The Devil's Starchy Fingers

Weekly Wrap-Up

2012-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

The great plans to accomplish lots of little projects around the house got blown out of the water this weekend. The week before was packed with stuff every night so rest and relaxation took precedence. We did manage to see PNB's Don Quixote (fabulous) on Friday night and this afternoon we met my friend Todd at EMP for a Battlestar Gallactica and horror movie exhibit. The rest of the time? Sleeping, sorting papers and catching up on Downtown Abbey while Kevin made Tikka Masala (he insisted, shooed me out of the kitchen and everything. It was awesome). I admit though, I could use one more day of rest before heading back to the grind tomorrow.

It was too dark for any of my BSG pictures to turn out but this one of the sign warning us "don't frakkin' touch the artifacts" sort of did. I wanted to steal one of these for my office. Sadly, there were no Cylons, old or new, just a really cool new Cylon raider model. There was nothing from Dirk Benedict, my first crush, either.
Oh, and one of the things that kept me busy after work was a few hours in the salon going for a new look.

It needs to lighten up a bit but I am enjoying it right now and think I will keep it this way for awhile. Also, my hairdresser told me that it would take multiple visits to turn me blonde again. I am also decreeing that all future pictures of me need to be taken from about two feet above my head because it makes the jowls look better and my boobs look huge.
I hope you had a productive or restful or productive and restful weekend.

Running Through the States

2012-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

On my trip back east I decided to set a new life goal for myself: to run in all 50 states. I meant to get all four of the states we visited checked off on this trip but where we were in Maryland was horrible for running (zero shoulder and no sidewalks) and I was just too dang tired the morning we were in Pennsylvania. Next trip for those. However, I did manage to get a run in while we were in Charlottesville, VA and in New York. I don't run with a phone or a camera so these pictures are things I saw on my run that we walked by later the same day. I might have to change that rule for future 50 state runs.

First I give you beautiful, historic Charlottesville.

A little Lewis and Clark statue in a roundabout. I almost didn't recognize them because anywhere else you see them one of them is pointing off in the distance. Since the initial plan for the expedition began here in Charlottesville it seems a fitting statue. Couldn't figure out if they were facing west or not, I sure hope they were.

This one stopped me dead in my tracks. "Conqueror of the Northwest?" WTF? I started to get all indignant and filled with regional pride. I'm from the Northwest and I never heard of George Rogers Clark conquering anything to do with us you motherfu......oh, wait. When George Clark (William Clark's big brother) lived, the Northwest was probably Kentucky or Ohio. I slunk away from the statue feeling a little silly.

The turn around point on my run was the University of Virginia grounds (I was told by a local that it is never "the campus" but is always "the grounds"). This has to be the prettiest campus in all of America. No, I haven't been on them all but I will still place that bet. The place was designed by Thomas Jefferson and this main area is just stunning. All different styles of architecture are represented here in this rectangle (known as The Lawn) but it all flows together beautifully. The low slung buildings flanking the picture are actually dorm rooms of some of the fourth years (Jefferson hated the terms freshman, sophomore, etc.). Can you imagine living in one of these rooms that were part of Jefferson's original design for an academic village? Lucky kids that go here.

The run itself was about 3.5 miles and it took me from our beyond charming 120 year-old inn through the town, past all the college kids streaming into class (the official outfit of the UVA female is the tight jeans with knee-high riding boots in case you were wondering), through the grounds to the end of the lawn and back home again. It was a gorgeous clear day and one of the best runs I have had in a very long time.

When we were in New York I got up early to squeeze my run in. I was worried we wouldn't have enough time but Kevin encouraged me to get out there and do it because he knows how much I love doing this. Sure enough, I came back practically giddy from this run. I was grinning like an idiot and was completely energized. Great run through a truly great city.

I started from our hotel in Times Square and ran up Sixth Avenue towards Central Park. It wasn't too crowded and I only had to dodge people a little bit. The stoplights were a little annoying but since my fitness isn't great I didn't mind the stops. Besides I got to check out all the cool New York stuff like Radio City Music Hall, NBC studios, the LOVE statue and so many more. I entered Central Park on the south side and just started following paths. As I ran past the partially frozen pond, I thought about Holden Caulfield and the ducks he worried about when the pond froze over. I ran past an ice skating rink and through the beautiful, rocky landscape. I wish I took some pictures later of some of the pretty rock outcroppings.

I spotted this and fell in love with it.

This is the mall and when you run it facing the other direction like I did you see the Bethesda Fountain at the end. The picture doesn't do it justice. The trees reaching over to create an archway across the path are so beautiful and welcoming. I kept imagining it through all the seasons.

This is the Bethesda Fountain viewed through a bath house type thing whose name escapes me. I ran to the back of the fountain and realized I had been gone for longer than I expected so I turned around and headed back downtown to our hotel.

This is a detail of one of the end walls leading down to the fountain. There were carvings and statues everywhere you turned. I loved Central Park from the minute I stepped foot in it. I can't wait to come back and run it again and again and again. Next time I will be in better shape and have more time so I can go further into the park and see more.

The total mileage on this run was about four miles. I couldn't pick up a Garmin signal until I got to the park because of all the skyscrapers so I had to estimate a little.

So far I have ran in seven states: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and New York. I am looking forward to completing my list. Yes, even New Jersey.

The Dakota

2012-01-26T11:49:00.001-08:00

"and I've been knocking
but no one answered
I've been knocking
Most of the day
Oh, and I've been calling
Hey, hey Johnny
can't you come out
can't you come out to play"

- "Empty Garden" by Elton John (lyrics by Bernie Taupin)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big Apple Bound

2012-01-25T07:46:00.001-08:00

We are currently on the upper deck of a double decker bus taking us from Baltimore to New York. The upper deck gives me a much better view of the vast expanse of ugly that is New Jersey. All the jokes you've ever heard? True. I think the state flower is the smokestack and every place looks like a dumping ground for bodies.

But New York City with its promises of art museums, ballet, running in Central Park, The Dakota and street hot dogs looms in the distance. It should be a good two days.

Monticello In The Mist

2012-01-23T19:43:00.001-08:00

Today we got to tour Monticello and walk in the footsteps of history. We walked the same floors as Thomas Jefferson and his famous house guests including James and Dolly Madison, James Monroe, Gen. Lafayette, and, the ones that make me giddiest, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

The weather wasn't great for views and the famous gardens were obviously not at their peak but it was still a thrill to be there.

We were lucky that an old friend of Kevin's lives in town and is an expert on Charlottesville history. After meeting for dinner we got an in-depth walking tour of the historic downtown and some interesting insight into Virginia politics.

Tomorrow it is the University of Virginia grounds and a visit to Montpellier, James and Dolly Madison's place. And yes, I expect there to be snack cakes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Icy Photos

2012-01-21T09:15:00.001-08:00

I'm Testing a different mobile blogging app for photos. Let's see if this works. Here are the photos I wanted to put in yesterday's post. Doesn't seem
Like you can caption them though.

This is a piece of the ice sheets that were on our cars.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Scenes From The Ice Storm

2012-01-20T10:11:00.001-08:00

There were supposed to be a few pictures I took yesterday of the icy wonderland that was our little section of the NW. However, the Blogger app is a piece o' crap and It won't let me upload photos of inch thick ice sheets or pretty ice laden plants.

Our power was out until almost 11:00 last night and our cell service was down too.

Luckily we had our camping equipment so Kevin was able to cook Spammy-Mac on our porch. We also had lots of oil lamplight and heat from the gas fireplace so not too much suffering. I just read my Kindle by lantern light just like Abe Lincoln used to.

Bird Walking

2012-01-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

As I watched the fluffy white stuff fall from the sky today I noticed these in the shallow snow near the side of our house...

little tiny bird tracks! So cute! I only wish we weren't out of bird seed so we could feed them right now.

Changed My Mind

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

You know all that nice stuff I said about January in yesterday's post? I take it all back.

Many plans have already been changed this week because of the impending dump that is coming and I just hope I can make it into work and back home the rest of the week (today wasn't so bad getting in; getting home might be another story). Because if they call it a "snow day" and you don't show up, you don't get paid and I am a fan of getting paid.

Fluffy white shit is sure pretty though.

No Longer The Cruelest Month*

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

January used to be one of my least favorite months. It was dull, felt endless and the weather was crappy. But somewhere along the way there was a shift. Now, I find myself actually enjoying the month. January is the calm and order after the zaniness of the holiday season. Everything is more peaceful, it is the feeling of a fresh start, and the chance to slow down and enjoy life a little bit. It has probably also helped that the weather this winter has been so wonderful at least until today.

Yesterday, Kevin and I headed downtown for a little window shopping, Fran's Chocolates eating (only one truffle and a non-fat latte - weigh-in should be OK on Tuesday. Amazing amount of restraint) and then off to the Paramount to see West Side Story. West Side Story is one of my all-time favorite movies and I can't begin to count how many times I listened to the soundtrack. Kevin was brave in taking me because he knew it meant days of walking around the house singing the Jet's Song, America and Cool along with lots of finger snapping. Better than the "Smack My Bitch Up" I was singing earlier in the day I guess.

Photo by Carol Rosegg

The performance didn't disappoint. It was just as good as the movie. And it reminded me of my alternate universe dream jobs: playing Anita in West Side Story. Other than the singing, dancing and acting ability I would totally have this one in the bag.

Today we busied ourselves with chores around the house and when I saw all the big, beautiful flakes falling from the sky we threw on our warm clothes and headed out for a walk in the snow. Kind of threw my running plans off a bit but I will just have to go tomorrow night to the lake and hope it isn't too slick. I have a love/hate relationship with snow. It is gorgeous, no doubt about that but I don't like having to try to drive anywhere in it. Hopefully it will be gone for everyone's commutes tomorrow.

*That always belonged to February anyway

The Girl Who Poked Around In A Hornet's Nest

2012-01-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

2012 is off to a good start so far. Nothing major and exciting to report but we have spent a lot of time organizing and cleaning which always feels good. Sadly, there is much more to organize but we are tackling it bit by bit. At least Kevin is almost through sorting through boxes and boxes of paper in his office and I can actually get to my computer and desk area again.

We spent this weekend helping Mom take down all of her Christmas stuff (eight tote bins of ornaments) and celebrating my brother's birthday. Today we finished off putting the rest of our Christmas stuff away in the garage and straightening the house a little. Thrilling, I know.

What was thrilling though was the hornets nest that Kevin finally cut out of the attic. It was about the size of a basketball and was fascinating to poke around in. Fascinating and very, very stinky.

Sadly, it didn't come out in one piece but you get the idea. I decided I wanted to poke around in it and see what was sticking out of the honeycomb holes. The dark spots are actually pieces of flowers but the holes that are covered in white, those were the best. They were filled with white, squishy, undercooked hornets. Awesome. Creepy, but awesome.

I have been tackling my goals with great gusto and am one book down for the year and three running sessions stronger. I feel good getting exercise back in the equation.

For now I leave you with this beautiful picture from earlier in the week. It faded and disappeared in the two minutes or so I was standing by my car taking it in. I'm glad I got to see it.

2012 Goals

2012-01-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

Well, after completely losing track of goals last year I am ready to really start working on some this year. I feel motivated again and ready for action. As part of my goal making process, I only included SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-constrained) and ones that are in my control. For the few I haven't told yet, the big goal for 2012 is to have a baby or at least have one cooking by year-end. We've been trying for six months but no dice yet. But I don't list the baby down below because it is almost completely out of my control. The baby goal has made me re-think and re-tool a few objectives I have for this year though. I tried to include ones that would still be doable if I get knocked-up but that would still be stretch goals if I don't. To that end, I give you my hopes for 2012.

Exercise at least three times a week. I decided that training for a marathon would be too much of a stressor on my baby making body at the fitness level I am at right now so I am going to shelve my marathon dreams for another year. The exercise will most likely be running (I miss you running!) but I am including any kind of exercise. I just need to get my body moving again. I do still plan on running some smaller races this year.
Lose 30 pounds.Yep, that old chestnut again. I am currently at my all-time highest weight and I can't continue to stay here, or worse yet, or get fatter. Yes, a baby will kill this goal but if we don't succeed at that I should be able to do this.
Volunteer at least 40 hours.I always feel great after doing volunteer work so I want to incorporate this into my life more.
Take at least four different classes.Time to stretch my brain and try some new things.
Travel some place in state I have never been before.
Travel some place out of state I have never been before.
Read a minimum of one new book per month.It is sad that 12 books a year is a stretch goal. I used to read so much more than this but just can't seem to find the time anymore. After getting my Kindle for Christmas I realized how much I missed reading and how much I want to make it a regular part of my life again. I need to make the time for some quiet, reading time. In fact, I think I am going to convert a corner of my office to a reading nook.

That's about it for the year. Nothing too radical, nothing overly ambitious. Just some things that will provide a little bit of challenge and interest.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T15:24:00.000-08:00

An adorable version of this song by two of the most adorable people around. If this doesn't charm the pants off of you........well then,.........you were probably pants-less to begin with.

2011 Goals Recap

2011-12-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

I tanked 'em. I am not even going to list them out because a)I really didn't hit any of them other than my perennial travel goals and b) I stopped caring about them many, many months ago. In fact, I had to go back and read what they were to even remember them. Not a good indicator for success.

You know what though? I am totally OK with it. After the wedding I just kind of stepped off the merry-go-round for awhile. For the first time in over four years I didn't have some Major Thing going on in my life that either absorbed stupid amounts of time or involved a lot of psychological work. No work/school combo, no adapting to being in a relationship, no dealing with a dying father, no wedding, no dealing with the aftermath of a death and family implosion, no major emotional work to be done to wrap my head around the ideas of wife, marriage, grief or loss. Nothing but just enjoying life and not pushing myself in any way. It was kind of nice.

However, I have enjoyed my break and am ready to start challenging myself a little bit. I have some things I want to accomplish and feel ready to get back in the game. I'll cement what I am trying to work for the next year in the next few days and then post goals that I fully intend on achieving in 2012.

Time To Lay Off the Cookies...

2011-12-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

...when the receptionist at work asks you if you are expecting.

It is no secret I have gotten huge in the last few months but merely because of sloth-like behavior and a dramatic increase in the amount of crap I consume; not because I am gestating a little dingo snack.

I swear that come December 26th I am back on the exercising and eating healthy bandwagon. Scout's honor.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

2011-11-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

We are hosting a small gathering for six for Thanksgiving this year and preparations are, um, well...sort of underway. We have shopped and Kevin is picking up our fresh turkey from the butcher shop tonight. The house is still kind of a mess because we ground to an almost complete halt on any form of housework after the pumpkin carving party. We should be able to get that all done tonight. Maybe.

Anyway, our menu is going to be the basics but I am trying a few new recipes for some old standards. Thank you internet for your bounty of available recipes and reviews! Instead of just plain old pumpkin pie (don't get me wrong, I love it but want to try something new) we are having Honey Phyllo Pumpkin Pie. Instead of the back of the package cranberry sauce I am trying Spice Scented Cranberry Sauce. And because I have an ice-cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid that needs to be broken in still and some straight from a Tahitian market vanilla beans waiting to be used we are making Vanilla Ice Cream. I am also going to make a pear, pecan, blue cheese salad with maple vinaigrette for dinner. We have never had a salad on the Thanksgiving dinner table before and I think we need one item that is fresh and not entirely drenched in butter or grease. But just one, let's not go crazy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are and whatever you find yourself doing tomorrow.

Six Months Ago ...

2011-11-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

...I was here. With the dark days and the wind howling and the rain pouring down I like to look at this picture and remember the warmth of Bora Bora, the fresh coconut water and a wonderful, relaxing perfect honeymoon with my sweetie. Can I go back now?

*Our hut was the third one in from the right. No, it did not suck.

Barbie's Dream Hearse

2011-11-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

I passed this vehicle on the way to work this morning. Why, oh why, don't I have some event planned where I need a limo? I think I am going to have to create an event of some sort just so I can rent this bad boy out some day. This would have been perfect for our wedding.

Bits and Pieces

2011-11-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

I have been running again. I managed to get out there four times in the last week including running Sunday night at 9:00 because I promised myself I would run last weekend. Kind of proud of dragging myself out there for that. My pace is slow and the runs are challenging right now but I am so happy to be out there running again and being consistent. My legs feel a little noodley at the moment but I know that will go away soon.
I also went back to yoga class on Monday for the first time in almost a year. Man am I out of shape. Simple poses I had no problem with a year ago were really difficult. My muscles were shaking in some poses and I couldn't hold a lot of them for the entire time. My muscles are a delightful combination of tight and weak right now. All the more reason to keep going to yoga class I guess.
We finished the floor and more or less put the house back together to host the pumpkin carving party, then we lost all momentum and have done very little of the other things that need to get accomplished. We are hoping to have the remainder of the baseboards painted, nailed, puttied and touched-up by the end of this weekend. Then we can hopefully work on getting Kevin's office unpacked so we can get the crap from his office out of my office so I can get my office back. Someday......
"Walking Dead" anyone? We started watching it this week and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Everybody seems to think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread (sliced brains?) but I don't know. It is poorly written and formulaic but I still can't stop watching. Kevin, being a zombie freak for probably 20 years, feels the same way but is much more enthusiastic about it. He is the Barbara Mandrell of zombies: he was zombie when zombie wasn't cool.
There is a lot of baking in my future and I am sooooooo excited. I haven't done any baking in awhile and I am getting the urge again. Luckily, this coincides with the opportunity to bake three cakes in the next week and a half. Woo-hoooo!

Progress!

2011-10-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

The kitchen has gone from this blah, white on white, yawn inducing color scheme to this:

We couldn't be happier with the way the color turned out in the kitchen. Of course now it makes the gold knobs that were only mildly ugly before, full-on ugly. They will be replaced soon.

