Dingos are tricked into the treat of running in October! - Page 13

[Nickarolaberry]

Good morning, mamas.

WE are ok, by the grace of God. My parents are ok, and a miracle -- a giant, very old tree came down last night but fell *away* from their house. Had it gone toward the house, it, and they, would have been demolished. My brother and SIL and family are ok, but without power. I have not yet heard from the many friends in the NY/NJ area whom I know were flooded and without power.

My children have school today but I don't, as the highways are still closed in Connecticut. I am going to take the opportunity to go to the gym (if it's open) and maybe...you know...go to the supermarket by MYSELF. Good times.

[sparkletruck]

Real - I've been thinking of you and the sleep thing. There is no. way. I could do this regularly.

Nic - glad your parents are ok. How scary

RR: scheduled for weights but Im not sure

NRR: went for a decaf. coffe at 3 yesterday and Im pretty sure they gave me caff. This, for someone who doesnt drink coffee, so after waking at 5: 30 I was up until midnight, but not in any shape to string thoughts together, so I watched Damages, waiting for fatigue to carry me away. Up at 6:30. I dont know what is going on. It has to be stress. I have 2 days to finish everything, and yeah, Im out of gas. I dont have anything else to say. But if I could sleep, I probably would... oy. Anyway, one way or another it will be over on Th.

[Geofizz]

I always watch them pour the coffee when I order decaf.  I catch them giving me caffeinated coffee maybe 1 out of 10 times.  Generally the person claims an "ooops" but it almost always happens when they're out of decaf, and they didn't want to wait on a new one.  About once a month, I very clearly get the caffeine I didn't want even when watching.  The consequences are dire.

My RP's crazy job just had her canceling runs for the rest of this week.  I need to start learning to run alone again. 

Nic, I'm glad that tree fell away from the house.  Our neighbor has a rather sick looking oak that makes me nervous, but thankfully it's almost straight east of us.  If it falls, it's the neighbor's house that in danger, though. 
 

We woke up to snow this morning.  Thankfully it's already gone.  I drove anyways, since the wind is supposed to get to 50 mph by late afternoon.

[sparkletruck]

Gaye - arent you supposed to be on a plane soon to NYC!! Yikes. There's a story in the NYT about how the race organizers are making sure everything is ready for the race. How surreal

Geo - I know! It's one thing if I was rested and could have used the extra hours to work; sigh. Enjoy the wild weather

RR: i made it! Instead of going first thing after dropping the kids, I came home and ate and drank a lot of water, which lo-and-behold, made me feel much better. So I went to my doctor's appt. and then made it to the gym by 11 for 1 1/2 hours of weights. Now I must jump in the shower and go get the kids. Also I managed to write this morning during breakfast, so now I am that much closer to done

[Nickarolaberry]

I honestly cannot imagine how they'll get ready for the marathon. The subways are still underwater as is much of lower Manhattan (and Staten Island). The Verrazano bridge is closed. There are cars all over the place, having floated away during the floods. Half of the city is without power.

If they get it together, I'll be impressed. And I definitely know how important it is for the city, how much money it brings in to the economy, how important it is to runners who've trained, etc. But I also have friends still in harm's way especially in the outer boroughs and I can't imagine how awful it would be if they fix everything for the marathon and divert resources there while leaving others without because they couldn't get to everyone.

Sorry, I'm raw about this. I've spent the day trying to contact some friends in my old neighborhoods without success and the pictures I"m seeing are terrifying.

[sparkletruck]

Nic -

DONE 4 arguments/topics, 35 pages, 11 days. Now, to start the paper for the other class

[1jooj]

Been thinking of you, Nic, and everyone in the path of Sandy. Stay safe.

Also been keeping Alex and lil Toast in my thoughts.

And real, I am glad you are taking whatever steps you need to move forward through this. I know I would be panicking and it would doubtless snowball into a hot mess really fast. Stay safe. Healing to your community.

sparkle, flower essences made me laugh. SO been there!

I am enjoying a bit of calm this morning, having coffee in the hotel lobby/buvette while I wait for the family to get up. We got a cheap but IMO nice room (clean, hot shower, seat toilet en suite = nice) in a picturesque town in the Anti-Atlas. I had a long shower, made my hair look decent, put my things together in peace. I am covered in flea bites, and I tend to react to them more than other people, but I am double-dosing Zyrtec on the recommendation of dh's cousin, who is a NP or something. It helps the itching but not the inflammation.

But the best part is, we survived. No major illness (dh and ds have colds). No major meltdowns. I kept my cool and was matter of fact about the fleas, and when the bites were covering my upper neck near my ears, people started to click their tongues and dh moved us down to stay at his brother's house with my SIL and their kids. There, ds and dd caught up on sleep and ds pretty much recovered from his cold. No diarrhea. No puking. One mild fever. We've successfully stuck to bottled water (after a $60 investment in 2 more Kleen Kanteens) and hot tea, and since it's been Eid al Adha, all anyone eats is meat, so no salads to worry about. (Ask me later about constipation.)

