penn

Here and safe

Will post more later. But I'm here and all is well. It ended up being a really long drive (7.40 am in Ann Arbor to 7.40 pm here in Minnesota, and there was that whole gaining one hour thing), so it was nice to have rest stops for stretching and lunch with friends in amongst all the driving.

On the plus side, I listened to a bunch of my backlog of This American Life podcasts. Man, I love that show. But I'll be glad to get through the backlog so that I can start enjoying other NPR podcasts too.

Headlines say it all

Front page headlines this Saturday morning

Seattle Times: Why McCain's VP choice Gov. Sarah Palin is a gamble for GOP

Washington Post: With Pick, McCain Reclaims His Maverick Image

NYTimes: Choice of Palin Is Bold Move by McCain, With Risks

I'll let those speak for themselves.

In other news, I'm about to head out to Minnesota (with a little stop in Schaumburg, Illinois, en route). Will post again once I've safely arrived and found an internet connection.

Like a fox

(the start of that title should be "crazy." I thought it should be implied. then I though better of the implication.)

I am moving-moving (to Minnesota, and not just into someone's garage) on Saturday. Whee!! I've been squatting at the houses of various friends this week. True story here: I was housesitting for my friends Brian and Heather for three nights this week. First night, I sleep in their bed. It's kind of squishy and soft. The next day, my back was in pain. Obviously, too soft. For the second night, I decide to try the couch. I like sleeping on couches, and it seemed like a good couch. I slept pretty well, but I woke up a few times in the night. Next day, my back had some different twinges. Um, maybe too firm?

For the third night, I hit up their guest room. And did any of you see this coming? Oh, yes; the bed was just right. Comfortable, no out-of-the-ordinary back pain, and I slept well. At least there was no porridge in their house.

It's a busy week for me. I'm running last minute errands, seeing friends, and trying to soak up all of Ann Arbor goodness. The moving part still hasn't hit me yet, but I suspect that I'll get all weepy sometime around Gary, Indiana, as I haul my car and trailer across state lines. Tomorrow night, I'm throwing my own going-away party, complete with shish-kabob and s'mores. I've got the day off work tomorrow, and then I work 18 hours over Thursday and Friday before leaving Saturday am.

One last little note: I've been working on being good to myself. I decided to be extra-good and bring home little Iara (read: Yara). She's a lady of the lake from Brazilian mythology. Yes, I name all my electronics.

P.S. That's also a photo of my snazzy new glasses.

Chopsticks

Here's a little game we play at camp. It's lots of fun. The best part is that it can be played anywhere, at any time, as long as you've got two players. The game involves tapping out fingers or using your turn to "reload" your fingers. Reloading means you redistribute your fingers amongst your two hands. In tapping out, you have to add the same number of fingers to your hand as the number you were tapped by. If your hand goes to 5 fingers or over, that hand is out, but it can be brought back into play by reloading. Enjoy!

Early Tuesday morning reflections

People, it is 12.43 am. I just did some stretches to continue my PT progress. I think PT is going quite well for me, considering my weekend. On Saturday, I played in an all day ultimate tournament. I played for Ghana, and we beat Trinidad & Tobago and Georgia. We fell to Papa New Guinea, but our performance was good enough to garner a silver medal! I pretty much played solid from 10.30 am to 4 pm, and it was a lot of fun. On Sunday, my softball team won our 4th championship in a row (I was part of years 3 and 4). I also packed my apartment on Friday/Saturday and moved the whole lot on Sunday with the help of great friends (three fabulous, amazing, beautiful, kind, talented, and super smart women -- they're all on track to be PhDs!). Through all of this, my back didn't tweak once. I'm sore, but it's a "had a great, full, active weekend" kind of sore, which is truly one of the best feelings ever.

Right now, I'm sitting on the couch in my really empty living room. My apartment was "furnished" when I moved in, so the big pieces will stay behind. Right now, I still have to pack the kitchen (I'm giving away the vast majority of it, so I should only have 1-2 boxes of nice things) and a few little odds and ends. Tomorrow night, I'll clean the whole thing, and I'll turn my keys in on Wednesday.

My roommate moved out today, and I'm alone now. And it's fine, but I'll miss living with him. He was a really cool guy, and we had a lot of fun watching sports together. Plus, he had a really nice TV.

I think my mood at the moment is testament to my other therapy. I am sad to leave Ann Arbor, and I will miss all of my friends here. As I was walking around town today, I ran into a whole bunch of people I know. It was so nice, and I won't have that in my new place (at least, not immediately -- it's a smaller town, so maybe I'll develop that). But while I am sad, I'm also optimistic and excited. This is a new challenge, and I'll be alright. This move is helping me advance my goals. And I can love, appreciate, and miss Ann Arbor without needing to be here.

Oh, my blog readers, what a crazy ride these last few years have been. I sometimes look back at blog posts and can't believe all that has transpired. I wouldn't have believe this if someone had laid it all out on paper 3 years ago. A big thank you to all of you for sticking with me through all of this jazz.

um, awesome?

strange life accomplishment:

I have sold over 60,000 bags of cotton candy in my lifetime, best as I can figure.

Self-esteem

Someone online asked about self-esteem the other day, and I wrote a comment about how I raised my own self-esteem. It occurs to me that perhaps I should share this advice here, as it is an interesting reflection of the progress I've made since last May (that's when I began therapy). I can't explain enough how much going to therapy and leaving grad school has helped me. Today, I am so much more the person I want to become than I was a year or two ago, and I believe that this is directly because I am listening to what I really want to do instead of forcing myself to do something I think I should do.

thanks!

Useful things I learned from my dad that have come in handy this week:

* it's better to be lucky than smart (referring to serendipity in packing)

* use pliers to hold a nut while loosening a tight bolt

* boxes can be had for free (yay dumpsters!). only pay money for buying reusable rubbermaid tubs.

* consistently being a nice person will eventually pay off (mostly in friends willing to do kind favors)

As seen on the Huron River

I really love this photo; it's from one of the river trips we took this week. The woman on the bridge was a nice piece of serendipity, and it really makes the picture for me.

Busy busy

Teen kayaking camp is tentatively going well. The second day was better than the first, and I think there will continue to be an upward trend to the week. We're certainly having a lot of fun.

Other than that, I am just packing and going to physical therapy. I don't remember how much I've talked about it here, but I go to PT three times a week to work on my back. I'm increasing strength in my transverse abdominals to help me support my spine. We're also working on thoracic flexibility. By the end of this month, if I keep doing the exercises my therapist has given me, I should be in great shape with my back. I certainly have much less pain than I had earlier in the summer.

I'm moving out of my apartment this weekend for almost two weeks of couch-surfing. I am so not ready. I anticipate spending all of Friday night and part of Saturday on packing to make sure everything is squared away. I'm getting rid of A LOT of stuff.

So, posting will be a bit light. I've got lots of thoughts for you guys, but getting more than 5-6 hours of sleep is my main priority right now. I'm out for now, and I'll be back in a few days!