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Gone jogging

According to my Twitter feed, on September 21 I went on my first jog in about five years. I was inspired after five+ years of laziness by 1. Sundry and all her fitness posts and success and 2. my sister running the Portland marathon. I didn't have any particular goal in mind other than "be less pathetic in the fitness department." I jogged/walked four miles that day and despite gasping for air and having cement blocks for legs, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Until, of course, I couldn't walk for two days.

So imagine my surprise when on day three I went jogging again. And then I kept going jogging periodically with no particular schedule or pattern but still 3-4 times/week. Granted, we're talking a four mile jog/walk on a really good day and a 1.5 mile walk/crawl on a bad day (or when I am pushing my kid in a jog stroller). [sidebar: I tried jogging with her while she rides her bike and I am a SLOW jogger but she is a REALLY SLOW biker. Gave up on that idea.] But still, somewhat consistent cardiovascular activity. And it seemed to be getting slightly easier.

Then about two weeks ago my sister IM'd me and asked if I wanted to run a half marathon in July in Sonoma. I was in a hurry at work so I said sure. July is a long way off. Then having agreed, I realized I'll probably have to, at some point, run farther than four miles.

Which brings us to today.

A non-work day Monday (love you, part time schedule). Kid was at school (which rarely happens but I had another appointment). Sun was shining. So I coordinated my errands to end at the American River Bike Trail thinking I'd do a long (longer, anyway) run of six miles (or maybe five).

Of course I forgot the iPod but I started out feeling great, the sun was shining, there was a great horse trail paralleling the bike path that made for fun trail running, there were lots of squirrels and birds, the river looked gorgeous, I was breathing hard but feeling fit, I was composing mental blog posts about the wonders of jogging. And then I realized I'd gone 1.5 miles. Hmm. And I forgot my water in the car. And there weren't any drinking fountains between where I started just after the mile 10 marker on the trail and my goal of mile 13 12.5 before turning around.

Still I persevered. Walked a tiny bit and made it to 12.5 and turned back to the car. Then I started to get really miserable. I was running into the sun (no sunglasses). I was really regretting the lack of water (why was it so hot on November 2 anyway?). I was realizing that it was now 1:30 pm and I had eaten a total of 3 cups of coffee and an apple all day (breakfast might have been a good idea). I started getting blisters between my toes (stupid dirt on the stupid trail). By mile 11.5 with less than 1.5 miles to the car I gave up entirely and did what I usually do on crappy runs. I started to look for bits of nature to take home for art projects (remind me to show you what I did with the maple leaves collected during yesterday's crappy run.) So I found two awesome sticks with great jewelry potential. And then I was the crazy woman in a sports bra (long sleeve shirt was a terrible idea) and a face the color of a tomato, walking along the bike trail (occasionally jogging) carrying two giant sticks (like 2 inches wide and 2 feet long giant sticks). Yeah.

I made it back to my car reminded myself to not be such an idiot about running in the heat without water or at least without starting hydrated and then I took a shower and went to Mr. H's work where the bandsaw revealed that the sticks do in fact have awesome jewelry potential and are some of the best sticks I've found. See, it was all worth it. And I almost managed to turn this into a craft post.

Finally, since I don't have photos of my sticks yet, here's what happens when you give the old digital to the four year old.

My mixing bowl:

 

Her foot

Her foot and her finger

 

And then several unpostably bad photos of Mr. H and I and about 10 images of her dolly stroller.

 

That was fun. I'll have to let her use the (old) camera more often.

List

I feel like one of those wind up toys that sloooows waaaay dowwwnnn before running out of batteries. 23 days into posting every day and I am plum out of material. Wow, that really makes you want to keep reading, huh? Would bullets help?

