Musings

So the last two weeks I have gotten around 6 hours of sleep a night. The problem is, I'm the kind of person who really needs 9-10 hours of sleep a night to function at full capacity. So last night I got in bed at 10 knowing I was going to get 8 hours of sleep. I was so excited. Then, at 3:30 this morning (5 1/2 hours, mind you), I woke up--automatically. Like my body was timed to wake up after 6-ish ours of sleep. Luckily, I'm an expert sleeper so I went right back to sleep, excited I still had 2 1/2 hours to go until I really had to get up. But before I did, the irony struck me: when I only have 6 hours to sleep, I have to literally crawl out of bed and into the bathroom, because my body refuses to wake up. But when I have 8 hours, my body wakes up automatically after 6, all ready to get up if needed. Strange.

Is it ok to complain about things that are free? Case in point: Since we live no where near Pittsburgh, we never get Penguins games on TV. There is a website, however, that streams the games live over the Internet for free. Its not exactly HD quality, but it is more than watchable. But all too often, the games will cut out and be replaced by Colombian soccer games from 1992 or 1980s cartoons. Its really strange. But it makes me so MAD because its labeled as showing the Penguins game and it will show it for a period or so and then just cuts away! Why not just show the whole game, people who do the streaming?! Anyway, lately I just don't even try because its so sad to have your hopes dashed. But its free--so do I really have a right to complain?

We got a washer and dryer. My joy overfloweth.

In a somewhat round-about way, I got new running shoes from my parents for my birthday (see below). I love them! First, they are really cute and Penguins colors. But more importantly, they are incredibly comfortable. Last summer I saw these purple Puma shoes and HAD to have them. So I got them with the excuse that they would be my workout shoes. So . . . . ok, I was going to tell this really long story about hurting my knee in high school and not being able to run long distance since then, but we'll get straight to the point . . . . I have been able to run without any pain in these shoes. Do the shoes you wear really make that much of a difference? It is wonderful -- weird, but wonderful.
Speaking of leg pains:

I don't remember the last time I slid into home plate--wearing shorts. Now I remember why I avoid it.

This week Fall finally arrived in Knoxville. It's actually early this year, but the temperature has cooled down (60s) and the leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees. A couple weeks ago when my hometown in Idaho got 6 inches of snow, Knoxville was sitting pretty at a balmy 83 degrees. I couldn't believe it. A week ago at our softball game (we played for a church team) we had a game at 9:00 at night and I was wearing shorts and a tshirt-at night-at the end of October-and I was hot. But this week I wore a coat. I'm so happy fall is here. Not only do I love the cooler weather and beautiful colors, we also cannot afford to run the air conditioning any longer (Knoxville's electricity rates are outrageous).

And finally, I thought I'd post this picture. Of our friend group back in Provo, Matt is the lone survivor of the marriage plague. He's the one in the front. We were taking a group picture and as Matt set the camera, our friend Caroline suggested we all kiss our respective spouses when Matt got in front of us. HILARIOUS.

Ok, that's enough.