I was unsure about going on the run this morning, as the tendon that attaches to the top front of my kneecap was sore from yesterday's swim, but I REALLY wanted to go....so I went, delicately. And it was lovely, and muddy and wet and wonderful. Only did 2.5k, but it was a good outing and my knee actually felt better for the effort.
I was, however, very sure that I would enjoy my evening, walked the dog, ate some dinner, read my book, chatted with the man, did a wee little bit of work, and now I'm getting ready to swim tomorrow morning.
Nice day all around.
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Back at swimming
Today was the first day back at swimming training after a year away. Well, that was quite something. I got graduated out of the slow-poke lane, which was kinda nice, but also meant that I got a lot less direct coaching, in fact none at all today, but it's early days, and I certainly needed to warm up and get organized.
It went way better than I thought it would, I figured my form would have been much worse, but it felt OK. No Phleps or anything here, and I am still in the slowest but one lane, but still, it felt OK! I'm not as strong though (what a surprise) and I'm going to be stiff in spots, mostly my shoulder.
Still, that was pretty great. Oddly, one of my knees is bugging me, which is not making me happier, I may have to finally cave and get that looked at when we get back to Spain. Gimpy knees are not welcome!
All in all, really nice.
I only took on water involuntarily once as well!!!
It went way better than I thought it would, I figured my form would have been much worse, but it felt OK. No Phleps or anything here, and I am still in the slowest but one lane, but still, it felt OK! I'm not as strong though (what a surprise) and I'm going to be stiff in spots, mostly my shoulder.
Still, that was pretty great. Oddly, one of my knees is bugging me, which is not making me happier, I may have to finally cave and get that looked at when we get back to Spain. Gimpy knees are not welcome!
All in all, really nice.
I only took on water involuntarily once as well!!!
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
What to say
Now you see, this is one of those days where I don't know where to start, cause so much happened, and so little of it can I talk about here as it was work related (happens when you put in a really intense 11 hour day!)
But this is also part of what I love about the blog, cause it forces me to sit down and comb through the day and pick out the bits that were great, that were worth noting, where the teeth of the comb hang up on something and I get to reflect on it and move through it a bit more.
Maybe I'll start with some vignettes,
Ohhhhh, I love those seaweed snacks, the ones with the toasted salted seaweed sheets? Sooooo delicious and I can convince myself that I am getting vital minerals and vitamins too.
Making bread is one of the great things to do in life, my day was ruled and ordered by bacteria.....indeed the entire institute's day was, 36 people, all waiting on the eating habits of those yeasty bugglets. Very nice bread at the end of it all too. Mmmmmmmmm
Babies are amazing, watching a 6 month old gnaw on a cold metal table leg......mmmmmmm good on those gums!
Jars of breast milk in the freezer at work, kinda stressed mom, but it is lovely to see too.
That exquisite stress and tension when you just get on the highway and realize you have almost no gas left, and then the relief when you get to a station and it's still running.
Coming home to a dog who is so happy to see you, then almost falling asleep on the carpet while you scratch his belly. It's not that I'm tired, it's just easier to sit on the floor. No, no no, I'm not sleepy, that's not why I'm lying down on the rug with the dog, it's just more comfy....mhhhmmmmhhhhh
A good day, a long day, a busy day, but a very good day too.
But this is also part of what I love about the blog, cause it forces me to sit down and comb through the day and pick out the bits that were great, that were worth noting, where the teeth of the comb hang up on something and I get to reflect on it and move through it a bit more.
Maybe I'll start with some vignettes,
Ohhhhh, I love those seaweed snacks, the ones with the toasted salted seaweed sheets? Sooooo delicious and I can convince myself that I am getting vital minerals and vitamins too.
Making bread is one of the great things to do in life, my day was ruled and ordered by bacteria.....indeed the entire institute's day was, 36 people, all waiting on the eating habits of those yeasty bugglets. Very nice bread at the end of it all too. Mmmmmmmmm
Babies are amazing, watching a 6 month old gnaw on a cold metal table leg......mmmmmmm good on those gums!
Jars of breast milk in the freezer at work, kinda stressed mom, but it is lovely to see too.
That exquisite stress and tension when you just get on the highway and realize you have almost no gas left, and then the relief when you get to a station and it's still running.
