when I grow up.... a confession of sorts

This morning, I was out in the wee hours for a run. Yes, it was dark, but I've gotten used to that now.

The thermometer said that it was 45 degrees, so I dressed accordingly and headed out into the dark abyss. It was a little chilly, but I knew I'd warm up once I got moving. Sheesh, yes!

I swear I felt the temperature rise 5 to 7 degrees in about 30 seconds, like someone turned on a heat lamp, minus the light! Suddenly, I had on one layer too many. But oh well, I trudged onward, hoping it was a freak hot wind current I was just passing through. Then I had the thought...

"I wonder if this is a hot flash..."

Seriously, I don't think I've ever had one. Heard of 'em, sure, but had the "pleasure" of one? Don't think so. I don't know much about them, preferring instead to just avoid the topic altogether

So there I was. Out there running. In the dark. With too many clothes on. Feeling all old-ladyish or whatever.

It did eventually cool down from the initial heat surge, but I still think I could've done without some piece of clothing. When I returned back to the house, I checked the thermometer...

AHA! Rejoice!! It said 51 degrees. So there HAD been some chinook wind or something that blew in some hot air!

Nothing like a bit of gerascophobia to wake you up in the morning!
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Silver Liningness, part VI, Vol. 2

Welcome to the weekend!

This is actually a first "real" weekend for me in about a month. I'd had to work the last 4 Saturdays and Sundays, but not so this weekend. I do enjoy my job, but it's nice to be able to look a total slob on a Saturday morning and not worry about what time it is. On that note, today is one of 4 times out of the year that the LSAT - a notorious weeder outer of lawyer wannabes - is given. Good luck to all of my students!

This week also featured a palpable cold front. I was hit with SNOW on more than one occassion! I learned that our furnace works as do wool socks. And Pikes Peak is very pretty now (no pics, I'm too lazy). Oh, and today's high should be around 80. Cold front all gone.

As for the pic-o'-the-week, I finally got around to posting Meego's old bike for sale on craigslist.


Recall that Wolfgang got a new bike and Meego inherited Wolfgang's old one. So Meego's got a new-to-him bicycle, and he wouldn't mind some cash as well. Let the selling begin.

I also mentioned that we're contemplating a new used car. I feel a bit traitorous to my bicycle commuter status, but bicycling to work is pretty impractical for me, and the big butt gas hog of a van is overkill. We're going car shopping today.

Update: She's a 2001 Honda Civic with 115K miles, no A/C, no cassette or CD, crappy factory stereo, hideous interior, U-crank-em windows... I LOVE her!

Oh yeah, as already mentioned, my vacuum cleaner sucks.
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sex kittens and dust bunnies

Gosh.

I stopped by here and said, "Gee this blogger hasn't posted anything since Sunday". And then realized, "Oh wait! This is me!"

Well, I have been quite busy, but that LSAT class I was teaching came to its smashing crescendo this week. Test Day is this Saturday (GOOD LUCK YOU GUYS!), those students have all left the nest.

So I've been happily catching up on other aspects of life. I'm shopping for a car for one thing. We threw out the beater idea in favor of just getting a second commuter car. Since Magnum's office moved, he's driving and I'm left with the big butt van for when I need to drive. Thing's a gas hog and can be a pain to park sometimes. So I'm shopping. The van will remain our "RV".

Oh, and today? I pulled of a successful vacuum cleaner repair job. I identified the defective part, ordered a new one, removed the old, replaced with the new. I plugged it in and the vacuum cleaner totally sucks! In a good way!

I ask you: can that every-guy's-current-dreamgirl Meg@n Fox pull off a successful vacuum cleaner repair job? I betcha not!
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Silver Liningness, part V, Vol. 2

Welcome to the weekend! Or what's left of it anyway. Time to throw around some thankfulness!

I've been quite busy lately with a full work schedule. A few months ago, I added a policy here that I would include a photo of something good from the week to the silver liningness posts.

I realized as I sat down to post this that I had nothing.

Not wanting to be a policy breaker, I just decided to download whatever was currently on the family camera. So, for your viewing pleasure, today's Thankfulness Photo:

Here we have Chaco's friend Anton on a bike next to a huge Chaco ear.

OKAY, so now that that's out of the way...

Well, actually, I suppose I can find a thankfulness bent here. Anton is a good kid. I' m thankful that he's one of Chaco's friends. He's rather geeky and owns several bicycles that he's scrapped together buying parts off of craigslist and whatnot. What's not to like? I have no idea the story behind this photo.

Oh, and just a side note, that house there in the background? That's the one next door that's for rent. Come on! Move in!

As I mentioned, I've been busy work-wise. Believe me when I say that I am NOT a workaholic, I just seem to be pretending to be one lately. I do like being useful, but I'm thankful that some things are winding down and I'll have more breathing room in my schedule soon.

