Mar 9, 2017

I worked at Memorial in an English class for the day. It went pretty well, and I had a lot of free time while the students took a test. After work Becca and I went to Parvin for a run, but I was so full from eating shortly before that I was going slow and not feeling it. We ran two miles and then stopped to walk the rest of the way. It was nice to just walk.

We went to the Pitman breweries later, hoping Kelly Green would have the coffee stout again, but we were disappointed to find out they didn't have it and the place next door was closed. I looked on PhillyTapFinder and found that Bainbridge Barrel House had several coffee beers on so we headed right for there after picking up a slice from Blackbird. We had some great beers, some not as great beers, but quite a few expensive beers. The Neshaminy Creek Coffee JAWN was probably my favorite. There really aren't enough coffee IPAs out there.

We got to the Barbary a little later than I wanted to, but the party was in full swing at Through Being Cool so I was quickly enjoying myself. I was enjoying myself too much to be able to leave before it was basically over at 2am. I'm glad we stayed. 

Mar 2, 2017

I had a nice, fast day of meetings with Pete at Memorial with lots of down time and I was done by noon. Becca and I decided to use the nice day to go outside after some discussion. I wasn't feeling great in general, but I'm really glad we decided to go to Parvin. Since I didn't feel like running we took the red trail for a walk. It was muddy but passable on the little bridges. It feels like a whole different place over there. We got to a section where fallen trees and muddy swamp made it impossible to see where the trail really was so we had to bushwhack a bit to find our way. We eventually made it back onto the Black Oak trail and took that the rest of the way to meet up with the main loop for a five mile hike.

I went home for a while and didn't do much until Becca came over to meet me for a run in the neighborhood. It was really nice weather for it and I was feeling great. I just wanted to get a little of the run on the riverwalk because it was such a beautiful night. After we crossed the river bridge I wanted to make it to 5 miles so I pushed it until I got back to the house. I've been slacking lately so I need to remember how good this was and get out more often.

Feb 5, 2017

When we got up Becca made us some delicious blueberry pancakes and we watched an episode of Flaked. We tried to go to the mall, but it became a challenge when we found out nothing opens before 11. We went to Target, where I got the 4TB external drive I wanted and then we bounced around, going to my house to get the other one to return to Best Buy. We made a couple of other stops then came home to get some stuff done. One of those things was finally labeling all my discs and putting them in the drawers for my car.

We got down to business after that... I poked Becca's new nose stud into her face with tweezers after she almost gave up on it. THEN we got down to business. Becca did some studying and I did some editing. It wasn't long before we were hungry again and eating our leftover scramble watching another episode of Flaked.

It had been nice out all day so we went to Parvin for a run. The plan was to run 5 miles so we took the Black Oak Trail and I added in part of the paved loop for distance. When we got back close to the car Becca kept going so I stuck with her and we ended up doing the full green loop the other direction. In all we ran 8 miles and it felt great aside from my feet hurting. I don't know if it was my shoes or what, but besides that I felt like I could have kept going.

We stopped at the store on the way home to look for a couple of things and then headed home to start cooking dinner. We got ingredients earlier to make lentil sloppy joes so we began the fairly easy process. It took a little time, but we made a lot and it was really good! 

We watched the last episode of Flaked which left us on a cliffhanger. 8 episodes isn't enough! Becca gave me a miniature pedicure while we watched. I put my feet in a warm bath then she gave me a nice massage. I needed it after those miles today. I spent the rest of the night at home setting up my new hard drive and transferring some things while I caught up on some shows.

Feb 1, 2017

I woke up early after a good night of sleep and finished the last two episodes of Insecure before heading to work at Silver Run. The first meeting I covered a gym class for about a half hour watching the kids play volleyball. After that I had a two hour break so I went to Becca's, ate lunch, and chilled out for a while. When I went back I covered a Spanish class for 40 minutes watching Dora the Explorer. After that I was done for the day. No complaints this time.

