Run, Forrest, Run!

I don't really know what happened today, but lets just say the Lord has blessed my legs... After years of trying to break the perpetual 10 minute mile, I broke it by a longshot today. I hope this was not just a fluke, but in all likelihood it was. The stars must be aligned just right or something. It was so beautiful outside today, I thought about running all day. I pictured myself running as I was walking around the plant in slacks and loafers. So, despite a long and busy day at work and staying late and having to study for a test tomorrow night, I changed and hit the streets as soon as I got home. I decided to run my 5-mile out and back route, and I seriously wasn't sure if I could run the whole thing. My goal was to get home in 50 minutes, partly because I wanted to stay under or at the 10-minute mile and partly because I was pressed for time. Well, I think I ran the first mile in about 8 minutes. Wow! I thought I better slow down so I wouldn't keel over after the second mile, but I kept a pretty decent pace. I could actually tell that I was running faster than normal, but it felt good, so I just kept running. I got to my turnaround point at 22:18. Ok, stop here and notice that this is LESS than a 9-minute mile pace (which would have been 22:30 for the 2.5 miles). So I turned around and just kept running, thinking if I could run a 10-minute pace on the way back I would be very pleased with the run. I got back to my house at 45:37! I have been looking at my watch all night just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I drove out the route beforehand, so I know it was 5 miles. So I know this is a long story, but please forgive me because I am beside myself over this run. With the total time, it comes out to 9 minutes, 7.39 seconds per mile. I know that isn't fast in running world standards, but compared to the unbreakable 10-minute mile this is unbelievable. I decided a few weeks ago that my goal for the upcoming Cooper River Bridge Run 10K would be to finish in under 1 hour. My past performances were 1:09:56 (2003) and 1:17:53 (2004). At today's pace, I will have no problem meeting that goal. Like I said, I hope this wasn't a fluke. Barring unforeseen injuries, I think I will make it under the goal time. And now, if you are still reading, let me remind you of what my blog said on November 8, 2005: "I was just happy to run, even just a few blocks, and get some fresh air." So just a little under 4 months ago, running a few blocks was a major milestone. I could continue to drone on about this and add in lots of spiritual encouragement, but I will leave it at that.

Continue to bless these legs, O Lord, for they art thine, not mine.

Deep Thought

"Work: it's as interesting as you find it to be."

This little nugget of wisdom just came to me like a vision, and I sensed that the world should be privy to such probing depth of thought.

Weekend

Well, my birthday got off to an early start on Friday as three of my friends treated me to a weekend away in St. Augustine at the beach. We stayed at Holly's parents' condo right on the beach, which offered a great view of the very rough waters. Tucked away inside the comforts of the condo, we enjoyed a leisurely Saturday morning complete with breakfast and time to sit around, read, and enjoy the view. This was followed by more relaxation as we experienced good old-fashioned pampering in the form of facials (yes, including cucumbers) and parrafin wax for hands and feet. I topped all this off with a hot bath and afternoon nap. We then proceeded to trouble ourselves with getting showered and dressed to go out to dinner. The girls treated me to dinner at Holly's favorite beach restaurant, Creekside Dinery, and I thoroughly enjoyed the broiled shrimp and live entertainment. The weather was pretty nasty, so rather than run around town getting wet and cold, we went back to the condo and shared a bottle of wine and some ice cream. I think there were some margaritas mixed up after that, but I had drifted off to sleep after the long hard day of relaxing. Sunday morning we relaxed a little more for good measure, then packed up to head home. They were nice enough to humor me by eating at Waffle House on the way home, which was a great finale to the weekend.

Thanks to Holly, Julie, and Emily for a great time! Also, thank you to Julia for the sweet birthday wish by video. We missed you!

And this is just the beginning... next weekend my mom and nephew are coming to visit and celebrate my birthday as well!

Feeling Good

I am sitting at my desk, actually working (except for this few minutes), and I must say that I just feel good this morning. I have a delightful cup of coffee and am enjoying it thoroughly. My body feels good after a good 4-mile run last night, even though it was treadmill versus road running. My heart feels good after a full evening of good conversation. Actually, I talked so much last night, my throat is on the verge of being sore this morning. I had dinner with a friend, and we talked for about two hours. Then I talked for about an hour with my best friend from high school. That hour was actually all catching up on the here and now of life, so we are a little behind on reminiscing the old days, but our 10-yr reunion is in a few months. I have no doubt we will reminisce plenty at that time. We are both a little shocked at how long it's been since high school, and even more shocked at how "grown up" some of our old friends are. One guy in particular we remember as the hot soccer player, dreamy kind of guy, and now he's married with a baby and has some really important sounding financial job in the energy sector. I guess we are grown up too. Well, I digress. I basically just wanted to share that I'm feeling good this morning and appreciating it.

