casting stones: aka rant, repent, repeat, part 2

god is funny. and (today, at least) i don't mean funny, ha-ha. now, there are moments of epiphany that i often experience that cause me to laugh, in a good way. today, however, i am experiencing god's wit in a different manner that can only be described as ironic. (at least, i think ironic is the best word, lest i pull an alanis morrissette and use ironic to describe what are really a series of unfortunate events.) anyway... this morning, i was having a conversation with a friend about a debate she attended last night. this debate was between the three candidates that are vying to become of head of the republican party of georgia. she started telling me about how the night proceeded, and some of the highlights included hearing that god was a republican (i wonder if god knows this?), bashing president obama, and observing one of the candidates take a picture of another candidate's skirt length. (it was above the knee. obviously too short for a political event in jackson county, ga. she must have been from atlanta.) when she told me that she and her husband had to step outside to get some air, i interjected, "i never would have made it." i then proceeded to verbally vomit on my friend about conservatives, words in red, backward people, etc. my vomit turned to dry heaves when she stopped me and said, "well, you might not have liked what they had to say, but at least you would have had the chance to talk to the candidates and share your opinions and beliefs with them. i didn't enjoy all of the night, but if you're gonna talk the talk of change, you have to walk the walk."

we will now pause for dramatic effect

yep, that one still stings! and. she. is. right. and. i. don't. like. it. i'm okay with my friend being right. mind you, she's a very smart person and is a regular contributor to the ongoing conversations in my life. what i don't like is the fact that i realized i was doing exactly what i criticize others of doing. this can range in concepts from creating us v them mentality to enjoying the division our country, and christianity, that we currently face. i'm casting stones, and i am not without sin. sometimes, i really wish i knew what jesus wrote with his finger in the sand that day...

on twitter yesterday, i wrote "rant. repent. repeat." lord, help me to truly consider the middle word and find a way to replace the latter. amen.

the twitter. karmic justice. mohair. honey.

so, i am now on "the twitter", and i am ashamed to admit this, but i have had a hard time getting into the groove. goovin', for me, includes things like setting up my acct/bio, getting my spelling (and most of my grammar) correct because i often tweet, or reply, impetuously and/or past my bedtime, not to mention actually expressing my sentiments is less than 140 characters. i can't do anything in less than 140 characters!

in related news: if you are noticing a disturbance in the cosmic forces that administer justice and you're wondering, "oh, karma; where art thou?" she's been spending some time here in rural, north georgia serving up her famous humble pie. i'll explain. about a year ago, my parents decided that they wanted to get on "the facebook", and they asked me if i would teach them. this not only involved tutorials in social networking, but the mysteries of email, too. being the good daughter that i am, i took on the challenge which included telling my parents how to get onto the internet, setting up various accts, and enduring duplicate emails from my mother as she always sends things twice because she doesn't trust gmail to deliver her msg the first time. (whew) then, there was a period of a few weeks where i was getting more calls than usual from my parents. i would answer the phone thinking, "how lovely, my parents just want to talk, with me, their oldest offspring."
me: hi, dad.
my dad: karen, i'm sitting at this stupid computer and cannot get on "the facebook". are you sure you gave me the right password?"
me: over-exaggerated sigh and dramatic rolling of the eyes...
the karmic twist here involves my asking my husband to help me with my twitter deficiencies. imagine my surprise when i was met with (oh, how should i put it?) an over-exaggerated sigh and dramatic rolling of the eyes. he even suggested that when discussing this new (to me) form of social media, i should refer to it as "the twitter". what can i say? i'm a sucker for sarcasm and that muscle soccer players have that's located right above their knees.
so, delores and bill, aka mom & dad, i'm sorry.

fast-forward to the season of lent, 2011. my family has recently forged the denominational river from the evangelical side to hang out with the mainline protestants. thus, we are embracing, dare i say enjoying, the events that occur on the christian calendar for the first time. this included the epiphany, shrove tuesday, and lent. (as in, giving something up for lent) my youngest is fasting from chocolate. if you know the small child, or have read my earlier post re her um, problem, with abuse of the chocolate-y goodness, you would realize what a big deal this is for her. if you know me, then you would know that my decision to fast from facebook was huge, as well. i have used fb in a number of ways over the past few years. mostly, it has been a vehicle for procrastination, and/or the general suckage of time. so, the plan was to not waste time on fb and replace that time re-reading the gospels, which i have been doing and absolutely loving. btdubs: the gospel of mark still rocks my world!

