In the tight, relentless grip

There are 33 days until Spring Equinox. And even though it's only a month, it feels like an eternity.

I've felt the grasp of SAD since October, But now, the cold, bony fingers are tightening around my psyche, making it very fragile indeed.

It's hard to go day after day with no sun. I'd take the below zero temps for even a glimmer of sunshine. To make matters worse, The nasty virus that ravaged the rest of the family finally caught me and I can't run.

I feel miserable....both physically and mentally. Hope I don't sound too much like a whiner, but I truly am SAD.

My funny Valentines

Mommy loves you!

Mood Painting

My friend Donita turned me on to this. It was fast, easy and fun!

Here's mine:


Click here to create your own painting.

Check #6 off the list

So I ran in the U of I Armory last night. It was just too dadgum cold to run outside. Ohhhhh I can't wait for spring!

Compared to outside, track running is pretty boring, at least the running part. However, track running can be quite interesting, especially when it's on a university campus.

At first I was a little intimidated and self-conscious being significantly older and heavier than the average track user. I just KNEW I was going to have to be in the "slow jogger" lane. But then I just started to notice things.

"That guy doesn't really move his left arm at all."

"Hey! Blondie! You need a proper running bra. Seriously!"
"How does he run so fast all hunched up like that?"

"Every time I come around this curve that guy starts doing pull-ups.. ..hmmm....Oooohhhhh. It's for Blondie."

"Her butt is bigger than mine.....I think. Yeah, her butt is definitely bigger. You know, that's quite a booty for a white girl...budonkadonk!"

It really helps the laps go by. All 38 of them.

Waiting....

for someone to tell me to STOP messing around with my blog layout/design. I can't quite find the one the I really, really like.

Someday, hopefully sooner than later, I'm going to switch over to WordPress and use a domain name I bought a few months ago: Sounds like Cake (get it?!? My last name is 'Haake,' and you pronounce it like "cake.")

I'm not sure what's keeping me from making the switch except the thing that keeps most of us where we are, even though we're not too happy with the place....comfort with the familiarity and, to be honest, laziness.

Watch for future changes.

Befy Update #7

Sounds like she's doing pretty well! We're hoping to see her by mid-June....4 more months.

***************************************************************************************
My Fifth Month in Venezuela, more school, more vacations

8:20pm Tuesday, Feb 5

Ok, so this month went by blindingly fast, a lot of happenings and miss-happenings that I will now fill all of you in on.

I left of last month with starting school again, school itself hasn´t much changed, except I´ve started hanging out with a different group of people, mainly the girls, and I´ve met and talked to some people that I hadn´t before. We also started to ride the public busses after school, which has given me a lot more freedom to be with my friends after school. I´ve also gotten really lazy with my school work, and I basically only try in math, chemistry, and physics, which are the fun classes here, and the classes in which I´m better than everyone else (Mrs. Tyson will laugh at that!).

I´ve also been able to skip a lot of school. A couple of weeks ago I skipped Thursday and Friday to take a trip with two of my host aunt´s to Maturin to visit my host cousin. Maturin is on the eastern side of Venezuela close to Guyana. The drive was really interesting, watching the country turn from mountains, to jungle, to beach, to desert, and I also got to see all the oil fields, and the tiny little towns that all seem to have some sort of food specialty that they sell by the roadside.

My host cousin is young, about 28, so we had a lot of fun in Maturin going out at night with her friends, and I got to go to a disco for the first time, which was awesome, I hadn´t been able to dance since New Year´s Eve.

Maturin was just a regular Venezuelan city, very dirty and run down, with a lot of pro-Chavez grafitti, but at least I got to spend some time with my host aunts and cousins and skip school for a few days.

Recently we traveled again to Barquisimeto during the wondeful holiday of Carnaval, where basically everyone goes crazy, dresses up, and throws water balloons, eggs, and worse things at perfect strangers. Luckily I was only the victim of a water balloon.

We also had a huge party at our school, complete with lots of fun, disgusting games (peeling an onion with your teeth? Rolling around in the mud?). And I had to ride the bus home muddy with my face painted blue and in sweatpants, and men STILL yelled things at me (that´s Venezuela for you, folks!)

After the party we got Friday, the next Monday and today off from school and the whole family went to Barquisimeto to visit the grandparents. We went to the movies, visited the Misión, where I got to do a zipline through the giant trees, and to a antique flea market, and I also got to ride a horse way up in to the mountains! All in all it was really fun, and I´m looking forward to the next month!

Worst EVER (so far)

I look forward to my long Sunday runs. This week was no exception. I had spent most of the weekend painting the basement (more on that to come) and I was ready to get out of the house and work the bottom half of my body.

The weather had been a little milder than usual and I was tricked into thinking that I would only need a base layer and light, track jacket. It wasn't long before I discovered that the wind was as brutal as it always is on the prairie.

I changed my route to manage the wind better, a disappointment as the original route took me through a lovely prairie restoration park. Instead, I ran toward the U of I campus thinking their sidewalks would be clear of the six-plus inches of snow that had fallen a few days ago. They were and all was going well until it started to rain....33 degree rain. This, with the wind, made cutting things short soooooo worth it.

Ok, time for another route change. I started back towards the car thinking I could go through the graduate student housing. What a crazy mess of mazes that was! That alone would be irritating enough but the sidewalks weren't clear, the road was in early flood stages, and the cold, cold rain was coming down harder. I swear if I'd had any money, I'd have gotten on one of the many buses that went by me. (Go ahead and say it....I know I'm a woussy).

I FINALLY got back to the car and was seriously chilled and shaking. I didn't even bother stretching. All I could think about was what was waiting for me at home:




The Super Bowl and a little bit of crunchy heaven.