon training course - it's 5 monday nights, 2 hours a night. It should be TONS of fun. I anticipate looking very silly. I'll definitely be cataloguing the embarassments here.
Alright, back to Greek architecture...
RK
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
LOOOOONG day
Today was my double test day - midterm in religious studies, slide test in art history.
I started studying at 6:30 this morning and finally finished my 2nd test at 6:30 pm. Go 12 hour day! The midterm (worth 15%) went well enough, the slide exam (6%) was sketchy but whatever. This class doesn't end til 8 pm, but I'm out of here on the break - probably at 7:30. I deem a 13 hour day long enough.
...Plus, we have no groceries in the house and Ty is helping his uncle move tonight so he can't get us some. Pretty much all we have in the house right now is cereal and frozen fruit. Not much to build meals (other than breakfast) around.
This Saturday I've got my art research paper due... then the following saturday I have my art final, then the following Tuesday I have the religious paper due, and then after that the registrar scheduled final. Despite the momentary stress, I still prefer the shorter 6 week format.
All my talks went well on Sunday, but it was a long day. I still don't think I've recovered. I had such an insane headache yesterday that all I wanted to do was sleep but of course I can't sleep. It seems the only time I'm able to sleep is during the day - Tyler insists I'm nocturnal :) It's not like I'm not trying to sleep at night, I am!!!, it's just I plain don't sleep well during the night. Oh well. Despite my tiredness and general unwell-ness yesterday, I studied 4 hours.
Tomorrow I need to do all of my week's worth of GBC work in one day, and then possibly go and do some research for my paper. That sounds do-able. Well, maybe not. :)
Go team survival!
Ooh, Ty and I are going to the FIFA under twenty group A quarter final in Edmonton. We got good tix and they were only like $20. The tix started at $10. I'm looking forward to it (not NEAR as much as him though). It'll be a nice day trip - it's in July sometime.
Alright, time to pack up and go home. ... I mean, the grocery store. Blah! :P
RK
I started studying at 6:30 this morning and finally finished my 2nd test at 6:30 pm. Go 12 hour day! The midterm (worth 15%) went well enough, the slide exam (6%) was sketchy but whatever. This class doesn't end til 8 pm, but I'm out of here on the break - probably at 7:30. I deem a 13 hour day long enough.
...Plus, we have no groceries in the house and Ty is helping his uncle move tonight so he can't get us some. Pretty much all we have in the house right now is cereal and frozen fruit. Not much to build meals (other than breakfast) around.
This Saturday I've got my art research paper due... then the following saturday I have my art final, then the following Tuesday I have the religious paper due, and then after that the registrar scheduled final. Despite the momentary stress, I still prefer the shorter 6 week format.
All my talks went well on Sunday, but it was a long day. I still don't think I've recovered. I had such an insane headache yesterday that all I wanted to do was sleep but of course I can't sleep. It seems the only time I'm able to sleep is during the day - Tyler insists I'm nocturnal :) It's not like I'm not trying to sleep at night, I am!!!, it's just I plain don't sleep well during the night. Oh well. Despite my tiredness and general unwell-ness yesterday, I studied 4 hours.
Tomorrow I need to do all of my week's worth of GBC work in one day, and then possibly go and do some research for my paper. That sounds do-able. Well, maybe not. :)
Go team survival!
Ooh, Ty and I are going to the FIFA under twenty group A quarter final in Edmonton. We got good tix and they were only like $20. The tix started at $10. I'm looking forward to it (not NEAR as much as him though). It'll be a nice day trip - it's in July sometime.
Alright, time to pack up and go home. ... I mean, the grocery store. Blah! :P
RK
Saturday, June 09, 2007
school school school
So, I got my art history midterm back - B. Not bad for being unable to study 3 days before cause I was at camp (although I tried valiantly!). This means I sit at 91%, meaning I have about 5% breathing room if I want to get an A. *sigh*
As for religious studies, I got 100% on my video analysis paper - my first 100% on a paper. That was good.
Things heat up for the next week or so - Tuesday I have 2 tests, one in art history, one in religious studies; then on Saturday my research paper on Byzantine depictions of Christ is due. On the 23rd is my Art History final (and so ends that course), on the 26th my research paper for religious studies is due (and so ends that course). Whirlwind!
In the meantime, I'm just trying to be ready for tomorrow morning and my bazillion presentations - Focus 3 presentation in the service, "The World This Week" in the service, luncheon and a presentation for Focus 3 after the service, and a short presentation at the congregational meeting in the evening. BLAH!
RK
As for religious studies, I got 100% on my video analysis paper - my first 100% on a paper. That was good.
Things heat up for the next week or so - Tuesday I have 2 tests, one in art history, one in religious studies; then on Saturday my research paper on Byzantine depictions of Christ is due. On the 23rd is my Art History final (and so ends that course), on the 26th my research paper for religious studies is due (and so ends that course). Whirlwind!
In the meantime, I'm just trying to be ready for tomorrow morning and my bazillion presentations - Focus 3 presentation in the service, "The World This Week" in the service, luncheon and a presentation for Focus 3 after the service, and a short presentation at the congregational meeting in the evening. BLAH!
RK
Thursday, June 07, 2007
I didn't get fired
I had my performance review today and ... *drum roll* ... I didn't get fired! Hooray! In fact, I "met or exceeded expectations" in all areas. I'm even getting a "small raise". I'm not sure what that means - probably 50 cents, $1.50 at most. Then my wage will be a couple of dollars higher than the average Tim Horton's employee. ;) I'm actually fine with what I make, I just find it amusing that I could make marginally less or more working at Starbucks or Tim Hortons or something like that with a lot less stress - a lot less joy and meaning, but a lot less stress as well.
So Tyler and I are going to do up his resume hopefully tonight and upgrade mine as well. Then I can go to career services here at U of C and they'll basically rip it apart and reassemble it in a (hopefully) nicer form. It should be good. Career services does that every Wednesday from 11am-1pm - good deal, eh? Thank you, U. We'll then be sending them off to various people who work in the NAB (north american baptist) Conference - Harry (our senior pastor) was talking to people about me and Ty so they're expecting to hear from us. I don't know if anything will come of it, but we may as well put our names out there. We're still moving forward with the Regent stuff, so we'll just see what God sorts out for us.