• I am working on a Mighty Life List (ala Mighty Girl) but can't seem to think beyond the next two years or so. It's still fun to think about.
• I am excited to finally have someone to go see Julie and Julia with. Now if it will just stay in theaters until next Tuesday.
• This playhouse is the coolest thing ever.
• I went running jogging on Monday and was feeling very self righteous until I could barely walk for 2 days
• I think I need to run more often than once every 5 years if I want to get in shape
• My sister is running the Portland Marathon in a week so I get to go to Portland basically for free
• I am looking forward to Powells more than marathon cheering (sorry, sis, I will cheer for you!)
• I made this Mexican shredded beef for dinner. It was very tender but surprisingly bland for all that spice.
• Crockpots are the perfect thing for working parents.
• I really want to work on some quilts.
• I decided to stick with only 4 kids for Biscuit's b-day party. Reader Pat reminded me of the age of kid=number of attendees so 4 is perfect. More throne time per attendee
• I am very excited that it's Project Runway night.
• "Renew my passport" has been on my to-do list for months. Only positive of an expired passport is it keeps you from acting on urges to buy cheap international tickets that you can't afford.
• Passport renewal fees aren't exactly in the budget either.
• I am actually sort of keeping a budget these days. And, again, feeling very self righteous. Until I blow the budget at the thrift store or Ikea.
• Seriously, who blows a budget at the thrift store? It's my weakness.
• I'm related to my mom whose weakness is garage sales but I can't get up that early on a weekend.
• I think I'm done.
• How about a photo?

When did she get so big?

Is it just me or is this a good idea?

Grown-up Scouts.

I think it sounds great but it could be the life member Girl Scout in me talking (I've even got the life member card!)

Here's the concept (as developed during a camping trip discussion with my friend):

Group of adults (men, women, coed) meets periodically for social connection, food and a chance to learn something they might not otherwise take the time to learn. And there are badges.

Picture it: you and your troop members (10 friends from the neighborhood that you might not otherwise see very often) gather the first Monday of every month from 7-9 pm (no kids allowed). Someone hosts at their home, someone brings snack (and wine?), and someone else brings the educational/fun activity. After a chance to catch up and eat, you all learn a little something, then go home and in your free time learn a little more. Complete the requirements and the following month you get your badge. Members then vote on the next badge to tackle. I believe badges should be sewn to blankets but if you want to sew yours to a sash, well, more power to you. Either way, there are still badges.

The pitch: I heard that learning new skills well into adulthood is one thing that seems to help the elderly stave off dementia. It's also really fun and useful. Gives you an excuse to get together with friends. And there are badges.

The best part: I really just want to write the badge books. Badges I am thinking we should have in grown-up scouts: fly fishing, investing/finances, car maintenance and repair, sewing, public speaking, computer skills, transportation, understanding different cultures, music, astronomy, nutrition, birding, food preserving....the list is endless. I think most badges should have a community service component or at least a concept of sharing. We can just buy badges from Girl Scouts. (wow, visiting that site was a trip down memory lane. I earned several of those badges.)

Here's my sample for the badge book (off the top of my head, as all blog posts are)
----------------
Astronomy
To earn the badge, complete the * activity and then any three of the remaining activity options.
*Look through a telescope. Find a local observatory or astronomy club and attend one of their public events. While there, learn basic telescope operation and more about the planet/star you are examining.

Learn to identify 6 constellations and the story behind them. Share this knowledge with another person.

Study charts (or wikipedia) to understand moon rise and set times and the phases of the moon.

Read a biography of Galileo or another famous astronomer (insert list of famous astronomers and recommended books here. Hmm, this could be work making up a badge book).

Learn to identify the North Star (or southern hemisphere equivalent?). Understand how early travelers navigated using the stars to guide their way.

Interview an astronomer or astronomy teacher. Find out how they became interested in astronomy and why they like it so much.

(for US residents mostly) Explore the NASA website. Become a more informed citizen by understanding NASA and our space policy, how it is funded, and what exciting projects are going on now. Are those Mars rovers still going?
--------------------------
So, what do you think?

Ups and downs

What a weird day.

