Random things

It seems that every year when the weather is nice and my bedroom windows are open, it happens. The neighbors across the street in the rented apartments sit on their porch and talk, laugh, yell very loudly at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. It was a comfortable night so I wanted to let some air into the bedroom. Instead of air and the precious sleep, I hear four people yakking and laughing after 9 p.m. I know after 9 p.m. isn't late for most people, but most people don't get up for work at 4 a.m. I laid in bed for about five minutes hoping that they would be quiet or go inside. Nope. They didn't. I hopped out of bed and closed the windows. I laid back down and heard them still, only muffled. Ten or fifteen minutes later I finally fell asleep thanks to Tylenol PM. Before going to sleep I thought how would they like it if I sat on my porch very early in the morning and did exactly the same thing? I'm sure that they wouldn't like it.

I had two assignments to do later this afternoon so I rearranged my schedule. When I got home from work at 10:30 a.m., I changed my clothes and got on the treadmill for four miles. After the treadmill, I showered and woke my husband up for lunch. He didn't get out of bed for another 15 minutes, so that pushed lunch back farther. My hope was to eat lunch and take a quick nap before leaving. By the time lunch was over, there wasn't enough time to catch a nap. It had been raining in the county all day, I called the school I was supposed to photograph a track meet at to see if it was still going to be held. I was told that the track meet was canceled for today.

With one assignment out of the way, I got in my car and drove to the other assignment-spring team photos. I parked in the lot by the school and noticed that the portrait photographer's van wasn't anywhere in sight. I waited in my car hoping the photographer was on his way. Ten minutes before the photos were to be taken, I called my husband. I asked him to check my email. The coach emailed me a couple of weeks ago to tell me when spring photo day was. He looked in my email and couldn't find it. I guess I deleted it. I called the school to find out if the pictures were still going to be held. I was told that they were rescheduled. Rescheduled? I called the school back to talk to the athletic director. He told me that the photos were rescheduled for May. I'm glad that I drove all the way out to the school for nothing! GRRRR!

Both of my assignments for the day didn't pan out. I rearranged my schedule for nothing. One good thing about today, I sat on the couch and read my book.

Wikked Lil' Grrrls - Onsted, MI

The Junior Elite Jazz Team from Encore Dance Studio was performing to the song "Wikked Lil' Grrrls" by Esthero during rehearsals for the Onsted All Star Review on April 18, 2009.

Books read in 2009

America's Queen, Sarah Bradford
Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office, John Temple
Marilyn's Last Words, Matthew Smith
Corpse: Nature, Forensics and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death, Jessica Snyder Sachs
Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott, David Sheward
Sinatra in Hollywood, Tom Santopietro
How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America's Favorite Medical Examiner, Jan Garavaglia, M.D.
Pieces of My Heart: A Life, Robert J. Wagner & Scott Eyman
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, Maureen McCormick
Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed, Michelle Morgan
Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Crimes Of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality, Jeff Ferrell
Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York, Craig Castleman
Freight Train Graffiti, Roger Gastman, Darin Rowland & Ian Sattler
The Birth of Graffiti, Jon Naar
Subway Art, Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant
Graffiti NYC, Hugo Martinez
A Portrait of Joan: The Autobiography of Joan Crawford, Joan Crawford & Jane Kesner Ardmore
Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, Catherine Clinton
Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism, Susan Ware

Currently Reading: The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough
Up Next: Library trip

Happy Birthday

Happy 35th birthday to my husband.

Weekend update

This past weekend was so nice. The weather was wonderful. I ran a 5K Saturday morning and it was in the lower 60s. It was a very good day to run. Last year the weather was cold and a raining. I started the run limping. I'm still getting used to my orthotics. A couple of minutes into the run, the limping went away. When I crossed the first mile I was surprised at the time. It was faster then my opening mile in last week's 5K. Personally, I thought I was going much more slower then that.

