Beauty

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Living in the future

It's amazing to me that CDs are now pretty much obsolete. It doesn't seem that long ago that I bought my first CD. I remember I was in 7th grade and I bought the Mariah Carey Fantasy CD. I felt So grown up.

Now, like so many other things, they are in a box. Going somewhere.

The gobblerito!

What better way to grieve than with the ultimate thanksgiving themed burrito?Yes, that's right a burrito stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, green beans, gravy and a side of cranberry sauce. And, it's best served with a giant margarita.

But seriously, it somehow seems inappropriate to laugh and drink margaritas during a time of loss. But, I guess there is no "appropriate" way to grieve. It's best done when it suits the bereaved. So, who's to say that a gobblerito isn't apropos? I'm just glad that I can be here with my friend.

On the road

Be careful what you wish for...

Every morning on my way to work, I fantasize about hopping on I-40 W and just driving...Asheville, Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, Cali... Just somewhere. And today I got my wish. Although, the circumstances are not the best (Alex's mother passed away and I'm headed to Pittsburgh as friend support) I'm trying to make the best of the drive. I'm seeing it as my opportunity to take that "spontaneous" road trip of which I so often dream.

Notes to self for a successful trip:

- don't crash while changing the tunes
- don't accidentally drive to Tennessee
- don't speed
- don't pee your pants
- don't text and drive
- don't get stuck in a truck office
- DO treat yourself to some Combos, but don't eat too many

Do I really need this?

How does one distinguish between what one really needs and what one thinks one needs? I feel as though I have spent my entire life dancing somewhere in betwixt these two states of need. I constantly feel as though I need something; whether it be needing an actual tangible thing, a need to do something, or just the need for spiritual enlightenment, I can't escape it. I know that I should not need things that I do not need, and yet I do it anyway. But why? Is it me? Do I have some deep rooted psychological issues about satisfaction? Is my life objective to, as David Hammond drama professor extraordinaire would say, "fill the void"? Or maybe I'm just like every other full blooded American who is motivated the the need to get things, material or spiritual. I suppose if we were all born satisfied, there would be no reason to live, no struggle, no pain, and thus no growth and no life.

And yet this still does not explain how we can distinguish between need need and just need. I mean isn't this understanding the root of Santosha? Contentment. Contentment with oneself and what one is capable of attaining in life. But, content not complacent. And therein lies the true struggle. The needs and the wants are just details and diversions.

back to the basics

These are the only Halloween costume ideas that I am endorsing this year. Costumes from the old school.
And most importantly, you must be scary and not slutty.

Tough times

You know times are tough when you pay for your yoga class with crumpled dollar bills and spare change. Be reassured at the fact that I was not spending my spare change on crack or on a 40 oz. of Schlitz malt liquor, though. Yoga is a good thing to spend your last bit of cash on, right?

Yet, apparently, yoga has been officially condemned by the southern baptist church. What????

More on this to come.

Whoops!

Today, I was probably the clumsiest I have ever been. I got the day started by tripping on the rug in the kitchen. Then, I almost cut my big toe off with a paring knife while chopping onions. Things seemed to be getting better until I dropped a glass milk jug, and yes, it shattered and milk spilled everywhere. While cleaning it up, I banged my head into a metal shelf. And to top it all off, I spilled hot split pea soup all over the counter and myself.

Just call me Butter Fingers...

Occupied

A seemingly not busy weekend actually turned out to be quite busy.

It was filled with:




And then some




And...


Followed by some




And then we




And to top it all off...

A Virus!

My computer at school is infected with a virus. I have no idea how it happened or how they will fix it. All I know is that at 9:00 this morning said computer was rushed to the technology ER. They are currently performing surgery to remove whatever foreign body has invaded.

An apple a day...

Today I took pictures of my students with their favorite snack. We are going to make a book.
Currently, my favorite snack is the apple. Crispy, delicious and healthy!

On competition...

"How much of your day is spent thinking in terms of better than and worse than?"

This was the question posed to me yesterday at the start of my weekly yoga class*. I immediatley felt connected to this question as I am vehemently opposed to competition in any way. I went through my pratcice thinking about how spiritually advanced I am because I constantly profess that I am not a competitive person. And, yes, this feeling of spiritual advancement led me to somehow view myself as superior to others who might consider being competitive to be a weakness of theirs.

