A little bit of everything

June has really felt like the longest month ever, and it's not over yet. I think being busy makes certain months seem long, and that's certainly been the case lately.

Some Big News

The last quarter of this school year was like nothing I've ever experienced. The main factor being this global pandemic, of course.

Spring break began on March 13; originally, I was supposed to be in LA for the ASCD conference at that time, but we decided to cancel. We left school that Friday with an extremely rough set of instructions for if our return to school after spring break was delayed.

Obviously, we never returned to school.

New work-from-home attire: PJ bottoms all day.

Remote crisis schooling was...something else. I was impressed daily by my teachers and their flexibility, innovation, creativity, and grace under pressure. This was a hard way to end the year; despite kind of enjoying being isolated at home with Matt, I wasn't immune to the fear and concern circulating because of Covid-19. As an asthmatic with an autoimmune disease, I'll admit my paranoia was (and still is) heightened.

I cannot imagine working in an office without these ladies.

8th grade graduation just wasn't the same!

On top of all this, Matt and I had listed our house for sale just a week or so before Florida schools shut down. We were under contract just as the Stay at Home issue was ordered. We had to deal with inspectors and realtors, packing and moving, and finding a new place to live while being constantly vigilant to avoid contamination.

House hunting was made doubly difficult because we had some very specific guidelines: we wanted a short-term lease, three months max.

That brings me to the real piece of news; if you read my last post, you'll know where this is heading.

Matt and I have officially decided to move to Seattle. Our lease is up at the end of July; we'll make a short stop in Sarasota to see our parents, and then we'll start our cross-country drive.

Why Seattle? For years, Scott and Robby had planned to move out there, and our interest was piqued as long ago as 2016. Back in 2018, we took a two-week vacation out there for their wedding. The moment I stepped off the plane, I felt totally and completely at home. It was a feeling of belonging I have only ever experienced in Beachwood - my childhood home - and Edinburgh. 

We went back in December 2018 to make sure we liked Seattle winters. No complaints!

This is a scary time to choose to make such a big move, but with everything going on right now, we want to be in Seattle more than ever. Yes, even with Covid. Yes, even with the protests. We just don't want to wait any longer.

Details still need to be ironed out, but it feels freeing to have a plan and to have made a decision. It feels right. We've been yearning for this for years. It feels good to finally make it a reality.

I can't believe I'm leaving this office and the best office-mates ever!

Leaving will be bittersweet. I've been at my school for 11 years! The friends I've made here are truly family, and when I think of leaving them it physically hurts. 

My work besties have been there for me through so much!

We've tackled some major life events here. My parents, siblings, and Steph's sweet little family live here. Matt's parents live here. Not being able to have a big goodbye bash with everyone together is making this exponentially more difficult.

But we're as ready as we'll ever be, and time waits for no one.

It'll be tough, but it'll be worth it.

Our next adventure awaits!

ABK

(In case it needs to be said, we support the protests and are doing our part. Black lives matter.)

Harry Potter Trivia Night

The other day, an event from a local brewery popped up on my newsfeed: Harry Potter trivia! As I've mentioned, I am currently reading the books to Matt. He's seen the movies, but has never read the books. We're in the middle of OOTP right now.

We very rarely go out and do things like this, but it sounded fun, and it's the last week of summer break for me so...why not?!

We arrived at Millennial Brewing just after 6pm and it was already getting crowded. I immediately spotted a couple other teachers there, but they were with their own groups so we left them to it after saying hello.

It's hard to tell but that's a wand I'm holding.

Matt and I hung out for an hour before trivia started. I had a key lime cider from 3 Daughters, which may actually be my new favorite cider - it was a little tart, not at all too sweet, and tasted very fresh. Matt had the butterbeer cocktail (which was lager, cream soda, and homemade butterscotch) and we split a butterbeer hemp ice cream.

(Side note: this was the most bizarre thing! The ice cream wasn't frozen the way real ice cream is and almost had a sticky/stretchy consistency. It was good and tasted like ice cream but you could tell it wasn't "normal".)

Matt did surprisingly well for the first game of trivia, which was focused around The Sorcerer's Stone. (We played three games; each of the three games focused on a different book. I was glad they weren't movie-based questions.) Our team name was Mimbulus mimbletonia. 

Excited to be on the board! There were 83 teams playing!

Anyway, we got on the leaderboard in the second game (Prisoner of Azkaban) and even made it to first place for some of the last game (Order of the Phoenix). I accidentally hit the wrong answer for a question, though, and ruined our lead. Competition was tight. We finished in 3rd, which wasn't bad at all!

I felt like I'd earned my Harry Potter fan club membership.

Here's a trivia question: do you know whose wand I have?

There were a couple food trucks in the parking lot; we had vegan nachos from Buddha Blends, which were honestly amazing. They were topped with cashew queso and the ground "meat" was made from ground and seasoned walnuts, both of which were new vegan tastes for me. I'm a fan!

