Thursday, January 22
Ran: 1 mile
Walked: 4 miles
Biked: 20 minutes


Only in Texas can the temperature be in the 30s one night, and then rise to nearly 80 the next day. That's how Wednesday night and Thursday was. By Thursday night, it had cooled a little and felt PERFECT. It was awesome running weather, and it inspired me to bike to the track and take a long walk, in addition to my mile run.


I know "one mile" sounds like I'm a serious wuss, and I wholeheartedly admit that I am. But this time I want to be super careful of my Achilles tendons and not overdo it. Even though my mind and lungs are peer-pressuring me to run three miles, my tendons are not so thrilled with the idea. So the mile is good for now. My tendons ARE a little creaky and tight, but their complaints are more like those of grouchy old men and not true aches and pains.

So anyway, I was running along the track, and just finished my first lap when I was blinded by police lights. A cop had stopped a car right near the track. This was odd, because the track is next to a small middle school in the middle of a large residential area. The PO-lice don't usually set their speed-traps in the middle of a residential area, so this was surprising.

Anyway, the lady at the wheel of the car that got pulled over looked SUPER embarrassed. She was slunk down kind of low in her seat, and I got a glimpse of that expression that we all know so well. It reads, Damn it all to hell. Caught in my own neighborhood. I hope the head of the PTA or that snooty neighbor don't happen to be driving past and see this, because with my luck, that's EXACTLY what will happen. Will he let me off with a warning? Should I try my puppy-dog face on him? Should I cry? No, wait, crying never works. Dammit, I really should have bought that "We Back the Blue" bumper sticker from that fundraiser. Maybe if he knew I donated three bucks to the police, he'd let me off with only a warning.

And all the while, for 15 minutes, the seizure-inducing lights were twirling. It annoyed me probably more than the lady in the car because everytime I rounded the corner of the track I was blinded and stayed blinded for that entire side of the track. WHY do they have to keep the lights on the whole time? I mean, really. The point of the lights is to alert the driver to pull over. Once the driver is pulled over, what purpose do the lights serve, other than to harrass the driver and point to the scene like a giant neon-lit arrow that reads "LAW-BREAKER HERE!!! COME CHECK OUT THE CRIMINAL, FOLKS!!!"

Anyway, I guess I've been lucky because I haven't been pulled over in awhile, even though I'm a lead-foot. I haven't had to deal with the annoyance of having to sit and drum your fingernails on the steering wheel and wonder if you could go colorblind from the whirling maniacal disco lights and, if you do go colorblind, if you have grounds to sue. It's been awhile since I've had to deal with that, but I'm sure the minute I post this on my blog, I'll get pulled over.

Karma's a bitch, right?


Have a great weekend everybody!

Well, the 3-week-long bug I've had (it started as a cold and is finishing as a massive sinus infection and bronchitis), as well as the virus's biggest side effect (LAZINESS), has kept me grounded, so I don't have any fun running stories to share.

Instead, I'll share some of my Quebec and Montreal pictures from over Christmas. It was beautiful there, very cold and snowy and icy, but definitely put me in the Christmas spirit. The St. Lawrence River was filled with icebergs, so I felt like I was in Antarctica. Hearing all the French around me lifted my spirits, too. It's such a pretty language (except when it's uttered in a snotty Parisian tone with accompanying body gestures. I don't think I need to elaborate.)

Anyway, enjoy!

If you want to see all my pictures, go to my website here, but be patient cuz all the pictures take awhile to load.

































I was tagged by the always-entertaining Miss Merry at On My Merry Way to list six things that make me happy. 2008 was a year that rarely made me happy, and I'm very glad to see it go, as it seems most of the country is. 2008 was a year of leaving behind friends (who admittedly hadn't been loyal to me, but it was still unpleasant), leaving a job that I had worked at my whole adult life, and finally, leaving the comfort of my house in McKinney.

Worst of all, of course, 2008 brought the diagnosis of stomach cancer to my boyfriend. The cancer news has been bad, then good, then bad again, and now as 2008 has come to a close, the cancer news is all good. So I'm hoping that 2009 will be a MUCH better year than 2008! Instead of hearing that Bas has a less than 3% chance of a cure (as we heard this summer), I'm hoping we'll have smooth sailing through his last few months of chemo as the cancer continues to die. I hope to hear he's in remission by the end of 2009. I have a good feeling about it, and am really happy to leave 2008 behind.

So! Here are six of the things that do make me happy, without fail, when I'm having a bad day or a bad period in my life:

  • My handsome boyfriend. He is six feet and five inches of fun and happiness (and the cute Dutch accent is just an extra little perk). He has the best sense of humor in the world, he can always cheer me up even with a simple text, and even though we're thousands of miles apart, he is the closest person to me and I love him very much. I am so proud of how hard he has fought his cancer.
  • Travelling! I seriously think, if I was forced to stop travelling, I would shrivel up and die. Travel is my life and my passion. Even if it's a short road trip somewhere, I'm happy. But even better is, of course, international travel. All the sadness, uncertainty, worry, and frustration in my life disappears when I am on a plane with my passport in my hand. When I hear a language other than English all around me and I'm in a place surrounded by people who have never heard of Plano, Texas....that makes me happy. I love exploring new places, and even when I have no job and no money, I still force myself to travel. It is truly the only way, in my opinion, to learn and grow as a human being in this global society. Better yet, it's fun.
  • My kitty-cat. He's a Russian blue named Vladimir, quite possibly the ugliest name for a cat, and yet he's beautiful, with long silver fur. Even people who claim to be "cat-haters" seem to love Vlad. He's a pretty simple cat, but he's really attached to me. When I go out front to get the mail, he sits at the front door and meows for me to come back. When I'm taking a shower, he scratches frantically at the bathroom door, crying for me to either let him in or hurry up and come back out. He's not happy unless he's sleeping next to me (or on my bed, if I'm out of town.) He's not like this with anyone else. That kind of single-minded devotion and loyalty, which you normally only hear about in a dog, makes me feel happy and loved. Vlad's gotten me through some rough times, and I love him for it.
  • My family. They've gone out of their way to help me during this bad year, when friends have deserted me and luck has been bad, and for their help I am very grateful.
  • Caffeine. This isn't as warm-and-fuzzy as my first four "things that make me happy," but it's decidedly true. Deny me of the Diet Cokes and chocolate, and things will get ugly. FAST. Give me back the Diet Cokes and chocolate (and occasionally the iced coffees), and I will be your nice, even-keel, laid-back, happy-go-lucky Jess again.
  • Being outdoors. It's hard to be outdoorsy in North Texas, where the summer heat is killer (literally) and there's no natural scenery unless you're willing to drive at least three hours. But still, whether it's running, hiking, biking, or just taking a leisurely stroll, I love to get out of the house on a nice day. Even better is travelling + being outdoors. I'm not a big camper, but for the right location (e.g., New Zealand) I could be out in a tent all year long and be a happy camper (literally). But I love hiking in different parts of the world, and maybe I'm lucky I live in North Texas, because if I lived somewhere fun and exciting I might turn into a mountaineering sherpa who eats too much granola and plays acoustic guitar all day.

So that's it, in a nutshell. I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and will have an awesome 2009 to come.


 

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