A Solo journey of 26.2

I am very use to doing things alone. Shopping alone. Going to movies alone. Running alone. No biggie, right? But training for and running a marathon is something I have never really done alone before. And it's kind of something I don't want to do on my own. As someone who usually prefers doing stuff solo, this is not a journey I want to go on completely by myself.

I have run five marathons before and always had someone by my side in almost all aspects of the experience. I had training partners, someone to go to the expo with me, someone to at least start the race with, and always my mom when I was done. (If it was a Chicago Marathon, I even had my dad there too when I was done.)

So many questions...

This summer I borrowed my friend's season one and season two of HBO's Big Love. It's about a polygamous family in suburban Utah. Watching this fueled my existing fascination with polygamists, but mostly with the Latter Day Saints (LDS) fundamentalist communities. The show focuses briefly on this side of the LDS, and the compounds that many of the LDS fundamentalists reside in, but its not its main focus. I learned mostly about this lifestyle/religion about two years ago when I read Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It is a memoir about her leaving her LDS fundamentalist cult, er, I mean community. (It's truly fascinating, so read it if you get a chance.)

Also, just Sunday night, TLC aired a new show called Breaking Amish. This new series is about Amish people that leave their communities and move to New York. When I first heard about this show about two months ago I was psyched. Such an interesting premise for a reality show. (However, I did wonder how these people found out about the show. They clearly didn't watch it on TV. Did TLC come to the communities to "recruit" people? I want to know!)  There is something soooo fascinating to me about the lives of the Amish and LDS fundamentalists. So fascinating. I don't know what it is exactly that intrigues me so much, but I just can't get enough of it. I drink up all that information and love learning about it.

Wise Words of Mama June

I was skeptical at first at what TLC was doing giving 7 year-old Alana Thompson, Honey Boo Boo herself, and her family their own reality show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. But damn, did they have the right idea and I am hooked. I seriously look forward to this show every week. This family is television gold and Mama June has become the break-out star.

Mama June is only 32 years old. That's only two years older than me, but man is that woman wise beyond her years. With four kids, from four baby daddies, she may not be the typical mother in the sense of the word, but she seems to have great relationships with her daughters and there is love there, even if it might not in the most traditional sense.

It's amazing to me that even though everyone on Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is speaking English, there are captions on everything they say. However, sometimes even with the captions, it can be hard to understand what they are saying. It's like they almost have their own language. And you know what, I kind of love it. I want to start incorporating some of this family's common vocab into my every day conversations. Some of the favorites that I have heard this season thus far are...

Vagiggle jaggle. All the fat that jiggles on a person. One of my favorite of Mama June's terms. According to Mama, "I hope I don't see a bunch of wedgies at the waterpark. Vagiggle jaggles gonna be hanging out, though." Clearly, she was including herself in that statement. The woman is self-aware at least.

On to the Next...

This summer was a good one as I have mentioned many times before. One of the things that made it super fun was the dating I did. (Mother, don't even ask. Thanks a bunch. I don't have to tell you everything. ) Meeting different people, especially cute men, is always a good time. Amiright? I mean, who doesn't want to talk to a cute guy that is seemingly enjoying himself talking to you?

I met some of these guys through friends and the others out at bars. And sometimes a combination of both. I think my "have an open mind" mindset and my "you have nothing to lose" mentality mixed together this summer gave me a little more confidence with the opposite sex. I consider myself a pretty outgoing person but not the most self-confident all the time, especially when it comes to guys. However, I really tried to put those negative feelings to the side this summer and it rewarded me with quite a few dates. (And gave me some pretty great stories to share with my friends.) Some of these dates were with guys I could see myself actually dating (few and far between), and some were just plain old good times with no real future.

Back to school. Oh, back to school.

It's almost that time of year again. The time of year that parents rejoice and kids and teachers must face the reality that their summer is over and its back to the daily grind. That's right folks, the school is about to begin again. UGH! I am about to enter my eighth year teaching, and although I get annoyed and tired from time to time, I actually do really enjoy my job.  Not only do I actually like what I do, but it can be different each and every day which is always interesting.

As much as I don't want summer to end, I know that the show must go on and work must begin. It's not all so bad after all. I mean, mama's gotta pay the bills somehow, you know? But in all seriousness there are some definite pros about going back to work. And of course with the pros, there come the cons as well. So here we go, the good and the bad about going back to work...