2014

Hey there, blog. I took a not so little break during Christmas and I've been dragging my feet when it comes to blogging. And basically for no good reason. I finished Gym Christmas with a swimming work out that never made it onto the blog and then I enjoyed several days in a row where I barely touched my computer.

Christmas at my parents' in Indiana was great, as usual. I spent a lot of time with Mr. Tobes and a lot of time doing nothing. But because of the timeline for SMT submissions,  I also spent a bunch of time editing a conference paper and an abstract that were both due in early January.

Other highlights: Mom took us to an IU game!

BoBo decided that my parents' fireplace is her favorite spot in the world. 

My mom graciously offered to help out with some dental bills I had in the fall, so I got a crown for Christmas! Not wanting John to feel left out, she got him a paper crown, shown here. 

She also got us this large bottle of tequila and we had margarita Christmas once again. Never gets old.

Dave and Carla came to town for the day. Naturally, we began with a visit to the Spoon, then a walk around campus, and finally, board games with fancy beer at the house.

John's grandpa came to visit and at the end of his trip, we took him back to catch the bus in Indianapolis. Mom suggested we take in a museum and have lunch at Three Sisters in Broad Ripple. We had a nice time visiting Indy with Mom. It made all three of us want to go back again (to the NCAA Hall of Champions, perhaps?). Here's John modeling his "I <3 actual="" christmas="" for="" got="" he="" hot="" p="" sauce.="" shirt="" some="" sriracha="" that="" with="">

Nearer to the end of break, we rang in the New Year with Mark and friends, including Amanda. She was dressed the sparkliest so she descended the stairs at midnight, in place of a glittery ball in Times Square. 

And since then, lots of other mundane but good things have happened. I will deliver the current 2014 highlights in a conveniently lazy list format. 

1. I decided to join the whole TriClub (rather than just the swimming) with the hopes of being able to run at some point in the next few months. I now think the expectation of running so soon was unrealistic (a topic for another time), but I'm really enjoying the rest of the club. I can go to spin class on Monday and Friday, swim three days a week like before, plus they also do strength training and a mystery workout on Wednesday. I don't typically make it to all that, but it's nice to have so many structured work outs available. Also, I'm having so much success with massage therapy that I really haven't had one of my motion sickness episodes in a while, and spin class doesn't make me motion sick! 

It turns out, triathlon club members get up VERY EARLY, so I'm still trying to get adjusted to that. But I think that it's actually going to help me graduate. I get up early for the work out and then I'm up.  I get in 2-3 hours of solid dissertation time before lunch, or a solid single hour before I teach. It's pretty awesome. Of course, I also fall asleep around 9:30 every night. 

I'm going to an indoor triathlon in Toronto in a couple of weeks to swim as part of a relay and I hope to post about what that's like. In general, it is so nice to have a group of people to spend time with who have no idea who Rameau is. 

2. Speaking of Rameau, a week or so ago, I went to Tallahassee, FL to talk about Rameau. I presented a chunk of Chapter 4 at their Forum, a conference run by grad students. Even though it was "cold" for Tallahassee, it was nice to get a break from our weather and enjoy some 50 degree days. I also go to catch up with Little Gillian, a former UWO student who's now ABD (time flies!) at Florida State. 

Side note: I have two friends named Gillian/Djillian/Jillian. I met them both at Western, neither of them goes here now, and both have attended FSU. Both currently live in Florida. Yet I don't think they've ever met. This is not the premise of a riddle. 

I also get to present "Rameau and Friends/Frenemies"* at the IU student conference during "spring" break. I'm lucky to have gotten on two fairly economical conferences - one where I could stay with a friend, and one in my parents' town. 

3. And speaking of my dissertation, I actually felt really good coming back to school and starting 2014 because THIS IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR: I am going to finish this dissertation, come hell or high water. My current plan is to defend late in the summer, or, if everyone important is still out of town, in the early fall. Of course, I'm meeting with my advisor this week and he may put the ki-bosh on all of that. Still, I've got a lot of stuff written and I feel good about the progress I've made. I've also learned that writing and presenting conference papers on my dissertation topic is, on the one hand, more efficient than on unrelated topics, but ultimately still a time suck. After the IU conference, I'm done for the school year. 

