Ankle, race, religion, and misc stuff
First off, thanks to the 36 of you who participated in my confidential poll about first kisses/first sex. I'm even more thankful to those of you who commented openly, with your experiences and observations. I admit I hadn't thought about the effects of geography or regional ages of consent as colouring responses. And, definitely, the spread of responses was not at all what I had anticipated. So, thank you for participating, whoever you are!
Ankle update: (In case you're just that bored.) Wasn't feeling too hopeful, but I did a trial 1.5 mile/2.5km run on the treadmill on Fri, just to see how things felt and ... nothing hurt while I ran, nor did they hurt any worse when I stopped. So, I went ahead and committed myself to Sunday's marathon relay race after all. As it turned out, Will (who had leg #2) ran super fast for him and went past the handoff point probably about a minute before I got there. As it turns out, the first bit of leg #3 currently involves running half a mile along a creek and then doubling back past the handoff point, so he just continued onward and met me on the way back. Part of me was cross that he'd "taken" a mile of my leg (about 5.2 miles total), but it probably was just as well, so I didn't have to tax my ankle quite so much. On the other hand, I didn't run any slower than normal (under an 11min/mile) for this race, and my ankle wasn't any worse for wear this morning.
(Oh, and as for the race itself, our team finished in about 4:13, a minute faster than last year - although since three of the five legs were having really speedy days, we were marginally disappointed there wasn't a greater jump in improvement. Still, we came in 130 out of 230 relay teams, and were the #1 college-based team. Of course, we were the ONLY college-based team, but let's not dwell on that, shall we? ;-) Also new this year: they had medals for the relay teams, too. I know it's just a piece of metal on a ribbon, but it's amazing how much that piece of metal legitimizes your effort; it's very rare to find medals for anything other than full marathon (solo effort) or half marathons, so I'm darned happy to have one for this after five years or so of relay participation.)
Getting back to the ankle, however, since the swelling has been slow to go away, I figured I'd have my doctor take a look at it, and thankfully he had some time this afternoon. He agreed that it was moderately sprained, but also said that the way most ankle sprains work, forward motion isn't really affected - which is why I could walk without limping almost immediately and was able to run without issue. He also said it's not uncommon for lower-limb swelling to go away more slowly, given gravity, so he wasn't worried about that. However, he prescribed an air cast for me to wear when doing physical activity for the next six weeks - like if I want to go back to TKD, even with modified activity, or talk the dog or run, in case the weakened ankle tries to roll or twist under duress, or if the dog suddenly pulls me sideways or something. However, I don't need it for walking around the house. Hopefully I can get one in the next day or two. He also prescribed an xray; the Crohn's and the steroids can affect bone density so he wanted to be sure I didn't fracture anything as well. I took care of the xray right away, but won't get the results for another day or three.
My morning today didn't get off on the best start when I overslept my alarm and woke when Two came into my room - only to see it was the time when MiniPlu was already supposed to be at marching band. And since I was helping march, I really needed to be there, too. I suppose we could have raced and arrived late, but I really didn't want to do that - MiniPlu doesn't function well when she has to launch herself out of bed full speed, and I couldn't be sure if the band would be already marching by the time we arrived. So, we had a usual-speed morning and I got MiniPlu to school at the regular non-band start time.
I also started Two with riding his bike to school this week; he wasn't happy that I made him carry his own lunchbox in his backpack in preparation for - hopefully soon - riding his bike on his own, and groused all the way to school, but it otherwise went well. I was discombobulated enough, however, that it was only when I turned my bike around to ride home again that I realized I'd gone off without my helmet. Oops. In fact, I can't find my helmet - when I rode back to school in the afternoon, I had to borrow Will's. God only knows what pile of mudroom crap my helmet is hiding under. :P
PREP/CCD started this week; Grades 6-8 go Mon night, and the younger kids are on Wed late-afternoon/early evening. Feels kind of weird not to be teaching, but nice, in a way, too. I was kind of underwhelmed by MiniPlu's teacher tonight - parents are invited to sit in on class for about half an hour - she's not a new PREP teacher, but still said "um" every third word, like she had no idea what she normally said.