And then came the kicker, which came in the form of this little quip:

"Competition is like a knife. It cuts. It divides. It separates. So, we should take this knife away and hide it from everyone so it doesn't cut anyone, right? But then, we miss out on all the wonderful that knives can do for us. With what would we cut things? Ah, so we must make sure that everyone has a knife because knives are so great and useful and we should use knives for everything and look what...OUCH! I just cut myself."

Lesson learned. Several lessons actually:

1. Competition is not all bad. There is room for it in the world. It motivates and drives us to do better in life. But, as with any great power, great responsibility follows. Use wisely.

2. Yet again, the words "Everything in moderation" are corroborated.

3. In assuming that I was spiritually superior to others for my non-competitive nature, I was thus comparing myself to them and being competitive! Tricky self!

*This yoga class is like my version of going to church. Except I go on Tuesday night. I get to practice yoga and I don't get ridiculed for not knowing bible verses. Actually, it's better than church. We do our practice and have important conversations about life, how to live and how to be the best you.

I could have 10

I know it is crazy. But every time I see a cutie pie mut puppy, I want it. I want to bring him or her into our house and cuddle so good.

But then they grow up and jump over the fence and eat loaves of banana bread off the counter.

Body

I'd like to think that I am slightly more aware of my body and health than the average person. And yet, still, I sometimes forget that my body has organs inside of it. The organs are doing their little jobs and sometimes I ask a lot of them. My heart has to pump the blood, and my lungs are making the air good for me to breathe. If I go for a run, these guys have to work extra hard. Meanwhile my intestines are digesting whatever great or not so great food I have eaten, whilst my liver might be taking care of that extra glass of wine I decided to drink. Sometimes, the organs might get tired or want a break, but they never get to take a vacation. Do they wonder "what's up with that?" I guess not. I guess they figure it's their job and they must do it, until one day when they get to retire to a cabin in the woods.

Mollify

To make myself feel better about my inferior test taking capabilities, I decided to go crazy on the house. Jason and I do this every so often. We don't clean very regularly, so when we do, we must go crazy on the house. Literally. Jason fixed the roof and put up some white trash fencing to prevent the baby boy from jumping over and running amok on Barracks Rd. I organized the kitchen and the mud room and threw lots of stuff away. There's nothing like throwing things away to make one feel better.

And then, the in-laws came to dinner. We managed to convince mom and pop Roberts to abandon paradise at the lake for one evening to share in this:




Grilled salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and crusty sourdough bread. It was a great end to a not so great day.

I am a failure?

So, today I took the GRE*. I completely and totally bombed it. My self-esteem is crushed and I have begun to question many things about my life goals. Am I stupid to think I am even capable of furthering my education in a more rigorous setting? Am I doomed to be a person who just doesn't do well on standardized tests? Am I slow? Will I have to spend another 120$ to take it again?

And then I started thinking. It's a shame that a test can make a person feel this way. And, now I know how my students feel. Brought to the United States by their families in hopes of finding refuge and a better life, these children are now charged with the task of succeeding in a system that was not made for them. I see my students struggle on these tests and I see them fail.

So, for my students, I will pick my self up, scrape my ego of the pavement and move onward.


*The Graduate Records Examination, which is actually a racket as I have discovered. Statistics say that most people end up taking the test 2-3 times to achieve scores worthy of the school of their choice. Intermittently, they are forced to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on retesting, books, classes, seminars, etc... Racket. A racket.

On Reading...

What is it so hard to get kids to enjoy reading? Why do so many adults still hate reading because it was forced upon them during their school years? Is it our fast paced, technology addicted society that forces us to boredom if we can't drive, text, listen to music, play video games, and read the news all at the same time?

There must still be value in reading a book right?

I know it took me years and years to appreciate reading. There was nothing anyone could do to force it upon me. Truly, it took me reaching a certain level of maturity and the right book to get me on the reading train. When I think about this, it makes me cringe to think that I have to try to inspire kids to want to read, when I know it may take many of them a decade or more to realize it for themselves.

I suppose all I can do is express my love for reading and story, in hopes that they will get some of it through osmosis.

And, maybe show them some cartoon super hero reading posters?

Chalkboard!

Our new chalkboard painted spot in der kitchen will display our love for each other as well as menus, shopping lists, and clues to secret treasure.

Bekah and Viktor sittin' in a tree...

