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Monday, already?

When I have a 2-day weekend, Monday totally takes me by surprise! I did fit a lot of stuff into my two day – although not as much as I’d hoped.

Friday morning started out with an exciting event! The architect was in the shower, and I walked downstairs to make coffee. And there it was: A giant puddle of water with a solid drip stream coming through the ceiling.

I ran upstairs yelling “get out of the shower! shut it off!” which made him think that maybe the house was on fire & we were all going to die. I was having flashbacks to streams of water pouring through light fixtures, followed by months of moldy walls (thank you, wonderful Venice, CA landlords!).

Once the shower was off, the water stopped coming through the ceiling. The next day, the architect cut a hole in our ceiling, re-caulked around the tub upstairs, and ran the water. And no water came through the ceiling! I asked if I was cleared to shower upstairs, and he said yes. And then added, “but put a bowl down underneath, just in case.” So yesterday, I showered, and when I went downstairs, there was water in the bowl, and all around. Guess the caulking didn’t work. (Hee.) We are now pretty sure we need to replace the sheetrock behind the tub (it looks like regular sheetrock & not bathroom sheetrock was used), replace the stuff that is supposed to keep the walls dry (the ugly bathtub wall thingie), and obviously fix the ceiling….or maybe not…

Modern Art?

Per the architect: this installation emphasizes the emptiness of modern life.

 

Ceiling/bathroom issues aside, the rest of the weekend was great.

The architect & I went to Migration for dinner/drinks after work on Friday – it was such a gorgeous day! Then Saturday, after changing the tube in my front tire (for the third time in 3 weeks) we headed out for a long-ish bike ride (longish for me = 20 or so miles). One of my summer goals is to learn to really enjoy/appreciate biking. (Also, I have a triathlon on Saturday.) I was having a great time. There was a long downhill and we went so fast! I love going fast. After the down-hill there is a slight uphill that I seldom even notice. For some reason it was wicked hard on this ride. I was struggling. And then, I looked down. The front tire was completely flat. Again.

I flagged down the architect. He had two extra tubes in his pack. We took out the flat tube & put in the new one. We pumped it up, but before we even got everything back together again, that tube was flat. We then got out tube #3, but it was too big. :(   We pumped up tube #1 again, and couldn’t find an obvious leak, nor could we find anything on the tire or rim that would be causing all of my tubes to flatten. We had to abort the bike ride. We put the first flat tube in as that one seemed to hold air the best, and turned around (and immediately had to ride back up the long, long hill). We had to stop one more time on the way home to pump up the tire. My overall average ended up being only 13.2 mph, which is not nearly fast enough, although on the miles where my tire wasn’t flat, I was hitting 15 mph+ consistently and the long downhill was closer to 19 (of course the long uphill was more like 8, but whatevs!).

Post ride.

After returning home & cursing at the bike a LOT, I changed into my 2nd set of workout clothes for the day. Sarah met me at my place & we headed to Rushing Water Yoga in Camas for a free Living Yoga yogathon class with Emily. It was two hours & really challenging. Really challenging. But good! I just wish Camas wasn’t so far away; I’d go waaaay more often. Like more than the once/year I’m averaging now!

After yoga, I made Sarah go to Gartner’s with me. My sausage stuffer (finally) arrived, and I needed ingredients! I picked up some beef shortribs for my all-beef hotdogs I’m going to make, and more pork belly for some bacon.

Then, it was time to buckle down. I spent the rest of the most gorgeous day of the year (so far!) holed up in my office doing homework. I finally finished at about 7, and made the architect go sip gin with me on our patio before we headed out to Leisure for dinner.

Sunday morning, I got up bright & early at about 9, and headed out to the trails for a nice, long run.  I did a gorgeous Forest Park loop (Saltzman -> Wildwood -> Maple -> Leif -> Saltzman) that ended up being about 8.75 miles + 790 total feet in elevation gain.  I felt great for most of the run, although there were a few sections on Wildwood (miles 13.5-15 or so) that were so overgrown and/or muddy that I had to go pretty slow so as to not slip or trip or die.

View from the Leif/Saltzman intersection Muddy post-run shoes

After my run (and stretching like the good girl that I am), I rushed home to shower & head over to pick up Alisa for our afternoon of shopping fun. We headed to Woodburn for some outlet action. It was my first outlet shopping experience, and I came away poorer and with a lot of great summer clothes. I need to head over to the tailor this weekend to get my pants hemmed, but am pretty pleased with my purchases and am super glad that I had someone who knew what they were doing & had an action plan (and a good eye for clothes).

I was so exhausted last night after my weekend of activity. The architect & I made a little picnic meal (the last of my homemade chicken/tomato/basil sausage, some cheese, some homemade bread, homemade mustard, and homemade beer…we are so homemade!) and watched “The King’s Speech” before I hit the hay.

