89 - Resistance

New comic, full of BOB cameos!
(In case you are wondering, BOBs are people from a forum I frequent. This comic is dual-hosted on Planet-BOB, the new website of ClanBOB.)

Last Monday I joined the gym again. I've been running at least 2 miles every day (except Sunday). I was really sore, but I'm getting better. There was a time when I could run 4-5 miles easily, but it took me a long time. Due to a tight schedule, this time I'm going to work on my speed rather than my endurance. I'll see how far I can go in 30 minutes. Right now, it's not very far... only about 2.5 miles. But I'm getting better!

I'm dragging my mother along to the gym with me. That's how the whole thing started, really. She was trying to talk me into losing weight, and said "I'm going to join the gym. Would you like to join too?" Oh ho ho ho; she didn't realize I was going to take her seriously! I'm enthusiastic about running, but she needs a little encouraging. It's good though, because we support each other. I can't skip because I want her heart to be healthy. She can't skip because she wants me to lose weight.

Some people who don't exercise have a hard time with it because they compare themselves to others. They look at the very fit people running full tilt on the treadmill next to them and feel inadequate. The thing they don't understand is that working out is hard for everyone, no matter the fitness level. That never goes away. It's not about how far or how fast you go, but how much of yourself you give.

I compare it to that bible story with the widow giving only the 2 coins. Everyone respected the rich man who gave mountains of gold, but Jesus admired the old woman who gave a tiny amount that was everything she had. If you give everything you have when you exercise (including having a good attitude about it!), you're doing enough for your health. If you're giving only the smallest fraction of what you're able to give, you're not going anywhere.

I guess that's true about everything in life. Not just spiritually, not just physically. I believe that. Giving your best effort to everything you do is the key to a blessed life.  ¶ 21:37

88 - I could use someone

I've started knitting again. Mostly because it's cold. I need a scarf. I need mittens. I have absolutely no problem with knitting in public. I'll knit in church, in class, in the restaurant while I wait for a table. Do you think it's strange? Good for you. I don't care.

I have a witch hat that I made myself. You can't find a hat in a store that will fit my head. So I constructed this glorious specimen of blue felt one rainy day last year. I find that I wear it more than I intended to, especially indoors. I wore it all day yesterday while I was knitting. I wore it while I watched The Godfather. I even forgot it was there after a while. Strange? Definitely. But I still don't care.

I just painted my parents bedroom for them, since they were having a hard time doing it themselves. "Consummate Vs!" I'd cry. Alas, it fell largely upon me to smooth the texturing. As I toiled, I contemplated painting subtle designs into the blank stretches of the wall. Things you wouldn't notice at first, but would leap out at you like a stereogram when you stared long enough.

Sometimes I long to retreat from the world for a while. I'd stay in a house in the woods and paint the shutters outlandish colors. I'd walk round the garden wearing scarf, hat, and all; I'd stand around in a dress made of strips of bright fabric sewn together and trailing behind. I'd build a campfire and sing at the stars and scramble eggs for anyone who stopped by. And I imagine that, maybe, in that whimsical place, all the odds and ends of my existence would fit together. Each individual eccentricity would be diminish in light of the whole. Nobody would even notice that I was wearing brown shoes with a black belt. What would mundane mean then?

Am I serious? No... no not really. I'm almost done with school, almost out in the real world. I don't want to run around in the forest like this. No way.

But... I haven't lost my imagination yet. When I look at empty styrofoam packaging, I still see a doll-sized house of many rooms. When I look at a huge tree, I still gauge whether a house could be built in it. I remember when I drew cities in chalk on the driveway and played by walking down the outlined streets into the square outlines of buildings. If only I'd known that the world would be so similar. Lines in the dust, people walking with their heads down, and only one in a thousand looking up long enough to realize we're still playing games.  ¶ 17:41

87 - Please don't forbid me.

A little late with #87. Sorry! I worked all weekend.

This last week was the first of my new semester. I'm optimistic, as usual. A summary of my first impressions can be found on my nursing student blog.

My hobbies are few at the moment, so my blogs are short. Not much time for laziness. Perhaps I'll have an anecdote or three next time. As it is, I need to get to bed in an hour. Tomorrow is clinicals. Gotta get up before 5.  ¶ 18:02

Comic 86 - Are you questioning us?

Apologies for falling off the face of the internet during the holidays. You may blame my new toys and my visiting boyfriend for distracting me from the story.

What news? I suppose I didn't even tell you all what it was I got for Christmas this year!
  ¶ 19:28