The Connection Runners

Life Lately: The Cliff's Notes Version

I don't know who the hell Cliff actually is, but I can say that he's going to give one mighty helping hand to this post.

As an English teacher, I often lament that students rely too much on that old yellow-and-black striped bastard, but we're going to go with it for now because
A) I've been largely absent from this here blog and need to catch up ASAP
B) I don't know how many minutes of MeganTime I have before the Charlotte-monster rears her head and awakens from her nap

So here's what I've been up to lately, complete with brief summaries and analyses for your reading enjoyment:

At Home
Summary: The free moments I've been granted lately have been filled with any of the following: sorting laundry, sitting on the couch and staring into the abyss, planning listening to Kevin plan our backyard patio, calculating how much frozen boobmilk I have and hoping it'll last until I'm off for the summer, storing some of Charlotte's clothes that she no longer fits into, eating ice cream, budgeting for a 529 plan, wondering when I'll get to cleaning the windows, participating in a neighborhood-wide garage sale, and trying to reinvent the wheel.

Analysis: Life, to me, is like playing Tetris. I like how those little shapes float down and fit into their specific, compartmentalized holes. But right now, that crazy Russian music is getting faster, and the shapes aren't fitting so well, and my grand plans to bust out everything and then some at 150% is often ending in me fitting into the couch, curled up into a ball, by 8:30 every evening.

At Work
Summary: The shortest longest school year ever will be over in 6 full days and 2 half days. Though I was off for 13 weeks of it, somehow this year just. won't. end. Our seniors got out last week, three weeks early, so that's kind of nice, but now I'm hauling butt just to fit in the rest of my curriculum, and there's somehow still not enough time to debate the use of the Oxford comma. B.S.

Analysis: If there were gods in grammar, like there are in Greek mythology, the Oxford comma would run that bitch. Oh, wait... that's NOT what you wanted to discuss here?

Ok, so I can't complain about work too much. Eight-ish days and then I'm off for 10 weeks. Suck it, Trebek.

On the Road
Summary: On a good training week, I'll get three runs in: two easy, one long. On a bad training week, I'll get 0-1 runs in, running whatever junk miles I can get in. Mostly my paces have fallen between 9:00 (short runs) and 10:30 (long ones). Pretty sure my RnR Seattle training calendar has more sad faces than highlighted runs, but I'm taking whatever I can get. Shortest recent run: 2.5 miles. Longest recent run: 12 miles. Oh, and I bought some Kinvara 2's on clearance at DSW for $35.

That is by far the worst photo I've ever taken but you'll have to live with it for now.

Analysis: Though I won't admit it except for right this moment, I want to PR in Seattle. I mean really, even when we all say we're "running for fun", we all always hope that someone will poo Speedy PR Dust on us while we sleep on Race Eve so we can fly through the course the next day and then go, "Dang, and I wasn't even gunning for a PR!" But with the training I kind of have under my belt, I'm pretty sure I won't be wishing to not wish for a PR. Does that even make sense?

As for the new kicks, well... I kind of hopped on that minimalist bandwagon for now. Everyone waved and smiled from it as they celebrated their "look at my huge calves and my speedy splits" times, and I drank the Kool-Aid and said to hell with bucking the trend. So far, me likey, and if anyone out there is interested in a review of a year-old quasi-minimalist shoe, maybe I'll write one up soon.

***
Alright, it's time to rescue the child from the confines of her ladybug mat, scrape the poo from the outfit she pooed ALL OVER at daycare today, scrounge up leftovers for dinner, and go snuggle with my man Don Draper.

Please be prepared for a test over all of this crap tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen.

Some random questions because I feel so out of touch with my blog friends:
-What do you enjoy more, Tetris or the Oxford Comma? (yes, I know it's hard, but you can only pick one)

-Are you guilty of the "running for fun, but secretly want to PR" phenomenon?

-Who the hell is Cliff? Where did he find the time to come up with so many notes when one could just read the darn book?