the gym, 24, and crack

It's official: I've strained my achilles tendon. I noticed last Thursday and Friday that it was really difficult to run because I had some pain in my right achilles tendon, so I backed off the running. After sitting the weekend out, I went back to the gym yesterday where I tried to run again. I lasted about 20 seconds before I had to jump off the treadmill due to excruciating pain. I went and talked to the trainer who said that what I was describing was definitely a strain and when dealing with achilles tendons, do not even attempt to run again until it feels 100% better. I remember back when I ran cross country, any sort of ache or pain was completely overlooked and our coach just made us run. She really wasn't a cross country coach and was instead a scary, big basketball coach. But, I pressed on through an inflamed bursa (which I'm pretty sure is the cause of my ongoing hip pain) and stress fractures in my foot. It just wasn't an option to sit out. It just amazes me how much is lost if it's not used. Years ago in my cross country prime, achilles tendon pain wouldn't keep me from running. I wouldn't have even given the repurcusions of doing so a second thought. Times have changed. Yesterday, I walked for a mile on the treadmill with a steep incline (apparently the incline is supposed to stretch out the achilles tendon) and then I did the cross trainer. I felt no pain whilst at the gym, but when my feet hit the floor this morning, I could barely walk.

Enough about my physical ailments.

24 was so good last night. The show has finally reached the point where I'm thinking, "There's no way they can resolve this issue. Jack is not invincible. All hell is going to break lose and CTU can't stop it." I think there's only 2 more episodes left (which is done in real time, so only 2 more hours), and I don't think it will be at all believable if they tie everything up. Rodrigo told me that he'll be upset if 24 goes into a fourth season. It's sad when the person who got me interested in the show has lost all faith in it.

I learned today that a crack rock is about $20 and the chemistry teacher apparently knows how to make it.

Boxes of Letters

I'm not that much of a pack rat, but I do tend to save things. At some point in my young life, I decided that I was going to try to save all the important things I got/made because I never wanted to forget anything. I have my 4th grade GSP project on Earth and Space Tomato Seeds with glowing comments. I remember taking great care to make my project the best in the class. I had a special yellow folder for it and I drew tomato plants with a package of pastels my dad had given to me. I have my journal from 6th grade that we kept in Mrs. Grant's class as a part of our handwriting grade. I also have my final exam in social studies from 6th grade. I got a 96% on that bad boy. I saved all my corsages from homecomings and proms; I have a silver unicorn with one leg missing that I got from Medieval Times when I was 6 years old; I have the appple that says To the fairest... with red and gold glitter that Ryan Burrell gave me when we studied mythology in 6th grade; I have pink tickets that I saved from 5th grade (pink tickets were worth 5 brown tickets and you could save them up and turn them in for when you forgot to do your homework...I just hoarded my tickets); I have notes my mom used to put in my lunches or leave on my pillow; I have about 100 bookmarks that I got from teachers of in Sunday School; and I have boxes of letters.

Before bed last night (which is usually when I catch up on my correspondance...such a fun phrase to use), I got down two yellow boxes filled with letters. They are very organized. The smaller of the two holds letters that are very special. The larger one holds everything else...letters, postcards, and even bits of wrapping paper from important presents. It was wonderful to thumb through the treasures in those boxes last night. Reading those special letters from friends who are now scattered all over the country (and even world, since my most faithful correspondant lives abroad) brought back a flood of precious memories. Some of the most fun to read were the cards from my college best friend and room mate, Sharon. Her letters brought me immediately back to that exciting/confusing/and disappointing time when I went out on a limb and wrote Jon the "check yes or no" letter. Sharon's notes also mentioned things like Passions and Days of our Lives (two soap operas that we actually planned our schedules around during our senior year) and renting movies in our pajamas from Hollywood Video (Tuesday night was 99 cent rentals). Also in my box of letters that I've received from special friends were rough drafts of letters that I have sent to those very friends. Those were hilarious to read. Thank goodness I drafted copies before writing the real things! About a year ago (even though it had already been 4 years since our break-up), Joe asked me what I wanted him to do with the boxes of letters and cards I had made for and written to him. He felt that he needed to get rid of them because our relationship was in fact over. I immediately asked for them back (as I seriously wrote to him every single day I was in England and would love to have those back just because they were full of my observations about the land and country I was living in). However, I still don't have them in my possession. Even though this might sound quite vain, I've often wondered about what would happen to all my letters should I ever become well known enough to warrant a compilation of my correspondance to be put out for the masses (I began to think of this whilst in England when I was writing a million and one letters and also reading a volume of Alice James' letters, sister of Henry).

There's just something about letters that I find so romantic...not in the lovey/dovey way, but in the whole "mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal". I love to read volumes of letters that well known people have either written or received.

Anyway, it was a nice evening and stroll down nostalgia lane last night as I looked through those yellow boxes. I ended the day while listening to a mixed cd that I put together with a little Relient K, Jimmy Eat World, Mae, Derek&Sandra, and Caedmon's Call and writing a letter to Clark Kent.