A Party to Post About!

My favorite great aunt recently celebrated 97 years!

That’s my favorite cousin, James, named after my dad. His look has spanned many generations but one thing remains the same: he’s quite possibly the most brilliant person I know with a genuine laugh and an easy ability to talk about subjects that most people know nothing about.

As a young girl, I would sit in the same room with my older 2nd and 3rd cousins and aunts just to listen to “the adults talk”. They always engaged me with questions about what I thought of the subjects and encouraged me to speak my mind. These are some of the hardest working women I’ve ever met, from lifelong grade school and collegiate-level educators to a businesswoman with a strong penchant for coffee. They get me. This time there was discussion of the 2 traits that most Humphries women are handed a measure of – back pain, and longevity. Fortunately, it seems our family’s women live to their late 80s/90s. Conversely, back pain abounds, notably from carrying around our sparkling personality. My words, not theirs.

It was a short visit but exactly what was needed. Although Aunt Mary Catherine may not remember names as easily as before, her smile still lights up the room and her laugh is the same baritone that once commanded a room’s attention. Her heart is the most beautiful part of her. She has now outlived every family member in our shortened family tree. And her stubbornness? Well, let’s just say it runs in the family.

________________

I ask you –

Who is the oldest living person in your family?

Who’s birthday party did you last attend?

Surprise parties: yay or nay? Nay. Please don’t. I like knowing what to expect and a surprise party is not it.

(The post A Party to Post About! first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Who Signed Me Up?

Let me apologize first. It got…hectic for awhile. So if this post looks like a mini version of me wrote it, then…she didn’t. It was me. At this moment, I’m probably still running off of adrenaline, coffee, and a single hand’s worth of sleep. Two words: Air. Show. Help.

Dubbed the “Ice Queen” for the duration of the weekend, I found a home in my cozy club car, making a million trips to various food and beer tents providing much needed ice, soda, and chips, on occasion. They even gave me a walkie talkie, of which I was extra careful because I didn’t want to accept any fines for using my Sailor language. Disclaimer: I did say one bad word.

I’m laughing because it seems I took a lot of selfies yet I have no actual Air Show photos. In hindsight, I saw the Thunderbirds perform at least 3x and I saw demos and reenactments at least twice. It truly was an incredibly successful weekend. As I finish this post Monday morning before publishing, my feet ache but my heart is full. I met wonderful people, worked with the best of the best, and was privileged to support the public and the installation.

I love this stuff. But if we didn’t do it for another 7 yrs or so, that’s fine by me.

And on the subject of ice –

I found my summer activity: Curling! A whole club dedicated to learning and perfecting curling techniques! Looking for my winter gear right now. Also, I’m taking volunteers to be my partner. Must love laughing, and falling. Will train.

_______________

I ask you –

Have you ever attended an Air Show?

Did you know there were curling clubs? Me neither!

Tell me your summer plans!

(The post Who Signed Me Up? first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Doing Some Things

Totally phoning it in on this post because it’s Saturday morning and I got nothing.

Joy ride with my bestie. “POL”

BOGO. Two coffees are always better than one.

Parts. Doing Parts things.

My feet hurt a lot lately.

____________________

I ask you –

Have you ever taken a joy ride disguised as on-the-job training? Me neither.

How much coffee is too much?

Tell me the last thing you did! This should be fun.

(The post Doing Some Things first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Standing Out

Blend in. Fit in. Don’t cause a scene. All things I grew up believing were the best way to survive and thrive. Do you want to know what I think now? So glad you asked. Screw that. It’s a virtual impossibility for me to blend in. I laugh too loud. I have opinions. I’m passionate, especially when I’m right. And I worked too effing hard to get where I’m at…fitting in didn’t get me here. Standing out did. I’m going to revel in it!

Right after I do exactly what my chair tells me to do and say because doctorate life. Do you know how difficult it is to write a data collection process when you haven’t collected any data? Of course you want to know. Really hard! Apparently “because it makes sense” doesn’t answer the question “Why are you doing interviews?” Who knew. Still, I plug along with the researching and the writing and the submitting.

