Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Highlights

It's been a while, I know. Unfortunately I still have two busy weeks of work (a 25 page seminar paper and possibly thesis revisions) before I'll have time to post properly, but here are a few of the highlights of the past few weeks.

Kyle bought the bike and brought it home. It's all ours at last! Unfortunately when Kyle and David tried to take it out for a long ride the back break got stuck in the on position, so now it has to go back to the shop. I'm sad even though I'm not there to ride it anyway.

My parents visited one weekend to watch UVA play Maryland in baseball, partly because they know one of Maryland's players and partly because we're all a bit crazy about watching sports. In the second game of the series my dad got to see his friend's son earn the save in an upset win, and then the next night all three of us watched the game together. It was a blowout win by UVA but the game still had its moments. My dad managed to catch a foul ball hit by the only player I know - one of my students in the writing center. And at one point a fielder broke his belt during a play - I'm not sure how either, but it happened - so he jogged towards the dugout to dispose of it and was met halfway by one of his teammates. After the beltless player gestured the other guy took off his own belt and gave it to him. Everyone cheered the amusing display of teamwork. It was a good time all around.

Remember Bike to Uganda from last entry? Well not only did UVA's organization meet their goals - they raised over $11,000 and covered the 7,354 miles between Charlottesville and Uganda a few hours early - but we beat VA Tech!

Speaking of stationary bikes, I'm back in the gym after a hiatus, but it's becoming frustrating there. They've started blasting mediocre music all the time so I can no longer listen to my stories (yes, I realize I sound like I'm 80). Plus my lifting is severely limited by my tender shoulder and my sometimes creaky knees. Why are so many muscles attached to them? Arg.

Generally, though, my shoulder is feeling better and has been out of the sling for a while. Of course I occasionally overuse it, but I've avoided anything dangerous. I even turned down the chance to scrimmage while assisting at an ultimate frisbee clinic, and stuck to teaching flicks on the sideline instead (which was actually quite fulfilling.) I'm also not riding outside yet, largely in the fear that I'll fall on my shoulder and re-dislocate it in the middle of nowhere, hence the gym time.

I stayed here for Easter thanks to the thesis, and I got to celebrate by...dealing with flooding! Our hot water heater inexplicably sprung a leak. As always happens (see the great washing machine flooding of 2007) I was alone in the house. Thankfully I have probably the best landlord ever, and he and his father came over to replace the pipe and clean up the flooding on Easter! I was incredibly amazed and grateful. I still had to go without hot water for almost two days, but at least there wasn't any long term damage.

I also had a birthday this month. I am now a quarter of a century old, which blows my mind a bit. I didn't really celebrate because I was immersed in thesis hell at the time, but Pat presented me with a ShamWow and a book of short stories, and some of my relatives generously donated to the Jillian-wants-a-DSLR-fund. I'm hoping to buy the camera this weekend or soon after (and I will definitely report back when I do!).

Finally, Hydra just updated their awesome website and included a countdown shoutout to our upcoming wedding! I love those girls more and more.

Sorry the updates are choppy and brief, but it's about time I get back to the grindstone. See you in May if not sooner!

| posted at: 22:27 | permanent link and comments

Friday, April 03, 2009

Biking to Uganda

With the dislocation I won't be able to enjoy springtime on my bicycle for a while, especially since, as we know, I tend to fall on my left shoulder far too often. Last night, however, I got to ride outside - on a stationary bike in support of Building Tomorrow's Bike to Uganda Fundraiser. The organization works to raise "awareness and funds to build and support educational infrastructure projects for vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa." For the bike fundraiser, anyone can sign up to ride for an hour or more on stationary bikes set up on the university lawn near the Rotunda, and sponsors donate money for each mile ridden. The goal is to collectively ride 7,354 miles and raise $40,000. As an added bonus, we are apparently racing VA Tech to see which school can reach their goal first.

Last year I didn't find out about the event until I saw people riding on one of the last days, and the same thing might have happened this year if one of the Hydra girls hadn't emailed everyone about it. She was able to recruit a number of frisbee girls and guys, including some of my favorite winter league teammates, and we all had a good time pedaling away on the fog covered Lawn. It was a highly entertaining ride, though it would have been a lot more fun if I hadn't been sick. Yup, the universe decided that going through thesis crunch time with an injured arm wasn't annoying enough, so it saddled me with a monster of a sore throat too. I wasn't, however, the only one wearing a sling - one of the frisbee guys had injured his shoulder at a tournament the same weekend but came out to ride as well.

I didn't keep track of how far I rode - very unlike me, I know - but most of the time when I looked down at the speedometer I was pleasantly surprised to be going around 20 mph. My legs never got tired but breathing got very difficult, so I was actually glad that the organizers decided to pack things up a little early. I wanted to support them more by buying a Bike to Uganda t-shirt, and since they only had large sizes left (of course) I got one for Kyle, who was really disappointed that the event didn't coincide with one of his visits. They threw in a free UVA shirt in my size and entered me in a raffle, which was exciting; I don't have any idea what I could win, but I'm not going to turn down a raffle. (Unless it's that colonoscopy raffle that I keep seeing advertised - what is going on there?) Anyway, I'm very glad that I dragged my sick and injured body out in the misting rain to ride a bit of the way to Uganda. Major kudos to Building Tomorrow; I really hope they reach their goals and I encourage everyone to support them however you can.

| posted at: 18:26 | permanent link and comments

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