That thing you always shake your head at other people for doing

I cannot run any race without mishap, apparently.

Although, this was only my second, so maybe we shouldn't be chiseling that in stone just yet.

I got up early on a Saturday, put on three layers, and drove out to a nearby church where the Freedom 5k was starting at 9.

And then in my rush to register, thinking that I wouldn't want to jog with keys in hand, and certainly wasn't going to take my purse, wallet, or key card, I threw the keys on the passenger seat, pushed the lock, and slammed the door.

You can see the problem here.

Luckily, I had an extra set and an apartment-mate willing to drive me back.

But the camera and phone were in the purse, so no pictures.

But anyway, the rest of the run went fairly well. I don't know my time; something under a half hour. I don't really run for speed. I run for....

And they had free Panera bread. And a free t-shirt. And I won the raffle of a $25 gift card to Quiznos!

So my sheer luck won out over my willful stupidity in the end.

It was a good morning.

October snow

... is craaaazytown.

Even for New England.


Yesterday was a miserable mess of rain and snow.

Today is a beautiful dream of blueness and sunshine.


The North Shore in the fall is a series of extreme mood swings.

Real estate wonderings

These apartments apparently exist somewhere in Boston.

I wouldn't know. They look like they would be waaaay out of my budget.

Or rather, our budget. I'm currently on the hunt for an apartment for myself and a friend next semester.

But I'm a real estate amateur. There's a lot I don't understand.

Like, what does it mean when there's no picture of a place that otherwise seems perfect? Ceilings that aren't really 10 foot? Neon orange shag carpeting? Recent fire from the meth lab?

Or just, ya know, some lovely little old lady who simply didn't own a camera because they just have so many doggone buttons nowadays and ach, who can figure out how to work those contraptions?

Discoveries in the meantime

Two whole weeks. That's what it's been since I've opened this page.

But who's counting? I just needed a blog break.

Here's some things I've discovered while not divulging my non-secrets to you all:

People really come from far and wide to see historic Salem, especially in October, and I've never gone, even though its about twenty minutes from here. It was a great place for an outing with my parents. The weirdo count was really much lower than expected. And anyway, who can't appreciate a good weirdo now and again?


Brazilians apparently love their barbeque. We went to a place and they brought my parents at least seven different servings of meat. I abstained. I prefer my fat in carb form.

Anyone was to buy me a manicure?

I found this Peruvian cincuenta in the pocket of the jacket I bought in Lima. I take it out and hold it every now and again, like a good luck charm. Maybe I'll pretend it's the cincuenta I made the cobrador give me back after he shorted me when I only had a ten sole bill. And then my friends laughed at me.


In some very specific situations, I still inexplicably have the gut reaction to speak Spanish. Like when I can't tell if someone's in line, I without fail want to say, Perdon, estas en la cola? Or when withdrawing money from the bank. Or when buying tickets for something.


American clubs are much like Peruvian discotecas, but seemingly bigger. Ha, I could say that about nearly everything! And with much more averting-of-eye-contact and staying-with-your-group tactics required. And much less moving of your hips, sadly.


And finally, job search is a wearing business friends. So far my future starting on December 15th, the day after finals end, is blank page of unknown possibilities.

Does that sound hopeful? It was meant to sound stressful.

Let the record show

I'm training to participate in a 5k benefit for Route 1 Ministries at my church, which works against local sex trafficking.

Since I can't do the Nike 10k in Lima again, obviously. Although I can't bear to tell them to take me off the email list.

And by training, I mean I haven't really thought about it or changed my exercise routine at all.

I've had a couple conversations about that, which have gone something like this:

Me: "Yeah I'm doing the 5k! Although, we'll see, I haven't really been running...I do the elliptical in the gym though, and I try to push myself pretty hard there...."

The person I'm talking with at this point always looks at me with a knowing smile. "Oh no, trust me. It's not the same. You want to train on the road. It's a lot harder"

So last night I went out to the track to do this real running I hear so much about.

And I ran 3 miles.

With less strain than usual to my heart, only slightly more strain to my legs, and certainly much more damage to my poor knees.

So now. Let the quality of my elliptical training henceforth not be questioned.

Am I bragging? You better believe it!

Our trees are just beginning to turn! I'm so excited.

These are my grocery shopping shoes

This afternoon I went grocery shopping in baggy jeans, a t-shirt, and red leather Italian pumps.

For which I have a very good explanation.

I went out in perfectly normal white keds. The main goal was veggies and flour, but I thought first I'd go to the thrift store to see about proper interview clothing. After a half hour of fruitless search on that end, I made my way over to the shoes to see if they had any plain black heels.

I was tempted by the Italian red leather (or, ya know, what looks like leather... do we import fake leather?) and took off my keds to try them on.

But for some odd reason which I can no longer remember, I held onto just one of my white shoes as I walked down to the end of the aisle to admire the heels in the mirrors. They were a little tight, clearly impractical for walking around in. I reluctantly took them off, put them back, and tried on something else, and then something else, etc.

Still holding onto the one shoe.

And then when I finally made my way back to the other show I had left in the aisle, it was gone.

I searched. I thought, maybe I moved it myself? I searched more. I went to fetch the manager. I showed her the shoe without a partner. She searched.

And then we both gave up.

"I guess I'll have to buy another pair to walk home in," I said.

And she said, "Well, I can give you half off on a pair of comparable shoes."

I did search for a "comparable" pair of very practical shoes. I swear.

But I left in the heels.

And while I headed for the veggies and flour, someone out there was walking around with my one white shoe.

Drop the sponge!

In our apartment, we have a meal schedule going in which each of us ends up cooking for the other five once every other week.

And we only have one established rule with the cooking schedule: He who cooks must not clean.

So we always end up playing this game:

"What are you doing? Stop cleaning!"

"What? No, I'm not cleaning this dish! I'm just, um...transferring it from the table to the counter/putting the food in tupperware/enjoying apartment bonding time."

"Nope. This is a private cleaning party. Out of the kitchen. Out!"

We have our rituals.


Note that we generally have so many baked goods that we have to beg people to eat them.