Turns out I’m terrified of falling. I don’t mean from heights, although I am scared of that, too. Specifically, in volleyball. But just right now. My knees still aren’t fully healed so even when I wear knee pads, always, I’m not willing to fall. 1. Because I know it’s going to hurt some. 2. Because it can’t be great to continue damaging the bones/muscles behind my knees. I sort of wonder if that’s why my knee pain has progressively returned. Probably doesn’t help. And the foot pain has been out of control lately. Not only does the (primarily) right foot hurt but now the left foot is really screaming at me. I’ve been experimenting with different shoes during volleyball…alas, I’ve definitely learned what not to wear! I guess this is me finally committing to the surgery option in late 2025.

My newest addition to the workout lineup. No running! Cycling, as it happens, is minimal to no weight bearing and, also as it happens, turning out to be something I’m enjoying. Even if it isn’t my favorite sport, the no foot pain portion is definitely pulling me in.

_________________

I ask you –

Do you blend in?

What question do you find yourself asking the most? Me: Why???

Tell me your favorite activity!

(The post Standing Out first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Impressive

Not only am I alive but I’m also creating models of decision making, which is mostly unbelievable seeing as the way I’ve lived my life thus far is one questionable decision after another. haHA

Random thought inline with the above – the dissertation process is working well. I don’t want to sound too confident but I put in more hours stressing those seemingly unconnected papers than I have in the past few weeks prepping this giant novel of a dissertation. Alas, I’m thankful I developed a very strict habit of waking early and focusing most evenings on writing. I read somewhere that even if you only wrote 250 words per day, the benefit at the end of a semester is immeasurable. Believe it. Sometimes my discipline is impressive, even to me, but now it’s such a habit, such an integral part of me that I don’t know any other way. Whether I like it or not, the paper continues to flesh out.

The weekly chats with my chair, although a scheduling challenge at times, are rewarding and I am always amazed at when the chat is over how much good information I’ve garnered from her. She is assuredly a blessing in my life. Speaking of amazing women, there’s an incredible woman in my life who will soon be 97. Ninety-seven years on planet Earth. She’s older than the (former) Queen. And, in my opinion, the most impressive woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of loving.

Updates coming soon as we visit her.

_______________

I ask you –

What are your skills?

How do you feel about decision-making?

Tell me the age of the oldest living person in your life!

(The post Impressive first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Did we make it?

I considered not even prepping this post in case the Eclipse of 2024 turned into Apocalypse 2024. Alas, I like to be prepared. Just in case, you know.

But if I didn’t write this post, you wouldn’t be entertained with the most ridiculous photos of my whackadooness. Out of everyone enjoying the eclipse, I think I had the most fun. And definitely got the most compliments for my headwear!

I also have an 8 yr old now. When did this happen? Now, she asks hard questions and is a mini gremlin upon wakeup. Not unlike age 7. I just want her hands to always stay this small.

Alas, the volleyball season has come to an end (for our team anyway). The official record is 4-4, which isn’t bad in my book. Sure, we beat ourselves up several times and missed a few easy volleys but, personally, I made it out alive so that’s a win! One teammate wasn’t so fortunate; he suffered an ankle fracture early season. If all I had was bruises of varying degrees and a heavy reliance on ibuprofen and heating pads – meh.

Definitely worth it. But maybe next time I’ll just coach.

_______________

I ask you –

Did you check out the eclipse? Better question, who didn’t?

What do you think of my hat-making skills?!

Tell me how old you’ll be at the next eclipse! Just add 20.

(The post Did we make it? first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

And so it begins –

I’ll probably eeeek my way into the 25% category by end of May but it will be hard fought. Every year, I have goals to run through the summer sans heat illness and last year I held on to those goals. Let’s see how it turns out this summer. 9% doesn’t look like much, especially because in my reality it’s maybe 2%. So here we go!

This is what a proper day off looks like! I took leave on Good Friday but somehow ended up teleworking with numerous staffing phone calls and 3 teams meetings. Not exactly the day off I had been hoping for, so I requested a re-do. Minus the purchase of cake and cupcakes prior to birthday party weekend…Nailed it.

Finally, my mini’s birthday came back around. To hear her tell it, it “took 100 years”. Oh, the drama. She celebrated with her friends, then we celebrated her. Parts nailed it with the axolotl decorations, shirt, and everything in between. And I was so impressed with mini’s friends (and parents) who are fabulous gift givers. Maybe it’s easy for some to know what to give a young girl but I struggle so kudos to them.

And now…cake!

