two weeks ago i was on fall break, though it wasn't much of a break.  i studied hebrew for most of the week, getting ready for the midterm.  for the sake of soccer season, i'd only been to class three times at the semester's midpoint --and i had a lot of catching up to do.  still do.

after fall break i had the good fortune to chaperone our school's tenth grade trip... to orlando, florida, and... disney world.  i'd never been before.  i really enjoyed spending time with my students outside of school.  and i liked lots of the rides; watching 3-D movies has become a new favorite pasttime of mine.  we went to epcot, animal kingdom, mgm, universal's islands of adventure, and both last and least of all... magic kingdom.  most of the parks were quite fun and exciting; magic kingdom was one of the most boring places i've even been in my life.  i'd rather drink turpentine and pee on a brushfire than go back to that stroller-ridden mistake for a theme park.

but amidst all the fun, i felt sick to my stomach at times.  i remember being at downtown disney, looking up and down the street lined with extravagant shops marked by gaudy signs and lights.  so much money spent on so much nothing.  entertainment.  places to eat.  shops in which i can spend way too much money on way too pointless of items.  and people starve.

i came back from disney world to an extra long night's sleep here in murfreesboro.  i moved from the eastern time zone to the central one, and it was our weekend to turn back the clocks.  i believe i slept ten hours saturday -- one for each grade completed by my disney world compatriots, or one for each seemingly unending hour spent in the magic kingdom.  i'm quite thankful for the extra sleep i got that night, but... man, it gets dark awfully early these days.

nearly one year from now i will be completing my first ironman race.  i started training again today... lifted weights, cycled, ran.  i'm exhausted.  this is going to take some discipline.  i want so badly to be an extremely disciplined individual, but it never happens that way.  all that i accomplish is usually in spite of my lack of discipline, rather than on account of my having it.  i intend to do a better job in the next twelve months.  if intentions were horses, though, i'd be cleaning up a lot of crap.