Someone keeps smoking in the teachers bathroom at work.
Seriously, who does that??

i totally just bought a toyota prius on impulse. however i also bartered (cried) my way to an unbelievable and historic deal!

this my friends, is park city utah

thats right. the end of march, way over 5 feet 2 inches of snow!!

Oh and a mobile update: last night one of the waiters asked me what
the giant red B on my hat was for. He then said "oh is it the
bountiful bears?"
I thought he was joking. So I said "really? You dont know what it is?"
like 4 times before I told him it was the red sox. I, honest to god,
didnt think there was anyone who had access to a television set,
newspaper, or Internet, that couldn't recognize the red sox symbol.
I am close minded I guess. Or he lives under a rock.

my completely awesome (and ironic) utah souvenir

the cookies i couldnt resist

my new kicks!

tonight: park city. i am going to rent a car in a little bit and we are going to drive up this afternoon. its where SUNDANCE IS! you can RENT PEOPLE to do your errands up there! and there are 743829 restaurants and 8439 shops up there, so basically....its heaven. i also bought a fantastic north face jacket last night. because i didnt anticipate park city (which is 7,000-10,000 feet UP!) and its going to be frigid.

pictures from utah

okay

picture un: the view from the hotel room

picture deux: my paris hilton wonky eye (and pwhack)

picture trois: the view just walking outside

picture quatre: the outdoor enormous mall i went to today

picture cinq: the city really is bike friendly, look at this aero guy i happened upon

picture six: another view, opposite direction. this is what the view no matter which way you look!

oh and dont worry about me moving out here. i changed my mind. im not converting to the church of latter day saints and well, i would be part of a VERY VERY small minority living here that wasnt one. everyone is "sister this" or "brother that". i didnt see anyone other than myself without a nametag today!

I dont know how many of you have seen the show Big Love, but I am
mildly obsessed with it. And I think it gave me a pre-determined view
of Mormons. I am at a mall and the thing I noticed is that there is an
AWFUL LOT of white clothes. Like, way more than they sell back home.
Could just be me though.
I also just boughtva gazillion homemade cookies. I COULDNT RESIST!!

oh salt lake city, how i love thee. after arriving yesterday and shipping the boy off to the school, i walked around the city for a while. it is unbelievable. everyone is friendly, the whole city is cyclist friendly, and there are mormon churches EVERYWHERE!!
right now it is 8am. after enjoying 11 hours of sleep i am drinking my coffee by our balcony overlooking the city with an awesome view of the mountains. today entails shopping, of course. there is a mall down the street with new, exciting, different stores. unfortunately pwhack forgot his running shorts so he had to geek mine for the clinic today forcing me into: not running. ill be walking a lot though so it will negate it all in the end.
i may hit up the family ancestry center too, im a little skeptical about going in because it is owned/run by the church and the members have creeped me out so far. it is very Big Love out here (love that show), the ones I have seen have been dressed like they are Amish or nuns or something. we all know how easily persuaded/gullible I am (ahem, buying 250 dollars worth of steak off a "meat truck"), and i dont want to end up as a 4th wife somewhere.

i was trying REALLY REALLY hard to stay on east coast time, so I wouldnt be F-ed when i went back to work on Monday. I mean really, who would want to deal with me jet-lagged and feeling like its 4AM?? but unfortunately its happening anyways, we ate dinner at 9:30 east coast last night.
if it werent for the dogs (well, and my job/kids), i would totally stay out here forever. it is so beautiful. the city is CLEAN. its like a whole different world from where i work everyday. the city just SMELLS clean. and the constant view of the mountains, sigh.
ill post a ton of pictures later!!

More details later, but finally, FINALLY, in Utah

next time i post, i will be in a western state!!

also, i am up to a 25 minute run. the ankle ached a little bit yesterday so i took yesterday and today off. but, i have faith. maybe ill be able to do the philly marathon in november! or maybe ill still be spending all my time on the elliptical fake-running then.

also, my nose won't stop running. im just about done with the whole sick thing. i have an irrational fear of going up in the plane and my sinus exploding from the pressure. i hear that can happen you know, like when babies have ear infections.

okay im not even making sense anymore, i am way to excited about the Western US to be coherent!

I came back to work today to see "Welcome Back Ms.R!!" on my
blackboard, it was very sweet. And it helped me to not be as upset
when they wouldn't stop talking!
Also, the kids are convinced I am somehow secretly Miley Cyrus.
Actually, they call her/me Hannah Montana. Pretty sure its because we
are both white with long brown hair.
In other news, I am going to miss the pups SO MUCH! I'm going to liken
us dropping them off with Elaine like parents sending their kids to
the first day of kindergarten. I may cry.
Okay thats about it.

HAPPY PI DAY!!!!

Running against the wind

As of today I have 3 fifteen minute runs and 2 thirty min elliptical/
twenty minute run combos under my belt. Woohoo! And no pain. I also
got new shoes at a running store near the bike shop I used to work
at. I'll gladly pay full retail for running shoes if it means I will
be able to actually RUN again!

Does anyone else notice that there are only two people who drive Crown
Victorias? Cops and those creepy guys with haircuts that are straight
from the late 70's. I've been researching that hypothesis lately and I
believe today I proved it by seeing the 578765th half mullet on the
road. You can call me Dr. Running Chick from now on, thanks.

i am a violin.

i just paid off both my credit cards. is there anything better than that? i feel like yelling "TAKE THAT!!" to The Man. finally, my goddamn bike is paid for. so now when it talks back to me for not using it often enough i can respond with "bought and paid for, bitch". i always wanted to be able to use the phrase in an argument (not so much with an inanimate object but whatever). best part: i just mailed my taxes out so April=Free Money+My Birthday
now, back to my string cheese.

And

So, I have three 15 minute runs under my belt. I would almost jump for joy, but I don't want to re-break my leg. I have to increase the mileage VERY slowly. Next week its 20 min runs, the
week after its 22 min. Slowly bit surely, 10% increase at a time. At this rate I'll be able to run a marathon in 2011. But I will also have a killer base because goddamn am I running slow!
Also Utah very, very soon.
Today is Thursday, one more day until the weekend. I can't really complain though because the kids are being awesome. Working quietly in groups, helping eachother, asking for help and generally wanting to learn what's going on. One of those days that makes you happy to be a teacher. And one that you hope and pray an administrator will happen to stop by.Usually they stop by when kids are hucking stuff across the room at eachother.In other news, I am wearing a shortsleeve dress today because its 50 degrees out! I keep being called a nurse because it is khaki and nurse-y but whatev, its almost summer. You can call me a freaking whale or anything else you want at the moment and I won't care because ITS ALMOST SUMMER!!

This the view from my room. The physics teacher upstairs has a great
view of Downtown but Ill settle for a church and a daycare. Usually
there are police racing down the street pictured, I snapped the photo
in a moment of peace.

i love weekends. last night was dinner at the olive garden. today, pet store and grocery shopping. caught up with all the millionaire matchmakers and boston public and celebrity rehab episodes i DVR'ed. pineapple upside down cake with liam. dinner with DB. and then POKER! tomorrow a baby shower for a family member im pretty sure ive never met, and hanging out with the pups.
anyways, yeah.