first, the running has been so much better. why? i've been running in the morning!!! late spring in south mississippi means rising temps and humidity. lately, we've been topping out anywhere from 85-90 degrees with more to come! the highly humid 70 degree mornings are much more tolerable! i'm so lucky to have a sucker for a running friend. one that will get up at 4:30, drive 30 minutes into town to meet me at 5:30. i am having to drive 15 minutes, so she's not doing all the work to get there. while we hate waking up so early, we've really learned to love the mornings again. we're consistently running 2-3 mornings a week, on top of my other two mornings of teaching. the temps are so much cooler and there is nothing like the feel of the morning and running! plus, we get to see sites like this sunrise.
second, i've been really enjoying southern miss baseball. after a stunning year last year, ending at the college world series in omaha (yes i went!), this year has been a bit of a downer. i didn't expect a repeat, but i had hoped for more than we were doing. but bam, out of the blue, we're on an 11 game winning streak, with 3 conference sweeps in a ROW! it's been a lot of fun again, and i'm proud to be a golden eagle baseball fan! the team, with a lot of youngsters, has really found the fun in playing again, kinda like what you have to do with running sometimes. they have all started growing mustaches and have started some mid-game dances in the dugout. keeping it light! below is one of the keys to our success, a promising freshman hitting .410!
third, i've been following the oil spoil in the gulf. living only 70 miles north of gulfport, ms and the gulf of mexico, it's something that we are all focused on around here. only 5 short years after katrina made a direct hit on our beloved mississippi coast, leaving it in pieces and devestated, we find ourselves asking why this now? whether the spill effects mississippi or louisiana, we are all watching closely and worried for our neighbor. the gulf supplies at least 30% of our seafood industry, and many could lose jobs. not only that, but so much wildlife in the louisiana wetlands is in danger. defintely something to be concerned about! 
lastly, on top of several weekends in a row of work, i find myself going home to a dirty house! i live in an older house, probably 60-70 years old, and while it wasn't a fixer-upper (that was already done), i have had to do some normal things like a new roof and painting the outside. currently, the biggest and dirtiest project yet, i am having the windows replaced. the house still had the original wooden windows. while i LOVE those windows, they had to go. many of them has suffered too much water damage and were not getting the job done. so my dad, the 'can do anything' dad, is midway through the replacement process. he's 74 and handling most of the work on his own. and they are looking great! i go home each night and clean up the mess that has been made, but no biggie - i'm having major work done much cheaper! this has to be one of the messiest jobs ever, but the pain will be worth the gain! i'll post pictures when it's all done, soon i hope!