Mile two is always my downfall. This time I developed stomach cramps. They were really bad. A couple of times I thought about stopping and walking. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So I kept going along, slowly. Besides the stomach cramps, my back started to hurt. It was a wonderful combination. What really helped me turn things around is when I two runners in front of me started to walk. My goal was to catch them.

I did catch one runner and passed him. The other one was just out of reach. With a half mile or less to go, the guy that I passed, passed me back. I was staying with him until we hit an incline. I tried to stay with him, but he did get about 10 to 15 feet in front of me. The gap didn't get any bigger, which made me happy. I finished in 35:42:58. It wasn't my slowest time ever, but it also wasn't my fastest either. After the race I was happy. I was unsure how my heel would feel in the orthotics. I know that they really helped. Except for the limping at the beginning of the race, my heel felt good the rest of the way. Once I did cross the finish line, I did limp a little. But it wasn't as bad as last week.

Besides actually running, I did watch some cross country and track & field on TV. ESPN and CBC had the Penn Relays, The Drake Relays and the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. I was disappointed in the Relays coverage. What they did show was good, but I wanted to see more of the college runners and individual events. The Penn Relays showed USA vs The World which was cool. It was nice to see USA Track and Field redeem itself in the relays after the horrible Beijing Olympics, but I was hoping for more. They did show some footage of the Tennessee women's team winning the distance medley. It would have been nice to see the entire relay.

At the Drake Relays, they showed the men's mile. That was nice, but what about the women's mile? In the 100 meter hurdles race Lolo Jones, she hit the second-to-last hurdle in the Beijing Olympics and finished fourth, was in the field. Throughout the entire race the camera was focused on her. She hit a hurdle, pulled up and didn't finish. Tiffany Ofili of Michigan won the race. I felt bad for Tiffany, they didn't interview her or really care that she won the race. Even though her time is the third fastest in the world this season. The announcers were focused on Lolo and how bad her injury was. I hope Lolo gets better but give the winner some love.

The IAAF World Cross Country championship was held at Amman, Jordan in March. It was nice seeing that on TV, even though happened almost a month ago. In the men's and women's races the Kenyon and Ethiopian runners were strong. A Kenyon won the women's race and an Ethiopian won the men's race. During the race, you could hear the music being played there. It was mostly Top 40 music. I heard Shania Twain and The Proclaimers. At one point the announcers even said "Shania Twain is being played over the loud speakers." I find that strange because that music was picked to play over the loud speakers at a World Cross Country Championships.

Miles run in 2009

I received the best phone call today. It was the phone call to tell me my orthotics were ready to be picked up.

I tried them out for the first time in the foot doctor's office. I was surprised to feel how comfortable they were. I was told to wear them for an hour today, then two hours tomorrow and so on. I wore them today during my run. I could really tell the difference in my heel. It didn't hurt. Near the end of my 4 miles, it started to get uncomfortable. It felt like I was running in a new pair of shoes that weren't broken in yet. But that is ok. I would rather feel that then have a horrible pain in my heel.

2004: 96.25
2005: 125.6
2006: 158.4
2007: 155.5
2008: 320.5
2009: 305.3

Orthotics status

I called the foot doctor Monday to check the status of my orthotics. They weren't in. I told the office worker that Thursday will be six weeks since I got casted for my orthotics. I was told that they would be in my hands in 2 to 4 weeks. The office worker said that they would call the company to find out what was going on. I got a call back and was told that my orthotics would be shipping in the next day or two. All I can say is its about time!

I have been waiting for these to help my plantar fasciitis. I really wanted to run my first 5K of the year with them. But that didn't happen. I doubt I will have them this week, so I have to run another 5K without them. I hope immediately after the race Saturday I'm not limping like I was Sunday. I limped for two days. Even with all of the stretching and icing. GRRR!

