bella

bella is my beautiful, baby-blue beach cruiser. normally, my pets or cars have masculine names, but my friend Drew said there is nothing "boy" about my bike. i never blogged about her cause i wanted to do her justice and post a picture the first time i introduced her. i would say she has been a friend now for nearly four weeks, since we go everywhere together and i tend to talk to her sometimes when we ride. since i have given up on my computer situation this will be a pictureless post...

she has a white basket on the front, and if i keep stuff in the basket, and petal very carefully, i can even wear a skirt when i ride. now, you would think that having a bike would be super exciting for the first few days, and then it would lose its flare. however, that has not been the case... i still get excited in the morning when i turn the numbers to get her unlocked. my roomate hillary has a blue bike too (she was part of the inspiration to finally go through with the purchase) and we have a secret club. its secret because no one knows the name or the secret move. my favorite, though, is when i wear my hair down cause the wind blows through it. and more practically, she gets me places much more quickly than before, and i have even mastered riding in heels!

last night she and i raced my friend ethan to the gym. he was on foot and i was riding. if you dont know about beach-cruisers, they do not have gears and your upper body is in a very upright, stable postition. also they dont squeeze through parked cars as well as people. therefore, racing is still a challenge for you if youre on the bike. yes, those were disclaimers, because i technically lost by three seconds. but i didnt really care because i felt so much like a little kid, speeding across the parking lots, past the palm trees and over the grass. those surreal moments where you forget that you have homework and a job and dishes are fantastic and necessary. if you havent had one of those moments for a while, i highly recommend making friends with a beach-cruiser...

cold showers

this morning i came back to my apt after my running/ jogging class. normally i have an 8 oclock methods of teaching sports class, but it was cancelled today! i got to come back, eat breakfast on the back portch and shower before my 9:30 class (if you are doing the math, yes, i run, go to a class where i play sports, and then i go to another class before i have showered or even stopped sweating, gross!)So I was doing the dishes after i ate and i kept waiting for the water to get hot, but cold water kept pouring out of the faucet. I stopped doing the dishes and walked into the bathroom to see if i would encounter the same problem there. of course, i did.
now, i played football yesterday afternoon and i ran this morning, so skipping a shower would have been a poor choice.
therefore, i started the shower again and got under the freezing cold water. now, i showered in cold water for three weeks in Africa, what was one more day, right? well my cold shower was a good reminder that my perspective has a great affect on my attitude and that i can take really fast showers if i need too!

rest

this week was crazy busy and i didnt get much sleep. two out of five nights were actually spent on the couch because i fell asleep studying. that means that two of those nights, i didnt brush my teeth or wear my retainer.
but last night, i opted to not go to Disneyland or the beach, and instead, i went out for thai food with a friend and was in bed, retainer in place, by 11:45. it was beautiful.
i woke up this morning, well rested, and i went for a run before it got hot. then a friend and i drove to the beach, where we napped on the sand, and then we came home. and that is all i have done with my weekend. no laundry, no homework, just rest. its been lovely.

you should know...

you should know that i tried to blog last sunday, and i was so proud of it... but then the internet failed so i lost it all.
the internet has been quite disappointing as of late. everytime i want to do anything on the internet, something happens. supposedly it will get "worked out" but i dont see anyone working. weve written our names on lists and talked to people about working on our apt, and still, nothing! so im sneeking blog time in at work.

but today is similar to sunday in that it is quite cool outside. to a utahn, its perfect, and to a southern californian, its a bit chilly. but i love it. and i love that i heard the bagpipe boy playing today while i ate lunch. i heard him on sunday too, and he was out on the front lawn (which is my backyard) with his red hair and kilt. today he didnt sport the kilt, but he was just walking around playing. our lunch table got in a long conversation about how it is such an interesting instrument, how none of us are educated enough about the bagpipe and its sound to ever know if the kid is really all that good, and how he sometimes plays late at night with his trench coat on, making the mood really eerie. all in all, though, i like bagepipe boy and his bagpipe.

well i am off work, but i have taken a couple of pictures of the apt so i can give you all a tour when my normal internet works... claire always sparks those good blog topics/ ideas, so i always copy :)