inspiration to keep doing what I do

I'm a pretty lucky (okay, VERY lucky) girl in that deep in my heart I believe that what I do day in and day out in terms of my job makes a difference. Maybe not now. But at least somewhere down the road, a student might remember a conversation or a question or a comment and be able to trace it back to me. Or to St. Andrew's.
I've long known that St. Andrew's is an extraordinary place. We have our quirks and foibles and traditions and rituals just like any other school. But after all is said and done, it's a remarkable, unique community full of passionate people - students, teachers, administrators, coaches, parents, etc...
Today Amy sent me a copy of the letter that the president of her alma mater, Earlham College, sent out today. I've long been a fan of Earlham - a real "find" as far as colleges go. And today, I was even more encouraged by this school and all that it stands for when I read the letter from the president. But it also made me encouraged about the work that we do each day at St. Andrew's and made me hope that some of the same things that were said about Earlham could be said about us. When the president asked faculty members what he should tell people about Earlham, two of the responses that really resonated with me were:
- "We prepare students for the world as it is AND for the world we'd like it to be"
- "Earlham is a place where we learn to be better human beings"
Amen to both things...and I hope we could say that same about St. Andrew's. That we "raise" students who see reality but hope for something better for the future. And that in the process of learning (socially, emotionally, academically), they (and we!) learn to be better human beings.
I'm always struck by that word "better" but I think here I use it to mean that we're constantly in the process of looking at ourselves and trying to cast off the stuff that we're not proud of and the stuff that is hurtful and be more genuine, more honorable, more compassionate, and more sincere in what we do.
It's great encouragement to read stuff like this from a college as I work with seniors - many of whom will be going to college. Makes me want to make sure they are already thinking about these things...ready to absorb more as they move on. Priming the pump!

behind the scenes (times two...)

Did not get to post this on Sunday - I think I fell asleep as I was writing it! So, I'm posting today for two days...which actually makes more sense given the nature of this post! This weekend was one of those weekends where even when you think you know what it takes to pull off a big event like a triathlon, you realize that until you are there in the midst of it - helping or paying close attention or staying after hours or listening what your friends who are in charge have to say - you never really know all that goes into something like this. And all that I can say on that note is that I'm even MORE impressed than I was before with High Five Events, the event production company for Jack & Adam's for triathlons like the Austin Triathlon which happened on Monday. Nearly 2,000 triathletes, an expo with vendors, bikes needing attention, people with questions, safety precautions for every bit of the way, security overnight for the bikes, breakfast tacos in the morning for volunteers...it's endless. In the most wonderful way.
Two long days (and mine not as long as those of other folks!), helping to check-in bikes, set up tables, organize volunteers, cheer for the event, break the event down... And I was happy all the time, even when I was covered with dirt and dust at the end of the day on Monday (with a slightly red neck!). It just proved to me that I find this stuff so rewarding and that I feel really lucky to be able to have such a great athletic scene here in Austin to be part of. A community that shares a passion with me and that supports one another in this crazy passion.
Some highlights from the weekend:
- helping the family from Mexico that arrived at the very last minute and actually handed their child over to me for a few minutes so that they could each get their bikes set up (and I got to see the dad and the little girl again on Monday morning!)
- the guy who asked if having hair on his helmet would be a problem...oh, by the way, he can't really see through the hair (are you kidding?!)
- wondering what people who think that the rules don't apply to them are thinking
- cheering on the run course until the very end
- every time another volunteer showed up smiling and ready to work
- cheering for the T3ers on the course
- learning just how hard Michelle and the rest of the High Five crew work on events like this (and being honored with a High Five shirt!)...well done, folks!
- the breakdown (no...not an emotional breakdown! breaking down the event)
...and so many other things along the way.
All in all, a wonderful, exhausting, wouldn't-trade-one-single-moment of it weekend...

