Motivated to Succeed

Happy Mother's Day to all FRB moms out there! You are all amazing and truly the best! Moms make the world that much more survivable in my opinion. Was glad to get my bike back from the shop yesterday. Kind of funny that labor for a $1.50 spoke ended up being $27.00 but what are you going to do, you know? Went down to Albany yesterday with Emmy and Jonn and looked for pants at a Big and Tall store. Only thing was it was just big AND tall, not big OR tall. I usually just have difficulty finding the right length pants. So then I tried the big mall down there and I had a lot of luck :). I now know where to get my pants!

After church today I read a really fantastic read about Abraham Lincoln. By Pultizer Prize winner David Herbert Donald, Lincoln at Home is a compilation of letters and correspondence and also a biography of Lincoln's life while in the White House. He truly was an amazing man and Donald's work in here is a fresh voice of reason. I know there have been a lot of Lincoln biographies especially with his bicentennial birthday this year, but I have always liked Donald's biography on Lincoln. Now I think I want to reread Donald's biography. 

I hope everyone else enjoyed Mother's Day and gave their Moms and sisters and wives and hunnies some hugs and kisses. We truly are blessed to have amazing women in our lives! You stay classy, FRB!

Survived my first ever day of substitute teaching! Man I forgot just how much energy fifth graders had! Luckily the teacher I am subbing for is one of the best and the best that a sub could hope for. She has everything laid out for me to teach and is so organized! I had to teach Social Studies, Math, Science, English, Grammar, ELA, and Spelling to fifth graders! I forgot just how many subjects there really are! Anyone that said subbing was easy is definitely mistaken. After 4:00 when I finished I sat down in the teacher's chair and didn't want to get up because I was so tired. The only downer was that there was a fire drill and the kids walked so fast I couldn't keep up (my ankle is acting up and in a brace). Save yourselves I guess! Forget the teacher! Burn him! Haha! And I only had one written referral today: at about 3:10 one boy bit his buddy in the hand over a stupid argument and I had to document it :(. Oii oh and they already had me fill out paperwork for retirement. I go: "Oh is it that close already?!" with a smile. The lady laughed. I am back in the same fifth grade Tuesday. I hope it goes well!

8:15 AM - Sunny outside today, but I didn't want to go out on the roads as I am not sure how far I could go. Also mom had a flare up yesterday so wanted to stay close to home in case she needed anything. Hopped on the wind trainer and read a chapter from Team of Rivals. Up to about page 170, but still only about 1/3 of the way through the book if I'm lucky. I guess they liked me as a substitute teacher because got a call to substitute again today but I had to turn them down because I have to work the bookstore from 1pm to 10pm tonight. However, also had a call from the same school last night after I had just got home from subbing and I am signed up to sub next Tuesday for fifth grade again! :-D. I just hope I do a good job! Scary that I already filled out retirement papers and am depositing money into a retirement system! And I'm only 22!

Total Time: 1:00:20  Total Distance: 20 miles

12:30 PM - Rainy and windy morning. Temperatures in the 50s. Very blustery though. My mom hasn't been feeling well the last few days. Harry has been having heel problems so I drove him down to Schenectady to the orthopedist. Found out he has floating plates in his heels from growing I guess. The doc had never seen something like it. Only remedy is 600 mg of tylenol 3x a day and find some comfy shoes. I told Harry he should get those cool Old Man Shoes that all the 90+ year olds wear. Bring them in style for the younger generation, you know?

Read from Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. Read about 40 pages today including the infamous Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 during which both men traversed some 4,000 miles through the Illinois countryside, engaging in great townhall meeting style debates lasting three or four hours. I am struck by both the eloquence of Lincoln's speeches as well as the dutifulness. Much of Douglas's argument lay in convincing the Illinois populace that Lincoln sought full emancipation and equality of the black man with the white man. And while much of the Republican platform of 1858 did rest on equality of all men, Lincoln was able to sway support in outlining the founding fathers's beliefs: "When the white man governs himself that is self government; but when he governs himself, and also governs another man, that is more than self-government - that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that 'all men are created equal'; and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another. The difference between the Republican and the Democratic parties on the leading issue of this contest is that the former consider slavery a moral, social and political wrong, while the latter do not consider it either a moral, social or political wrong; and the action of each...is squared to meet these views." (pp. 202-204)

Total Time: 1:00:30  Total Distance: 20 miles

5:42 AM - Temp was in the mid 50s I'd say. Woke up at 4:40 to go get Jonny from prom. Saw pictures of him and his date. They were a cute couple :-D. I'll try to post a picture soon on here. No wonder why all the ladies like him! ;) Decided to get a bike ride in. Laced up, threw on a sweatshirt and hit the roads. Just did one of the usual routes into Charlton and back. My lower back started to tighten up a bit. Probably still a bit strained from the century ride. Being cramped up and hunched over for 6.5 hours on a bike probably isn't exactly what God intended our backs for! Felt really good though. And now the best part.. I get to go drive to see my sister's graduation! :-D. She is graduating college today! And double good news: She got a 4.0 this past semester and I too earned my third straight 4.0 semester! Who said grad school was hard?! pshaw!! Haha! I think I have started to try harder in grad school than I did in undergrad and perhaps that's why I am more likely to get a 4.0? Or maybe they mistyped my grade. Shh don't tell anyone! ;)

And now for a short poem about my ride: (I'm a regular Robert Frost or Emily Dickinson, hahaha NOT!)

Early morning, quiet and alone.

Before the birds chirp,

Before the cars zoom,

Before the sun shines.

Howling Commandos ride

For their job is never done

Spinning the world in circles

In a cadence fit for champions.

Blackbird why you fly so high?

Lilacs fill my nostrils

As do the blackflies and gnats.

Is that the sweet smell of nostalgia,

No. I was mistaken. It was sweet, sweet

Victory.

Total Time: 1:32:03  Total Distance: 26 miles  Average Speed: 16.9 mph