I did some editing before heading to Parvin to meet Becca on her way home for a run. I felt slow and weak but my pace was 8:25 for 3 miles so it wasn't bad. It's funny how often I feel that way and the result is the opposite. But not running for a week and eating poorly surely had something to do with it. Since it was still a little earlier than usual we decided to go play disc golf before it got dark. We had a game of really good shots and terrible shots. We picked up takeout from Viet Bistro in the mall and watched an episode of Flaked and then finally Deadpool. The food was great-- I missed the spring roll vermicelli-- and the movie was good but not as amazing as it was made out to be. After all that we spent a little too long arguing with Comcast people on the phone about Becca's bill.

Jan 25, 2017

I had a pretty easy day at Silver Run covering meetings. Didn't get a lot of work done because their break room sucks, but I got a long lunch and found out I was done when I went back after. It was pretty nice out so I went out to the sheds and got rid of some of my stuff that I've been holding onto for too long. I still have a lot of shirts that I'll probably throw away eventually. It's weird that it's so hard to let go of clothing sometimes.

I met Becca at Parvin and we ran together on the muddy and branch-covered Black Oak trail. After the wind storm the other day there was a lot of debris and a tree had fallen across the path. I stopped at 4 miles, but Becca pushed me to go for 5, which we had discussed earlier and I was happy we did it. We came home and cooked veggies and quinoa and finished watching season one of Love.

Jan 22, 2017

After sleeping late, but not really sleeping in since we went to bed at 3am, we got up wanting pancakes. We found a quick and easy recipe and (mostly Becca) cooked up some blueberry flapjacks. I cut the perfect square of butter for the photo so I helped. It was just what I wanted for breakfast while we watched some Love. Becca had to go to a child's birthday party so I worked on photos and just hung out.

Even though it was dreary and misty out all day we decided to go for a run at Parvin. It ended up being great. We ran a little over 4 miles, partially in mud, but if it wasn't for the darkness and other obligations we would have run farther. I felt great. When we got back I devised a way to record Becca's class so she could do it later. I spent time editing and she studied for a while. We watched another episode of Love and then I headed home to do laundry and get to bed.

Jan 18, 2017

I worked CST meetings at Memorial for the first part of the day. I was in the gym for Kessler for the whole time. Adrian was subbing also and we got to talk during one class which helped it go by quickly. There was a lot of little off time, but I went home at noon since Kessler had off afterward. I went to get my thumb x-ray at CDI later and had to sit and wait for a while. I watched Obama's last press conference in the waiting room.

I met Becca at Parvin for a run since the rain had stopped and it was relatively warm. I ran in shorts and t-shirt and I felt really good the whole time. I ran an 8:14 pace which made me happy. I want to get back into running longer and faster.

We got showered and headed to The Abbaye for Sterling Pig's U Buy the Glass Night. We started with the Shoat Pilsner and Pata Negra, both of which were really good. The Simcoe IPA, Saison du Cochon, and Piggy Stardust tripel were all good as well. Our waiter was awkward, but nice, and he kept commenting on the fact that we didn't want whichever beer he brought over in the pitcher. Becca and I shared the wings and a cheesesteak, both as good as always. It was nice sharing it and not feeling like I had to finish the sandwich or pick one of the two. The best part of the evening was Jorge walking by at the end with a pitcher, pointed at Becca's glass then to her, raised his eyebrows, then made the cut off sign with his hand across his neck. It was silently hilarious.

Jan 14, 2017

I got up early and got a lot of little things done that I've been putting off. Becca wanted to go for a run so we met at Parvin. I ran the Black Oak trail for 4 miles. It felt good even though the temperature had dropped back to the normal cold. We walked a little after running separately then took off.

I felt like staying outside a little longer so I went to the park and ran 10 baskets, alternating 10 push-ups and 20 V sit-ups after each one. I played a decent game for being in a hurry.