4. While stuck on the tarmac on the plane coming back from FL, I read most of Rachel Dratch's book, A Girl Walks into a Bar. And it's great! If you liked Bossypants by Tina Fey, or Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? by Mindy Kahling, you will probably enjoy this book. Parts of it made me laugh out loud and others were simply touching and clever. I highly recommend it. Have you read anything by a woman comic lately? If so, please send me the title! Also, when is Amy Poehler going to write her own hilarious and brilliant memoir? All the cool ladies are doing it!

4. It's cold here, like it is everywhere else, apparently. Western canceled class on Day #2 of the semester and I think they vowed never to do it again. But, you know, it's Canada. It's colder than in previous years, but enduring the cold winter is a point of national pride, so they don't complain the same way Americans do. They seem especially excited about the cold because of the upcoming Winter Olympics. If you have a few minutes to kill, check out #WeAreWinter on the twitters. You'll see what I mean.

5. I signed up for the Ontario Masters Provincial Championships swim meet in March. There's no minimum qualifying time and it's in Windsor (about 2 hours away), so woohoo! I'm doing the 50M, 100M, and 400M Freestyle (400! What am I thinking!!), and the 100 IM. It's so exciting to have an actual event to train for. I'm sure I'll post here about the weekend in Windsor after it happens.

And with that, it's 9:30. I've been up since 5:15! Time for bed!

If you're reading this, then I hope your Near Year has been great so far!

*Not the real title. In case you're curious, the real title was, "Rameau, Voltaire, Castel, and Public Image in Enlightenment Music Theory."

GYM CHRISTMAS Day 9: BoBo Time

Yesterday for the 9th day of GYM CHRISTMAS I celebrated "Animal Time." Spending time with my parents' dogs has always been one of the highlights of the holidays for me, and this year my excitement is 100% bigger because of BoBo's arrival (though it is more than a little diminished by Molly's departure). 

BoBo is fortunate in that we spend a ton of time with her. Unlike a lot of greyhounds, she gets to go to work with us most days of the week and we often take her with us when we go places. So for Animal Time, I made an extra effort to take her on a real walk during the noon hour, instead of just taking her out for a bathroom break. Of course it was extra cold on the the day I chose to give her a longer walk.

She also hung out with me all morning while I worked and then all evening at school while John gave his students' their final. Having her has made this semester so much better. At the end of the day, her lack of sympathy is kind of nice. BoBo doesn't really care how much writing I got done or how bad I think it is. She still needs to go to the dog park and let loose, or she still demands affection at certain times. It's a good reminder that my problems aren't that huge.

Here are some recent BoBo pics. Not that this blog is lacking a lot of photos of her.

Staring at food she can't have.

Looking quizzically at my computer. I was watching a video of puppies learning to howl and the noises fascinated her.

Even though BoBo time is pretty much all the time at our house, it felt good to single her out for a special day during GYM CHRISTMAS.

Today is December 13th! If you still want to participate in Gym Christmas, you can start today and you'll still be able to complete it - and receive a sweet prize from my friend the DJ.


Here is my GYM CHRISTMAS list now:

Go for a Pre- or Post-Dinner Walk.

Yuletide Cheer

Make a Game of Household Chores

Crank Up the Music and Boogie Down

Hazardous Waste Removal

Regular Water Consumption

Investigate and Share

Sneak a Work Out into Another Activity

Turn TV Commercials into Fitness Breaks

Muscle-Building/Strength Training

Animal Time

Seven-Minute Work-Out.

Little Molls

Sadly I have to tell you that Molly, aka, Little Molls, aka, La Molita, passed away last week. 

I felt like I should write about it because she and Toby are regulars on this blog, but I've also put it off. She was an old dog - my parents got her while I was a senior at Interlochen -  but it was still a shock that she was fine the weekend of the marathon and gone a few days later. Apparently her spine was deteriorating without us knowing it. She certainly didn't let on until the very end. 

Suddenly I feel like I have a completely inadequate amount of photos of her. 

