Currently: Love/hate

While this is a bit late, the topic of love (and its opposite) seems timely with Valentine's Day just past us and all.  Despite the fact that I usually feel quite bah-humbug about the 14th and all the clichés that go along with it, I also often find that we celebrate something around mid-February.  Last year, for instance, we signed a mountain of paperwork to close the deal on our house and went out to celebrate that event - it was actually the 15th, but everyone still assumed that we were out for V-day.  Speaking of home ownership, this year, we felt like celebrating something since we wrapped up the last of our 2013 home improvement projects!  Woo-hoo!  And please interpret the 'we' in that statement as loosely as you will - Michael began what seemed to be a simple kitchen painting project back in the summer, but stripping the previous paint and then sanding and then painting and then sanding again became less than "simple".  We finally decided that we just wanted the job finished, so we followed up a colleague's recommendation and hired a guy who finished up the kitchen and also painted the bathrooms.  Done and done!  So, heading out on Friday night to drink a toast to the end of home improvement projects (for now) was a logical move.  We also drank to the fact that we would NOT be embarking on any major projects in 2014.  Shew!  I realize that some people love the challenge and gain a sense of satisfaction when they complete a major home project, but we have learned, over the past 10 months or so, that we are not fixer-upper-types.  I would much rather spend my Saturday outside, away from our house, hiking, biking, running, doing something, almost anything other than staying at home, working on the house.  (General maintenance is something quite different, and Michael tries very hard to keep a tidy house despite the challenges that I present to those efforts of his on a daily basis!)

Now - for the love: well, I wish that I could say that I'm feeling the love in all things swim/bike/run and life in general, but that is probably not the case.  However, I do feel that I've met my goal to be more consistent in February.  I am slowly logging in more hours, at least in the pool and on the bike, and the elliptical and I have become friendly, even though we're not "in love"!  I have yet to try out aqua jogging, but that may very well be in my future once my aqua jogging shoes arrive this week.  I know, I know, aqua jogging shoes?  Apparently they are amazing.  I'm not expecting miracles, but if aqua jogging will allow me to keep up my running fitness, then I will take it!

But back to what I *am* doing - on the bike and in the pool.  I had my first lactate threshold 'test' on Friday and that was a terrible experience!  Only 20 minutes of the test but I seriously dreaded the experience all day long.  Once I started the actual test, the suffering passed by fairly quickly and my max heart rate completely surprised me.  I'm a bit depressed because it's a good wake-up call for me - I just do NOT like to push it on the bike!  I now, unfortunately, know that I could/should be working a lot harder.  And in the pool?  I'm also still feeling slow, but I just hit a new personal distance record of 3300 meters on Saturday.

Running and I are currently on a hiatus, thanks to a bit of quad tendonitis - not nearly as common as other types of tendonitis, as far as I can tell from the Internets.  So, that is a big "hate" at the moment - I feel like a jilted lover or something and I want to yell "Why don't you love me like I love you?".  Okay, that's rather silly, and I'm trying to be patient and deal with this situation like a grown-up.  And I'm also trying to look at the big picture and not panic.

So, that's a good motto for the moment: Be an adult and don't panic.
We'll see where that takes me!

The state of September

The beginning of the school year is always such a mix of excitement and anticipation, a bit of dread, and a return to old patterns along with plenty of new stuff.  The very first week of classes was quite a shock to the system.  I realize that I garner no sympathy as I complain about the challenges of returning to work (having a schedule! having to look professional! having to interact with other people!), but it always does feel like a major upheaval.  Week 1 felt particularly difficult this year, either a testament to the fact that I had totally disconnected from school over the summer and really relaxed OR a sign that I was getting sick.

While I felt a bit overwhelmed that first week and developed a nice cold by the weekend, I managed to recuperate enough for the class trip to Catalina Island.  The trip over via boat was a bit rough, especially when two kids threw up on the boat rather than off the side of the boat.  However, the idea of spending 4 days in a beautiful setting, doing things like kayaking, hiking and snorkeling appealed enough to minimize any regrets I might have had on the boat ride over, and the experience ended up being even better than I had expected, which almost never happens when it comes to class trips!  Even though I was still dealing with sinus issues, I really enjoyed the trip - it was a great way to get to know the kids, many of whom I teach, and Catalina was/is just beautiful.  We stayed right in this cove (see the photo) and had amazing views every single day, especially at sunrise.  The water was amazingly clear and I even jumped off the pier several times, once as part of the "polar bear" early morning swim.  It was also pretty great for animal viewing, such as bison and deer (not native to the island, but current inhabitants), and I also saw a bald eagle, plenty of fish, and sea lions, which liked to come out to play and watch us while we were kayaking!

Source

After a few days away from the comforts of home, however, I was okay that we returned when we did - there is nothing like a nice hot shower!  Plus, my stomach needed a break after eating like an adolescent for 4 days straight.  Not that I minded the hotdogs, hamburgers, homemade cinnamon rolls but by the time we had burritos for dinner the last night, I was more than happy to return to a slightly healthier diet.