As I was at the bar closing my tab, a girl who had been sitting with one of my teacher friends made eye contact with me. I'd noticed her earlier and thought maybe I knew her. We kind of stared at each other, and she said, "You look familiar."

I was like, "I think I taught you."

We exchanged names and suddenly all these memories came rushing back. She was one of my little smarty-pantses, and definitely a kid I remember fondly. She's currently in her last year of undergrad with her sights set on PA school. I was like omg you're old enough to drink now?! 

We caught up a bit, during which time Matt had to hold his own on the trivia game. He did a good job! I was proud of him!

Shoutout to Ashley for the shirt!

There were some really clever team names!

We'll definitely be back for more trivia nights that pique our interest, although I'm not a fount of knowledge for much outside Harry Potter unless they're going to do "general English major random facts trivia". I won't hold my breath.

ABK

Blog Facelift & Life Update

Over the last few weeks, I have been making little tweaks to Hit the Ground Running. I have missed writing here but also felt the look of the blog was getting old, so I thought a little facelift might put me in a writing mindset.

I updated my About Me page yesterday for the first time in maybe five years, simplified the banner, and cleaned up the widgets. I'm pretty happy with how streamlined it all looks now.

I thought I'd borrow Meg's "Currently" format for a bit of a life update today.

Current running situation: I'm finally starting to acclimate to summer humidity and temps. I've worked my way back up to four miles three times a week, and my eyes are on getting to five miles in the next couple weeks.

Current writing situation: Something about being not busy makes writing hard. But I think I've finally outlined the end of the novel I'm working on and if I work on it a little bit daily, this may be the first one I finish in years.

Currently reading: Starting in winter or early spring, I began reading Harry Potter to Matt. Despite years of cajoling, he never did read the books, but he agreed to let me read The Sorcerer's Stone to him. Once we finished that one, it just felt necessary to keep going! We're currently on Order of the Phoenix. He doesn't remember much from the movies (and the books are very different in some crucial ways), so it's been really fun to watch his reactions!

Current guilty pleasure: I actually went shopping for real clothes for the first time in years (I know!) right before our trip to St. Augustine, so I'd say that was a guilty pleasure...but buying stuff for my future nephew has definitely topped the charts. I just can't help it - I want to buy everything! (Steph is due in October.)

Current drink: I have become obsessed with hot tea! I don't know what it is...I mean, it's summer! But I don't drink coffee in summer so maybe it's been a bit of a replacement. I'm enjoying a few different flavors and I have at least two cups a day.

The three teas in my rotation right now.

Current triumph: I've been eating very healthfully over the last two months and have successfully lost the weight I wanted to lose. I'm very proud of myself for sticking to it. It's amazing the difference 5 pounds makes when you're short.

Current favorite TV show: Matt and I are nearly done with season three of Stranger Things. It's a relief to watch a show where every episode actually holds my interest and is so good after the disappointment of Game of Thrones season 8.

Current food: Oatmeal. I used to not find it filling or good but lately oatmeal with some salt and PB2 has been my jam.

Currently listening to: Emmit Fenn. His music is perfect to write to. Here's a playlist I'm enjoying.

Current excitement: My sister's wedding and baby shower are coming up at the end of the month! I finished writing my matron-of-honor speech yesterday and feel pretty good about it.

Currently needing: To get back to work on the house. We were making great progress on the yard but the rainy season has thrown a wrench in our progress.

Currently celebrating: Nine years of marriage! Matt's and my anniversary is July 10 and I'm not even sure how that's possible! We'll be celebrating with a trip to a local bird sanctuary and a staycation at a resort hotel.

ABK

The Purpose of Life

Funny the things you think about when you're up super early for a run and have some quiet time alone. In the quiet hour between the end of last Thursday's morning run and my commute to work, I was thinking about...life.

I don't often get too contemplative these days - I think I left a lot of that navel-gazing behind with my teens - but I had read this comic from The Oatmeal recently and I think it was lodged in my head:

This is just an incomplete snapshot of the entire thing. He goes on to write that the things he loves don't often bring him joy - sometimes they make him suffer but they are compelling. That's how I often feel about writing and running!

I hate the two ends of the "meaning of life" spectrum: the positive side that thinks life is meant to bring you happiness and that you should feel fulfilled always, and the nihilistic side that thinks we're all just existing and there's nothing more to it, and that life owes us nothing so if we're not happy who cares?

Although I do find the Nihilist Memes page on Facebook pretty damn funny if you're into dark humor.

Side note: There are a million articles online about how to find happiness in life, and I feel like if you're reading those articles trying to pick up tips, you're going about it the wrong way.