The upper grades meet for 90 mins, compared to the 70 mins for the younger kids; because the start-of-term parent meeting was much shorter and there was no prayer service at the beginning, this left an hour before class ended. I ended up chatting with another parent in the parking lot for awhile and thus had only about 25 min at home before I had to turn around and go back, but oh well.
Also, I missed the new director's start-of-term lecture speech because she said she was going to start at 7:15pm. Will and I were meeting with Msgr (more on that below) because I figured I had a few minutes before I had to be at the meeting - but when I got there at 7:07pm, everyone was just leaving and I'd missed it. She'd decided at the last minute to start as soon as the kids did - parents already being there, of course - and then only spoken for 5 mins, rather than the 15 (easy) that the previous director could do. (It remains to be seen whether the lecture is still 15 min for the younger kids' parents on Wed.) However, having talked to a few other parents, it doesn't seem like I missed anything too crucial, nothing that wasn't on the emails already, for the most part.
We were meeting with Msgr because we decided at the last minute that, instead of just talking to Two's (as yet unknown) PREP teacher, we really needed to talk to HIM about the use of male pronouns in Two's PREP class. It had been my initial thought that we should just talk to the teacher and deal with him/her directly, but then we decided that the teacher would probably want to talk to the religious ed director and she would want to ask Msgr, so it was better to go straight to the top and talk to him about it.
Keep in mind, we weren't too hopeful, the Catholic church not being the most open-minded about these things. Two was hoping with all his might that they were going to throw him out of PREP for being transgender, and he wouldn't have to go anymore - also because school is starting step team for the first time, Two wants to join, and they meet Wed afternoons. (MiniPlu was hoping the same, but I said there was no way they were going to throw HER out, since there was nothing "wrong" with her in their eyes.)
Anyway, it being only two days before Two's PREP class starts, we sat down with Msgr after dropping MiniPlu off at hers. To his credit, Msgr is willing to take the time to think things out before giving an answer; he did the same when we asked permission for Two to wear a suit instead of a dress for First Communion. He still said, "No" but I appreciated that he thought for a few minutes, rather than giving the knee-jerk "Absolutely not" that I got from the old religious-ed director. (And, yes, I went over her head to ask Msgr. :P)
So, Msgr asked what steps we had taken in our process, a bit about the gender therapy. He asked what our goal was, as far as the church was concerned (appropriate pronouns in PREP) and, of course, the bathroom issue came up. In the end, he didn't give an answer, saying he wanted to contact the diocesan educational office to see if this issue had come up before and, if so, the diocese had any official position on it, because it was all so new to him. [I assume this is because most transgender Catholics/their families leave the Church or just keep quiet, rather than coming forward like we're doing.] Which, ok, is fair enough - he's got people to report to, too, after all. Will is still assuming the answer will be "no" but, like I said, I at least appreciate people who give a concept some thought before saying "no". And until we've heard anything, we're going to ask Two's teacher to avoid pronouns if at all possible, and there's a neutral bathroom he can use just down the hall (former office, not currently in use).
Msgr did call back around 9pm, though, to say he'd spoken with the religious ed director and gotten the name of Two's teacher. The director was on board with the current plan, and the teacher is - for once - on the young side, grad-school student. Which means - I hope - that she'll be more open-minded.
