funny how...

...sometimes the very thing you blog about one day is the thing you need the next day.
Yep. I reminded myself of the quotation that I posted yesterday about a million times today during my ride. I did Pedal thru the Pines with some other T3 folks (Joe, Jeremiah, Kevin B., Kevin T., Matt, Yvonne, Travis, Scott, Shawn, Carrie, Esther, Yvonne, Anna, Liz, Lisa, David, Michelle, Jen...I think that was all of us. Sorry if I missed someone!). Here's a picture of some of us (thanks, Yvonne for the pic!):As Esther said, we represented T3 well...we rode hard, we were polite, we didn't cut in line or start early, and we left some food behind for others! The course started off in the park - with some hills. Not the rolling hills we so often experience here in central Texas but some all-of-the-sudden-a-small-mountain-is-in-front-of-you hills! Lots of dropped chains (not by T3ers, of course...until my gears got all out of whack - the "ghost shifting" of my bike today was comical! Going to J&A's tomorrow), lots of people walking bikes (not T3ers), lots of out of breath folks, lots of colorful comments! But once we were through the park, the roads leveled out, the winds and crosswinds picked up, the rolling hills felt familiar...and the ride brought us around to a great stretch on Hwy 17 and back to Bastrop High School where our 50 miles were complete. Unless you are yours truly and you miss the 50 mile turn and slip in a few extra miles as a result...comical. Or at least I made it so. Really, what else can you do? Well, there are lots of other things you can do, but none of them help me as much as trying to see the levity in all of it!
And guess what...maybe my laughter paid off. I ended up, averaging 16.4 mph. I know that's not much to a lot of folks but for someone who fights to stay at 15 mph most of the time lately, it's pretty exciting. I'll attribute it to Hwy 71 and my staying at 19+ for a good stretch of time (now I know how the super fast people feel all of the time...it's a different ride, folks!).
Lunch with T3ers...back to the PTC to grab my car but I paused there to do my PT while I caught up with Jess who was studying there. Home to clean up, throw some cookies together, and head to the Hall's pond for a little gathering. Finally back at home...sitting on my couch - which feels heavenly. About to set clocks ahead and then head to bed...I need some good sleep tonight to be ready for our run and other things that Sunday will hold. Happy springing forward (yeah for extra daylight...boo for missing an hour of sleep)!

friday quotation

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it."

I have this quotation posted above my desk at work. I look at it daily. I usually need to be reminded of it daily!

P.S. Some days are just meant for doing cartwheels. Today was one of those days. And the green outside of my office was the perfect spot.

thursday already and finally

I need a few more hours in each day...or a few more days in each week. Scratch that last suggestion. I'll settle for an extra hour or two each day. Been playing catch up since I returned to Austin. Emails. Phone calls. Projects. They seem never-ending this week! Looking forward to Friday when we have conference day at school and without conferences for seniors the other college counselors and I get to use the day as a big ole workday to contact colleges and check on our students' applications. And we get to do this from home or wherever we choose to work! What a treat!
This day also gives me the flexibility to grab coffee with two former students. I bet they have no idea how it does my heart such good to hear from them. Really, I'm touched that during their Spring Break they would take the time to get in touch with me and try to see me. It's the little things like this that remind me that my job does have meaning, that I just might be making a difference in someone's life (even if it's only a handful of kids, even if it's only for a brief time in their lives)...and that thought is wonderful...and terrifying. Makes me careful. Makes me feel very small. Makes me feel like I'm on the right path. All of those things all at once. My usual state of confusion!
Looking forward to the weekend to regroup...it's a shorter week in terms of workouts so I should have a little more free time to gather myself before I head into next week. Phew.

