Hey – whoever found me by searching for “slightly creepy child” – I am mildly offended. Although you might be in the right place.
Happy New Year!
2009:
Woo! Happy New Year’s Eve
I know everyone’s talked this to death, and it’s not even technically the end of the decade until next year, but whatever….a new number is showing up in the 10′s place tomorrow, so bite me decade purists!
I was not afraid of the end of the world or Y2K ten years ago. I was MUCH more interested in partying like it was 1999. Because, well, it was!
I had lived in LA for just over four months, and other than my roommate, didn’t have that many friends. So we got all gussied up (we bought new dresses for the occasion) and went to the party at the bar down the street. There was a cover, and that cover got us some free (really crappy) food & a free champagne toast at midnight. We had to pay for our own beers.
BUT – before we even mosied down the block, we started celebrating with our brothers & sisters around the globe. I believe we first toasted (with our signature Captain & Diet) with the Moscovites when they hit midnight. And we toasted with Paris & London & all points between before heading to the bar just after toasting with the New Yorkers.
I can’t lie and say that we drank moderately that evening (on the off chance that the world was going to end, I was going out in style), but I can say that I did manage to kiss a NUMBER of men at midnight. No one wanted to be left out.
I wish I had pictures of that evening, ’cause we were pretty, but they’re all stubbornly NOT digital images, and I’ve never bothered to scan them in (maybe if I remember later, I’ll update this post).
It was a good time. Although I don’t think either of us enjoyed the “Y2K hangover” we experienced the next morning.
I am assuming that tonight will be a LOT more mellow (partially because the emails regarding tonight’s celebration have all had the word ‘mellow’ in the subject line), but I think it will be just as fun, even if I end up kissing fewer men this year! 
I hope everyone has a fun, safe evening, with a special shout-out to my 1999 partner in crime.
Happy New Years!
And then I killed everyone, the end
Yesterday was a freak snowstorm in Portland. Granted, we only got 4-6 inches of snow (depending on location & elevation), but it sucked.
As yesterday afternoon wore on, I noticed that facebook statuses of other Portland peeps were starting to announce snow (in a west to east crawl). I looked out the window, and it was definitely snowing.
My boss sent us home at about 3:30. I had driven yesterday, but didn’t think too much of it at the time. The freeway was already backed up, so I went home using my secondary route – 30 to the St. John’s bridge. I got to the bridge, and was on the approach up the hill, when a firetruck went by. Pretty soon, all the cars, from the top of the bridge down, started turning around. Accident on the bridge had closed it.
Traffic hadn’t been TOO bad yet, so I turned around with the rest, hoping to go back to the next bridge (Fremont) to make my way across the river.
Traffic up to 405 was not moving, so I hopped off that road & down to another street, determined to take one of the other bridges.
At this point, it is 4:30, or one hour after getting in my car. It was also at this point that I realized I could not text or make phone calls.
About 5 PM, the architect called (I could RECEIVE calls, apparently). I was not really moving at all at that point. I was trying to decide if I should just try to park somewhere & get on MAX, but there was no where to pull off the road where I was.
Eventually, I made it to the Steel Bridge, and as I was on the approach to cross, the pickup in front of me lost all patience & hopped the curb to drive across a grassy lawn place & onto another street nearby (although at that point, we were so close to crossing the bridge, and all the bridges are like that, so if you needed to cross the river, there was no better way). In the process, his back end spun around & hit the Suburu in front of him. Then he drove off. The angry suburu driver got out & glared. Traffic started moving. We did not. Finally, the pick-up driver parked (like 2 blocks away) and came back. He tried to convince her that he’d done no damage. She wasn’t having it. Finally, they exchanged information. And then, we moved. Well, the suburu moved. My Hyundai? Not as much. I spun my tires & moved inches at a time, but at this point, there was no where to go.
I finally made it onto the final approach to the bridge, and my car just gave up. It died a couple of times, and would only move if I was in reverse. Which wasn’t helpful, because a) there were a ton of (really angry) cars behind me, and b) I couldn’t spin around to drive over the bridge in reverse, which would’ve sucked anyways.
I’ll be honest, internets. I cried. And then I called the architect (yay, the phone was working) and cried. Apparently on speaker phone, so the kick-ass neighbors got to hear my breakdown, too.