Dilbert

I feel like Dilbert every time I walk down the hall, around the corner, then around another corner, only to find that the "Restroom Closed" sign has been posted due to cleaning. As soon as I round the second corner and it is in sight, I stop, sigh, utter various non-expletives, then turn around to walk back down the hall, around the corner, and back to my office. What a waste of time. I wish I had a video surveillance camera on that door so I would not have to waste my valuable time walking down the hall when I could be doing things like this, or even something useful.

Tozer on Simplicity

In keeping with the theme of this blog (and of my life), I try to post anything I find related to living a simple faith. This is from The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer:

"Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.
If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now, as always, God discovers Himself to "babes" and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to the essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without a doubt God will quickly respond.
When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectivey prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the and lies our great woe. If we omit the and we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.
We need not fear that in seeking God only we may narrow our lives or restrict the motions of our expanding hearts. The opposite is true. We can well afford to make God our All, to concentrate, to sacrifice the many for the One."

The bold is mine, the italics are Tozer's. At the risk of adding anything to dilute the strength of Tozer's words, I must at least say that I agree. I love the church that I attend, the preaching, the hearts that people have for sharing their lives, the worship that we experience... but I also have to stop sometimes and realize that all the excess is exactly that - excess. No activity that we partake of is essential to the work that has been completed by Christ. I am not an opponent of the church by any means. It is essential to our unity as a body of Christ, but it is not a substitute for our pursuit of God in Christ.

Too Short

That's right. It's not that I am too short (though I am kind of short), but my PANTS are too short. My sweet friend Veronica, who has made a habit of giving me all her clothes when she tires of them or they don't fit, recently gave me a new installment. One of the items is a pair of jeans from Ann Taylor Loft, size 6 petite. Normally a size 6 is way too big, so I almost didn't try these on, but I liked the look of them. So I tried them on a few days ago and was pleased to find that they fit great. They seemed to be just barely long enough, but I didn't have shoes on, so I voted them into my wardrobe (I am the only voting member of my wardrobe board, so they passed). Well, this morning I pulled the new used jeans out and put them on, walked out the door, and headed to work. One of the many bad things about leaving the house at 5:30 in the morning is that there is no time for clothing deliberations. If I make a bad decision, I must live with it all day. Well, on my walk into the plant from the parking lot, I had the upsetting realization that my light-colored socks were way too visible. That's right, I'm ready for a flood. The jeans are irrefutably cute, but they are about two inches shy of being cute AND long enough. Thankfully I will spend all day at the nuclear power plant, where on even my worst fashion days still rank in the upper echelon of fashionable dress.

For All the Inquiring Minds...

NO NEWS FROM GEORGIA TECH!

Mom, you will be the first to know - I promise :-)

Who Said There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?

Believe it or not, I'm eating one right now. Our cafeteria vendors got pretty excited about Valentine's Day today (definitely more excited than I am), and they are giving out free appetizers during lunch. The lunching hour around here is officially from 11am-12:30pm. Some people take that to mean those are the cafeteria hours, while others actually spend that entire time pretending to eat lunch. Anyway, on my first trip down to the cafeteria today at 11:15 I found the line running all the way around the room, out the door, and almost out of the building. I went back at about 12:10 and had much better luck. The goodies included chicken wings, two varieties of meatballs, fried chicken bites (normal or sweet&sour), nachos and cheese or mexican dip, fruit, cheese, and a few other items. All this for free and a drink to boot. Well, I put $1 in the tip jar, but still basically free. The real test now is to see whether this free lunch will feel like such a great gift when I try to run this afternoon. I'm already doubting the outcome of that one!