Today we're talking about "Evil & Suffering" in religious studies - should be fun :)
RK
So Tyler and I are going to do up his resume hopefully tonight and upgrade mine as well. Then I can go to career services here at U of C and they'll basically rip it apart and reassemble it in a (hopefully) nicer form. It should be good. Career services does that every Wednesday from 11am-1pm - good deal, eh? Thank you, U. We'll then be sending them off to various people who work in the NAB (north american baptist) Conference - Harry (our senior pastor) was talking to people about me and Ty so they're expecting to hear from us. I don't know if anything will come of it, but we may as well put our names out there. We're still moving forward with the Regent stuff, so we'll just see what God sorts out for us.
Today we're talking about "Evil & Suffering" in religious studies - should be fun :)
RK
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Apparently I'm THAT hot.
I just got back from running 7 km in 49:44. That's basically 7 min/km. I'm pretty pleased with that. If I could keep that pace, I'd run 21 km in 150 minutes, which is 2.5 hours. It's not FAST, but it would get the job done. Take into account the weather though: 11 degrees, windy, humid, wet. Of course, the wind was against me for over half the run, but whatever. The biggest accomplisment of today was not giving up when I really, really wanted to. I have to win those mental games or I'll never make it through the 1/2 marathon.
Just to compare my accomplishments, on Monday, I ran 5.5 km in 58 minutes. It was TERRRRRRRRRIBLE. I ran past the McDonalds and thought "oh man I should go to the bathroom", ran about half a block more, and turned around and walked to the McDonald's to use their washroom. Suffice it to say it was an emergency. It was 23 degrees and the sun was beating down on me the WHOLE TIME, and I had dirty Ogden Pizza for dinner the night before and lunch that day. It was ugly. I walked a lot. I'm praying for nice overcast days for my summer races.
A few mini rants:
---Commence Rant---
GET OFF THE SIDEWALKS, PEOPLE! Seriously. I'm not prowling quietly and slowly like a baby kitten behind you. You can hear me coming - I'm the one huffing and puffing and swearing under my breath. Is it THAT much to ask that you move from the center of the sidewalk to the side of the sidewalk so I can pass you?
RING YOUR BELL, MORONS! Again, SERIOUSLY. If you're on a bike YOU'RE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SIDEWALK. If you're going to whip past me at a hundred miles an hour, just out of courtesy, could you give me a warning bell?
Men, please explain this to me. Why do cars filled with teenage boys insist on honking loudly and hanging out their window yelling indecipherably at women running? SERIOUSLY! What are you trying to accomplish? It's not like I was out there in my mini running shorts and sports bra - (sorry for that mental image) - I was wearing capri running pants and a long sleeved shirt. Apparently I'm SO hot that you just have to hang out your window and yell and make gestures at me. Please, that SO turns me on. Could you stop at the end of the block so I can hop in the car with you? Give me a break.
---End of Rant---
So, I have my first performance review tomorrow. Well, my first one at GBC. I was telling Tyler the other night that I was nervous about it. Here's how that conversation went:
Ty: What are you worried about?
Rachel: I dunno, I guess I'm afraid of getting fired. :(
Ty: But then you could work at Starbucks!
Rachel: I COULD work at Starbucks! Maybe I'm getting fired! :)
No, I don't think I'll get fired. But I am nervous about the review. Maybe it's because I had a not-so-encouraging one at Rideau when I was there. But of course, working at Rideau was not-so-encouraging on the whole.
ANYWAY, that's enough for now. Yay, rain!
RK
Just to compare my accomplishments, on Monday, I ran 5.5 km in 58 minutes. It was TERRRRRRRRRIBLE. I ran past the McDonalds and thought "oh man I should go to the bathroom", ran about half a block more, and turned around and walked to the McDonald's to use their washroom. Suffice it to say it was an emergency. It was 23 degrees and the sun was beating down on me the WHOLE TIME, and I had dirty Ogden Pizza for dinner the night before and lunch that day. It was ugly. I walked a lot. I'm praying for nice overcast days for my summer races.
A few mini rants:
---Commence Rant---
GET OFF THE SIDEWALKS, PEOPLE! Seriously. I'm not prowling quietly and slowly like a baby kitten behind you. You can hear me coming - I'm the one huffing and puffing and swearing under my breath. Is it THAT much to ask that you move from the center of the sidewalk to the side of the sidewalk so I can pass you?
RING YOUR BELL, MORONS! Again, SERIOUSLY. If you're on a bike YOU'RE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE SIDEWALK. If you're going to whip past me at a hundred miles an hour, just out of courtesy, could you give me a warning bell?
Men, please explain this to me. Why do cars filled with teenage boys insist on honking loudly and hanging out their window yelling indecipherably at women running? SERIOUSLY! What are you trying to accomplish? It's not like I was out there in my mini running shorts and sports bra - (sorry for that mental image) - I was wearing capri running pants and a long sleeved shirt. Apparently I'm SO hot that you just have to hang out your window and yell and make gestures at me. Please, that SO turns me on. Could you stop at the end of the block so I can hop in the car with you? Give me a break.
---End of Rant---
So, I have my first performance review tomorrow. Well, my first one at GBC. I was telling Tyler the other night that I was nervous about it. Here's how that conversation went:
Ty: What are you worried about?
Rachel: I dunno, I guess I'm afraid of getting fired. :(
Ty: But then you could work at Starbucks!
Rachel: I COULD work at Starbucks! Maybe I'm getting fired! :)
No, I don't think I'll get fired. But I am nervous about the review. Maybe it's because I had a not-so-encouraging one at Rideau when I was there. But of course, working at Rideau was not-so-encouraging on the whole.
ANYWAY, that's enough for now. Yay, rain!
RK
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
a special Rachel moment
Today I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything done - going to meetings, driving across town for other meetings, trying to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Well I did forget something.
I got to my religious studies class a little early - perfect, because all the good laptop spots near the outlets always go early. I get myself all set up - get my snacks out, get online, get ready to take notes, and then someone comes in and says "where is everybody?". Well, now that he mentions it, the class is strangely empty - now that he's arrived there's only 4 of us. It turns out it's reading day. FANTASTIC!
Strangely, I still have art history tonight, so I guess I'm just 4 hours early for that. It's actually a blessing because I have been trying to figure out all week how I'm going to get to the library and do some research for my 2 research papers. Looks like I can seize the moment.