And then, like magic, three young men appeared out of the storm. There were actually six men on the bridge, working in teams of three, and pushing cars that weren’t making it. They pushed me all the way up to the top of the bridge so that I could make it across. (I don’t think that bridge crossing has sucked so much since the Race for the Roses 5K when running up that approach in the last 1/3 mile of the race almost made me vomit.) I love those nice young men. Without them, I’d still be on the Steel Bridge, crying.
Once I got to the east side of the river, the rest of the drive home wasn’t so bad – only took about 30 more minutes (usually a 15 minute drive). I pulled into my driveway a little after 6:30, and have never been so happy to be home (part of that happiness was the fact that I’d had to pee since about 3:35).
After I got home (and peed), the neighbors, the architect & I went out for much needed beers & food, and then I was home in bed. There is still snow everywhere. I had the architect drive me to work today, and we drove by a LOT of snowmen. And instead of being filled with joy over the beauty of the snow, I was just filled with an almost overwhelming compulsion to get out of the pickup & knock the heads off all the snowmen, because snow is EVIL!
Training Goals – 12/28 – 1/3
It’s a good thing I acknowledged that I was going to take rest days. I was LAZY this week.
Training Goals – 12/21 – 12/27
Monday: weights after work FOR REAL! I haven’t lifted in 2 weeks, and surprisingly, I really miss it. – SUCCESS!
Tuesday: Terwilliger run (on my own..*sniff*) – FAIL! I ran out of time.
Wednesday: bike to work (and back) – FAIL! It was cold, and I am lazy
Thursday: run + weights – half SUCCESS! I did weights. I decided to take a break on cardio until my cough is 100% gone, or until it’s 2010 – whichever comes first.
Friday: Christmas Day run – FAIL! see above cardio ban
Saturday: bike + weights – FAIL!
Sunday: run – 8 miles – FAIL/half SUCCESS! due to cardio ban. I did get on the trainer for a little bit, and did a very brief (but cold) run/walk.
Training Goals – 12/28 – 1/3
Monday: weights – (spoiler, this has already been a success)
Tuesday: indoor bike trainer – 30 minutes
Wednesday: weights + elliptical
Thursday: rest
Friday: easy New Year’s run
Saturday: bike
Sunday: run – 7 miles
I am excited to be well & start back in a new year. I think 2010 is going to rock!
Post Holiday Check-in
I am ready for the new year! And some serious sugar detoxing. January is a month of clean eating & fitness (rebuilding my base), and I just feel that 2010 is going to be a fantastic year.
I am working on the things I want to do for myself in 2010 (sounds so much better than resolutions, doesn’t it?) and am feeling pretty good about my list. 2010 is going to be all about making a happier healthier smarter gazelle.
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I am pretty much taking this week & most of next week off from my fitness goals. I went to the doctor on Wednesday, and although my cough isn’t anything BAD (like bronchitis, or pneumonia, or consumption), she did say (more than once) that she would suggest taking it easy cardio-wise until the cough is completely gone. So, I’ve canceled my runs for the week, and will start back slowly next week. I have plenty of time in January to rebuild my base, and it will be easier to do if I’m healthy.
The other thing I learned is that I’m apparently protein deficient, and my vitamin D levels are on the low side of normal (which is not unusual for Pacific NW residents in December). So, I need to get more protein, and am trying to figure out how I’m going to add that in – I’m thinking more eggs for breakfast, more green smoothies supplemented with protein powder, and that occasional burger (like today). I also am going to try to figure out more delicious tofu recipes.
Protein deficiency can cause anxiety, depression, and the need to eat a lot (and think about food a LOT), it can also cause muscles to heal at a slower pace (check!), kidney stones/infection (check!), hair thinning (check! fortunately I have a LOT of hair), sore & aching muscles (check! especially today – I hurt so bad from Thursday’s workout), headache (check!), cardiac issues (check!), weight gain & lean muscle loss (check!). All of those symptoms that I have are mild, as is my deficiency, but I’m pretty excited to know that with a little extra vitamin D & upping my protein intake, I will have be both physically & mentally healthier for the new year! (Protein deficiencies are pretty rare for people from the US, even vegetarians, but athletes do tend to have higher protein needs than other people, and as long as I’m conscious of getting the recommended allowance of protein, I should be able to reverse this pretty quickly.)
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I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday, whichever one you celebrate!