The floor is starting to take shape too. After all day Saturday (and the help of my brother) and all day Sunday and Kevin working for about six hours tonight we have a good section of flooring installed.

OK, actually we have more than in the first photo but I am too lazy to go downstairs and take another picture. The living room and dining room are done and the little entrance to the kitchen is done as is part of the hallway heading towards the front door. Soon the memory of walking around on perpetually dusty, nasty feeling concrete will be a memory. We will have a floor!!

Of course along the way we discovered that we have another leaky heater and so two of our six heaters will need to be replaced. This has also necessitated more drywall work than we anticipated but it has to be done.

New gold paint and floor, glorious floor!

Old boring white paint and a section of the old flooring.

Hallway!

Watching Paint Dry

2011-10-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

The house is starting to look like borderline insane people live here. We painted the living and dining room last weekend and the color turned to a most unfortunate shade of pumpkin when it dried. It didn't even mildly resemble the paint chip we chose. So we went to a real paint place instead of a big box store and had them do two color samples and threw those on the walls. One was how the original chip was supposed to look and one was a pillowcase we had. One looked great in the lighting in the dining room and one looked great on the living room walls. So back to the paint store to have them make the bastard child of both of the paints. And then we threw that in a few different spots on the walls tonight. The colors aren't exact on the camera but you get the general idea.

We have spent far too much time sitting around watching the paint dry and contemplating colors. I was going for a warm gold and Kevin is OK with any of the three so it is up to me to choose the color that will be on our walls for the next 10 years or so. I will wait to see how the spawn of the other two (the middle one) looks after it dries completely and then see how they all look again tomorrow in daylight and will make a decision. The rest of the weekend is painting, painting and, for a change, some painting.

Kevin finished drywalling the closet and is just waiting to spray texture on it.

The old closet stopped where the white on the floor is. You can see that we gained quite a bit of extra storage. Heck, since the walls were ripped out because of the water damage we might as well take advantage of it.

The other thing we got done today was to have the crack in our concrete slab fixed. We discovered this when we ripped up the flooring in the dining room and kitchen. Luckily, it wasn't a foundation issue so we could just seal it instead of having to have the floor jackhammered out and re-poured.

The flooring will be delivered next Friday so we can start laying it on Saturday. We have 1000 sq. feet of cork underlayment piled up in Kevin's office just waiting to be put down under it so we are almost all ready to go.

A River Ran Through It

2011-09-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

By now I should have a post filled with beautiful pictures from our fabulous Glacier/Canadian Rockies (amazing, stunning, jaw-droppingly gorgeous place by the way) trip. Unfortunately, our time has been a more than a little consumed with some unexpected home renovations.

The day after we got back from our trip I noticed some warping of the laminate flooring in our hallway. We poked around a bit, saw a little bit of water near the warping and then heard the floor actually make a squishing sound when we stepped on certain sections. Turns out our radiant heater in the hallway sprung a leak and let loose a lot of water that got under about a third of our downstairs flooring. Luckily we think we caught it fairly early before it ruined cabinets or more walls. Because they don't make our old laminate anymore and it would be too hard to color match we ended up having to rip up all of the downstairs flooring: the hallway, Kevin's office, the bathroom, the understairs closet, the living room, dining room and the kitchen.

So for the last week and a half we have been dealing with plumbers, insurance adjusters, water mitigation people and a whole slew of other fun stuff. Even though it is mostly covered by insurance we have decided to do most of the work ourselves to a) save some money and b) because Kevin is really excited about putting down the new flooring himself. Since we were going to paint the living room, dining room and kitchen anyway this fall we just pushed up our schedule and are going to do all the painting before the new flooring goes in. It will be so much easier to paint without a floor or baseboards or furniture to worry about. And since Kevin has everything out of his almost-an-episode-of-Hoarders-but-without-the-dead-cats-or-feces office we figure it is a good time to paint that and install a new light. And since we were going to paint the downstairs bathroom at some point anyway we are going to just go ahead and do that now too. You know, 'cause there wasn't enough on our to-do list.

So instead of blogging about vacations and enjoying our pretty fall weather we have been moving everything out of the downstairs, which included boxing up all nine of Kevin's floor to ceiling bookshelves (why didn't I marry an illiterate man again?) and putting it in the garage. We have been tearing up the remaining laminate flooring (which is actually really fun and satisfying) and have picked out new laminate and some tile for the bathroom. The next few days are about removing all of the crap on the walls and prepping them for a marathon paint session this weekend. Hopefully, the new floor will be ordered and ready in the next two weekends. We ordered the tile last night so Kevin will be quickly learning how to tile a bathroom floor.

While it kind of sucks to have had the "water event" it is kind of fun to get to completely redo the downstairs. We are both excited about the way we hope it will look in the end.

Just wish us luck and some strong backs for the work that awaits us.

I'm Still Here

2011-09-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Good gravy, these have been a busy two weeks. I haven't had time to do laundry, let alone turn my computer on at home. Good thing that I have a few moments here at the old jobey-job today to catch-up on my crazy last two weeks.

I fully intended on some blog posts about some of this fun stuff but instead you get a list and maybe some pictures later.

In the past two weeks I have: been to a Brandi Carlile concert at the zoo, ate Minnesota style pizza and drank bad beer before the Dave Alvin show at the Tractor, went to the Slow Food Roots Music Festival in Stanwood for tasty chow and more Dave Alvin, had a picnic at Chateau St. Michelle with friends, went to a baseball game, had two dance lessons, had a podiatry appointment (news flash: my left foot is wonky), met with our new cat sitter, had to go down to Mom's place after work to help her after she threw her back out, hosted dinner and vertical wine tasting at our place for a couple of friends, back to Mom's place for a day of deck cleaning and power washing, hike up to Spray Park at Mt. Rainier, back to Mom's again after work on Labor Day (not a holiday at my job) for the rest of the power washing project to prepare the deck for staining. Whew! No wonder I am feeling a bit tired right now.

Anyway, we are leaving for a camping/road trip to Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies this weekend so I won't have time for a proper blog post until we get back. Hopefully I will come back with some beautiful pictures and tales of (safe) bear sightings and maybe mountain goats too! Then we can commence with a slightly less busy life and get down to painting, decorating, running, yoga-ing and other healthy pursuits.

I hope everyone enjoys these beautiful September days!

The Great Closet Purge

2011-08-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend I finally finished a project I have been working on for the past two weeks: The Great Closet Purge. I decided awhile ago that I wanted to give my closet a good gutting and get down to pieces I actually will, and do, wear. I wanted to get brutal with it. I also am beyond ready to jazz up my wardrobe a little bit and you can't do that when you have a closet full of crap. Here was my purge criteria:

It had to be something I loved or at least really, really liked. No more clothes I felt "meh" in or about.
It had to either fit now or be within eight pounds of fitting. Totally arbitrary number I agree but it seemed more reasonable than either five or ten pounds.
It had to be comfortable. No pulling or tugging or, in the case of shoes, bunion hurting.
It had to be in decent shape. So no overly faded, or pilled or frayed clothes.

So with those criteria in mind I tried on every stinkin' item in that closet. Every. Damn. Piece. And I looked in the mirror and assessed. And I turned this mess

into this (OK, the change is more noticeable in person but humor me; it was a lot of work and is noticeable in person)

There is so much more room in there now and when I look at all the items I know it is all stuff I want and can and do wear. It's funny, but having less in the closet actually feels like having more when it is filled with clothes you want. It is liberating and I can not recommend this process highly enough.

Here is the giveaway pile and the final tally of items to be donated.

7 pairs of shoes
8 purses
13 sleeveless or tank top style shirts
16 casual or t-shirt style shirts
9 workout shirts
18 dressier shirts/blouses
15 sweaters
5 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of pants
4 dresses
7 pairs of pajamas
4 jackets/blazers
2 suits
17 skirts
Total items to be donated: 127

Now before you think I am some crazy shopaholic I would like to point out that some of those things have been in my closet forever. Like since the late 90's kind of forever and I had been hanging on to them because they are cute and I thought I might like to wear them when I lost weight. Some were more recent than that but a lot of them have been in there for many, many years. I came to the realization that if/when I lose the weight I deserve new clothes and to let go of all the old things.

Oh, and here is a disturbing blast from the past. The skirt I am holding up in this picture was the same one I comfortably wore to my job interview 13 years ago for my current job.

Yes, I am holding up the right seam to my right hip where a skirt would normally fit and yes, that skirt did fit beautifully 13 years ago. I just want to go back and kick my 27 year-old self in the shins for ever thinking I was fat back then. I actually contemplated my bone structure after holding this skirt up to my waist and wondering if it was physically possible that I fit into it at one point. *sigh*

Back In The Groove

2011-08-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have been out of the running habit for far too long. Between injuries earlier this year, the wedding, and then just plain being out of shape and uninterested I got far away from my running routine. Things have changed though and I am glad to say that I am actually running again. The past two weeks I have gone out for three days each week and ran. Not fast and no further than three miles but I am running. The last time that happened was back in February. More importantly I am making it a regular part of my life again and feel like I can start re-building some fitness and base building. Hooray, I am a runner again!

Super Secret Saturday Surprise

2011-08-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Kevin sprung his super-secret surprise on me. He had been planning something for a few weeks but wouldn't clue me in to what it was until we pulled into the parking lot. He had bought us both a cougar cub encounter at Cougar Mountain Zoo!!! See, guessing penguin hugging wasn't too far off after all. The cub encounter allowed us both to go in the cougar enclosure and pet and play with one of the zoos three new cubs.

The cubs are from a zoo in Wisconsin and I think the keeper said they were orphaned but don't hold me to that. There is one boy and two girls and we got to play with one of the girl cubs. The cubs are three months old and are in that "I want to do it myself" kind of tween stage. She was interested in lots of exploring her enclosure and not as interested in playing with us. I can't blame her. The cubs get out once or twice a day to play under supervision in their enclosure since it isn't kitten proofed yet. I would want to run around and explore too.

Even though she didn't want to play much with us we still got to watch her play and explore and observe her cat behavior. It is so obvious that domestic cats aren't all that far removed from these guys.

We did get to pet the cub and they have surprisingly rough hair. I figured it would be soft like a cat but it isn't. We also learned that they have spots and blue eyes when they are young. We were encouraged to pet them on the back and not the belly (we laughed when they told us that; anyone who has owned a cat knows that all too well) and to touch the tail. They will eventually do blood draws through the tail and want to get the cats used to tail touching as much as possible. This cub weighed in at 13 pounds but she was all lanky muscle. It is hard to believe because our cat Ollie is a big boy and he tips the scales at 15 pounds but is about half the size of this cat. Female cougars get to be about 100 pounds so she still has some growing to do as you can see from her feet.

Look at the size of those paws!

It was so much fun to get to be that close to a cougar cub! It was also fun to be that close and not worry about being eviscerated by a lurking momma cat. Cougars are fascinating animals but I admit to being a little intimidated by them in the wild. We had a blast following her around, watching her explore and test her still slightly awkward jumping skills and to play a bit with some of her toys. Later in the day we watched her two siblings play together and observed some really strong stalking instinct happening already. It was a blast to watch.

We weren't allowed to pick the cubs up because, well....the cub wasn't interested in being picked up by anybody. Even her keepers that she knew super well annoyed her when they picked her up. Cougar cub growls sound a lot liked pissed off domestic cat sounds. But we also found out that cougars purr. In fact, they are the largest of the purring cats. Here is our cub giving the keeper head-butts and purring for her.

Sadly, that isn't a cougar cub stuffed under my shirt.

She is such a beautiful cat and we can't wait to go back to the zoo to watch her grow up to be a big cougar. We feel invested in her now.

This was such a wonderful surprise and I am such a lucky woman to have a guy who surprises me with things he knows I will love, like cougar cubs. He was right; it really was a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we had a chance to do it. It was so much fun. And you would have been proud of me, I didn't even try to smuggle one of the cubs home with us!

Clothing Lust

2011-08-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

It is going to take bucketloads of restraint to keep me from running to Banana Republic and stocking up on all of these Mad Men inspired clothes. I have never seen the show but I love, love, love '50's style clothing and I now have serious lust for these. They are soooooo pretty and I soooooo don't need to spend the money on them right now. But I can look and dream. *sigh*

Weekend Plans

2011-08-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

I've got quite the busy weekend ahead of me. Tonight is a 5K race through my old hood followed by a post-race BBQ on Main Street. This is a great race that I wish I was in shape for but I'm really going for the company (brother, bro's girlfriend, my friend Todd) and the chow. Sunday we have to head down to my mom's place to skunk proof her yard. She has been having some serious skunk problems of late and we need to block off the underside of her huge deck and shed and maybe climb into the neighbors yard to block off a hole in their shed. She called a pest removal company this week and traps have been set. So far they have trapped one and her Jack Russell terrier killed another. Yes, apparently it is mighty stinky in her neighborhood right now. After skunk proofing we head off to Safeco for a Mariners vs. Red Sox game which should be a blast. The members of Red Sox Nation should be out in force and they always make a game fun.

But the big fun of the weekend (maybe) is something I don't have any clue about. Kevin has planned a surprise for me on Saturday and won't tell me what it is except that it is "once in a lifetime" and "epic". He actually back pedalled on the word "epic" a bit so as not to raise my expectations but still maintains it will be awesome. I am so excited! I have no idea what the expect. I have tried a few guesses but he says I haven't got it right yet. Of course, even if I did he wouldn't tell me. Also I have mad, kind of spooky guessing skills and he is on guard for me to get it right and he is being very tight-lipped with clues. He won't even tell me what clothes I am supposed to wear until Saturday morning. Maybe I walk out in heels and a dress, maybe I walk out in flippers and a swimsuit. No clue.

So far my best guesses have been some sort of extra-special super behind the scenes Safeco tour or a behind the scenes at the zoo tour where I get to hug penguins. Maybe a tour of Safeco while hugging a penguin?! That. Would. Be. Awesome. But those are all the guesses I have for something once in a lifetime that could happen this particular Saturday for a few hours. I can't wait to see what he has come up with!

Mountain Time

2011-08-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Considering how much Kevin and I both love to hike it is amazing we both don't get out there more and do it. We decided that Saturday was going to be no more of that and we headed out for some day hiking at Mr. Rainier. We had an 8-mile hike with moderate elevation gain planned and headed out the door for our drive to the mountain. However, our plans took a detour when I realized that I had forgotten my hiking boots. Clad only in sandals we decided to see what I could comfortably do without a) blistering myself too badly, b) twisting an ankle or c) beating my toes up on the rocks.

We could not have asked for nicer weather. It was sunny and perfect temperatures up there. The air smelled so fresh and piney. It was absolutely perfect.

We headed out on a three-mile loop trail and then, since the feet were doing great, decided to go a little further up to the Fremont Lookout.

The trail behind me is the Fremont Lookout Trail.

See that little dot on the left bump? That is the lookout.

We had a mountain goat sighting way down in the valley (yay!) and saw loads of beautiful alpine wild flowers.

We also got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Scratch that (ha! see what I did there?), I got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Kevin has developed some weird mosquito immunity (he claims it was from six months hiking the Appalachian Trail) and even though they were swarming all over him he had no bites. I had 20. And this was before I put on the mosquito repelling shirt. There was still loads of snow up there for this late in the season and the little blood suckers love to hang around the snowmelt line.

Kevin at the lookout, oblivious to the bugs.

When I mentioned loads of snow I wasn't kidding. The trails were mostly clear but there were sections that had long stretches of snow. Long stretches that went rather steeply downhill. I was none to pleased about being in snow in my sandals and about having to navigate an icy downhill in shoes with very little tread. Also, not being the most graceful critter I was worried about falling on my ass. So instead we decided to do a little sitting glissade down one section. Wet backside and frozen hands were worth not trying to walk down the slippery slope.

The hike ended up being about six miles round-trip so not that far from the original plan. We are so lucky to have this beautiful place essentially in our backyard. So gorgeous. We have made plans to get out there at least once more this year for a more substantial hike. I guarantee that I won't forget my boots next time.

2011 Goals Recap

2011-08-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

It is hard to reach your goals when you can't remember what they are. It just occurred to me awhile ago that we are more than half-way through the year already and I haven't even thought about my goals other than my aborted marathon attempt and my mileage. I have totally blown off almost all of my 2011 goals this year. I might try to accomplish a few before the year is done but I am totally giving myself a pass this year if I don't. I am feely blissfully unmotivated. So what have I accomplished so far this year?

1. Run at least 750 miles - Bwahahahahahaha! Next.
2. Finish a marathon - Nope. I instead made a very costly "donation" to the Portland Marathon. I am going to spend the rest of the year re-building my base for a spring 2012 marathon.
3. One stretching session for each day I run during the week - Not even close. I might try bringing this one back this year.
4. Lose 30 lbs - Currently I am about three pounds heavier than I was at the start of the year. I lost 10, gained nine, lost nine in a hurry for the wedding, and then promptly put it all back on and then some.
5. Visit one place in state I have never been before - Success! Well, technically I drove through there once when I was a kid but I am counting our camping trip to Newhalem and Ross Lake as a first since I don't think we ever stopped the car to walk around. This place also has important family history; my great-grandfather died while building Ross Dam.
6. Visit one place out of state I have never been before - Success! This has always been a domestic category in the past but I think Tahiti and Bora Bora count.
7. Take a multivitamin at least five days a week - Not good for most of the year but the last month I have managed to take one dang near every day.
8. Paint the downstairs bathroom, kitchen, living room and upstairs bedroom - This is getting pushed off until fall and no way are we getting all of the rooms. I will settle for the upstairs bedroom, downstairs bathroom and kitchen.
9. Have a once monthly cleaning night - We were doing really well with this for the first four months of the year but since May we haven't really had an official cleaning night. I would like to restart this and get 3/4 of the year.
10. Not be further in debt than I am right now - I am slightly over where I thought I would be because of a $1500 clutch repair right after we got back from our honeymoon. I should be back to status quo by year end.