We'll see how that all turns out, given the source of the decision-makers. Will said he had half a mind to write to the Pope directly, and appeal to his inclusive nature. Because the Pope doesn't already get plenty of mail for his staff to wade through. :P
Before I head off to bed, I had to make a comment on this. Ok, I have no idea if Paris is pregnant or not, but the fact that she was making toasts with water does not mean she's pregnant. It means she's sixteen, and, celebrity or no, I doubt a public restaurant would serve her alcohol. Baby bump? Yeah, that might mean she's pregnant. But the comment about the water just made me roll my eyes so hard, they almost fell out. :P
Ankle update: (In case you're just that bored.) Wasn't feeling too hopeful, but I did a trial 1.5 mile/2.5km run on the treadmill on Fri, just to see how things felt and ... nothing hurt while I ran, nor did they hurt any worse when I stopped. So, I went ahead and committed myself to Sunday's marathon relay race after all. As it turned out, Will (who had leg #2) ran super fast for him and went past the handoff point probably about a minute before I got there. As it turns out, the first bit of leg #3 currently involves running half a mile along a creek and then doubling back past the handoff point, so he just continued onward and met me on the way back. Part of me was cross that he'd "taken" a mile of my leg (about 5.2 miles total), but it probably was just as well, so I didn't have to tax my ankle quite so much. On the other hand, I didn't run any slower than normal (under an 11min/mile) for this race, and my ankle wasn't any worse for wear this morning.
(Oh, and as for the race itself, our team finished in about 4:13, a minute faster than last year - although since three of the five legs were having really speedy days, we were marginally disappointed there wasn't a greater jump in improvement. Still, we came in 130 out of 230 relay teams, and were the #1 college-based team. Of course, we were the ONLY college-based team, but let's not dwell on that, shall we? ;-) Also new this year: they had medals for the relay teams, too. I know it's just a piece of metal on a ribbon, but it's amazing how much that piece of metal legitimizes your effort; it's very rare to find medals for anything other than full marathon (solo effort) or half marathons, so I'm darned happy to have one for this after five years or so of relay participation.)
Getting back to the ankle, however, since the swelling has been slow to go away, I figured I'd have my doctor take a look at it, and thankfully he had some time this afternoon. He agreed that it was moderately sprained, but also said that the way most ankle sprains work, forward motion isn't really affected - which is why I could walk without limping almost immediately and was able to run without issue. He also said it's not uncommon for lower-limb swelling to go away more slowly, given gravity, so he wasn't worried about that. However, he prescribed an air cast for me to wear when doing physical activity for the next six weeks - like if I want to go back to TKD, even with modified activity, or talk the dog or run, in case the weakened ankle tries to roll or twist under duress, or if the dog suddenly pulls me sideways or something. However, I don't need it for walking around the house. Hopefully I can get one in the next day or two. He also prescribed an xray; the Crohn's and the steroids can affect bone density so he wanted to be sure I didn't fracture anything as well. I took care of the xray right away, but won't get the results for another day or three.
My morning today didn't get off on the best start when I overslept my alarm and woke when Two came into my room - only to see it was the time when MiniPlu was already supposed to be at marching band. And since I was helping march, I really needed to be there, too. I suppose we could have raced and arrived late, but I really didn't want to do that - MiniPlu doesn't function well when she has to launch herself out of bed full speed, and I couldn't be sure if the band would be already marching by the time we arrived. So, we had a usual-speed morning and I got MiniPlu to school at the regular non-band start time.
I also started Two with riding his bike to school this week; he wasn't happy that I made him carry his own lunchbox in his backpack in preparation for - hopefully soon - riding his bike on his own, and groused all the way to school, but it otherwise went well. I was discombobulated enough, however, that it was only when I turned my bike around to ride home again that I realized I'd gone off without my helmet. Oops. In fact, I can't find my helmet - when I rode back to school in the afternoon, I had to borrow Will's. God only knows what pile of mudroom crap my helmet is hiding under. :P
PREP/CCD started this week; Grades 6-8 go Mon night, and the younger kids are on Wed late-afternoon/early evening. Feels kind of weird not to be teaching, but nice, in a way, too. I was kind of underwhelmed by MiniPlu's teacher tonight - parents are invited to sit in on class for about half an hour - she's not a new PREP teacher, but still said "um" every third word, like she had no idea what she normally said.
