Where to Begin? #3 Fitness

I signed up for a new obstacle course race, Iron Mudder.  It's 3.5 miles and scheduled for October 22.  I did a lot of walking while I was out of town--which I will talk about in a later blog--and when I get over this rediculous cold, I plan on returning to the weights, treadmill and doing some other things to improve my performance over the next two months.

I noted when I walked while on vacation that I am getting stronger and my balance is much better than it was a year ago.  Seems like I could take the stairs at my parents two story home much more confidently and we walked four miles in some very hilly terrain.  A was able to break a comfortable sweat and work some of my large muscle groups.  I am returning to my original plan for the treadmill to be able to jog four miles by the race.

I'm encouraged by my performance while on vacation and I'm looking forward to the next two months.  I will definitely keep you posted as to my progress.

Books and Movies: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Among everything else that's going on, I managed to finish Stieg Larson's The Girl Who Played With Fire.  I definitely give this a thumbs up.  Before I reached the end of the book I found myself looking for the last book in the series.  This book was much better written than the first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  With the first book, I had to watch the movie to fully understand what had happened and I read it faster than the second.  It took me a little longer to "get around" to finishing the second book.  It was much easier to follow what was happening and I thought the suspense at the end was much more meritous than the first book.

A few twists concerning Salander's family might have seemed a little contrived or manipulated to me, but that's the beauty of fiction.  Getting the reader to accept and I definitely accepted! 

This book is out on paperback now, so it's pretty cheap in the old style paperback--something like $7.99.  I recommend the Tattoo book first because that's the way I am, but if you want to start with Fire, I don't think it will make that much of a difference.

Where to begin? #1 Back to School

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted something.  Anything.  Then, the last time I posted was this whiny paragraph about how terrible my life has been.  The truth is, it has been challenging.  It's been more challenging than is probably fair, but life is not fair.

I switched schools.  I don't know if I posted it here, but my school lost its regional accreditation.  I had decided to stay because it was a technical school and I didn't care about the regional accreditation.  Well, the more I read, the more I realized it was important and like so many other things, I decided to change somewhat on a whim and found that transferring and applying for a federal loan was so much easier than I thought it would be.

My first class in my new school starts tomorrow, so I guess I can post about it after it begins.  I did peek at the roster and found 17 names on the list.  This is a difference in that the most people that were ever in my classes was eight.  I know that I feel a sense of excitement I did not feel before.  I am happy that this school has a real campus and real teachers and even though this sounds silly.  Real clothes.  Isn't that silly?

I had originally thought paying for my schooling as I went was for the best.  I could only afford "less than part-time".  I realized that this was going to take me another five years after already going for two years just to make it through the end of my sophomore year.  Now it will be two years and I will be done.  It is going to be MUCH more expensive than I had originally anticipated by about $10,000, but I will be done sooner and I can hopefully think about a graduate degree.

Rough Week

I wanted to check in.  This has been a terrible week for me.  Lots of frustrations and disappointments.  I don't know what to do and the people that should care, don't seem to care.

Petty World: The Hot Water Heater and A Job Well Done

I alluded in another blog about our hot water heater dripping from the pipes for quite some time.  Before that, it was dripping on the floor and soaking the carpet that is on the floor in front of our washer and dryer and side door.

One that floor was a pile of boxes waiting to go to recycling.  (This is not a problem.  Sometimes I wait a little long to go, but it never piles up too much.)  In front of that pile of boxes was a box of fabric from a job I did.  The plan was to go through the scraps to see if there were any pieces left that might be salvageable for another project.

So as you might have guessed the boxes and the fabric became a smelly mess I was vaguely aware of, but inside the box the fabric was in plastic bags so I wasn't concerned about the fabric at the moment.

When my husband finally fixed the leak he just walked away from it.  The job was done.  He left everything right were it was including the bucket of water under the hot water heater, the ruined boxes and the box of fabric.

The first of the month is when I insist the recycling go, so I went to grab the boxes and realized that the job repairing the hot water heater had been left exactly where it stood when the damage was done.  Now, I will not sit here at the computer and try to tell you that this is not my fault.  The the dripping pipes were unknown to me.  I knew about the drip and I knew about the damage.  I guess I thought maybe this time he'd do whole job.  Apparently not.

So I picked up the soggy boxes and bucket of water.  Straightened up the area that had been shoved around while he did his repair work and opened up the box of fabric.  This is when I realized the water had soaked through the bags and onto the fabric.  This was $13 and up per yard fabric.  I shouldn't have left it on the floor.  I shouldn't have assumed it would be safe until I could get to it, but I did.  I took it out to the garage and assumed it would be safe until I could go through the scraps.

Now it wreaks of  mold and sour polyester and I'm not so sure if I want to take the time to try to salvage it.  Another waste of money because a job was only half done.  What am I supposed to do?  I can do everything around here.  I really can do it all.  I've done it all in the past, but I don't want to anymore.  It's time for him to be a homeowner, father and most of all a husband and he's fighting me on this.  I'm tired and I don't know what to do.

So what is a job well done?  A job well done is a job done where no one can tell you did the job.  Everything is put away, cleaned up, wiped off, etc.  If I have to come behind you after something like that and pick up, clean up, haul away, or whatever, than you haven't helped, you've hurt.