san antonio marathon

the san antonio rock n roll marathon

formerly known as the



i have found my next marathon. after a couple of "almost" races, i need to start training again. and who can say no to this . . . .

"San Antonio, known for its rich history and color, has so much to offer for the marathon and half marathon participants both on and off the course! The thoughtfully designed routes run past a variety of signature attractions in San Antonio. Whether walking or running, keep your eyes open and take in the scenery!"


i don't really know anything about san antonio. i have been there numerous times, but i have no idea what is where. but i've really only been to 3 places.

the river walk. the alamo. chris madrid's.

i may look the part of a good san antonian, but if dropped off somewhere in san antonio, and told to find something, i would have no luck!


here is a course map. i will be studying it dilligently in the next 28 weeks. i could say 6 months, but you see training for a marathon is like being pregnant. no one really speaks in terms of months. marathon speak is in terms of weeks.



here is a my training schedule. it lasts 18 weeks, but i alredy know of some runs i'll miss, so it works out perfectly!

the r-word

it happened. the wilsons are finally feeling some effects of the recession.
yes we are reeling from the efects, but i hope to be back to normal soon. you see, i understand the price of gas and oil and produce and rice and all that has to go up because the economy is so sucktacular right now.

okay, really i don't understand. i haven't understood economics since my junior year in high school. or was it senior year? yeah, senior year, first semester and then second semester was government. i really don't understand money to be honest, but i do understand this:





the premise is basic, greatness, but basic. you pull up to a little caesars pizzaria and $5.41 later and, 5 minutes later you have a "hot" pizza "ready" for your consumption.

i know!

well, word on the streets is the price is going up. . . . $5.99.
i'm checking my couch cushions now as we speak to ensure thing 1 and thing 2 will have dinner tonight.
-sigh-

sad, but true

in honr of the big test this week:

Severe Weather TAKS Testing Protocol
1.Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2.Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3.Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

4.Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.

5.Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents.
Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

6.Should gale force winds ensue, please have everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts – being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

7.If any students get sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing –and, of course, make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

8.Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land, so please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.

9.When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests – unless, of course, they have been through standardized test training.

10.Please do not pray should a severe weather situation arise. Your priority is to actively monitor the test and a student might mark in the wrong section if you are praying instead of monitoring. I’m sure God will put war, world hunger, crime, and the presidential primaries on hold until after testing is over. He knows how important this test is….

whoop!

the aggie ring
there's a spirit can ne'er be told
It's the Spirit of Aggieland.

We are the Aggies - the Aggies are we
True to each other as Aggies can be
We've got to FIGHT boys
We've got to fight!
We've got to fight for Maroon and White
After they've boosted all the rest
They will come and join the best
For we are the Aggies - the Aggies are we
We're from Texas A.M.C.

i just wanted you to feel a little of the pride that goes along with wearing this special ring. 10 years out and that song still gives me goose bumps.
if in fact you are fortunate enough to own one of these rings, i hope you wear it, and wear it proudly. . . . even though if you have to dust it off a bit.

who's got game?

in the words of tasha, or is it uniqua?
ta, ta, ta da!!!!

yes, we got one.
thank you texags classifieds!
and thank you rob and shannon for making this the second most requested item in our house.
and what kind of a parent would i be if i didn't give in to my children's every request. that's what good parenting is all about in my book. give them what they want when they want it regardless of what it is or when it is.

oh wait, that's my philosophy on me.

well, let's see how long it takes for me to never touch this again because i refuse to participate in things that i can't win. refuse.


and in case you were wondering, this is the first most requested item in our house.

yeah, that ain't happenin'!

texas monthly cover

just arrived.
greatness of all that is texas greatness.

say it ain't so

let me become a mommy blog for just a minute. you know, those blogs that are all about the plight of being a mom and the only way to power through the martydom of being that single most important person in the universe is through coffee, wine, or really expensive shoes.