So there you have it. An uninspiring list at the start of the year and an uninspiring accomplishment rate during the year. Much like us Mariners fans have to say "wait until next year."

Diet Coke Addiction Update

2011-07-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is proving harder than I thought it would be. Dropping from four or five Diet Cokes per day down to three was a piece of cake. I pretty much did that the first week. Dropping to two cans a day is proving challenging. I can't limit myself to just two cans of, what I like to call, my Fizzy Brown Happy. Part of it is because I sit for eight hours every day in a windowless basement doing a job I find less and less fulfilling as time passes. The FBH keeps me motivated and provides a bit of joy during my days of drudgery. Maybe I should just consider three cans a day as a stopping point. However, I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet; next week I am going to try my hardest to stick with two cans a day. Wish me luck.

See Jane Run Half-Marathon Report

2011-07-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am an idiot. Witness Sunday when I "ran" the See Jane Run Half-Marathon. Why does this make me an idiot? Because I haven't been training at all. By at all I mean since February 12th when I pulled my calf-muscle (and still stupidly ran four miles) I have ran a grand total of...........wait for it............. 59.34 miles. Yeah that's right. In a five month period I have averaged 12 miles per month with the longest run being a four miler I did back in April. It is a bit of an understatement to say that makes me completely untrained and unfit for a half-marathon. But I went ahead and did it anyway.

Back in February when I agreed to run this race it seemed like a sure thing. I would have completed my marathon two months before and should be in great shape for a half. Plus, it was my friend Amber's idea to run this as a sort of last run of singledom since she would be getting married a mere five days after the run. It sounded like fun. Oh, if I only had a crystal ball and could see the three hours of suck that awaited me.

This was the hardest physical thing I have done. I was exhausted and hurting by the time I crossed the finish line three hours after I started. The race just went on and on and on. It was a push and a slog the whole way. I never felt good out there. Gee, wasn't my "training" sufficient?

I had set the Garmin to a 3:1 walk/run ratio so I could at least get some running in. No way did I want to walk the entire 13.1. I remembered how difficult it was to walk quickly for 13.1 from my Eugene experience and I didn't want to repeat that so I cobbled together this plan the day before. By the end of the run I was ready to chuck the friggin' Garmin into the Fremont Canal. Everytime it beeped to tell me to run for my one minute I cursed it; cursed it out loud on occasion. But onward I pushed.
My final time was 3:02 which was over 12 minutes faster then I did Eugene in May and was good for an even 14:00 minute mile pace. My times for the running portions were actually faster than they probably should have been and I tried to keep a decent walking pace. But there was no way I could have pressed faster to bring it in under three hours. Ouch.

I met Amber after the finish, grabbed my champagne glass filled with chocolates, declined Amber's offer of lunch and drove home. My legs were killing me and I felt like crap. Shooting pain from the sciatica down my right leg and soreness and stiffness everywhere else. I was so stiff getting out of the car that I had to barely shuffle for the first few steps until I could get my legs moving again. I knew how difficult walking and moving from sitting to standing was the day after Eugene and I didn't want that to happen again. So I immediately went upstairs and climbed in the tub and turned on the cold water faucet. Only the cold water by the way. Yes, I was desperate enough to take an ice bath. Kevin was kind enough to dump the contents of the ice maker into the tub with me and I soaked for 15 freezing minutes. He also brought me some Ibuprofen and then got a whole bunch of warm blankets on the bed to warm me back up when I was done. Good husband. I ran just enough water to cover my hips and very low back. No need to soak the non-running parts in ice water. I'm not that stupid. Oh, and the ice water triggered the uncontrollable cold water peeing so I am sitting in ice cold urine water seriously contemplating my choice of hobbies and how it has lead me to this moment. Awesome.

The ice bath and Ibuprofen worked. I was a little stiff that day and on Monday but nothing like after Eugene. I have vowed to not do a race like this again unless I am trained and prepared. I am lucky I didn't injure myself and I am not risking that again. Looking back over my running numbers for the year has also opened my eyes. I am determined to get myself back in shape and to complete a half-marathon this year; one I can actually be proud of. And I will also remember to pee before I ever climb into an ice bath again. Lessons were learned on Sunday.

Wedding Recap - The Reception

2011-07-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

I told myself that I would have all this wedding stuff written about before our photographer got our photos done. Lucky me, we still don't have them yet. Time to dash off the last little bit of wedding recap. I know this was two months ago but writing it all down feels good. I know I have these impressions, feelings and details captured for the future. Thanks for bearing with me (or skipping them entirely for equally exciting race reports).

The reception was a blast. After all the stress of the past months it was time to just let loose and drink and hang out with friends and family and have a good time. When people talk about how fast their wedding day goes I now understand what they mean. It whizzed by. Like a lemon; a lemon with wings. They are very fast you know. Really, we couldn't have asked for anything more from our reception. Well, there were two things that we could have asked for more on but in the grand scheme of things they are very minor. I'm doing this bullet point style 'cause I don't want to string together a narrative. All hail, laziness.

We were determined to not be one of those couples that says "we didn't even have time to eat on our wedding day" so we asked the caterers to save us each a plate of all four appetizers. Come to find out it isn't really about time as it is about appetite. Even though we both had barely eaten in the past two days neither of us had any appetite. We took a few bites but didn't really enjoy it much. Same with dinner. Just a few tastes and we were done. People said the grub was good and we got good unsolicited comments on the food so hopefully people enjoyed it.
One of my favorite moments of the evening wasn't noticed by anyone. I was standing by the doorway when I noticed a group of four strangers peering in. I thought they were looking for the other wedding happening at Edgefield that had a similar last name so I approached them and said "you must be looking for the other wedding". They replied "No, we are on a scavenger hunt and need to find a bride." I am standing right in front of them. In my wedding dress. All fancied up with make-up and fancy hair and oh, did I mention, my WEDDING DRESS. It was hysterical.

I gestured wildly to myself in my wedding dress and said "Hello?! Bride here!" One of the girls mumbling something about Pippa Middleton and white bridesmaids dresses and how you just don't know anymore and then they took my picture for their hunt. They needed a groom too so I grabbed Kevin and they got to check something off their list. I guess my look wasn't as bridal as I thought it was. Maybe when one of my friends responded in a lackluster fashion when showed the dress "oh, and you can totally wear that again" it might have been a sign about what other people think about "proper" wedding fashion.
The toasts were wonderful. The best man gave a touching speech, my brother told a funny story and Kevin's grooms chick gave a surprise toast. She is very uncomfortable getting up in front of people and speaking so that was a really nice surprise. Also, sparkling wine is very tasty and McMenamins makes a tasty one. It is made with pinor noir instead of chardonnay and it is nummy.

The first dance ended up being a lot of fun. For months Kevin wasn't sure he wanted to do one because he didn't want to feel like a performing monkey. I understood but was of the opinion "you get to do this once in your life, let's just go for it". So we kept taking dance classes that we were going to take regardless of the fact that we were getting married (still taking them by the way). The classes are in rhumba, cha-cha, waltz, foxtrot and ballroom East coast swing and we started in mid-March. We had a song picked out months before in case we wanted to do it after all. We wanted something fun, lively, joyous and short; we definitely didn't want a sappy moment here. Since we are both huge Dean Martin fans we chose "Ain't That a Kick in the Head". Perfect.

Originally it was going to be a foxtrot since it works better with that dance style but the dance floor is small for foxtrot and we actually learned more East Coast swing steps and felt more comfortable with that (read: easier). I wanted to choreograph something but Kevin was adamant that we just go out and dance. Even though I woke up that morning freaking out that we weren't prepared enough and "oh god, they are all going to be staring at us" he talked me into it. And you know what? It was a blast! We just danced and didn't even notice people watching us. It was just him and me dancing for fun and busting out our whole eight moves we had learned. Actually, we learned about eight but probably only did about five because that is all Kevin could remember how to do (guys have it harder in the dancing world). We are both so glad we did a first dance.
I made it through about eight hours of standing, walking and dancing in my heels. I am kind of proud of that. They were actually very comfortable but I did finally decide to put my flats on about the last hour of the night. Such a wuss.

The two disappointments: there were quite a few candles that didn't get lit on the centerpieces and on bistro tables and the guest book table. I noticed them but was told that brides aren't supposed to do any work at the reception and for some reason listened to this. The caterers were supposed to get them but they never got around to it.
The other disappointment were the centerpieces. For something I spent a stooooopid amount of time fretting about they turned out "meh". Not horrible but not what we had envisioned. There were supposed to be a lot more flowers on the tables in our vision but our communication got crossed with the florist. In hindsight, the one thing we would have done differently was have the florist do the whole centerpiece. Doing half ourselves saved us no money and it would have looked better if she had full control of everything. Oh well, the candles were beautiful and unless they are outstanding or really horrible no one really remembers centerpieces anyway.

We were both surprised how little time we had together at the reception. We were so busy talking with friends, dancing like fools and just having a blast that we never got any quiet time together. That is perfectly fine but I didn't anticipate that. But we had the honeymoon for days of quiet time together and the reception was for partying with friends.

The cake. Oh dear lord, how I love this cake. I won't go on and on about it as much as I would like to (I was going to give it its own post) but let me say that it was perfection inside and out. One of Kevin's favorite moments of the night was when we brought me over to see the cake for the first time. I was brought to tears by it. I loved it so much. It was outstanding. Better than I imagined it would be. We didn't want elegant or romantic or formal or anything like that. We wanted joy and fun and energy and something different. I have not seen a cake like this anywhere on the internet and I looked at A LOT of cake porn. Hours upon hours trying to figure out exactly what the cake should look like. I know it isn't everyone's idea of a wedding cake but it was perfect for us and suited the mood we wanted to create.

The black rabbits on it also fit perfectly with Edgefield and their connection to the black rabbit. Using black rabbits was my mother's idea by the way and we are so glad she thought of it. It helped cement the design for the cake. It was also the tastiest wedding cake I have ever had. Moist and flavorful, particularly the banana rum layer. I am so glad we found the baker we did. She is a true artist and we could not have asked for better. She mentioned in a few e-mails before she made it and has mentioned since that it was her favorite cake she has made this year. She enjoyed getting to do something different and it showed.

The cake toppers were another joy. Originally we weren't going to have a cake topper because there are so few out there that aren't hideous. But when we visited the Edgefield back in January to finalize all our vendors we saw these little black clay bunnies in the gift shop. Kevin thought they would be perfect for the cake toppers and when he asked who made them we found out it was the lady in the clay studio on the property. We met with her and she custom made a bigger pair for us for a ridiculously good price. It was the perfect topper for the perfect cake.

The guest book table seemed to be a lot of fun. We had postcards that friends gave us from around the country and around the world. People wrote wonderful kind messages and fun messages and generally had a good time with it. We even got one dirty joke! I actually expected more since we said on the instructions it was OK. There were a few folks we didn't get any from but most people played along. Reading the big stack of postcards when we got back from the honeymoon was a blast. We played a game trying to figure out which person sent which card based on the picture on the front. I would say we got about 80% correct.
We remembered to have someone videotape the ceremony but we have no video from the reception. Apparently one or two people have the first dance on their phones but I haven't seen it yet. I wish we had remembered to have at least the main parts of the reception recorded.
The DJ was some of the best money we spent. We were going to have an iPod for the music and a friend handle the few emcee duties required and he would have been great. But the more we thought about it the more we wanted someone whose whole job it was would be to read the crowd in the moment and keep people dancing and having fun all night and he did that. We gave him our friend's requests so he had those if he felt they were good for the evening and he just winged it. He could tell right off the bat that slow songs weren't going to work for our crowd so he kept it lively and upbeat. He also did a beautiful job with minimalist announcements and really helped the evening run smoothly. Also our friend Lloyd got to just enjoy the evening with no responsibilities other than to have a good time. I would post photos of everyone dancing and having a good time but instead, I will protect the innocent.
People seemed to be enchanted by the idea of lemons with wings with their names on it. Dang near every persons photos I have seen involves pictures of their lemons. Even our photographer got a little kid look on his face when he said "I have a lemon with my name on it!" He took a photo of his lemon for himself with his iPhone.
The pint glasses were also a big hit. Kevin worked long and hard on the graphic and it turned out beautiful. Plus, who doesn't love a pint glass?
The Theo truffles seemed to be a big hit. I fully expected people to take them home with them but when we cleaned tables at the end of the night there were a lot of empty truffle boxes. I am glad people enjoyed them.

When it was all said and done we asked ourselves "was it worth it" and "given the chance would we do it again" and the answer to both was a resounding "yes!" Yes it was stressful, yes it was expensive but it is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I am so glad we had it. Now we get to sit back and be spectators at weddings for the rest of our lives. We can't wait for that. There is a part of us that, immediately after the wedding, said (even though we totally would do it again) "Thank God, we never have to do that again." But now, there is a little part that says "Oh....we never GET to do that again" and it is a little sad.

Firecracker 5000 Race Report

2011-07-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

So there was pretty much no training for this race. I have barely been running since we got back from the honeymoon and barely ran before the wedding. I have also been having some leg issues which combined with deconditioning have made running challenging these last weeks. But this is a fun race and my friends Mike and Amber were going to be running it so I figured "what the heck." Plus, they have cool glow-in-the-dark t-shirts. Score!

This race starts at 11:55 p.m. so you get to run around the streets of Seattle at midnight which is always a novel thing to do. It was a little chilly this year which meant great racing temps. This race has grown in popularity so it was a skosh bit crowded at the start but I was able to find my loping pace pretty quickly.

The first mile went by with no problems and then about 1.5 miles my foot started to go numb. Stupid new shoes combined with stupid Morton's neuroma made the entire foot and part of my ankle go numb. That feels like you are running on a stump. About 1.8 miles my left calf tightened up. This isn't just fatigue or a little bit of tightness but rather a tightness that actually makes me grimace. Not horrendous pain but just low level pain. This is what I have been trying to get to go away for the last few weeks. I had a massage the morning of the race and that actually might have done some good because the right leg only got a little tight and the left calf was better on a run the next day. Who knows anymore. I have been pretty dilligent about stretching throughout the day too so that probably played a factor. Anyway, if this had been a training run I would have walked and stretched it but since this was a race........full "speed" ahead.

So I grimaced along for the rest of the race and was thankful for the downhill on Mercer St. It helped my overall pace and helped with some of the calf tightness. I have noticed a big difference going up hills. The calf no-likey hills right now. After the long downhill on Mercer we whipped around KCTS and back into Memorial Stadium to the finish line.

Considering my main goal was to finish the race without walking I call this race a success. I was also happy that I was able to bring it in under an 11:00 mile pace. My training runs have all been over 11:00 lately so that pleased me to no end. Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 11:10
Mile 2: 11:00
Mile 3: 10:15 (hello downhill and the promise of a finish line)
Mile .16 (because I can't run the tangents to save my life): 8:12
Total time: 33:41 for an average pace of 10:50.
Even though this was far from a PR for me I am glad I ran this. It reminded me about the importance of training, how much I miss regular running, how fun races are and that I maybe, just maybe, haven't lost all of my running fitness.

Summer Sounds

2011-07-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

I have been craving some new music lately and every time I tune into one of the local stations to hear something new they will inevitably play a Nirvana or Pearl Jam song. Or, if I am at the pop-ier end of the dial I get a whole bunch of bland pop that does nothing for me. I am sure if I kept listening there would be good tunes in there but I can't bring myself to wade through it anymore.

Enter my favorite podcast, TBTL. They recently had a Song of the Summer contest and because of that I found a few fabulous new songs. A few I was already familiar with but there were a few gems in there that were brand new to me (cooler people than me already probably knew them). I had already latched on to Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" and Fitz and the Tantrums "Moneygrabber" before their contest but this song by Jenny O was a happy find.

How about this one from Rye Rye?

Or one that they played on their podcast and what is probably one of the better summer songs I have ever heard but have somehow missed for the last three years: Little Jackie "The Stoop."

How did I miss this song for three years? Clearly I really need to start making a point of finding new music more often.

Or these guys, The Head and the Heart. Local band makes good. This is one that I actually did find on radio and they make me very happy. I also love the fact that their current lineup came together at Conor Byrne, bar of many happy, inebriated times.

Since we played all weekend today is serious house cleaning day. I am glad I have these songs to turn up and make the chores go a little faster. Tonight when we grill outside they will also provide a perfect summer soundtrack.

If anyone else has new (or old) favorite Songs of the Summer I would love to hear them. I'm always in the market for new tunes.

Wedding Recap - The Ceremony

2011-07-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

Sit back, grab a cold one, this is going to be looooooong.

Before I get into the ceremony I need to mention how phenomenal Mississippi Studios was as a venue. They were so nice to work with and the space was perfect for our ceremony. It was warm and inviting, the florist did a beautiful job with the candles and lemons on the stage, and the Christmas lights we bought were hung perfectly around the balcony. Because it was a music venue it seemed that the sound quality was good and that everyone could easily hear the ceremony without resorting to microphones and because we were on stage everyone could also easily see the ceremony. The hot stage lights were a little tough on the guys in their tuxes but we loved that space and felt so grateful that they do weddings there. People also seemed to enjoy being able to imbibe during the ceremony.

Words won't begin to say how truly special this day was for us. I know there are a million emotions and little things that I could say about the whole ceremony but this is way long as it is. I might not convey it properly here but it was a day that overflowed with love and joy. Here are my thoughts and run down of the ceremony.

So it is time to begin. The best man has the sound guy lower the music and then Michelle, my dear friend from junior high, gets up to start the ring warming. The ring warming was one of the first components of the ceremony we settled on last summer. Having all your family and friends hold our rings and put their good vibes, ju-ju or blessing on these two pieces of metal was an important symbolic gesture for us. We looked at some of the more traditional ones: unity candle, sand ceremony, wine ceremony but those didn't feel right for us.

