Growing Pains

Apparently I just had to call life out on that conspiracy thing, because it seems to have let off for now. Ha! Take that, life!! (Du-dunuh-du, dunuh, dunuh, can't touch this.)

Entertainment
I'm neck deep in a marathon of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm about halfway through season 3, and loving every minute. It's so great to revisit these episodes and remember all the little things that made me love this show. :)

I'm also making decent headway on Lord of Chaos. I'm in a bit of a race with one of my friends (who's on book 2, whereas I'm on 6; I had a solid head start), so there's extra motivation to keep pushing forward.

Growth
I was recently challenged to get involved in some sort of service ministry - tutoring, serving food, that kind of thing - and to do a Bible study with one or more of my friends who are around my age. So, I decided to volunteer at the Manna House, which is where some people I know from my church serve. The Manna House is run by a local church and provides food, clothing, hardware, and toiletry items for free to families in need. I first heard about them when the tornadoes hit last year and so many people needed food and supplies. It was great volunteering with them, and I hope to go back soon. All the people volunteering there are so incredible, and I think I'd really like getting to know them better and to serve alongside them.

As for the Bible study, I've been really interested in learning more about the Holy Spirit lately. One of the best books out there right now on the subject is The Forgotten God by Francis Chan. I asked one of my friends from church if she would be interested in doing a study on it with me, and she agreed. We're meeting tomorrow for the first section in the study. I'm pretty excited about it. :)

Warrior Dash
Last week was my first strength training week. I'm still not sure if I'm reading the workout log right, but it's working, either way. The workouts aren't impossible, but they are definitely challenging. Looking forward to getting in shape and building up some muscle again!

I decided not to do any running this past week; I wanted to wait for my new running shoes to come in. They came in on Thursday and I ordered some inserts, which came in the next day. They feel pretty good, and I'm looking forward to taking them out for a spin.

There's a playground and an amphitheater up on the mountain (which is also where I run, sometimes), so I went up there one afternoon to see what kinds of exercises I could create that might better simulate the obstacles I'll be facing on the course. It was pretty fun climbing up and down ladders, running up slides, swinging across monkey bars, and so forth. The amphitheater was an especially good workout; lots of jumping, balanced running, and leaping. On my way back to the car, I saw some large rocks lining the parking lot, and figured it'd be fun to try and jump from one to the other. Dumbest idea ever.

Foot Injury
I landed my first leap fine for about one second, then my left foot slipped or something and my ankle rolled out, causing me to fall. It hurt quite a bit, and I spent about a minute just kneeling on the ground waiting for my foot to stabilize and get over the initial shock, so I could better gauge the severity. (I wasn't that rational about it at the time. It was more like, "Oh no! Just be still and maybe it'll stop hurting.") When that subsided, I stood up and tested to see if I could put weight on my foot - I could, but it hurt too much to take a proper step. Good thing I was already in the parking lot, because my car was maybe 100' away, and I could easily hop over there. I started elevating it and putting cold things on it as soon as possible, and continued that protocol when I got back home. There were 2 distinct lumps the first night, but they've since melded into one.

See that big reddish bump? The other bump is
smaller and directly below it. This was the
first night.

We decided not to go to the ER that first night, and to just wait and see what would happen. We've got some crutches on hand, so I used those over the weekend to get around. They're not that bad, really. I learned pretty quick how to maneuver corners, stairs, slopes, and various directions. It does get tiring after a while, though.

I went to the doctor today, and he thinks it may be a ligament strain, which was great news to me. We were looking at web articles and thinking it might be a fracture - which hasn't been ruled out - and fractures take at least 6 weeks to heal. But a strain would just take a couple weeks! The sooner I can heal up and get back to training (both martial arts and for Warrior Dash), the better. I went and got some X-Rays to rule out the fracture; the results will be in tomorrow morning, and I'll update once I know the verdict. Even then, though, it might be too soon for the fracture to show up, so if it hasn't mostly healed in a couple weeks, I'll go back in for another X-Ray to see if the fracture shows up then.

For now, though, I got this fancy walking boot! I can walk around and have both my hands free!! :D

So stylish!

