New Blog to Follow

Hi gang. I know I've been gone awhile. It's been crazy to be me! I'll be back with a vengence very soon. So stay tuned! Anyway, I thought I'd post a quick note just to let you know I'm still alive AND to share the blog of one of my most FAVORITE people in the whole world. Check it out.

www.meganmorada.wordpress.com

Fourth of July Festivities

Hey gang. I know you are all wondering what I've been doing with myself this summer since I don't seem to be working out or blogging much. Well truth be told, I'm busy but not very productive. Lots going on with just trying to keep the house up, going to the kid's baseball games, and the husband's races.

I was lucky enough to hang out with a few of my favorite photographers on Saturday, July 4 for the grand parade downtown. It was awesome. And it didn't even rain as hard as last year - until I got back in my car AFTER the parade. Woot!

Just wanted to send you a note to let you know that our pictures are online from the event. Visit http://www.bloomingtononline.net/ to see the pics taken of the crowd by my buddies Lisa Walker, Mike Trace, Dale Staton, and myself.

Things that I love

In no particular order:

*No humidity days - the really great ones don't get about 75

*Watching my family and/or friends participate in sports

*Rain when I'm about to go to sleep

*Thunderstorms when it's light outside (so I can watch them)

*Dogs - especially mine

*That post-workout feeling of utter calmness 

*Laughing

*Making someone's day

*Taking pictures and finding out that one turned out great

*The entire month of July - why? THE TOUR DE FRANCE!!!!!!!

My baby is growing up

Well, my son "graduates" from 8th grade tonight. Do you remember having a graduation ceremony? I don't. Why does this generation get all the warm fuzzies over the littlest thing they do? I can remember several years of sports where I didn't get a trophy or a medal. You know why? Because we weren't in first place!!!

So why the big ceremony for 8th grade? It's not really a major phase in life is it? I mean, graduating from high school is a big deal because many move away from home for the first time. They are on their own for the first time. They have to balance their check book for the first time. You are actually considered an adult at this point.

Graduating from college is big because you have all those student loans to start paying. You actually have to get a job to survive. You care how much sleep you are getting at night so you can actually do your job the next day. Now you are really considered an adult.

So what's the big deal with all these other "milestones" that really aren't? Kindergarden, elementary school, and now middle school graduation. Next they're going to start giving out trophies to everyone who participates in a league regardless of their team's standing. Oooops. They already do that. No wonder kids feel entitled these days!

Update

I've been working on my proposed racing schedule. Check it out (on the right side of this screen). Give me your feedback about how insane (or not) I have become.

Back at it

I've been away from the game for awhile. I'm finally starting to recover from a lovely bout with bronchitis. So sit back, buckle your seat belt, and enjoy the ride.

A lot has happened since my last post. I've been to Ghana, we started landscaping around the house, my husband has started racing dirt bikes (and is doing very well), and my son had a great year in track. It's been a really hectic but fun first of spring. Can't wait to see what the rest of spring will bring.

Now that I've rejoined the Twitter community I saw a tweet about a new site I needed to visit. Once there I fell in love with this artist. Check out his work - it's insanely beautiful. (http://www.sgr.kiev.ua/)

Well, the sun is shining and I have a ton of things to do. I'll post more soon! Stay tuned.

It's True, I'm Becoming My Mom

Well it's official, the journey to reach Ghana starts in roughly 90 hours! I have gotten to the spot where my lists now have sub-lists. (My mom will be proud.) All the clothes I'm taking have been washed and dried. In fact, they are all together and sitting next to my suitcase. Next to that is all the reading material, medicines, journal & pen/pencils, electronics, and toiletries I plan to take on the trip. (Mom is probably giddy with pride at this point.)

Tonight all the students and chaperones from each trip had dinner together at the IMU Tudor Room. I overheard one student say that the room reminded her of Hogwarts - and I'd have to agree. The walls are wood covered with a grand window at the focal point when you walk in. You can't really say it's all stained glass but made of several smaller panes of glass, some with crests of some sort. Quite interesting actually. And as seen in the great hall at Hogwarts, there are flags hanging from the ceiling. Except you can actually see what is attaching them to the ceiling. No magic there. Well, maybe not in the decor but the chefs did whip up a magical feast for each of the groups. The Ghana group was treated to a yummy dish called Red Red. It contained chicken, beans, rice, and fried plantains. There was a vegetarian treat of whipped sweet potatos mixed with tomatoes. It was sweet and tomato-y all at the same time and had the consistency of mashed potatos. All the other countries had food specific to the country they were visiting. I can speak with some authority, it was all very good. Yes I tasted them all. Heck, one never knows where she might get to go next year. It's always best to be prepared (another Mom statement).