I spent the afternoon packing, doing laundry, and taking it easy. Becca and I headed up to Philly early to meet up with Andrew to FINALLY get my MacBook Pro. We met at a Qdoba near Temple and made the exchange. I'm excited to have it, but it's frustrating to have a new thing and not be able to use it right away. We went to Blackbird and got delicious pizza and a sandwich then stopped at La Colombe for a cold brew.

We got to Union Transfer just as Hidden in Plain View was finishing up, but they sounded really good. The Early November played a full set of songs from The Mother, The Mechanic, The Path. It was a good mix of songs that I knew and some I didn't. The second set was worth the wait. It was full of all the songs I would want to hear including Fluxy! They ended on Every Night's Another Story which was an incredible end to a really fun and special night.

After the show we started driving North toward Watkins Glen. We drove about three hours, but it didn't feel like it because we chatted the whole time. We stopped at a rest area just over the New York border where we set up camp in the back of the car. It was cold and my sleeping pad sprung a leak so it wasn't very comfortable either, but I got to sleep.

Jan 4, 2017

There was PARCC testing at Memorial today so the schedules were different. First block ended up last 2.5 hours and cutting into my only block off so I ended up with a half hour break to run home and grab lunch quickly. I was in an art class and they had individual work so I was bored sitting at the desk all day. I finished reading 40 Days of Dating pretty early on and then proceeded to browse Reddit and other random websites all day. This is when it would be great to have a computer I could edit on.

I came home for a while after work and Becca left work early so she convinced me to go to Parvin with her and run. I wasn't feeling totally great, but I thought a run would help. I felt sluggish, but I ended up doing an average/slightly faster pace than usual over 3 miles. I did feel better after the run and the weather was pretty nice for it. The cold breeze was coming in over the water when we finished.

We did our day 4 of yoga a little later on and then went to Target for a failed jeans-shopping mission. Undeterred, we went on to The Dolphin for Emo Night, where we felt like were the only people there for the first half hour. Eventually people started coming out onto the dance floor.

Things picked up quickly after "My Friends Over You" came on. There were groups of people dancing for the rest of the night and the set got much better after that point too. It was a lot of fun dancing and singing and watching the walls change color together. After the awkward ending of that horrible Dashboard/Brand New mashup song and Weezer we jumped in the car and I stopped for piping hot fresh pretzels on the way home. It's been way too long since I've gone to the pretzel factory. Something comforting about knowing that place is still there.

Dec 22, 2016

I got to work to find out I had to cover my full first block I was supposed to have off. It doesn't usually bother me too much at Memorial, but it's been happening a lot lately. About a half hour before the end of the coverage Adrian ended up coming in to relieve me because he was assigned to that teacher for the day from Lakeside. It was enough time to run home and grab some food to bring back for lunch. The rest of the day went pretty well. No real problems at all and I was just reading on my computer the whole time.

It was nice outside after work so Becca and I high-tailed it to Parvin for a run. I took the Black Oak Trail because there were a lot of cars there so I wanted to avoid the people and also add some distance. I was feeling pretty good if a little slow. When I checked my phone a little over 3 miles in my phone turned off again. It pissed me off to no end so I stopped at about 3.25 miles after a pace of 8:40. Still not bad, but really annoying. When I got back to the dock Becca was sitting at the end and the scene was beautiful!

We went home and got ready for the night then drove down to Becca's boss Karen's house for pre-dinner cocktail hour. It wasn't really awkward, just unnecessary. I had a Bulleit on ice and then a glass of wine and the women and I boarded the bus to Atlantic City. I was feeling a little tipsy already but having a good time.

When we got to the restaurant it was even worse than it looked on the menu I checked out. It seemed like some old run-down restaurant you'd find at a midwest highway rest stop. The beer list left much to be desired. I met her friend Dan, who was really funny and the main thing that made the night fun. Her boss was a little strange, but ended up being really nice and came down to talk to me about craft beer for a long time.