okay, okay, let me be honest. i work. i don't stay home with my kids. i hate coffee. i'll take a good shiner, blue moon, or merretti's over the most expensive glass of wine and i thought jimmy choo was the guy who owns the dry cleaners down the street.
but i do love shoes. . . . .just not the sex and the city kind.

let me introduce you to my first love:


i bought my first pair spring of '93. ahhhh. so comfy, so granola-ee, so unique. so stinky! but i loved them as did every college kid in the early '90's. let me give you some history on the greatness that was teva.
some river guide back in colorado in the 70's hated his water logged sneakers and his flip flops just weren't cutting it. yada, yada, yada, teva sandals. the dude sold them out of his van! fast forward to 1985 yada, yada, yada, he can't keep up with production and sells out to deckers outdoor corp.

let me back it back up. summer '93 and this little number joins my crew:
he jumps out at me via camp ozark. i loved these bad boys for a while, much cooler than my tevas. this relationship lasted for awhile until i found out teva took them over. i couldn't replace them. teva was taking over the world. oh and the quality really went down hill after that.

this sent me on a quest for something new to fill the sandal shaped hole in my heart. which brought me to these: chacos
i know! how cute are they!!
here's the problem. they only come in whole sizes. so, for those of you that are a clean 7.5, you outta luck! the problem? they have a higher arch, so whereas with most shoes you can kinda fudge the size, in these you really have to hit dead on. so yes, my quest continued.
though i longed to take them home, it was not to be. and then he walked in. . .
the keen
now, lucky for me, the mister is an avid researcher. we had to research prior to purchasing, to make sure we were getting the most bang for our buck, the best quality for the price.....and this is what we found. martin keen, the brainchild behind this shoe sought to create innovative performance footwear that represents his two primary passions: the ocean and his sculpture well. . . . keen footwear wasn't exactly living up to that once they became mainstream.
so, he left and became this:
the mion

the point of all this? although jimmy choo may be a really nice guy, he can't hold a candle to these guys. the real problem is this. all of these "american made" granola crunchers that i came to know and love have deceived me. they are nothing more than another product of our "global economy". yep, they are all now made in china. only mion remains true to its american roots. teva? china. chacos? china. keens? china. oh and decker corp? they also manufacture uggs and simples. in china.
i'm not telling you to boycott. as a matter of fact, i did some e-window shopping while i was writing this. by all means we can buy from whomever we choose to by from. i'm just sad that while i try to support the eco-businesses, it is difficult to do when most of the eco-business is coming straight outta china.

hillary-part II

a while back there was an article in our paper by rod dreher about
"crunchy conservatives"

it was basically an article about folks who's faith is often at odds with their political convictions. . . seemingly. you know, right v. left. there was also an article (not at the same time, but i couldn't find it and our paper makes you purchase old archives-no thanks) about hillary and how as a methodist church goer from a staunch republican family, her liberal views were often at odds.
(here is where i stood up and yelled "me too hillary! me too!")

so began my summer-2007-of hillary.
in addition to googling, wikepediaing and youtubing,
i read the following books:
it takes a village-hillary rodham clinton
PRO
the case for hillary clinton-susan estrich
hillary's turn: inside her improbable, victorious senate campaign-michael tomasky
AGAINST
the case against hillary clinton-peggy noonan
the first partner; hillary rodham clinton-joyce milton

once again(see part I), there were way more anti-hillary books than pro-hillary books, so be nice.

as i began to read, i realized i could totally get on board with her. she is a HUGE advocate for children, women, working moms(!) and families in general. she really sees us-america-doing a huge disservice to our children. (once again, i stand up and yelled "me too hillary! me too!")
from her days at wellesley, to her days at yale, to her early law career days, she worked for women and children. man was i ready to turn in my red card. . . .
then i read more.
the more i read, the more i felt she knew the 70's weren't ready for her. . . enter bill stage left.
through him
, she was able to accomplish a lot more during the pre-feminist age. she is a smart gal. a very smart gal. i also felt a little elitism coming from her. not good when you're an alleged advocate for poor, children, working women, and anyone else who is not a 30-something white male.