Then I was thinking, really, what do I think the meaning or purpose of life is? Because when I'm just living it, I'm not enjoying it, and when I'm enjoying it, it may all still be meaningless, but at least I'm not miserable. I came up with three things that, to me, speak to the purpose of life:

The reality of the world we live in is that we won't enjoy every minute of every day. We need to do some things we don't love or aren't passionate about in order to survive, and I think anyone who says differently has more privilege than I've ever known. But we do need to enjoy life if we want to thrive, and there's a difference between surviving and thriving.

When I'm satisfying my curiosity, learning new things, exploring, and experiencing the world around me, life feels a lot richer.

We need to seek out things that engross us and prioritize them in a way that makes them part of our lives on a regular basis. If you don't know what that thing is for you, it's time to explore. Take a class. Volunteer. Learn to cook. Read more. Take a day trip. Go to a museum. Try your hand at drawing. Go camping. Whatever. For me, obviously, one of those things is running. It doesn't always make me happy, but it compels me.

Life itself may not have a definite purpose (to paraphrase the Oatmeal: that's okay) but it feels better when we're engaged with living. It's like I used to tell my students: you have to be here, so you may as well make the most of it!

How's that for a marriage between blind optimism and nihilism?

Do you think there's a purpose or meaning to life?
What enriches your life?

ABK

Odds & Ends

1 - I'm like, the worst blogger in the world right now. Updates are slow, comments are behind...But it's not just on the blog. I've been kind of avoiding the internet in general. I've developed, overnight, it seems, some kind of phobia of checking my email or looking at Facebook. I think knowing how behind I am on it all just adds fuel to the anxiety, but I can't seem to get around it. It'll be nice when the school year isn't "new" anymore and things fall back into routine.

Yep. Serious avoidance issues right now.

2 - The other night Matt and I went to the gas station to get ice cream. They opened a frozen yogurt bar and we basically had the most ridiculous "date night" ever. But it was delicious.

3 - After ice cream, I ran. I might have skipped it because my giant helping of peanut butter yogurt, Butterfinger, and hot caramel wasn't the best fuel, but I couldn't leave Kristin hanging! I haven't seen her since June. It was amazing to catch up, and it was nice to remember that running with a buddy can be super motivating and fun.

After the best 3 miles I've had in awhile!

4 - My legs feel much better adapted this week. No more stiff joints or sore hamstrings. I think my long run will stand a chance this weekend. I have noticed that I keep waking up with a sore back, though. Am I just getting old?

5 - Speaking of pain, when I went home last weekend for Matt's race and saw my dad, he spent about an hour regaling us with tales of his most recent surgeries. Remind me that if I ever need a crown put in or a tooth drilled, I should be unconscious for it. Also, this man has guts of steel; when he had a tendon cut in his hand to deal with his arthritis, he was fully awake and watched the doctor do the surgery. Apparently watching your tendons move inside your hand is really awesome. Yeah.

I didn't take any pictures of his crazy surgery scars, so here's a picture from a much prettier scene from the weekend.

6 - Matt has been working tirelessly on our garage. The shelves are up, the paddleboards hung, his workbench built from scratch. I'm so glad I married someone who knows his way around power-tools!

7 - I took a bunch of sequins off a shirt last week and now we're finding them all over the house. I swear I threw them in the garbage, but they've managed to migrate all over the place.

8 - Uplifting text conversations make my day. Seriously.

I'm so grateful that after last weekend's aborted long run, my running friends were there to pick me back up!

9 - Hilarious autocorrect situations also make my day.

This was in regards to the ice bucket challenge...My autocorrect is dirty!

10 - I had over 2200 photos on my iPhone and I deleted all but a dozen today because my memory was full. I kept photos of old students' notes on my whiteboard, important race photos, photos of my students doing Zumba last year, All Star photos, and some favorite family/friends pictures; now I have 204.

So, that's my life this week. I'll try to be more present! I hate putting the blogging world on the back-burner because I find it so motivating and I care about what you all are up to...but life is just a little crazy at the moment!

Do you delete old photos from your phone once you've uploaded them?

Is ice cream for dinner ever acceptable?

What is your favorite ice cream topping? I go for Butterfinger every time.

ABK

Checking In

Oops. It seems I've taken an unexpected break from the blog! It's funny how post-race adrenaline eventually leaves you totally wiped!

This past week I've been working, recovering, getting ready for our field trip to the Holocaust Museum, preparing for Ragnar, driving 12 hours this weekend for a good friend's bridal shower...

Running in the cold rain is my favorite!

Settling in for a 6 hour drive.

Shane and Mark enjoying their shower.

Our weather is back into the 80s this week and will stay there for Ragnar. Hope you all are staying warm!

So I've been a little swamped! Hopefully I'll be back in the groove soon, but if not, know that things are good, just busy! (I've taken a little break from ALL social media this week...it has felt pretty good!)

I haven't been keeping up on blogs very well this week! Tell me something you posted that I may have missed!

ABK