I got quite a few Goose Island IPAs because that was literally the only thing remotely craft on the list. We got eggplant parm because the only other thing we could have gotten was pasta with marinara sauce. The food was good, I'll say that. I was looking forward to craft beer, which according to her boss this was supposed to be at a craft beer/wine bar with a pairing menu, so I think I wasn't alone in disappointment. In any case, the night ended up being pretty fun and we went back home afterward to get to bed relatively early.

Dec 21, 2016

I woke up after getting a good amount of sleep, but I was still running late. On my drive to work the sky was really nice and I shot some quick pictures out my window that was still covered in ice. I always want to get out and shoot sunrise, but it's so cold and the timing doesn't often work out when I start work so early.

The light was still nice when I got to Memorial so I wanted to take a shot of it. I was in for a health class and there was testing going on so the classes were longer than usual. I wrote a girl up 5 minutes into class, but then she was gone so that was good. The day wasn't so bad after all. I ended up not having to do my coverage last block which was nice since I didn't get my lunch break until 12:45 anyway.

I briefly considered a nap after work, but it wasn't in the cards. I went to Parvin since it had been nicer out during the day. Once I got there it had gotten a bit colder, but I hit the trail running anyway. After freezing my fingers off for a mile or so I had warmed up enough to be comfortable. I had a pretty decent run even though I felt slow. The lake looked really pretty frozen over. I feel like it's been a while since I've seen that.

I ran home and grabbed my change of clothes and met Becca for a second run in her parents' neighborhood. It was colder, we ran slower, and my iPod died along the way because of the cold. I'm over this shit. This never happened last year in Oregon.

It's Lance's birthday so we went bowling at Westbrook Lanes. It was much farther away than we thought, so it ended up being an all night thing. It was fun though. We bowled 3 games. I didn't do that well. Not sure if it was the ball or the shoes or the fact that I haven't played in a long time.

Lance (not pictured) seemed a little moody so it was a bit awkward sometimes and I felt like it was a challenge to make conversation at times. We had a good time anyway and fulfilled the bowling quote for this half of the year. We'll do it again in summer.

Dec 14, 2016

A while ago I decided I should stop taking Child Study Team jobs at Memorial because I end up being in classrooms longer than I would if I took a normal job, which is the opposite of why I liked taking them to begin with. Today was no exception, and it reminded me why I shouldn't. I had class coverage all day with a 45 minute lunch as opposed to the (normally) 30 minute lunch in addition to the hour and a half I'd have off for my break period. Sometimes it's nice to stay busy and help the day go by faster, but I'd rather have the break most days.

After work I went to Parvin for a run since I know it's getting cold tomorrow. The weather was good for a run once I got started. I was running fast and looking forward to seeing my actual pace when I took out my phone 2.5 miles in to check it and as soon as I turned it on it shut off. My shitty iPhone has been doing this any time it's below like 60 degrees. I was out one day when it was 55 and it shut off at 30% battery. That's unacceptable. Anyway, my pace up to that point was 8:04 and I continued to the end of the 3 mile loop at, I think, the same pace. Time for a new phone.

Becca got some bad news that she failed her certification test, so I picked up Thai food and sushi to take over along with wine and beer to cheer her up. We spent the night watching Planet Earth while we ate and drank, then we tried to play a game of Scrabble that was forfeited pretty early on because the letters and the board were not being good to us. We went back to playing Mario Wii, making some progress and drinking the Rogue Cold Brew IPA that I brought over (it was supposed to be a Christmas present for someone else, shhhh!) It was a nice night and I was able to make her smile so mission accomplished.

Mar 11, 2014

Well, I certainly overslept for work in the morning. Like, not even just a little. I was supposed to be there at 8:15 and I woke up at 9. Luckily it was a meeting coverage job and when I called he said to just come in. I only missed one quick meeting in the gym so they were fine. I was with the gym/health class for the rest of the day and ended up getting done early. It was such a beautiful day I had to go to Parvin for a run.

