Thursday 13

1. My knee hurts today.

2. The running is the hardest part of triathlon training. I hate running.

3. I have to buy a bike.

4. I have very little $$ for said bike, and bikes are wicked expensive.

5. May has been a crazy busy month, but I've had a lot of fun. I went to Ohio for my brother's college graduation--and played beer pong with my father and flip cup with my brother. I went to Miami for my cousin's graduation and spent my days and evenings in the pool and on the beach with my family. Nichole visited me and we looked at apartments for her very big, very exciting move to Boston. Plus, work has been crazy.

6. Speaking of work, I have a new co-worker. Nic and kj will tell you that he is bad news. They listened to me rant for quite some time. It's difficult because this new guy is part of our little 3-person team in our larger department. So I can't avoid him.

7. 8 years ago right now, I was in Mexico. HC runs an immersion trip every year--we spend our time visiting villages, listening to people's stories. We see with our own eyes and hear for ourselves stories of poverty, struggle and heartache, but also stories of immense and incredible faith. I went to the kickoff barbeque on Tuesday night for this year's trip. I wonder if they realized that the faces and voices they here in these weeks will be with them forever.

8. A new girl in our department moved into my apartment building in March, right down the hall. I'm headed over there to hang out and maybe order dinner and walk across the street for ice cream.

9. Our VP's assistant forgot to put one of my vacation days in the system...so, though I thought I had no time left to take, I have a "free" day to take before June 30...plus, since I spent extra hours babysitting last week (as part of the job), my boss is giving me a day off to compensate me. Now to figure out how to spend those days...

10. I really want to get better at photography. I just need to spend the time, energy and some of the money to make it happen. Maybe take a class? Who knows.

11. I need a good ocean swim--at a beach with waves. My sister and her friends have rented a house down the Jersey Shore this summer...maybe I'll take some long weekends. I love Cape Cod, but I need the waves!

12. I was having very vivid dreams for a while a few months ago, but they've stopped. A friend at work is big into dream interpretation/analysis. He claims that if I tell myself to dream, just as I'm drifting off to sleep, I should remember the dream in the morning.

13. 55 days until Falcon Ridge Folk Festival!

Saturday Sixteen

1. I just spent 3 days down the Cape with my mother, grandmother and aunt. My mother looked at real estate (a favorite pastime) and we wandered through Falmouth, Chatham and other towns.

2. I came up with a photography project for myself--the steeples of Cape Cod. If you know any churches with cool/different steeples on the Cape, send them my way. I saw a few cool ones this weekend...I think it'll be a spring/summer project.

3. I had a non-date tonight. Though, I'd eventually like it to be a date-date with this guy. We aren't sure this will happen. He needed to get back to St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas tonight. Greta Jane knows this boy.

4. The next four weekends are going to be nutty. Next weekend, I go home to celebrate my 10th h.s. reunion and my dad's birthday. The following weekend, I'm taking a 4-day trip to D.C. to visit mostly with my best friend down there--we're supposed to see N&K, but now we might not. The first weekend in May is my bro's graduation in Ohio. The weekend after that, I am now spending 5 days in Miami (YAY!) to see my cousin graduate. My darling cousin Larissa will be in from London with her 2 year old and her 4 year old. Yippee!

5. We hired a new writer. I will soon have only one full time job and not 2...although we're adding to my job to change the title.

6. Netflix sent me 2 of the same disc instead of 2 different discs. I didn't realize this 3 days ago when I got the disc...I realized it today AFTER the mail had been picked up. So sad.

7. I'm ready for spring. It has not arrived in MA. They're still talking snow and Nor'easter conditions this week.

8. My favorite blanket in the world is a Holy Cross blanket made of a sweatshirt material. It is toasty warm and so soft--one of my favorite purchases of all time.

9. I miss teaching. I miss it more than I let myself admit. I miss being driven crazy on a daily basis and I miss the laughing--and the crying. I do NOT miss the planning and the grading--but distance makes me think that it wasn't all *that* bad.

10. A new favorite quote...to add to the ever-growing list:
"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." --Leonardo da Vinci

Kinda ironic given #9, eh?

11. Top travel destinations for my future include the 3 A's: Africa, Alaska and Australia, in no particular order. A trip back to Ireland to see my fam and ride some horses wouldn't be so bad either.

12. When I get my tax return, I should do the responsible thing and invest it. But there are fun things I'd rather do with it. I hate being an adult sometimes.

13. I haven't found a great church in this area yet. Therefore, I'm not going to church every week. I really should look harder in the coming months.

14. I still intend to participate in a triathlon this year...probably in late August. Therefore, I need to get my rear in gear! So that I can swim 3/4 of a mile, bike 30 miles and run a 10K--back to back to back.

15. I've been to 30 states (I think)...I'll possibly hit Texas in December, bringing the total to 31.

16. After this week, I will not work another full, 5-day week until May 21.