Books read in 2009

America's Queen, Sarah Bradford
Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office, John Temple
Marilyn's Last Words, Matthew Smith
Corpse: Nature, Forensics and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death, Jessica Snyder Sachs
Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott, David Sheward
Sinatra in Hollywood, Tom Santopietro
How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America's Favorite Medical Examiner, Jan Garavaglia, M.D.
Pieces of My Heart: A Life, Robert J. Wagner & Scott Eyman
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, Maureen McCormick
Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed, Michelle Morgan
Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Crimes Of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality, Jeff Ferrell
Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York, Craig Castleman
Freight Train Graffiti, Roger Gastman, Darin Rowland & Ian Sattler
The Birth of Graffiti, Jon Naar
Subway Art, Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant
Graffiti NYC, Hugo Martinez
A Portrait of Joan: The Autobiography of Joan Crawford, Joan Crawford & Jane Kesner Ardmore
Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, Catherine Clinton

Currently Reading:
Up Next: Library trip

Running pains

My 5K time from Sunday morning wasn't the fastest or slowest ever. But I did finish and I wasn't last. It was also my first time running outside since November 2008.

The run started off really well. My first mile was fast, at least fast for me. I crossed it in 9:50. I did slow down during the second mile, which I always seem to do. Around 2.5 miles, my heel was started to hurt. I knew I was almost done running so I kept going. Only after I crossed the finish line is when I started to think about my heel.

Immediately following I began to limp. I couldn't put too much pressure on my heel. Waiting for the final results I keep stretching to see if it would help me. It really didn't. At home I iced and stretched my heel many times during the entire day. When I wasn't stretching or icing, my foot was in my night splint boot. Nothing seemed to help.

I woke up this morning and my heel was still killing. I hobbled around the first couple hours of work and later I began to do some stretching. After stretching I could walk a little bit better. But I was still limping. I plan on icing and stretching again today.

Tomorrow I will be back at it, running. This week I will be running slow and easy. I have to get ready for my next 5K Saturday morning. I hope when Saturday rolls around, my heel will feel better and be running with my orthotics. I supposed to call the foot doctor later this afternoon to see if they have arrived. I hope they do because I really need them!

First race

My first 5K race of the year is Sunday. I will be running outside for the first time since my last road race of November 2008. I'm a little worried.

I will be running a race with plantar fasciitis for the first time. I'm wondering how my heel will react to the hard road surface. I've been on a treadmill for so long. I got casted for my orthotics almost five weeks ago. I was told they would take two to four weeks to come in. I called this afternoon to check on the status. They were not in yet. I was told to call back Monday.

I will try to run the race like I normally would. If my heel is in so much pain, I will stop and walk. If the pain is something that I can tolerate, I will continue running. I just want to finish the race. After the race I will definitely stretch and ice my heel multiple times the rest of the day.

ZS - Adrian, MI

Soon to be a Wolverine?

My favorite Duke basketball player, Greg Paulus, may be trading a basketball for a football. MSN had a story that Paulus was in Ann Arbor Tuesday and had a meeting with University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez.

I say let him have a tryout. The story mentioned he was Gatorade National Player of the Year when he was a quarterback in high school. Let's see if he can still play after being away from it for a couple of years. Maybe all of the new faces for the upcoming 2009 season will help us fans forget the horrible season Michigan had in 2008.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Rain and all. The show still goes on.

I just finished covering a track meet. It was a typical Michigan spring day. Very cold and pouring rain. I wore jeans, a winter coat, a waterproof jacket with a hood, a long rain coat and carried an umbrella.

Conditions were horrible for everyone, especially the athletes. I mentioned it was pouring and very, very cold. I think with the wind chills the temperature was down in the 30s. I really felt bad for the runners. They had to take their warm ups off when they ran. They were only wearing a very thin uniform. Some of the kids were also wearing tights. I tried to stay dry when taking pictures. I had my camera covered in plastic and held an umbrella. I wrote my notes with a pen. The ink scattered all over the page as soon as I started writing. The raincoat I was wearing stopped just below my knees. My jeans below that were soaking wet. My shoes and socks were sopping with water and my hands were red and tingling.

Many of the other games and meets were canceled in the area. The host team wanted to move the meet to Thursday, but they didn't. A couple of the volunteers said that I was dedicated to be covering a track meet in the pouring rain. Yes, I guess you could say that. I do love track & field, but I was also being paid to be out there.

