I went to a ball game on last night, just for fun. The Storm team is an affiliate of the San Diego Padres, and they always have fun things going on at the ballpark. In other words, one goes to hang out with friends and watch the mascot and less so because baseball is a consuming passion. In this stadium, the upside is that there are no bad seats, and the downside is that nearly all of them are in foul territory. I think that's on purpose so you have to pay attention.
There's something about baseball that is inseparable from summer... being outside, singing along to the national anthem, the cute little leaguers who shout "play ball!" and singing "Take me out to the ball game..." during the seventh inning stretch. (Technically, that's as close as I got to any peanuts or Cracker Jacks.) I admit we left sometime during the eighth inning, as the game had already run more than three hours, so we missed the Friday night fireworks, yet another summer "thing." No matter... I still got my baseball fix for a while.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
1 Mile
I ran a mile today! Well, OK, I ran a half mile twice, not the whole mile all at once (in the interest of full disclosure.) I hated pretty much every minute of it until I could sit down at the end and say "I did it!" It didn't help that I'm trying to break in a new pair of shoes, and they repaid me by rubbing a blister on my heel. Arghh. But until the blister cut my workout short, they did feel vastly better than my tired old pair of shoes.
So why am I putting myself through this agony? Every October, I participate in the Race for the Cure, and I've always walked the 5K route. But every year, I tell myself that one of these times I'm going to actually run the race. Not to compete for a prize, but just for the satisfaction of doing it. But having to start from, well, not running at all was a bit challenging. So in my belief that if it isn't on the internet, it doesn't exist, I did a Google search and found the Couch to 5K Running Plan.
The Plan gets you running the 5K in 30 minutes over a nine week training schedule. I'm allowing myself extra time because I've actually tried this before and reached week 5 before some knee pain became my excuse to quit. This time around, I'm doing most of the workouts 4 times instead of the 3 they recommend, so it will probably take more like 12 weeks.
Today was my first workout in the dreaded week 5. Although hating it, I was feeling like I could actually finish, so I was rather disappointed to quit early. But seeing as just walking back to my car was painful - I almost walked in just my socks - I'm sure it was the right decision. We'll see how Wednesday goes.
So why am I putting myself through this agony? Every October, I participate in the Race for the Cure, and I've always walked the 5K route. But every year, I tell myself that one of these times I'm going to actually run the race. Not to compete for a prize, but just for the satisfaction of doing it. But having to start from, well, not running at all was a bit challenging. So in my belief that if it isn't on the internet, it doesn't exist, I did a Google search and found the Couch to 5K Running Plan.
The Plan gets you running the 5K in 30 minutes over a nine week training schedule. I'm allowing myself extra time because I've actually tried this before and reached week 5 before some knee pain became my excuse to quit. This time around, I'm doing most of the workouts 4 times instead of the 3 they recommend, so it will probably take more like 12 weeks.
Today was my first workout in the dreaded week 5. Although hating it, I was feeling like I could actually finish, so I was rather disappointed to quit early. But seeing as just walking back to my car was painful - I almost walked in just my socks - I'm sure it was the right decision. We'll see how Wednesday goes.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Book: Identical Strangers
I generally read quite a bit more fiction than non-fiction, but when I make an exception, it is often for a biography. This duo-biography (and, no, I'm not sure that's a word) tells the story of two women about my own age who discover a big secret about themselves: although they had always known they were adopted, they did not know they had an identical twin.
This is something I can't begin to imagine. They couldn't either, but were suddenly faced with trying to figure out how to handle this new reality. The book, in alternating voices of Elyse and Paula, takes the reader through the moments they first learned about having a twin, their first meeting, the tentative steps they took to become acquainted with a new-found sister, and a search for their birth mother and the truth about why they were separated.
Along the way, they introduce other sets of identical twins that were also separated and adopted out to different families. The facts about they uncover about twins are completely fascinating, as is their very honest and personal account of their discovery.
This is something I can't begin to imagine. They couldn't either, but were suddenly faced with trying to figure out how to handle this new reality. The book, in alternating voices of Elyse and Paula, takes the reader through the moments they first learned about having a twin, their first meeting, the tentative steps they took to become acquainted with a new-found sister, and a search for their birth mother and the truth about why they were separated.Along the way, they introduce other sets of identical twins that were also separated and adopted out to different families. The facts about they uncover about twins are completely fascinating, as is their very honest and personal account of their discovery.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Thankful Thursday: Sermon Homework
The current sermon series at my church is called Hearing God Speak. So far, we've learned about hearing God through the Holy Spirit within us, through the creation and through circumstances. This week, we learned about hearing God speak through others. This comes out of the idea that we grow, in part, through being part of a community of believers, and often it is others in that community who teach and encourage us.
The "homework" was to consider who in my life, past or present, for a short time or a long while, served as an encouragement in my faith. The first person who came to mind was my favorite high school teacher, Mr. Freiberg. (Any readers of this blog who also had this teacher may well roll their eyes!!)
Mr. Freiberg taught science, but had this quirky assignment he required of all of his students: every Monday morning, we had to turn in sermon notes. One could attend church in person, listen to a radio sermon, or watch one on TV, but notes were due at the beginning of class every week without fail. For three years, I was rarely without pen and paper at church. What started as a required assignment became a habit that I expect will last a lifetime since I haven't given it up yet.
I'm thankful for this habit because writing notes helps me pay closer attention on Sundays. It helps me to learn more from what I'm hearing, so it has a bigger impact on my week and on my life. Sometimes I wonder if my furious note-taking is distracting to my neighbors. I hope not, because I'd hate to give it up.
The "homework" was to consider who in my life, past or present, for a short time or a long while, served as an encouragement in my faith. The first person who came to mind was my favorite high school teacher, Mr. Freiberg. (Any readers of this blog who also had this teacher may well roll their eyes!!)
Mr. Freiberg taught science, but had this quirky assignment he required of all of his students: every Monday morning, we had to turn in sermon notes. One could attend church in person, listen to a radio sermon, or watch one on TV, but notes were due at the beginning of class every week without fail. For three years, I was rarely without pen and paper at church. What started as a required assignment became a habit that I expect will last a lifetime since I haven't given it up yet.
I'm thankful for this habit because writing notes helps me pay closer attention on Sundays. It helps me to learn more from what I'm hearing, so it has a bigger impact on my week and on my life. Sometimes I wonder if my furious note-taking is distracting to my neighbors. I hope not, because I'd hate to give it up.
Imposing on Grace
If there is one thing I count on in my faith, it is God's grace. His infinite, patient, deep, broad, ever-present, unimaginable grace. But this week, I wondered: do I depend on it too much? Take it too much for granted?
My Bible study group has recently finished reading and discussing Galatians, and a main point in this letter is that our salvation is by grace alone, and does not depend on our own actions (works.) At our last discussion, we were asked to consider what the most life-changing thing we'd learned was. For whatever reason, the idea of imposing on grace too much came into my mind.
I do not fear that I could exceed the limits of God's grace, but rather it made me think about those stubborn moments when I know what the right thing is, but I choose the wrong thing anyway. Paul sympathized in Romans 7:19... "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."
My Bible study group has recently finished reading and discussing Galatians, and a main point in this letter is that our salvation is by grace alone, and does not depend on our own actions (works.) At our last discussion, we were asked to consider what the most life-changing thing we'd learned was. For whatever reason, the idea of imposing on grace too much came into my mind.
I do not fear that I could exceed the limits of God's grace, but rather it made me think about those stubborn moments when I know what the right thing is, but I choose the wrong thing anyway. Paul sympathized in Romans 7:19... "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."
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