marathon is on!

We ran our marathon pace today as we bandited 3M. We actually ran about 20 seconds per mile faster than we planned, but felt great. It was easy. This is very good news. I feel very happy and confident about the marathon.
Now, I just have to maintain and taper.
Feeling SO much better sinus-wise, too. I got a cortisone shot on Wednesday, and that fairly immediately made my sinuses feel a LOT better.
I actually wrote the RQ's for my dissertation on Friday. Tomorrow is an afternoon planned for writing!

I think I am going to have to retract my previous statement that Alito is reasonable, and just say that he is an excellent lawyer.

Brad and I spent a good deal of the weekend hunkered down trying to learn how to use Quicken. I am so pleased to announce that Brad has moved away from the dark side of microsoft and over to the side of truth and justice that is apple. So, we are trying to get off MS Money and move to Quicken. It is a daunting task. I worked most of the day yesterday at the J, and Brad cleaned the kitchen. He does a much better job of cleaning than I do because he is very thorough. He excavated the toaster oven so that it looks somewhat fit to eat food from. There was much debris from our stoveless year of cooking in the toaster oven. I did a big cook-off last night of ground turkey and vegetarian chili for the next week or so I hope. We are going to try to reduce our grocery spending. That was one of our largest expenses of last year. TAXES were our largest. Boo.

I am going to try this morning, after my clients to go swim. This has not worked very often. If I don't start exercising within the hour I arise, I don't do it.

Alito

I've been listening to the Alito Senate judiciary committee hearings off and on. Coburn from OK is extremely scary!!!! I hate to say it, but Ted Kennedy is a screwball. And, the other shocker is, from what Alito has said so far, he seems extremely reasonable. All the senators are articulate, but Alito himself is very impressive. Brad pointed out he has been a practicing lawyer and judge for a long time, whereas the senators have been stuck talking with each other for however many years. So, I guess Alito has had some practice. I just wish we knew what he was going to do regarding Roe v Wade. (Go to Coburn's website. NUTJOB). http://coburn.senate.gov/

I asked Stacy what recused meant and she gave me an amusing example. Alito keeps talking about recusing himself from cases, which I gathered from context had something to do with his taking himself off a case, but I knew Stacy could give me a legal description.

"a judge is recused when she is disqualified (or disqualifies herself)
from hearing the case because of self-interest, bias, or prejudice.

for instance, if i were the judge and i was assigned a case in which
you were sued for waking up too early, i'd be recused from the case
because (1) i'm your friend and i'm biased and (2) i am prejudiced
because i am predisposed to think that you are GUILTY. ; )

usually, a judge will recuse him or herself when they know they have
self-interest (maybe they are a major shareholder of a corporation that
is being sued or their father is on the board of directors of a company
that is being sued)."

Speaking of intolerance

Just got an email from a fellow student regarding the Gender and Sexuality Student Center on campus. Some intolerant bozos want to withdraw student funding of the center and require that it be privately funded. If I have to pay for countless things I don't use on campus - all the courts that use balls, all the buildings except Bellmont and Gregory, watering the grass in the middle of the day in the middle of the summer, keeping the classrooms at sub 0 - then the Young Conservatives of Texas can pay their $2 a semester or whatever it is bring peace and harmony to the world, or at least to the UT campus.
It is not a question of morality. That would be like questioning the morality of someone's being black. It is, however, a civil rights issue. Ga!

I need to do a major service project to restore my faith in humanity. Seriously.

I did swim in the new outdoor Gregory pool today. I wore sunscreen on my face and hands, but not the rest of me. I got a little tan. Weird. It is nice. VERY warm - 82˚. I don't know how they keep it that warm in the winter with no cover - maybe by wasting my student fees!!! Anyway, I also taught coached swim and recycled Coach Steve's workout from this morning which was appropriate because the only swimmer I had was a former LCA swimmer who now goes to Texas.

We already sold the Trooper. I took it in to get something fixed and the mechanic had a buyer.

Don't read this if you haven't seen Brokeback Mountain

I just saw it. It was very good. Very sad! Ugh. People had told me how sad it was, but I didn't know it was going to be that sad. Both actors were very good. Heath Leger's accent was awesome the way it sometimes carried an Australian lilt in the twang. Sheesh. So sad. I can't get over it. I was just going to see some mano y mano, I didn't know it would come at such a tragic price. I want to read the short story. I have heard it was based on a true story. Ugh.
I remember when Matthew Sheppard was murdered in Wyoming. It is very difficult for me to believe that that can happen in the world we live in. I am in such an insulated bubble. I don't know what to do to change it. I guess start by being vocal against intolerance. I am extremely intolerant of people who are intolerant. I think this is totally justified. Maybe I am wrong. It seems as though there is an absolute good and many of us know what it is, but many of us do not. I think that 90% of people in the world could agree on this, could they not? I guess not, because the US is divided 30/70 about the war, still, correct? The fact that George Bush could be elected 2x in the US baffles me. I guess we cannot agree. The fact that the state I live in just passed a law that limits civil rights of some of its citizens baffles me. And we are one of several states. How can this be 2006? I guess what not to do is crawl in a hole and bemoan how bad things are. The thing to do is try to change intolerance, one intolerant person at a time. Can we round them up and send them to tolerance camps?

Tim left a few days ago. We pretty much worked on the house, ate, and exercised the whole time he was here. Now, Brad is back at work, and I am working more at the J.
Swam 3 x 400 IM this morning. My effort level increased with each, but my times stayed the same. Oh, well. Last week Steve gave me a pep talk along the lines that I will not swim as fast as I have ever swum every time I get in the water. I guess I know that is true.
We may get to get a new stove - they make restaurant ones that are 34". If we can put one in a residence, it is going to be awesome. I will definitely have to start a catering business to pay for it, however.
Took all my books and articles up to school so that I can do my writing up there. I hope that is going to work and that after having the office to myself for a year, no one will move in.
I am going to watch at LEAST the first half of the Rosebowl tonight. GO, horns!