Confession #1: My wife, is a vegetarian wannabe…
Every once in awhile, Katie gets the urge to be a vegetarian. I'm not exactly sure why this happens - it could be because she's never really liked eating meat, or because she's got a streak of liberal/granola-ness that sometimes pops up, or because she has a couple of friends who are confirmed vegetarians and she's pretty susceptible to peer pressure (mostly in a good way). Anyhow, quite a few weeks ago, she "became a vegetarian," which wasn't all that big an adjustment for the rest of us, but it did mean I was having to pick up eggplant, several different squash varieties, veggie sprinkles, etc. on my weekly grocery expedition. And she stuck with it - didn't have any turkey on Thanksgiving, made herself a veggie burger when I barbequed, etc. But then she went and got her blood work done as part of her annual physical, and lo and behold, they discovered that she has no iron in her blood (in case you don't know, that's not a good thing). So she's been ordered off the wagon by a licensed physician (who she listens to, as opposed to her husband, who told her several weeks ago that he didn't think being a vegetarian was such a great idea for her, because of the whole iron-in-the-blood issue, which has been an issue in the past). Anyway, Katie had steak for dinner Saturday night. But she didn't like it.
Confession #2: I'm wondering if I'm in a little bit of a rut …
Every once in awhile, one of my loved ones makes a comment about my predictability and I kind of shrug it off. Katie will say something about the way I move things around on the counter when I'm getting ready to make dinner, or Connor will see me when I get home from works and say, "I know what you're gonna do - you're gonna go for a run, then go outside and lift weights," and I'll start to wonder if maybe I've got a little bit of OCD going on. So let's examine this a bit more closely and see if there's any merit to this supposition.
-Item #1: I get up every weekday morning at the same time (except Friday, when I get up earlier to swim), but I would guess that most people get up to go to work at the same time everyday, so that doesn't mean anything one way or the other.
-Item #2: I follow the same routine every morning (turn off back-up alarm, check temperature outside, pack up keys/water bottle/lunch/change of clothes, etc.), then eat a banana and hop on my bike, but that's because having a routine means I don't have to think about what I'm doing and I wind up at work with all the stuff I need - it's really a bummer to get to work and discover I forgot my pants (actually happened one time).
-Item #3: I have the same breakfast/lunch everyday - okay, I'll concede that this is a little weird, but I go through phases with food and tend to stick with certain things for months/years before making a switch (I've been like this ever since I was a kid - off the top of my head, I remember a two-fried-eggs phase, a toast phase, an onion bagel with cream cheese phase, a muffin phase, a banana bread phase, and (currently) a bagel with peanut butter phase.
-Conclusion: Am I in a rut? Maybe, but it's a nice little rut, so what the hey.
Confession #3: I sometimes wonder about random things for no good reason…
Like "what is love?" - although this does kind of make sense, because exploring this idea was one of the topic choices for my 8th graders after they read, "The Lady and the Tiger." Actually, I was mildly amused by some of the responses they gave. One student asked various other students for one sentence definitions, and it turned out to be almost like a personality test. There were the romantics (love is a feeling like someone else is a part of you), the philosophicals (love is giving someone the power to destroy you and trusting them not to), the hormonal (love is a burning sexual passion), the immature (love is hot girls), the Romeo & Juliet-ish (love is going kamikaze for the one you love - when they die, of course), the cynical (love is something that most people think they are in but truly it is artificial), and the metaphorical (love is the confluence of two rivers resulting in raging rapids and twisting turns - oops, that one was mine). Seriously, though, what is love? Is it a phenomenon that is physical, psychological, hormonal, chemical, hopeful, natural, and/or instinctual? And how is it possible to say that you love another person, a pair of pants, banana cream pie, and/or a favorite book, movie, or TV show and somehow, people know what you're talking about? Truly, love is a many splendored, crazy little thing that will keep us together forever and is all we need, unless, of course, it hurts, is blind, or is a crime, in which case, you might find that you're a victim of love.
Confession #4: I continue to wonder about random things for no good reason…
Like "what is courage?" This one is actually a little serious, because I saw several things this week that I would consider to be highly courageous.
-Thing #1: Each week, several students in each of my classes give a presentation on something they feel is interesting. They share websites, talk about books, show pictures of vacations, and all kinds of other things. This week, one of my students gave a presentation on autism because she has a younger brother who is autistic and she wants people to know what it is so they understand and don't make fun of him because she loves him and it hurts when people do this. She was on the verge of tears the entire time, but she held it together and finished with a slide show that had several others in the class (including one stone-hearted teacher) also on the verge of tears. When the slide show ended, it was completely silent (other than some sniffling). It was one of those moments when you just knew something important had happened. And I would say that it was one of the bravest things I've ever seen someone do.
-Thing #2: Our TNT group was scheduled for their 18-mile run this weekend. For several people, this was a true test of perserverance. I ran several miles with J., who hates to run to start with, but he wants to do a marathon, and he wants to do it for a good reason, so he joined our group. He was hurting, and he couldn't understand why he had gotten up at 5 a.m. to do this to himself, but he gritted his teeth and gutted it out and managed to finish the entire run. Then I ran the last three miles with L., who I could tell was not feeling too good when I joined her for the final stretch. Her pace had slowed dramatically from what was normal for her, her hips were killing her, her shoulders were slumped, her stomach was churning, and you could tell that she was deep into the "bite me" zone. But she finished (and promptly said that it was the hardest thing she'd ever done). What's more, both of these people, along with all the rest of the group, will be back out there running next weekend, and the weekend after that, and in just about a month, they'll complete a marathon, and more importantly, they'll have raised thousands of dollars for cancer research and support.
I suppose that's enough for this week, so until next time, may your meals be filled with all the appropriate nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, may your ruts be voluntary and enjoyable, and may your love be selfless and pure.
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