Weekend update

Last week I started watching The Tudors on Showtime. I've heard the show was good and I wanted to see if it was something I would like to watch. I taped one of the episodes from Season 2 and watched it. I really liked it. I watched the entire Season 2 on Showtime on Demand. I had Season 1 on my Netflix queue. Disc 1 of Season 1 kept getting pushed back by my husband. Finally when it was in the number one slot, it said I had a short wait. The short wait turned into a long wait. I wanted to see them now and not later.

I drove to both video rental stores in town. The first place didn't have it available. The second place had Season 2 on the shelf. I asked about Season 1 and it was out. The worker said it was due back today. I didn't want to wait around for it so I headed to a store to see if I could buy it. The first store I went to only had Season 2. The second store didn't carry it at all. I tried another store and finally found it. I found Season 1 and Season 2 together. And a nice bonus was they were both on sale. I bought them, went home and watched Season 1. When I watched Season 1, it helped fill in the gaps that I didn't understand when I watched Season 2 the first time around. I finally understood what people were talking about and who all of the characters are. The Tudors is my new favorite show.

Over the weekend, I was an Altar Server for my church's Easter Vigil. Everyone involved with the mass had rehearsal at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Rehearsal went well, but it was three hours long. Some people were still walking in the door at 9 a.m. so we had to wait until everyone was there before starting. I don't get it. Why can't people get up earlier to be somewhere at a certain time? When I was meeting with clients for my wedding photography business, no one showed up when they were supposed to. They were always 15-20 minutes late.

Before mass I was studying my notes. The Easter Vigil mass isn't like a normal Saturday mass. There were many more duties to do. My serving partner and I were told not to bring our notes to mass. But we did anyway. I needed my notes to remind when to we needed to start doing our duties at certain points during the vigil. After mass I was told my many people that my serving partner and I did a great job. It was really nice to hear. Even though I did study my notes at home, it was a relief to have them sitting under my chair to refer to.

I had a nice Easter. I ran a Bunny Hop 5K on my treadmill. I like to run 5Ks on holidays, even if they are on my treadmill. Run in the morning, eat good food all day. I felt really good during the run and my heel felt really good as well. After my run, I went to my Mom's house and had dinner and my husband went to his parents house. All my siblings were there except one brother and sister. They both had to work. We had a nice conversation and had some delicious food.

Dad

John Wayne Clark
April 10, 1942 - August 15, 1998

Thinking of you on your birthday. Happy 67th birthday.

"We Lost a father with a heart of gold"

We lost a father with a heart of gold,

How much we miss him can never be told,

He shared our trouble and helped us along,

If we follow his footsteps we can never go wrong.

We miss you from your fireside chair,

Your loving smile and gentle air,

Your vacant place no one can fill,

We miss you father and always will.

He was a father so very rare,

Content in his home and always there,

On earth he toiled, in heaven he rests

God bless you father, you were one of the best.

Each time I look at your picture,

You seem to smile and say,

Don't be sad but courage take,

And love each other for my sake.

Building front - Adrian, MI

Miles run in 2009

My plan is to get in a 6 mile run today, but it could change. I'm photographing a softball game later this afternoon. I will again be standing on concrete in the dugout for over an hour. How my feet feel after the game will determine how far I run today.

2004: 80.5
2005: 109.1
2006: 135.8
2007: 133.4
2008: 279.7
2009: 253.1

Books read in 2009

It has felt like a year since I read my last book. The actual time has been two weeks. Since spring started it is harder to sit down with a book because of my work schedule. I have started reading about ten pages a night in bed before going to sleep. It has helped.

