I would try to recount my weekend, but it's pretty much a blur. Partly because of alcohol, but mostly because we've been doing something almost every second. Still have a concert tonight to get to. Oy. Much much fun has been had. Much alcohol has been consumed. And four people slept in my 300-square-foot apartment last night, which is a little insane.

Not going to want to go to work tomorrow!

Stupid postal service. I have an unhealthy obsession with tracking packages, so I check a little too frequently to see exactly where by package is. The package I am currently tracking just traveled from Kentucky to Ohio to Wisconsin. Why Wisconsin? Why not drop it off when they were driving by from Ohio to Wisconsin?!? Hmph.

I was just running across campus and a leaf fell from a tree and hit me in the head. My head now hurts quite a lot. Who knew Autumn could be so dangerous?

I am home. SF was good fun. Chryssi and the moms and I survived the walk. Now Mom wants to walk a full marathon :)

I just heard three men speaking HEBREW on the train! It was so unexpected (I have never once randomly encountered spoken Hebrew) that I didn't even recognize it at first. Which is especially funny because I could pick up a word here or there. But I've studied--and been exposed to--so many languages that comprehension does not necessarily identify the language. In any case, I couldn't tell you what they were saying, but I did understand little things, like when one of the guys started counting. I sat next to them for half an hour, and I really tried to not be too obvious in my attempts to listen in. I think I may have been successful because I'm sure they didn't expect for me to understand them. After all, no one knows Hebrew, and I'm blond, and I was sitting there studying Russian :)

And I may be just a tad tired from my night out with Jacki and her co-workers and free beer. Proof that I'm tired: I just tried to make coffee without putting water in the coffee pot. It didn't work.

I have stuff to say about the Yankees-Red Sox. Maybe later. When I wake up.

I just had a sudden (and fleeting) urge to see an ex of mine. In times past I may have just gone to his house when that urge hit, which is one of the many many reasons I moved. In any case, what went through my mind in response to this longing was, "Well, I can't jump in my car and go see him." Took me a sec to realize just how true that was.

The secret to happiness is not having what you want, it's not wanting what you don't have. :)

Marathon pics

Nothing to say, except that I love when life slows down a bit. And, at the same time, I can't wait to fly across the country on Friday :)

If Bush really thinks Kerry is on the far left bank of American opinion he's clearly never met me. :) Actually, I'm not on the far left bank either, just far left of Kerry.

Still waiting for my work-study student. Oh how I'd like someone to come deal with the precarious pile of papers on, under, and around my desk...

Got a 99% on my Russian quiz yesterday! And a 98.5% on the one I thought I'd fail last week. How great would it be if I set the curve in a class that doesn't count for me?

Ok, last computer post, I promise... switched my laptop to Linux, and I am soooo much happier.

Anyone else hear that it might SNOW this weekend?!? I need a winter home somewhere warm.

I am a computer genius :)

Ok, not really anywhere near, but I had fun with Mac to PC conversion today.

More people speaking Russian on the train this morning. I must learn enough to eavesdrop!

Two computers, no waiting :)

Chryssi says not to run tomorrow. We shall see. I may just walk really, really fast. :)

Sometime today I should have two computers in my office. Yep, that's a good use of our money...

I get to run tomorrow!! I know, I know... I said I was going to try to wait 2 weeks, but Hal Higdon says it's ok if I run 2 easy miles tomorrow. And since my soreness has virtually disappeared (and I haven't even taken drugs in 24 hours), I think it'll be ok. Yay for quick recoveries!

In other news, you know when you have those dreams that you're in a classroom taking a test in a subject you've never studied? That was my Russian class yesterday. I didn't even look at Russian for 3 days and missed a class and suddenly I was totally lost. And in a four-person all participation class that's a problem. Time to play catch-up!

I survived! The out-of-town guests are gone, the excitement is over, and I'm left with a broken toe, an ankle that won't stop pronating, and hamstrings that feel like rocks. And a medal :)

Thanks to everyone who tried to see me!

More to come.

Next marathon: Cleveland Marathon on May 22, 2005 at 7:00am

I managed to get a full 8 hours of sleep last night. That helped. A lot. And today's been so busy at work that I haven't had much time to think about running. Tonight I get to go to the expo and pick up my race packet. Once I get the shirt, there's no turning back :)

Ok, probably the last post until after Sunday unless something wildly exciting happens before I leave work (I hope not).