So, returning to classes this past Monday felt more like the OFFICIAL start, the week that I get to know my students and really start teaching.  I'm beginning to get into a rhythm and to figure out my schedule this year, both in and out of the classroom.  There is enough stability from last year to this year (same class preps as last year) that I don't feel too crazed and I can take on a few new responsibilities, like middle school cross country, which starts next week!  In terms of extracurricular fun, I actually got in a solid training week this past week, even making it to the pool at 5:30 am twice.  At this point, I'm not in major training mode because a) it is September and I fall apart training-wise during the fall and b)  I don't have a MAJOR event in the near future.  Yes, there is an early October race, but I just want to finish it without too much suffering and while I would have been gunning for a PR, it would not have been a very realistic goal.  So, maintaining a decent fitness base in the swim-bike-run realm is my main (only?) objective at the moment.  Good thing, because I would feel pretty sucky if I expected much more of myself!

Finally, home ownership, still quite new to us, seems to be going well.  We just had the exterior painted and that change makes it feel much more ours, for whatever reason.  After stressing about the colors, we're happy with the final result - good thing too!  I still find myself a bit grumpy when we spend time and money on the weekend at the Home Depot (or Despot), but I also begrudgingly recognize that it is worth both.  

(Hello, California bungalow!)

So, that's where things are.  Not too much that I'd call "exciting", but that's okay too.

Cause for celebration

I'm not much of a valentine's day fan, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise since we've even started to not celebrate birthdays around here - at least not with gifts.  But this week did bring me/us several reasons to celebrate, so we obliged rather happily!

First of all, I had a knee appointment on Thursday morning - a very romantic way to start the day, I know.  The good and pretty damn good-looking doctor prodded, poked and groped my knee, commenting that it felt "great!"(I love that a knee can become a point of admiration).  I exhaled a sigh of relief that I have yet to ruin his handicraft!  My last cortisone shot was back in June, so making it 8 months between shots is pretty significant, and the shots seem to continue to work - fingers crossed!  Not that I'm dealing with great pain, but it starts to build up and do more than just "nag".  If the doctor approves the shots as a course of action, who am I to protest, especially if it keeps me on my feet and moving.

While we swore off any 'romantic' celebrations on Thursday, we actually did have dinner plans for Friday due to a Groupon that was about to expire.  As it turned out, we ended up with more than just a three-day weekend and a belated fake holiday to toast.  After work yesterday, we drove to the Valley (amazing when I go to a part of LA and I ask myself or whoever I'm with "Where the hell are we?"; that was definitely my experience yesterday afternoon - not that I haven't been to the Valley, but not to that part of it) and signed what seemed to be our life away in the form of loans and deeds and titles and so much other paperwork.  We also got a date to close on the house that we almost own - a real date and a real house: March 7.  HOLY CRAP!  We are now officially entering adulthood in the form of "Home Ownership"!  Like all major ventures, this is both exciting and terrifying, and we can't quite believe that it's happening.

I've kept mum about the house search - even in real life, as much as possible - because it seemed like such a fragile possibility and because it has been a somewhat emotional process.  After years of vacillating between our dream of moving to another city or state and the idea of buying a house in the LA area, we  finally decided back in October to get serious with the house business.  Redfin.com became not a fun little escape but an important source of information that we scoured weekly and even daily at times.  In October and November, house hunting took over our weekends as we spent hours on Saturday and Sundays at open houses, often feeling deflated because we didn't like the places or equally deflated because we did like them but knew that we would probably be outbid (which did happen - someone put down an all-cash offer on one of the houses we bid on, so how could we compete with that?).  In this process, we learned quite a bit about ourselves and what we wanted/needed in a house and some of our expectations were different from what we thought they would be.  First of all, because of our two larger dogs, we really couldn't be in a tiny place (under 1,000 square foot - believe me, we saw plenty of those!).  Also, a yard was key.  Ditto for a two-car garage.  And decent closet space.  And a logical floor plan.  And a decent neighborhood where I could go for a run.  And not too much work to make it liveable.  And we didn't want to be house poor.  This all seems fairly basic, but we couldn't believe some of the places that we saw (too small, weird neighbors, a nice big pitbull next door, zero closet space, no yard...).  We initially locked into the house back in December, but it did not seem real until the past few weeks when we had the inspection, the appraisal and all sorts of documents come through that indicated that it was ours if we wanted it and if we signed on all the dotted lines!

And now, after all the waiting and looking, we have a closing date and we know when we'll be moving, give or take a day.  Excited and kind of overwhelmed, we definitely celebrated last night at Bashan, indulging in one of the best meals that we've had lately.  We hadn't planned the timing, but it worked out well to eat some amazing food and drink excellent wine after signing away our lives and before the giddy excitement could wear away.  Soon we'll have to face the hard work that comes along with home buying, but for now, I'm content to just enjoy the moment!