She was a lucky girl to have been rescued by my parents. They treated her like royalty. Every dog should be so lucky, and in return, Molly was always so sweet. And she was lucky at the end not to have suffered for more than a couple of days, if that. But I know we're all sad to lose her and we'll miss her so much. I'm glad she got to meet Bo, but I'll be sad to be without all three dogs this Christmas. In fact, I don't think it will fully sink in until we visit for Christmas.

I'm also glad she got to meet so many of my friends and family over the years, especially at the wedding. She loved walking with my dad at IU and chasing squirrels on the President's lawn.

She and Toby weren't exactly best friends, but I know it's an adjustment for him, too, being the only dog. He'll mark her absence in his own way, I'm sure. 

It's hard to imagine ever meeting another dog as sweet and as easily loving as Molly. She was so good.

Northern Beers

We were so lucky that of all the people who could have shown up for our reunion, our friends Ethan and Josh were there. 

We had drinks at our former choir director's house one night and dinner there the next. His dogs were super friendly and climbed on my lap immediately - I didn't object, of course.

On Saturday, we decided to set off to see some beautiful Norther Michigan sites and to visit an ice cream place we used to love - Moomer's. I thought the stuffed (but real) animals in this display might like to taste my ice cream.

Michigan has always seemed like a beer wonderland to me, and this area was no different. Kira and I discovered a particularly impressive beer list at the Hofbrau (another old haunt) the first night we were in town. I had a great Vanilla Java Porter (delicious!) by Atwater, a brewery in Detroit. It's amazing to me that a remote, sort of truck stop kind of place like the Hofbrau would have such great beer. And yet, Michigan. 

Along with visiting Moomer's on Saturday, we went to Shorts Brewing in Bellaire, MI, per my request. I love the beer of theirs that I've tried in Ann Arbor and I was excited to try whatever they had on hand. Lucky for me, everyone else was up for a little road trip because it took an hour to get there.

Kira and I split a flight of tasting portions and I took diligent notes in the same notebook I used in Asheville before my voice came back. My friend Josh was rather impressed with my note taking - he said I was a beer connoisseur, though I told him it's mostly John's interest rubbing off on me. 

Shorts had a long list of beers on tap to try, and (not sure if you can see in this picture) all of the tap pulls were little legs wearing shorts...of course.

Visiting Shorts was everything I hoped - they had great and weird beer and great food. My favorite beer would have to be the OMGWTFBBQ, that tasted like bbq sauce with a sweet and smoky aftertaste. They also had a great and also weird bourbon barreled IPA that tasted first like hops and then like bourbon. But it was also good! 

After a stop at Moomer's, we decided to try another brewery in Traverse City - Right Brain Brewery. 

Kira and I also shared a flight here. We liked the Shrute Farms beet beer (yeah, as in, Dwight Scrute), though it was very earthy (like a beet). None of the rest really blew my skirt up, but I did like the special pour of their bourbon barrel ale that I requested. 

I loved getting to try all the fun Michigan beers and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of them at the little grocery store in Interlochen. I was able to get some of Shorts' Soft Parade and Autumn Ale to take home. 

The next day, Kira and I set off for Canada. We stopped in Cadillac for breakfast at Cheryl's, and if you're in the area, I would highly recommend it. They have great breakfast specials with a view of the lake and delicious homemade cherry-rhubarb jam that I was able to get in a take-out container. If I make it back to Interlochen in another 5 or 10 years, I would definitely stop at Cheryl's again.

Another List, Because I'm Lazy

It's that time of year, I guess. A bunch of crazy stuff is happening in October so I'll have no shortage of stuff to blog about. But for now, another list of the happenings around here this week.

1. Swimming is fun, but getting up early is a struggle. Especially on a morning like last Tuesday when it was crazy foggy. You'll have to take my word for it that this is a picture of the UWO stadium at about 5:50 AM. Saturday evening practices are a little more chill; this week we did a time trial for 400 meters free, and then 50 meter freestyle sprints. It turns out I've added 1 second to my 50 free time per year since 2001, the last year that I was officially timed. So that's not awful, I guess. I can work it back down over the next few months before the first masters swim meet. Everyone on the team is super nice and encouraging, and there truly is a huge range of abilities. After the time trials, we also did some relays, and we played a game called the Human Cannon. Six of my teammates launched me forward to see how far they could move me if I didn't try to propel myself (I'd say I made it about 20 meters - impressive!). Why on earth did I wait 4 years to try the triathlon club? I have no idea. 