So Michelle says a few words about what people need to do with the rings and then the specially chosen, very moving, very appropriate to the occasion ring warming song is supposed to start as the rings begin being passed through the guests. But it doesn't. In fact, it doesn't for over a minute causing me to almost have a Bridezilla moment (and Kevin, a Groomszilla moment). Remember folks, the stress level is high and this is yet another thing that hasn't gone according to plan in a very short period of time. The day is falling apart (or so it feels). The best man finally gets the sound guy to get his head out of his ass and the music finally starts: The Finn Brothers "Won't Give In." The song delay is one of those mistakes that sticks with us and will forever annoy us about the wedding.

Besides infusing the rings with good ju-ju we also thought that a ring warming would allow those in attendance who are of a religious persuasion a chance to feel involved in the ceremony by getting a chance to say a prayer while holding the rings. Since we are atheists and would be having no God or prayers or religious mentions in the ceremony it allowed them to feel a part of the ceremony without having to compromise our beliefs. It also reflected how much every single person we invited meant to us and how much we valued their love and friendship.

While the rings were passed they apparently fell to the floor twice (I just found that out last week). The ribbon that I had carefully tied them with came undone. No harm, no foul though. Michelle was watching them like a hawk to make sure they got back up to the front of the room in time for the ring part of the ceremony. When I look at my ring now I am not only reminded of my love for Kevin and his love for me but of the love of everyone in that room. As the Finn Brothers sing: "everyone I love is here." Our rings are infinitely more special and priceless to us because of the ring warming. I am so glad we incorporated it into our wedding.

After the ring warming song we decided to have a little fun and play some snippets of "rejected processional songs". We took the beginning to "Let's Go Crazy", "White Wedding", "White Trash Wedding", "The Wedding March" and a few others along with a quote from the wedding scene of Princess Bride and put radio tuning noise in between. The effect was supposed to be a little lighthearted "we are trying to find our perfect processional song and these just won't do and just aren't right" but it pretty much ended up just confusing people I guess. We enjoyed it and we had fun putting it together so it was still worth it.

The rejected processional song montage ended with our real processional song: "The Story" by Brandi Carlile.

I knew I wanted this song somewhere in the wedding and we considered it for a first dance for about two seconds. We quickly realized it was totally undanceable and we also didn't want to do the junior high school swaying thing. The processional was the perfect place for it. It is beautiful, powerful, real, emotional and not a cheesy love song. We both can't listen to it now without getting the nervous butterfly feeling we had before the ceremony and without tearing up or crying.

The processional started after Kevin had to shoo the wedding party into starting because my bridesdude didn't remember the cue to start. The officiant and the wedding party walked up the aisle got on stage and we waited out of sight next to the bar. I have never been so nervous in my life. Heart pounding, stomach churning, crazy kind of nervous. Not about getting married but about being up in front of all those people, saying things I don't usually say in front of people, worrying I'll melt into a puddle of tears, worried how the rest of the day will go and just feeling the stress from months of planning and all the hard work and it has come down to what you are always told is the biggest moment of your life. My nervousness was never about Kevin or marriage but rather everything I just mentioned. It is a little terrifying. Luckily we had each other.

We walked in right when Brandi gets all screamy and headed down the aisle. Even when my father was alive I never intended on being "given away". I feel like this is a commitment both of us are making and that we should walk down the aisle together since we are going on this adventure together. That philosophy worked well because I can't imagine all those people staring at just me. Ugh! It was comforting to have his hand to hold on to.

We got on stage, turned to the officiant and the ceremony began. I kept hoping no one would notice that my legs were shaking. Our officiant, Myrna, was wonderful. Just looking at her helped calm me down. We had worked with her a month earlier to craft a ceremony that was right for us. We removed words (no "holy" allowed), kept a "sacred" here or there since it isn't a religious word to us, played with some other words and tweaked it to get the right feel. She could not have been more delightful to work with and to have perform the wedding. She did, however, get lost in the stage lights and didn't see that everyone was still standing for 10 MINUTES into the ceremony. It really loosened the mood up in the room when she figured it out and embarassedly told everyone it was OK to sit. Both of us were much calmer by that point. It was also at that point that it started to get fun, we started to get into the spirit of the day and we both began to enjoy ourselves. I think I have said before that it wasn't the happiest day of my life but it sure as hell was the happiest seven and a half hours.

We had our good friend Kathy do a reading for us of "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss. It was difficult to choose from all our friends and family but it came down to: who would want to get up on stage and read in front of people and who would know how to read Seuss the best. Not just anyone can capture the word magic of Dr. Seuss. We knew Kath would be the perfect person for the job and she nailed it. She read it perfectly and we are grateful she did us the honor of reading at our wedding. We had toyed with a few other readings but having someone read a love poem written in the first person seemed awkward so we kept it lighthearted and in the spirit of adventure that we feel marriage is.

Our officiant then told our stories and what we had told her we loved about each other. She got the majority of the details correct and we weren't going to correct her on the ones she got wrong until she mentioned that I had just completed a marathon before we got engaged. No way I was going to let that one stand so I had to correct her on stage that is was only a half-marathon. I won't even wear a race shirt from my half-marathons that says "marathon finisher" on it until I run my 26.2 I couldn't let something as important as a wedding ceremony be a lie.

Then it came time for our vows. We knew we wanted to write our own but were both very nervous about doing so. The traditional vows just seem like saying the Pledge of Allegiance or something. They are so rote that all the meaning has been sucked out of them. Compressing all you love about someone into a very brief few sentences and then saying these personal, private things in front of a bunch of people (on a stage no less!) we knew would be challenging. No, not just challenging......terrifying. We wrote our vows separately and then kind of tweaked them into a format that kind of mirrored each other. We felt they were more cohesive this way. We began with a declaration of love, said a bunch of things we loved about the other person, used the same line "Today I stand with you for the rest of my life", did our vows, and ended on a declaration of love. Kevin chose to use the word "vow" and I chose the word "promise" because those words felt stronger and had more meaning to each of us.

When I first got engaged I thought our vows should be more lighthearted. Something along the lines of "I love you even though you believe in the single-gunman theory" and "thank you for loving me even though I am frequently more flatulent than an aged labrador retriever." But as we progressed through the planning I realized it was a serious occasion and while levity could be in the ceremony the words we said to each other should be serious.

We were also worried that saying them ahead of time might suck all the meaning out of the wedding moment but it didn't. Actually, holding each others hands and saying them in private a few days before the wedding was just as powerful of a moment. Also, it was self-preservation. We both were worried about getting through our vows without sobbing. Practice did help that. In fact, on the day of the wedding we read our vows to each other while Kevin was.....um, .....having his morning constitutional. I even cried then. Myrna had also told us that many couples worry about crying during their vows but they always seem to get through them with emotion but no major sobbing when the time comes. I didn't quite believe her but it turned out to be true for us.

Actually saying the vows was surprisingly easy. We looked at each other and forgot that everyone else was there. It was just the two of us speaking from the heart. I started to choke up one time and then swore what was meant to be a soft "dammit" under my breath but apparently was perfectly audible to everyone. I really wanted to get through the vows without crying. Dammit! I got myself back on track and then got choked up again at the same part I do everytime. My volume was good but I know my voice was cracking with emotion as I finished them and then placed Kevin's ring on his finger.

Kevin did better about not crying during his vows to me although he definitely choked up during his as well. He was much softer spoken but no less strong in his delivery. He placed my ring on my finger and our vows were sealed. We have kept a copy of our vows and read them to each other on our one week anniversary while we were in Bora Bora (I know, sorry for the nausea) and again on our one month and will read them to each other on the 14th of every month until our one year anniversary. Then we will eat year-old cake. We will pull them out every anniversary to remind ourselves of our commitment and of this day.

Myrna then said a few wonderful words sending us out on this adventure and we kissed and couldn't stop smiling. We left the stage to "That's Amore" by one of our favorite artists, Dean Martin. We had the bartender waiting for us at the end of the aisle with a PBR tall-boy in hand for me and an IPA for Kevin and we went upstairs for the document signing. Actually the document is just for show because we had signed the original license when we got it at the courthouse a month earlier. We snapped a few pictures, wrote a few hurried checks that we almost forgot and then hightailed it back for the party. We were hitched!

Our guests seemed to really enjoy themselves and we got loads of comments from people about what a sincerely moving, beautiful ceremony it was. Apparently we had people who don't usually choke up actually tear up and choke up a little. We even had a few do that during the ring warming! Yay! At least we succeeded in creating a ceremony that was authentic for us, that felt a little different, and was filled with emotions that people could actually feel.

All right folks, it's time to get on the school buses (they sent two this time) and go back to get our drinking, eating and dancing on!

P.S. This was written in fits and starts over a week and a half so I apologize if there is a horrendous lack of continuity or is repetitive. It was too momentous for me to tackle in one sitting.

Hello. My Name Is Ann-Marie And I'm A Diet Coke Addict.

2011-06-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about healthy eating again lately and examining what I put in my body. While I am never going to be someone who makes drastic switches or eliminates any food entirely I do realize that there are some basic changes I can make to my daily diet to make it healthier and more natural. I love Lean Cuisines because of the convenience factor but maybe I could cut those back to once or twice a week instead of the five day a week schedule I am currently doing. Maybe I can eat a real breakfast instead of grabbing a Zone Perfect bar on my way out the door. And maybe, just maybe, I can reduce my consumption of Diet Coke.
I don't fall into the camp that believes Aspartame is evil but I do think perhaps that fewer chemicals going into your body might not be an entirely bad idea. Also, the happy bubbles that I consume throughout the day make me look pregnant by the time evening rolls around. Seriously, my morning belly is vastly different from my night belly. Cutting back on carbonation has got to help that, right?

So my plan is to wean myself down to a two can a day habit. I am starting this week by limiting myself to four cans a day. After a week or two of this I am going to go to three cans a day and then landing at two cans a day. Then maybe I can start in on my Lean Cuisine problem.

New Shoes

2011-06-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

I broke down and bought new running shoes this weekend. I had far too many miles on my old ones and far, far too many miles on my Superfeet inserts. I am hoping some new shoes will help with the weird assortment of foot and leg issues I have been struggling with: Morton's neuroma, freakish bilateral calf-tightness, sciatica and the occasional hip twinge.

The verdict? Meh, not so great. I am going to play around with different lacing to see if I can alleviate the foot numbness. They sure are pretty though. Men's Sauconys in case you were wondering. They didn't have any women's shoes for my stride in my size.

Money Talks

2011-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

Married life has been suiting us just fine. Since we have been together for so long and have lived together for awhile there has been no major adjustment period. In fact, the only difference is I feel more in love with Kevin than before (sorry for the sap) and I feel even closer to him. Oh, and we have developed a freaky ability to read each other's thoughts all the time. It's actually a little frightening how often it happens. But there is one major marriage adjustment hurdle still before us and we are going to tackle that tonight: finances.

Now, we have talked finances quite a bit already and know how much each other makes and what our debts are and what our living expenses are. We have not, however, combined any of that. We did open a joint account for wedding expenses after we got engaged but that is as far as the merging has gone. We have been together long enough to know each other's financial styles and even though they aren't an exact match they are close enough that it won't be a big stumbling block. I also know that money is the number one thing couples fight about so that little nugget of information is probably in the back of both of our minds as we start down this path.

It shouldn't be too horrible but it will definitely be new ground for both of us. I have never had to confer with anyone about my retirement account deductions or which health plan to choose or direct debit vs. bill pay or what I choose to spend my money on. Those decisions have always been mine and mine alone. Learning to make them together will be a whole new experience for us. We aren't merging everything but enough to be a little intimidating. Time to open some wine and break out the 10 key (I'm old school like that) and crunch some numbers. Woo!

Dreamland

2011-06-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

I am trying to convince myself that my dreams are so dull because I actually live a fairly interesting, involved and active life. However, that could just be what people who spend a long time in dreamland quietly shopping for books and visiting a doctor to discuss their bunion say to make themselves feel better. I think I bored myself into even deeper sleep.

Does Not Ride Well With Others

2011-06-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

With my car in the shop overnight I was looking at a bleak future. A future that included (shudder) ......public transportation. I just wanted to take a moment to thank my sweetie for driving me the 30 miles to work to save me from having to sit next to the mentally unstable, the unwashed and from possibly sitting in pee.

Wedding Recap - Photos, Transport and Stress Oh My!

2011-06-17T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have promised myself that I will have the wedding recaps done before we get our professional photos back. We should get those between 1-3 weeks from now so I better get typing. I aplogize for the length of these posts but this was just so huge for me that I need to give it a decent recap for myself.

When last we left Beluga Girl and Orca Boy (seriously, the coloration is remarkably similar) we had set up the reception space and were getting ready for the "first look." I had been all prettified by two wonderful women at the Edgefield spa and got into my dress with only a tiny bit of help to zip it all the way up. I was determined to do it myself without anybody around in the room but needed to call Diane for the final zip and to make sure I didn't have back cleavage. Who knew your back could look so much like an ass?

The photographer showed up before I got fully zipped and started shooting. I was surprised how little I noticed him and how natural I felt with him shooting all the time. I thought I would have a bigger problem with being photographed but I had so many other things going through my mind that I didn't even notice. So I was dressed and accessorized for the wedding but didn't really feel like a bride until I got to hold my bouquet. That was the first moment I actually felt bridal. I loved my bouquet too. It had wonderful yellow flowers, tiny touches of white (can we all just agree that a white dress with an all-white bouquet is BORING and should be stopped? Agree? Good!), beautiful seed pods and the pieces that really made the bouquet pop; chocolate fern curls. I could have stared at it for hours. The florist did a beautiful job. Sadly there aren't any good pictures of it yet. The billy button boutonnieres for the guys were also perfect. A fun, unusual flower for a fun, unusual occasion.

"How the hell do we put these on?"

I met Kevin outside and the photog had him turn around for the "first look." Now, this seems a little silly because he had seen me in my dress a bunch of times, seen the shoes, seen the necklace, seen the hair and make-up but had never seen it all together. But it was the actual wedding day so it was a little different this time. He looked so handsome in his tux even though his hair was still wet from hurrying through his shower. He was SO stressed from the insane reception set-up that he was almost in tears and the first thing he said to me was "we should have eloped." The pom poms gave him PTSD. We quickly got out of the stressful morning mood and into having fun being together on our wedding day and taking photographs around the grounds of The Edgefield.

Taking pictures was a lot of fun. I felt really pretty at the time although the few photos I have seen don't make me feel that way now. But at the time I felt beautiful which is all that matters. I have never seen a photo of me I have liked anyway so why should the wedding be any different. I also thought Kevin looked great but after seeing his hair in some of the shots I don't hold out much hope for either of us in our photos and he usually photographs beautifully. Orca Boy's hair looked like it had been cut by a Flowbee. It is what it is though.

After photos the stress came back big time when we started to worry about the school buses we had rented for guest transportation. We hadn't heard them come up the drive-way and were kind of freaking out that they weren't going to be there. Turns out only one of the two made it and after Kevin did some take charging with the situation our guests were finally able to head out to the reception space after waiting and waiting for the other bus to show up. I found out later the bus driver took some wacky, long route instead of the quick easy route they should have gone if they used Google maps. This all resulted in people getting to the reception later than we anticipated and caused us to get there later than we wanted as well. The stress level was rising. We were worried people wouldn't have enough time to relax and have a drink before the ceremony began and that we wouldn't have any unwinding time. Turns out that was probably good because it wouldn't have been unwinding time at all.

On the way over we spent time stressing about the reception space and whether the cake topper was on the table so the cake lady could find it or did someone pack it away so we would have to dig for it when we got back. I also couldn't get anyone to return a phone call or text at this time either. Aaaarrrgghhh! The most important thing to me was the cake and I didn't want to walk in and not see the cake in its complete state.

We arrive at Mississippi Studios and shoot up the side stairwell to the little waiting room at the top. We could hear the pre-ceremony music we had carefully chosen (all non-sappy songs about love), could hear people talking and laughing and I could feel my pulse quicken. I can feel it now just remembering and typing about it. We were both so much more nervous and excited than we thought we would be. Heart pounding, sweating kind of nervous and excited. We talked with our officiant and went over a few last minute items. We were getting more and more nervous as the moments ticked by. We were moments away from getting married.

(Seriously, I am feeling that heart-pounding nervousness reliving this.Yikes!)

Running on Empty

2011-06-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

We interrupt our scheduled wedding recap to bring you this: running has become hard. A three miler that would have been nothing a few months ago now involves walk breaks. I know my "speed" and stamina will come back but, damn, I didn't think I had reconditioned that badly. Ugh.

Wedding Recap Part I: Pre-Wedding

2011-06-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

We made the smart decision to head down on Thursday instead of Friday which allowed us a little more time with a few out of town friends. It also allowed us to relax a little before the big weekend shindig activities started. It was funny because neither of us felt nervous at all at any point during the engagement. That is until we took the exit for The Edgefield. Both of us simultaneously started to get the nervous, butterfly thing going. This big thing that we had been working on for so long was actually happening.

The main thing we did Thursday was put together all the out of town gift bags. In the spirit of being welcoming and inclusive we wanted to get everyone's weekend off on the right foot with a welcome bag to thank them for making the trip (since everyone had to travel to it). They were filled with some fun tasty treats and give them a sense of what the vibe of the wedding would be like. The black rabbit cookies with the story of the Edgefield black rabbit seemed to be a hit, the water bottles (with heavily borrowed from the interwebs "nutrition label") and everyone's own personal flying lemon magnet were our favorite things. We didn't decide to do the out of town bags until about five weeks before the wedding so they created a bit of last minute work but it was worth it. People seemed to enjoy going into their rooms and seeing their bright yellow welcome bag.