This is my last week of my current class, and my last week of pre-triathlon training, so I expect it’ll be a wee bit busy. BUT THEN, I have  a 5-day weekend this weekend…I don’t work Friday, and I took Monday/Tuesday off (no work! no school! What on earth will I do!).

Happy week, everyone!

Three Things Thursday

  1. Earlier this week, in response to a request for help from my yogathon (donate! see the side bar!) committee heads, I replied “just tell me where to go & what time to be there.” Yeah. I’m a bit overwhelmed this week. My current class ends tomorrow. When it’s done, I have four classes and my capstone left, and then I’ll be the Master!
    or maybe more like:
  2. I am excited to have a homework free weekend and hope the weather cooperates. I have running and biking and running and gardening plans.  So far, it’s looking pretty good!
  3. Thursdays are the last day of my workweek, and they are invariably crazy. I am planning on managing the crazy today by having the architect pick me up from work (so I have to leave) and then drop me off about 3.5 – 4 miles from home (so I have to run the rest of the way home) before doing a bit of homework and then having happy hour with one of my kick-ass neighbors! Yay!

Weekend in Review

Another busy weekend, although honestly, if I typed “this was a very mellow, low-key weekend, I did nothing,” you would call me a liar.

Also – this is the third time I have started this blog post. It keeps freezing & disappearing, and I am putting you on notice, Word Press! Or something.

ANYWAYS – I’m sure the first couple of times I typed this out, I was much wittier, so if this is boring, just pretend it’s awesome.

Friday I had my third (of four) standing up straight appointments. Although I’m making great strides in standing (outstanding!), there is a small problem. I’ve started pronating in my right foot as a reaction to the surgery. This pronation is causing my fifth metatarsal to spread outwards, which in turn is causing the little toe to point inwards. Or, in other words, the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING THAT CAUSED ME TO HAVE SURGERY IN THE FIRST PLACE. Ahem. Sorry. That makes me shouty. It also makes me want to kick the surgeon in the shins (with my left foot) for saying I didn’t need physical therapy. Clearly that would’ve been a waste of time, preventing a recurrence of the problem that was now caused by the surgery that was supposed to fix it.

Moving on.

After standing up straight & balancing on one leg, I went home and did some homework before hopping on a bus to go to Surreptitious Brew Review #24 at Tugboat Brewing. Surreptitious, because last time, I did my usual facebook invite, and eleventy hundred people showed up and tried to fit in a space designed for 10 people.

This place was a wee bit bigger, but still wee, so only a few people came (invites were sent based on a complicated algorithm that took into account a) who shows up most often and b) who seems the most enthusiastic about beer).

Brew review #24 - April 8, 2011

After brew reviewing (I really liked this place, and am committing to posting brew reviews 22, 23 & 24 in the next three weeks. I promise), we headed across the street to Bailey’s taproom, which is just a great place to grab a beer.

Saturday morning, I got up bright & early to head to the Living Yoga yogathon (give me money, if you so desire – link in the sidebare). I am on the yogathon committee (with Jen & Emily – Emily is the head honcho).

It was such a great day! We got all set up, and then people showed up to register. I participated (along with fellow yogathoner Sarah!) in the yoga class and the guided meditation, before helping break everything down & heading home to finish my paper.

I also finished my bacon on Saturday. I had made a batch of maple-flavored bacon and one of just plain old salty bacon. The maple bacon was fantastic! So good. Awesome. The other bacon? A wee bit on the salty side. BUT – it will be great for soups, I’m sure. No extra salt needed!

Next time, I’m going to plan things better so I can take advantage of the neighbor’s smoker without having to bother said neighbor immediately after she’s had surgery.

Bacon! April 9, 2011

Saturday night was pretty exciting. The architect & I went out to dinner (used a Groupon) at a place I used to love (definitely used to – Saturday night was not a good experience), and then went out dancing all night went home, popped in a movie, and were asleep before 10.

Sunday morning was a lazy morning. I made us breakfast: maple bacon, homemade bread (courtesy the architect), and eggs (courtesy anonymous donors) topped with parsley from my herb garden.

IMAG0259

After breakfast, we kicked it into high gear. There was cleaning. And vacuuming. And laundry. And grocery shopping. And finally replacing my headlights on my car so I can drive at night (the dim lights died, one after another, the weekend we were in Seattle). And then – some gardening.

A picture of possibility....peas, arugula, and radishes - April 10, 2011

I planted peas and arugula and radishes, some hops, and removed a stupid bush of evil thorniness. I also turned over all the dirt in the main garden, getting it ready for tilling (not that too much is going in any time soon – carrots, beets & onions, but the rest of that garden will be given over to peppers, tomatoes & corn, none of which should be planted any time soon (step away from the tomato plants, Portlanders! just because you CAN buy them in April doesn’t mean you should).