Joy

I have been realizing this weekend just how quickly things change, how the ebb and flow of life can take sharp turns without the slightest warning. My life has not changed drastically of late, but the flow of it seems to have changed much. The relaxed mundane pace with which this year started as I returned to a normal work schedule has evolved into a more stressed, stretched, and spontaneously changing pace in the past few weeks. Some circumstances have played a role in this, such as my class becoming more time consuming, Bible study getting into full swing, and work taking more time than the 8 hours a day I was spending there in January. I went for a run this afternoon along the canal, and I was thinking about this change. In addition to the change of physical pace, my heart's pace has been affected. I am being reminded of the battle that must be fought to maintain a focus on what is important before getting dragged into the "urgent" distractions all around. Just one month ago, as life's pace was slower and refreshingly normal, I really sensed a true joy in my heart. In my Bible study we are learning about the fruits of the spirit, of which one is joy, and it is defined as "delight in God for the beauty and worth of who he is." In addition to this definition of what joy IS, the study points out that it is NOT something that can be lost based on circumstances. In light of that truth, I took a little extra time today to stop and think, to look ahead at my week and anticipate the crazy long days, and to realize that my battle this week will be a real one. I know I've quoted the wise Ferris Bueller on this before, but I will state it again, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." I don't want to miss it. As for some inspiration from a more established author, 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." The devil would just love for me and you to get lost in the shuffle, be overcome by the urgent, and to hold loosely to a joy based on circumstances. May we be self-controlled and alert this week - alert to the coming onslaught of busyness or even loneliness that will attempt to suck the life and joy out of us, and self-controlled in remembering to seek and savor the true joy that is all around us.

Observation

Men are so proud of themselves when they realize they're working...

Serenity Now!

12 weeks and counting until April 28.
12 weeks.
12 weeks.
12 weeks.

I feel a little better now.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This afternoon's rain seemed somehow appropriate for the day. I really don't know why, because I'm not a big fan of rain in general. I went to a safety committee walkdown at work, and I mistakenly volunteered to cover the outside areas. The pending rain had started before I made it down the stairs and outside to start the "walkdown". Nonetheless, we found a few things that could be improved upon on our outside ladders (the weekly focus). After work I was supposed to meet with a friend to run and pray (not at the same time). We stayed inside and prayed but never made it to the running. To her credit, she walked in with running clothes in hand, asking if I was up for it. I declined. I'm a fair-weather runner. While I don't mind the rain so much, the 53 degree temp made the decision for me. So maybe I'll make up for it tomorrow after work.

Speaking of running, I am training for the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K (April 1) and so far up to 3 miles for my long runs. I've been really excited about this after all the neck issues of last year. In fact, I think the running helps!

I'm finishing up a few hours of stuyding at my favorite coffee spot, and I must say this was a fine evening to sit and drink coffee and study. Dark, cold, rainy. The only improvement would be lack of studying, but I'll take what I get.

School update: On this day, the 2nd day of February, I have not yet received anything from GT. I'll keep everyone posted as the days go by.

Reason to be Thankful

As I have been getting settled into my new office, I unpacked a few boxes this morning. Two of those boxes were left basically unopened for the last year and a half. Some items of interest that I found include:

Prevacid
Tums
Gas-X
Pepto

These were just a few of my near-daily requirements back when I had bad stomach problems several years ago. I am so thankful today as I realize that I rarely use any of these anymore, much less all of them every day.

Quick Update

Second day on the new job... I am getting settled into my office and trying to get used to the idea of having an office. It is almost as big as my bedroom, probably about 2-3 feet shy on width, but about the same in length. Outside my window I can see basically a big water storage tank, which is not terribly exciting, but the important point is that I can actually see outside. My responsibilities are still not all laid out, but I am enjoying the freedom so far to spend time researching some of the chemistry issues we have right now. Other than those technical challenges, I will be spearheading a new program for our department called "Coach the Coach" to increase our effectiveness in coaching employees to improved performance, and I will be involved with behavioral safety observations.

This past weekend was very busy but also very good. The first half of the weekend I spent with a group at a state park, where we were evaluating and planning for a movement called Intersect that's been going on for about a year at our church. The basic vision is to present the gospel in a way that is relevant to our culture and reach as many of the 40,000 singles in the Augusta area as possible. Yes, that was not a typo, there are approximately 40,000 single people living right under our noses. We have a worship service on the first Sunday of each month for Intersect. It was a nice refresher for me as I have not been as involved as I would have liked while on shift for the last year.

Saturday night after returning from that mini-retreat, I went to an oyster roast at a co-workers house in Screven County (aka - the country). He steamed 500 pounds of oysters and not one went left uneaten at the end of the night. Quite an accomplishment for a group of 40-50 people.

