marathoner452 | Entries tagged with summer heat

My Louisiana State teaching license came in the mail today. I am now officially certified to teach mild/moderate special education, grades 1-12.

I'm celebrating with pecan pie down at Lakeview Brew, enjoying free air conditioning. Heat index of 103* right now. Iced chai latte is delicious.

Current Mood: happy

It is a relief to have new brake pads on my car.
It will be a relief to be done with the TGNO summer session on Friday.
It will be a relief to know if I have the special ed. job at Tubman Elementary, and to have a job for next school year period.
It will be a relief to take a break from New Orleans this weekend, yay Baton Rouge pool party and St. Francisville.

I'm going a bit stir-crazy in the middle of a New Orleans summer, but having an excuse to go to Laura Plantation, Ignatius for dinner, and Bluebird Cafe for brunch with

ekaterinn last weekend reminded me of why I live here. This weekend, New Orleans just felt like home. I even figured out how to make pralines, late at night after baking double-chocolate cookies for Kamp Katrina and with ingredients purchased at Mardi Gras Zone.

That is all.

I saw tourists step right out in front of me while biking down to The Historic New Orleans Collection. Look, I know we're all in a heat daze and you can get go-cups and drink in the streets and yes, the French Quarter is very pretty and we all need to stop and take pictures of it, but would you mind looking before stepping into the middle of the street?
Do I get extra points for actually running into one, or maybe free beignets or an Abita or at least new brakes for my bike?
I smelled fresh strawberries on my cereal, fresh blueberries and/or blackberries coming soon to a bowl of cereal near you.
I felt like the weather was cooler today, fancy that, 85* almost feels refreshing. It is refreshing I think, even with matching humidity, so long as there's a good breeze. The breeze keeps away the mosquitos too. Stupid mosquito bites from sitting on the porch at 1 am.
I tasted margaritas at Tomatillo's and double chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven at midnight. That's the best time to bake cookies, late at night after a couple drinks.
I heard Kermit Ruffins at Vaughan's on Thursday night. It was entertaining to watch the tourists show up in cabs wearing beads and looking so out of place, that is if they even dared to get out of the cab, because we do live in such a terrifying neighborhood. (Bodies found in trash cans notwithstanding.) The music was better enjoyed from the wooden bench out front, away from the crowds and the heat in a too-tight little black dress and sneakers. This is the 9th ward, I don't care if I'm overdressed and don't match.
We should go hear him play somewhere somewhat less crazy, somewhere where we can enjoy the music.

I spent the day in Algiers painting Algiers Technology Academy high school with Habitat for Humanity. The building used to be an elementary school and the students didn't like all the bright colors, so we repainted it a more institutional and sedate gray that has been added to the palette that is my painting clothes. There were about 10 of us doing the painting, mostly long-term volunteers and I was the only one who could describe myself as living here. As we finished up the conversation turned to New Orleans' recovery and I found myself unable to participate because unless you live here and are invested in this place, you don't fully understand why someone would want to live here. I can't be rational on that subject. I bought a fleur de lis ring last Thursday and wear it on my left ring finger where you're supposed to wear a wedding ring. Yeah. I've committed at least three more years of my life to New Orleans and I can't see myself leaving after that.

Unless. of course, I melt this summer. It's 84* with a heat index of 89* and it's almost 10 pm and it's only the beginning of June.

I've put down roots and started to carve out my niche. Tomorrow I'm going to to DMV to get my Louisiana driver's license.

I'm on the membership team at church now which last Sunday meant giving visitors and volunteers Mardi Gras beads and explaining that Muses is the name of a Mardi Gras krewe and what a krewe is, then having the pastor encourage us to give her an address where we could be reached in case of a long-term evacuation, then listening to Malik Rahim, founder of Common Ground, speak for more than an hour about social justice in New Orleans. I love my UU church for all of that.

Today was my dad's 50th birthday and the entire family got a kick out of the card I sent: "Cher, I could cook a pot of red beans over your 'burthday' cake!" I got it at Boutte's Bayou Restaurant down in Lafitte, total Louisiana birthday card.

On the way back to Camp Hope down in St. Bernard today, we stopped for snowballs and I got a hurricane (flavored) snowball because it is the beginning of hurricane season, after all. I'm trying hard not to think about the implications of that, trying hard not to think about how safe we're not and of all the reasons why no sane person would live here.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: deep down under in the Bywater

At the indirect request of my roommate, who had to suffer through a very uncomfortable 93* ride to the airport yesterday, I am taking my car in to get the A/C fixed, or at least the power windows fixed so I don't have to endure a New Orleans summer with no A/C and only the driver's side window for ventilation. And no rearview mirror. I need to get that fixed too. My attempts at reattaching the mirror with superglue and even the nifty remounting kit I got at Auto Zone have fallen victim to New Orleans' humidity.

I swear, whatever it costs it will be worth it. As much as I love riding my bike, having a car still comes in handy for, say, commuting to UNO for class all summer, or getting to church once I finally decide it's too hot to bike 7 miles all the way uptown.

Yes, I routinely chase the ice cream truck down Mazant for orange creamsicles. Yes, the driver of the ice cream truck knows me and sometimes sits outside the house honking and waiting for me to come out. It's one of life's small pleasures in a New Orleans summer.

Next up: Chocolate City ice cream from Mardi Gras Zone, and possibly more ice cream from the Creole Creamery after church tomorrow.

Current Mood: refreshed
Current Music: ice cream truck

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

Spending 17 hours in the car this weekend was fun, and by that I mean exhausting but definitely worth it. My family drove all the way up to Michigan to see my cousin's piano recital and it was awesome. Phenomenonal. This girl is going to major in music education and minor in music performance. You got me as to how you memorize an hour's worth of classical piano music, but she did and she only barely slipped up twice.