I'm ready for the weather to actually feel like fall, but I won't complain because I think complaining about it being 70 degrees and sunny is a #whitgirlproblem.

2. John and I have been taking turns bringing Her Ladyship, Le Beaux Royale, to the dog park. She blends in perfectly with the fall foliage, which, I have to say, is pretty beautiful. I had no idea London had such nice dog parks! She blends in so well, in fact, that you can hardly see her in this picture: 

Taking her to the dog park is a great way to end the day on Friday and it really makes her happy. Sometimes there are a couple of other greyhounds there, and the three of them start to approach warp speed. Last week they were running around the trees in the wooded area of the park, and I was amazed that they could avoid running into the trees head on. [NERD ALERT] It was like that scene in Return of the Jedi on Endor when they're chasing each other on air bikes (similar clip here).

3. Last week, my church invited Rev. John Shelby Spong to speak as part of a year-long series of events celebrating the church's 125th Anniversary. We had a great turn out! Also, look how pretty my church is. 

Spong is kind of a controversial and I think he prides himself on shaking up conventional thinking by making polemical statements. I was a tad disappointed in his talk, since he spent most of it using the history of science to disprove a lot of older church thinking (Galileo proved the Earth is flat, etc) that I didn't find particularly shocking or useful. Perhaps I'm being too picky, but I was hoping he would make some concrete suggestions about what could be done on a local level to address a lot of the church's problems (institutional misogyny, aging congregations, etc). On the other hand, a bunch of smart people from my church got together the following week to discuss their thoughts on his talk, and I really enjoyed that. The people at my church are willing to have uncomfortable conversations and that's a big part of why I keep going back. 

4. I only have to make it until Thursday afternoon before the fun starts. Then it's off to Michigan for a few days of Interlochen party time!

BoBo in Bloomy

We decided to take Bo to Bloomington over Labor Day weekend. Partially, we wanted to get out of town one final time before school starts. But we also wanted to introduce Bo to my parents and their dogs. We loaded up her pink blanket bed in the car and brought her favorite toys to keep her happy. Bo does well in the car, so she spent most of the trip laying down, sleeping, or looking out the window. But I hadn't counted on how nervous she would be at the rest stops. She is very uneasy around traffic, and the noise from the semis followed us no matter where we stopped. 

We planned to get breakfast in Ann Arbor, thinking it would be fairly quiet and she could calm down enough to go to the bathroom. Instead, Zingerman's Road House, the restaurant we had mapped out in advance was on a busy street and she was pretty freaked out. But the donuts made it worth it. Holy crap, these donuts. They told us it would be a few minutes because they were making them from scratch, and they were totally worth the wait. Zingerman's is a large group of restaurants, bakeries, and delis in Ann Arbor and the Road House has a special coffee/breakfast trailer stuck on the front of the building. The breakfast burrito with cheese and green chilies I had really hit the spot, and these donuts kept us satiated for several hours. On our return trip we stopped at the Zingerman's head quarters where they have a bakery, coffee shop, and creamery. It's right off I-94 (exit 175, I think), but far enough from the interstate that Bo couldn't hear the trucks, so I think we'll stop there again.

After we made it inside the IN state line, we decided to find a place where Bo could actually have a rest stop that didn't scare her. Since we'd previously stopped at Pokagon State Park, we decided to let her walk around there and take a quick dip in the lake. Pokagon is also conveniently located just off I-69 (an exit in the 350s, I believe), and it was worth it for Bo to relax a bit and finally eat her breakfast.

Bo conked out for the rest of the trip. She and my parents' dogs never really hit it off, but they were amicable. I think she really liked the rug in the living room since it meant more room for her to stretch out. She also enjoyed the blanket my mom knitted her out of scraps from a blanket she knit for us several years ago. 

It was fun to walk her with the other two dogs in our favorite walking spots around town, especially Jackson Creek.

Dog walking is a family affair on Sunday mornings in Bloomington.

