Bitch 'n stitch

Being about halfway through the dreaded knitting project (a simple scarf), I feel I should just motor on regardless of the loops and holes and weird variations in thickness I can't explain. So I brought my work to my mom to ask for some advice yesterday and she showed me what I was doing wrong with the purl stitch. She watched me try another row and I was complaining how difficult it was and she thought this was funny because for her knitting (and all other sartorial exercises) is just something she used to do while watching TV before Julia Roberts made it cool. Actually, when she saw me struggling to figure out why I couldn't pull the wool below the needle but had to pull it over the top when I started a new row, she was belly laughing. When I reached the peak of frustration before handing it back to her to sort out, exclaiming "Son of a bitch," that was it. She was just about falling over with tears of jocundity streaming down her face. (You'd have to see my mother laughing to understand just how intense it is. Is she sobbing? No wait, she's laughing. Ha ha. Ha.) At least she told me it made her day to have such a good guffaw. I guess that's a sort of consolation to my lack of knitting skillz. To top it off, I went to a friend's in Vancouver for dinner tonight and she had her knitting project strewn casually on the couch ("Oh, yeah, I just started last week. Isn't it fun?") as a side project to organic gardening and practicing law. Why are the little things in my life so HUGE? I can't even get through a scarf. It takes intense concentration. PLUS, it's not fun. Not really at all. Sitting in bed working through five rows of rib stitch, counting in twos to make sure I don't screw up the order makes me feel like I'm working in a sweat shop. And it's itchy and makes me too hot. That's why I took a knitting hiatus over the summer. But I'm back at it, and I'm going to finish the damn thing by Christmas if it kills me.

Mid-life

I may not be middle-aged, but I think I have reached mid-life.

There are lots of ways to think about dividing life into segments, but lately the way I've been thinking about life is in three parts: school, work and retirement. The first part is easy. Everybody has to go through school, and it's basically the same thing for everyone. We're all equal while we're in school, because the losers and the winners all have to spend the same 10 months going through the same courses to go on to the next Grade. And then, after university, or college, or whatever other plan to stall "real life" has run its course, bam, the second part hits: work.

Unlike school, in which life is neatly segmented into numbered years (Grades 1-12, years 1-4) and expectations around finances (student loan, anyone?) or housing (it's perfectly acceptable to live with mom and dad) are at their lowest, there suddenly comes the moment when school is over, even if you don't want it to be.

If anyone asks you what you're up to when you're enrolled in a course or five, you just nonchalantly answer, "Oh, I'm going to (insert name of university here), getting my (insert name of post-graduate degree here)," and everyone thinks your life is fabulous.

I miss the fabulous. The second part of my life, "work," is a lot more challenging to figure out. Years of work are not neatly numbered. I didn't graduate from Grade 1 of journalism this June, though I had just finished my first full year of full-time work. No one gave me a certificate or anything. My employers do not give me two months off every summer, and I have to pay back the money I borrowed for the first segment of my life.

It's all open-ended. And it freaks me out. I'm 28 and it's September and I'm not in school and I wish I were. I wish I could say I was in grad school. This second part of my life, in which I am expected to just work all the time, has been avoided for as long as possible (I took a year off to go to J-school), but now seems, unfortunately, the reason for my existence. And here's the really scary thing: the third part,"retirement," doesn't happen for a hell of a long time from now, and it's probably going to be a lot shorter than the "work" part. This middle-life stage has got me stumped.

How can I be expected to pursue all that life has to offer and follow my goals and dreams if I have to worry about working all the time? And where are the teachers? How do I know when I'm passing or failing? When's recess?

Keeping momentum going

The half marathon has been postponed since I hadn't been running before this week in about a month. I don't know how my upward trajectory can suddenly fizzle and fall back to the easy routine of not running at all, especially when I was doing so well, but there it is. Probably a lot to do with leaving my job and moving back to the Lower Mainland. However, all is not lost.

I've been running each day this week, and I'm going to sign up for shorter distance race (8km or 10km?) sometime before Christmas. That will at least motivate my feet to keep going even when the weather is bad. And I don't doubt the weather will be bad again soon since I've recently returned from Merritt to the Lower Mainland. Now that I've got this time to look for other opportunities, I might as well run. A lot.

I'm also taking up knitting again with a vengeance (the scarf must be done by Christmas!) and plannig to learn to cook some real food. One day I'll be a gourmet. One day I will serve a great meal for friends, but for now, I'm just going to get the basics down. Last night I made a really nice sockeye salmon fillet, marinated and baked, with rice and broccoli. Tasty, healthy and oh, so like a real grownup.

Big Sisters

I've decided it's about time I looked into some volunteer organizations I've wanted to get involved with for years.

One of them, Big Sisters, is an organization that pairs up girls (ages seven to 17) from single-parent homes with a woman who will spend time with her as a mentor and a buddy. I've been thinking it would be really fun to hang out with a kid once a week and get more involved in the community. Also, it's the Big Sisters' 50th anniversary in the Lower Mainland this year, so it seems like a good time to finally sign up.

Seems pretty easy to get involved. All you have to do is:
1. Fill out the application online and send it in.
2. Get a criminal record check done at your local police station (usually free for volunteers)
3. Have an interview with a counsellor
4. Attend a training session

Qualifications include:
1. Age 19 or older
2. Resident of Canada
3. Maturity, reliability, and interest in spending three to five hours a week with a young girl for at least a year

Considering the list of cool activities the Big Sisters website lists as suggested things to do together, I think this might be filed under "volunteer position for those who just want to have fun."

I've perused the Big Sisters website and I checked out an info session a couple of years ago, actually. Now it seems I just have to confirm where I'm going to be for the next year and then I can send in my application.

Like no one's watching

Living alone, I have found, has a few distinct advantages over co-habiting.
The most recent one I discovered is the opportunity to turn on my stereo and dance like no one's watching to whatever kind of music I happen to find most exhilarating, whenever I like. Just yesterday I came home from work to bust a move while I was making dinner. Did I dance like Elaine or Karen Kain?

The only one who will ever know is me.

Cross Training

Last night after work I went for a good 45 min run along the truck route in Merritt. Very windy, but pretty. My knees held up just fine. But if I'm going to start upping the distances to train for the half, I'm going to need to cross-train so I don't end up crippled in October. I don't want to invest in a gym membership, so I'm looking for alternative ways to cross-train.

Any suggestions?

I think quads are the most important muscle group to strengthen if you want to avoid runner's knee. Something about the knee cap tracking correctly. If anyone knows about exercises that can be done at home I would be more than grateful to hear about them.

10 km PR - 56:27

Yesterday I ran the Summerfast 10 km at Stanley Park with two friends, and got my best time yet for that distance - 56:27. The course was flat, so it was easier than the one in Abbotsford, but there was only one water station, so that added a challenge. Good run, though. Surprised my knees didn't hurt at all either during or after the race (is it all in my head, anyway?)

Hadn't run for about a week before because my knees were hurting, and was starting to doubt my ability to run a half marathon in the fall. But it's all good now. If I can do 10 km in under an hour, I can do a half marathon, no sweat. Well, some sweat, but no injuries. I've no time goal, just a solid run and a good finish.

Last night I watched Without Limits, the Billy Crudup/Donald Sutherland fick about Steve Prefontaine. Not the best film in the world, but Donald Sutherland has an AMAZINGLY good monologue, and the story is still pretty inspiring.

I'm going to scale back on the number of runs I do every week, and only start upping the distance towards the end of August. I do need to start cross-training asap, however.

Strong quads = no knee pain.