Coming home to a dog who is so happy to see you, then almost falling asleep on the carpet while you scratch his belly. It's not that I'm tired, it's just easier to sit on the floor. No, no no, I'm not sleepy, that's not why I'm lying down on the rug with the dog, it's just more comfy....mhhhmmmmhhhhh
A good day, a long day, a busy day, but a very good day too.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Lord I love the library
And other good stuff in a lovely long relaxing day.
Honestly, this three day weekend feels like I had a week off. So nice. Went up to the boat, hung out with the man, ate out, pho and a great burger, had dinner with my sister in law, went to the fabulous library walked the dog a lot and finally, FINALLY, did a bit of drawing!
Went and picked up a couple of pads, a couple of pencils and an eraser......brought the brushes and paint. So fabulous to start again. The work I did is mediocre, not a surprise considering how long it's been, but man it was great.
See?
Love it, getting back to doing some of the things I love to do.
Honestly, this three day weekend feels like I had a week off. So nice. Went up to the boat, hung out with the man, ate out, pho and a great burger, had dinner with my sister in law, went to the fabulous library walked the dog a lot and finally, FINALLY, did a bit of drawing!
Went and picked up a couple of pads, a couple of pencils and an eraser......brought the brushes and paint. So fabulous to start again. The work I did is mediocre, not a surprise considering how long it's been, but man it was great.
See?
Love it, getting back to doing some of the things I love to do.
Pat the boat day
The man and I went off yesterday to pat the boat. She looks great! We've got some ideas for the work we want to do on her this year, (I say we very guardedly there, as really, I'll be at work and the man is going to do all the work.
The main sail needs new mast slugs and the metalwork is rusting and needs to be changed out, there was talk about revarnishing the tiller, but I don't see it here in the city, so maybe not. Also talk about working on the v-berth to make it a little more civilized, which would be very nice indeed if we pulled that off!
There were a lot of boats on the hard still, it has been an extremely wet spring and people just aren't getting their boats in, I did manage a swim at the beach, it was chilly and got a gasp as I got in, but was really nice; predictably, Chuck thought I was going to die and got all worked up.
The man and I spent part of the drive trying to figure out what to do with our lives, once again, no success, just too many variables. Other people must lead more settled lives, making these kinds of decisions a little more straightforward, but goodness gracious, we haven't got very much clear at all.
None of it's bad though, we're just not sure where we're going with it all.
The main sail needs new mast slugs and the metalwork is rusting and needs to be changed out, there was talk about revarnishing the tiller, but I don't see it here in the city, so maybe not. Also talk about working on the v-berth to make it a little more civilized, which would be very nice indeed if we pulled that off!
There were a lot of boats on the hard still, it has been an extremely wet spring and people just aren't getting their boats in, I did manage a swim at the beach, it was chilly and got a gasp as I got in, but was really nice; predictably, Chuck thought I was going to die and got all worked up.
The man and I spent part of the drive trying to figure out what to do with our lives, once again, no success, just too many variables. Other people must lead more settled lives, making these kinds of decisions a little more straightforward, but goodness gracious, we haven't got very much clear at all.
None of it's bad though, we're just not sure where we're going with it all.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Let's see if this gets up and running again
It's been ages since I wrote consistently, and I've been too busy to even think about it, but it would be nice to get it going again, I enjoy the process of writing in the blog, and more so the process of combing through the day and noticing the notable.
The master's is done, though I haven't received a mark yet, I am fairly confident it will pass, though I will feel better when the mark comes in.
Work is work and there is a lot of it.
That's a lot, all part time, and there may be more next year.
Kids are, at the moment, both happy and stress free it would seem, the man has gone to bed at 7:30 exhausted. The dog has decided that food is for wimps and isn't eating. I'm waiting him out. Chuck the dog and I will go and move the car at around 9 to legal overnight parking.
It is odd coming back here, in some ways we have fewer friends than we did before, and there is no routine to organize us. I'm doing the swimming like I did last year, I really liked it, and Chinese classes as well twice a week, I don't want to forget it all, and it looks like it may come together, it doesn't do any harm to learn it anyway.
Hope X is feeling better. Both N and we were having pho at the same time on different continents, which is funny.....dinner was very good indeed, I do love pho and the man is saying that he may try making it!!!! Now that is exciting.
