What I did today

1. Started Packing for Hawaii

Yes, we are going to Hawaii this Friday for a week. The cat is out of the bag. Well, there wasn't really a bag, but a few days ago Jason and I realized that we were going and we hadn't told anyone about it. Our short list of United States that we have not visited is about to go from five to four.

2. Chose a text book for the class I am teaching at U of O in the spring

I'm teaching a class on Multicultural Literacy at University of Oregon this spring term. It's secretly stressing me out because, like...now I'm teaching a college class??? Mostly, it's reminding me of how much I want to be back in a real ESL classroom, with real ESL students. And, why didn't I appreciate it when I had it?

Acupuncture

So, for the past week I've been dealing with what I think is a yoga induced over-usage injury in my shoulder and neck.  I finally decided enough was enough and got some acupuncture.

It was my first time, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  At first, it was much like getting a massage:  the requisite questions about stress, tension storage areas, and nutrition; laying face down on a massage table in a cold room, someone gentle touching your trigger points, and then OUCH!

"Was that a needle that you just stuck into me"?

Oh, yeah...that's was acupuncture is.

I'll be honest with you, I thought I'd like the treatment much more than I did.  I thought I would be OK with the fact that someone was inserting tiny needles into me, and at first I suppose I was.  But as my body began to sweat profusely (I'm still not sure why this happened, I'm hypothesizing that my body must have gone into some kind of fight or flight mode) and more needles were going into me, some larger that their predecessors, I began to feel a low deep annoying type of pain, a scratching of nails on a chalkboard pain, or someone diddling a nerve in a busted tooth pain.  It was weird.  The doctor left the room, and I tried to concentrate on breathing and relaxing, but all I could think about was a myriad of needle injury possibilities. What if I took too deep of a breath then causing a needle to move, which then leaves me paralyzed or even dead?  Sharp thing are kind of scary.

So, do I feel better?  Well, much of the tension that was associated with the neck/shoulder injury is gone.  So, I guess that's good. The main injury is still there, but methinks it just needs time to heal.  Here's the weird thing:  for the past couple of weeks, my allergies had been gone.  I was going outside again, running, and feeling good.  Then, all of a sudden after the acupuncture, they came back full force.  I'm sneezing, snotting, and eye-watering all over the place all over again.  Not cool. Did something new tree begin to pollinate or did the acupuncture trigger some strange reaction?

Acupuncture.
Would I go back? Never say never, but...
Would I try to find another option first?  Probably
Would I rather get a nice deep massage?  Definitely.

The best analogy I can think of is that it was like watching a scary movie for me.  I just don't like scary movies.  Some people do.  Some people really like being scared.  I hate being scared.  Like...a lot.

And then again, this strange aversion to the whole experience makes me wonder if perhaps I do need indeed need acupuncture.  Sometimes we find ways to obviate the things that we need.

A benefit

Today we are heading to Baltimore to spectate the Baltimore marathon in support of our great pals Kurt and Alex. I'm really looking forward to this, as I feel certain that the benefits of spectating a marathon will be amplified due to the fact that we are only a week past our marathon. The pain, the drudgery, the thirst, the intensity and overall insanity of it all is still fresh and will unequivocally fuel our cheers and reinforce the relief that it is over. At least for a little while.

When running a marathon, your supporters can really be a motivating factor and the difference between feeling a hellish mile or soldiering through it. Warm heartfelt messages, funny quips, cool outfits, and young hot hipster dads with steaming cups of coffee can all give you a little extra push when you are feeling like you might walk off the course. I'm plotting the ultimate sign attack that will simultaneously crack people up while deeply motivating them to power through. Here are some of my favorite ideas:

Wishing I could play the guitar

There was a brief time in college when I tried to learn how to play the guitar.

Actually, no, strike that. Before that, there was a brief time in 4th grade when I tried to learn how to play the guitar. I went to guitar lessons in the basement of a strange house (probably not that strange, but it seemed quite strange to 9 year old Blaine). My teacher was also a wierd man, who vaguely resembled Gary Busey in Point Break, named Decatur. I eventually fought to quit the guitar based on the aforementioned weirdness associated with it and the intense finger pain that it caused me. Oh yeah, and I hated to practice. I thought that if I just went to my lesson every week, I would somehow become a guitar aficionado. This did not happen. I became frustrated. Decatur was also frustrated. I quit.