________________________

I ask you –

Are you getting acclimated to the heat?

What is your preferred day off like?

Favorite type of cake – GO! Lemon blueberry.

(The post And so it begins – first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Hear the Thoughts

I enjoy reading articles like this, 5 Popular Education Beliefs That Aren’t Backed by Research.

Specifically, the myth about reading aloud and the myth regarding music. I have my own experiences. As a kindergartner, yes, I remember this distinctly, I would get called out by “student teachers” aka older kids that were instructed to read to us younger ones, and teachers because of my inability to process what was being read to me. To this day, auditory is not my learning style. I learn by writing or reading. Clearly.

I also recall certain peers not doing well when it came to reading aloud and I always had this sense of disappointment it was a mandatory activity that promoted anxiety (although I didn’t know that feeling at the time) and frustration. For the music myth, I have found that when I’m doing a monotonous task like entering time card info, then background music (often, jazz or a coffee shop mix) is relaxing and motivating to me. However, I know other tasks, like budget reviews, etc., are absolutely not the time for me to be listening to music. Fascinating.

Credit via IG

Then there’s quotes that just resonate with everything inside me. Recently, my ear buds died prior to the run I’d had scheduled and was really looking forward to, so I ran sans music. Unheard of (get it, get it). Despite the midday timeframe, there was near silence all around me. No one speaking, no loud booms, just silence. Truly, it was exactly what I needed because nearly everyday is punctuated by noise, a constant sound cacophony of stuff. I won’t get started about how it’s typically loud in my head, but the silence of that run was absolute bliss.

Sometimes I just need to hear myself think.

_____________________

I ask you –

Did any myth surprise you?

Have you ever run in silence?

Tell me how often you charge your earbuds!

(The post Hear the Thoughts first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

Embrace the Change

…”Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”…

Those are the questions to ask when considering situations in which the options are to speak up or be silent. Although not mutually exclusive, it seems the best way forward is to answer these questions affirmatively: otherwise, stay silent.

I was honored with the opportunity to listen to an older gentleman who shared his perspective of returning “home” to finalize the estate of his late mother. His military career has taken him far and wide, here and there, yet he was notably saddened and a little perturbed at mentioning his friends and family’s reactions to his brief, sporadic trips. His disdain for the commonly repeated phrase “you’ve changed” or “you never visit” or the constant demand for time and attention when he returns without an offer to ever repeat the gesture was tangible. Somewhere during this conversation it struck me that these encounters happen no matter your age, status, or socioeconomic status. You will change. You should. And there will be people who only know how to take what you can give. So surround yourself with people who recognize the change… and embrace it.

Often I set myself up for disappointment when my expectations surpass ability. I know I’ve mentioned this same issue countless times but it plagues me. The latest example is not feeling satisfied with the small portion of my literature review due in a few weeks. I want to include passion, the emotions it elicits, the “me” of this research. But that’s not the goal. It should be straightforward, a masterpiece of regurgitation of others’ research. Why is it so hard? Because everything I do is laced with the excellence I expect of myself. 110%. Every time. No excuses. And somehow what keeps me going is also my biggest flaw.

In other news, I finished that literature review. To my knowledge, it’s exactly what they were looking for. Was it painful? Mostly yes. But I make easy things difficult for a living.

_____________________________

I ask you –

Do you find silence difficult to achieve?

Are you aging with mischief?

Name something you always make so much more difficult than it has to be. I’d like to answer for mini: bedtime routine.

(The post Embrace the Change first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)

(More) Photos with Minimal Explanations

Yes. I bought it. Honestly, not their best work. The pieces of cake are delicious but the ice cream is plain vanilla. Not a huge fan.

I think about this sandwich more than I should. But it’s keto so not a big concern. It’s also amazing with just scrambled eggs, bacon, and avocado. Trust me.

Jada, Gia, Luli, me, and Jarrod

A team photo from the recent 5k. We had our largest turnout of participants probably in the history of installation fun runs.

Jumped on the permanent jewelry bandwagon. A huge thank you to our beautiful friend, Lyndsie, for the opportunity to get bracelets. If you come across Sacred Strands, you’re in for a treat!

——————–

I ask you –

Have you tried the Gooey Butter Cake?

Is there a food you’re currently stuck on?

Permanent jewelry: yay or nay?

(The post (More) Photos with Minimal Explanations first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)