Prepping the bag for delivery

Friday Kevin and I had a couple's massage in the morning and then had some soaking pool time (to recreate our soaking pool engagement). Later, I had my first manicure (meh, don't see the point to them) and pedicure (woo-hoo! Those are great!). My dear friend Michelle joined me for the pedicure and it was great to spend some more time catching up with her before all the craziness began.

Shortly after the relaxing spa treatments, the craziness did indeed begin. Everyone started showing up and the fact that this was actually happening now became even more real. Instead of a rehearsal dinner we had a 30 minute run-down with the wedding party about what was happening the next day and then we went to hang out by the Little Red Shed pub with a whole bunch of guests. One of the advantages of a whole weekend deal instead of just the wedding on Saturday night is that we got more time to talk to our friends than you usually do at a wedding. The day after brunch helped with that too. However, I was nervous about how the next day would go and didn't enjoy myself a ton and just would have really rather been alone in the soaking pool. Even with not feeling particularly social it was still a nice time though. A group of our friends even showed up in their Edgefield bathrobes; they were truly getting into the spirit of the place.

Saturday morning was a quick breakfast where we barely ate (nerves again), a few times practicing dancing to our first dance song that lightened the mood immensely and took the worry out of us being able to remember any moves at all, and then off to the reception space for set-up. I was only there for an hour before I had to leave for hair and make-up but I know this was hugely stressful for Kevin. It was the fluffing and hanging of 80 tissue paper pom poms and a dozen flying lemons that really seemed to cause the kerfluffle. They were a pain in the ass but boy did they help make that place festive. He was so stressed about it that he actually had a nightmare the following night about the pom poms not being right. Thanks to the previously mentioned wonderful friends it turned out beautifully and turned this

into something beautiful and happy and light that I don't have any good pictures of. Maybe when the professional prints come in.

The only glitch here other than the clusterf*#k that was the pom poms was I wanted bright yellow sashes for the chairs and got these soft butter yellow instead. It turned out fine because one of the pom pom colors was the same yellow so all was good. And at least the chair cover woman knew to not tie them into bows. Even though I hate chair covers it was necessary for this space to make it lighter and more festive. The chairs on their own are seriously ugly for a wedding.

Kevin's awesome flying lemons!

Michelle creating the flying lemon place cards.

I hated being away from the decorating. This was our baby and we had worked so long and hard on it and I wanted to help make the vision a reality and it sucked to not be there. Being a bit of a control freak it also stressed me out to leave it in other people's hands. Luckily, Kevin knew exactly how it was supposed to look so I felt confident that it would come out pretty darn close to what we imagined. I also wanted to do a quality control check/final run through when it was all done but there was no time for that.

In the next installment: with the set-up done it was time to meet for our "first look" and get the show on the road!

Introducing Your New Superhero Duo......

2011-06-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

.....Beluga Girl and Orca Boy!

Christ, we had a year engagement. Shouldn't we have managed to be less porky by the time the wedding rolled around?

Wedding Recap In Which Very Little Wedding is Recapped

2011-06-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Where to begin, where to begin. There is so much to say about the wedding that I didn't know where to start which is why I haven't posted anything yet. I decided to break it down into four parts: this post, pre-wedding, ceremony and reception. I realize that this rehashing isn't going to be particularly interesting to anyone but me but since this is my, in the words of Mike Birbiglia, "secret public journal" I am going to do it anyway.

Also, I am going to apologize in advance because I am going to do a lot of self-congratulating and patting us on the back in these posts. We worked SO freaking hard on this wedding and worked on so many little details to have it turn out a certain way and to have it basically hit a home run on nearly every point feels amazing. Sorry to be boastful but we both really feel that way which is good; it is how every couple should feel after their wedding. We wanted the wedding to be joyous, celebratory, unique, inclusive, welcoming and most imporantly everything needed to be authentically "us". We didn't want to be a wedding where you could throw in any couple into our roles and have it feel right. I think we nailed those criteria.

Before I get too far into dissecting the weekend I do need to acknowledge that a lot of the weekend wouldn't have gone quite as well without the help of many, many friends. Mike and Amber came over twice before the wedding to cut out lemon wings, bag earplugs and help with the Theo Chocolate favors. My brother and his girlfriend Diane (that I had met only once before by the way) came over to make a zillion tissue paper pom poms and then Diane came over again two nights later to help me make and frost 90 black rabbit cookies for the gift bags. All four of them also worked tirelessly on the day of the reception to help make the reception space look beautiful. They were joined by so many others: Michelle, best man Matt, Cherie, Todd, Patti, Paul, the whole Coocoochin clan, Kevin's co-worker Denise and her husband Curt. I am certain I have missed someone and will feel like a jerk when it is pointed out so I apologize now for forgetting; the day was a blur. It is just amazing how people jumped in to help. Kevin and I kept commenting all weekend long and for many days afterwards how lucky we are to have such great friends.

Next post: actual wedding things discussed. Maybe even a picture or two!

Home Stretch

2011-05-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the big day is almost here. I have a few moments while I am waiting for a computer process to run at work to muse on some things.

First, this whole process has made me bipolar, I swear. Between learning how to make me and my world views fit into bride and wife roles and planning a gigantic ass party I have been all over the map these past few months. Some times I love it, other times I hate it, other times it is all sort of "meh". It can vary from hour to hour or day to day. I am ready for life to get back to normal and all of the pressures (mostly self-made) can be off. I never questioned my relatonship with Kevin but I have questioned the institution of marriage and the role of wife. I have figured out how to make bride and wife fit for me and I am close to not thinking of the word "wife" as a swear word anymore. Huge progress people.

I have also been made even more aware that there are two things that will set me off and get me out of balance and those are: being tired for multiple days and being hungry. I knew this about me before but these past few weeks have pounded that message home. The mood has been dark and negative and that isn't normal for me. I have been getting about 5-6 hours a night and for the last week, to fit into the damn dress, I haven't been eating much. This combination makes for one unhappy and bitchy Ann-Marie. Luckily we are almost done with tasks and we can head down to Portland tomorrow for some pre-wedding relaxation and SLEEP and I can get myself back to normal and enjoy the weekend. Up until this morning I wasn't excited, I just wanted it to be over with. I am now actually starting to feel excited and happy about our shindig. Finally feeling like I want to smile about it and am looking forward to it feels good. I still think if you are looking at the whole thing with an objective eye that weddings are kind of ridiculous but I will revel in the ridiculousness of it all this weekend.

Oh, and the dress fits again. I am down just over six pounds in a week. Hooray for quick water-weight loss!!!

Deep Weeds

2011-05-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I'm getting married in eleven days and ........I don't fit into my wedding dress. Not just a "oh, it's a bit too tight" or "it's slightly uncomfortable" or "I bulge a little there". It is a I CAN'T EVEN ZIP IT UP! I CAN'T HOOK THE TOP EYE! Excuse my vulgarity internet but I am fucked.

The damn thing fit when I picked it up from the alterations lady a month ago but there wasn't much room for error (i.e. porking out). What did I do? I gained 7.5 lbs since I had it measured and fit five weeks ago (only 5.5 lbs since I picked it up) . Yes, thank you, that is mad weight gaining skills. At least I have mad skills at something. Stupid tiredness and stress.

The weight I was at when I was fitted was one of those tipping point weights where just a two pound weight gain means all of my clothes fit differently. That might sound ridiculous but it is really true. This means that the 7.5 lbs feels like an extra 15 and totally alters the way all my clothes fit.

I am taking the dress into her today to have them whisk it away for pressing/steaming. Maybe I can see if she can do something. I am guessing not since she took in fabric to fit it to me and that probably doesn't leave anything to let out. My other tactic is to do something I HATE and that is crash diet. I don't think they are safe or effective in the long-term but this is the short term and if I blimp right back up on May 15th I can deal with that the real way (proper diet and exercise) then. In the meantime I am resorting to South Beach because I know I can drop some quick pounds that way and hopefully not have to go out and buy another MF-ing dress.

Eugene Half-Marathon Walk Report

2011-05-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to not push myself too much and only walk the half marathon instead of run/walking it. Since I was going to be walking Kevin decided to join me. The weather was perfect and we actually had some fun. I felt like a big ol' loser being with the walkers at first but I reminded myself that a 13 mile walk is still a good workout and to shut up and quit being a whiner. I kept thinking how this was supposed to be my inaugural marathon but in some ways I am glad it didn't turn out that way. The wedding planning has taken way more time than I imagined and I am not feeling good this weekend (rattley cough and chest congestion) which would have made running a half , let alone a full, challenging.

Oddly enough, walking felt harder on my muscles than running does. My quads feel trashed right now. In order to break up the walking monotony we decided to run at every mile marker for .20. This felt SO GOOD on my legs and back. Just switching up the muscle motion made a huge difference in how we felt.
We finished in 3:14 with a pace of 14:49. Not bad for a walking pace. Finish line pancakes were consumed, a good time was had by all. I would rather have been running it but at least I got to participate a little bit.

Dilemma

2011-04-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

So Eugene is this weekend. Yes, I am still going even though I had to give the marathon up awhile ago. I thought I would drop down to just do the half. Also, I made a promise to a friend that I would be there so there I will be.

However, the last time I did a run of any distance was the 12 miler I did back in February a few days before the calf strain and sciatica diagnosis. I did four on Saturday with almost no pain and then three on Monday with some minimal pain and tightness. The question is do I do the half-marathon as a run/walk fully accepting it will probably be a personal worst (I don't care about that) and just go out for the fun and because it was supposed to be a 40th birthday present for myself and to see what I can do? Or do I not risk aggravating what is clearly a healing injury and just stay on the sidelines cheering my friend Todd on to half-marathon glory and just soak in the good energy and fun of a race day morning?

If I Took My Camera With Me When I Ran...

2011-04-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

...you would have a picture of a sign asking people to be on the look-out for a lost wallaby. Yes, you read that right.

Oh, and the run went well. Four miles with just some stiffness and no real pain.

Maybe Not So Snart

2011-04-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

So what is the best thing to do when you can't even run one mile pain free? Why you register for the Portland Marathon of course! I have 25 weeks to get my issue resolved and start training again. I can't really afford the entry fee at this time but I can't really afford not to have a race to work towards either.

I Jinxed It

2011-04-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

I think I spoke too soon about pain-free running....Sunday I went for a run in the (sort of) sun, felt great and then got to 8/10 of a mile and started to get the radiating leg pain. I pulled up and just dejectedly walked home. When will this stop so I can run again? Aaaaarrrggggghhhh!

Mooooooon!

2011-04-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

There have been some components of this wedding that have seemed impossible to make decisions on: the centerpieces, a necklace, transportation to and from the wedding for us and bridal party (still not figured out by the way) and the honeymoon.

The honeymoon should really take priority over the whole shindig but we found it difficult to find, and stick with, a plan. Our starting criteria was that it should be someplace special, exotic, a once in a lifetime experience. So we went with this:

an African photo safari to Tanzania and Kenya. My dream trip as long as I can remember. Since Kevin had already done this when he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro he wanted to add something that was new for him and one of his dream trips. Since we were already going to be over Africa way we decided to add this:

Also, because we decided to do this trip later in the year we decided to go on a mini-moon to the Oregon Coast. We wanted some sort of vacation right after the wedding to unwind and relax and we know a beautiful romantic spot right on the beach that fit the bill. Perfect! All settled! But then Egypt had to go and get all revolution-y and even though things have kind of settled down, until they get an actual government in place it doesn't seem like a great bet for all of your vacation dollars. On to Plan B.

Where else have we both always dreamed of going? How about here?

Greece!! Great! Done! Settled! That is our big Autumn trip. Except......the more we thought about it the more we realized that as much as we call our little post-wedding trip a mini-moon it is still really our honeymoon. Neither of us wanted our honeymoon to be the Oregon Coast. It is lovely but did it fit the "special and exotic" criteria? No. So the plan became a mini-moon here:

the beautiful island of Maui. We could relax, unwind, not feel like we had to go exploring and do much since we had both been here before. The further we got into this wedding business the more a relaxing spot seemed desirable to us. It is a gorgeous place and we both really like Hawaii. So it was settled: mini-moon on Maui and then Greece in the fall. Except........neither of us were really excited about it. We knew we would like Hawaii but it didn't feel special. I thought of Hawaii as a honeymoon cliche, which I know makes me sound like a world class tool. But really, it isn't that I find it so much of a cliche as it didn't feel right for us because of the aforementioned need for something exotic, once in a lifetime, truly special but where we didn't have to spend all our time running around being tourists and could just sit and relax. Since we have both been to Hawaii and plan on going back a few times it didn't really fit the "specialness" part of the equation. You only get one honeymoon and you want to do it right. We would have had a lovely time and been very happy but we jokingly started looking at some other options and then, quite by accident, found the perfect place. So where is this magical place that will fit the bill? Why it is right here....

Bora Bora and Tahiti!!! We are staying a few nights in Tahiti and then a few more in Bora Bora in an over water bungalow that looks just like this....

...complete with "glass" floor to watch fish through. The place we are staying is also a turtle sanctuary so we get to swim with these guys too!

We are both super excited about this which we weren't really about any of the other options. Nothing else really seemed to fit for us right now. Yes, it Bora Bora and Tahiti are total honeymoon cliches but it doesn't matter because it fits perfectly with the criteria we had decided need to be included in our honeymoon:

A trip right after the wedding so that it feels like a real honeymoon and not some regular, albeit very nice, vacation? Check!
Exotic, special and once in a lifetime? Check!
Time to really relax and spend time together because there isn't a ton of stuff to run around and see and do? Check!
But still has some interesting things to do like swim with sharks and rays and see the Gauguin museum and hike a little? Check!
Warm? Check

South Pacific here we come!

Getting Better All The Time

2011-04-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

I had three (relatively) pain-free miles at the lake on Wednesday. There was some pain deep in the right glute but no radiating pain at all while I ran. Woo-hoo! I did get some radiating pain on the drive home and it bothered me some the next day but overall it seems to be getting better. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Details Coming Together

2011-04-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful, busy productive weekend in Portland. We had scheduled a whole slew of final wedding details around McMenamin's Celebration of Syrah that took place last weekend.

In addition to much, much syrah tasting on Saturday we managed to: pick up our marriage license, finalize almost all the food and arrangements for the reception (still waiting on input from some stragglers before we finalize beer), do a hair and make-up run through with the people who will be taking care of it on the wedding day and created our ceremony with our officiant.

It all went better than I thought it would. No lines for the license. They nailed my make-up and (almost) nailed my hair, which I was worried about. You never know what kind of person you will get and if their vision and talents will gel with what you want and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw the results. We picked tasty appetizers and main courses for our guests and figured out how all of the little details of the reception will work.

The biggest and best part though was crafting the ceremony. We LOVE our officiant and she has come up with a ceremony that really feels like us. She spent over two hours with us going over everything and listening to our stories and getting our feedback on what words we did and didn't want to include. She also sprung a few surprises on us like having us spontaneously say what we loved about the other person and saying practice vows. It sounds so simple but it put us on the spot in a good way and made us really respond naturally. It was very emotional; many happy tears were shed hearing some of the beautiful words she will be saying. We did decide that we need to write our own vows even though it will be difficult for us to get through them without crying. Unless we can find pre-written vows that sound like our voices we need to do it ourselves so it feels real to us. We also figured out our ring warming and who will be involved in that and who will be doing our reading (Hi, Kath!). It is finally all coming together.

Oh, and stay tuned for the big news......we FINALLY decided on a honeymoon location. No, really we did this time. We paid for it and everything so there will be no changing of the mind now. It is a post that deserves some pictures so I will write that later.

Is the Room Half-Full or Half-Empty?

2011-04-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, something new to obsess over: not enough people at our wedding shindig. So many couples have an issue with paring down the guest list but our problem is the opposite. We are worried there won't be enough people there to make it feel festive and fun. Scratch the "we" on that, I am the only one worried about that. Kevin thinks it will be fine.

So far we have had a few unexpected "no" RSVPs and last night discovered that the only relative from one side of Kevin's family that will be attending will be his 88 year-old grandmother. That is unless one of the aunt's stops her from attending because she is old and it is a long flight from Baltimore. She is already trying to do that. We thought we might get a few relatives from that side but it looks like a big "zero" instead.

We intentionally didn't pad our guest list and only invited people we really wanted to be there. On one hand this is good; we get a room full of people we really care about. On the other hand this is bad; we just don't have many friends and family and the room isn't full at all. I know being a "destination" wedding (yes, I guess technically it is) means you will get a smaller turn-out but I still can't help feeling disappointed. It just taps into personal issue #3 (a post for another day) that wedding planning has uncovered.

What's New

2011-04-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Good Gravy! It's April already and the wedding is five weeks away and the Eugene half-marathon I am still slated to run is only three weeks away. I have been up to a lot of things lately but running hasn't been one of them. Last Monday I went for a run and decided I would just go until I felt pain radiating from my buttock down my leg. I got .75 of a mile before it started and I immediately pulled up and walked home. On Sunday I ran to the gym and got 1.25 miles before pain set in (although I could feel some tightness in the leg) so once again I walked, worked out and then walked home. I don't like it but I am trying to use my noodle about this whole situation and not exacerbate the injury. Of course I am still thinking about run/walking 13.1 miles in three weeks so maybe the smart hasn't really taken.

That is my running plan right now: run until it hurts and then walk. I am going out tomorrow night for a run and, cross fingers, I'll maybe get a little further than 1.25 miles before the pain kicks in. Ugh, I really miss running and I want it back.