The area of the injury is still pretty sore when I put weight on my foot in certain ways, and that foot's had a lot more activity today than it has all weekend. I'll keep up the ice and elevation as needed, but it's really more "very uncomfortable" than full-on pain, which I'm grateful for. Here's hoping it's just a ligament strain!!


That's all for now. I'll post an update tomorrow once I know the results of the X-Rays. TTFN, ta-ta for now! :)

Conspiracy, I say!

For whatever reason, I've been incredibly busy the past 2 update days for my blogs. Which is really kind of strange, when you consider that the other 5 days of the week, I've got basically nothing going on. So, I've concluded that life is possibly conspiring to make my decision to blog more of a challenge to stick with.

BUT I SHALL NOT YIELD.

Nay, though updates may come late, or may be short, or any other number of other descriptors indicating that posts will be any degree less than what they have been the past few months, I shall continue to update this blog!!

My resolve is steadfast and immovable!!

That being said, let's get to some updates, shall we?

Warrior Dash
     A couple of my friends recently posted excited links to this event on Facebook and G+. I went and checked it out, and it turns out the Warrior Dash is a 5K/obstacle course sponsored by St. Jude Children's Hospital! I've known some people who've had to go get treatment at St. Jude, and I strongly support their mission. Plus, I kind of wanted to get back into running, and this gives me a goal to work toward.
     But the thing that roped me in and left me no choice but to climb aboard the awesome train was the obstacle course. There are 14 different obstacles to go through along the 5K path, things like climbing, crawling, swimming, and leaping over things that are on fire. It's going to be such an amazing challenge, and I am psyched to run this thing.
     I don't hope to run for any sort of admirable time - finishing in an hour or less is all I ask of myself. But even that modest goal requires some training and prep work, so I did some hunting on the official website and found 3 different training schedules for the different levels of athlete (couch potato, mildly athletic, psycho athlete; I'm in the middle). The cardio part is a lot of running - no surprise there - and the strength training is pretty much everything. I started the latter program this morning, and I'll start the cardio once I get my new running shoes in. (I [accidentally] ran 4 miles on some mountain trails last week, and I was in my old pair of tennis shoes; I was limping a little by the time I finished. No more running until I get some shoes with proper support!!)
     If you're interested in signing up or maybe just checking things out, here's the official website: http://warriordash.com/ Oh, and there'll be a turkey leg and a free beer once you finish. :)

Job Hunt
     I'm still looking for work, but I've got 2 side jobs lined up. I'm taking care of a friend's cat for a couple weeks while he's out of town, and at the end of June I'll be proofreading a professor's paper. So at least there'll be some extra income while I search for a more permanent job.

Random
- I finally got on board with Pinterest. I can see how people would lose hours on it. Just scrolling through the "humor" pins took up a lot of my time last night. But, I am finding a lot of great recipes. Which is great because...
- I'm expanding my cooking repertoire. I made a few things during the semester when me and my friends would get together for dinner. I'm trying to build up a good stack of meals and snacks so that I'll actually be able to feed myself and others without shelling out hard-earned money on nasty ol' fast food.
- Some people at my church are going to be volunteering at the Manna House this Thursday night. I'm going to join them, and use this as a time to see if I should start plugging in there as a ministry.
- Re-watching Avatar: Last Airbender on Netflix (love that show!!) and just started watching the new series, Legend of Korra. So far it's pretty good.
- Still slogging my way through Lord of Chaos. It's a great read, it's just taking me forever.
- That cat I'm watching for the next 2 weeks? Yeah, she's a straight up ninja. We can't find her anywhere in the house! And she's not out in the garage, which is the only place she could've gone if she slipped outside a door. I'm not worried about her, but I sure would feel better if she turned up. Guess there'll be some sort of ruckus tonight when the cats find each other.

Alright! That's all I've got. See you next week!

Memorial Day

I don't have any ornate words with which to commemorate the fallen soldiers and those who continue to serve. All I have are two poems and an exhortation to remember those who've sacrificed everything for your many freedoms. That's all I can say, really: remember.