Oh, and to answer the question that a co-worker just asked (and which I hope is irrelevant): no, they don't cancel the marathon if it's raining.

I just ran into my Russian teacher. She assured me that I will do fine. That seems to be a running theme.

Ok, official panic mode has now set in. I am totally and completely freaking out. And I don't panic easily, so this is a whole new thing for me.

I just know I'm gonna fail my Russian quiz today.

You know you're tired when.... you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and see not only dark circles under your eyes but also mismatched earrings. It could have been worse-- it could've taken me till later in the day to notice. Oh well, the people on the train with me must've thought it was a fashion statement :)

Even though I no longer have a car--and I wasn't driving it much when I did--I still find myself looking for parking every time I walk down the street. I never did that anywhere else I've lived. Strange how even the little bit of time I spent driving in the city could condition me.

I was already very pleased to be car-less, but now that GEICO sent me a check I am even happier!

And if I'd ever realized how conducive the train ride is for studying I would've lived a lot further from school :) Yesterday I heard two men speaking Russian on the train. I really tried to listen to their conversation, but my week-and-a-half of Russian was not quite adequate. Especially since the girl next to me was talking loudly (in English) about her recent nervous breakdown.

Everyone who expressed interest in coming to watch the marathon (and a bunch of people who didn't) should have received an email from me about it. If not, go here.

Well, I finally have internet at home again, and now I have some sort of adware or something slowing down my computer. Hmph. I have two different virus protection programs running and updated daily. I have really high security controls on my browser. But something still got through. I blame Service Pack 2. I need a Mac. And yet at work, they're switching me to PC. Yep, that's smart. Oh well-- gave me something other than running to think about :)

Last night I was so excited about the marathon that I couldn't sleep :) I still woke up at 5am to run, so maybe I should try to actually sleep tonight. Tomorrow I run 3 miles and Saturday 2 miles. I realize I'll be running a lot on Sunday, but this whole no running thing is just making me more anxious, and I'm already pretty anxious! Logistics and coordination for this weekend are already getting complicated. I think I need to hire a cruise director.

Good news-- Mom, Dad, and I are going to family day at Dyche Stadium, er Ryan Field, on Saturday. I'm sure it won't live up to last week, and we're sitting on the visitor side, but I'm still very happy. I'm going to try my best to get to all the home games this year. I've been to two, and they've won both times. I think it's a sign.

Ok, back to work, really. I keep saying that this morning...

I reached my goal!

Details about the course coming very, very soon. For those interested, I'll even give you my parents' cell phone numbers so you can figure out where I am and when.

Still totally freaked out, but in a good way, I think.

I love Russian. More later. Now I need to be in bed.

Post number 200! I think I can be syndicated now or something.

The internet has returned. Thus, NU will win tonight. And I will be there to see it.

There's a defensive end for Georgia with the same name as my uncle [last name spelled differently, but it sounds the same]. The announcers have said his name approximately every five seconds so far in the Georgia-LSU game. Every single time I've looked up. I think I need something else on as background noise.

I just got a raise! A whole $0.23 an hour! Ok, actually I got the raise a while ago, but it took a long time for it to actually show up on my paychecks. Which is really nice because today, in addition to my larger paycheck, I also get backpay for 812.5 hours as $0.23 an hour. Even though I knew it was coming, that still feel like a fortune to me.

And the gods of public transportation did not listen to my plea. Yesterday on the way home from work, I again heard the operator-is-stepping-off-the-train-to-fix-it message during a five-minute delay. But, even worse, on the way to work yesterday I heard the following: "The train is stopped due to a medical emergency. Officials have been notified. We hope to be moving again shortly." Not only did we have to sit there for 10 minutes, but we also never got any more details. I wanted to know who had the emergency and what kind it was and why the sick/injured individual couldn't wait in the station for the paramedics instead of on the train. The whole thing seemed kind of shady/scary to me, but no one else seemed to mind.

Tonight I masquerade as a grad student. The grad students in my department want me to go drinking with them, and they have a student reception first, so I'm joining them at that. I think I *might* be able to act convincingly like a grad student. Just maybe. I don't really want to drink tonight, and I definitely want to be home very early, but I'm so flattered that they like me enough to ask me out that I wanted to at least hang out for a bit. And the way this week has been I could sure use a beer.

Tomorrow internet shall return. And NU shall beat OSU.