Keeping track of life's little ups and downs

As someone from a small island nation, I did not grow up with a yard. So this past Sunday, at the ripe age of 30, I took my first shot at mowing a lawn. We had purchased a motor gas-powered lawnmower from the previous owners of the house for $30-40 and weren't sure if it was working or not. The last time we looked a few weeks ago, there was gas and oil in it, but it refused to start. This time I was determined to make it work and get our lawn looking better. So, I tugged, and tugged, and tugged --- almost giving up a number of times, and finally, I heard the beautiful purr of the motor (ok, really not so beautiful, but it was a relief and my right arm felt like it was about to fall off!). I'm happy to report that our lawn now looks half decent and now that I've gotten that baby started, it seems like future attempts will be easier. Shuwen 1, Life 0

During the Boston Marathon, my right foot started to hurt around mile 20. I gritted through the pain the rest of the way, but it really started to hurt once I stopped running and I struggled quite a bit the next 2 days or so. Since then, it has had less painful days and days when simply walking down stairs makes me want to cry. The plantar appears to be the problem, and despite stretching and icing, it hasn't gone away. I finally gave up waiting for it to heal and went for my first run since Boston this morning. I only ran 2 miles and feel rather out of shape, and the foot while not 100% is probably around 50% ... I'll know for sure how it'll respond tomorrow AM when I get up I guess. I'm not sure who wins this one as I think grit deserves some points, but it does suck to be injured... so: Shuwen 1.5, Life 1

Another project I did this weekend around the house was to set up a rain barrel.... it took way longer that it should have since I didn't have the proper tools (drill, nice saw), but with some creativity I managed to assemble it together. Unfortunately, eventhough the weatherman said there were suppose to be thunderstorms yesterday and today, I haven't seen anything more than very slight drizzle that lasted a total of 5 mins.... and no rain in the forecast for another week! This is a downer for 2 reasons: 1) can't test out the rain barrel; 2) have to keep using piped water to water the plants. Shuwen 1.5, Life 2

I've been working with others the past 3 months on proposing a evaluation study that will have some important implications on the US food environment. Looks like the project will be approved for funding! Much more work to keep me busy, but it will be exciting! Shuwen 2.5, Life 2

Looks like I narrowly squeaked by this past week.... :P