This is not in anyway brilliant writing, a little more like accounting honestly, but it's what I'm thinking. I have an enormous group of students this summer, it's going to be pretty wild and a lot of work, but we should be able to get it done, well we have to. And I also want to get some work done on the online classroom project, as well as talk to Nancy about using Schoology rather than drive, we'll see about that. It can be linked. On that note, I am going to go and do a bit of work on developing the sandbox for the students as the man is asleep and it's too early to move the car, and I finished my book. It was good too.
More tomorrow.
The master's is done, though I haven't received a mark yet, I am fairly confident it will pass, though I will feel better when the mark comes in.
Work is work and there is a lot of it.
- Work teaching English in one language school
- Ditto another
- Teaching FCE prep online in the second
- Teaching online at la UOC
- Examining for Cambridge English exams
- Teaching in TO as a teacher trainer
- Running the online material for that same teacher training institute.
That's a lot, all part time, and there may be more next year.
Kids are, at the moment, both happy and stress free it would seem, the man has gone to bed at 7:30 exhausted. The dog has decided that food is for wimps and isn't eating. I'm waiting him out. Chuck the dog and I will go and move the car at around 9 to legal overnight parking.
It is odd coming back here, in some ways we have fewer friends than we did before, and there is no routine to organize us. I'm doing the swimming like I did last year, I really liked it, and Chinese classes as well twice a week, I don't want to forget it all, and it looks like it may come together, it doesn't do any harm to learn it anyway.
Hope X is feeling better. Both N and we were having pho at the same time on different continents, which is funny.....dinner was very good indeed, I do love pho and the man is saying that he may try making it!!!! Now that is exciting.
This is not in anyway brilliant writing, a little more like accounting honestly, but it's what I'm thinking. I have an enormous group of students this summer, it's going to be pretty wild and a lot of work, but we should be able to get it done, well we have to. And I also want to get some work done on the online classroom project, as well as talk to Nancy about using Schoology rather than drive, we'll see about that. It can be linked. On that note, I am going to go and do a bit of work on developing the sandbox for the students as the man is asleep and it's too early to move the car, and I finished my book. It was good too.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
First thoughts on Glasgow, from the evening of my arrival
This city is WAY more beautiful than I thought it would be.....WAY!!! And seriously rich, in the past and now. There are tons and tons of amazing buildings. As my offspring puts it, based on shipping spices, slaves and tobacco. Well. We can feel good about the spices anyway.
There continues to be some really amazing architecture being put up too. It is also bigger than I thought it would be. Clearly my assumptions about the city weren't accurate.
Flying in though....the Scots are different than the Catalans in one respect anyway, they've cut down every god damned tree for hundreds of kilometers. Every last one flying in was like a freaking moonscape. Weird.
The brits do know how to do milk products. Eating cheddar (how I miss it!) and having double cream in my tea!!! (Heh, I'm on vacation!!!)
There continues to be some really amazing architecture being put up too. It is also bigger than I thought it would be. Clearly my assumptions about the city weren't accurate.
Flying in though....the Scots are different than the Catalans in one respect anyway, they've cut down every god damned tree for hundreds of kilometers. Every last one flying in was like a freaking moonscape. Weird.
The brits do know how to do milk products. Eating cheddar (how I miss it!) and having double cream in my tea!!! (Heh, I'm on vacation!!!)
Thoughts on a day in Geneva
Oh， OK, the city is fine, the public transit bus drivers are complete a**holes. OMG. 'Nuff said.
CERN, super cool, but without a tour, only sorta kinda worth the effort. I'd still love to go on a tour, so someday I'll have to book the tour and then the flights.
Geneva itself, not a lot there, honestly. Banks, watches and super high end shopping. Most people were doing shopping with only a few tourists wandering around the old part of town. I think it must have been one of the very first warm sunny days they've had, cause man, the folks who live there were out in DROVES!
Food, insanely expensive. 8 Swiss francs for a sandwich!!!! I'll grant, it was a good sandwich, but still.
I was so tired, so so so tired..... I ended up having a nap in a park, along with about 20 other people. Just lay out on the grass. That was marvelous.
I can understand quite a lot of French, but remain largely mute. It was coming back quickly, so I would probably be able to function in a relatively short amount of time, but goodness, the brain is a funny place.
I didn't get to see the following two pictures, you don't get to see that even on a tour, but they had some very impressive images up on the wall.....
These are actual CERN particles!!!
A CERN smile.
Had a nap under this magnolia....
The archaeological museum I wasn't willing to pay to go into.