RK
I got to my religious studies class a little early - perfect, because all the good laptop spots near the outlets always go early. I get myself all set up - get my snacks out, get online, get ready to take notes, and then someone comes in and says "where is everybody?". Well, now that he mentions it, the class is strangely empty - now that he's arrived there's only 4 of us. It turns out it's reading day. FANTASTIC!
Strangely, I still have art history tonight, so I guess I'm just 4 hours early for that. It's actually a blessing because I have been trying to figure out all week how I'm going to get to the library and do some research for my 2 research papers. Looks like I can seize the moment.
RK
Saturday, June 02, 2007
blogging at school? never!
I'm in art history. I had a midterm at 8:00 this morning (8:00 on a Saturday? deadly!), so Tyler picked me up at camp in Sundre at around 7 pm yesterday evening, and when this class is over (noon), it's back to camp for me. Camp has been going well so far.
I am currently sitting at a 97% in Art History - a miracle of God. We'll see after my midterm what I'm down to. I wrote a 4.5 page essay for the last question, worth 45 marks. Hopefully it will do. I'd be surprised if I got less than 40 on it - it was pretty solid.
I'm now going to try to sign up for the triathlon with Christine - she's probably getting impatient with me (sorry Christine! ... if you read this!!!)
You lurkers should leave me comments. :)
Mmmmm, Iranian art....
RK
I am currently sitting at a 97% in Art History - a miracle of God. We'll see after my midterm what I'm down to. I wrote a 4.5 page essay for the last question, worth 45 marks. Hopefully it will do. I'd be surprised if I got less than 40 on it - it was pretty solid.
I'm now going to try to sign up for the triathlon with Christine - she's probably getting impatient with me (sorry Christine! ... if you read this!!!)
You lurkers should leave me comments. :)
Mmmmm, Iranian art....
RK
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
update
Well, I made it through my video analysis and the other assignment I had due today, despite the fact that we slept in later than we anticipated - we figured we'd wake up around 7 but we didn't wake up til 8, so that sort of put me behind schedule but not too badly. Guess we should've set an alarm.
I'm at the U in classes until 8 tonight, then I think I'll just hang around here until the library closes. I don't like being at home by myself at night too much, and I have lots of work to do anyway. Ty should get home by 12:30 or 1 am at the latest, then it's sleeping in and leftover waffles tomorrow! Yay!!!
Off to camp tomorrow evening...
RK
I'm at the U in classes until 8 tonight, then I think I'll just hang around here until the library closes. I don't like being at home by myself at night too much, and I have lots of work to do anyway. Ty should get home by 12:30 or 1 am at the latest, then it's sleeping in and leftover waffles tomorrow! Yay!!!
Off to camp tomorrow evening...
RK
Monday, May 28, 2007
Snapshot
What you are about to read is a completely random amalgamation of my thoughts. Enjoy.
I'm recycling now. In fact, I am the recycling queen. I recycle: newspapers, magazines, normal paper, mixed paper, tin cans, bottles/cans, bags of all varieties, and cardboard. I am also going to start vermicomposting, once my friend Christine gets me half a pound of worms. Go team environment! It's all about knowing HOW to recycle - once I noticed that there were big green recycling bins at the nearby Safeway (which I walk to, instead of drive to, and carry my groceries home from to save gas and to keep from polluting!) , and after a gentle nudge from Christine after Earth Day, I went hard on the ol' recycling. Tyler is proud of my recycling ways and frequently gets (nicely) chastised when I rummage through the garbage and recycle stuff that he's thrown out. (The most oft-asked question in our place of late is "Tyler, did you ask 'can this be recycled?' before throwing this out?") :D He's quickly getting the hang of it.
I'm a little nervous about the vermicomposting though. If anyone has the propensity to accidentally kill living things, it's me. That's why I don't garden or keep plants of any kind, or have pets. I had some goldfish that lived for a couple of months once. That was my longest stint. So I'm hoping not to kill the worms.
Amber posted this link to these new earth-friendly diapers on her & Jon's blog: www.gdiapers.com, so when we eventually have kids (no, we're not pregnant; no we're not trying; yes we are preventing), we will use those. The worms can eat the wet diapers and the poo diapers can be flushed. Yay!
In the land of running, it's been 3 days since I've run so today will be painful. Boo.
In the land of home improvements, we finally got the knobs changed on our doors downstairs - our door to the exterior of the house of course has a lock that works, but ever since we've moved in we haven't been able to lock the interior doors to our place because the landlord didn't have keys for the doors. So, we replaced those last night. Ooooh, and put a new rack on the back of our bedroom door so now I can hang my housecoat there. Yay! Small improvements, but happy improvements.
In the land of "general fitness", Christine and I are hoping to do a triathlon sometime this summer. She's going to give me a bike! Yay!
On the school front, I *very* enjoy Dr. Anne White. I'm writing a research paper for her on Christian environmentalists. She sent me a long list of books to read, including one titled "God is Green". I'll post the titles that I think are particularly worth reading.
I'm also writing a research paper for my art history class contrasting early- and late-Byzantine depictions of Christ. We'll see how that goes.
I'm off to Sundre with my Focus 3-ers for our year end retreat on Wednesday - more time away from my husband. Boooo!!!!! He's working evenings starting tomorrow though so we'll get Tuesday and Wednesday mornings together. Go team sleep-in and waffles!
I'm recycling now. In fact, I am the recycling queen. I recycle: newspapers, magazines, normal paper, mixed paper, tin cans, bottles/cans, bags of all varieties, and cardboard. I am also going to start vermicomposting, once my friend Christine gets me half a pound of worms. Go team environment! It's all about knowing HOW to recycle - once I noticed that there were big green recycling bins at the nearby Safeway (which I walk to, instead of drive to, and carry my groceries home from to save gas and to keep from polluting!) , and after a gentle nudge from Christine after Earth Day, I went hard on the ol' recycling. Tyler is proud of my recycling ways and frequently gets (nicely) chastised when I rummage through the garbage and recycle stuff that he's thrown out. (The most oft-asked question in our place of late is "Tyler, did you ask 'can this be recycled?' before throwing this out?") :D He's quickly getting the hang of it.
