Author: miri

If I ever needed any proof that I’m not cut out for the AIDSWalk Africa, it was the total freak out I had tonight when a moth flew into my face while I was out on my nightly walk.

I’m trying to mentally pretend I’m going to go on the AIDSWalk Africa even if I can’t afford it. This means, of course, that I need to walk every day to get ready for it. I’ve walked at least a half hour every night since I first read about the AIDS walk. My feet started hurting during last night’s walk. This isn’t really surprising given how heavy I am and given how badly I pronate when I walk (I’m knock kneed and flat footed – yes, I realize I’m painting a very pretty picture here). Add to that very old tennis shoes and…hurting feet is a given.

So, today I went and bought new tennis shoes. I decided to not worry about cost and get a good pair. First, I went to a store where people actually know shoes and know how to fit you. The lady there recommended a pair of New Balance shoes with a heel stabilizer to keep me from walking on the inside of my foot too much. Plus, they come in double-e. Okay. I try them on and they feel pretty good, but I’m still a bit worried about metatarsal support. She recommends an insert. Hmmm. So now we have expensive shoes and an insert. Well, I said I wasn’t going to worry about money, right? And these are darn comfortable, right? I buy them.

I spent the evening walking around the house in them. My heel slips in the back – but it’s done that in almost every pair of tennis shoes that I’ve never bought. This is the curse of having a wide foot and a narrow heel.

Time for my evening walk – I decide to take the new tennis shoes outside knowing that this means I can’t return them. I walk. I think I’m walking faster than I normally do. I know I’m walking faster than I normally do. I’m feeling good! I decide to do a third lap around the school. Somewhere in the middle of the third lap, my feet go numb. They have that kind of “been sitting on them prickly feeling.” The feeling spreads up my legs. It’s all very interesting. I get home and soon after I stop walking they feel better. Could it just be because the shoes were making me walk in a way my legs and feet aren’t used to? The only time I’ve had that feeling before while moving around was towards the end of a 10K (uh, yeah – I was in much better shape then). I certainly didn’t walk anywhere near that tonight.

This is just sad:

The Global HIV Prevention Working Group said fewer than one in five people at risk of HIV infection has access to prevention programs.

Heeee!

I read about this AidsWalk Africa fundraising event and spent the evening wondering if I could get my ass up and in shape enough to walk that and not die. Then I looked at the price of plane tickets…and, well, the ass in shape thing doesn’t seem to matter anymore.

When they say Elfa shelving is “easy to install,” it might be easy compared to other shelving, but it’s still not that easy. I’m just saying.

$25,000 in damages is way over the top, but…ewwwwww!

Can of paint: 1
Me: 0

I was trying to clean out my garage this weekend. I’m supposed to be getting a new garage door on Thursday and I had to clear it out enough so the installer could work. My mom (bless her) came over to help. I had just wanted her there for motivation (to make sure I kept working), but she couldn’t just sit there and was a huge help. At one point, we were moving some paint cans. I dropped on. It landed upside down…with the lid off. Perhaps my garage was feeling jealous of the rest of the house – the garage is the only room that’s white. All of the other rooms have color. So, it bribed the paint can to get a splash of color (purple in case your interested) on its floor.

Before we declare a victory, we should think about things like this: Two leading Shiite clerics killed in Iraq

A crowd rushed two Islamic clerics and hacked them to death Thursday at one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, witnesses said, at a meeting meant to serve as a model for reconciliation in post-Saddam Iraq. It was a stark illustration of the difficult task of reconciliation that lies ahead in Iraq.

As always, war is the (relatively) easy part, peace is hard.

Yeah!! My new dining room light’s up! It’s perfect for the space. This is a crappy photo (ignore all the junk all over the place), but it didn’t get up until almost midnight. I’d get a better photo during the day…but I can’t wait.

President Bush is a Liar – of course, I tend to think that of all politicians, but it does really gall me when Bush manages to keep his rep as a “plain talker” when he’s as slippery as the rest of them.