Saturday Seventeen Morning Freewrite

I have been up since about 5:30 am. I woke up at 4 am, but I forced myself to stay in bed. I had a lovely time listening to Oliver Twist as I made my tea this morning. I think the last time I read this book was Memorial Day weekend in 2004 because Debbie was just let go from her job, and I went to Boise to be with her as she struggled to understand why. It was heartbreaking, but somehow Oliver Twist grounded me. I also did 2 Thessalonians as she had to go in her room and cry by herself a lot. :) 

So, it has been 11 1/2 years, and my Book Dames Book Club decided to read it for January and asked me to lead. Since I have all the notes, I said yes. I am happy to do it. 

Then, I listened to He Shall Purify - Scene 2, Movements 6-7 of Messiah. I think my absolute favorite part of the whole oratorio is when the chorus joins all together in crescendo and sings "and that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness" from Malachi 3:3. Sends chills.

After this, I took 40 minutes correcting some things in the devotional book I wrote. Now, I am doing a freewrite until 8 am on this Saturday morning. 

Oh, and did I mention that I have been doing the corrections and freewrite on my treadmill desk? I have been sitting TOO MUCH lately because 1) I am not teaching at OSU again until January 4, and I have lots of things to do to set up my Winter term Canvas site, and 2) I must study for this Personal Training Certification exam. Yesterday, I spent from my time with God (maybe done at 6 am) until noon SITTING. I made a cool chart with all the muscles in groups (according to muscular complex like lower leg, quadriceps, hamstring, hip, abdominals, back, scapula, shoulder, rotator cuff, arms, and neck). It took me much of the morning, but it helped me to see everything as they interact with things. I do not know how much of the test will involve all of this, but I want to be over prepared!

So, today, I think I have all my flashcards, charts, study guide answers, etc. all in one place in my notebook. So I will go through it. And I will try to do it while I am walking on my treadmill. I just cannot sit that long.

Oh, I should mention that I FORCED myself to take a break when the sun broke through after a grey and rainy morning in Oregon. It was lovely. I was so tempted to bring my new, spiffy chart of muscles to study as I walked, but I brought Oliver Twist  and my pal, Dickens, with me, and I smiled and laughed when I listened to characters with names like "Sourberry"! Only Dickens can bring the depravity of those days AND humor together! I love it.

After I came home, I thought I might as well finish the last day (of four weeks at three times a week) Phase 1 -  Stabilization Endurance of my resistance training, and I listened to more of the story as I lifted and sun broke through and gleamed on my weights as I did a tricep extension on my stability ball and listened to Oliver be captured by Bill Sykes (via Nancy)! OH NO! It was a moment of joy though. I don't know. I am so bad about taking breaks when I have a goal in mind. So, I considered this a reward of joy for taking a break and being good to my body. By the way, I ended up running for the majority of my walk. I have three days in a row of getting my cardiovascular into Zone 3 for over 20 minutes. That is the only way I can do it these days.

Oh, my 17 minutes went by very fast. Now to work!