Clan Lord Journal

It’s November, it’s crunch time. Concerts, student reports, holidays around the bend, Trooper stuff, family stuff, workshops….. And what better way to get life completely derailed than a nice, vicious stomach flu. But I’m back up and among the human race again, which is good. I’m hoping to get back into the workout routine by Sunday. At least my weight loss got jump started again. “NEW Stomach Flu Diet!”

I’m running a 5-miler on Thanksgiving Day, which will burn me about 750 calories at my weight, age and anticipated speed. That’s about 1/2 of a typical turkey day dinner. Maybe I’ll just make sure my turkey day eating isn’t “typical.” (heh… yeah, we’ll see about THAT.)

I’m so ready for Tuesday to be here and gone. Rich and I have already voted - which was nothing like what you’re hearing about on the news. We got there at 7:00 a.m., stood in line maybe 15 minutes and then went to breakfast after we did our solemn duty.

I’ve been complaining a lot about being tired and just worn out. I honestly think it’s political fatigue. I just want this thing over so we can move on and stop dealing with campaign crap. Yeah, I know there will be other political crap to deal with, but at least I won’t have to be on pins and needles about who the next president (and vice president) will be. That is, as long as there aren’t any election day shenanigans.

I think it’s time to outlaw exit polls and pre-election polling reports. I also think it’s time that the mainstream media reform itself into what it once was instead of a “we’ll just play you excerpts from speeches and let you decide” machine. I think they’re a bunch of cowards who refuse to take the facts and use them to expose flat out lies and barely-masked innuendo. Instead of taking our prospective elected officials (and currently elected officials) to task for their lack of moral compass, they soft-pedal and almost make it a joke.

Wednesday, hurry up.

Let’s see, lots going on.

Family: Rich is still with IBM as a contractor. The commute is still a bummer, but he’s got it down to a good routine as much as is possible with the shifting work schedule. Abby is 4.75 and too cute for words. She loves to sing, dance, tell stories, draw, paint, climb, run, jump, dig in the dirt, play “chop rock” (basically using a big hard stone to grind sandstone into a dusty mess), and generally do what young children with big imaginations do. Rich’s parents are up in Colorado at the cabin and will be returning soon. We’ve been out to their country place twice on weekends to help with Abby’s “G-G-Maw,” who is in need of limited assistance (mostly with meals and cleaning). My family weathered Ike, though one sister is still not sure about her home’s foundation. They had a leak seeping up under their tile.

Me: My first concerts are just around the corner on Oct. 28 and Nov. 6. I’ve got my high school kids doing an 8-part a capella version of “What a Wonderful World” and they have a love-hate relationship with it for now. (They love the song but hate learning and tuning some of the more complicated jazz harmonies.) My middle school kids are driving me totally bonkers with the lack of impulse control this year. I’m working on new positive reinforcement strategies… again. I’m getting more and more involved with Trooper alumni stuff, and I’m loving it. I also joined the school’s development committee as the faculty representative. That makes four committees - one of which I chair. (Calendar committee is the one I chair, the others are daily schedule, high school student life and the development committee)

Workouts: After a couple of weeks off I’m trying to get back into it. I’m irritated that I got sick at the same time as the high school campout was about to gear up. Thanks to stress of trying to organize substitutions for faculty campers as well as being sick and trying to get myself organized for camping, I was pretty irritable and cranky and feeling out of control. Now that that stuff is all over I’ve started to get back on track again. The goal for me now is triathlon training, hopefully starting in January.

Clan Lord: still playing, just not as Perki very often. I don’t have much time to play as it is, so one character is about all I can manage. I don’t have it in me to quit yet, but I’ve thought about it a few times. With all the energy I’m putting into everything else - family, work, Troopers stuff, fitness - I do enjoy having a little fantasy-land outlet once in a while.

Ok, time to get moving. Shower, then off to the city to run errands and eventually wind up at the gym. Yay for a workout!

WITCH HUNT?!?!?! The press and the crazy “Obama’s pastor blamed America for AIDS” people aren’t jumping all over Palin’s WITCH HUNT pastor?!?!?!? No seriously. DUDE. He literally believes in effing witches and prayed over Palin herself - hands on and everything - to protect her from WITCHCRAFT.

There are people I know who continue to hold onto the whole “Obama’s family secretly hates white because of their former pastor” line of thinking (if you can call it “thinking”), but I’ll bet you those same people are going to dismiss the effing WITCH HUNT pastor issue with a wave and a shrug. Pisses me OFF!