Even without running my days have been chock full o' activity. In a little over a week there has been: three ballroom dance lessons (was on Sunday and now on Tuesday), two dinners out with friends, my annual fantasy baseball draft (currently in third place thank you very much), two visits with Mom including a lunch with a mutual friend, an IKEA trip for the rest of the centerpiece glasses for the wedding (I HATE that place and would be perfectly happy to never set foot in it again), saw "Of Mice and Men" at the Seattle Rep, picked up my wedding ring from the jeweler, picked up my dress from the alterations lady, decided on, and then shelved, and then back to square one again on our honeymoon plans, and mucho, mucho little wedding decisions and discussions every single night. The wedding has consumed our existence at this point.

I really enjoyed all of the above activities (minus IKEA) but I am really ready to get back to normal life. Work, run and the occasional social activity. I feel over scheduled on every front and am ready for a little down time. Maybe on the honeymoon we may or may never get around to planning. Five weeks and we are there!

The War Room

2011-03-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

So we have dubbed our dining room area The War Room because it is the hub of all wedding related activities and projects. Much planning for the battles ahead occurs here. We also have this on our War Room wall.

That is the world's coolest seating chart. Somewhere in blogland (WeddingBee perhaps?) I read about the idea to get pink and blue sticky notes to write your guest's names on. This way you can easily pick them up and move them around to different tables while you are planning your seating and make names easier to spot by color coding gender. Of course we immediately ruined the symmetry of the board by making a few tables of nine and moving some blues and pinks together but it still looks awesome.

If you look closely you will see that those are tiny National Park postcard replicas in the center of each table. Instead of using numbers we are doing National Parks for table designations and using my beloved WPA poster style postcards for each table. When we were searching for table number holders we ran across some restaurant tent style that we liked but were not willing to pay $11 each for. So my ever-industrious guy decided he could make them. Here is his first one. I love these!!

We have also been perfecting the wing for the place card lemons. This is a proto-type. I don't like the name placement so we are still working on it.

Oh, and the most fun was the week before when we decided to celebrate getting our invitations in the mail with a little Edgefield sparkling wine we picked up when we got engaged. We also used the occasion to taste test truffles for potential wedding favors. Oh, the lengths we'll go to for our guests.

Smells Like Teen Kitten

2011-03-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since we let Abby out to roam freely with the other cats and it has gone better than expected. She is more adventurous then we thought she would be and quickly roamed the entire house. She isn't much of a jumper but does a lot of exploring on kitten level.

Ollie is being his grumpy old man self and still hisses at her but the hissing has decreased in the last week. She has learned that she is faster and more agile than him so she just avoids or runs away from him. I don't know if she realizes that he is all talk and no action but I hope she doesn't learn it so as not to damage his delicate feline ego.

The girls are actually getting along quite well. Jackie has hissed on occasion but there is a lot of friendly chasing up and down the stairs and playing this game of tag on the dining room chair. Mostly Jackie just ignores her but there is enough playing that it makes us feel they will be a good team.

We were waiting for some quirks to emerge and we have noticed she has a few. One, she bobs her head like a bird quite a bit as she walks around exploring. Two, she drools when she is purring and happy. She drools A LOT. Three, she likes to roll around on our dirty undergarments and towels or any article of recently worn work-out clothing. Freak.

Because no cat can escape the nickname factory we have a few names in addition to Abby. She is also the Ablet, Abby Normal (we actually made Normal her middle name), Jinglebug (because her collar has a bell) and my favorite, Bug.

Comfort Zone

2011-03-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is a good thing . Other times it just serves to remind you of who you really are and where you really belong. Either way it is a growth experience I guess.

St. Pat's Dash Race Report (Mostly)

2011-03-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Good gravy! It has been over two weeks since I last posted. There has been so much going on: finalizing and FINALLY mailing the wedding invitations, insane work on the wedding website, new kitten integration, a redonkulous amount of time spent trying to find appropriate undergarments to wear under my wedding dress, a new round of dance classes, and an actual race in there too. There is also a big design/name change coming around these parts but I just haven't had the time or the energy to implement it yet. But before I get to all that I will do a quick St. Pat's Dash recap because it is my race-iversary race and the unofficial start of the "racing season."

When I logged on tonight to do my St. Pat's recap, I noticed Amber had just written her St. Pat's recap (great minds!) so if you want to read the before and after part of the race and see wet and cold pictures of us go here. I am so glad she agreed to get up early and go run with me because having someone to go to races with is pretty great. Sadly, my part of the run was nothing like hers. Can't wait to read about her half-marathon PR though!

Since I haven't been running much and actually wasn't cleared by my PT to run/walk more than a half mile I was entering the race with no expectations. I just wanted to have fun and run my eighth consecutive Dash. Luckily my calf strain has healed and there were no problems at all. My leg pain was absent until about 4/10 of a mile into the race and then bothered me throughout the rest of the run. I just kept trying to focus on maintaining good form and not letting the discomfort alter my gait. I actually ended up finishing in 38:53 which is a 10:14 pace. So sad to be off last year's pace of 9:44 but there have been extenuating circumstances.

As for the leg? Well, I went for a three miler a few days after the race and it hurt quite a bit the whole way. Saturday, I ran to the gym for some upper body work and ran back and it bothered me and it bothered me on my three miler last night. The funny thing is, it isn't bothering me unless I am running or after I have ran. The running seems to exacerbate it which it never used to do. I am contemplating my next move but there is a good chance I might just shut myself down for a few weeks to see if I can really fully heal. If that is the case then even the half in Eugene is off the table.

Throwing In The Towel

2011-03-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

When I posted that quote about the marathon last week it had a double meaning for me. On one hand it was saying it was OK to finish a marathon in whatever time I need to that day. On the other, it was saying that it might take many, many months or even years to get to the start line of a marathon and that was OK too. It was the second interpretation that resonated with me last week as I came to terms with the realization that the Eugene Marathon wasn't going to happen for me this year. I am officially dropping my registration from the full to the half-marathon.

This was a really difficult decision to make. I wanted this marathon BADLY. Ever since I finally ran a half I could be proud of last year this race has been my goal. I wanted this one to be my inaugural marathon. It was a chance to prove to myself how much further I can push myself and what I can accomplish. This race was going to be the best way I could think of to celebrate my 40th birthday which is the day before the race. Heck, when we scheduled the wedding we did it so that it happened after Eugene. So the decision to drop the race was emotional for me and difficult to accept. But facts are facts and this injury has kept me from running and training and there was no way I could be ready by May 1 to run any kind of race I could be proud of. I just feel lucky that the injury happened so early in training and not after four months of hard work.

Another reason this race meant so much is that we are going to try to have a baby after the wedding and getting the marathon done before that happened would have been perfect timing. Training while pregnant just sounds miserable and, especially considering my age, probably not safe. By the way, running through pregnancy is safe, just not hard training you haven't done before. I know I can run one after a kid is born but I am guessing that will be fairly exhausting as well. This race was my best possible chance to train my hardest and be at my best for the distance. And it's gone now. Unless of course there will be no babies then, woo-hoo, here come some races!

On the injury front, the calf has been (knock wood) much better and I am thinking about testing the waters with it this week. The sciatica is also better but still flares up a little. The back pain, which I never had before I started doing exercises for the sciatica, also seems to have mostly gone away. Running should be able to begin again soon which is good because I am less than eight weeks away from a half-marathon and I would really like that race not to suck.

As for the marathon, well I'm ready for that amazing journey Ms. Flanagan spoke about and I will write my own ending for it in another race this year. If I can run pain free very soon then Rock and Roll Seattle at the end of June is a possibility. Portland or Victoria in early October are also high on the list but while running in fall is fabulous, training in summer is a bitch and I don't know how I would do with that. For now I am just going to keep on with my PT program, cross-train while I can and focus on getting to the start line of 26.2.

It's A Girl!

2011-03-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest addition to our household:

Meet Abby! We adopted her today from MEOW in Kirkland. She is nine months old and is a really sweet kitty.

So far Jackie and Oliver don't even seem to care that there is another cat in the house. We have her shut in my office until she acclimates and they have been sitting by the office door a little bit when we are inside with Abby but paying no attention when we are downstairs. When we brought her in in her carrier Ollie sniffed her nose and then just sauntered over to his food bowl. Jackie sniffed her nose and stayed around a little while to sniff some more. We were very pleased to hear no hissing, see no flattening of ears or fluffing of tails. In Abby's foster home she got along really well with three adult cats so hopefully she will fit in here.

So far she seems to lack basic jumping abilities but LOVES to give head butts and get lots and lots of pets. She even lets you touch her belly! She seems to be playful but not a giant spazz which is exactly what we wanted.

We can't wait to see how the meet and greets go!

Words of Wisdom

2011-03-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

Every so often you happen to run across the right message for you at the right time of your life. Today in my inbox was this daily Runner's World inspirational quote:

"Instead of focusing on all the things I can't control, I am enjoying the moments in front of me. The marathon is going to be an amazing journey and I get the chance to write the ending."
Shalane Flanagan, Olympic Medalist and 2nd woman finisher at the 2010 NY City Marathon

I don't know what that ending is going to be but I am committed to a journey that might take a very long time but will most definitely be amazing.

If It's In Print It Must Be True

2011-03-02T21:20:00.000-08:00

Even though we have been planning this wedding shindig for 10 months sometimes it seems very far away and vague. I've purchased a wedding dress, booked venues, met with florists, picked out a cake, and written scads o' checks. Heck, we even picked out my wedding ring last week. None of those activities has really had that "Wow, we are getting married" sort of feeling to it. Then there are moments that make me stop dead in my tracks and say "Oh, Holy Crap! I am really getting married." Yesterday, I had one of those moments.

The final proof from the printer came in and there were our names looking all wedding-y on what looks suspiciously like a wedding invitation. Even without a swoopy, romantic font and even with informal wording I can't escape that it is, very much, a wedding invitation. A wedding invitation with our names in it. For real. Freaks me the hell out on one hand and makes me feel kind of giddy and excited on the other.

This piece of paper (OK, this screen shot soon to be a piece of paper) has driven home the fact that this is really going to happen and soon and it isn't some vague "someday" sort of occurrence. It is really real. And I couldn't be happier.

Oh, and by the way, they are going to be awesome.

Beyond Frustrating

2011-03-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my four mile run in the rain. Except it wasn't a four-miler; it turned into a two-miler because of pain in my right leg and rear that was there for the whole run and calf pain that turned up towards the end of the two miles. I don't know what to do. I'm not healing and I HAVE to start logging some serious miles or the race won't happen. I am so frustrated now and I don't know how to fix myself any quicker.

The only plan I have now is to demand a physical therapy appointment sooner than March 11. If I have to start crying on the phone to get one earlier I will totally do that. I am also going to attempt my scheduled seven miles tomorrow night and hope for a different outcome. Right now I just want to have a drink. Good thing it is bar trivia night.

Marathon Training - Week 9

2011-02-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

There isn't a whole lot to report on this front. Since that last run with the strained calf two weeks ago I have ran twice. Well, one three mile run and one .66 mile "this isn't going to work I still hurt and have wonky gait" run. The three-miler was last Wednesday and seemed to go pretty well. I could feel the tightness in the right leg but the calf was basically fine and I felt like as long as I watched the length of my stride the gait wasn't weird. I haven't been out since then because of snow and out of town company but I plan on heading out for a four-miler tomorrow night.

I think I am going to go back to where I left off on Higdon's Novice 2 plan rather than trying to jump ahead to what week 11 is going to look like. I can always compress the schedule somewhere else. It is probably a much smarter idea.

There are still two months until Eugene and if I can stay healthy I think I might still be able to pull this race out. If not, well, there is always the half.

Wish me luck this week. If all goes well with the legs Sunday will be my first-ever 14 miler and then we get to go to our first dance class with our new instructor. Nope, my legs won't be wobbly and worn out at all. We haven't given up on East Coast Swing but if we are thinking about doing a first dance we figured we should maybe try to do something more than the junior high stand in one spot and hold each other while swaying uncomfortably to the music.

Injury Update

2011-02-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Turns out I don't have something as cool and runner-y as piriformis syndrome. Instead I have......sciatica. Other than arthritis I don't think there is an older people sounding diagnosis. Between sciatica and my bunions can gout be far behind? Will I need to start wearing comfortable shoes and handing out sticky purse-fuzz laden hard candies to people? Will I need to wear a babushka? Can I get a more old lady diagnosis? Well, frankly yes but it is still embarrassing.

Actually sciatica is a symptom and not a diagnosis. It means that I somehow tweaked my back in early January without knowing it and that is causing impingement on my sciatic nerve that causes pain and weakness down my right buttock, thigh and behind my knee. The physical therapist thinks that the sciatica and right side weakness probably exacerbated my already ridiculously tight left calf muscle. It was fascinating to do the strength tests and to realize my left side could resist all of her pushing and effort and the right side could be easily moved. In one move there was zero resistance on the right side. This is definitely nerve and not muscular because she had me do a few stretches and then retested and the right side was stronger than 10 minutes before. .

So how do we treat this old lady symptom? Well, I start by purchasing a foam wedge so I can change the position in my car while I drive. And I get a desk chair at work that actually has lumbar support. Then I do a series of back stretches and strengthening moves to "un-impinge" the nerve. For my calf, I rest and do stretches, lots and lots of stretches. Once the pain is completely gone I can work on strengthening it too.

As for running, the therapist would like me to wait until I am completely symptom free on both sides but she must work with runners a fair amount because she said "but you are going to run before I think you are ready to aren't you" and I said "yup." That marathon won't run itself, lady. If the calf feels OK tomorrow I am heading out for an easy, flat four-miler to test it. I'm not sure what to do about my 15 mile long-run on Sunday but I will let my body dictate that decision. Wish me luck.

Three Months to Go

2011-02-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the three months until the wedding mark. Yikes! How did that happen so quickly?

Once we got done with our Portland weekend and finalized all the vendors and FINALLY decided on what to do about centerpieces (I marvel at how much brain time went into that only to fall back to the original idea I first liked last summer) I felt great. I said to myself "wonderful, all the decisions have been made and there isn't much else to do." And then I started listing some of the little things that were left on the list. And I listed, and listed and then, for a change, I listed some more. Holy crapballs is there still a lot to do. Here's the problem: I feel done. Not particularly interested anymore. The fun has passed. This is bad, bad, bad.

I am gamely trying to keep my enthusiasm about wedding details going but at this point it is just about checking tasks and decisions off the list because we have to. We have created this beast and must see it through to fruition. Yes, I realize lots of the items on the list are technically optional but they are details we really want so we must proceed. Those lemons won't get wings by themselves you know.

Luckily, Kevin is very invested in this wedding and enjoys helping plan and find just the right things. This way, the entire day is a reflection of the both of us and not just something the bride conjured up and the groom shows up at to say his few words. This has been an equal partnership and I am extremely lucky that he cares, and wants to, and actually takes an active involvement in the whole process. From stories I have heard this is a rare sort of fiance. Hopefully the wedding will reflect that by actually showing some personality.

In the meantime I keep checking the few wedding websites I visit to keep some level of enthusiasm up and wait to hear details from my friends Amber and Mike who are planning a July wedding to keep me motivated. We just need to remind ourselves that we just have to keep pushing down the course and that the finish line isn't that far off. Do you think there will be bananas and bagels? Will Kevin's nipples bleed?

Marathon Training - Week 7

2011-02-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Trainus Interruptus might be a better headline to this post. I am hoping the interruptus doesn't last longer than a few days so my frustration level doesn't end up higher than it already is.

Monday - An hour practice for the next night's swing dance class after a wonderful blissful yet painful massage. My calves end up screaming after dancing so I am going to blame part of my woes on this whole dancing thing. I am still counting it as cross-training though.

Tuesday - An hour swing dance class. Cross-training!

Wednesday - Seven mile marathon pace run that went really, really well.

Thursday - Four miles that started with some sharp piriformis pain that went away after about a half-hour.

Saturday - Earlier in the morning while I was bounding down the stairs I felt my always tight left calf muscle go "tweak". It hurt. It bothered me the rest of the day, mostly going up or down stairs but I thought it was just more calf tightness. Then I went for my four miler, in the wind-storm downpour thank you very much. I limped through almost all the run and could tell my gait was off even when the limp became less prominent. I came home and iced and stretched but it still hurt.

Sunday - I decided to scrap my 14 miler because of the calf strain and the affected gait. The night before I needed a little convincing to not go but when I woke up and it hurt to roll over in bed I realized it was absolutely the right choice. No sense screwing up the rest of the marathon training for what is, in the grand scheme of things, a short run. I still felt like a big loser though for not being able to go out and run. I was actually looking forward to what would have been my single day mileage PR.

Oh, and I did my upper body and core strengthening program three times last week. Woo-hoo!!

Today I have a PT appointment after work to deal with the piriformis (buttocks and leg pain) and we will also address the constant calf tightness and mild-strain I had this weekend. I am hopeful they can get me back on the road (literally) to healthy running. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm getting antsy and annoyed.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2011-02-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

Kevin had some "use it or lose it" vacation days so we planned a quick, cheap Disneyland trip for January. By the way, January during the week is the way to go. Thursday there were almost no lines or crowds and even on the weekend days the wait times were never too bad.

We both had an amazing time and just played like little kids from the time the park opened until it closed. It is impossible to have a bad time at Disneyland. We were also reminded how exhausting Disneyland can be. Being on your feet and walking around for 10-12 hours really takes it out of you, we even had to go back to the hotel on Saturday and take a quick nap because we were both completely done in.

Day one was spent entirely at Disneyland. I also (pat myself on the back) got up early and ran around the mean streets on Anaheim for my scheduled six-miler before we headed into the park. The weather was gorgeous, blue skies and high 70s for all three days we were there.

In front of Main Street Station

This was the scariest sight in all the land: a sea of strollers in front of It's A Small World. Actually the little kids weren't obnoxious at all, it was the junior high aged kids running around on their own that you wanted to smack. But even they weren't too bad 'cause it's Disneyland and you are HAPPY.

