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 10, 2017

After another late night I woke up and decided to cancel my job in Vineland and go back to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later and decided to pick up the art class at Wood School since it was already an hour into it. I didn't have to be there until 10 and I ended up only having 4 classes with a nice long lunch break. As Wood School goes it was a good job. After work I met Becca at the park for a run and some disc golf. I only did two miles and we played the first 10 holes before she had to go, but it was nice to be outside still.

After her cases we spent the night mostly looking some things up and playing Mario Kart Wii until we were tired.

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 4, 2017

We began the day right-- with pancakes. Halfway into making them we realized we didn't have any almond milk, but I remembered that I had a free coffee coupon for Wawa so I ran down the street, filled up a 24oz cup with soy milk, presented my free coupon, and returned moments later to save the day.

We enjoyed our pancakes while being entertained both by an episode of Flaked and watching the cats act very much like cats. Loki chased his tail quite a bit and kept sitting in the sunlight.

Around noon we headed back to Glasstown for their bottle release. There was a line at the door as people were excited to get a lot of beer, but we waited until they opened up to get out of the car and into the cold. We saw Lance, who was quite far ahead of us in line as well. We waited in line for a little while and I bought a bottle of the 3rd Anniversary Murder, Inc. for Chuck before we grabbed a flight and found a corner of a table to sit at. The Double Bourbon Brown was great, the Murder was much better than I expected, and the Danky Jr. tasted better today than last night. All around good beer as usual. And some lady got really passive aggressive about me sitting in the stool she thought was hers but that she wasn't sitting in for ten minutes.

We came home and made some tofu scramble for lunch and watched some more Flaked. It's really good. We also took out the frozen bananas we put in the freezer this morning and blended them to make some banana ice cream with peanut butter. It was a nice healthyish dessert. Johanna asked me to go get coffee so I meet her at the Starbucks Cafe. We had a great chat about traveling, tinnitus, and social media. I also was happy to have a cold brew again.

When I got back it was late, but we got ourselves right out onto the trails at Silver Run for three miles of running up and down hills and watching our footing as it got progressively darker. I felt great the whole time and I wished we could have kept going. It was nice to get out and be active a little bit for day anyway.

When we got home I had to put my fingers in Becca's eye to help her remove her newly-acquired contact lenses. It was weird. But once that was done we went to Tomo Sushi in Glassboro for Dan's birthday dinner with him and several of his other friends. Becca got him a Cider from the liquor store next door, and we got a six-pack of Tarte Nouveau to have with dinner. It was a nice time replete with a heavy-handed waitress who slammed down our glasses and knocked over my beer, spilling it on the table, and almost taking out people with the food tray more than once. Other than that it was a lovely night of good food and conversation. We didn't go on to the house party portion of the night, opting to relax back at home and get a few things done in the quiet. Like write this blog. Productivity, people.

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 26, 2017

I had some easy CST meetings in the morning at Mt. Pleasant followed by a nice break to go home and eat. I had to go to Wood School in the afternoon which was a complete fucking nightmare. It started with Kindergarteners being terrible and then fourth graders being even worse. One kid slammed a chair and said he hates substitutes. Totally worth the money. Even though we didn't have much time Becca came over for a much-needed run after that day. I felt better after that.

I went to my first physical therapy appointment for my thumb where the doctor was funny and confused about what could be wrong. After the initial evaluation he had me put my hand in paraffin wax and let it sit for 15 minutes. It felt really nice. I had to do some exercises with putty and then I got the electrodes. All in all it wasn't so bad, but I don't have high hopes and the doctor didn't seem to either.

I came home and decided to stay in for the night. I watched some things and went through some stuff to throw out in preparation for moving. I got my last tax documents so I went ahead and got that out of the way on TurboTax. It felt nice to just get it done. I got to bed late with no job yet for tomorrow. 

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 12, 2017

It was a surprisingly quick and easy day at Memorial subbing for choir. It was also beautiful and warm outside so I didn't want to be in there at all. We had a fire drill at the end of the day just to rub it in a little bit.

Becca met me after work for a run because there was no way we couldn't get outside for a little bit. We ran two miles kind of fast along the river trail. It was really nice, but we both felt like we weren't used to the warmth. We saw the mother bald eagle again, but by the time I got back with my camera she was gone.

Once Becca was done work she surprised me with a puzzle of the arch from Canyonlands. It's a pretty picture, but the puzzling has been a pain in the ass to start with. The black border has been really difficult. What is puzzle lighting anyway? I always forget how much the glare affects it.

During all that we also made sweet potato gnocchi. It was a much more involved process than I remember and we had to keep adding flour to get it right. Much kneading and rolling and boiling and frying later we had a delicious meal. We watched a couple episodes of Love, did some more puzzling, and got to bed somewhat early.

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.

Jan 3, 2017

I worked at Memorial covering classes for Child Study Team. It was a pretty easy, basic day with a lot of downtime. I went shopping and to the bank during my break time and made an appointment for the dentist after work. I went and got taken right back. So different from the doctor. This was just the checkup but they made a big deal about the cleaning having to be on a different day for some reason. I don't get it. No cavities though.

I went home and took a proper nap that lasted about two hours. It was really nice. I went to Becca's when I got up and she surprised me with a cheesesteak from Drop Squad. So sweet and so delicious! We did Day 3 of yoga and then decided we should go out for a run.

After some running around to get headphones and things, we hit the road running in the old neighborhood. We took the opposite direction this time and it seemed to work out better. When we got back to the car Becca realized she had dropped the car key somewhere so we went back a little while and found it right where we thought it would be. It was kind of nice to have that extra walk anyway. When we got home we cooked a bunch of quinoa and veggies for the rest of the week, burned some brussel sprouts, and played some Mario Kart until we realized how late it was.

Dec 30, 2016

We slept in and got up to make a tofu scramble eventually. It was really tasty, but the sweet potatoes are always the best part.

We sat around being lazy for a while, which was quite nice. The cats joined in.

We decided we should go for a run so we went to South Vineland Park to do a couple of laps. I did a little over two miles but it felt nice to be outside. We tried playing disc golf, but after being sweaty we both felt cold and not really in the mood for it.

Later Omarey met me at my house and we drove up to Starland for Thursday night two. We had a great chat on the way up about a lot of things in life and travel and inspiration. It's great to be able to have deep conversations with friends I don't see too often. Thursday was amazing just as last night, but I prefer the other setlist. Tonight's was themed towards more hopeful songs and they did a great job with the theme. The crowd was a little more crazy too so that played a part. Along with everyone in the crowd being excited it was apparent that Geoff was having the time of his life. It's great to see the band back together like no time has passed. Definitely worth the long wait.