do i need to wrap all this up? point being, i think she means well. i also think she thirsts for power, and will do anything to (tongue in cheek) take over the world. i think she has great ideas and some really good policies to put in place, but is very much a "my way or the highway" type leader.
that can be good. that can be bad.
i completely understand her struggles.
i completely understand her thirst for power.

hillary

okay, i'm not going to lie to you, it took me awhile to find a flattering picture of this gal. most pictures were like this, or some horrible artists rendering that was well, just mean. which got me thinking. how does it feel to be one of, if not THE MOST, hated woman in america? don't get me wrong, i know she has plenty of supporters too. but i mean, there are plenty of women out there that are disliked, but no one provokes such strong opinions whether positive or negative, as hillary clinton. as my husband puts it, "maybe she just doesn't feel." but more on him later.

as i started this post, that thought just came to me and it just made me feel sad for her. as one who cherishes my relationships, almost to the point of defining myself by who likes and dislikes me (twisted i know) and what relationships i have or don't have, i just felt sad for her.

this post has the potential to be really, really, long, so i'll just leave it at that. if you happen to see hillary, be nice to her.
i did like this picture though.

our troops

this article is from www.newtoncitizen.com
i am unfamiliar with the site as it was just sent to me today. so if its pretty radical, email aaron at whattheheckareyousendingusto@yahoo.com

i plan to peruse it more. who knows, you could see it in "good times".

4/19/2008 12:01:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Darrell Huckaby -
Encounter with young family puts things in perspective
Darrell Huckaby
Columnist


**disclaimer**
before i post, let me begin by saying i had the entire article posted here, but then my better(?) half said it was too long and to just put the link, so i'm trusting you have read the article and gotten a little watery eyed too. . . .

now, in the words of dj lance, let's break this down.

of course, the first thing you may note is the wearing of a texas a&m hat and the greatness of that. while a very important detail, not the meat of this post.
it is more like the cheese. you know how a good burger is just that, a good burger, but with cheese, ala wingfield's, jg's, or chris madrid's, the cheese only adds-never subtracts!

okay, here's where the story really got to me. this guy is class of 2003....let's say he was on the traditional plan, not my plan, and actually graduated in 4 years. assuming he was in the corp, i'm sure he did.
point being he is 27~ maybe with 2 small children, a wife and 2 tours under his belt.

here's my bit. these are real people going overseas. someones' daddy. someone's mommy. someone's brother. etc. . . . whatever you may think of our president, whatever you may think of war or whatever you may think of our involvment "over there", please support the men and women who are over there. i mean personally support them. that support could mean literally sending necessities overseas. it could mean being a friend to a wife, husband, mother, father or child who has a loved one over there. you could simply say "thank you for what you do for our country" whenever you see someone in uniform. or you could just pray for them, for our leaders and for the leaders of other countries who make those decisions.

its very easy to distance ourselves from things that don't occur in our own sphere of influence. trust me, i am the queen of distancing. but, like mr. huckaby says,
" i don't know what kind of mood you are in today or what you have on your plate, but I know that each and every one of us can breathe free because there are about a million-and-a-half men and women in uniform scattered across our country and around the globe, making sure that we are as safe as we can be in a world gone crazy.