this blog has a point...
it was during my fast from fb that my husband suggested to me using the twitter account that i set up last summer. i was skeptical. besides my aforementioned deficiencies, you can't "friend" anyone on "the twitter", ie most of the 300+ people i am "friends" with fb aren't on "the twitter". how will i ever know what whitney is making for dinner, tonight? how will i see pictures of andrea's kids, and how can i fb stalk my teen-age daughter? seriously. i want to know and do these things. (whitney is a good cook, i love andrea's kids, and i do fb stalk my teen; don't judge me!) but, fb, at least for me, could be a source of frustration (read: having to do yogic breathing to calm myself upon reading certain posts and comments). true story: i am not a conservative. not only am i not a conservative, i live in an area where everyone else (well, almost...360 people in my county did vote for the democrat in the last gubernatorial election.) is a conservative. therefore, when sacred cows in the area have been tipped over, i am asked by the local authorities if they can check my shoes for manure. i am oft called a socialist, communist, and a sinner. my daughter was recently ambushed, i mean approached, after an recent american government class and asked if she wanted to become a christian. this came as a result of sharing some of her pov's regarding DOMA and why you can't make the bible part of the constitution. i know people who fervently hold to the beliefs that barack obama is a muslim, the anti-christ, or not born in the u.s. (or all of the above) so, the fact that i'm "different", or at the very least geographically misplaced, is glaringly obvious on my fb home page. my fast will end on easter sunday, but i may keep on fasting. besides, i owe god 5 days due to a number of reasons that include germany, beer, and the boston marathon.

the truth is out there...
so, reluctantly, i took the plunge. it wasn't a plunge really, it was more like a dipping of one's toe in a frigid pool. however, i have found the waters to be be rather pleasant. as illustrated by my earlier ramblings, i'm surrounded by people who are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to buy their trump/palin 2012 bumper stickers. not that i mind rubbing up against people who have differing viewpoints from myself; but *insert some trite statement about growth here and be sure to use something by john maxwell*. so, monday i am on the twitter when i realize i am feeling lighter, and i'm smiling. i had gone from a tweet to a blog to another person on twitter to their tweets to the blog of someone else. i had, in my mind left what i affectionately refer to as "hee-haw hell", and found that there are others out there that believe similar things to myself. i am not so narcissistic that i didn't know that such thoughts existed outside my little micro-cosmos (i mean i watch 30 rock and modern family), but sometimes, living in a conservative wilderness can wear on a girl, especially when politics mixes with religion. i wouldn't go so far as to compare myself to john the baptist, but i can rock out some mohair, and i do really like honey. i am simply dumbfounded when i have conversations with fellow christians who hold political views that totally ignore the words in red. not just where i live, but in many places throughout america, being a good christian has become synonymous with being a good american, and being a good american is synonymous with being a christian. this scares me!!! a lot!!!

i realize that this blog has been a bit of a rant, but i truly want to be a person that is about unity, not so much within american politics, but within the kingdom of god. on good days i am prayerful and contemplate how i can be a vehicle for change. on bad days, well, i compare myself to john the baptist. so, back to the "the twitter" thing. i have only scratched the surface, and already i see many people who feel the same way and are intentional about the work that needs to be done. i am hopeful that i will learn from these individuals and be able to contribute to action that comes from open, honest conversation.

spring. break. sin. heresy. (not necessarily in that order...)

spring. break. two more beautiful words have not been spoken in sequential order in, well, at least the past week. i am very ready for some play time with the kids. all three of my girls work very hard. as i am currently not employed with regular employment, and they are in school all day, i am thrilled for the opportunity to be with them! so, i am very excited as this spring break includes trips to my two favorite southern cities: savannah and st. augustine! all of the kids are excited, too. our exchange daughter is excited to re-visit savannah. she loved it on fall break and i promised a return trip. yet, truth be told, i am simply happy to be leaving the hee-haw-hell in which i reside, aka jackson county, for just a few days. btdubbs, last night i heard someone at my jefferson kroger tell the clerk that our nation was in trouble because we had a black president and needed more patriotic people in our country. i told her that our nation was in trouble because we had racist people that didn't know how to love others, and THAT was why our country was in trouble. i maybe could have handled the situation better (**note to reader, i am not telling the whole story of my interaction with this, um, lady (?)), but it is what is, y'all.
anyway, spring break is upon us. i have laundry going, and i have begun the house cleaning...i hate coming home to a dirty house! one of the most important aspects of spring break is the 'spring break reading'. i haven't purchased it yet, but my book of choice is "love wins" by rob bell. i must admit, i have always been a fan of rob bell, but i am incredibly compelled by his latest work. he delves into the question surrounding (yes, i said questions) heaven and hell. i have read the intro and bell, though he has never willingly answered the question, at least not that i am aware, is an emergent. at the very least he has emergent theological leanings. for those of you who are not familiar with the emergent church movement, do yourself a favor, google it. if nothing else, trying to figure this movement out is a good exercise in trying to nail jello to the wall, and my grad school study topic, if i am fortunate enough to work things out to attend school this fall...we'll see. we'll see: two more words that are beautiful when spoken in sequential order. two words that have kept me married for almost 19 years, or at the very least saved us from the shedding of blood during political, ahem, 'discussions'. anyway, i'm very excited to read bell's book. the sbc and other denominational heavies are all in a tizzy about it. i wonder if the sbc has ever considered that if they spent half the time they spend criticizing people for "sin" and "heresy" just loving people, they wouldn't need to to criticize people for, um, "sin" and "heresy". i'm just sayin'!