It started with Mr. H rolling over and asking "Did you put the chickens away last night?" and my replying, "oh crap" and then rolling over into Biscuit who was in our bed, in underwear (not a diaper) after a 5 am accident (in her own bed, fortunately) and going back to sleep. Fortunately Biscuit did not pee in our bed. Unfortunately I went outside and counted 6 chickens and my favorite, Apollo, was not among them. She wasn't in the yard and tufts of gray feathers scattered on the lawn seemed to be evidence of foul (fowl?) play.

(Apollo's baby portrait)

So, for lack of a better plan I went in and reheated yesterday's undrunk coffee and poured in extra cream. Which turned out to be lumpy. I gave up, put the coffee in the sink and left for work.

Then things looked up. Short line at Starbucks and Apollo miraculously returned (after Mr. H had explained her death to Biscuit who will clearly never understand death. Sidebar: her friends seem to be talking about death an awful lot at school and she frequently makes up stories featuring people dying. But then they come back to life. Just like Apollo. I try to just let the stories go--she doesn't get it yet--fortunately. I don't think Apollo's resurrection is going to clarify anything).

 

(more recent portrait of Apollo)

Then Mr. H and Biscuit came to my work to have lunch with me and I found out he drank the coffee I had set in the sink. Oops.

Meanwhile, in Southern California, my best friend had a baby girl! Much more interesting/exciting/important than chicken/coffee drama. I was obsessively checking email/her blog/Twitter etc looking for updates completely spacing on the fact that she's a Facebook gal. And she had called my cell phone hours before I got the message. Duh!

But all that obsessive internet checking for baby news led me to be very caught up on the crazy news of the day via Twitter. Farrah! That scumbag governor guy! Michael Jackson! Since I was so up on the news I was able to tell two folks about MJ's death. The first and last time I was the first to know anything remotely newsworthy.

We wrapped up today with swim lessons, a quick visit to the annual neighborhood ice cream social, dinner made by Mr. H who is, unfortunately, sick, and Biscuit refusing to go to sleep until 10 p.m. These late bedtimes are going to be the death of me. Or at least the death of my productivity.

The end.

Hot Rod Lincoln's maiden voyage

Long time readers may recall what I 'got' for Mother's Day 2008--a boat.(ETA: I should clarify that the boat wasn't actually my Mother's Day gift--Mr. H is much better than that--he just happened to buy the boat Mother's Day weekend so I tease him. Anyway). Actually, a very specific boat, a 1960-something Beisemeyer (sp?) v-drive that Mr. H had been looking for since he was about 16. Now, more than a year (and many, many dollars) later the boat has new fiberglass, new paint, new dials, new seats, new gas tanks and a new name. I know, it looks VERY similar but trust me. It's VERY different now. For one thing, it used to be named Flat Broke.

Meet Hot Rod Lincoln:

Would you like another view?
 

For the record, it's hard to get good photos from another (moving) boat. Plus it was a super windy and rough day. But here's another shot:

How about a video so you can hear that (crazy loud) v-drive plus the commentary of everyone on the other boat?

In case you're in the market

These are the best pencils. Hands down.

I just thought you should know. And Jen made me think to tell you with this photo. In case you need some, click.

Want/Need

What I want to do:
Make a couch (specifically, this one)
What I need to do:
Make three custom tv covers that lovely people have ordered and are awaiting

What I want to do:
Go to bed early
What I need to do:
Get up early for a meeting

What I want to do:
Hop on a plane to Turkey or Morocco
What I need to do:
Clean the kitchen and wash some sheets

What I will do:
A bit of sewing, a bit of cleaning and a bit of planning for a trip to San Francisco. I'm SO excited to see the newly re-opened Academy of Sciences (but I'm waiting a few weeks for the crowds to die down). I think Biscuit and I are going to take a local vacation in November. I'm counting the days!

What do you want to do today?