"The Unknown Soldier"
by Roger J. Robicheau

You need not ever know my name
This unknown soldier seeks no fame

I'm here to bring out thought from you
May your heart see more than your view

America, we marched with pride
We gave our life, for you we died

How well we knew the time might come
When life could sound that final drum

Please think of us as life moves on
We tried so hard till that last dawn

Do let our spirit fill the land
Pass treasured freedom, hand to hand

God blessed this country with such love
Hold in your heart, abundance of

And when you stand before my grave
Think not of one, but each who gave

------------------------------------------------


"We Must Remember"
by Rev. Connie Gibbs

We pause on this Memorial Day, a brief moment in time,
To bring close to our hearts those memories we hold so dear
Of the men and women before us who unselfishly put their dreams, their lives on the line.
Where danger lay as a stalker,
waiting to take away each breath, while the soldier
plowed with determination the furrows of death.

We must remember, we must, you and I,
those special heroes who chose to fly,
to fly the skies of blue that turned as dark as the midnight sky,
Their wings began to shudder as smoke choked their breath away,
And hope gave way to the resignation, "Today, I'm going to die."
Treading the waters so deep and wide,
Men and women continued on their mission,
For God and country, their hearts would abide.
Surprised by attacks with brutal disregard for human life,
they fought to the end, knowing that life and limb would be lost,
whether of self or friend.

Yes by land, by sea, and in the skies,
they fought for our land,
they fought for freedom so that you and I might stand,
Stand for what is right, for what is good and true,
fight that we might say without fear, "God loves you."

Yes, we must remember, for freedom is not cheap,
for lives and limbs were lost so that we might keep,
All the things that we can have and all the things we can do,
Like cars and boats and a house with a roof,
Like going to church without fear,
and reading the Bible where we find the truth,
The truth of knowing that whether we are red, yellow, black,
or white,
We are all God's children and we need to learn to love one another as God first loved us.
For if there is to be peace on earth,
where all men and women are free,
it must begin with each and all of us,
let it begin with you and me.

Bonus Post

I wanted to make a separate post for this update, aside from the one that will come on Monday. See, we put my dog down on Thursday, and I don't want to leave that be without getting some thoughts out there, but talking about death in a general update doesn't sit well with me. (That being said, this will indeed be a post about my dog's death. And, as usual, you don't have to read it if you don't want to; I'm just voicing my thoughts on what happened.)

First off, I'm fine. She had a long life, she was sick and in pain and almost completely blind. She probably would have died soon on her own, but we did her a mercy by bringing her in so that she wouldn't have to die in pain. While losing her did make me sad for a time, the experience of her death is what impacted me the most. Digging the little grave in the backyard, sitting with her and my mom as we wait for the vet, the unnatural - yet perfectly natural - stillness, shoveling dirt back into the hole, dumping out food and water... It's almost surreal.

The whole thing was very somber for me. The digging was almost entirely in silence, except to ask if it was big enough. Digging a hole, by the way, is hard work - something I appreciated as a way to focus without thinking. But I couldn't really get away from the knowledge that my dog, asleep in the garage, would be lying in the finished hole in less than an hour. Such an unusual mindset to be in. Not necessarily negative or even emotive, just unusual. It was a similar experience about an hour later when I lowered the little cardboard coffin into the earth, my mom standing with me. Hearing the dirt hitting the cardboard was a little eerie.

The mindfulness that was present in every little action and movement was only half of this entirely new experience. Dying and death was the other half.

In the weeks and months preceding my dog's death, as her health took serious turns for the worse, I would sometimes look at her and imagine what it would look like if her chest simply stopped rising - if she stopped breathing. Even now, the thought of an animal I've seen alive not breathing brings another thought: "This isn't natural." But it is natural. Circle of life and all that, right? Still, knowing the inevitable does not make the actual event any less bizarre. It feels like breathing things should continue breathing. Maybe that's the original way of things, before the curse of death.

I don't really know how to express the oddity of seeing the life leave something, and the lies eyes tell ("she's just sleeping"). I guess you have to see it. And I can't even imagine what it would be like to experience this with another human instead of a pet or an animal.

I could try to come up with some poignant statements about death and dying, but I'm pretty sure they'd end up being nonsense. So I'll just leave off with this: Death is the weirdest natural phenomenon of them all.