Zilker Relays and a different Saturday

In the never-ending series of "firsts" for me, I ran in the Zilker Relays last night with Amy, Jane, and Val...and lots of other T3 folks but the four of us were a team - JV. (Name origin...well, if you take the first letters of our first names you can spell J-A-V-E which sounds like JV. We weren't feeling that creative when we had to sign up!) I was excited to do this even though I don't love to race - especially not the short stuff. A rainstorm added to the excitement of the event...as well as the general energy that comes when you have a bunch of people racing.
"Racing" is a term I use rather loosely. There were certainly people out there to break records - either their own or someone else's - and there were those of us who wanted to do our best but didn't have any real goals in mind. That was me. Truth be told, having never done something like this before, I had no idea what I would be capable of. It's one thing to do a timed mile or mile repeats on a track. It's another thing to do a 5K after swimming and running. It's another thing entirely to run a 1/2 marathon. Or to run a 10K or 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles at the end of a triathlon. I'd never gone out and run 2.45 miles for time...with a couple of hills in there.
This late summer of training has been one long experiment for me. And it's been sort of fun. And sort of disappointing at times. And difficult. And encouraging. And overall pretty energizing, even when I've had a less than great practice or long run or long ride. I will forever be cursed with being an eternal optimist, believing that someday I just might be faster or stronger or something.
And last night proved that to me. I was the slowest one on our team - but actually there were only 50 seconds difference between me and our fastest runner (Val) so we were pretty darn close all things said and done. My first instinct was to say "boo", I hate being the slowest...although that caboose t-shirt that Nancy gave me a couple of weeks ago seemed very fitting! But when I took a step back, like I often need to do when I move into self-critical mode, I thought, "Yes, you were the slowest but did you EVER in your life think you'd be capable of running an 8 minute mile for 2.45 miles?" The answer is that up until last winter I never thought I'd be able to go sub-9. Then I eventually shocked myself and ran a sub-8 mile one day at track. But I've never imagined running an 8 minute mile for any length of time in a "race" of any sort. So, I'm encouraged...and feeling better about being the back of a fast pack of ladies. And I'll just keep running to catch up with Jane, Amy, and Val...great teammates, by the way! Way to go JV (#5 out of 17 in the Open Women's Division)...I think we all surprised ourselves just a little bit.
So...that's sometimes what triathletes do on a Friday night! We run...and then enjoy post-race activities. And then go to bed early. But it was nice to go to bed knowing that I just had a little run in the morning as opposed to a long bike ride or even a long run. I took a break from the bike today since it's a low mileage week for us Conroe folks and since I'm supposed to give myself a break from a long ride every now and then before CDA training starts again. Haven't been great about following that pattern but I did today. And it meant I got to run, soak in Barton Springs, and then have breakfast with Kimberly. What a treat! It had been WAY too long since she and I had spent time together - evidenced by a 2+ hour breakfast. And it was really nice to have the flexibility to do that.
I do love my routine, but I also like to be able to shake it up a little now and then... (And the trend will continue tomorrow...no working out for ETG...a full day off...woo-hoo!)

friday quotation

Inspired by a woman at Barton Springs this morning who passed along a very nice compliment to me...

Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness - both the ones you have received and the ones you have given - you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.
- Dawna Markova

sleep update

I know...you've all been waiting with bated breath to hear how my new sleep resolution is going. Okay, well, maybe not but keeping you updated is a way of holding me accountable so here's the report. It's pretty simple because I've been pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I've had a few lapses here and there (but really only a couple), but overall, I've been totally committed to getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night. I know that you might be saying, "Seven? You need at least seven or eight...what on earth were you doing before?" Simple answer: not getting enough sleep. By a lot. And even though I'm not breaking any sleep records now, I'm breaking my own records. On August 19 I said I'd try to do this for a week. And now...it's been a little over two weeks. And I've done a good job of getting seven hours of sleep a night. Not the eight that I'm ultimately aiming for but FAR more than I've gotten on any regular basis for, oh let's say, the last three or four years.
Do I feel different? Well, some days I do. And some days I don't. But frankly, I think I need at least a month or so of this little experiment to be able to really tell. I mean, I am working off of years of a sleep deficit! And I know that regardless of how I feel, this is good for me. Sort of like drinking more water or taking my vitamins. Day in and day out I might not feel better but in the long run it's a really good health choice...and I'm kind of into that these days.
P.S. Special thanks to my sleep enforcer...