(re)learn something (new) every day

today's learnings...or re-learnings:
1. sometimes the reminder of how lucky you are to have the friends you do is both heartwarming and overwhelming...what did I ever do to deserve all of this kindness and love?
2. if they can't read your parking ticket at Austin Bergstrom Airport they will use your license plate number to figure out what time and date you entered and calculate the fee from that
3. having a "deep" conversation with an 18 year-old is a pretty precious thing...I'm lucky to have the job that I have
4. it is possible for me to do a set of mile repeats and not completely obsess about my times! (I actually think I owe this to Blythe but maybe my next lesson is to learn it for myself...thanks for the great workout, Blythe!)
5. looking down on a sunrise from a plane is a pretty spectacular sight and a wonderful way to start the day (there's got to be a perk to a 6:10 a.m. flight, right?)
6. "there's no place like home"...and it's nice to be home again...both in the concrete and abstract sense
7. our bodies are incredible...they get hurt/sick...they heal/get well (even if it takes a while)...they put up with way more than they probably ought to from us...and they help us achieve more than we probably ever thought we could
8. hearing Gran say, "Hi, love" whenever I call is just about one of the sweetest sounds I can imagine
9. I am easily amused...delighted by the most simple things...quick to smile and slow to anger...forever a believer in the goodness of mankind and in people's capacity for change...an optimist...always trying to make sense of the world...usually falling short of understanding and then reminded that's what faith is for
10. adrenalin is an amazing thing...it can carry you for a long time when you haven't had enough sleep. But eventually it runs out...like right about now so off I go to get ready for tomorrow and go to bed. In my own bed. Home sweet home.

a little philosophy?

I'm always a mix of intimidated and inspired by students...my students, college students, graduate students...anyone still in school. I love school life. I don't love school. I love students - especially my students - but I don't want to be a student anymore! Well, not in the traditional sense. I don't want to study from a book or have tests or be graded. I want to have the sort of learning experiences that I have in my job everyday, that I have from my friends everyday, and that I had on four college campuses over the past two days. I suppose I'm a real experiential learner - I want to learn from doing; I want to learn from being inspired; I want to learn because I'm curious.
These past couple of days here in Dallas-Ft. Worth, I've spent time with colleagues from other high schools and college admissions officers from four local schools. I've gotten to talk to students who are enrolled at SMU, TCU, Austin College, and the University of Dallas. And, overall, I am in awe. I am amazed by what they have accomplished. I'm impressed by their ability to articulate their passions. And I'm taken aback at their sense of purpose in this world. I was never that sophisticated or "together" in college! (Or after college?!)
And while I find that sometimes these visits and these interactions can make me feel completely inadequate, there was a concept today that one of the school presidents talked about that just made utter and complete sense to me.
I've never studied much philosophy. Frankly, it confuses me. I'm not that "deep" of a thinker unless it involves people and then I can "philosophize" until I'm blue in the face! But at one school today, the school president talked about the teachings of Aristotle and while I'm sure I missed a good part of what he said, one concept he talked about clicked with me - arete. It's the idea of being the best that you can be or reaching your highest human potential. It goes hand in hand with Aristotle's conversations about how to live a "good life". The term is often linked with "goodness", "excellence", and "virtue".
Before I try to get too deep...translation: before I completely botch this concept even more!...I'll put it in the language that I understand more clearly. I think this is the age old question...are we being the best we can be? Are we living life to the fullest? Are we living a life that we're proud of? Are we living a life that serves others? Are we living a life that is meaningful?
Answers on another night...for now, that's enough deep thinking to make my head just barely begin to ache. (And I have a 4 a.m. taxi tomorrow...headed home...yeah!)

funny what you miss...

