back to work after a long weekend

it was yet another busy weekend. my brother and dad were in town... that is always a fun time. :)

on saturday, it was eric's graduation party. what a blast! i got a lot of compliments on the new dress and my heels . my dad and brother talked to eric's dad quite a bit... they seemed like they were enjoying themselves, so that's a good sign :)

on sunday, we went to a coworker's (dan-a-licious)graduation/birthday party. berta and ryan were there as well... we played bocce ball, croquet... and drank gin & vodka tonics. lots o' fun!

la salles

man, i'm growing to really like that place. pool was fun last night. too much beer tho. broke down, had a cig *ick* but that was it. ate a slice of mushroom pizza on the way home. fantastic.

today is xmen. i'm going at 10:30 -- can't wait. :)

cycling with the ladies...

amber, berta and i went on a bike ride out to durham/dayton/chico. it was a nice ride... i was a little shocked that i didn't feel like dying afterwards like our previous ride.

estimated calories burned: 1,620
(based on 14-16 mph / 90 minutes of riding)

hooray!

today, berta and i are going swimming after work and then to thursday market. amber is joining us as well because alcohol makes the knee stop hurting.

way to cute for words

nothing really exciting happening in my world except for this link brought to you by bota.

first workout

berta and i officially began training yesterday with a 20 minute jog. i did intervals (5 warm up / 3 run / 1 walk) while berta just jogged. we then stretched and worked on our upper body (two machines).

today we swim. only 200 yards, but i might go a little longer. i'm going to practice on my stroke... i need to check out total immersion (highly recommended site/plan from amber. hooray!

what a weekend!

long weekend... friday night was berta's graduation. it was flippen' awesome and so inspiring. i can't wait to get my masters!

on saturday (7:00 am) eric received a few medals for his academic achievement (he's so smart!) and then it was his graduation at 9:00 am. we hung out for a bit and then i went to berta's grad party where we ate, drank, and were very merry! the turn out was fantastic and the people were awesome. jane goodall even made an appearance (well, not really, but in spirit). then, the ladies and i decided to go downtown to panamas. we started out slow, but finished strong. amber let loose with the vodka redbulls :) we then went to jacks for a dinner/bfast. it was wild.

on sunday, lauren, cindy, and i (eric's sis and mom) went to sacramento to torrid to buy a dress that looks somewhat like this -- just a different pattern. a woman was wearing it at graduation and she told me she had gotten it at torrid. it's an amazing dress -- fits in all the right places. i also bought this one and wore it last night to lana's (eric's good friend) going away dinner at tres. eric and i finally made it home and hung out with my dad and my brother (in town for camping) and watched sopranos.

i'm exhausted. :)

you've come a long way baby

i was just sitting here thinking that one year of graduate school is down. that is just so cool! this was one of those things that i kept saying i was going to do and now, i'm finally doing it.

my goal this summer it to finalize my project and get my chair's signature on it so i can continue with the modifications of my chapters that i prepared this semester. i'm hoping to have this done by next spring so i can defend the following fall (*if i have all the classes i need*) this way, i will have the following spring to do nothing but walk (hooray for me!)

i think i can drink to that!

poems

i just came across these poems and thought i'd share them with...

The time will come
When with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you have ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott, “Love after Love”

---

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life--
What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

William Stafford, “You Reading This, Be Ready”

huge bike ride to lift the spirits

amber and i went on a bike ride yesterday. she is in amazing shape and totally rocked the house! i did pretty good myself (ahem - i survived, but did complain a lot...) we went out to Durham (12 miles) and then road out Ord Bend and back Chico River Road (18 miles) back to her house for a grand total of 30 mile ride. we started at 5:45 and ended at 8:16 (but we had at least a 1/2 hour break built in when we doused ourself in water in durham). all in all, it was a fantastic ride and much needed.

i then went home and ate a huge veggie burrito and finished chapter III. now all i have to do is proof it and turn it in tonight :) hooray for me!

a listless melancholy attitude

i don't know wtf is going on with me but it's driving me and the people around me nuts. i'm in a fog. bleah.

on a side note - going on a bike ride tonight with amber. something to look forward to :)

i just cancelled weight watchers...

i realized that i've been doing this on my own for the last couple of weeks, so i might as well save $16 bucks a month... but this means that i'm going to use the blog a lot more for that sort of stuff (aren't you excited?!?) lmao.

awesome weekend

wow, what can i say? trinidad is one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen -- the perfect location for the celebration of my brother's graduation from HSU. all of his old friends were there and we drank, ate, and were very very merry. it was a great weekend.

i also managed to get a few good rides in. gosh, i love my bike! (thank you berta for kicking my ass and telling me to get it!) i'm planning on another ride tonight before i begin my "skeletal" third chapter (due on wednesday) and revise my hw paper (due tomorrow). from my calculations, i will have a an 82 out of 90 for one of my classes... the other, pretty sure it's an a. i'm crossing my fingers for straight a's this semester.

on my way out...

i'm heading to humboldt for the weekend to watch my brother graduate from hsu! congrats to him :) this is the first time i've been in humboldt since breaking up with john, should be interesting. but, i am taking my bike, so i hope to get a least one ride in this weekend on the coast. it's very pretty out there...

j

haven't posted in a while...

a lot's been happening!

- dewayne and andrea had their baby boy on may 4th, 2006. his name is mark thomas doud.
- school is almost over! i have a presentation tomorrow, paper due on wednesday, another due next tuesday, and one more next wednesday. too much work.
- my brother graduates this saturday from humboldt state (hooray!)
- berta graduates next friday.
- eric graduates next saturday.
- my preconference workshop stuff is due on may 17th (yikes!)
- my first vista 102 workshop is also on may 17th.

it's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

full of blah...

or full of something!

i'm just full of blah and don't have much to say except my day is going to suck (two trainings + 2 meetings= 1 unhappy jenn) and i didn't sleep very well... bert kept licking me (not to be confused with berta -- get your mind out of the gutter!) and i had crazy dreams. *sigh* i know... poor me... LOL.

on a side note, i found out my boyfriend is even geeker than i thought. the boy wrote a shareware program. i thought it was a coincidence and he told me "yeah, like there would be another eric stecklow out there."

tom is back in town...

yes, it's true, tom petty is touring yet again this summer. i'm super excited! i just signed up for a special deal to get pre-pre sale tickets (super cool). cost me $30 bucks, but I get the new cd titled highway companion. there are no ca dates yet, but i'm willing to travel. :) hooray!

it's like putting salt and pepper in the same shaker!

i had a perfect weekend. no complaints, seriously! on friday, i went shopping and bought a new dress that i wore out to dance (peter was spinning records at off limits). i got so many compliments and hit on by one crazy girl!

eric and i found time to hangout despite all of his homework... saturday, we wandering around the farmer's market (where i got flowers from the boy!), international fair, and indifest (which was live, independent music). i also went on a bike ride (two loops of river road) with my friend brian... one that i'm still recovering from. that night, eric and i bbqed *yum*. oh! i also bought two new books... fast food nation and the art of happiness. (eric bought the art of war -- how quaint!)

on sunday, i rode my bike over to claudine's to pick up my car (left it there since saturday). then she and i went to lunch... i then did laundry and just when i got home, berta called asking if i wanted to get a beer ... went to normal and then hooked up with eric and went to a play on campus which was in spanish about la frontera (the border). then we went back to my place for sandwiches and sopranos. afterward, we were an old married couple -- i was reading and he was studying for his exam today in bed. how cute!

this is how a weekend is suppose to be spent!