2002-08-13
Freshmen Orientation, posted at 11:23 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Sorry no entries in a while. No DSL is becoming quite a drag, and I'm getting to know the library staff far too well again. I actually have some downtime at school today, though, so I thought I'd stop by.We're at the tailend of freshmen orientation week, which I "volunteered" to teach because of the $36/hr pay. It's been quite easy - lesson plans done for us, and the kids are nice (re: still scared of high school). However, the heat index is killer, and that's made it tough. And I really need a vacation; I've been teaching every day since school let out (except the 4th of July). Isn't that ridiculous?
Plus, there was one kid today who I categorically hope is not in my classes this fall. He's the type of kid I don't do well with at all - funny, class clown, charismatic. Today, I found out at the end of class that he had given me a fake name at the beginning, that that's why all the kids had laughed earlier. Oh well. If I have him, I'll deal with it. At least now I know about him.
The problem with kids like that, is that I tend to laugh at them. Because, well, they are funny. And laughing when an attention-craved kid does something is exactly the wrong approach for a young teacher.
Otherwise, life has been okay. My birthday is the day after tomorrow, and my mother asked me nonchalantly this weekend what I wanted. Usually, we discuss this in July. I made her feel a little guilty, saying I didn't think anyone was going to ask me this year. You see, birthdays are pretty big in my family. I told her that I'd love some clothes that actually fit me. She couldn't believe that I'm now a size Large shirt (instead of XXL or XXXL) and a size 32 pants (instead of 40). In fact, she didn't believe it. Kept asking me if I'm sure. But I am, mom, I am.
Speaking of which, this month's Men's Health "Real Life Success" weight-loss guy once weighed 272lbs, and now he weighs 210lbs. Myself, I once weighed 300 lbs and now weight 195 lbs. So, by my calculation, I've lost significantly more than him. In his "after" picture, though, he looks better than I do now - fitter, I mean. It must be because he's got an inch or two of height on me. Anyhow, my goal is still the same - to become one of those "before/after" guys in Men's Health. I still feel like I need to lose 15-20 more to even think about that, though.
Yesterday, I happened to find my old college ID while looking for my still-lost checkbook. Taken in August 2000, that could be a good "before" picture. Oh my gosh. I still remember that day - the first day of AHD training, and I had to get a new ID picture because I was amongst the few on campus still with a black and white picture. It wasn't my fattest time, though, so I think I could still do better... or bigger, if you will. It'll be really fun to sift through pictures, that's for sure. I've already put the ID pic up on a magnet on my fridge as a little reminder. I'll probably be able to cull a few pics to choose from to send in; perhaps I'll post them and let you help me decide. But that's a couple of months ahead.
Speaking of losing weight and running, I'm still running an awful lot. I'm getting these weird pains in my ankle and my thigh that I'm icing down at night. Right now, I'm regretting telling everyone that I'm running a marathon, because I'm not 100% sure any more. It's so tough to do both strength and endurance training at the same time. Heck, I've already ran 50 miles this month, and I don't think I'm close to being ready. I don't want to skimp on the either weightlifting or the running, and I feel like sometimes they counteract each other. I wish instead now I had scheduled myself for a few 10K races; that would be pretty easy.
I still want to run the marathon, though, and that's still my plan. Hopefully the trip to Michigan will afford me the opportunity to remain on my schedule. The fact that I've already told a lot of people I'm running a marathon is both a motivating factor as well as bit of dread. Maybe if I just stop talking about, everyone will forget?
Nah. I'll keep going for it. For now. I'll keep you updated.
Countdowns: 2 days until I turn 25. 3 days until the Tigers/Orioles game here. 4 days until I leave for Michigan and see Jake/Anne/Aurora. 5 days until I see Gale. 6 days until I meet up with Hugasoul>Hugasoul and Paul. 7 days until I meet up with Eleanor, her foreign exchange student friend, Hicks & Heath, Nargan, et el, for the Tigers game in Detroit. 8 days until I get to see my grandparents and my cousin and some Lansing friends. 9 days until I'm back in South Haven, on the beach for the first time in my adult life when I won't mind taking my shirt off. Except for those damn stretch marks and still too-loose skin in the mid-section.
Life is good. After tomorrow, I'll actually have 12 days straight in which I don't have any job responsibilities at all.