I reacquainted myself with all my trees, offered some encouraging words, gave myself a couple new blisters (hoeing is such hard work!), and then, after the architect finished mowing the lawn, we sat on the patio and had a beer.  Shortly after that, we set up the motion-activated sprinkler to try to discourage the stupid dog from down the street from shitting in my newly planted garden. I hate him & his stupid owners who just let the thing out every morning to go do his business wherever he feels like. I am about one more 1-gallon bag full of crap from buying them a bunch of baggies & returning what their dog has left behind. FOR REAL. HATE!!!

After drowning the hate with the beer, it was time for dinner.

We made linguine with fresh asparagus (unfortunately not from my garden), tomatoes, garlic (this time from my garden) and some of the homemade chicken sausage from last weekend (ooh – and homemade broth from my pantry!). It was so good. SO GOOD. Honestly, one of the best meals I’ve ever made.

IMAG0263

(I think I need to take a food photography class….is there such a thing? All my food is blurry.)

Last night was another early night – all that hoeing made me tired.

This morning, I was getting ready to work & went to grab my glasses. The new ones. The ones I’ve had for a week and a half.

And they were gone!

I was so sad – where could they be? I remembered having them on Friday at the bar, and I also remembered taking them off Friday at the bar & stowing them in their handy little case. Did I leave them at the bar?

I know I hadn’t worn them since Friday night.

I had a vague memory of shoving them in my purse before heading out on Saturday, but maybe that was just wishful thinking?

This is why I can’t have nice things, people!

Good news, though – they have been found. I did indeed shove them in my purse on Saturday morning, but they hopped right out at some point during the yogathon. Perhaps they wanted to try a couple poses. They were picked up by the Living Yoga ED and saved from being lost forever, and tomorrow I get to have them back.

Yay!  Who doesn’t love a happy ending?

Happy week, everyone! See you back here tomorrow for shoesday!

Yay! Glasses!

Reverb Writing Prompt #12: Body integration

Prompt: Body integration. This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body? Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?

Author: Patrick Reynolds
The Knowledge Workers Survival Guide
@patrickcantype

reverb10.com

***********************************

This has not been a very good year for body integration. Most of the year, I felt as though I was fighting with my body. There weren’t very many times when I did feel that I was a cohesive ME. The only two times I can think of involved runs (of course). The first – in February – a run on the Banks Vernonia trail. It was perfect weather. Perfect temperature. And 13 great miles that flew by.

The second was in July. I hadn’t run much for months, and went for a 3 mile trail run. Everything came together. I had no pain, and no real awareness of anything but running. It was almost magical. My 3 miles turned into 5.5, and although I was sore the next day, it was still one of the best runs of the year.

One of the things I’d like to work on in 2011 is having many, many more instances of mind & body integration. I would like to feel a lot more whole, a lot more often. I think that my goals of more yoga & more meditation, as well as a lot more trail running, should take help with that.

Weekend in Review

Another busy weekend – are there any other kinds? Alas, this weekend is picture free, due to the fact that my camera is currently a) broken and b) hoarding the photos on it & not sharing.

Friday, I headed to yoga in the park with Emily. It was a pretty good class – yoga in the park definitely offers some balance challenges.

After yoga, we wandered about for awhile before heading to VQ to meet up with The Ambitious Birthday Girl and a few other friends (including the blogless Lisa & Sarah) for a great birthday lunch. After lunch, it was back home for some yard work followed by dinner with the architect, then drinks & dessert with the kick-ass neighbors. Kick-ass neighbor #1 also had a birthday last weekend, so much celebration was in order.

Saturday was pretty awesome – I started the day with a 5.5 mile run in Forest Park. Longest run I’ve done since the Bridge to Brews 10K in April. Good news: no Damian pain during the run. Bad news: the distance + elevation gain + a body unused to such things anymore = super painful quads the next day. It was definitely worth it, though. It was one of those magic runs where everything just feels so perfect & you don’t want to go back.

Saturday afternoon was more yard work in the heat, and then my cousin & her bf came over for dinner. Her bf helped the architect get his job, so we definitely wanted to thank them.

Sunday was a lazy morning, followed by a little yard work & then a trip downtown to the beer festival. The architect & I tried to buy 14 tasting tokens each, but for some reason the guy gave us 50 tokens. A lot of beer was tasted!

Monday (which I’m counting as a weekend, since I didn’t work) was pretty low-key. I’d tweaked my neck in the shower in the morning, and decided that was a good enough reason to stay home. I did some cleaning, made some bread, and made English muffins. The muffins are not perfect, but they are still pretty good. Next time they’ll be better, I think.

Monday afternoon I head up to the ‘Couv to visit Emily’s garden & then we went to Ft. Vancouver for another yoga in the park session – this one taught BY Emily. It was a great class; a good mix of some basic stuff and some really challenging stuff. She’s turning into a GREAT instructor.

And now? Back to work. And a lot of work it is. It’s definitely going to be a busy three days!