I'm a little nervous about the vermicomposting though. If anyone has the propensity to accidentally kill living things, it's me. That's why I don't garden or keep plants of any kind, or have pets. I had some goldfish that lived for a couple of months once. That was my longest stint. So I'm hoping not to kill the worms.
Amber posted this link to these new earth-friendly diapers on her & Jon's blog: www.gdiapers.com, so when we eventually have kids (no, we're not pregnant; no we're not trying; yes we are preventing), we will use those. The worms can eat the wet diapers and the poo diapers can be flushed. Yay!
In the land of running, it's been 3 days since I've run so today will be painful. Boo.
In the land of home improvements, we finally got the knobs changed on our doors downstairs - our door to the exterior of the house of course has a lock that works, but ever since we've moved in we haven't been able to lock the interior doors to our place because the landlord didn't have keys for the doors. So, we replaced those last night. Ooooh, and put a new rack on the back of our bedroom door so now I can hang my housecoat there. Yay! Small improvements, but happy improvements.
In the land of "general fitness", Christine and I are hoping to do a triathlon sometime this summer. She's going to give me a bike! Yay!
On the school front, I *very* enjoy Dr. Anne White. I'm writing a research paper for her on Christian environmentalists. She sent me a long list of books to read, including one titled "God is Green". I'll post the titles that I think are particularly worth reading.
I'm also writing a research paper for my art history class contrasting early- and late-Byzantine depictions of Christ. We'll see how that goes.
I'm off to Sundre with my Focus 3-ers for our year end retreat on Wednesday - more time away from my husband. Boooo!!!!! He's working evenings starting tomorrow though so we'll get Tuesday and Wednesday mornings together. Go team sleep-in and waffles!
Monday, May 14, 2007
My name's in the paper!
That's right, D-10 of the Calgary Herald. 4th column on this page of the Forzani's Mother's Day 5K run. Krohn, Rachel: 34:10.
I was quite pleased with that time, in fact it was a personal best. So that was a lot of fun. I ran 4K on Friday in 29 minutes and was super tired - maybe it was the hills, maybe it was the heat, or the sun. I'm not sure. But the race on Saturday had none of the above, and so my time was pretty good. Now for the 10K in July! My goal is 70 minutes.
I ran the race with Chantelle and Lyden. Chantelle was feeling under the weather, and she encouraged us to run ahead since she was feeling so sick. I didn't want to leave her behind, but she insisted. She still did well, coming in at about the same time as our last race. She's been working hard, and I'm proud of her.
Running with Lyden was a lot of fun, and he was inspiring. He was NOT going to walk. So we didn't. A great running partner! He said he'd be open to doing another race and I think that'd be lots of fun.
I'm still picking things off of the pesky to-do list. Today I called Alberta Health Care and got my name changed - apparently my number stays the same and they're sending me a card. My new debit card for Tyler's and my shared account works (it was supposed to work Friday but didn't until today). I also called and booked our hotel for the half marathon weekend in August. Yay, weekend away!!! We're staying at the Chateau Lacombe Crowne Plaza in Edmonton - I've stayed there a few times when going to BreakForth Canada, so I know it's good. We got a reasonable rate. We're going to head up on Friday night, and stay til Sunday after the race. The race starts at 8, so hopefully all will be well in running it, getting back to the hotel, showering, and checking out by noon. If worse comes to worse we can just ask to check out a little later. The hotel is just blocks away from the Shaw Conference Center, where the race starts and finishes, so we shouldn't have to drive too much. Since we're checking in Friday night and all that is planned for Saturday is picking up my race package, we'll check around online for fun things to do in Edmonton. I'd prefer to do a museum or something rather than the mall. Does anyone have any ideas?
Now I just have to look over our AB Blue Cross forms, and walk to the mailbox to mail them. Sweet! Things are coming together. Once I get confirmation from them, I'm going to book us dentist appointments (boo!). I haven't been for over a year, and suffice it to say it's been a bit longer for Tyler. The coverage for the dental doesn't kick in for 3 months, but we don't really need to wait because we have coverage through Tyler's work as well (just not a lot).
Oh, and I finally got back to our photographer on which pictures we want. We get an 8x10 and a couple of 5x7s with our package, so that's done. Thus ends the work associated with the wedding.
If you're not impressed, well, I am. So there. :)
My Tuesday/Thursday religious studies class starts tomorrow. I hope it'll be good. I've had mixed reports on this prof. My Art History prof is pretty good, and the class isn't near as boring as I feared.
Well, off to the mailbox.
RK
I was quite pleased with that time, in fact it was a personal best. So that was a lot of fun. I ran 4K on Friday in 29 minutes and was super tired - maybe it was the hills, maybe it was the heat, or the sun. I'm not sure. But the race on Saturday had none of the above, and so my time was pretty good. Now for the 10K in July! My goal is 70 minutes.
I ran the race with Chantelle and Lyden. Chantelle was feeling under the weather, and she encouraged us to run ahead since she was feeling so sick. I didn't want to leave her behind, but she insisted. She still did well, coming in at about the same time as our last race. She's been working hard, and I'm proud of her.
Running with Lyden was a lot of fun, and he was inspiring. He was NOT going to walk. So we didn't. A great running partner! He said he'd be open to doing another race and I think that'd be lots of fun.
I'm still picking things off of the pesky to-do list. Today I called Alberta Health Care and got my name changed - apparently my number stays the same and they're sending me a card. My new debit card for Tyler's and my shared account works (it was supposed to work Friday but didn't until today). I also called and booked our hotel for the half marathon weekend in August. Yay, weekend away!!! We're staying at the Chateau Lacombe Crowne Plaza in Edmonton - I've stayed there a few times when going to BreakForth Canada, so I know it's good. We got a reasonable rate. We're going to head up on Friday night, and stay til Sunday after the race. The race starts at 8, so hopefully all will be well in running it, getting back to the hotel, showering, and checking out by noon. If worse comes to worse we can just ask to check out a little later. The hotel is just blocks away from the Shaw Conference Center, where the race starts and finishes, so we shouldn't have to drive too much. Since we're checking in Friday night and all that is planned for Saturday is picking up my race package, we'll check around online for fun things to do in Edmonton. I'd prefer to do a museum or something rather than the mall. Does anyone have any ideas?