Then, during a brief time in college I tried again. This time I practiced. I wrote little ditties. One of which I remembered today:

I like, I like mmmmm salvation Through my, through my My vegan chocolate chip cookies and my hair hanging down hanging down all over town

Quality stuff. I wrote a lot of these. I still do, only now sans guitar.

I wish I had really learned to play the guitar. I'd be a sexy little folk/alt. country/R &B singer. I'd travel all around and perform my ditties.

Sigh.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you

This looks awfully familiar doesn't it? Just replace the date and you have the posters advertising the recent idea that the rapture/end of the world/apocalypse/second coming of Christ/etc... is happening tomorrow.

Now, I'm not much of a believer in this mumbo-jumbo-saved-souls-rising-into-the-sky-while-the pits-of-hell-open-beneath-us kind of crap; especially when we have no idea of if, when, or how it will actually happen. I mean, even Jesus himself (supposedly) said "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

I do find it interesting that people are constantly trying to set dates for the damn thing. If we're all going to fly into the sky or burn in hell anyway, what's the use of trying to predict the day that it's going to happen...whoever guesses correctly isn't going to win a jar of jelly beans or anything. Should we be living in constant fear that it's going to happen any day? Minding our P's and Q's just in case of rapture? Probably not. Shouldn't we all be on our best behavior (karmically speaking) anyway, despite the fear of a burning eternity?

Furthermore, we are much more likely to suffer an "end of the world" type situation due to global warming, nuclear war, or some insurmountable natural disaster a la The Road, 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow. And there's definitely no way of predicting that and if one could predict it, it would also be pointless.

So, I hereby grant all of you the right to not be worried about tomorrow, 12/21/2012, or any other predicted apocalyptic due date. I, for one, will be drinking a cold one on the beach tomorrow afternoon and if I am swallowed up into the bowels of hell, then so be it.

The case of the uncut grass

The school couldn't afford to get the grass cut on the playground. It got very very tall. The students braved the ticks and snakes to find the actual equipment to play upon. Students are not seen here, as the grass is too tall and conceals them. Fights broke out, and even some students went missing within this tall grass.

Today, they finally cut the grass.

Unfortunate souls

Welp...We didn't get into the NYC Marathon.

Apparently, we are not special enough to defy lottery odds.

Maybe next year...

Which?

Making decisions is the hardest thing in the world. Whether is it where to go for dinner or where to spend the rest of your life, it is hard. I think that I think too much. Weighing every possible outcome. Wondering if the decision will be the right one.

This is strange, too, coming from someone who seems to consider herself a pretty impulsive and somewhat carefree person. It is actually much easier for me to not think about big decisions, because big decisions are somehow less final. Strangely.

Oh if you only knew the many whirbbles spiraling through my mind. Deciding. Deciding many things. Making split second decisions take hours and life changes take minutes.

Get me out of here!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I am taken over by an overwhelming need to run. Not run like "go for a run", but run like "get me out of here" run. This morning in yet another routine staff meeting where we are bombarded with pointless gibber jabber, it hit me. My brain and spirit were married in brilliant collaboration and came up with a plan. "Get up and get out of here!" they said to my body, "Run!!!"

There are legends of Durham Public Schools teachers going crazy in one fashion or another. One of my favorite stories tells of a veteran teacher at a neighboring school who, during a bout of teacherly frustration, stripped down naked, jumped out the window of her classroom (I am assuming it was a 1st story room) and ran down Hillandale Road never to be seen again.
Various other stories merely detail a teacher "losing it" in front of his or her students, maybe throwing a chair or slamming their fist down in anger. Either way, it is not completely uncommon for a teacher to experience some form of lunacy and act upon it.

I thought to myself about this. I could get up and run out busting through the school walls. Would the shape of my body be left in the brick, as I charged down Duke Street? Would others follow? I could justify my insanity by saying "At least I didn't strip down naked, and at least no students saw me".

My body was sitting and stewing in its own itch to escape, and suddenly the meeting was over; plain old good judgment began to wash over me. So no, I didn't run away this time. But at least I had something entertaining to think about to get me through the morning meeting.

Perhaps next time...