OH! And I just remembered... I do have a real photo! Last spring at school, all of the third graders (of which Meego was one) received a little cabbage plant in a cup from some seed company. The idea being to encourage kids to garden. They also brought home a little info sheet about growing the cabbage and such, and instructions to take a photo of the kid with said grown cabbage and turn it back into the teacher in September for entry into this big cabbage growing contest thing.

Somehow, I remembered about bringing a photo in. I took a photo of Meego with his now bigger cabbage and he took it to his science teacher. He was the ONLY one! The ONLY one!

So anyway, the teacher submitted his single entry to the national thing. We'll see if anything happens. If nothing else, he gets points for follow-through. And we get cabbage.
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the thing what happened

So we all know that Chaco is learning to drive, thus he's the designated driver around here. He circles like a vulture, waiting for some errand that needs to be run. If one is discovered, he gleefully assumes the position in the driver's seat while the designated parent and/or legal guardian rides outwardly patient at shotgun while inwardly having a massive cardiac event.

One thing he hasn't quite mastered is getting the vehicle back into the garage. Yes, we actually keep our vehicles in the garage. Furthermore, we back them in, Fire Engine style, so as to drive them out frontwardly, Fire Engine style.

This can be a tricky manuever for anyone, let alone, a novice driver. Chaco did make an attempt once, when there was no other car in the garage. He succeeded in cracking the full-length mirror that adorns the back wall of our garage. Yes, we have a full length (that's wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling) mirror on the back wall of our garage... but that's another story.

These fretful excursions typically end with Chaco backing into the driveway, followed by a Chinese firedrill of sorts as the parent and/or legal guardian takes over for the backing-into-the-garage-duties.

Flashback to an evening last week. I was out teaching a class. An errand was run. A changing of seating arrangements took place in the driveway. Car keys were locked in the car with the engine running. Mayhem ensued.

I had the only other key to the car. My cell phone was off. I can only imagine the scene.

Eventually, they managed to break into the car, but before that happened, they searched around for the possibility of a spare key. A spare key that maybe I had stashed someplace. They rifled through all of my STUFF!

To this day, I am still finding my... my... my... treasures... strewn about in the frenzied wake! My jogbra section of the dresser! My secret stash of batteries! (wouldn't you like to know) My little box of special jewelry! My girl stuff!

I feel so violated.

"We know all your secrets now", Magnum told me afterwards.

I'm thinking maybe they made that whole story up about the car....
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self indulgence

Aaaaaaah....... *takes another sip of coffee*

Looking in my planner, I see a rare sight. It says "Wednesday". It says "16". Other than that, there's not a whole lot else.

No tutor sessions. No classes. No meetings. Kids are all at school. This is a rarity. What's a girl to do?

I think I'll start with a total full-body cleanse (a.k.a laundry duty).
Then, a rejuvenation package (a.k.a shop for groceries).
Next, a nature retreat (a.k.a shovel the shtuff from the dog kennel).
All this to be followed by a deep tissue massage (a.k.a sweep and mop the floors).
Maybe even a "boob job" (a.k.a. fix Wolfgang's flat tire)

Let's get this party started.
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Silver Liningness, part IV, vol. 2

The week started out with a day off, and I feel like I've been catching up ever since. You know how it is when you "lose" a day....

But still, Monday was fun. No work. No school. Didn't do anything particularly special, just messed around at Garden of the Gods for a while. Not too good for the cracked rib, but... screw it.

On that note, however, the rib situation is much better today! In the words of King Julian: "I LIKE LAUGHING!" I can laugh without crying now! Couldn't necessarily say so a week ago.

Work is busy but fulfilling. I've got a class going on still and two private tutor students. That's about right, don't want anymore right now. I'm thankful to have a flexible job that I enjoy.

On that note, I started VoMo (that's "volunteer Mom") duties for this school year in Meego's classroom. I usually make myself available to his classroom teachers and then get paranoid if the teacher doesn't ask me to help out. She asked. I'm in. I get to do mindless work for her each week. It's nice.

Also nice, Magnum and I watched such a movie. The Station Agent. I don't even remember how I came to hear of this movie. Maybe one of those obscure Netflix recommendations. I took the bait and rented it. It's funny, sad, heartwarming, and I liked all of the main characters. Go watch.

Today is all fallish. Chilly and rainy. I like it. For now. *sings* "If you like pina coladas... and getting caught in the...."
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ding dong, the babies are dead!

For your viewing pleasure.... Is this one of the most disgusting things you've ever seen, or what??

Okay, don't answer that.

But really. Gross, no?

It's a dog heart FILLED with heartworms. Kinda looks like spaghetti.

Anyways. I think hopefully, probably, maybe, maybe probably we are finished fighting the heartworm wars with China the crazy-but-loveable dog.

The whole ordeal began last January, I think, when she went in for her annual checkup. She had freakin' heartworms! What?

And so started our journey of heartworm annihilation. 6 months of slowly killing off the baby heartworms followed by two nasty NASTY intramuscular injections to kill off the big daddies.