Neptune, out for a walk.
Finally, there's all that Swiss efficiency, but honestly, a certain lack of information for tourists. It was all a little confusing, and not just cause I was tired.
CERN, super cool, but without a tour, only sorta kinda worth the effort. I'd still love to go on a tour, so someday I'll have to book the tour and then the flights.
Geneva itself, not a lot there, honestly. Banks, watches and super high end shopping. Most people were doing shopping with only a few tourists wandering around the old part of town. I think it must have been one of the very first warm sunny days they've had, cause man, the folks who live there were out in DROVES!
Food, insanely expensive. 8 Swiss francs for a sandwich!!!! I'll grant, it was a good sandwich, but still.
I was so tired, so so so tired..... I ended up having a nap in a park, along with about 20 other people. Just lay out on the grass. That was marvelous.
I can understand quite a lot of French, but remain largely mute. It was coming back quickly, so I would probably be able to function in a relatively short amount of time, but goodness, the brain is a funny place.
I didn't get to see the following two pictures, you don't get to see that even on a tour, but they had some very impressive images up on the wall.....
These are actual CERN particles!!!
A CERN smile.
Had a nap under this magnolia....
The archaeological museum I wasn't willing to pay to go into.
Neptune, out for a walk.
Finally, there's all that Swiss efficiency, but honestly, a certain lack of information for tourists. It was all a little confusing, and not just cause I was tired.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Reading
People seem to differ a bit in their approach to reading.
Well, that's an obvious comment isn't it...let me be clearer, readers seem to differ in their approach to reading. My husband, for example, far prefers to read a number of books at the same time, up to 5 of them, and he alters through them via some kind of internal algorithm or emotional guage. I have always preferred to read one book, finish it and start the next.
This difference may have to do with my husbands rather formidable ability to remember. Really, it is amazing. However, if I leave a book too long I lose track of some of the details of the story. Though for me it is also about sinking myself into the story and entering the world, so switching frequently between them is not what interests me terribly.
Right now, however, for powers beyond my control, I am reading 5 books at the same time. Kinda not enjoying it. I gave up last night, stayed up late and finished one of them.
Bliss.
Well, that's an obvious comment isn't it...let me be clearer, readers seem to differ in their approach to reading. My husband, for example, far prefers to read a number of books at the same time, up to 5 of them, and he alters through them via some kind of internal algorithm or emotional guage. I have always preferred to read one book, finish it and start the next.
This difference may have to do with my husbands rather formidable ability to remember. Really, it is amazing. However, if I leave a book too long I lose track of some of the details of the story. Though for me it is also about sinking myself into the story and entering the world, so switching frequently between them is not what interests me terribly.
Right now, however, for powers beyond my control, I am reading 5 books at the same time. Kinda not enjoying it. I gave up last night, stayed up late and finished one of them.
Bliss.
Saturday, March 4, 2017
This is not a humble brag
This is straight up amazement.
I've been studying Mandarin a bit, and look what I can understand! (Only in the context, not sure I would be able to on the street, but still.....)
你好吗?
我很好，你呢?
我也很好。
And it sounds like this: http://materials.cv.uoc.edu/continguts/PID_00236109/Texts_Interactius/U1-4/data/material/17039_textu14_1.mp3
I only have to check 10 or 11 times to write it correctly too! Not only that, but I understood it right off....the characters are hard though, and they need to be written in a specific order, which does actually have a lot of logic to it and makes it easier to understand.
Here I'm writing (more or less, I am sure my handwriting is appalling) Hello!
Oh, and it says...
Hello, how are you?
I'm very good, and you?
I'm also very good.
Cool, no?
I've been studying Mandarin a bit, and look what I can understand! (Only in the context, not sure I would be able to on the street, but still.....)
你好吗?
我很好，你呢?
我也很好。
And it sounds like this: http://materials.cv.uoc.edu/continguts/PID_00236109/Texts_Interactius/U1-4/data/material/17039_textu14_1.mp3
I only have to check 10 or 11 times to write it correctly too! Not only that, but I understood it right off....the characters are hard though, and they need to be written in a specific order, which does actually have a lot of logic to it and makes it easier to understand.
Here I'm writing (more or less, I am sure my handwriting is appalling) Hello!
Oh, and it says...
Hello, how are you?
I'm very good, and you?
I'm also very good.
Cool, no?
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