Bekah's new boyfriend:







And as her shirt clearly says- she loves him!

Don and Joanie

Apparently, watching this week's Mad Men episode makes you drink bourbon on the rocks in a nice little tumbler.

Clink. Clink. Swirl.

When friends come

This is what it looks like after 3 friends eat Thai food:



We have really great hair.

Like I always say: it's only good to be friends with very attractive people.

Click here for superior blogging on the subject.

My new favorite

I will now put on my music blog hat.

Ok...it's on.

My new favorite band and consequently my new favorite album:

Local Natives
Gorilla Manor

And here it is:






If I still had on my music blog hat, I might talk about how their music is inspiring and fun at the same time. I might also say that it is sentimental, beautiful and yet rocks out with a slight African vibe (steel drums maybe?). But I took my music blog hat off, and now all I can say is that they are great and you should listen to them.
Hopefully, if we can muster up 12$, we will go to see them in Asheville this weekend.

10-10-10

I imagine it is supposed to be somehow interesting that today is 10-10-10. However, I have never really gotten into dates and special sequences of numbers in dates, like 08-09-10, or 09-09-09, or any other endless number of date combinations. I suppose it is something that people can get excited about, something to look forward to, something ton make a normal day seem special. I am OK with that. Anything to take the mundane out of the mundane.
My day was special because Jason and I took the dogs to the woods and let them run together off leash. It is secretly one of my favorite things to do because the dogs are at their happiest. I love to watch them and pretend that they are sparring wolves.
Also it is officially fall, and fall is quite special. I don't need a number to tell me that. The leaves and the air will do just fine.

Dishes!

Everyone has their own little OCDs- obsessions, compulsions, things that they cannot get out of their head until they are handled immediately and immediately and IMMEDIATELY!

Mine is doing the dishes. Whether it is one dish or an entire meal's worth of dishes, in my mind it looks like this and the dishes are alive and they are taunting me. I simply cannot relax if there are dishes in the sink. Maybe this makes me crazy, but so be it. Dishes make me crazy!

What does this mean? What do your compulsions say about you?

seriously?

Why don't we just take the yoga poses out of it too? Oooooh... and we can do it on the couch! And you can eat Doritos and watch TV while you do it!

Oh wait...that's not yoga!

Prolific

Upon our return from Milwaukee and all its marathoning and eating and drinking and friending excitement, I realized something. I realized that I can blog about many things when I am doing many things that are exciting and what I deem to be blog-worthy. While doing new things, I am full of bloggy ideas and thus can blog prolifically. Now, how to incorporate this into everyday life? I'm not quite sure. Maybe I just travel around and eat things, hang out with people and run marathons all the time. I believe these people already exist and they are called travel writers...or food writers. So, maybe my thing will be that I do it while running marathons? Maybe? Just a thought.

miss judging time

Plink Plink Plink.

Can you hear the sands of time plinkety plopping down upon me?

Why is it that certain things that should not take very long take all day??

One simple thing.

5 minutes ago it was 9:00 am. Now it is almost 3:00. Where did the day go?

We did it!

That's right. On Sunday October 3rd, Jason and I completed our 2nd marathon! Alex and Kurt completed their first marathon, and we all set personal bests for ourselves.

Not only did I beat my 1st marathon time, but I also accomplished my secret goal of coming in under 5 hours. 4 hours and 51 minutes, people! Yay! It was quite painful and a true test of mental endurance and stamina, but we did it!

Noteworthy things to mention:

1. The race course was beautiful

2. Fall in Milwaukee is quite unlike fall in North Carolina

3. I am sore and will not be running for the rest of the week

4. We ate a lot of pizza after the race

5. Running is a marathon is amazing!

Next stop...New York 2011???

Sugar Maple

Last night Kurt and Alex took us to one of their favorite Milwaukee hipster spots- Sugar Maple!!! There are 60 beers on tap, cute little bartenders with peacock tattoos and vintage dresses, and soup. Yes, soup. They serve soup and beer; a perfect Milwaukee pairing if you ask me. The coolest thing though is that their logo is a mustache. How cool is that? Or maybe it's a mountain, or a helicopter thingy? No, definitely a mustache.
We didn't actually get any soup because it wasn't ready; but we did each try a flight of beers which were all delectable. It was the perfect interlude to a day filled with eating in preparation for the race. And tomorrow... 26.2 miles!!!