So needless to say I didn't do much running this weekend. Just a short run on my grandpa's walking treadmill in my mom's cotton socks, my grandma's walking shoes, and my dress Saturday night (I was just sick and tired of sitting down all day), and an easy 4 miles last night. I could have gone farther, but it was really humid and pretty warm, and I'm saving my mental energy for the Baltimore Marathon training that starts in a week with a general aerobic/speed workout: 7 miles with 7 x 100 meter sprints, more than likely on the squishy high school track.

I say squishy 'cause it'll probably be after work at 4:30ish, and if today's weather continues it'll be in the 90s and humid. Funfunfun. The things I do to make a little money and run a 4 hour marathon...start work at 7 am and run afterwards during the hottest part of the day. (By the way, this is a different job. It's in a warehouse putting away endless amounts of expensive men's clothing, but it pays pretty well and it's just save enough money to buy a car.)

That's about all the news from here. Oh yeah, and Chris came over and bought my mom and I snowballs in Westminster, and I can say from experience that my mai tai snowball actually tasted a lot like the real thing. :D

~Bethany

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville

The only problem I can see with a single room is that you have to make an effort to see anyone, as opposed to having a roommate in and out of the room to spend time with. Oh yeah, and having a roommate with an allergy so you can legally have AC is awfully nice too. But oh well. With all the reading I have to do this fall, it's kinda a relief to never have to wonder if my room'll be quiet. Because at St. Mary's, unlike in Miami, there is no 7th story of the library to go to watch the sun set behind the palm trees. :-( But I did get to go sailing on a whim yesterday, which I couldn't do in Miami, an hour from the water. And speaking of Miami, I talked to my friend Danielle from FIU this evening, and it turns out all the hurricane's bringing them is a little wind and rain, and a couple of days off school. I'm sure it's worse farther north, but I sure am glad that my friends in South Florida aren't getting pummelled.
If I'm rambling, that's probably because I got about 5 hours of sleep last night because my room was so warm and sticky (reference point made above about how nice AC is-I might have to break the rules down here on that one and hope no one notices) and ran 16 miles this morning. I waited to start my run until 9 hoping the humidity would calm down, then headed out to the trails behind Historic St. Mary's and Rosecroft Road, a loop I discovered last Wednesday with my running partner, Amy Werking. I used this run to see if there was any point in running the marathon in October-if I'm not ready, why set myself up for all that pain? Fortunately, the run went well, and I even got a little of a second wind near mile 14. I'm thinking 6+ tomorrow to bring me close to 40 for the week.
But first, I'm going to bed. And I'm not setting my alarm. If I don't wake up until noon tomorrow, so be it.
Goodnight.

~Bethany

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: fans-without them I am nothing :-)

Running in the heat-94* according to the bank thermometer, 84* by the one at home in the shade-can be brutal. But give me a warm, muggy day over the cold and wind at the dead of winter any day. No, it wasn't THAT much fun-try green sweat running down my back thanks to my freshly-dyed hair. But it was satisfying-and much better than slacking off for the 3rd day in a row. (Wasn't feeling so good Monday, went sailing yesterday.)
I have a race tomorrow-somewhere around 3 miles on the trails around Hashawha. It's the next race in the local summer race series, and I just hope it's not too hot. Not that that bothers me too much anyway. B-)
Work is work. I'm trying to work as much overtime as possible to save up for whichever awesome trip I decide to take after graduation.

~Bethany

Current Mood: content

I ran home from work again today, total of 6 miles. Worked the hills too. It was hot-about 86-and humid. Not ideal running weather but hey, anyone can run if it's perfect outside. If I were to wait for perfect weather, I wouldn't get out there very often. And the real fun starts when I'm running 50 mile weeks in August. If I thought today was hot...
Almost halfway done with work for the summer. Yay! It's so boring putting away shirts and pants all day, but at least it's pretty mindless and I have time to think. And have Les Mis and Jimmy Buffett songs run through my head. (Interesting combo, huh?) And think about the run I'm going to do as soon as I get off. I just have to work there long enough for my mom to buy all her Christmas presents with my employee discount.
First day of Special Olympics sailing for the summer tomorrow. I'm a little nevous, but I'm sure I'll be fine. If nothing else, I'll be out on the water, and it's so cool to harness the power of the wind and know you're in control-or at least in control enough not to tip over or freak out when you think you're gonna. :p

~Bethany

Current Mood: thirsty
Current Music: Don't Cry for Me Argentina

...That's what we've got in Miami right now. 75 degrees and 87% humidity. I can smell the infamous Miami rainstorms coming already. Yesterday's run was tons of fun, but not in the weather department. 83 and 70%+ humidity. Buckets of sweat and funny-smelling running clothes. I think it's time to do laundry.
But, anyway, I've been having an excellent week. My internet was fixed yesterday. I aced my Nutrition quiz Tuesday and my chem test yesterday. I had an awesome run, featuring an orange iguana and the biggest hill in Miami, in Tropical Park. I love the bus system here. Without it, I would be lost, or at least stranded on campus most of the time.
And tomorrow, I have my weight training class at 11 and an airboat ride at 2:15. Saturday I'm going for a long run in Coconut Grove and hopefully having dinner with my grandparents, and Sunday is all about the history class trip to Miami Beach.
Life is good.
Maybe they'll even have black beans and rice for dinner tonight. :-)

~Bethany

Quote of the day: The harder you work, the luckier you get. -Gary Player True in life as it is in running.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Spanish language salsa station