Visions of Vacation Bible School

As I was laying in bed this morning slowly waking up and psyching myself to get out of bed, I heard the neighbors downstairs. This is not unusual. It's a family of 4 and they're not loud, but they do have a toddler who likes to scream and cry at times. It's not so loud that it's disturbing, but it is loud enough that I can definitely hear it.

This morning, however, it was not the toddler, but the older girl. And what I heard was singing.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands
If you're happy and you know it then your life will surely show it
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands

If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet...

I'm not quite awake, but the gears do slowly start turning: I know this song. Why do I know this song? Where do I know this song from?

It took a minute or three, but it finally came to me: I know this song from years of vacation bible school when I was a kid. Whew, this would have bugged me if I couldn't figure it out.

Of course, now it is stuck in my head. Who knew that If you're happy and know it made such a good earworm! Gah.

New Word Wednesday

Yeah, ok, so it's been over 6 months since my last New Word post. Such is life.

tip - This can be a noun or a verb, synonymous with the US use of the word dump.

Here is the Cambridge Dictionary's definition.

I heard it for the first time -- or probably more accurately, picked up that I was hearing a new word -- about a month ago. Friends who I was petsitting for described their house as "a bit of a tip" when I went to pick up keys. Since then I've noticed it a couple times. A colleague used it to describe the mess of wires coming out of a full rack of computers, for example.

(On most days it could be used to describe my flat or my desk at work. So ample opportunities to use this one! )

There is also the term fly-tipping, which contrary to how it sounds doesn't mean paying flies a gratuity for excellent service. It's short for tipping-on-the-fly, i.e., dumping-on-the-fly. Illegally. Those dirty rotters.

I actually remember having fly-tipping explained to me quite a while ago, during some random lunchtime discussion. I didn't remember though, until tip was explained to me.

Since I couldn't find any fun, legal-to-post, cartoons of messy rooms to liven up this post, I'll leave you with Shel Silverstein's poem, Messy Room.

Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are all jammed in the closet,
His vest has been left in the hall.
A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
Donald or Robert or Willie or--
Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear,
I knew it looked familiar!

My bedroom isn't quite that much of a tip. Yet.

St. David's Day 5k Race

Back in January, I was hunting around for a 5k race to run this spring, and there were none to be found in my neck of Scotland. But I really, really wanted to find a race to run in, so I started looking farther afield, and stumbled across the St. David’s Day 5k and 10k races in Cardiff, Wales. Hmmmm…Wales…I’d never been to Wales. I emailed my friend Xenia and she was all for the idea of a weekend in Cardiff, including the race. So last Friday, I was on my way to Wales!

It's a long train ride down to south-east Wales, 8+ hours if you go through London. They do have a more direct train route, but the London route was actually cheaper, even if it took a bit longer. The train from Edinburgh arrived in King's Cross Station, and it only took a short hop on the Underground to get to Paddington Station, where I would get the train to Cardiff. Finally, about 10:30pm I rolled into Cardiff -- I'd left Edinburgh at 2pm.

Paddington Station

On Saturday, Xenia and I saw some of the sights within driving distance of Cardiff. (Thanks for driving, Xenia!) More on those in another post. And, Sunday, it was race day!

It was terrific weather for a race, around 50 F, and Bute Park, where the race was being held, was a very pretty place to run.





Bute Park is right by Cardiff Castle.

According to Wikipedia, it was landscaped in the 18th century by Capability Brown. I wonder what he'd think of this pig in his park.



Oh yes, this is supposed to be a race report. My goals for the race were very low. Run the 5k (3.1 miles) in under 39 minutes and no walking. I'm happy to say that I did meet both of these goals! My watch time for the race was 37:12 (12 min/mile on the dot!), and the official clock time was 37:36. There was no chip timing, only a starting gun time to mark the start of the race. Since I'm slow, I positioned myself at the back of the starting pack, so it took a just a bit to get across the starting line. Either way, well under 39 minutes!

At times during the race, I was a bit demoralized by the kiddies who were beating me. And yes, I do mean kiddies. One boy was running with his mum, I'm guessing he was no more than 6 or maybe 7. And then there were the two girls that I'm guessing couldn't be older than 4 or 5 (ok, maybe the younger of the two got a couple piggyback rides, but still). These two were particularly annoying because at the start of the race, they were weaving back and forth in front of me along the path, making it impossible to pass them or anyone else. And then there was the chicken, or rather someone running in a chicken suit. I kept the chicken in my sights through most of the race, but was never quite able to catch up.

In spite of the fact that I'm slower than a 5 year old and a chicken, I was still really happy with myself at the end of the race. I'd picked a pace that I was pretty sure I could keep for the full 5k, and I did! And then, right after I crossed the finish line, something really cool happened. The woman who crossed the finish line right after me (I didn't even know she was there), came up to me and thanked me for my steady pace and not stopping to walk! I vaguely remember passing her in the first kilometer or so. Aparently after that, she just stuck to me, and used me to pace her through the race. It was a really good feeling, knowing that I was able to help someone. I wonder now if it was her first race.

After that, it was back to the B&B to grab a quick shower, while Xenia went on to run the 10k race as well. And after lunch, back to the train station to catch our train. It was another long train ride back to Edinburgh, but I at least got to see this fellow on the way.