twice around a great big rock

so, yesterday was our last (really) long run before the race on 3/20. i say "really" because while we ran 10 miles (twice around stone mountain, ie the great big rock), next week we run 8 miles. 8 miles is still a pretty long distance in my book. i am happy to report that i finished the 10 strong. i probably could have kept going. i credit this to the fact that i raised my caloric intake the two days prior this run. i think i'm beginning to understand why running gurus say that when you're training for a long distance race, it's not really the best time to try to lose weight. i have been following a calorie plan that has been helping me to lose 1 1/2 to 2 lbs per week. while i have lost 13lbs, my long runs have been extremely difficult. i have felt soooo sluggish. suspecting that i wasn't eating enough, i raised my intake and yesterday's run was much better. no heavy legs. no feeling of pushing or pulling myself as it took so much effort to put one foot in front of the other. well, at least until around mile 9...i guess i'll have to play with what to eat before longer runs.

so, glen and i ran twice around stone mountain. stone mountain holds such amazing memories for me. this mountain and i have done some time together. i have run around her when in many different stages in my life, experiencing a vast array of emotional states. over the past several years, i have had the honor of sharing this place with some amazing people. we have laughed and talked, ranted and cried, encouraged one another, and fantasized about our post-run meals. some of these people are no long a part of my life, and some people are now more precious to me than ever! this mountain, the lake, the trees are all beautiful and timeless to me. (though i'm not a fan of the confederate carving or that the place is now teeming with tourists).

random thoughts from yesterday:
*if "wicking" material is supposed to wick away sweat, why then, when one has to go to the bathroom, does one have to wrestle with one's pants? (ie why don't they easily go back to where they were before the potty stop?)
*speaking of potty stops...i have what could be diagnosed as a nervous runner's bladder. i need to know that i will have a place to stop ESPECIALLY on a long run. this can be frustrating to those that run with me. so, i have decided that certain people (ahem, glen & kathleen) should start a support group where y'all can gripe about having to wait on me to use the potty. to see what takes me so long, read the above random thought.
*running uphill still sucks. ijs! glen checked the app on his ipod for the reading on elevation. we ascended twice as much as we descended. how can this be?? perhaps we on the verge of discovering some new principle that will change, forever, the face of physics.

8 miles that didn't (totally) suck

so, this weekend was my eight miler in prep for the atlanta half that is now a little more than 5 weeks away. glen and i ran in athens. athens, i think (except for the very small 12 year olds that always seem to lap me), is a great running town. it's interesting and the terrain is varied...very varied, as in very hilly. as i was running i was remembering the words from uga orientation a few years back, "everything in athens is uphill, even if you went uphill to get there, it's still uphill when you leave." this was mostly true, but i did enjoy some lovely downhill and level spurts. good training, i guess, for atlanta as i have heard the course is hilly as well. the big accomplishments of the run were (1) glen and i ran about 90%, and (2) i still felt strong at the end. mind you, i wasn't ready to do any more, but i felt well enough. i was very excited about this because the seven miler i did two weeks ago...sucked. out. loud. it was one of the most brutal runs i had ever undertaken! it took an eternity and i felt as if the entire run was in slow motion. we ran in jefferson, which in and of itself kind of sucks, and we met many a dog whose owners had no familiarity with leash laws. not only was i worried about being bitten, i was worried about the damn dogs getting hit by a car. around mile five i was ready to just lay down and die (in retrospect this may have been a tad dramatic). i didn't care if the birds picked my bones clean. i was in hell. so the fact this last run felt good was huge for me, especially on a mental level.
so here are my random thoughts from my run on 2/12/11
1. good songs are good songs. as g and i were running around uga we passed the fraternity complex on e river rd and were serenaded by the rolling stones. i guess it struck as me as funny, because the stones are twice removed from the current college generation, and they were once removed from my college generation. i guess i expected to hear something more current.
2. while south campus is all science-y, and i hated the math building while i was a student, i had to recant all the evil curses i expelled upon he building. it was unlocked on saturday, ie there was a bathroom.
3. i am a second half runner. it takes me a (long) while to get going. i don't understand how people just step out their front door and take off running. i don't get into a groove until i've walked about a ten minute warm-up and then have run a few miles. proof that i run better on the second half came from glen's app that tracks our time, distance, and pace. i think mile 6 (or maybe it was mile 7) was only 9 minutes. how the heck did that happen?
4. glen slappey is my favorite running partner.
5. i have to make the commitment to myself to run first thing in the morning. this past week, we didn't start running until after 6pm. it got dark and cold, and dinner came later as a result. after we got home we still had to cook. my blood sugar crashed while i was waiting to eat, and i got the spins for a few minutes. i was going to reward my self with a post-run beer (or two), but opted for sleep instead.