The crazy people at Drum Corps Planet have posted this video a few times. For those that have seen any drum corps shows, you might be surprised by the design similarities. Definitely worth watching. Really. You will be amazed.

I left home at 7:00am and went for a lovely sunrise run around Town Lake. I did 3.1 miles (5k) in 30 minutes. I think it’s time to sign up for another 5K and see if I can’t break that 30 minute mark.

After I got home and cleaned up, Rich took me out for a fantastic breakfast at Buenos Aires Cafe. While it was very tasty - the fruit plate was spectactular, and huge! - it was a bit limited in scope. We figure it’s because if this cafe were really in Buenos Aires, most people wouldn’t be looking for a big breakfast, American style. Basically, they serve their appetizer-style empanadas (beef, chicken or spinach), an omelet, and supposedly a breakfast tostada (which they didn’t have today), and some dessert-like pastries. All told, I could easily get used to eating this way if I lived in Buenos Aires.

Their dinner fare is greater in variety and excellent in taste. We finally got to sample it on a third visit. Why third? The first time we went there we didn’t realize they didn’t stay open between lunch and dinner. We got there an hour before dinner service, and we had other plans and couldn’t wait around. The second time we tried we planned to get there right when they opened due to reports of long waits later in the evening. They were closed! The owner was on vacation. (it’s a very small operation, but as we found out it’s well worth the wait.) The third time we tried we finally got to sample the fare, and it was well worth the triple effort. We’ll definitely go back. It’s not particularly family friendly, so it’s more of a date-night thing for us.

After brunch we walked a bit and eventually went to the Blanton Museum. There were other plans for the day, but they got scuttled due to complications not worth explaining and my feeling a bit off kilter. Now I’m getting a sore throat and that makes me pissy. Tomorrow I’ll be swilling down tortilla soup at breakneck pace in an effort to kill this thing fast. I’ve got way too much going on to be sick, dammit.

Never mind on the hurricane. Just a little gusty wind here and there, no rain.

My sisters and their families evacuated. Despite being told to not return, they all returned home. No power, of course, but they have homes. One sister has water seeping up from under her floor in the dining room, so they’ve got some worries. She also had some water damage in her bedroom from a leak by the door and fence damage.  (She lives in one of the mandatory evac zones in Clear Lake) The other sister had some shingles blown off, fence torn up and some plants blown down. (she lives in Pasadena, which I think was a suggested evac zone but not mandatory.)

They’re both planning on spending a lot of time grilling the meat and other food that is in their thawing freezers. One sister had grilled waffles for dinner. Yum.

Well, looks like we’ll be getting some much needed rain, thanks to Ike. This forecast (at the moment on Tuesday evening) takes it right over Austin.

Well, I’ve survived three weeks of high school and a few days of grade school. I’ve managed to get to the gym relatively well so far, and I feel good about what I’m doing in regard to curriculum. And now that the initial shock of returning to school is wearing off I might be able to get back into the rhythm of cooking and other household duties. We’ll see about that one.

Am I tired? Hell yes. Am I happy? Hell yes. I just wish I wouldn’t fall asleep sitting straight up at 8:30 at night. (lay down!  I heard that, smart alecks.)

As you may have noticed, I’ve halfway given up on the “log in to read my stuff” idea. So, if I have something I really need to vent about I’ll probably just leave it off the blog. I may do a whole slate wiping and start fresh, but who knows. I’ve got enough on my plate and lots of things on back burners waiting their turn. Blog cleanup is not high on the prio list right now.

Today marks the beginning of my 10th year of teaching at the school.  I’m very happy to still be there, and I’m hoping that this year will be another one for the record books. My high school chorus is already blowing me away with what they’re pulling off. I’m going to have to find something more challenging for them to chew on soon.

I’ve been up to my chin in Trooper alumni stuff, and I’m loving that just as much as teaching. I know, though, that once the school year gets going I’m going to have to be more careful with my time. But doing something for the corps is really important to me, so I’m working toward some pretty big goals, along with a few alum friends.

Gym time is going to have to be carefully orchestrated into my days now, but I’m determined to keep up the pace. I’m feeling strong and happy, and I need to keep it that way if I’m ever going to reach my weight loss goal as well as my fitness goals. Mini-triathlon…. maybe next year. Maybe.

I’m turning 42 in a few weeks. A lot of people kind of moan and groan about getting older. Not me. Life is good, I’m feeling strong, and I have lots of dreams still out there to tackle. It makes me smile.