So, we have so far seen the tannery in Fez, the Roman ruins of Oualili, the springs of Sidi Harazem, an awesome fossil site up the mountains from dh's village, abandoned mines and the old mining ghost town, hot springs on the road, and the plan for today is to see the gorges of Dades, maybe the film studio and an old Ksar in Ouarzazate (UNESCO World Heritage site), and then make our way to Agadir to hit the beach (weather pending). From there to Essaouira to see Portuguese ruins, then on to Marrakech to see snake charmers and fortune tellers (I am totally getting my palm read or something).

It really struck me how fortunate we are--to have the opportunity, this experience, and at the same time first-world wealth and ease. We've made it rain all over the family while we're here, but hopefully it will help them pull up their own socks and do something. And I am so glad my kids get to see this side of the divide.

Also really had a super time with my FIL this time. We finally really got to connect, I think. My MIL is her own story, but it felt good to hang out with the old man and just be. He clearly loves our family.

The other thing I have really found cool is how open and nonjudgmental people here are about our school choice this year. We explain the kids are studying online, and everyone just gets it. The assumption is that the kids have the discipline, and I have the skills, to succeed. Felt good to be validated like that.

RR:  Has been a lot of walking around a hilly town, some mountain trekking, but mostly a lot of sitting. Hoping for some good exercise most of the next few days, because on 4 Nov, it's back to the 90s for temps. Yikes. Not ready.

Love you, Dingoes! Time to pack it up and on to the next thing. 

[MelW]

Jo, I'm glad to hear that all is well and (relatively) healthy on your journey. I was thinking of you yesterday when my daughter was doing a musical theatre workshop awing a teacher who had done a similar workshop with homelearners in Abu Dhabi.

Nic, big hugs. Hoping all of your friends and family stay safe.

sparkle, hooray for being finished!

NRR- My youngest is sick and the oldest over-tired from late rehearsal last night. Both are napping and we're hoping for a better afternoon with pumpkin carving, trick or treating, then a 7th birthday tomorrow. Our next phase of restoration from the flood starts tomorrow, too (new base moulding) so we're doing b-day party this weekend at the hair salon.

[JayGee]

Jooj - good to hear from you on the other side of the world! Glad everyone is relatively healthy, and especially glad that everyone seems so positive about the online schooling.

Nic - prayers for your friends and family affected by the hurricane. Fortunately, my family in NH and RI are all safe and sound and have power again.

NRR - DS turned 11 yesterday, trick or treating today. Busy, busy, busy.

[sparkletruck]

Gaye - Some funny thoughts on how to look great in your race http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/fashion/marathon-photos-often-fail-to-capture-the-glory.html?hpw

[tjsmama]

sparkle~I saw that! Funny! I'll just settle for looking normal and not my normal totally dorky.

nic~Glad you and yours are ok. I can understand your feelings on the race and it's ok.

jo~Good to hear from you!

So, yes, the race is a go and I am going. I fly out first thing in the morning, and today's flight went as scheduled, so I expect tomorrow's to do so as well. My biggest concern right now is getting from the airport (I fly into Newark) into Manhattan. I was planning on taking the AirTrain, but as of right now, there is no NJ Transit service into Penn Station. I think my backup plan will be the Airport Express bus into Manhattan. I'm hoping it's not too crazy busy tomorrow. The only other option seems to be to take a cab which will be $$$, especially if the reports of 4 hour one way trips from EWR to midtown are true. Eek. I am preparing myself for the prospect of lots of walking, long waits for transportation, and spending much more $$$ than expected since it's probably going to be less subway taking and more cab taking. But, I love NYC and I can't imagine any better way to show my support than by going and pouring my tourist dollars into the economy. The marathon route itself pretty much avoids the damaged areas, so there will probably be few to no modifications to the route. They are going to ship us to Staten Island in buses instead of via ferry, though, because the subways are not running to the South Ferry station. Kind of a bummer, but it is what it is. One of my friend's DH was supposed to run and they were making a big family vacation out of the trip with their DD (none have ever been to NYC), and they decided to cancel their trip, which I totally understand. In their place, I might do the same, but for me, this trip is not really about sightseeing...I've BTDT, for the most part. We will go, see our show, eat out at restaurants, and just see what there is to see (and maybe how we can help while we're there). I'm going for the experience, and an experience it will be, right?

rr~2.5ish shake-out run. It was hard, but then again, I forgot my inhaler and even though this whole training cycle has pretty much been a taper, there's still some taper madness there, I think. I feel better having gotten *something* in. I may try to take some stuff to get a mile or two in on Saturday, but we'll see how much room there is in my suitcase...

[Realrellim]

Good luck tjsmama!

JayGee--happy birthday to your little one.

MelW--hope everyone is healthy again.

[JayGee]

Gaye - have a great race and a safe trip to NYC! I can't wait to hear all about it.

[Nickarolaberry]

New Thread!

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1367146/dingoes-give-thanks-for-running-in-november