Now I just have to look over our AB Blue Cross forms, and walk to the mailbox to mail them. Sweet! Things are coming together. Once I get confirmation from them, I'm going to book us dentist appointments (boo!). I haven't been for over a year, and suffice it to say it's been a bit longer for Tyler. The coverage for the dental doesn't kick in for 3 months, but we don't really need to wait because we have coverage through Tyler's work as well (just not a lot).
Oh, and I finally got back to our photographer on which pictures we want. We get an 8x10 and a couple of 5x7s with our package, so that's done. Thus ends the work associated with the wedding.
If you're not impressed, well, I am. So there. :)
My Tuesday/Thursday religious studies class starts tomorrow. I hope it'll be good. I've had mixed reports on this prof. My Art History prof is pretty good, and the class isn't near as boring as I feared.
Well, off to the mailbox.
RK
Friday, May 11, 2007
Those Nitpicky Things
Today we finally got some of those nitpicky things out of the way. Tyler and I met at the bank at 11:30 to get his account converted into our account. I've already sent in the void cheque to the church's accountant, so my next paycheque will be in that account. Yay!
Furthermore, we got my name added to his mastercard.
Furthermore, I finally got my name changed with my mastercard.
And if that's not enough, I cancelled my other mastercard which has had a balance of zero for several months. They keep sending stupid cheques to my parent's house. I'm sure they'll be glad to stop receiving those.
The next thing is getting my name changed with Alberta Health Care and getting a new card, then we can send in our Blue Cross stuff.
Oh the administrative joys of marriage...
Furthermore, we got my name added to his mastercard.
Furthermore, I finally got my name changed with my mastercard.
And if that's not enough, I cancelled my other mastercard which has had a balance of zero for several months. They keep sending stupid cheques to my parent's house. I'm sure they'll be glad to stop receiving those.
The next thing is getting my name changed with Alberta Health Care and getting a new card, then we can send in our Blue Cross stuff.
Oh the administrative joys of marriage...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Quick Post!
The three days in Radium were good. We didn't get to Radium until late on Monday afternoon, as we spent the morning shopping for groceries since there was a kitchen at the condo. I don't remember a time I've ever been to Radium, and so I was pretty shocked at how small and quaint it was! There wasn't too much to do, but of course we weren't looking for much to do. We saw a LOT of goats, and lots of baby deer on the way home. As for other wildlife, all we saw were gophers. :p A real treat.
On Monday night we made dinner and then watched A Bug's Life. I LOVE A Bug's Life! What a great leadership movie. I also went for a run that night - it was pretty brutal as I had just eaten a bunch of junk food on the car trip there.
Tuesday was also low key - oh we had the MOST delicious crepes. It was a new recipe - chocolate crepes with berry compote. I was responsible for the berry compote. It was a delicious time. Eventually we got inspired enough to walk into town and get a coffee at a cute little place called On Higher Ground. I got my usual americano, Tyler got some weird rolo mocha thing as he typically does when having a coffee treat. Then we went to this really gross little video store. It was grungy to the the max. Ew. They had the porn section in the back in one room, and then a tanning bed in a room next to that. Who tans at the video store?! Oh well. We rented An Inconvenient Truth to finally see what the hoopla was about, and put The Queen on hold. We headed back to our place, oh and we did a 500 piece puzzle that day. I affectionately named it "the crazy cat puzzle". It was a puzzle that was just at the condo - they had some games and puzzles and stuff in a closet so that was pretty good. Puzzlemania! After doing that awful 1000 french impressionist puzzle over our honeymoon the crazy cat puzzle was no problem.
Tuesday evening was Inconvenient Truth evening, and let me say, I was no more convinced to be green after watching it than I was before - but I'm already pretty much as green as I can get. Oh, and I went for a run that evening while Tyler made dinner (good deal for me).
Wednesday ... we hit On Higher Ground again for more coffee, this time I had a cappuccino and Tyler had a mocha. Don't you love knowing what drinks we ordered? I thought so.
We returned the Goreacle and rented The Queen - that was really good. I liked it a lot. Helen Mirren, you are brilliant. Enjoy your Oscar.
After that we just cleaned/packed up and headed home. Pretty low key.
On Friday night we were out to Camp Caroline for a Focus 3 retreat. It was just my group and I led the whole thing. I think it was a "success" (hate using that word for ministry). I did some running out there too, it was good. I spent my summers at Camp Caroline as a child and it was great to be out there again - although it's a LOT smaller than I remember! Funny how that is. They have a beautiful little chapel out there now too - it looked pretty new to me, but keep in mind I haven't been out there for years. Nice hardwood floors, a little organ, and wooden pews. Coulda/shoulda? got married out there! Can you imagine driving all that way though on your wedding day? Disastrous. No matter, our wedding was perfect just the way it was. :)
Saturday evening we left Caroline and headed back home. Sunday we went to church then saw Spiderman 3, enjoyed that, and then the usual Sunday dinner at the 'rents, and then witnessed the perilous loss of my girls (the 'beauty queens') on Amazing Race. Boo!
Monday Tyler worked really late, he was out in Edmonton. He left at 7:30 am and got home at 10:30 pm. Boo! I spent the time cleaning and getting back into our place - it felt like we had been gone for months.
Tuesday was Tuesday, and then came Tuesday night - DATE NIGHT!!! WOOO! Ty decided we should go to Lics - an ice cream place down on 16th, and then for a walk by the river. It was most excellent. On our way back I saw my friend Shahiza (I think I spelled that right) - she was my friend in junior high. We got off at the same bus stop and she lived just up the hill from me. I LOVE Shahiza! Anyway, it was awesome to see her and she told me to get on Facebook. I'm not sure I can bring myself to it though.
This morning Tyler decided not to go into work until 11 because it was another Edmonton day, so we got to sleep in most leisurely and then make waffles. My man makes good waffles! We had whole wheat cranberry-walnut waffles. Mm mm! The (dis)advantage of being only 2 people though is that you always have lots left over. We'll freeze them and then have them like Eggos. :)
So off to work he went, and off to lunch I went. Kristen and I went to Moxie's in Westhills. It was good to catch up.
And then I came to work! Are you impressed? I think I'll head home and do some more cleaning/work there - too much office time makes Rachel crazy, plus everyone else has gone home.
That was update-tastic! Maybe if I'm really bored at home waiting for Tyler to return from Edmonton I'll post a pic of the crazy cat puzzle.