Speaking of scary, on our second time through It's A Small World our boat got stuck. Like something from a bad sitcom we were trapped inside It's A Small World for 20 minutes. And when you are trapped the song and the dolls don't stop. So between the ride and the stoppage we were exposed to 30 minutes of It's A Small World and lived to tell the tale. No noticeable post-traumatic stress either.


Smiling the first time through the ride unaware of the terror that laid in wait for us later that day.

We did every single ride in Disneyland at least once, except for the ones that were closed which included my all-time favorite Splash Mountain. I was quite distraught to find out we missed it by a week but that just means we have to go back again so we can ride it together.

We got this cup spinning hard.


Kevin in Mickey's car in Toon Town

The second day was split between Disneyland and California Adventure. I braved the Tower of Terror which does indeed live up to its name. However, it is terrifying in an exhilarating and fun way. For those who don't know it is an "elevator" that takes you up in this building and then suddenly and randomly drops you straight down a few floors, takes you up a few, drops you a few and then at some point you drop the entire 13 stories. I found out afterward that the ride designers didn't think the 13 story free-fall was fast enough so there are cables that are actually pulling your car down during the free-fall to make it more intense. Awesome ride and a nice Twilight Zone tie-in.


The Tower of Terror at night


Best. Ears. Ever.

The third day was spent mostly at California Adventure exploring that park and getting SOAKED on the Grizzly River Run ride (twice) and then back to Disneyland at night. More eating, riding and marveling at all the little details Disney puts into everything before heading back to Seattle early Sunday morning.

Apart from the amazing amount of fun we got to have together we also had three days of almost no wedding chat. Three blissful days of no planning other than "what ride do we want to do next" or "hmmm....more popcorn or a chocolate frozen banana". Three days of....well, almost.....

This Is War

2011-02-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Alright Piriformis pain, it is one thing to hurt when I drive and to cause me to run a little stiffly but once you start interfering with my quality bathroom reading time all bets are off. This is war and I will destroy you.

Clearly I Was Clueless

2011-02-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

I really thought I would have oodles of time on the day of the wedding to help take care of decorations and make sure everything was set up the way we want for the reception. That turns out to be not even close to being true. My leisurely "oh, the wedding isn't until 4:30 we have oodles of time" has turned into "holy crap, I have to be in the salon for hair and make-up at 12:00 so there is enough time to make me look presentable and have time for all the pictures before high-tailing it to downtown Portland for the ceremony." We don't have access to the reception space until 11:00 so that leaves exactly one hour for me to help set-up and make sure this beast we have spent a year planning looks and feels the way we want it to. Aaarggh!

All this wedding day stuff is really interfering with our wedding day.

Marathon Training - Week 6

2011-02-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

I am getting back on track, sort of, in regards to my running schedule. Last week was busy, busy, busy and I wasn't able to squeeze in one of my short runs. I am up against a similar situation this week with only one weekday with nothing but running scheduled after work so I am going to have to really flex the schedule to make it all fit.

Tuesday - Week three of East Coast Swing 2 and we get sweaty enough in this class that I am going to count it as cross-training.
Wednesday - Six crappy miles I posted about previously. I am still proud I gutted through those.
Thursday - Three easy ones around the neighborhood. Infinitely better than the day before. I also did my home strength training program after the run.
Sunday - 12 down by the lake. Slow and steady but done. I had leg tightness for about the first six miles but it loosened up after that. I also did a shortened version of my strength training while waiting for the interminable Super Bowl to end.

Weekly Mileage: 21

Coming next week: a new one day distance record for me (hopefully). Also, much home stretching, changing my work ergonomics and a painful yet incredibly relaxing massage have improved the piriformis situation. It isn't 100 % yet but I also no longer feel the need to yelp in pain.

Running Can Be A Pain In The Rear

2011-02-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the worst runs are the ones that can teach you the most. Let's take last night for example. First a little backstory. For probably about a month I have been having pain in the back of my right leg. Sort of started right where the buttocks meets the top of the thigh and then has progressed to the entire back of the leg and behind the knee with occasional twinges down into the calf. I have self-diagnosed it as piriformis syndrome. Thanks internet for my medical degree!

The pain is strongest when I drive and driving seems to exacerbate it. Since I average about two hours a day of driving it just keeps getting worse. I actually yelped while driving home from dance class Tuesday night. Fortunately, it hasn't bothered my running (until last night) other than noticing some tightness when I run and walking around Disneyland for three days straight actually seemed to make it go away for a short time. Good, except for the fact that my day involves sitting and not moving much so that doesn't help.

But onward to last night's run. I had six miles on the schedule and immediately knew it was going to be a bad run. The pain in the right leg wouldn't go away, my left ankle felt tight and uncomfortable and when I relaced the shoe to loosen it up then my heel would slip which changed my gait so my calf tightened up. Then the groin got in on the act. Really, Groin? Really? Anyway, I was doing two laps of a three-mile loop and at mile three I passed my car. I knew the run was crap by this point and I had even had to take a few walk breaks and I just wanted to stop. And there was my car and the opportunity to stop. But I didn't. Instead I did a quick assessment:
Are any of the pains you are having acute? No
Do you think running further will cause you harm? No
Are you just maybe being a whiny, namby pamby baby and could you run through this? Probably.
Will you regret stopping early? Yes
Than continue on, Grasshopper. And I did. And it felt good. Not physically good mind you but mentally good that I didn't wuss out. It took me years to get to the point of running through discomfort and pushing on when I want to stop. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't good but I did it. And that was my running victory last night. And my ass still hurts.

Marathon Training - Week 4 and 5

2011-02-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

The three day trip to Portland for wedding vendor mania two weekends ago and the four day trip to Disneyland this last weekend have completely and totally thrown my training off schedule. Add to that some general overscheduling and you get a tired and unmotivated runner.

While in Portland I did manage to get up early and drag myself out to do my scheduled 6 miler around the river and I did the same thing in Anaheim (substitute river for theme parks) for that scheduled 6 miler. However, a couple of 3 milers were lost and the 12 I was supposed to do Sunday after flying back from California just didn't happen. I meant to do the 12 last night but....meh, I just didn't want to. So I have lost one complete week of training but I am getting it back on track this week. I will do my 12 this Sunday and all will be fine. I am far enough away from the race that completely screwing up one week will hopefully not kill me. Besides, this Sunday was scheduled to only be 9 miles so I think I am OK.

On the plus side though, I did manage to have one of those amazing runs where everything just clicks and you feel strong and fast in these two weeks of training. It was a mid-week 5 miler at marathon pace and I just didn't want to go. I was tired and cold but I went out anyway and posted the fastest miles I have run yet this year. It was a nice little reminder that training works and you will reap the benefits.

Oh, I also had a one-time session with a personal trainer to help work on some core and back strength issues for both the marathon and wedding time. I am also trying to make my arms not look like hams anymore.

Cake Ramblings

2011-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

I love cake. I love cake a lot. So going to cake tastings and choosing one baker and her cakes over the others was going to be difficult. Much like puppies and kittens, all cakes are beautiful and deserve good homes. There are also no flavors of cake that are off-limits in my world. All flavors are good. Coconut? Check. Dark chocolate strawberry? Check. Pineapple walnut? Check. All three together? Sure, I'm game! I could go on and on but you get the idea. All desserts and all dessert combinations are OK with me. So it was difficult to not only narrow down the bakers but to narrow down the flavors in the tiers.

Ah, the tiers. I need to rant here. I am personally starting a one-woman campaign to end the single-flavor multi-tier wedding cake. Who is with me? Most, if not all, bakers will be happy to make each tier a separate flavor without adding additional cost. So you tell me why you would choose one flavor when you, and your guests, could have multiples to choose from? More flavors = more choices which = happier guests. The next time you go to a wedding like that you kick the newlyweds in the shins because it is the only way we can stop such madness from occurring. With all the cake choices in the world why limit yourself? Aaaarrrggghh! Also, we discovered bakers are really pleased to get to make something other than white cake with white frosting.

We had a great time playing with the design and figuring it all out. Because our guest list is small and cakes designed for our numbers of guests just look sad and lonely we upped the size of the cake to approximately double our guest count. Seriously, those little two tier jobs really make me sad. But then again, the cake is the part of the wedding I care the most about so I might be a little skewed. Anyway, we are keeping the design a secret until the wedding day but I can safely say our guests will get three flavors of awesome (Kevin wants to keep the top tier for our anniversary otherwise they would get four) and it will be large enough to feel like a special occasion cake. I love this cake so much I want to hug it. Now I have to wait three and a half months to get to meet it in person.* sigh*

I Can Finally Stop Obsessing!

2011-01-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

I am laying on a bed in Portland with the sun (yes actual sun) on my face looking out at the Willamette River with my head full of wedding ideas. Instead of amillion different ideas in my brain about all the possibilities of what we can do and how it should look we have finally made permanent decisions on how it should all be. Hooray! I don't think I could stand thinking about it one more moment . Yesterday we started our great Portland wedding vendor marathon weekend with visits to the ceremony and reception venues again, a cake tasting and meeting a DJ. Today is more cake and also florists. We are both so excited about what we have decided on and created! I really want to share the cake design but that will have to wait. Sure, I'll put on the wedding dress a billion times and show everyone but the cake is special.

Marathon Training - Week 3

2011-01-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

So far so good. I feel good and only had a little leg weakness after doing 18 miles in three days which my legs are not used to. Here are the stats.

Monday - Should have been a rest day but I had to get my long run in that I missed Sunday. I counted them towards last weeks miles but it contributed to some tired legs come Wednesday night.
Tuesday - Three around the neighborhood with light snow falling. Kind of pretty actually.
Wednesday - Six that were supposed to be at marathon pace but fell far short of that. Actually the first three were OK and then my legs started to feel wobbly and I slowed down a lot. I didn't mind too much when I reminded myself of the previous two days' mileage.
Friday - Three around the neighborhood. I am really starting to get used to the running in the dark thing.
Sunday - Eleven down by the lake. This came in at an even 12:00 which is probably where my long runs should be right now. What made me happy though was the last mile I managed an 11:13 which means I still had gas in the tank and could have either gone further or faster. This is a good sign. When I stopped after the eleven my legs were mighty wobbly though.

Weekly Total: 23 miles

According to Hal, this week was actually supposed to be my step-back week but I had to swap weeks because of the upcoming Portland wedding vendor marathon extravaganza. My long run next week is only six miles and I get to run it down by the river in downtown Portland. Oh, and I am adding strength-training in this week. And another round of East Coast Swing classes.

Trees Were Killed To Make This Post

2011-01-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

I need to take a moment and brag on my guy a bit.

Ever since building the amazing kitty condo a year and a half ago, Kevin has taken an interest in wood working. Actually, the interest was there before but he just hadn't done much with it. Last year he designed and built our wonderful spice rack so one can quickly find the cumin.

Just recently he built an LP holder for all of my old albums. It holds all of them beautifully and is on wheels so we can wheel it out from the storage closet and listen to records like old folks and then wheel it back in when we are done.

Kevin would like to point out that these are indeed my records and not his. But who doesn't love a little Culture Club on occasion?

Currently he is working on garage cabinets for all of his hiking and climbing gear. There is also talk of a kitchen bookcase to hold all of our cookbooks. I am very proud of his ability to make these things but also how he will read and study just the right way to do them and then actually take the time to do them correctly. Those of you who grew up in households where people knew how to make things might not think this is any big deal but I did not grow up in such a household so I think this is extremely cool. He never ceases to amaze me with what he is capable of and with his interest in learning. But if we could do something about the dust in the garage....

Marathon Training - Week 2

2011-01-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Week two went well other than a minor meltdown during Sunday's long run that had zero to do with running. I rebounded strong the next day though so training schedule disaster averted.

Tuesday - Three miles on the basic home route after work.

Wednesday - Five great miles at the lake. This wasn't supposed to a marathon pace workout but it turned into one and it felt fabulous.

Saturday - Three "meh" miles on the home route. Nothing special but I did drag my butt out of bed early to do them because I had a busy day of wedding expo and Dave Alvin concert ahead of me.

Sunday - Wow, I shouldn't even mention this one. Got up early in the very cold temps, went down to the home lake path and proceeded to have a kind of meltdown. I go 1.3 in before I said "screw this" and stopped. I didn't even run the 1.3 back to the car. This was mostly brought on by many nights of interrupted sleep because of my dear and his never ending sinus dripping induced cough and snoring and an existential bridal/wife identity crisis brought on by the preceding days wedding expo.

Monday - (which technically starts week three but I am fudging a little here) Nine miles in the bitter, bitter cold and pitch black after work at the lake to make up for the nine I didn't run on Sunday morning. I was slow but felt really strong for the whole distance. This also made me resolve to get faster. Speedy people could have had that run done in around an hour-ish. It took me 1:49. Being a slow runner is a bigger time commitment. I didn't finally thaw out until I jumped in the bathtub at around 10:00. But I did it.

This week brings my first double digit run since June!

Weatherproof Wedding

2011-01-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Since our wedding is in the Northwest in May I figured I needed to plan for rain. I won't want to ruin my hair and makeup walking to and fro and my fabulous shoes are satin and therefore could be destroyed by water so I needed a plan of action. Also, we want to take photos all around the Edgefield grounds and those grounds can get muddy and dirty. So I decided to create the inclement weather wedding ensemble.

Voila!

I might actually love this look a little too much. Although I think the dress is a smidge long and should be taken up a stripe.

I Might Regret This but...

2011-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

...I just committed myself to doing something kind of scary. Scary but exciting. Details to come at a later date.

2011 Goals

2011-01-03T18:55:00.000-08:00

After some pondering I have come up with my goals for the new year. Mind you there are lots of other little things I would like to work on such as keeping the house cleaner, eating healthier, getting more sleep but if I couldn't easily quantify it it didn't make the official list. My goals are always SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-constrained) and not everything fits easily into that category. Or at least I don't want to get that specific with some of them. Here are the ones that made the cut:

1. Run at least 750 miles - What do you do when you can't meet your 650 miles per year goal the last two years. You yell at yourself and add 100.
2. Finish a marathon - Registering is just a small part of the battle.
3. One stretching session for each day I run during the week - Run four times, stretch four times. Only way I think I can do this without injury.
4. Lose 30 lbs - Yep, not giving up on the weight loss. I don't want to be a fat marathoner or a fat bride.
5. Visit one place in state I have never been before - A perennial list maker.
6. Visit one place out of state I have never been before - See above.
7. Take a multivitamin at least five days a week - If I didn't have to take them with food this would be a piece of cake and a non-issue.
8. Paint the downstairs bathroom, kitchen, living room and upstairs bedroom - I'm tired of the lack of color around here and it is high time my taste was better represented. Monster poster art will also be moved.
9. Have a once monthly cleaning night - Regular cleaning will still be done as usual but this is for Kevin and I to tackle one big cleaning project together. We'll open a bottle of wine, turn on the music and clean the joint up. By the way, it was originally his idea.
10. Not be further in debt than I am right now - Ideally this would involve less debt but with a wedding, honeymoon, an elderly car that is incontinent of both engine and radiator, and an elderly cat that has been diagnosed with very early kidney disease I am going to shoot for a more realistic "hold steady".

I still like some of last year's goals such as "take classes" and "volunteer" but I am trying to be realistic about the time commitments involved and how busy the first half of the year will be. At least those are more on my radar since I put them in last year's goals list.

Anyone else have any goals for the new year?

Resolution Run 5K Run Report (or Embracing Your Inner Scandanavian)

2011-01-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Notice that doesn't say "race report". That is not an error. I wanted to do this run to celebrate the start of the new year in a fun way doing one of my favorite things: going to a race. Also, there is the polar bear plunge at the end that feels so good and invigorating that, coupled with the exercise, you can't help but start the year off on the right foot. I also didn't intend on racing it because I knew I had an eight-miler on the schedule for the next day and the last time I really raced a race my quads were sore for two days. So this was just a "run and enjoy the beautiful morning and the exercise" kind of run.

Temperatures at race time were 26 degrees. I wore oodles of layers and stood facing the sun so it didn't feel too cold standing around for the start. This race has grown quite a bit since I ran it back in 2007 and that became really evident once the gun went off.   The paths were probably too narrow for the volume of runners in the best of times but with large icy patches throughout the course it made it even worse. At times we had to slow to a walk and twice even come to a dead stop while we maneuvered off course to avoid the ice. Even if I wanted to post a good time it wasn't happening here.

The course winds its way around Magnuson Park before diverting near the finish line. If you were just running the race and weren't going to go in the lake (i.e. you were a big wuss) you stayed to the right and went to the finish. If you were doing the polar bear plunge you kept going straight and ran down a boat ramp right into the 41 degree Lake Washington, dunked your head (rules state it doesn't count it you don't submerge) and then ran up the ramp and then another 50 yards-ish to the finish line. Here lies another problem. Soaking wet runners dripping all over the freezing pavement makes for.........? If you said ice all the way from the ramp to the finish line you would be correct. So there was no finishing kick but merely a gingerly half-run, half-waddle to the finish line hoping I didn't break an ankle and ruin my marathon training in the first week.

All in all it was a good time. The water actually feels really good in a bizarre sort of way. Bracing and invigorating and refreshing and I firmly believe everyone should try it at least once. I did it back in 2007 and thought it would be horrible but loved every icy second of it. Of course, there was no way in hell I would stay in for longer than I had to. I'm Finnish but not insane. Sadly, my usual race photographer stayed in bed to both avoid the cold and nurse his so I don't have any photographs to share.

Here are the (just for fun) splits:
Mile 1:      11:03 ( this was one of the dead stop parts of the course)
Mile 2:      10:34
Mile 3:      10:10
Mile .19    12:47 (included the plunge portion of the event)

Also, I discovered that freezing cold lake water and a slightly full bladder leads to involuntary urination. Sorry people who plunged right after me.

