Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Today marks one of the few days that I have neither seen nor heard from Owen all day (since his birth). He slept over at his grandparents’ house last night, and he’s doing it again tonight.
It’s quite peaceful in our home tonight. It’s also a great day to spend some time with Isla. Typically, whenever I pay any attention to Isla whatsoever, Owen insists on getting in on the fun or work. For example, Isla might be sitting on my lap, and then I look down at her and say: “Hello, pretty girl! Are you my baby?” (Hey, I didn’t say my conversations with her were very interesting.) And then, suddenly, Owen comes scrambling over from wherever he is and gets his head in between mine and Isla’s and begins talking to her. This usually means he’s way too close for Isla’s liking, and it also means I get annoyed.
I should probably mention that whenever I say something to Isla, Owen repeats the exact same words. If I say four or five sentences in a row, Owen parrots them back with a slight delay, as if there’s a very clear echo in our house. I’m not sure why he does this, but if there was an icon underneath that said ‘LIKE,’ I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t press it. Sometimes I think I should just speak to Isla in phrases Owen would be unable to repeat, such as saying: “expiratory distribution of partially ignited hydrocarbons into the immediate atmosphere disallowed,” but there seems little point in telling my daughter not to smoke and, anyways, Owen still makes an attempt to repeat such thing, mimicking the duration and intonation, if not the exact wording.
If I ask him nicely to back down, he does not comply. If I ask him more sternly, he might comply, but he also snaps back a guttural moan, collapses on the floor and often begins faux-crying.
Anyway…not to complain about my kids, but I’m not sure how to deal with that.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
In just over two weeks, my company will be holding their annual “6K Run and Walk.” They’ve done this every years that I’ve been employed here and, despite the lateness of the season, the first Friday in November has actually turned out to have pretty decent weather. Last year it was a bit cold, but in all other years it was a very pleasant day to be outside running.
This year will be my sixth time participating. I did not participate in 2004; I assumed I would finish last and be the laughing stock of the company. After the race, however, I learned that people more than twice my age participated, many didn’t even run, and several people took over an hour to complete the race. “At least I can do better than them, though I with all due arrogance.
In 2005, I finished the race in 39 minutes and 21 seconds. I placed 118th out of 230. My goal for the following year was to both beat my time and finish in the top half.
In 2006, I finished in 36 minutes and 16 seconds. Coincidentally, I again placed 118th, but this time there were 284 participants, so I easily finished in the top half.
And that’s the best I’ve ever done.
In 2009, as I was approaching the finish line, I saw that the clock said 36 minutes. I thought for sure I would beat my best time, but I ended up finishing in 36 minutes and 25 seconds, a mere 9 seconds off from my best.
So this year I’m determined to make a new personal best. Back in June, I decided that I would run the 6K every Tuesday. But, um, it turned out that it was either raining or 95 degrees every Tuesday. It wasn’t until July 20th that I finally did run the 6K for the first time this year. I repeated that feat again on July 22nd. I was going to run it again on the 27th but that was Isla’s due date, and I didn’t want Jennifer to call telling me she was in labor when I was halfway around the path. It would’ve taken me 15 more minutes to finish, then another 15 minutes to shower and another 35-40 minutes to get home. By that time, I surely would’ve missed Isla’s supersonic delivery.
But now I’ve decided to run the course 9 times before the race. I plan on running it every Tuesday and Thursday. So far, I’ve run the course on October 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 19th and today. I’m gonna run it twice next week, too. Then, the week of the race, I plan to run the course on Monday the first. Today I came within seconds of besting my time, so I’m feeling pretty confident, especially since the presence of other runners will give me the push to keep going.
I’ll update you soon…
Friday, 22 October 2010
For pretty much no reason, I decided to sort my lists by last-updated date. Turns out, the list that has gone the longest without being altered is my “States I Have Been To” list. I haven’t changed it since 1998. Here’s the list:
1. Minnesota 1975
2. New York – 1975
3. Wisconsin – 1976
4. Illinois – 1976
5. Indiana – 1976
6. Ohio – 1976
7. Pennsylvania – 1976
8. Massachusetts – 1976
9. Michigan – 1978
10. Iowa – 1984
11. Nebraska – 1984
12. Colorado – 1984
13. South Dakota – 1987
14. Florida – 1987
15. Kentucky – 1991
16. Tennessee – 1991
17. Georgia – 1991
18. New Jersey – 1993
19. Texas – 1998
The year next to each state is the year in which I first entered that state. As you can see, I haven’t been to any new states since 1998. Wow. The entire ’00 decade (yeah, I don’t know how to say that decade, either) passed by without me visiting one new state. Conversely, in the ’70s – a decade in which I was only alive for the second half – I visited nine new states.
But perhaps that’s not too surprising. After all, when I was first born, I hadn’t been anywhere but Minnesota. Any sort of travel was bound to afford me new states.
Now that I’m adult, however, I actually go on more vacations than I did when I was a kid. (Fun fact: I went on three vacations in the 1980s. Okay, so I guess that fact is not so fun. Sorry.) The problem is, I just continue to visit states I’ve already been to. In ’09, for example, I went on vacation to Iowa and Illinois – two states I’d been to plenty of times. Those were two firsts for Owen, though. And this year alone I think I’ve been to Wisconsin 3 or 4 times, and I’ll be there again tomorrow.
Oh well. If anyone is planning a trip to Vermont or Montana or Alaska anytime soon, let me know. I may tag along just so my poor list gets some attention.