Sunday I went to Waffle House in the morning, then sunday school and church, then studied in the afternoon at PJs Coffee. That night I went with some friends to see the Morehouse College Glee club sing at Tabernacle Baptist Church in downtown Augusta. This is an annual concert which I have been to once before, and it was just as good this time around. The group is all men (all black men to be exact) and they sang a lot of spirituals and also some other varieties of music.

Ok, that's the basic update on life for now. I will have some more coming soon on the latest topic in our sunday school, "The Will of God". Good stuff, and highly relevant for me as I am hoping to discern (or confirm) the will of God for my career in the next month or so.

New Postmodernism?

There's a new book featured on the NPR website called "Cosmopolitanism: Finding a Moral Middle Ground". The first chapter is accessible here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5168294&ft=1&f=1032

The last paragraph of the the first chapter really sums up the author's thesis:
"The temptation is to look for a rule book that could tell you how to arbitrate conflicts like that -- but then you' d have to agree on the rule book. And even if you did, for reasons I' ll be exploring later, there' s no reason to think you' d be able to agree on its application. So there has long been a seductive alternative. Perhaps, even if we agree on all the facts, what' s morally appropriate for me to do from my point of view is different from what' s morally appropriate for you to do from your point of view. Burton, with his mastery of thirty-nine languages, was something of a freak of nature in his ability to penetrate different cultures -- to "go native," as we say, and do so time and time again. But most of us have that ability to some lesser degree: we can often experience the appeal of values that aren' t, exactly, our own. So perhaps, when it comes to morality, there is no singular truth. In that case, there' s no one shattered mirror; there are lots of mirrors, lots of moral truths, and we can at best agree to differ. Recall the words of Burton' s Haji Abdu:
There is no Good, there is no Bad;
these be the whims of mortal will.
Was he right?"

Sounds like this guy is simply proposing a new version of postmodernism. Nothing is true, everything is true, whatever you want to believe just as long as you don't offend anyone.

New Job

My boss paged me today at work with the following message: "I need to talk to you ASAP." That was it, and of course his name and number followed. I called him immediately, and he asked if I could see him in his office right away. Ok.

It was a long walk up from the plant to his office, wondering what in the world was going on. I seriously thought for a minute that I was about to be fired. Then I realized that I really hadn't done anything wrong, so I felt a little better. But I still thought I was going to be in trouble, however unjustified it may have been.

Well, I got up there and there was another guy in the office. The first thing my boss said, probably due to the estranged look on my face, was "you're not in trouble." Whew! The other guy left, and then my boss asked me to close the door. I sit down, and he says he wants to make me the Plant Chemist. Just like that, effective this Saturday. He proceeded to explain that I will be taking the guy's place who had just walked out, that guy is basically being promoted, and the other guy (who's place he is taking) will be moved to my position. Basically, the explanation for all this is that I have gotten entangled in a job swap designed to take away responsibility from someone else who is doing a poor job. Personally, I don't think I am qualified to be the Plant Chemist, who is the technical expert for all things Chemistry at the plant. Secondly, I don't think the guy who is being "moved" to my current position will handle it well at all. He just doesn't play well with others, and that's all I do all day. So I'm not really sure how all this is going to go. I don't know what I would do if I were put in my boss's position, because he is absolutely right that some people aren't doing their jobs well. I really hope it doesn't screw our department up even more, because as much as I can't wait to leave, I want to see them improve and work well together and be successful in the long run.

For those who have lost track, my job titles have changed as follows so far:
System Engineer --> Chemistry Engineer --> Chemistry Foreman (aka Lab Supervisor) --> Plant Chemist --> ???

Oh, I almost forgot the best part about this... I will have my own office - that's right office, not cubicle - AND it has a window!

The Week

Wow, what a full week it has been... one week ago today I was in Columbus with my family, and we were celebrating my niece's 1st birthday. It was a sweet celebration because she has had a rough first year, and so we were truly CELEBRATING the life that God has given us in little Liza. If you have never seen her smile, you are really missing out on a precious joy. I was back in Augusta this week, back in the swing of things at work, and enjoying the simple pleasure of my return to 8-hr workdays. Days! I've never appreciated so much the normalcy of a routine, because in the past I have become utterly bored with the routine of life and work. But let me be the first to say, I was wrong - DEAD WRONG - and I hope that I will never again be so ignorant as to complain of such mundane beauty. I sleep the same hours every night, eat at the same times every day, pray at the same times, exercise (when I do) at the same time, work the same hours, and the list goes on. Even my dog can appreciate this return to normal.