I don't want to scare you with a photo of my laundry pile

So no photo this post (because Laundry Mountain is all I've got). I think my last post said something about the Olympics being over and my renewed crafting/blogging inspiration. To my credit, I made 10 jars of jam last night (if I photographed all the jam I'd have to rename this blog "the jam blog" so I won't). Tonight I cooked up a double batch of mac and cheese to bribe my way over to hold this snuggly little newborn. I swear, she was the size of a kitten. Did you have any idea newborns were so small? Very small. Very cute.

In other news, the Olympic washcloth is done! I learned how to cast off just in time for the closing ceremonies. I think I may just take up knitting!

Hmmm. That's it. Oh, except that I have a major travel bug and my sister, who works for a travel company and goes on 3 international trips a year, is NOT helping. If you had your choice (and airline prices weren't so crazy), where would you go? I'm thinking Belgium to visit my cousin (don't worry, Kathy, tix are too expensive). Maybe Mexico? Turkey? Most likely my kitchen to do the dishes.

Spring (and my thoughts about animals and where they reside)

These photos are from two weeks ago.  The flowers are long gone.

Sorry to the rest of the Northern Hemisphere--you may still have snow! But in Northern California it's spring for sure. Which is not to say it won't be cold and rainy tomorrow.

My dad is the real flower photographer in the family but the tulip tree in our front yard was sooo pretty this year I had to try.

So, I was reading a blog the other day about a woman who had never seen a squirrel in real life (it was Kirin Notebook, I think).  That seemed hilarious to me as we have many types of squirrels where I live (mostly ground squirrels--none of the fluffy tail East Coast tree squirrels). Anyway, I guess she's Australian and saw the squirrel during a trip to England. Then I wondered if I had ever seen a kangaroo in real life. Maybe at the zoo.  Certainly never in the wild. She probably has kangaroos as backyard pests.

It must be the zoology major in me but I do think/wonder about where critters live. Hedgehogs. We don't have those anywhere in the US (do we?).  Are they somewhere other than the UK?  Europe?

I had a long discussion with an English friend about badgers once and where they live. I believe we determined that they are in the US as well as UK but now I can't recall for sure. 

For a class in college I had to learn to recognize all the (orders? classes?) of native mammals of California by their skulls. There's a skill that HAS NOT come in handy.  I also had to learn to ear tag wild voles (and got bit by a wild vole). Also NOT USEFUL for my current career (I rarely encounter voles in need of identification ;).

You still following this train of thought?

ANYWAY I was thinking it would be fun to post photos of the plants and animals around my neck of the woods. The really boring see 'em every day sorts of plants and animals. If you live somewhere else and do the same, let me know. I'd love to check out your squirrels or kangaroos or hedgehogs or front yard trees. Then this fall maybe we can have an acorn swap. I read about that on a blog once too. Sounded cool to me.

Final (sad) animal factoid: On Wednesday I counted TWENTY dead pigeons (well, gray birds anyway) in about a 2 mile stretch of road.  Why??? There aren't usually any dead birds on this road. Nor do I ever see any gray birds of that size alive. Is it possible a truck full of pigeons was in an accident? Bizarre.   

Do it for the karma

Got a few minutes?  Would you be so lovely as to click on over to the survey I just spent my entire Monday evening on?

Click here for good karma.

If you notice a typo, please keep in mind that Biscuit woke up at 3 a.m. last night and thought it was morning. Very unfortunate.

We're looking for folks who live in the USA and work outside of the home. If this isn't you but you want extra karma, you can send this your friends who are sitting at their desks, bored, wishing you would send
them a joke. Or a survey.

Here's the stuff to paste in an email and send: http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=38e1b6e0-facb-4baf-b9d6-0f10ac6144af

There's also a $10 random prize....

Thanks so much! Tutorials will be yours....as soon as this business plan is submitted.

(In case you care, my friends and I are entering a business plan competition hoping to win start up funds to get this business going.  It's a long shot but we're giving it our best. Or at least our "it's midnight and this needs to be done today" best)