The upper grades meet for 90 mins, compared to the 70 mins for the younger kids; because the start-of-term parent meeting was much shorter and there was no prayer service at the beginning, this left an hour before class ended. I ended up chatting with another parent in the parking lot for awhile and thus had only about 25 min at home before I had to turn around and go back, but oh well.
Also, I missed the new director's start-of-term lecture speech because she said she was going to start at 7:15pm. Will and I were meeting with Msgr (more on that below) because I figured I had a few minutes before I had to be at the meeting - but when I got there at 7:07pm, everyone was just leaving and I'd missed it. She'd decided at the last minute to start as soon as the kids did - parents already being there, of course - and then only spoken for 5 mins, rather than the 15 (easy) that the previous director could do. (It remains to be seen whether the lecture is still 15 min for the younger kids' parents on Wed.) However, having talked to a few other parents, it doesn't seem like I missed anything too crucial, nothing that wasn't on the emails already, for the most part.
We were meeting with Msgr because we decided at the last minute that, instead of just talking to Two's (as yet unknown) PREP teacher, we really needed to talk to HIM about the use of male pronouns in Two's PREP class. It had been my initial thought that we should just talk to the teacher and deal with him/her directly, but then we decided that the teacher would probably want to talk to the religious ed director and she would want to ask Msgr, so it was better to go straight to the top and talk to him about it.
Keep in mind, we weren't too hopeful, the Catholic church not being the most open-minded about these things. Two was hoping with all his might that they were going to throw him out of PREP for being transgender, and he wouldn't have to go anymore - also because school is starting step team for the first time, Two wants to join, and they meet Wed afternoons. (MiniPlu was hoping the same, but I said there was no way they were going to throw HER out, since there was nothing "wrong" with her in their eyes.)
Anyway, it being only two days before Two's PREP class starts, we sat down with Msgr after dropping MiniPlu off at hers. To his credit, Msgr is willing to take the time to think things out before giving an answer; he did the same when we asked permission for Two to wear a suit instead of a dress for First Communion. He still said, "No" but I appreciated that he thought for a few minutes, rather than giving the knee-jerk "Absolutely not" that I got from the old religious-ed director. (And, yes, I went over her head to ask Msgr. :P)
So, Msgr asked what steps we had taken in our process, a bit about the gender therapy. He asked what our goal was, as far as the church was concerned (appropriate pronouns in PREP) and, of course, the bathroom issue came up. In the end, he didn't give an answer, saying he wanted to contact the diocesan educational office to see if this issue had come up before and, if so, the diocese had any official position on it, because it was all so new to him. [I assume this is because most transgender Catholics/their families leave the Church or just keep quiet, rather than coming forward like we're doing.] Which, ok, is fair enough - he's got people to report to, too, after all. Will is still assuming the answer will be "no" but, like I said, I at least appreciate people who give a concept some thought before saying "no". And until we've heard anything, we're going to ask Two's teacher to avoid pronouns if at all possible, and there's a neutral bathroom he can use just down the hall (former office, not currently in use).
Msgr did call back around 9pm, though, to say he'd spoken with the religious ed director and gotten the name of Two's teacher. The director was on board with the current plan, and the teacher is - for once - on the young side, grad-school student. Which means - I hope - that she'll be more open-minded.
We'll see how that all turns out, given the source of the decision-makers. Will said he had half a mind to write to the Pope directly, and appeal to his inclusive nature. Because the Pope doesn't already get plenty of mail for his staff to wade through. :P
Before I head off to bed, I had to make a comment on this. Ok, I have no idea if Paris is pregnant or not, but the fact that she was making toasts with water does not mean she's pregnant. It means she's sixteen, and, celebrity or no, I doubt a public restaurant would serve her alcohol. Baby bump? Yeah, that might mean she's pregnant. But the comment about the water just made me roll my eyes so hard, they almost fell out. :P