On Wednesday night I went to a Bible study, yet another thing that I missed out on while working shift. It was great to sit around with a few like-minded people and talk and pray and encourage each other.

I've been running on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and theoretically Saturdays, but not yesterday) after work, starting to train for the Cooper River Bridge Run (10k) which is in April. The weather has been uncharacteristically warm, which I have enjoyed thoroughly.

Friday night I went out with 5 friends to celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday. It was a low-key night that we couldn't have improved upon if we tried to plan it. We went to a downtown restaurant, not for dinner, but just to sit in the bar. It's one of those very nice restaurants in an old house, and the bar area is cozy with a fire place and sofas. The chef was very gracious to welcome us and even gave us all white roses. We drank, talked, laughed, and doted over the birthday girl. A fine evening.

Saturday I worked with a few friends to repaint another friend's room, who also had a birthday this week. [Wow, I'm about birthdayed out!] My arms held up pretty well, but I had to stop after a few hours. I was supposed to stop back by last night, but I got tied up in something else...
My company had a table at an awards dinner downtown, and one of the managers asked me to go. It started at 7pm, and I figured it might last 2 hours tops. I also had no idea what it was for. Well, it turns out the banquet was put on by a group called Antioch Ministries, which is a product of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in downtown Augusta. The evening was well-orchestrated and lasted exactly 3 hours, but I was not disappointed at all. Everything from the entertainment to the food to the guest speaker to the awards presentation was absolutely wonderful. I really felt honored to be a part of the event. The purpose of Antioch Ministries is to build and develop homes in inner city Augusta and also to help people get into those homes and get their feet on the ground financially. For the last 11 years, one man's vision (the pastor at Antioch Missionary Baptist) has grown from a crazy idea to a reality and a joint effort by builders, suppliers, loan officers, realtors, and private companies as well. The best part about the evening was that everyone there was engaged in the celebration. You couldn't help but enjoy the singing, which was as close to gospel singing as I've ever heard at a banquet; you couldn't help but appreciate the award recipients as their efforts and accomplishments were proclaimed; and you couldn't help but recognize that God is working amongst these people, because they made Him the center of the evening. Even the keynote speaker, the Commissioner of Labor for the state of Georgia, was basically preaching from the book of Matthew in his address. I was honored to be a part of the evening. I was so encouraged by the spirit of these people, that I woke up this morning and went to worship with them at their church. They could not have been more welcoming to me, the only white girl in the house, and I was again honored to participate in their fellowship and worship. No, I don't think I will transfer my church membership, but I hope to stay in contact with them and encourage them in their work while finding inspiration for the downtown ministry that our church is striving to enlarge.

So that's been my week. If you're still reading at this point, your name is probably Mom or Dad, but whoever you are thanks sticking it out. And now the beginning of another week!

Dumb and Dumber

Ok, so last week I thought I was pretty dumb when I drove clear across town (about a 20 min drive) only to find that I did not have my purse with me in order to go shopping as planned.

This morning I topped that one. My routine when leaving for work in the morning (since it is dark) is to put my house key in the outside of the deadbolt, then cut off the carport light, then shut and lock the door. Well, today I was leaving at 4:50, and instead of putting my house key on the outside of the deadbolt I put it on the inside. I proceeded to turn out the carport light and then pull the door shut. Of course the bottom lock was locked, and now my keys were on the inside of the door. Now that was exceedingly more dumb than last week's mishap! Anyway, I spent a solid hour trying to break into my house before finally getting in through the kitchen window. The actual climbing in the window was sort of fun, but the hour of frustration and bending all of my window screens was NOT FUN. I was an hour late for work, but not too late to miss any boring meetings, the first of which I am headed to now. I'm just thankful I didn't have to call the cops or a locksmith or anyone else.

The sad thing here is that this is not the first time I have locked myself out, though it is the first time I've done it before work. I have one friend with a spare key, and she's conveniently in New York this morning, but the real question is: "Why haven't I put a key outside somewhere yet????"

The Countdown Begins

This morning I was inspired to determine the last day which I will work here at Plant Vogtle. I decided on April 21. That leaves 69 working days (including today). I will of course inform my supervision on April 7.