On Monday night we made dinner and then watched A Bug's Life. I LOVE A Bug's Life! What a great leadership movie. I also went for a run that night - it was pretty brutal as I had just eaten a bunch of junk food on the car trip there.
Tuesday was also low key - oh we had the MOST delicious crepes. It was a new recipe - chocolate crepes with berry compote. I was responsible for the berry compote. It was a delicious time. Eventually we got inspired enough to walk into town and get a coffee at a cute little place called On Higher Ground. I got my usual americano, Tyler got some weird rolo mocha thing as he typically does when having a coffee treat. Then we went to this really gross little video store. It was grungy to the the max. Ew. They had the porn section in the back in one room, and then a tanning bed in a room next to that. Who tans at the video store?! Oh well. We rented An Inconvenient Truth to finally see what the hoopla was about, and put The Queen on hold. We headed back to our place, oh and we did a 500 piece puzzle that day. I affectionately named it "the crazy cat puzzle". It was a puzzle that was just at the condo - they had some games and puzzles and stuff in a closet so that was pretty good. Puzzlemania! After doing that awful 1000 french impressionist puzzle over our honeymoon the crazy cat puzzle was no problem.
Tuesday evening was Inconvenient Truth evening, and let me say, I was no more convinced to be green after watching it than I was before - but I'm already pretty much as green as I can get. Oh, and I went for a run that evening while Tyler made dinner (good deal for me).
Wednesday ... we hit On Higher Ground again for more coffee, this time I had a cappuccino and Tyler had a mocha. Don't you love knowing what drinks we ordered? I thought so.
We returned the Goreacle and rented The Queen - that was really good. I liked it a lot. Helen Mirren, you are brilliant. Enjoy your Oscar.
After that we just cleaned/packed up and headed home. Pretty low key.
On Friday night we were out to Camp Caroline for a Focus 3 retreat. It was just my group and I led the whole thing. I think it was a "success" (hate using that word for ministry). I did some running out there too, it was good. I spent my summers at Camp Caroline as a child and it was great to be out there again - although it's a LOT smaller than I remember! Funny how that is. They have a beautiful little chapel out there now too - it looked pretty new to me, but keep in mind I haven't been out there for years. Nice hardwood floors, a little organ, and wooden pews. Coulda/shoulda? got married out there! Can you imagine driving all that way though on your wedding day? Disastrous. No matter, our wedding was perfect just the way it was. :)
Saturday evening we left Caroline and headed back home. Sunday we went to church then saw Spiderman 3, enjoyed that, and then the usual Sunday dinner at the 'rents, and then witnessed the perilous loss of my girls (the 'beauty queens') on Amazing Race. Boo!
Monday Tyler worked really late, he was out in Edmonton. He left at 7:30 am and got home at 10:30 pm. Boo! I spent the time cleaning and getting back into our place - it felt like we had been gone for months.
Tuesday was Tuesday, and then came Tuesday night - DATE NIGHT!!! WOOO! Ty decided we should go to Lics - an ice cream place down on 16th, and then for a walk by the river. It was most excellent. On our way back I saw my friend Shahiza (I think I spelled that right) - she was my friend in junior high. We got off at the same bus stop and she lived just up the hill from me. I LOVE Shahiza! Anyway, it was awesome to see her and she told me to get on Facebook. I'm not sure I can bring myself to it though.
This morning Tyler decided not to go into work until 11 because it was another Edmonton day, so we got to sleep in most leisurely and then make waffles. My man makes good waffles! We had whole wheat cranberry-walnut waffles. Mm mm! The (dis)advantage of being only 2 people though is that you always have lots left over. We'll freeze them and then have them like Eggos. :)
So off to work he went, and off to lunch I went. Kristen and I went to Moxie's in Westhills. It was good to catch up.
And then I came to work! Are you impressed? I think I'll head home and do some more cleaning/work there - too much office time makes Rachel crazy, plus everyone else has gone home.
That was update-tastic! Maybe if I'm really bored at home waiting for Tyler to return from Edmonton I'll post a pic of the crazy cat puzzle.
Monday, April 30, 2007
hair cut adventure
So Tyler has needed to get his hair cut for way too long, but it just seems there's never time to get to the hairdresser. Finally yesterday evening we decided it needed to be done, so I would do it. Have I ever cut hair before? No. Tyler walked me through how the hairdresser does it though, and here are the results. Before:
After:
Wasn't he brave? :)
I am well aware that all these pics are sideways, I don't know how to fix that. If you do, leave me a comment! Thanks.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
dream or reality?
Yesterday I decided to go for a run. I knew I had about 90 minutes until Tyler would be returning home (he's working in Drumheller this week but decided to come into town for "date night"), so I decided to run for an hour.
I have a couple of loops that I've created for myself around Ogden/Lynnwood - I have a 4K loop and a 2.5K loop. I did 2 laps of my 4K loop, each in exactly 30 minutes, so at least I'm consistent. At that point I figured that since I had run 8K already, I may as well do the extra 2.5 and set a time for myself to beat. I wanted to do that 2.5 in less than 20 minutes, and I did - 17 minutes.
So my best time for 10.5K is 1:17.
I was pretty satisfied with that, and I got some good thinking done out there ... mostly problem solving, thinking through some decisions that have to be made in the distant (and not-so-distant) future. Whilst running I enjoyed my 2 new cds - Matt Redman's latest, Beautiful News & Tim Hughes' new release, Holding Nothing Back. It was good times.
My left knee is pretty sore today though. I would've taken the day off, but of course MWF are work out days with Chantelle so I can't miss that. I did my normal core/ab workout and weights, just upped my reps, and then stretched everything out real good. I'm hoping this knee clears up tomorrow so I can go out for another run, even if it's just 4 or 6.5 kilometers.
I'm pretty happy with my time, at that rate my July 10K should be at most 1:15, but hopefully a little shorter, and I should be able to get a decent half marathon time, 2:30 was my goal so maybe I'll be able to get it down to 2:15. We'll see.
