it's definitely summertime

[marathoner452]

92*/heat index of 98* right now
98*/heat index of 109* tomorrow
98*/heat index of 112* Wednesday
95*/heat index of 105* Thursday

Our water heater is broken, which means we have to take cold showers until it gets fixed. Given how hot and humid it's going to be this week, I'm not thinking that's going to be a problem. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

I spent this weekend down at St. Mary's at the annual Special Olympics sailing regatta. Alice and I ended up with a bronze medal, and never mind that meant we placed 3rd out of 4 teams in the lowest division, she was very happy about it. She's happy about most things most of the time. She was happy because she thought it was funny when the wind died in the middle of our last race and I was standing up in the middle of the boat blowing on the sail because that was about all the wind we were going to get. Paul, the Special Olympics athlete my dad used to sail with, was happy because he found lots of shells for his girlfriend down at Church Point. I was happy because I spent the better part of Saturday night with ctlavery and her husband Tom, and we got to eat Vietnamese food at The Hot Noodle and catch up on life.

It was a happy weekend. Anytime spent down at St. Mary's, especially when it involves sailing, usually is.

Next up: delivering renter's insurance brochures, ignoring all the summer safety advice I've given out to elementary school kids and going for a run in this heat, reading about sled dog racing in Alaska/-35* weather, and working on the Bachman Valley 1/2 Marathon. And plotting my next trip to New Orleans.

~Bethany

Comments

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

That would explain the ambient noise I heard when your phone kept calling my house on Saturday morning, and Sunday morning too. :-P And congratulations on the regatta--that sounds like so much fun, and I'm thrilled for Alice--that's exciting for her. I do that blowing thing whenever I play mini-golf and the ball hangs over the lip of the hole, which I know isn't the same, but it's still funny. Say hi to Coleen for me the next time you talk to her.

Would the book about the dog race be the Iditarod? I've always wanted to read something about that. Now THAT is an endurance race.

Be careful in the heat--I'm running tonight, 4 miles, with 2 water bottles. :-P We're due to hit 105* heat index on Wednesday, and then it's gonna drop like a stone in a lake. Our low tonight will be our high on Friday.

20 days! (But who's counting?)

~Adam

[ratkrycek.livejournal.com]

You guys are running in this heat? Y'all are nuts. :-P

May I remind you that you guys didn't run down in New Orleans, because you said it was too hot and muggy?

Uh huh.

;-P

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

How did I know you were gonna say that? :-P

I personally didn't run because we of our time constraints down there. If we had more time down south, I would've run a couple times, probably through the Garden District. I did pack a water bottle and a small canister of Gatorade, but I never used it.

~Adam

[ratkrycek.livejournal.com]

Bah. You never said anything about time constraints while we were there.

Nope. Not flying. :-)

Just you pack your Gatorade today. I don't want to read about runners in MI or MD going to the ER with heatstroke, mmmkay?

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

I figured 8 hours a day of gutting houses in that heat was going to be exercise enough. Plus, I packed my running shoes last time and all they did was take up space because it's not like I had extra time to run.

There is heat and then there is HEAT. What we have right now deserves extra-capital letters. I'm still running, but I'll wait until 9:30 or so.

~Bethany

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

Actually, the book I'm reading is about the Yukon Quest, a race famous in Alaska for being even tougher than the Iditarod. It's not quite as long (still more than 1,000 miles so nothing to sneeze at in that respect), but there are fewer checkpoints so it's more dangerous.

Our AC upstairs doesn't work during the day when the sun beats down on the attic-the fan doesn't work. Ouch.

~Bethany

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

What's the book called? I'd like to check it out after I'm done reading Soul Kitchen and all the stuff I've just ordered. I ordered two more books today from Nomad--"Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation" and "Blue Like Jazz: Nonspiritual Thoughts on Christianity" (see my latest entry if you haven't already for a better explanation of why--these books are recommendations from David, my pastor).