The students. What can I say about the students? From what I have observed in class and tonight, we have a great group. Everyone is accepting and seems to be bonding nicely. There doesn't appear to be any animosity at all. And they haven't been together very much.

So now it's time to do what my Mom would do in this situation - organize my notes and get some of my stuff into a suitase. On second thought, I'm going to bed. I'll aspire to be more like Mom tomorrow night. But wow, it was a great night!

I've been bad

How's that for a title? Well it's true. I have totally neglected my loyal (2) readers! I know, I should be flogged with a wet noodle. And I'll gladly submit if I can eat the noodle when you're done. So here's a list of how I've been bad lately. Wow, it seems like an online confessional. On to the list...

1. I'm eating WAY more than my fair share of food.
2. Not eating healthy is the norm.
3. I'm working a lot.
4. Did I mention I'm eating a ton?
5. I'm now addicted to SierraTradingPost.com. My husband is a bad influene for turning me on to that one. Sure - it's his fault!
6. I haven't been working out enough.
7. Eating? Have I mentioned that?
8. I haven't kept up with my blog. And worse yet, I haven't even posted ONE thing on the Ghana blog. I should be shot. Well sort of. I've taken pics & video so I'm ready to start writing. Hmm. Guess I should start writing.
9. Darn. I'm getting hungry again.

Was I ahead of my time?

Nowadays, you hear people talking about the "millenials" and what they are like. For those who do not know what a "millenial" is, let me tell you it's a term for the current generation. I am a Gen X'er.

Each generation is known for some kind of trait. Ha, but right now I can't remember what Gen-X or Gen-Y'ers are known for. Does it have something to do with the Pepsi Generation? I digress. For these millenials, everything is online. Texting friends instead of actually calling and using social networks to find out what's going on are two things that particularly stand out for me. Why? Well, I seem to behave like this as well (according to my husband). So what does that mean for me? Was I born before my time, thus I'm cool before anyone knew it? Should I pull out all those old art projects because they could be worth something? Does it mean I need to work with students more? Or does it mean my husband was right - I'm a Facebook Geek.

I do remember hearing one comparison between Gen-X'ers and the Millenials...Gen-X'ers prefer privacy where Millenials demand openness. So what does that make me?

Really Cool Art

So I've found that I really appreciate art that has been made out of every day items. Today while signing into one of my favorite sites, I noticed this great piece. I'm not sure how you'll feel about it, but I really like it.



The artist is Diem Chau. Not someone I've heard of before, but definitely someone I'll be keeping an eye on. Just wanted to share. Hope you enjoy it too.

And winter continues.....

The buzzer sounds and I roll over. The slits I call eyes take in the early morning darkness. It's another day in Indiana. What will it be like outside today? No one really knows. I chase the dog down the stairs (ok it's more like shuffle, trip, and fall down the stairs after the dog), throw open the blinds and I'm greeted by another snow storm. Flurries by tush!!!

So the dogs go out. Happy as clams. I'm left shivering by the door. Was I really that bad in a previous life? Carribean drums have always made my feet tap so maybe I was from somewhere warm. God's cruel joke on me. Or maybe I was an eskimo and the "all-mighty" thinks I'll enjoy this. Whatever the case - this isn't funny any more!!!! My husband thinks I'll want to move to Colorado when I retire. I still think he's nuts.

For now, IU is still in session and so are the local k-12 schools. I just received notice that all after school programs have been cancelled. So my son gets to go home and play video games when he should be at basketball practice. What's next? Snow Day #2 for IU? Doubt it. But I can still dream right?

Know any Twi?

As some of you know, I'm heading to Ghana over Spring Break with the IU Kelley School. I'm the "marketing" person on the trip. So I've created a Facebook group and linked it to the blog. I've started looking for the appropriate clothing to take. It's actually quite fun to know I'm going to be getting some new Patagonia or Mountain Hardwear to take with me. Now if I could just shed those holiday pounds....

I'm not going on the trip solo. I'm going as part of the Emerging Economies class. There are 18 students, 1 faculty member, and 2 other administrative personnel going. Part of the academic experience includes learning about the culture of Ghana - and some of the language. We had a great class last week and I'm stoked to see what we'll learn this week. I know how to say eat, my name is, where I'm from, and the appropriate way to knock on the door and gain access to a room. It's all very cool. Twi is a language that uses the same word to mean many different things and it's all decided on your intonation. I know I'm going to mess this up. I'll think I'm asking someone to pass the rice and I'll end up calling them a toad or something. Call the American Embassy and have them ready for my arrival. I'm sure they'll be called more than once about me.