running randomness

ok. so, it's been almost a year since my last blog...if you care, then my apologies for the long absence. if not, i'm not really sure why you're reading this.

it's a new year and i was not going to make any resolutions, but then i started listening to this podcast that glen likes. 2 gomers run a marathon. they're pretty funny, and they don't take themselves too seriously. i think they are former band-geeks turned adult athletes, so glen and i resonate. anyway, they recently did a podcast about resolutions and i became inspired. therefore, my list of resolutions can be found below:
1. keep my resolutions.
2. plan a race calendar to keep me running all year.
in the past, i have trained, with varying degrees of dedication, for four half marathons. thus, i have completed said four half marathons with varying degrees of success. best time 2:29 and some change. worst time around 3 hrs. though to be fair, the 3 hour race was in vegas, and well, let's just leave it at that.
and that is as far as i have gotten. as each day is a new day in your life, i can come up with more resolutions as i feel the need. but, this list is pretty involved. the calendar is:
3/20 publix half in atlanta
6/4 a 9 mile trail race somewhere in middle ga
7/4 the peachtree road race
10/23 athens half marathon
12/4 marathon of the palm beaches...i haven't decided on the half or the full. i plan to at least do the half. i'll decide on the full by october. we'll see.

re: the full marathon, it's just not something that i am sure is on my bucket list, yet. the half is a very respectable and doable distance. it doesn't take over your life like i think training for a full does. like i said, i'll make the decision by october. i am applying to grad school and i'll know by then if i'll be living my life in semesters again.

so, today's run was 6 miles at the north oconee river greenway in athens, ga. i was not sure i was up for this when i woke up this morning. it was cold and i was exhausted. baby shower. yesterday night. procrastinated til the last minute. on my feet all day. so, this 6 was a "romance run". ie, i ran with my significant other, glen (romance run terminology courtesy of the 2gomers). i thought he was being all sweet when on the way to athens he offered to stop and buy me a pair of ear buds to help me get through my run (ear buds often go missing at the slappey house, go figure). but, less than a mile into the run, i realized it was because he planned to run much faster than me. yes, he left me. this is something with which i have no problem. i have my own pace. i knew the run would be long, and i'm glad i paced myself. the last three miles felt amazing! (note: the previous sentence to be read in a sing-song tone of voice.)
so, it was during my run that i decided to start blogging again. i had random thoughts that came and went so decided that i would write them down as a way to keep a record (of some) of my runs.
some of the randomness:
*true love is when your spouse keeps watch so you can, um, make a "pit stop". this was before he left me. maybe it's also the reason.
*as long as i'm not trail running i should find a route with a bathroom.
*though i am not a fan of def leppard (did i spell that right?), "pour some sugar on me" is a kickin' song to run to. it coincided with my hill climbing and kept me going. who knew? also, something i missed in the 80's, but that song is totally about sex.
*athens is a great place to run, but i hate running in a college town. while i like my slow and steady pace, i do not like being lapped by 12 year old girls, who are about the size of one of my legs, in short-shorts. i'm just sayin'.
and
*i probably need new running shoes.

dateline, january 26, 2010

good evening, everyone. just wrapping up some loose ends. i am working on the blog about my weekend in west palm beach, but i cannot find the cord that will allow me to download the my pics. it is rather frustrating. maybe tomorrow i will be able to dig through the pit that is my 14 year old's room and locate said cord. so, instead (sigh) i will update in regards to my recent posts.

first. gb has made it through the recovery process and returned to her former "little miss sunshine-y" self. thank the good lord! she thinks that someday she may be able to trust herself around the 'stuff' in social settings. i am not so sure as the other day i overheard her telling her stuffed animals that "mommy may need to 'leave' one of them with the nice lady at the godiva store." keep your fingers crossed.

2. new community's haiti relief effort yielded 864 hygiene kits!!!! absolutely amazing! sunday night we put them together in this really cool assembly line jamming (is that word still cool, or did i just date myself?) to a little ac/dc and a little jesus. it was so beautiful to see people of all ages, working together, living out the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself."

and c. i started a new job this past monday! i have been looking for work since last summer, so this job is a huge deal for my family. i am rating the 8th grade writing tests for the state of georgia through the uga, college of ed. it's pretty draining, mentally, and i am struggling with the, um, standards that apply to these tests. but, i love working in athens. hell, right now, i just love working.