I love Friday the 13th. I just do. No excuses. The father of my best childhood friend found a dead body on one Friday the 13th and had a wreck on another. Those aren’t reasons I love it. Just random facts. I didn’t even realize there was one this month until a few days ago. I’m having a birthday lunch today. It’s not really a birthday lunch (my birthday is in ten days so it’s a little early). It’s just lunch with two friends but FB prompted one of them to make a FB event for my birthday, so she did. 😂 FB is weird.
Dempster is definitely having a classic Friday the 13th. He threw up first thing this morning (a piece of carpet), and then he broke a bowl. He’s been curled up in my lap ever since. He’s done for the day. Dogs are so un-self-aware. He threw up on the carpet – something I’ve only done once in my life, despite having migraines frequently as a kid – and then assumed I’d still want my regular morning ear kisses with the same mouth. And to top it off, this all happened 30 minutes before I’d planned to get up.
I’ve decided to train for a tiny half marathon in some tiny town in rural Arkansas. Best I can tell there were 16 finishers last year. So it will be the only time in my life I can say I came in 17th in a half-marathon. I asked several people if they wanna join me, and my cousin Marria was the only taker (cuz she loves me).
I really wanted to sign up for the full marathon. I do good with extreme goals. But I decided after my first half that until I can average a 12-minute mile, a full marathon is a ridiculous goal.
There’s a little sidewalk-y path that goes along the access road by my apartments, and then through a little wooded area toward other apartments. On one side are some trees that you can see the access road through, and on the other side is a more densely-wooded area with another apartment complex on the other side (but you can’t see it). Sometimes I feel slightly vulnerable in there. It only takes probably 1-2 minutes to run through that part, and then I’m back out bordering a street. Then that street goes by a neighborhood that is typically not thought to be the safest. I definitely wouldn’t walk on that street at night, although in the daytime there are always people standing out in their yards.
Yesterday was super windy. I was walking on that path – about to start a running interval – when suddenly a man said, “Hello” and jogged past me. It scared me to death. I always look behind me before entering the wooded area, and one time I came back the other way because a man had come out of there and was paused at a drainage ditch (leaning down to feel the water I think) a few hundred feet away. I just felt like I shouldn’t go in, so I didn’t until he left. But this time I hadn’t even heard the guy.
He ran ahead and into the woods, and I held back just a bit to make sure he kept going. He didn’t seem like a runner (he was going slow), but he was wearing running shorts, which was some comfort (that maybe he didn’t just see me and pretend to be running). Actually they were swimming trunks but for a non-runner that might be close enough.
I’m not a paranoid person. I tend to be the opposite. But I’ve learned to pay attention to my instincts, take reasonable precautions, and try not to be naive. Ever since I had to wrestle my phone away from a guy in South Africa (while another guy just stood and watched instead of helping his friend), I’ve been a little more particular. A friend gave me advice to run in the morning, because miscreants stay up late and sleep late. But it’s not quite light enough for me to feel comfortable running before work yet. But maybe soon.
When I got to that street that is in a kinda rough neighborhood, there was a lady walking a dog. I stopped and asked her if she ever feels unsafe there. She said she’s lived there 8 years and never has. That was good to know. Of course, I have my killer attack puppy with me, who would lick a bad guy’s face until he agreed to be his friend, and then try to go home with him. So at least there’s that. (Now that I think about it, my best childhood friend met her now-husband in the woods. And they got married on the same spot.)
Yesterday felt like a Friday the 13th. I had a very stressful day at the clinic. We have so many studies going, and I could tell everyone felt frazzled. Afterward I told them I want to talk to my advisor and see if we can cut back the sessions of one study that we just increased. The increase is just making us all crazy. It turns out we can. So that’s good. I could tell the morale was low yesterday, and we have a couple of weeks left so I don’t want that to continue.
Then when I got home I discovered I’d overfilled a huge jar with homemade dog food to put in the freezer, and it had cracked. But it was in large pieces still held together by the lid, so I decided to try to extricate the dog food (which was frozen solid so there were no shards in it). I cut myself 6 times in the process, and then almost passed out. 😂 There have just been a couple of times I’ve reacted like that to blood, and it kind of amuses me because I used to be an EMT. My first code blue was a guy who had stolen a motorcycle and t-boned a car. It was gruesome. It didn’t bother me at all dealing with that and doing CPR (he didn’t live). I guess the adrenaline in an emergency is different. Or maybe when it’s yourself it’s different. Anyway, those little cuts hurt! And I don’t have any bandaids cuz I’m only posing as an adult.
I went for my run even though I felt lightheaded. Every time you exercise when you don’t feel like it, an angel gets its wings. It was 80°. How did it go from the winter that never wanted to end to having to time my run when it’s not too hot for me or my puppy’s feet?
Getting this puppy was the best decision. People thought I was crazy for getting a dog when I was starting school, especially as much as I travel. But I’m very intentional about making sure he gets plenty of exercise, I’m rarely away more than 4 hours at a time, and he helps me get exercise. Plus he loves staying with my mom sometimes, and he’s good for her too. He has a big backyard there, and he keeps her entertained when she’s not watching grandkids.
Last night she sent me a text about something my father said: “I kinda miss Jesca and old…old…old…[couldn’t think of dog’s name, so just moved on]. It’s kind of exciting when they’re around.” Which would lead one to think we actually interacted when I’m home. 😂 Between him staying in bed till late afternoon and me doing other stuff, I barely see him when I’m there. And his only interaction with “old…old…old” Dempster is to knock him off his lap if he jumps up. But I guess he likes knowing we’re there.
Speaking of old Dempster, last night he took one of my shoes in the bedroom to chew. I went and got it and brought it back. Dempster ran in and grabbed both shoes in one bite, and took them back in the bedroom. I didn’t catch it, and had to settle for a re-enacted photo. It was really bizarre to see a tiny dog carrying a pair of shoes like a human would.
I’m supposed to be reading my Bible now, so I’m gonna go do that and some school work before my “birthday lunch”! Ooh I wonder if that means someone else is gonna pay…
Next Comes Africa 