Miscellaneous Missives

I'm sick.  I even skipped happy hour and biking which are two of my several things to get home to nap.  After my nap, I decided to watch a bit of news.  It seems as though Crayola is getting rid of Dandelion in their 24 count crayon box which is what I'm using to color in my Lenten coloring book.  Since Jesus and his peeps weren't white, my brown color is getting difficult to use.  I wish I had a bigger box with the sharpener.  Anyway, I colored most of today's picture in Dandelion to mark it's passing. I'm not the only one who is sick.  A poor guy puked in his Chromebook during my last class.  I found a student to take him and his Chromebook to the nurse.  He made it, but the Chromebook's in the trash.  The boy is super sweet, and I feel bad.  Another boy, who is not sweet, was farting loudly in class, so I sent him to the restroom.  It was obvious that he needed to use it. Tomorrow starts #30daysofbiking.  I'm rea...

Today was my first bike flat tire.  Of course it was on my friend's bike and not mine which meant I didn't have a spare tube or the other necessities for changing a flat.  It's just as well.  I've never changed a flat, except for one time in class, so I'm not sure if I'd be successful.  The good news is that I had ridden my planned 20 miles and was only about a mile from home. Today I give thanks for... 1) my friend loaning me her bike (even if it did get a flat) 2) Tikka Masala leftovers 3) sunshine for the first day in several days

#notme  #unsafe drivers Let's be hones.  I've wanted to take a picture of cop car lights since the beginning of my lenten practice.  It's more difficult than one would think.  Yesterday I took this.  Someone asked me if I took it while I was driving.  Yes, it's not like this cop was worrying about me. It seems I'm having a problem blogging lately.  Perhaps it's because my life really is that mundane.  I'm still following through with my Lenten practices and readying my self for #30daysofbiking.  Actually I'm getting ready (kind of) to ride 200 miles in two days.  It's going to happen in 22 days.  I'm sure I've mentioned this.  The ride is going to be in Atlanta, and I'll be renting a bike.  One of my concerns (many concerns) is that I don't have a road bike, so I'm not sure how it will go.  This problem is being alleviated since a friend has loaned me her road bike.  Unfortunately, it's a really expensive b...

I've been taking pictures of lights throughout Lent.  Today is super cloudy, and I'm really tired since I stayed up past my bedtime watching the Cyclones win their first round NCAA Tournament game.  It seemed the best picture of light for today was the lights on the Keurig machine. As I was glancing through my emails tonight, Women's March on Washington sent their email for the 5th action in the 10/100 days actions.  The title is Reflect and Resist.  I have chosen a documentary called She's Beautiful When She's Angry , and I'm watching it as I blog.  Perhaps I'll post about it tomorrow.  It seems as though it will be an interesting look at women's rights. I'm still coloring and shading in the little boxes. Today I am grateful for... 1) Donuts This morning I told my honors class that I was going to grade and eat donuts while they worked on their summative.  Of course, I didn't have donuts and told them this.  After a brief conversati...

Last night I met a friend at Inbound BrewCo for a beer.  It is perhaps the worst beer I've ever had at a local brewery.  We both were not fans of either of our beers.  We decided to venture out to the nearest drinking establishment and ended up at Clubhouse Jager.  Let's say it was interesting.  It's a super old building (copper bar and tin ceiling).  My joy of the evening was walking into the bathroom and seeing the above light.  Perfect! My long weekend is almost over.  We had a four day weekend due to some comp and grading days.  Yesterday, I spent a good portion of the day at doctor's appointments.  It seems one (or at least I) can't get physical therapy without a doctor's prescription, so I scheduled an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday morning.  Actually, I couldn't see my orthopedic surgeon (the one that did my other hip) and had to see another orthopedic surgeon first.  He looked at the x-rays and d...

I'm still coming up with three gratitudes a day (even when I'm not blogging), taking pictures of light (Instagram) and doing some meditative coloring for Lent.  It seems, however, I'm doing the coloring mediating thing wrong.  Recently, I watched something (or read something... really don't remember) about adult coloring.  It seems adult coloring books have a bunch of little spaces, so adults can spend more time meditating.  Most of the time, I color through the little boxes because it takes too much time to fill in all of those little spaces.  It's easier to shade over the little spaces.  Even if I'm doing it wrong, I still find it to be meditative and relaxing. Today I give thanks for... 1) my PT (more to come in tomorrow's post?) 2) a great couple of days in Okoboji 3) garlic cheese toast from Pizza Luce

First thing this morning, I sent an email to my two colleagues with whom I normally meet on Thursday.  I advised them that I was overwhelmed and thought we should skip today's meeting to grade and finish the grant.  As I was driving to school, I realized it was Wednesday and not Thursday, so I sent another email trying to explain.  Let's say this could actually sum up most of my day.  At least I finally finished and submitted the grant.  I'm going to say it was more difficult (or at least time consuming) than I had thought.  At least I had people to help me along the way.  It is a great feeling to have it submitted. I'm actually finding coloring relaxing and a bit meditative.   Today's gratitudes... 1) finishing the grant 2) this evening's book club 3) the guys at Caribou who talk to me about bikes