Tyler and I had a good evening, it seemed short though. He got in at 7 pm, we were in bed by 10 pm, and he left at 12:30 am, due to a bit of a family emergency - Ty's brother Sean and their lifelong friend Chris went 4X4-ing that afternoon, and were supposed to be back by 7 pm. Lisa (Chris' wife) called at midnight saying that they hadn't come home and she'd called the RCMP. Well after conversations with the RCMP, Tyler left to try and find them. The problem was that no one knew exactly what the name of the site they were 4x4ing on was, but Tyler knew how to get there. The RCMP ended up being less than useful, as they just drove around for a little while and then gave up. Tyler ended up finding them at 4:30 am. They had lost control down an embankment and ended up on their side in the mud in a ditch somewhere. They crashed at 5 pm and couldn't get out of the vehicle until around 1 am, when they tried to get on a main road with some reception so they could call someone. Tyler eventually found them, took them to the RCMP to file a "found person" report, and then drove them home in Calgary, then promptly left at around 6 am for Drumheller to go to work. What a man! I am always proud of his loyalty and his concern for his family and friends. I knew that there wasn't even a question whether or not he'd go out there and do all he could to find them. I'm praying for him to make it through another long day of work on only 2 hours of sleep.
It all felt like a really strange dream actually, and since I've been having strange dreams, I wasn't sure what had in reality taken place when I woke up until I talked to him. I'm just glad everyone's alright. I was most concerned for Lisa, as she has 2 girls under 2 years old. I'm thankful that Sean and Chris have decided to give up 4x4ing (keeps my husband safe too!)
So that's all the excitement my life can take for a while. Tyler and I are heading out to Radium next week to stay at a condo from Monday through Wednesday. It should be good... maybe I can get some leisurely runs done out there, and we'll for sure be hitting the hot springs - maybe that will limber my knee up a bit. I've been really blessed not to have any injuries really so I'm not sure what to do with this one! I think it's in part because I ran a lot of rather steep hills (up and down) yesterday. Oh well. My heart and lungs feel better even if my knee doesn't. Apart from my morning runs, I'm sure Ty and I will do some hiking and walking, and we'll probably do a puzzle. If it's anything like our honeymoon, we'll probably spend a lot of time just relaxing inside playing cribwars and working on a puzzle.
RK
I have a couple of loops that I've created for myself around Ogden/Lynnwood - I have a 4K loop and a 2.5K loop. I did 2 laps of my 4K loop, each in exactly 30 minutes, so at least I'm consistent. At that point I figured that since I had run 8K already, I may as well do the extra 2.5 and set a time for myself to beat. I wanted to do that 2.5 in less than 20 minutes, and I did - 17 minutes.
So my best time for 10.5K is 1:17.
I was pretty satisfied with that, and I got some good thinking done out there ... mostly problem solving, thinking through some decisions that have to be made in the distant (and not-so-distant) future. Whilst running I enjoyed my 2 new cds - Matt Redman's latest, Beautiful News & Tim Hughes' new release, Holding Nothing Back. It was good times.
My left knee is pretty sore today though. I would've taken the day off, but of course MWF are work out days with Chantelle so I can't miss that. I did my normal core/ab workout and weights, just upped my reps, and then stretched everything out real good. I'm hoping this knee clears up tomorrow so I can go out for another run, even if it's just 4 or 6.5 kilometers.
I'm pretty happy with my time, at that rate my July 10K should be at most 1:15, but hopefully a little shorter, and I should be able to get a decent half marathon time, 2:30 was my goal so maybe I'll be able to get it down to 2:15. We'll see.
Tyler and I had a good evening, it seemed short though. He got in at 7 pm, we were in bed by 10 pm, and he left at 12:30 am, due to a bit of a family emergency - Ty's brother Sean and their lifelong friend Chris went 4X4-ing that afternoon, and were supposed to be back by 7 pm. Lisa (Chris' wife) called at midnight saying that they hadn't come home and she'd called the RCMP. Well after conversations with the RCMP, Tyler left to try and find them. The problem was that no one knew exactly what the name of the site they were 4x4ing on was, but Tyler knew how to get there. The RCMP ended up being less than useful, as they just drove around for a little while and then gave up. Tyler ended up finding them at 4:30 am. They had lost control down an embankment and ended up on their side in the mud in a ditch somewhere. They crashed at 5 pm and couldn't get out of the vehicle until around 1 am, when they tried to get on a main road with some reception so they could call someone. Tyler eventually found them, took them to the RCMP to file a "found person" report, and then drove them home in Calgary, then promptly left at around 6 am for Drumheller to go to work. What a man! I am always proud of his loyalty and his concern for his family and friends. I knew that there wasn't even a question whether or not he'd go out there and do all he could to find them. I'm praying for him to make it through another long day of work on only 2 hours of sleep.
It all felt like a really strange dream actually, and since I've been having strange dreams, I wasn't sure what had in reality taken place when I woke up until I talked to him. I'm just glad everyone's alright. I was most concerned for Lisa, as she has 2 girls under 2 years old. I'm thankful that Sean and Chris have decided to give up 4x4ing (keeps my husband safe too!)
So that's all the excitement my life can take for a while. Tyler and I are heading out to Radium next week to stay at a condo from Monday through Wednesday. It should be good... maybe I can get some leisurely runs done out there, and we'll for sure be hitting the hot springs - maybe that will limber my knee up a bit. I've been really blessed not to have any injuries really so I'm not sure what to do with this one! I think it's in part because I ran a lot of rather steep hills (up and down) yesterday. Oh well. My heart and lungs feel better even if my knee doesn't. Apart from my morning runs, I'm sure Ty and I will do some hiking and walking, and we'll probably do a puzzle. If it's anything like our honeymoon, we'll probably spend a lot of time just relaxing inside playing cribwars and working on a puzzle.
RK
Friday, April 20, 2007
Perfectionism Rant!
I am reading The Way of Jesus, by Eugene Peterson. His chapter on David is possibly the best chapter I've read anywhere in several years. I hope to finish this book before Wednesday of next week and start on Eat This Book, another book recently published by Peterson.
Some choice quotes (emphasis and exclamation marks mine) from Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company):
"Perfectionism is a disorder that occurs frequently in the Christian community...this sort of dividing up the community of Jesus into graded classes ... has a way of surfacing century after century under a variety of banners... movements that, inventive with numerous variations, try to convince the Christian community that the way of Jesus is a way of perfection. Since we are commanded to follow Jesus and Jesus is perfect, the way of Jesus is a way of perfection. It is not only desirable but required that we live or at least aspire to live perfect lives if we are serious about the Christian faith. " 78, 79.