...when you're away from home.
The beds here are comfy...really comfy...maybe trade them for my own comfy?! And I love blackout blinds because you get really good sleep.
But I miss silly little things about home:
- the coziness of my condo
- listening to the radio as I drive to my morning workout (even though I'm 1/2 asleep) and then on the way to school
- fixing my dinner each night and then hot chocolate before I go to bed
- my students, colleagues, teammates, and friends
- my normal routine and all that it holds
When did I get to be such a homebody?! Yes...it's sad, I've only been gone one day and yet it feels like a really long time. Probably because today in and of itself was loooooooong (okay, there's something that makes it feel longer when it's not my normal routine, which I realize is long on any given day). On the bus at 7:00 a.m. and not back at the hotel until 9:00 p.m. I need to find more relaxing reasons to be away from work! As I questioned all of this today - "why did I sign up for this?" - I had the sweetest answer appear to me in the form of one of my former students.
She's a senior at SMU and led us on a great tour (I wasn't the only one who thought so!). She's dynamic, thoughtful, well-spoken, in the top of her business class at SMU, and just a wonderful person. But what most people don't know is that she was diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half ago, sat out one spring semester for treatment, made up the courses in summer school, will graduate on time in May...and is in remission waiting for the magic 5-year mark when it comes to cancer remission. As a member of the admin team at SMU said, "She's my hero."
I've never before been moved to tears on a college tour but as I spent time with her this morning, as I gave her one last hug (she had no idea I was going to be there so it was a lovely surprise for both of us), and as I watched others thank her I just felt terribly proud. Not proud that she was a St. Andrew's alum (although there's a little bit of that, naturally!) - really, we can't take credit for kids like her, they come to us pretty amazing and we just try not to screw them up!...but proud to know her.
Yes, 14 hour work days are sometimes worth it...

"I just won a bet because of you..."

Phew. I'm sitting here in Dallas getting ready for two days of college tours (14 hour days!) and feeling tired. A good tired. But tired. I'm excited to sleep in until 6:15 tomorrow!!! And I'm excited to give my body a day of rest from working out. Our ride on Parmer today took it out of me...and I was even 9 miles shy of doing the entire 80 miles since I had to catch a plane to Dallas and given the windy conditions, my speed was not exactly what I wanted it to be. Windy, windy, windy. Cold, cold, cold. Not as bad as the last time we did this ride because the sun was out, but I still never felt my toes. (I think this is linked to bad circulation, too!)
Kept Blythe, Jim, Celine, and Brittany in sight most of the time...this is exciting for me! And then did the return route by myself since I had to go back early. Finished off the ride with some extra 360 and Lost Creek hills - do those hills in Lost Creek count for the 9 miles I didn't have time for?! The 360 hills have their own story. I was actually feeling pretty good on them today. Passed these two guys who then passed me. And then I passed them again. And then one of them passed me and the other caught up to me. As he rode alongside me he said, "Hey, I just won some money because of you." I must have looked confused because he went on. "My buddy up there always gives me a hard time about being so slow and he said that he bet me that I couldn't pass you going up that hill." I laughed and said that I could have saved them both some money as I could have told him that he could pass me on that hill. And then I said something about how it didn't really matter how fast we were going but that we were even out here. And then we were quiet.
And in the quiet I got sort of miffed. Not in a serious way but in a "ha, I'll show you" way...so I left the guy behind me and tried to see if I could pass his friend who was a bit ahead of me headed up the hill right before Bee Caves.
With each pedal cycle I got closer and I kept trying to come up with some clever line to toss his way if I were able to pass him. I did pass him. I never thought of anything to say. Maybe because I was out of breath...maybe because I was afraid he might not get my sense of humor. At any rate, it made me tackle that last hill faster than I wanted to so that was a good thing. Bottom line: I will ride faster if you tell me that you've won a $1 bet on me basically suggesting that I'm the slowest thing on the road!!!
Ran home to shower and head to the airport to catch my plane to Dallas and catch a good nap on the plane...or so I thought. Met up with two colleagues who wanted to chat on the plane and even though I tried to fall asleep it just didn't happen. But it will happen here in a few minutes!
(Oh, and I think that next time I need to tell the guy who placed the bet on me that he has to return the money to his friend if he gets passed by the super slow girl on the road that he staged the bet around!)