God bless them one and all."

the red balloon

please tell me you remember this movie?!?!?
we used to watch it on one of those big reel to reel projectors.
it was about a boy and his red balloon, and there was no talking, but there was sound. you could hear street noise and his little feet on the cobblestone streets (obviously not an american movie). and the balloon was awesome!!! it wasn't on a string, so much as one of those waxy ropes. i know!
the story ends when some mean bullys throw rocks at it and then it deflates and gets all bumpy and plastic looking. . . . .
i'm not really sure what the point of the story was, or what we were suppose to learn from it, but it puts a warm fuzzy in my heart.
good times.

thanks jake

enough said!

the rock? or ba-rack?

barack

the rock

am i the only one who thinks these two guys are the same person?


just listen to both of them speak.
they're both from hawaii.
they are both bi-racial.
we haven't heard from "the rock" in a while.
we never heard of barack, while "the rock" was cooking.

coincidence? i think not!

but wait. . . . .

i'm not done. consider this the rant to my rave about juno and all that is teen pregnancy.
you see, i commended juno on choosing an option that although difficult for her, ended up being great for vanessa and one could argue, ultimately the baby as well.
the point of addressing that issue, and not just the amazing soundtrack that includes the kinks and buddy holly, was that i wish more of my teenage students would at least consider that option.

for the third time, did i mention i teach middle school? we're not even talking high school kids here.
let me give some back story. my school is about 95% free and reduced lunch. the other 5% could be, but just don't or can't fill out the paperwork.
what does that mean? the population of my school and its surrounding community is very poor.
when my sweet teens get pregnant, most choose to keep these little babies. although, it is a tough decision, i'm not discounting that, i only wish more would or could consider adoption. trying to raise a child is difficult enough. but to try to do that living in poverty? trying to do that when you're under 18? i cannot comprehend the difficulties. does this just perpetuate the cycle of poverty? perhaps. does this just perpetuate the cycle of uneducatedness (nice word)? perhaps.

do most of these girls even know their options. perhaps not.
i really don't have true closure to my point other than i want to see my girls succeed. raising babies makes that more difficult than it needs to be. solution? education. education. education. education.

juno

yes! its out on video. run, don't walk to your nearest target now!
i cannot over sell the greatness of bleeker, vanessa, kimya dawson and the moldy peaches. go! go! go!
that being said, let me bring the room down with some political commentary.
let me quote "anyone else but you":

". . . the monkey on your back is the latest trend. . . "

so true!
remember that i teach middle school? this statement is so true. i could count on both hands and then some the number of students that have left me this school year to go and have their babies. . . .i teach middle school!

here's the greatness of juno. . . .
she considers abortion. her choice. i would rather she have that choice.
that choice to have a procedure done by a medical professional in a sterile environment with proper recovery and follow up, rather than in a back room somewhere with black market information, tools and care (or lack thereof). she reconsiders abortion.
she considers adoption. . . .and through the quirkiness that is diablo cody, unfolds the story of a pregnant teenager that chooses adoption. adoption.

numbers are not my thing, i don't do stats well and i don't do math. period. but i read somewhere that if everyone who aborted an unwanted pregnancy chose adoption instead, everyone, in the world, who wanted a child could have one and maybe more.
like i said i don't do numbers and i know numbers would really solidify my point, but i thought it was pretty cool.

this is not a pro-life vs. pro-choice post, another time for another day. i just thought juno was sweet.
and the soundtrack freakin' rocks!

my bad

by the way, i don't know how to post pics, add links or anything fancy.
yet another reason for the work stoppage.
we're powering through!

we're baaack!

how happy are you knowing the writer's strike is over?

i know, 2 years is a long time to wait.

oh wait.

you thought?

re-runs?

network execs?

leno vs. letterman?

no new shows?

labor unions?

no. i'm not embarrased for you.

you see, the writers of this blog have been on strike, but despite labor's demands, management has come to some terms and we are up and running again.

now, you may notice a slight change in format. in previous seasons, we focused on thing 1 and the up and coming thing 2. you may see a guest appearance from one or both from time to time, however they were a big part of the work stoppage. so those appearances may be limited only when shark jumping is needed.
you want cute pictures? you want warm and fuzzy moments? you want cute kid sayings? hit it over to babyjellybeans.

this will now become my outlet for at least 10,000 of my 20,000 words a day that my people tend to spew. this should leave me only about 10,000 words to take home to the mister(who rarely meets his 7,000 word limit-i wonder if you can get rollover with those?).