New Balance Baltimore Women's Classic 5K

This past Sunday morning (28 June 2009) the girls in the neighborhood woke up bright and early, around 6am to all sleepily head over to the Museum of Industry for the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K run hosted by New Balance. It is a run for women's health initiatives, so it was for a great cause, and all effort and organizing was done by Heather H.! Months ago she asked us all to participate and I personally did so dragging my feet HEAVILY but she did use her birthday brunch and celebrating as great lure. (smile). Heather even got the team "Patterson Pagoda Princesses" matching purple wick bands (so cute) so that we could all match up! Once we got there there were swarms of ladies - I believe the grand total ended up being about 1845 women who participated in the run/walk! It was fun and the vibe was amazing.

Being stubborn I told myself if I were to ever actually sign up for a 5K I would try and run/jog it the entire way, just because I was paying to do this! The energy really was great though (some of the running girls had been telling me this days ahead everytime I whined...which was a lot) and it really did make a difference! Okay you girls were right. At mile 2 marker however, I screamed in outrage (with an Fbomb) thinking we were JUST starting 2, and thought I was going to die already but somehow managed to keep moving (although slower and slower) and got a little push (in my head at least) at the finish line! All I can say is those cold towels at the end were a LIFESAVER and probably was the only thing that kept me from passing out or puking. I could have dunked my body into those icey tubs! I couldn't even bend over bc I was to pull off the tag on my shoe because I was hyperventilating so bad, and some random guy did so for me.

The end was horrible, that last mile felt like 3,000 miles but luckily I had familiar Patterson Park girls around me! High fives, and random "what/why!?!?" screams! After finishing, I wandered wobbly over to get food (which I continued eating all day as if I had run a full marathon...) wondering why I put myself through this! and then realized it had been for a great cause and it was really nice having all the girls together to support such an important cause! I can now finally say I have done a 5K as painful as it was and I finished in 31:03 for the first time! I am super happy that I jogged/ran the entirety, and although I am completely on the fence about ever doing one again, it was worth it!

Java Java and more Java

Sooooo, I am taking Java right now (the class), and I love it! It is COMPLETELY different from healthcare and medicine and I totally am loving that as well!! I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, being so different from EVERYthing I have done thus far, but it's great! And even more exciting when the program works! I have a midterm though tomorrow, and am taking a breather from cramming in reading (and in this case attempting to understand example programs) to just take a deep breath (and have thoughts of inhaling a case of Java - the drink!)! It is a bit frustrating, because I am not sure what to study and how I will do on this course. It's crazy just how completely different the lingo is and how things are set up! At least the logic behind it totally makes sense...I just can't believe it has already been 4 weeks and I am about to take a midterm...! (why I ask myself daily... did I sign up for my first engineering class over a summer session!?!?!) And now since it has been on my mind the last like 3 days (yay for procrastinating jen...), I figured I had to just spill it on a page! harhar! the icon is sooooo cute though and I really am loving it and get severely excited when an application runs!...so let's just hope now (fingers crossed) that I can figure things out and pass!!!

bubye to HMS!

FOCUS DEVELOPMENT WILL BE RENOVATING THE HIGHLAND TOWN MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!

In the last year or so now, Joe has been the lead on the HMS redevelopment. This horribly huge eyesore that sits right on our street adjacent to the small sector of Patterson Park. It was a horrible destructive building 4 years ago when we moved in - it was filled with kids still, who would leave school around 3:30-4pm, and jump on cars when running out of class, and throwing trash (yay to floating utz bags, thrown away quizzes, and hair weaves!) wow. Those were the days. (smile).
After the school shut down, there came a bit of quiet, however, the school began to fall apart, and the boarded up shut down building became a paradise for squatters and drug dealing. Go figure, leave a huge building empty and untouched - what do you expect! ahhh, this school was/is a menace in our poor little Northeast sector!

After months of signatures, and community meetings, and rallying (including a noted walk with Mayor Sheila Dixon to show her the treachery!), it was decided the community would have a say in the process. There was a meeting with one person from each sector surrounding the school, and each person was allowed a vote. Joe (co-Scott) represented Patterson Park, - and after many meetings, so on and so forth - we decided Focus Development (located IN the city) had the best interests and plans for our area. Our vote was casted - with the support of every other neighborhood but one, and we awaited.

Today Jim Kraft, our councilman, called Joe and informed him that success - Focus will be taking the school!!! It is a shining example of how hard work, and community activism, again, can work! It is a very happy day for our neighborhood, and those involved in getting this going. I can't wait to see what that eyesore (pictured above) will become. It will be documented that is for sure!!! For more official details, check out Kimi's blog (aka, information without Jen babblings!). Note: her blog also rocks for all the Patterson Park happenings as she is seriously on top of things, and ahem, knows how to upload photos....! haha!