So where am I going with this, and what’s it got to do with Ovaltine anyway?  Last Sunday we stopped by the house of some friends (the James family).  This family is from India, and they are *cooks*, not just recipe followers :).  When you prepare a dish that has 8+ different spices in it, and you don’t measure anything, you just do a little tasting along the way, that my friends is cooking.  Now I can cook like that (thank you Allena!), but what really impressed me is that the James family buys spices in bulk and stores them in Ovaltine jars.  Unlabeled Ovaltine jars.  So, when you watch them cook…well, they’re just cooking with Ovaltine :).

And you’d be right, I *was* training for a marathon, and making steady progress.  But the training had to be put on hold for a while.  Why?  Two words: poison f’ing ivy.  Ok, that’s three words, but I it’s important to accentuate how I really feel about poison ivy.  I hate it.  I’m HIGHLY allergic to it.

About a month ago, I came into contact with some somewhere, and ended up with a systemic reaction.  My face broke out, my right eye was nearly swollen shut, I hade it on my legs and torso.  To put it delicately, I had it in other areas that made running unbearable (and no Allena, you don’t need to chime in with the gory details of that!).

I got a shot, and some pills and it has finally cleared to the point that training can resume.  I’m giving myself an official kick-off date for the resumption of training: Monday, July 19.  So watch for running updates next week!

Last Wednesday, Allena broke *her* arm – she slipped on the front porch steps.  It had been raining and she didn’t realize it.  She broke her radius on her left arm, very near the thumb.  She’ll be in a splint for four weeks, and then a short cast for another three weeks or so.

Thus ends the broken bones report.

Today was Elizabeth’s first communion, which went well all things considered.  It was a high Mass, and as it was the feast of Corpus Christi, we had a procession (canopy and everything) afterwards, and Elizabeth got to walk right behind the priest in her communion dress and veil, which was very nice.  The diocese newspaper sent a photographer – maybe she’ll have her picture in the paper?

Before we got to church was a little hectic…we couldn’t find Teresa’s shoes (it’s always Teresa it seems).  We looked for nearly an hour – we ended up buying a new pair.  On the way there, we discovered that we (ahem…I) left the veil for Elizabeth’s dress at home.  Allena called a friend whose little girl had recently made her first communion, and fortunately was able to borrow a veil (whew!).

After we got home from church was…well…”nasty” begins to describe it.  You see, our AC has been out for a while now, and we’ve been leaving the porch door open with a big fan blowing to keep things cool.  Our porch has a gate, so this has been working to keep animals out.  However, we (ahem…I) apparently didn’t get the gate latched.  And the goats pushed the gate open.  And the goats came in the house.  And the goats SHIT ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!!!!  I can only say I’m astounded that they restricted themselves to the floor – it’s amazing that there wasn’t goat shit on the sofas or beds or table or counters, etc.

So right now I’m fairly disgusted.  I suppose with time, I will see the humor, and remember the good parts of today.  For now, I’m glad that it’s over and my daughters communion went well.

As for running – only had one run last week.  Allena’s arm has made things problematic (can’t pick up children well), but we’re getting used to it.  I’ll figure out where I am this week and report again – hopefully with good success – next week.

I saw this quote today, and it struck me as particularly relevant right now. I need to strive for excellence – that’s one of the reasons I’m having the crazy marathon idea, to prove to myself I can set a lofty goal and stick with it.

I saw the quote as the lead-off to this article.  I like the picture of the nuns too :)

So let me tell you…if you’ve never had a “swab” done for the flu…it SUCKS. The swab is a quick test to determine if you have “type A” or “type B” flu, with the current swine flu being the “type A” variety. Basically, they stick a Q-tip about six inches up your nose and scratch the back side of your eyeball with it. Maybe that’s a *slight* exaggeration, but I assure you it’s only slight. It’s not really painful, but it is intensely uncomfortable.

The good news is I don’t have the flu at all, just a cold that’s moved into my chest, so with a round of antibiotics in hand, hopefully I’ll be done with this cold in a few days.

Following the theme of my post title, I’m shifting subjects.  I suppose most people are familiar with “word clouds” or “tag clouds”.  These are the little clusters of words in different colors and fonts and orientations that graphically represent some set of text – maybe a document, maybe all the tags on a blog, etc.  Turns out there’s a place you can make your own for free called Wordle.  And just to show that I can still string two thoughts together, Wordle is a great place to waste time too.  Just for fun, here’s a word cloud of this post:

word cloud

Jumping again, I’m a failure as a mechanic.  I just though everyone should know that.  I replaced the starter on my tractor…tractor still doesn’t work.  I replaced the fuel filter on my lawn mower.  Lawn mower still runs roughly.  I hate cars, and I’m thinking about adding tractors and lawn mowers to that list.

I had to travel for work for the first time in several years (first time ever for this employer).  The trip was high-stress with a customer that was in crisis mode.  We got things fixed – all’s well that end’s well…but the flight back home sure sucked.  Our flight was delayed by 3 1/2 hours, consequently we missed our connection, consequently we spent the night in Minneapolis.   I think I logged 50 hours of work over three days, and I think I logged about 10 hours of sleep for the same three days.  Ugh.  Even in the Army they gave us four ours a day.  Some of that was my own fault of course, and some of it was just not sleeping well away from home.  File me under “not a business traveler” I guess and call it done.

Enough rambling.  Time for bed.