Category: personal

it would appear that i am going to have to visit one because i am fairly sure that that i have grade 2 torn calf muscle. my right calf feels like a have a hard monkey fist in it and my ankle has swollen to the point that you can’t feel my ankle bones anymore. it’s all a little freaky. i’m on the road tomorrow so hopefully i will be able to visit a doctor tuesday. if i’m lucky it will merely be a grade 1 strain and only take a couple of weeks rest before running again. this will slow me down during the music city marathon but i will still be able to compete. if it’s a grade 2 strain/tear then things become a little trickier. i think i could probably still make it through the marathon with 4 weeks rest but it would be very hard on my lungs and legs. we’ll just have to see what’s up when i see the doctor. of course, i pretty much feel like i have accurately diagnosed myself already.

SIDE NOTE – driving through illinois is boring. it’s great for the gas mileage because it’s straight and flat but taxing on the mind because IT IS BORING. i’d rather have hills and turns and get bad gas mileage than have great fuel consumption and be bored out of my head. the one highlight was the wind farm we were able to see along the interstate. i think there’s a spiritual connection to that but i’m too tired from driving all day to type it out so you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.

SIDE SIDE NOTE – “eat this book: by eugene peterson is amazing.

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”
They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.
John 1:28b-29

i’m just saving this as a reminder to “chew on” this passage and especially these two verses.

the fam and i are in wisconsin of all places. it is about 35 degrees colder up here than it is in baton rouge and there are still a few mounds of dirty snow hanging around in parking lots. it’s a little different from the heat and humidity that we are used to down in the red stick city. the best part has been enjoying everyone’s accents and hearing the people we meet in restaurants and such respond to ours.

SIDE NOTE – happy april fools day tomorrow.

it’s a chia car! It’s hard to see but look at the sticker on the top center of the rear winter. that’s funny.

i saw the above cartoon on bob carlton’s blog. it’s originally from cartoonchurch.com

if you are going to do the cbs sportsline ncaa basketball tournament bracket with some of us you need to get your bracket done before tomorrow at 11 p.m. if you haven’t received an invite just let me know and i’ll send you one. the more the merry.

SIDE NOTE – if brown works for me then i should receive my nikon d80 tomorrow. oh happy day.

SIDE SIDE NOTE – i love running in the rain.

my run for the day
distance – 3.0 miles
time – 29:22
pace – 9:47/mile

i learned this from grant. apparently my alma mater decided that a woman could not teach hebrew to men. at one time i was proud to have gone to southwestern (yes it was a long time ago when i was actually proud but still i actually proud at one time). now i’m usually embarrassed to admit that i graduated from a school that now has paige patterson as it’s president. i can’t honestly recommend for others to go there.

this is funny – i don’t care who you are.

since my mother reads all the blogs that i link to (in posts and on my sidebar) i figured i would thrill her by adding two more:

• jim’s blog – my brother-n-law, half marathon partner & future marathon partner
• jill’s blog – my sister-n-law & half marathon partner

that should keep mom happy for awhile.

i once had a dog that could escape my house at any given moment. he was a great dog but he would get out every now and then. i always had to run after him because i was scared of what could happen – after all he was a dog and dogs can do odd things. so i understand what it’s like to have a dog that escapes. still, as a runner it gripes my butt beyond believe when people know their dogs are out of their yard and they don’t seem to care.

while i was running tonight i ran into the snarls of two bulldogs who live a block away from my house. their owner was leaning out her front door trying not to get wet and screaming for her dogs to come back in. instead of coming in her dogs decided it would be more fun to come after me. i turned towards them, screamed for them to leave me alone, and backed away. since they continued to come after me and the owner didn’t seem to care about getting out and grabbing them i shouted over to her that if her dogs came after me looking like they were going to bite me then i would respond by kicking them as hard as i possibly could. she said that i should stop and walk her dogs over to her. while she may have thought this was a great idea i thought it sounded lousy. i responded with my own idea which was that she should get outside and grab her dogs and i would just remain ready to pound her dogs if they attempted to come after me. either fear of me or disgust at the laziness of their owner confused the two bulldogs and they turned their backs on me. i took this as my chance and quickly moved down the street from them. last i saw the bull dogs were still moving away from the owner and she was finally having to get out in the rain and get her two dogs. i hope they kept her running after them for at least an hour.

btw, i sure wished the saints had won but now i’ll be satisfied if the colts win.

my run for the day
distance – 5.5. miles
time – 54:05
pace – 9:50/mile

i’m presently reading doug pagitt’s “preaching re-imagined and i’m really enjoying it thus far. because of it i decided to focus on a more interactive approach to the preaching i was scheduled to do at zoar baptist church’s college retreat. i use such an approach all the time with my students but i’ve never tried it with strangers. i think it went okay but i really won’t know until i think about it for a few days and maybe hear from a few people i know who were at the retreat.

the thing that i have enjoyed the most from pagitt’s book has been his focus on an interactive approach to preparing the message. i’ve tried this a few times and i always enjoy it. the biggest problem for me has been trying to find the time since our church has been without a senior pastor.