There were a lot of people at the parking lot walking around the trails so I thought it was going to be a pain to run around everyone. I put on my headphones and a Moth podcast and started my run around the long way. I was surprised and happy to not encounter more than a handful of people on the whole trail. It was a great run for 4.5 miles even though I was skiing all weekend. I needed to be outside in the warmth. The rest of the night I spent inside catching up on shows and getting to bed early.

Jan 22, 2014

No work due to snow again! Again, it was a good call on the school's part. I got to sleep in and then I went over to Parvin for a snow walk. It was fresh and untouched. I was the first one to park there and the first one to walk on most of the trail. It was really pretty all around.

I listened to Fireworks most of the way around, but I couldn't quite match the tempo as I walked in the deeper snow. It was nice not seeing anyone else on the trail and being the first one to make footprints. I was wearing Under Armour, ski pants, a hoodie, my jacket, and my face mask. I was happy with my bundling, and I just alternated taking my mask on and off my mouth.

I came home and shoveled off the walkways in the front and back of the house while I waited for Ryan to get there. We went for a walk down the river trail and around near the park. We looped around and extended the walk to the other side of the trail toward Sharp Street before heading back.

Once I took my gear off I was ready to stay home so I did laundry and watched White Collar in the comfort of my room. I was going to take another walk, but I didn't get a call so I stayed home until it was time for Quizzo. The cold and snow kept a lot of people inside it seemed. Only three teams were there and it was just Chuck and myself at our table. We fell behind in the first few rounds and were never able to catch back up so we came in third of three teams. Go team go!

Jan 18, 2014

A lot of photos today. I went to the gym with Ryan in the morning to continue/finish our pull up day exercises from last night. We did more pull ups than last week, and I improved my wall sit time by 40 seconds. I think I can do the full 5 minutes if I really want to. I met Kate and Matt at Flightline Restaurant after I showered and we had a good breakfast not fully comprised of breakfast foods.

We went next door to Glasstown Brewing for their grand opening. It was more crowded than I expected, but that's great for them. We had to wait for a while until they did the official ribbon cutting. Everyone was excited and taking photos because the mayor was there. And for the cutting, I suppose.

They did a fair amount of talking and thanking everyone. The mayor told everyone to start drinking, but then someone else talked for a minute. After that it was officially open to pouring. The next challenge was getting to the bar.

I was a little disappointed that there were only two beers on that I hadn't had. They mentioned last week that there would be several new ones and eight total. Either way, I started with the Bourbon Brown. It wasn't bad but not what I expected either. It's hard for me to explain, but the bourbon flavor was more muted, and it tasted more like a bitter brown. Good once it warmed up a bit though.

I tried the Glasstown Ale that Matt got. I liked that one; they use dark malts which gives it a full flavor. I got a pint of the El Dorado Pale Ale, which is tasty and maltier than pale ales usually are. They had the Glasstown Founder's Ale which wasn't on the menu, and I liked that a lot once it warmed up a little. I only had a sample, but I'd get that again. Chuck and Alex stopped by to fill up growlers for their evening, and they gave us their raffle tickets to increase our chances of winning. We didn't.

Paul gave us these cards when we came in since we had done the tour twice before. Technically (legally) everyone is supposed to do the tour to be able to drink there. I finished with the IPA, which I sipped on for a while and had some Doritos with the people at the table next to us that we became friendly with. They were all really friendly teachers, but were clearly getting drunk. It was amusing.

I left Kate and Matt to go get a run in before the sun went down. It was much colder than it was this morning when I thought it was a good idea. I went to Parvin anyway and froze my hands for the first mile until they warmed up. One thing I can say for the cold: when I think about stopping to walk I know I'll be frozen if I do so that's motivational. I had a good run around the lake listening to Anberlin, and the sunset was nice as I finished.

I got some food and came home for the rest of the night. I didn't feel great so I had a nap that turned into staying in bed basically. I got up for a few hours later in the night and went through wedding photos that I need to edit in the next week or two. I was in a Scrubs mood so I watched a few episodes and went back to bed.