Is this the house or the office you're talking about? Either way, it sounds like the bunkroom back at First Street United Methodist.

I got my check from Metro Volunteers--they reimbursed me the ENTIRE cost of my ticket--almost $550. Moving fund! :-)

~Adam

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

Hey cool, I thought they were just going to reimburse us up to $350. Guess they made more money than they'd planned on. I got my check on Friday. Since I wasn't planning on getting anything back when I booked the flight, I'll go ahead and put that money towards my car loan. Just $729/10.5 months to go after that. Yay.

I actually like it hot. It was 83* upstairs last night and I had two quilts on my bed. Heat really isn't bad if you're used to it so long as there's some air moving. Sweat is good for you. B-)

The book's called Running North. You're as bad as I am, racking up such a long reading list. :-)

~Bethany

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

I know you like it hot--I don't mind it either. I have a fan in my room even with the AC on.

You knew I was as bad as you were when we met. :-P

And I found out yesterday that I'm not VISTA. I'm State. There is no moving expense. No worries--I have more in my savings than I thought. And it won't cost that much to move anyway--just gas and tolls (which amounts to about 60 bucks), because my apartment is mostly furnished (missing a dresser and a bookshelf). It's also gorgeous--I got pictures yesterday. Chairs, couches, 2 beds, sailing theme (complete with ships in bottles and other cool stuff). I get this feeling you'll feel quite comfortable there.

~Adam

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

The biggest plus about not being VISTA is the ability to have a second job if you want (that's been a huge help this year for me), which may help counteract the moving expenses!

[roadwarrior220.livejournal.com]

I did not know that. That changes everything.

Thanks for the heads-up! Now I'm not quite so worried about paying my bills and saving for New Orleans!

~Adam

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

Did you know that VISTA will reimburse you as much as $550 for moving expenses?

~Bethany

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

mmm, -35* weather. *sigh* I miss Canada. I miss frostbite warnings and having my hair freeze when I go outside. I miss my eyelashes freezing together so I can't open my eyes and I miss the red cheeks everyone has all winter! I miss the fun scarves and the mittens I had with the individual fingers on the inside. I miss seeing my breath and hearing the crunch of snow. Oooh, and I miss having hot tea and the nights that everyone stayed inside because it was -50* and I miss that it stayed -40* for a whole week every year and once that week was over, everyone in the city bonded together and celebrated that it was now up to -29*, and wasn't that so much warmer than -40*???

I miss winter :(

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

Where'd you live in Canada?

Winter down here really isn't much, esp. compared to what you're talking about. That "cold snap" we had last December where it didn't get above 20* for a week is about as bad as it gets, esp. these days. We're lucky if snow sticks around for a week, if we have a white Christmas, or if we get snow past the end of February.

It's nice most of the time to have relatively moderate weather, but the extreme stuff makes for such good stories. Like running the inaugeral Frederick Marathon in 4 inches of snow. At the end of March around here, that's extreme. :-)

~Bethany

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

I lived in Montreal for four years. Not as cold as the Yukon, but the regular -20* weather was cold enough for me, not to mention those weeks of -40* peppered in there.

I kept expecting winter to really happen here, and then it got warm again and I was confused :)

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

I know we don't really have winter here, but I'll make you a fun scarf for next winter if you want.

~Bethany

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

Wow, if you have time and the inclination, I'd love that! (I love scarves!)

[marathoner452.livejournal.com]

What are your favorite colors?

Crocheting is one of my hobbies. I usually make blankets for Project Linus, but it's way too hot right now to sit around with a blanket on my lap.

~Bethany

[batemanenroute.livejournal.com]

I'm with you all the way on the being too hot to sit around with a blanket on your lap. It's one thing to be hot and sweaty and gross when you're staying in a room with 80 strangers who are all doing the same thing.

It's quite another to be hot and sweaty and gross when you're working in a professional environment and have to wear business attire. Ick!

(My favorite colors for scarves are bright red and white :))