The nasty NASTY injections were administered last week. I took her in Monday for the first one, Tuesday for the second. On Monday, she happily hopped into the van for a fun outting. Tuesday morning, she was a little less thrilled to go back.

But, it is done. The test shows that all the babies are dead, and we've no reason to believe that the adults haven't also gone to the big dog heart in the sky. China still needs to take it easy for a while, but she seems like a normal, albeit crazy, dog. And now, she has celebrity status at the vets' for contracting this so-rare-in-Colorado doggie disease.

Lessons learned: Use those heartworm chews! No matter where your dog lives. And... I don't think I'll be having spaghetti for a while.

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in flux

Hear me, O gods of Real Estate!

We sit precariously perched between a house for rent and a house for sale. A few houses up, another house sits for sale. Two houses have recently been purchased or rented, having new families moved in. So far, so good.

The house next door that's for rent has been vacant since the start of summer. Much activity has gone on there. Landscaping. New cabinetry. New carpetry. New windowtry. New sprinkler installationtry. Still, it sits.

The house of the other next door that's for sale still houses the current owner. Nice lady. Last child is off at college. She doesn't need all the space for her and Winston, the little monopoly dog. I don't want her to leave, but I understand.

We get along with (or are rather oblivious to - which is "like" getting along with...) pretty much everyone in the neighborhood. I'd like it to stay that way please.

O gods of Real Estate.

Anyone reading this who is a way cool neighbor and wants to move to Colorado, talk to me!

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Silver Liningness, part 3, Vol. 2

Greetings on this fine Sunday of a holiday weekend for some!

As usual, there's much to be thankful for, so let the games begin.

Magnum and I took one of our epic hikes-without-kids on Friday. We decided to attack Blodgett peak. A good time was had by all. We emerged dirty and scratched and beat up about 3 hours after starting out.

[click on the photos, and they get really big!]

If you look out at that blue hazy stuff in the pic on the left, I think Kansas is out there somewhere. The other photo is Magnum after descending the "Asteroid Field". Yeah, we did it! Last one down was a rotten egg (that would be Mag...)

The weather was perfect. We did get lost, naturally, but it's all part of the adventure. Just a side note: I do not recommend this climb as therapy for a cracked rib. *ahem*

Wolfgang needed a new bike as he had outgrown his. He and Chaco ride their bikes to school, so a bicycle is an essential piece of equipment. We went bicycle shopping yesterday - always fun! He found a nice Trek to get him where he needs to go, and Meego found out that Wolfie's old bike fits him nicely. Two new bikes for the price of one! I'll take it.

I started tutoring a new high school ACT student this week. Seems like a nice kid. Dad's a bit helicopterish, but goes with the territory.

Relatedly, the LSAT class continues to go well. A nice group. I really want for them to become nice lawyers.

Sort of relatedly, we watched "Legally Blonde" this weekend. I'd never seen it, and it was pretty funny. Better than I thought it would be. Just a side note: I don't recommend funny movies as therapy for a cracked rib - HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!* HA! *ouch!*.....
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a good ribbing

I visited my chiropractor yesterday.

For about the last week, I could swear there was an arrowhead lodged just under my left shoulder blade. No biggie, it only hurt when I inhaled. Or exhaled. Or moved. Please, don't make me sneeze.

It's almost mystical the way she knows things. She rendered my right arm almost useless merely by lightly pushing a spot on my spine merely to determine that I have a cracked rib to the left of my spine. WTF?

Oh well, I believe her. She just knows these things, y'know?

She did some magical adjustments followed by a WONderful but too short massage with that WONderful vibrator thing (I can see the search engine lights flashing now...) and sent me on my way.

This morning, as Meego and I walked to school, I told him of my diagnosis. He would have to do the laundry and vacuuming and trash collecting and grocery loading and etc. for the next few days.

He just laughed.

Oh well. I tried.
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the things you see

In the pre-dawn darkness, I saw the car sitting there. Parked on the side of the road that goes by the middle school track, there was an occupant. He had the dome light on.

He was either someone who'd come to the track to do some laps, or he was someone who stakes out such tracks at pre-dawn so as to attack defenseless joggers, chop them into little pieces, and strew their remains about...

... or something in the middle.

Another lap, and he was still in the car. Dome light off now.

Another lap and another runner joins me on the track. She enters from the side away from the road. Away from the stake-out car. She has the appearance of a typical suburban mom-type. Like me, she's wearing shorts, a light top, running shoes, a ponytail. Unlike me, she walks straight across the field rather than runs laps.

She walks straight to the stake-out car. She gets in.

The car stays. The engine remains off. The occupants remain inside. I continue my laps.

Eventually, my time there is done. I leave the track. I run past the stake-out car to the road to head back home.

What's up with that? A 6 a.m. tryst? At a road bordering a middle school track? In a hatchback?

I imagine such a scenario. Who is the car man? What does she tell her husband?

Is it like kids who tell their parents they're going to the "library" when really....

"I'm going to start running... early in the morning...."

"I'm going to the track to do some....."

.... guy in a hatchback?
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