Of course, we also squeezed in a few non-Bo related activities in Bloomington. We went to the Rail with Mark and Jessica, where I had a Bandera for the first time: 

From left to right: a lime cordial (sans alcohol), VERY smooth tequila, and a Sangrita, which tasted sort of like a very light tomato juice. The server explained that it's customary to drink from left to right in small sips, but she also encouraged me to drink it however I wanted. I followed her advice and I was surprised how much I liked this drink. The lime and tequila at the beginning make it taste like a margarita. But the tequila and tomato at the end reminded me more of a Bloody Mary. I want to find the tequila they used, but I would need to be careful not to drink too fast. It was so smooth that it was like drinking white wine.

John did a few runs in Bloomington but he also accompanied me a few times to the IU Outdoor Pool. I'm still swimming a few times per week, but I wasn't sure how much I would want to swim while on vacation. But Bloomington was so hot and humid that the pool was especially inviting each day, and the facility itself is excellent. I plan on posting some of the swim workouts I've been doing, so prepare to have your minds blown.

My parents generously took us out to some of our favorite Bloomington spots, including Upland. Dad is a good sport about posing for funny photos.

And then we had to say good bye to Bloomington until October; we'll make a stop there when we're in IN for the marathon this fall. Now it's time for me to reach deep down and find some grain of enthusiasm for the semester to start. 

Birthday Part 1: Pawlooza

It's almost my birthday! Since it's on a Monday this year, John and I are observing it this weekend with some fun activities. The first: Pawlooza, a dog festival with tons of activities and vendors for all things dog related. They have everything; an off leash play area with a pond, a lure course, agility demos and an agility course for guests to try, a bunch of open water and streams for dogs to play in and get a drink, and vendors with every pet related product you can think of. The festivities started at 10:30 and we tried to get there as close to the start as possible. But as soon as we parked, I realized that everyone else had the same idea. There were hundreds of people and their dogs there. 

From the start we could tell that Pawlooza was exceptionally well run. Parking attendants guided us to our spot, others directed us to the main festival grounds, and everything ran on time per their schedule of events. 

We started off with the lure course, since it already had a decent sized line and we wanted to get a chance for Bo to run before things got too busy. While in line, we ran into several other greyhounds. It amazes me how big they are! Bo is smaller than any greyhound we've met so far.

We also saw a greyhound run the lure course ahead of us (that's him below). He didn't seem to be running full out and he was still flying! I was nervous for Bo to run the lure course because I didn't want her to get hurt; I also thought she just might not get what she was supposed to do. Fortunately, she only spent a few seconds wandering around before she spotted the lure and she was on the move. And she was beautiful! I think it put her in a great mood for the rest of the day. She loved getting to run again like that.

Then we headed into the vendor area to explore.

We met up with our friends, Samantha and Adam, and their dog, Donna. We explored the festival together for the better part of the morning.

We saw little dogs.

[Sidenote: I was impressed with these chinese cresteds in their Seuss shirts, since they pretty much already look like characters out of a Dr. Seuss book.]

And we saw big dogs. I saw more great danes and bull mastiffs today than I have in my whole life. 

And these big fluffy ones were really friendly while we were in the falafel line.

What with all the ponds and streams, Bo had plenty of opportunities to swim. She welcomed it in the hot weather. I still can't believe how she takes to water. She's like a fish in a dog costume!

Greyhounds only have about 15% body fat, and they're not natural swimmers. Maybe it was the heat, but Bo was all about the water. I'm all the more excited to taker her to the beach for the first time.

We took breaks from swimming time to walk around and look at all the booths.

We watched some dogs participate in the dock diving contest.

Some dogs balked at the end of the dock, but this german shepherd followed the ball all the way into the lake. The guy in the kayak was there to help dogs know where to go after jumping in, and to retrieve tennis balls that went unclaimed by the dogs.

Then Bo was back in the water, making friends.

And just splashing around.

We had such a nice time at this festival. Everything about it was so well organized - even the port-potties were cleaner than usual and came with actual sinks. The whole festival is run by volunteers and 100% of the entry fee ($10 per vehicle) goes to rescue charities. Pawlooza has events all around the U.S. and Canada, so they may have a festival near you! I know Bo will be happy to return next year.