on my mind

last week i spent

thursday, friday, and saturday at the rodeo

(dirt, animals, pollen)

and saturday morning

at an outdoor service project 

(dirt, pollen).

this had my allergies in a frenzy.

i took allergy medicine to try and 

control it a little.

the allergy medicine 

kept me up most of

friday and saturday night.

no me gusta!

*****

the service project on saturday

was at a river location where my mother

used to guild field trips when she worked for

the department of fish and game.

after we sanded and painted tables in the picnic area

we took off down a trail and picked up garbage.

my mom was telling me all these interesting facts

about indigenous indians 

and pointing out indigenous and invasive plant species.

then she bent over and picked a leaf from a

ground-cover type of plant

(miners lettuce)

and said, "eat this"

and i did.

right off the ground.

no washing of hands or food.

it makes me laugh because it's so

indicative of who we are as a family.

*****

as i was getting ready for church sunday

i realized i had a test the next day

and i hadn't read any of the material.

(you know that moment.)

so i had to add studying

to my already busy sunday schedule.

went to church

made baby shower invitations

(they were already pushing being late

and couldn't wait another day)

had guests for dinner

went to a stake meeting

then came home and 

reviewed and studied 130 pages of material.

i finally got to bed around 3:00 a.m.

*****

i downloaded a 

running training program on my phone.

it has several different programs.

1 mile

5k

10 k

half marathon

full marathon

the training period is different for each program

(1 mile is 4 weeks while a marathon is 16 weeks).

i'm working on a mile . . . 

you alternate between walking and running 

for given amounts of time

increasing each week . . .

you get the idea.

but it's amazing because you go into the program

pick a playlist from your music library

and they just chime in over your music

"run now"

"walk now"

it's great! i don't have to watch a clock

or track my distance . . .

exactly what i was looking for.

*****

my dad pulled me into his office the other day.

he wanted to get my opinion about a case

that's going to trial in a few weeks.

he and his co-counsel were debating on 

whether to use a witness with a questionable history.

he said he wanted my opinion because,

as he puts it,

i am the second worst possible juror he can imagine.

it's nice to be useful.

*****

my mother took off for puerto rico.

she's spending a week there

and then she's packing up my sister and nieces

and bringing them back to fresno for the summer.

(it's difficult to image a situation where spending a summer

in fresno is the better option,  based on temperature!)

i cannot wait for my nieces to get here!

and heidi too, i guess ; )