Happy 2011!

Marathon Training - Week 1

2011-01-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

Week one is behind me and it was actually pretty good. I know two months from now I will be resenting my training schedule and whining about the runs I "have" to do but right now it feels good to have some structure to the training. Here is how the week broke down:

Tuesday - Easy three miler around the work neighborhood. I got to try out running with my headlamp and wear my new almost glow in the dark neon green running shirt.
Wednesday - Five miles at the lake at my expected marathon pace. More headlamp-y awesomeness. Yes, I look like an uber-dork but I can see things. I am an uber-dork with vision.
Saturday - Turned my three miler that should have been Friday into a run to start the new year. Complete with polar bear dip at the end. The report will follow soon.
Sunday - Eight on my lakefront trail. Felt good although miles 2-3 felt tight and long for some reason. I was reminded how much I prefer running in cold to running in heat. The trail was beautiful and only really slippery where the pavement crossed it. Absolutely gorgeous day. More like those please.

So no cross training or yoga this week but I hope to incorporate that this week.

Seventeen more to go!

2010 Year In Review

2010-12-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't want to start this post on a negative vibe but: 2010 can kiss my ass.

This year has been a year of suck in a lot of ways. Getting engaged was amazing and happy and I had a few good running moments but other than that, not so much. Jumping almost straight from the craziness of a work/school double-life into a ramping up of my father's illness in February, his death, my mother's really bad illness and almost inability to function for a month prior to and after Dad's death making an already stressful situation almost unbearable, the defection of my sister at the same time Dad was dying leading to the family being chopped in half and dealing with the aftermath of it all really took a toll. I didn't really realize all of that until just recently when I am starting to get some more distance and perspective of it all. It's funny how you can still experience grief and anger when you don't even really miss the people. Oh, and there's a little guilt for not really missing the people. It is one of those things I didn't really understand until I had been through it. Unfortunately it is something we all will know someday. However, things feel thawed again and I feel like a lot of that turmoil and sadness is over. I just want a drama free 2011.

But on to happier things, the goals from 2010. I didn't hit as many as I wanted but I am glad they were out there because they kept me more focused than if they weren't.

The recap:
Running Goals
5K PR - Done! At the Top Pot Doughnut Dash in April I ran a 29:14
Half-Marathon PR - Done! The following week at Eugene I ran a 2:21:56 which killed my previous PR.
Run at least 650 miles - Fail! This is the only one I am beating myself up about. There is no good excuse for not hitting this. None. I ended the year on 511.65 miles. Pathetic.

Health
Lost a minimum of 40 pounds - I knew this was a stretch goal and would be challenging. I did lose 20 but some have crept back on. I haven't been to WW in awhile so I don't know how many (I can't remember what the home scale said at my lowest weight) but I think put on at least six so I am guessing my total yearly loss is 14 pounds. Once I head in for a weigh-in next week I will post the real number.

Personal
Visit one new place in state - Probably the easiest on the list and it was a fail. Never got anywhere new this year.
Visit one new place out of state - This was a success. We hit McMinnville, OR and also saw huge swaths of Colorado I hadn't seen before.
Travel outside the country (offer excludes Canada) - Success! Big tickets purchases are hard for me to pull the trigger on and if I didn't set this goal I would still be waffling on where exactly was the perfect place to go.
Drink more - We drank more wine than we purchased (I think) but we definitely hit our yearly 52 bottle total. We consumed 58 bottles. Thanks to two friends we had over in January for some over-imbibing for helping us reach for the stars.
Complete 40 hours of volunteer time - Only completed 14 hours. Does time spent helping your parents out count?
Take four different classes - I took two: a 10 week yoga program and East Coast Swing.
Really learn 10 new entrees or side dishes - Yeah, I kind of gave up on this right away last year. I need to break my toast or sandwich for dinner habit. I get home so late that I don't much feel like cooking dinner and we are frequently gone or superbusy on the weekends which doesn't leave much time for cooking.

So there it is, the goals that were. I have been mentally compiling my 2011 list and am eager to post it once I get it all sorted out.

Here's to a new year! And a huge "thank you" to my friends and loved ones for putting up with crabbiness and general out-of-sortness this year. 2011 will be a better, brighter year.

And So It Begins

2010-12-29T22:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday marked day one of my 18 week odyssey to run a marathon. Nothing spectacular; just an easy three-miler followed by a five-miler today at race pace. I feel much better running with a goal in mind. I need that race to motivate me or I don't perform at 100%.

While the looming distances on the training calendar aren't freaking me out too much (yet) there are two things that are: legs and feet. I am having neuroma problems in the left foot at even low mileage and tonight the bunion on my right foot hurts. Yes, I am aware that last phrase is lifted straight from the halls of my dear nursing home but dang it, it's true! The legs are doing something unusual also. Towards the end of the run they feel like two entirely different legs. One feels springy and tight and shorter and the other feels loose and weird. This can probably be eliminated with some concentrated stretching but the feeling is bizarre. I think I am going to have to come up with some sort of stretching related goal for 2011.

This weekend I am taking a page from wedding planning and making an inspiration board of sorts for my marathon and marathon training. Anything to keep me focused and ready for Eugene.

A Christmas Eve Run

2010-12-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

I went for a run today. It was the first in two weeks because of illness and the holiday. While it was only three miles it was one of the best runs I have had in quite awhile. Runs like this one remind me why I drag myself out there time and time again. Feeling your pulse quicken, the lungs starting to work harder, the muscles warm up and your body finding a familiar rhythm. Feeling the rain hit you in the face and the sweat rising on your skin. Feeling the cobwebs and confusion clear your mind with each footfall. There truly is no feeling like it.

There are many people and things I am grateful for but today I am most grateful that I am a runner.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I am totally phoning Christmas in this year. But even with the lack of enthusiasm I think our living room looks pretty festive, cozy and warm. I love walking down the stairs and seeing this image complete with curled up happy cat on the sofa (cat two is on her rocking chair on the other side of the fireplace). Please also note the Mistletoad hanging in the corner of the photo. Not Christmas without a Mistletoad.

We really toned it down this year and there are quite a few things we didn't get around to putting up. We did hang a swag of cedar all down the bannister and the entryway is decorated and there are a few decorations in the dining area but basically.... not so into it.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the peace, warmth and of the season. Oh, and eggnog...enjoy that too!!

The Twelve Days of Wholesome Language

2010-12-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

After a few comments from Kevin over the years about my language and its tendency to veer towards longshoreman I have decided to meet the challenge head-on. For the last twelve days of this year I am going to abstain from swearing. Just quit cold-turkey. Cold, f-ing, turkey.

Now this isn't about to become a permanent change. I am a beliver that a vocabulary peppered with the occasional obscenity is a necessary and beautiful thing. But I do agree that I can lean on it a little too much especially when I am worn-out which seems to be the norm these past weeks.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and by the way I don't think either "hell" or references to "Jesus Christ" are swear words.

Costa Rica Trip Report (sort of)

2010-12-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

I've been back from Costa Rica for a week and haven't been able to muster the energy to log in and post anything yet. Saturday night while watching Roger Water's The Wall , unexpectedly amazing by the way, I started to get a bad sore throat. I chalked it up to the amount of pot smoke wafting through the Tacoma Dome but by Sunday I had become full-on sick. In between this and trying to get the house decorated for Christmas and go to work (I finally took today off) I haven't had the energy for much. We set up the tree Sunday night and it still isn't complete. Our tree takes hours and hours of work because I am an ornament whore and I am starting to feel like it will never get done. But I digress...

Costa Rica was fun. See the above mentioned illness? That is about the energy I have to describe it. There are pictures that I took and 90% of them suck (Look, it's a ........blob in a tree! Maybe bird, monkey, sloth? No clue!) Others from the tour part of the trip have uploaded photos to Picassa but I am too lazy right now to log-in and look at their photos and find nice ones for you. Yeah, even creating a Picassa log-in seems daunting right now, it's that bad. Maybe when Kevin goes back home for the holidays I might find some time to post a few.

Here's the trip in a nutshell: There was a jungle yurt with howler monkeys above. Many birds and interesting insects including: mot mots, toucans, parrots, macaws, hummingbirds, leaf cutter ants, tarantula, bullet ants, and stick insects. We saw sloths, howler monkeys, porcupines, coati mundis, caiman, and crocodiles. A few of us spent a few hours at an animal sanctuary where I got to hold a kinkajou and have a racoon try to climb up my arm and I got to tickle his feet while questioning my decision not to get the rabies vaccine.

Tours included a pineapple plantation, coffee plantation and cocoa plantation all of which were fascinating. Also, it seems even countries we consider "poor" have immigrant agricultural workers. Most of the food you get from Costa Rica? Probably picked by Nicaraguans. Best pineapple I ever ate was picked right from the field where the workers were harvesting it. It makes you think again about the importance of organics when you see those workers surrounded up to their armpits in pineapple plants about the toxins they must encounter regularly. This particular plantation was part organic and part conventional and they were picking organic at the time. Pineapples are done by hand by the way. We also took a night hike to spot noctural critters and a hike through a deluge that ended in the dark where a view of the elusive Arenal Volcano should be. Most of us went ziplining through and above the cloud forest one day. If you ever get the chance to do this you must, must, must. Exhilirating to say the least. Just don't think about how if the cable snapped while you are 300 feet above the ground and 1km between trees you would be a little stain on the forest floor.

There were exploding glass tables at our authentic home cooked Costa Rican lunch, torrential rains that caused washouts and flooding and a general dampness that pervaded everything, a windstorm that caused a power outage and gave us a memorable meal in the dark and a walk through the pitch dark town up the huge hill back to our hotel. No cabs to be had because it was the night of the, ironically named, Festival of Lights in town. The bus that skid backwards trying to get up the same gigantic hill and ended up with its back tires stuck behind a concrete barrier and hanging over a drop-off. Luckily no one but the driver was on the bus at the time and he was fine. The boat across the estuary to get to the town that had the ATM that involved boarding in the mud not 100 yards from where I saw the biggest crocodile earlier that morning. Those were some of the little adventure parts of the trip.

I also spent a few lazy days at the beach by myself just sleeping, reading and walking around. I did run three times while I was there and I am pretty sure I will never see anything cooler on any of my runs than the howler monkeys I saw on my run through the beach "town" I was staying in.

So there it is in a nutshell. Costa Rica was good but I was sure glad to be back home. I am glad I went ahead and did the trip by myself because I always would have had that goal in the back of my mind if I didn't but I can tell you that being alone doesn't hold the charms it used to. I missed Kevin horribly and kept thinking how much he would have enjoyed all of the trip especially the night hike, chocolate plantation (he's the biggest chocolate lover I know) and ziplining. I don't ever want to take a trip like that without him again. He has kind of ruined being alone in a good way.

Green Lake Gobble 5K

2010-11-23T23:20:00.000-08:00

In an effort to motivate myself I signed up for Amanda's PR Challenge and set my sights on a new 5K PR. I knew this was going to be a long shot but I figured the motivation would at least get my butt out the door. That and the looming marathon training. Good motivators both.

The race I chose was the Greenlake Gobble 5K. As the race approached I realized there was pretty much no way in hell I would PR. I have been putting in some better mileage lately but all of it has been slow. When I woke up on race morning to freezing temps and snow I almost crawled back in bed and didn't go. Actually I did crawl back in bed but then talked myself into going. Races are such happy places and runners have such positive energy and frankly, I can use a bit of that these days. Besides, I am always happier after a race. Also, I paid for the race and signed up for this challenge so I felt like I had to. So off I went, all bundled up (three shirts) and wearing my turkey leg head band proudly to go run 3.1 miles.

Since this wasn't even close to a PR attempt I just set out to have a nice fun run. Somewhere in the first half-mile I realized I might be able to bring my time in close to a 10:00 minute pace. So I ran a little faster. Then I realized how many races I have run with a per mile pace that starts with two digits and how disappointed I am by that. So I ran faster still. My new goal was a sub 10:00 pace. Then, with only about a half-mile to go I remembered my tangent problem and the fact that I can't run the exact distance of any race and always end up with more mileage than the distance. Crap! Even though my Garmin says my overall pace is 9:54 there is a good possibility that I will run 3.2 miles and blow my pace goal.....and I did. With no gas left in the tank I crossed in 31:07 which is a pace of 10:02 per mile and almost two minute slower than my 5K PR in April.

Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 10:06
Mile 2: 9:51
Mile 3: 9:53
Mile .15 (according to my Garmin) 9:02 pace

If I used my Garmin stats I would have ended up with a 9:54 pace. Considering that my "fast" runs lately have been a hovering around 10:30 I am pleased with this time and pleased that I decided to end up racing it after all. And I know I raced it when I could feel the soreness in my quads the next day.

Next race: Eugene Marathon!

Almost Trip Time

2010-11-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, I'm going to Costa Rica next week! I am feeling fairly unprepared at the moment in spite of the purchase of some new hot weather clothing (tough to find in November) and a pair of light hiking shoes (my hiking boots are waaaaaayyy too heavy and clunky). Other than the newly purchased items I have no idea what I am going to wear. I don't really have a wardrobe for Seattle summers let alone one for Central America.

I did get my suggested travel vaccinations for Hep A and Typhoid for a dollar amount that made me cringe and caused wallet pain. They had better be worth it. This also prompted a statement I'm not sure gets said a lot: "For our honeymoon we really need to go to a country that has Typhoid." You know, just to get my money's worth out of the deal.

I "know" a few of the people that will be joining me on this trip. Through message board posts on the travel company's website I have learned that there will be a group of four "women of a certain age" who are docents at their local zoo and are primarily interested in the birds of Costa Rica. There is also a recent female college graduate from New Jersey. In my mind my trip now includes the Golden Girls and Snooki. Let's get realistic though, ain't no way Snooki is a recent college grad.

As the time for departure nears I am getting pretty excited about this little adventure. Still trying to decide if I am going to try and run when I am down there. The hot humid weather and the unfamiliarity with the area is giving me pause. Who knows, maybe Blanche and Sophia will want to join me for a run through the jungle.

So Glad I Am Marrying This Man

2010-11-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

I recently sent Kevin a list of Portland bakeries that I have chosen as possible creators of our wedding cake. I found six that I liked but we are trying to whittle it down to four. Yes, wedding specialists advise only trying three vendors but dammit this is cake and we are trying at least four different places.

Today I received a response to my e-mail. I expected him to look at the links, browse through the sites and pick a few he thought looked nice. Oh no, he is too methodical and analytical and thorough for that. He loves to spend time learning and researching things and I shouldn't have been surprised that that would include cake too. Here is his e-mail:

I actually created a weighted matrix based on the below categories and rated each bakery.
Weight 5: Artistry
Weight 4: Flavors
Weight 3: Price
Weight 2: Reviews
Weight 1: Delivery & Web Site

White Rose: 73
Sweet Cakes: 62
Serious Cakes: 57
Laurie Clarke Cakes: 51
Papa Haydn: 42
La Joconde: 39

If you want a go at it I have a spreadsheet ready for you to plug numbers into. ;-)

How freakin' cute and awesome is that? I just want to hug his little computer nerdness right now. I absolutely love it.

Squishy, Nasty and Gross

2010-11-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

In less than 24 hours I have had to:

Clean up everything under our kitchen sink after we discovered our garbage disposal was shooting nasty water from every direction. This was after I had just taken everything out and cleaned under the sink about an hour before.
Clean up strategically placed cat puke from the corner of our couch. Ollie (and yes I am sure it was him) managed to hit all four cushions and a sofa crack. I swear that he tries to be as obnoxious as possible when he vomits. Our next couch will be cat puke colored.
Clean up and dispose of a pumpkin that actually liquefied. It liquefied all over the floor and all over Kevin's antique Victrola. I have never seen one decompose quite like that or that quickly before.

I only thought people with small children had days like that.

Running Growth

2010-10-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes recognizing change in yourself can be difficult. Running makes it easy.

Today I ran for an hour and 20 minutes straight and it didn't even phase me. It didn't seem ridiculous or impossible or a stretch-goal or something I had to psyche myself up for; it just felt like something I do. It wasn't too terribly long ago that running for the length of time seemed impossible. Now, it just isn't that big of a deal. I like that. I like that a lot.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from last weekend's First Annual Pumpkin Carving Party. It has to be an annual tradition because we have so much Halloween and pumpkin carving infrastructure now that it would be a shame not to have it every year. Besides, Kevin's family has held a pumpkin carving party back in Baltimore for over 30 years. We are merely carrying the tradition to the west coast. We even made his Grandmother's Hungarian GHOUL-ash for the occasion.

The lineup in the light.

The true test of a carved pumpkin.

Todd with the world's thickest pumpkin.

My prize winning kitty-cat.

My prize winning kitty-cat anus.

Kevin and his creation.

Mike and Amber with, far and away, the best design. Their Space Needle and witch just weren't deep enough for the light to shine through. Too bad, 'cause this could have easily walked away with it all.

Kim, Nellie, Patty and Paul hard at work.

Kevin giving his pumpkin a colonoscopy.

Pumpkin carving is hard work.


Everyone hard at work.

I am always impressed with the quality of carvings people do. Yes, stencils were allowed and most people used some kind of stencil but even with that in mind I thought the gourds turned out fabulously. Unfortunately, Kevin and I won second and first place respectively. You never want that to happen when you are the hosts. We kept some of the goodies out of the prize bags but did give most of it away. OK, not most. I hung onto the movie tickets and some Seattle Chocolate truffle bars we bought.

I hope everyone has a happy day and gets rid of their mini-chocolate bars quickly.

What Would Colonel Mustard Do?

2010-10-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

If my relationship goes south at some point I think you can solve the mystery of its demise much like you would a game of Clue: It was Kevin and Ann-Marie, in the garage, with East Coast Swing.

Yeah, practicing went that well last night.