The Big Tri Question.....

So last year saw the beginning of me tackling the olympic distance. And my husband, and several friends, have decided that I should now take the next step and train for the 1/2 ironman distance. That's never really been something I thought I could - or should - undertake. Now, I'm considering it. On any given day, I think I'm going to sign up.....then I don't train for the next 3 days. Motivation. I need motivation.

Enter Chris from A1. First of all, he's pretty much the brother I never had. And better yet, he owns a cycling store. My husband typically causes the most monetary damage at Chris' store but I think this is going to be my year. I finally had him measure me for a new tri bike. He called last week and said my bike had come in. He was kidding but it's definitely got me trying to figure out which one of my boys I'm going to sell to get it. Should it be the teenager who is just being a teenager most of the time (but still has the chance to grow up great) or should it be the husband who got me into all this in the first place! While the debate rages internally, I'm still left with two questions: how to pay for the bike, and what distance will I be racing this year?


http://www.kuota.it/biciclette.php

Snow Day

Yesterday (Wednesday) IU closed for a snow day, which was the first time in ages! It was an historic event. My son has been out of school starting Tuesday. And now I hear there's a 2 hour delay for tomorrow. Here's how everything shakes down: the storm started on Monday afternoon/evening. Tuesday morning we had around 4" of the pretty powdery stuff. Tuesday late morning saw the beginning of sleet and more sleet. Inchese of the stuff. It sucked. It actually looked like someone had ripped open a bean bag chair and thrown it everywhere. We didn't get the snow again until midnight or so. Then it came down hard. We ended up with another 4" or so. It's totally crazy. Gotta love Indiana weather.

My Very First Blog Post

I really wanted my first post to be memorable. I've been wracking my brain for days now trying to come up with the right topic. Should it be about family, hobbies, my job, goals, dreams, or something weird that happened that day? Sit and ponder is all I've been doing. So today is the day I get off my duff and forge ahead - about nothing in particular. Any inclination you may have had about "following" me is now over right?!

Here are a few teasers about things about to happen in my life that might be fodder for future posts:

• I'm once again helping out with the half marathon training program at the YMCA. Lots of great people have returned to our core group of fitness junkies and we have a record-breaking registration this year. I can hardly wait to meet all the newbies to the group. Should make for lots of funny stories about group workouts. Stay tuned...
• Though I have the same job, I have switched offices again! I'm now in my 5th office. This one is pretty sweet. I'd still kill for my 3rd office, but this one ranks second. We'll see how long I stay here. Rumor has it that I may move again in the summer. Follow this thread and read about all the interesting things going on in "The Hall of Directors"......
• Travel is always a good thing to talk about. So I'm taking a little trip over spring break - TO GHANA!!!!! Did I mention how I don't like to fly, especially over water? I hate needles so the immunizations have been a blast! And who packs Immodium? I mean really? I'm sure this discussion will be totally hilarious as I prepare for my trip (with 30 students and a few other adults from the office). Oh yeah, I'll try to blog while I'm on the trip. Should be interesting.
• Last but not least my family. An obsessive husband who drives me crazy daily. He's into everything from playing his guitars loudly, racing his new dirt bike, and preparing for Ironman Florida 2009. He doesn't do anything halfway. And he typically drives the rest of the family insane with the piles of magazines and shows he has to absorb on the subjects. My son (who just turned 14) seems to play every 'traditional' sport there is and they all seem to overlap. He is about to finish up his season on the school's basketball team but he signed up for a rec league. Oh and you can't forget that he's attending a 7 week baseball camp every Sunday. He's wanting to play on the school team when he enters high school. And the big debate for him right now is will he play football or run cross country. The boy is a naturally gifted endurance athlete - but that doesn't get the chicks. He knows it. I know it. He knows I know it. It makes for very interesting conversations. And then there's my dogs. They are furry, lovable, but they too talk back. I'm surrounded by testosterone in my house. You can see where that might be going. Oh yeah, and I do a few fun things from time-to-time like mountain bike, train for triathlons, and hopefully get my photography business off the ground some day.

Thanks for sticking with me so far. I'm really just starting this blog to get me used to the endeavor. I have the fun task of maintaining the blog for the Ghana trip. Give me your ideas, tips, tricks, helpful hints. I need to get better at this - and fast. I leave in a little over a month. Ugh.