"Perfectionism: a most ruinous deviation from the way, a detour from the way of Jesus. It is unlikely that it will plunge us headlong into damnation, but it certainly makes us most undesirable company with other son the pilgrim way. Perfectionism is a perversion of the Christian way. It is responsible for disabling countless sincere and devout Christians for common usefulness in the company of their neighbors on pilgrimage to Jerusalem." 79
"There is no us and them in matters of sin. Which means, of course, that I cannot deal with sin by dealing exclusively with my inner life. Neither can I hope to deal with sin by converting or eliminating those who are against me. So what is left? God is left." 93
"This way of imperfection manages to get challenged in every generation, and a way of perfection offered as a replacement. But perfection is not an option. [!!!!!!!] It is a seduction. It is the devil's offer to avoid dealing with sin by various sleight-of-hand verbal and behavioural strategies." 100
"The Holy Spirit is not out recruiting an elite, all-star holiness team for the Jesus way." 100
Take that, Peacock.
But seriously. When are we going to get this, church at large? It reminds me of an interview I heard on Adler Online today. He was interviewing a man (sorry, can't remember his name and it wasn't on Adler's blog) who goes into schools to teach strategies to school teachers and children on how to deal with gunmen like Cho if that situation arises (God forbid). He says that the resource that the innocent children and teachers have that the gunman does not is numbers - so he recommends that the whole class run and scream haphazardly and charge the gunman. When a gunman enters a classroom to kill, he expects people to be paralyzed and scared, not courageous and loud. Adler asked what this man would say to parents who would rather have their kids jump out the window or hide, the parents who would say that this man is teaching their kids to go into harm's way instead of running from it. His answer was interesting: they ARE in harm's way, this way, they're fighting for survival.
It's the same thing with the perfectionism/imperfectionism debate (if you even want to honor it with that title - clearly Eugene and I are right). We ARE imperfect, we ARE harm's way. WE CAN'T FIX THAT, and pretending we are good or trying REAL HARD to be good is not going to help us. We don't deal with sin, God does. Any other strategy is only going to do us harm.
I shall close with my good friend Merton:
"It is not the will of God that we should obey Him while at the same time telling Him lies about our interior dispositions. If our dispositions are bad, let us ask Him to make them better, but let us not tell Him that they are really very good." - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1955), 67
Some choice quotes (emphasis and exclamation marks mine) from Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company):
"Perfectionism is a disorder that occurs frequently in the Christian community...this sort of dividing up the community of Jesus into graded classes ... has a way of surfacing century after century under a variety of banners... movements that, inventive with numerous variations, try to convince the Christian community that the way of Jesus is a way of perfection. Since we are commanded to follow Jesus and Jesus is perfect, the way of Jesus is a way of perfection. It is not only desirable but required that we live or at least aspire to live perfect lives if we are serious about the Christian faith. " 78, 79.
"Perfectionism: a most ruinous deviation from the way, a detour from the way of Jesus. It is unlikely that it will plunge us headlong into damnation, but it certainly makes us most undesirable company with other son the pilgrim way. Perfectionism is a perversion of the Christian way. It is responsible for disabling countless sincere and devout Christians for common usefulness in the company of their neighbors on pilgrimage to Jerusalem." 79
"There is no us and them in matters of sin. Which means, of course, that I cannot deal with sin by dealing exclusively with my inner life. Neither can I hope to deal with sin by converting or eliminating those who are against me. So what is left? God is left." 93
"This way of imperfection manages to get challenged in every generation, and a way of perfection offered as a replacement. But perfection is not an option. [!!!!!!!] It is a seduction. It is the devil's offer to avoid dealing with sin by various sleight-of-hand verbal and behavioural strategies." 100
"The Holy Spirit is not out recruiting an elite, all-star holiness team for the Jesus way." 100
Take that, Peacock.
But seriously. When are we going to get this, church at large? It reminds me of an interview I heard on Adler Online today. He was interviewing a man (sorry, can't remember his name and it wasn't on Adler's blog) who goes into schools to teach strategies to school teachers and children on how to deal with gunmen like Cho if that situation arises (God forbid). He says that the resource that the innocent children and teachers have that the gunman does not is numbers - so he recommends that the whole class run and scream haphazardly and charge the gunman. When a gunman enters a classroom to kill, he expects people to be paralyzed and scared, not courageous and loud. Adler asked what this man would say to parents who would rather have their kids jump out the window or hide, the parents who would say that this man is teaching their kids to go into harm's way instead of running from it. His answer was interesting: they ARE in harm's way, this way, they're fighting for survival.
It's the same thing with the perfectionism/imperfectionism debate (if you even want to honor it with that title - clearly Eugene and I are right). We ARE imperfect, we ARE harm's way. WE CAN'T FIX THAT, and pretending we are good or trying REAL HARD to be good is not going to help us. We don't deal with sin, God does. Any other strategy is only going to do us harm.
I shall close with my good friend Merton:
"It is not the will of God that we should obey Him while at the same time telling Him lies about our interior dispositions. If our dispositions are bad, let us ask Him to make them better, but let us not tell Him that they are really very good." - Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1955), 67
Am I the only one?
I'm wondering if I'm the only one who is really sad about the recent news events. 32 people killed at Virginia Tech by one very ill individual. Another ill individual kills a hostage today at NASA... and it just seems to go unnoticed. Am I the only one praying? Am I the only one who cares?
I don't know exactly what I'm expecting ... just ... more I guess.
Beauty of Your Peace
Tim Hughes
Your voice has stilled the raging storms
the wind and waves bow down before
Your still small voice brings hope to all
who wait on You
we'll wait for You
To lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
Bright skies will soon be overhead
we'll enter in to heaven's rest
there'll be no death, there'll be no pain
the things of old will pass away
You'll lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
You'll lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
Tim Hughes, When Silence Falls
I don't know exactly what I'm expecting ... just ... more I guess.
Beauty of Your Peace
Tim Hughes
Your voice has stilled the raging storms
the wind and waves bow down before
Your still small voice brings hope to all
who wait on You
we'll wait for You
To lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
Bright skies will soon be overhead
we'll enter in to heaven's rest
there'll be no death, there'll be no pain
the things of old will pass away
You'll lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
You'll lead us to the place where You'll restore our souls
and all our earthly strivings come to cease...
Take from our souls the strain and stress
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
the beauty of Your peace
Tim Hughes, When Silence Falls
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