America's Queen, Sarah Bradford
Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office, John Temple
Marilyn's Last Words, Matthew Smith
Corpse: Nature, Forensics and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death, Jessica Snyder Sachs
Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott, David Sheward
Sinatra in Hollywood, Tom Santopietro
How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer, Safer, and Healthier from America's Favorite Medical Examiner, Jan Garavaglia, M.D.
Pieces of My Heart: A Life, Robert J. Wagner & Scott Eyman
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, Maureen McCormick
Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed, Michelle Morgan
Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot, J. Randy Taraborrelli
Crimes Of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality, Jeff Ferrell
Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York, Craig Castleman
Freight Train Graffiti, Roger Gastman, Darin Rowland & Ian Sattler
The Birth of Graffiti, Jon Naar
Subway Art, Martha Cooper & Henry Chalfant
Graffiti NYC, Hugo Martinez
A Portrait of Joan: The Autobiography of Joan Crawford, Joan Crawford & Jane Kesner Ardmore

Currently Reading: Mrs. Lincoln: A Life, Catherine Clinton
Up Next: Library trip

Is this spring?

My husband put away the shovel awhile ago. This morning I had to retrieve. I needed to use it. The weatherman said yesterday that the area was supposed to receive under an inch of snow, not much accumulation. This morning was a different story. When I walked downstairs after waking up, my husband told me not to look out the window. I looked out the window and the street was covered and my car was covered with about two inches of snow.

The snow that we got was very heavy and wet. Shoveling it wasn't easy. It took longer then normal. Later this week the temperatures are going to be in the 50s and 60s. When this snow melts there will be plenty of pools of water and probably some flooding. I think this is payback for the 60 degree day we had the day after Christmas.

Afraid

There has been two thunderstorms overnight this past week. I can sleep through them without any problems. Sometimes when the thunder is very loud it will wake me up. Within a few moments, I'm back to sleep.

This week both thunderstorms scared my dogs. During thunderstorms they are afraid and push open one side of their gate that keeps them locked in the kitchen. Some loud thunder woke me up and then I heard the dog's nails walking across the hardwood floors downstairs. I hopped out of bed and went downstairs. It was still raining and thundering, so it was no use to put them back in the kitchen. They would only try to escape again. I grabbed a blanket and laid down on the couch. Blitzkrieg had to be right next to me. He pushed an end table out of the way to lay down right in front of me. Kelly was just on the other side of the end table. I feel asleep for about an hour or so.

When I woke up, the storm was over. I got up, folded my blanket and led the dogs back to the kitchen. The dogs were fine for the rest of the night.

Early Friday morning, I was awaken by thunder again. The dogs forced the gate open and were walking around downstairs. I went downstairs, fixed the fence, grabbed a blanket and laid down on the couch. I woke up an hour later and didn't hear anymore thunder. I folded up the blanket and led the dogs back into the kitchen.

When my alarm went off at 4 a.m., I could hear the dogs walking on the hardwood floor. They escaped. I didn't hear anymore thunder, but the dogs apparently heard something. It scared them, pushed the gate open and escaped.

The dogs have always been afraid of thunder. Both of them act like children and for some reason cannot be alone. They calm down if my husband and I are by their side during a storm. The dogs I had growing up never had that problem. But they were also outside dogs. They went inside their doghouse for protection. I guess I am the protection from the storm for Blitz and Kelly.

The Tudors

I recently began watching The Tudors on Showtime. The third season begins on Sunday and I haven't seen the first season or most of the second season yet. I only started watching the second season a day ago. There was a repeat on one of the Showtime channels so I recorded it on the DVR. While watching, it was difficult to keep up. Besides King Henry and Anne Boleyn, I didn't know who anyone else was. Most of the characters never said each others name in the dialog.

Since my husband and I have On Demand, I have started watching the beginning on the second season. I have watched three episodes already. The first season isn't available on Showtime On Demand. The Tudors entire season one DVDs have been near the top of our Netflix queue. Disc one has had "Short Wait" next to it for a couple of weeks. Since it is on a Short Wait, my husband leap frogs The Tudors for movies that he picked out. I watched a movie yesterday and put it in the mailbox today, so one of his movie choices will be the next to come. I doubt I will receive Season One: Disc One before Sunday's season premiere. Oh well. I can read about the show on Showtime and Wikipedia.

Weathered - Adrian, MI