Walking, running, sleeping (Day 18)

My day started with another five-kilometre walk across the Story Bridge, only this time it was back the way I came since I woke up at Carl's place and had to get home. I'm sure a bus or a cab would get me home just fine but cabs are too expensive and I think it's easier to walk than to take the bus.

The walk was a good warmup for the run that I was going to go on with Whitey though. Whitey could probably run a marathon in his sleep and he has plans to do one next year. Along with my intentions to run faster and him probably needing to get more distance in, we might be a good running pair. When he dropped me off yesterday he mentioned that he didn't know what he was going to do with himself this morning since he didn't have work to finish and Julie was going to be working. He suggested we make an attempt at going for a run and I was more than happy to oblige.

So we set off in the late morning for a run on a route that Whitey had planned for us. I got to see parts of Brisbane I've never seen before, and run by another side of the river that I'd never been to before. Whitey gave me a tour of sorts and we talked a lot about his job here and the other people that work at Baseball Queensland and how great everyone is. I asked Whitey if he thought this job was something he could do for a long time but I don't think the money is quite there and I don't think there's a lot of room to move up a tax bracket if you're doing the same job.

I don't know if I would have been able to do what Whitey did, just picking up and leaving everything on no timeline. For me, knowing that this is a temporary thing and that in three months I'll be back at home heading out to Spring Training in Florida helps a lot. I think the idea of not knowing when I might be able to see my friends or family again would be almost enough to keep me away. This is a great place to be of course, but it certainly is very far from home. And since I can barely get through a day without a little hand-holding from Whitey or Carl, I don't know how Whitey did it.

We ended up back at the Story Bridge, but I was pretty desperate for water. Dehydration was definitely setting in. We looked around for a little while for a water fountain but in the end we went to a variety store. I was actually surprised Whitey wanted to go to the bridge at all, with his fear of heights. I had mentioned to him that I walked over it last night and then again this morning and that I thought the view was great. He had made an attempt at running over it once he said but when he got closer to the middle where you can see the water underneath you on both sides, he made a U-turn and decided against going over it. He said he would be okay if he was with me though and he was. 

I was the one holding us up, needing water and being overheated. I am pretty sure I was holding Whitey back quite a bit, running slower than the pace he's capable of and then slowing down even more when I became super thirsty and hot, so I was ready to stop when we made it to the store. I think I need to improve a little bit before I make him run with me again.

My pace has slowed a lot this year since I started guide running for blind marathoners. It's been great but I have to run with people slower than I am in order to be able to talk them through it and be able to pace them for a couple of hours at a time. Because of that, it's slowed me down. So now is the time for me to stop being lazy and get out and run on my own. Since the weather is so perfect here, I have no excuses not to do that. But after my 5K walk to start the day and then an almost-10K run with Whitey, I think I'm at least good for now. We'll see what happens tomorrow. 

I definitely went home and had another nap. Napping seems to be my thing now. I put on a DVD of one of the seasons of House and only lasted through part of one episode. I was pretty sore to go with my tiredness too. After my big workout with Erin, bench-pressing the bar and all, I still hadn't fully recovered. So I tried to sleep that off. When I woke up I hoped there was enough afternoon left in the day so I could go and pick up a few things at a store.

I walked to the post office first because I wanted to get some Christmas cards. It wasn't open. I continued on to the train station in the valley (Fortitude Valley, right near where I live) because I figured something might be open in there. I found a store that had paper and glue sticks and scissors, all the supplies necessary to make some cards, so I made some purchases. Unfortunately I had to buy paper by the individual piece so I won't be making too many cards right now. It's definitely cheaper to buy them.

When I got back home I decided to keep watching House and start card-making. I only finished one card though and it took me forever. I must have been away from this arts and crafts thing for too long. I'll have to get back into the cutting and pasting. I should ask Shayne's son Joshua to help me out sometime. I'm sure he could give me some pointers.

I have decided though that there is no way I can make a bunch of Christmas cards for people. I'm going to head back to the post office when it opens on Monday and buy some. Sorry to those of you who wanted a homemade one. I just don't have the time or the finger strength. Plus my mom mentioned that if I want to send cards home on time I have to do them by the end of this week. So that puts a much shorter timeline on this whole idea. I might just have to forget about Christmas cards altogether this year. Seems like a lot of work.

I'd had plans in my head to actually get some work done today. I wanted to get to transcribing the three interviews I did yesterday and then perhaps even start writing. No such thing happened. I was faced with a lack of motivation and the recollection that I had brought five seasons of House with me to Australia and I hadn't watched any of them.

At one point, Carl texted and mentioned that Whitey, Julie and Dave-O were all at the bar that he works at (by works at, I mean that this is the first time he's worked there since I've lived here) if I wanted to head there. I told him I had decided to stay home instead, making arts and crafts. I think I was just too lazy to get up and do anything. Plus I probably would have made an attempt to walk there and I'm not entirely sure that I had enough walking left in me for the day.

When it got to be late enough that it wasn't too early in Eastern Standard Time I decided to call my Uncle Big and my three littlest cousins, Krysia, Jozef and Emma. I miss them a lot and haven't talked to them at all since I've been here! I told them all about how awesome the weather is here and what the time difference is and they told me all about school and sports and how much homework they're getting. Krysia's upset because she didn't try out for the volleyball team at her high school, Emma is getting bored with French at her school because she is better than everyone else and Jozef is dominating Madden 12 at the highest level. I am really sad that I can't spend Christmas with them but now that I've figured out the whole calling-people-on-the-phone thing I think I can manage.

Jozef is already really excited for the Superbowl which makes me a little sad that I will be watching it here at nine in the morning with the time difference. Monday morning at 9 a.m. doesn't seem fitting for a Superbowl. But I am sure it will be a good time. My 12-year-old cousin's prediction is that the Packers will be playing the Lions at the end of the season and I didn't have the heart to tell him that they're both in the NFC North. But we had a good solid talk and I was ecstatic to get the chance to chat with them all.

I also tried to call my dad and brother after that but I had to leave a message. Another call for another day.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get some work done.