hymn sing

If this is what you imagine when you hear the words "hymn sing" then you'd be wrong.
"Hymn sing" at St. Andrew's Upper School is anything but prim and proper. In fact, my advisory proved today that it could really be quite the opposite. They were loud. Borderline boisterous. And at one point I had to stifle all the fun and tell them that they could not do the wave during a rather quiet hymn. (I did tell them that perhaps they could try it at a hymn sing in the future.) The result of their enthusiasm - well, there were many results...
We all had a blast during chapel today. Singing loudly without a care in the world about whether or not we were on the right key. Showing the freshmen how "it's done" at a St. Andrew's hymn sing. Bonding in a very funny way.
I actually got called out in chapel today - Mr. Dickson said, "Are they yours?" pointing to my advisees wondering if they belonged to me and I said, "Only some of us can be so lucky!" And then he stuck the microphone in my face during one of the hymns. Thankfully everyone else was yelling so loudly I couldn't be heard.
Somewhere between dance moves to "Go Tell It on a Mountain" and actually nice singing of "Seek Ye First", Mr. Dickson fell in love with my advisory. And even requested that we sit in the front row all year. I'm not sure anyone really wants that except for at hymn sing time, but I do have to confess that this advisory is making their way to the front row of my world.
I'm always worried when I say good-bye to one advisory if I'll be able to love another. And then after a few weeks, I'm already worried that I won't want to tell the current group good-bye. Lucky me to be in a job where this happens year after year and where hymn sing happens week after week. If you've never experienced anything like it (and, trust me, most of you haven't!), imagine 300+ teenagers belting out hymns from a hymnal as if they are top 40 hits on the radio. It's astonishing. It's frivolous fun. It makes me smile. And it's part of what makes St. Andrew's the place that it is...and I'd sing to that.

smile, you're on candid camera!

Someone wrote to me not too long ago that she liked the self-deprecating humor of my blog. Well, here goes...story time or story telling on ETG for all of you to enjoy.
I remember watching Candid Camera when I was a little girl and laughing hysterically. The gist of the show was that a hidden camera would capture people's reactions to different situations. And then at some point the camera would be revealed to the person through the famous tag line, "Smile, you're on candid camera" which would make audience members and viewers alike laugh even harder as we watched the reaction of the person who'd just been filmed.
Well, on Monday, at the car wash I kept waiting for someone to jump out and say "Smile, you're on candid camera" as I unsuccessfully tried to get my car to cooperate with the car wash.
I punched in the code that I'd received when I'd paid the extra few dollars for a car wash after I had filled up my car. "Drive forward" glowed in green on the sign in front and me and "drive forward" I did. Only to realize that I had to line my tire up with the tire guide. Like a bad deja vue, I had a flashback of being in this car wash some years ago and having trouble getting my tire in just the right position. Of being afraid I was going to pop the tire in my attempts to drive forward in just the right place. So I took a deep breath and thought, "No sweat, Elizabeth, surely it's not that tough. You were just having a bad spatial reference day that day." Well, Monday was another one of those days.
I moved forward carefully only to feel some push back from the tire guide. Damn. Okay, I will not lose my cool. I will try again. More resistance. Hmmm...maybe if I hop out of the car and look at where I'm supposed to be guiding the tire I bet I can do it. Against my better judgment I opened the car door, half afraid that the water from the car wash would begin spraying down on me...but knowing that couldn't happen because I couldn't get the tire in the right place to "trip" the switch to tell the carwash to start!!! Calm. This is not rocket science. Just get the tire in between the metal tubes.
Or maybe not.
After four or five (okay, six? seven?) attempts I realized this was not getting any better. All of my geometry troubles related to understanding spatial concepts came back to me. I knew it was "fish or cut bait" time. I figured I'd already been fishing for a good 5-7 minutes and that it was time to admit that I needed to try again on another day.
Now the trick is that once you are in a car wash and you decide that you need to get out, you only have a few options. Try to drive over the metal tire guide that has been your nemesis, maneuver around it, or hit reverse and drive out of the car wash the same way you came in. When there is another car waiting (like there was on Monday...I can only imagine what they were thinking!), option 3 is not an option. Option 1 was not really an option either given my fear of what that metal tire guide would do to my tire. So, I was stuck with option 2. Somehow, I got out of the car wash without a nick on my car, a hole in my tire, or a drop of water having touched the car.
Carwash: 1, ETG: 0
Better luck next time, ETG.
Oh, and for the record, there was no candid camera as far as I know. But if there had been you would have all be laughing at how ridiculous I looked walking around the inside of the car wash in the middle of my multiple attempts to line the tire up...and then eventually driving out of the car wash.
(Don't worry...from now on, I am only allowed to go to car washes where you don't have to line your car up with anything!)