A long overdue Photofest...

I have long been partial to the trackball because it requires so little wrist movement. (It's all I can do to avoid a joke about shiny balls. Oh. Woops.)


This must have been Superbowl Sunday. On of the best tastes on earth is minorly stale popcorn. I like to pop it in the morning and let it sit out all day. It looks soooo good I could almost eat the picture.


Another pair of earrings. I realize those would be uninteresting if you're a guy.


Taken after my "at home you-tube videos workout" these are my weights. Yes, they are yellow.


Say hello to my iPod. (Seriously, sometimes it's whatever is laying on the table next to the camera.)


I have one of the white macbooks that attract all manner of dirt and grime from hands and wrists so I have a protector on the thing. It's starting to peel but it's worked like a charm for the past couple of years.


Me after a run. Runs in a Minnesota winter absolutely don't count unless you come back with icicles in your hair.


Yum. 'Nuff said.



Another iPod. Yes, I do own several.


This hat was, um, accidentally mailed to an associate who already had one from jumping in a freaking lake on new year's day so it was gifted to me. Sweet. I'm actually wearing it right now. Maybe that means I should turn up my heat.




Best running food ever.

Sweet!

A brief interlude from the snow outside:

I'm buying my plane tickets to Austin to see my cousin get married this summer (congratulations Brian!). I was going to use the voucher from MLK day. I went to cash in the voucher. There was another $300 voucher sitting in my account from last year. I have no memory of that earlier voucher. But sweet! Now I just need to save up my vacation days to go some place fun.

I have a place or two in mind. Where do you think I should go?

A brief linkfest

• This is how I feel when I run. Although it's been snowing so long I'm not sure I'll ever run again. Booo.


• A Rhode Island therapy cat accurately predicts when residents are near death. It's creepy until you think about it and then it's kind of comforting and cool.


• My birthday wish list. Some of these are pretty spendy so you might need to buy these gifts in pairs. If we're prioritizing, powerskips first, then hover scooter. Skip the robots and anything with a gun.


• The clothing diet: no new clothes for a year. I read that and thought, "well shoot, I could do that but I need running clothes and shoes more often than that". Oh well.


• Timelapse of snowfall. It's cool. And what Minnesota has looked like and will look like for a while. Seriously, when will it be summer?


• Following the snow theme In the south attendance at the grocery store before a snow storm is mandatory.


• What's your city's nickname? City of Lakes, Flying Pig and Queen City are not on the list.


• And finally, some of my favorite commercials from the super bowl. The Fiddling Beaver. Mind = now in gutter. Anything with a killer whale is cool. Dave, Jay and Oprah. Win. Doritos: Minneapolis: this one wasn't that funny but was created and filmed by some guys in Minneapolis. And finally, the Denny's Chickens. Guess where I'll (not) be tomorrow.

Such a Southener

Ok, right off the bat, there was a type in my title that I'm glad I caught. (The first H got typed as a K at first. That wouldn't been embarrassing.)

This is the weather report for the next few days. I was watching and Sven just told me it's gonna snow through Tuesday, stop on Wednesday, and snow again Thursday and Friday.

So, good southerner (I grew up north of the Mason Dixon Line but well south of the "Waffle House - IHOP" line) that I am, I heard the word "Snow" on Friday at work and spent some time checking out the weather. Originally I hadn't planned on taking home my work lap top, just thinking about keeping weekends totally work free. After consulting the weather, I realized I might want to spend some time working from home on Monday and packed the lap top.

The thing about the cultural south is we stay inside until the snow has fallen and the (one or two) plows get out. We check the weather and plan ahead. Busiest time at the grocery store? Right before a big snow storm. There will be no milk, no eggs and no beer for you. The good news is all of your neighbors have been to the store too.

The thing about Minnesota is we act like we don't care about snow storms. We don't plan our grocery trips around them. We go grocery shopping during the storm. Or wait 'till after. We don't cancel school or close work. Ever. As somewhat of an outsider, my interpretation is that Minnesotan's like their bragging rights about dealing with snow and cold. Planning ahead for snow storms would give the storm too much power over us. So we ignore the weather and complain about the traffic.

(Side note: the "Bud Light House" commercial is pretty good. The Snickers commercial is clever but doesn't speak to me as much. Ok, the Doritos one is pretty good too.)

I still plan ahead for the snow storms and go to work after rush hour is over.

Maybe I should go back to watching the super bowl commercials.

***Update - I found this article right after I wrote this post. So I'm coming back to add it. This is what grocery stores look like in the cultural south when snow is predicted. Do I know my people?***

So I had this dream and now I'm registered for the marathon...

I realized last night as I was falling asleep that registration is now open for the Twin Cities Marathon. Apparently that thought influenced me because I had this dream... Someone I knew took me to the starting line of the marathon (in my dream it was the Twin Cities Marathon, but the course totally wasn't our marathon) and cheered for me. The course took us through this castle/labyrinth/something and I kept going through it the wrong way and getting bounced back to the beginning. Understand now that I'm running through the halls trying to keep up with the marathoners. And every time I got bounced back I had to wear some different costume, all of which were hot and involved a lot of fur. It was like ground hog day on an acid trip. And I was getting further and further behind everyone else. I also remember one other part of the course that looked kind of like Cathedral Hill and my friend was there too. I don't remember actually finishin the marathon in my dream but I'm sure I did or I woke up from thinking about running in all those costumes.

Today, after all that, I decided to actually register for the marathon. (Hey, now I'm economically invested.) I also registered for the Flying Pig Half Marathon, known by some as Hill Training. I was thinking about running the Minneapolis Half Marathon like last year but I think I've spent enough on race entries for one day. (Though, seriously, to all of you from Minnesota the Minneapolis Half or full Marathon is a great race and a great course.)

This has been a rough week for running and working out in general. Between the snow and my attitude about the gym in the winter, not much is getting done. I might try just going for a walk this weekend. Walking in the snow is fun right? It's not supposed to be that cold.

Going Crazy not Running

Just for the record: I want to run. I'm going mildly insane with all the ice we have up here. I was actually glad when it snowed today because it'll mean a snow pack to run on instead of, well, ice. (Hey, it's still winter. I'll do almost anything to avoid the gym.)

Speaking of doing almost anything, it really did snow today. I was mildly traumatized by the five or six accidents I saw on my way back from a home visit today so I decided not to venture out once I got home from work. Instead, I did four exercise videos. I started off with Eight Minute Buns because, believe it or not, that one's actually the hardest. Next I did Eight Minute Legs. It was hard for me to do it with the chair, much easier to stand up straight and hold my arms on either side of me. It must be all that gymnastics I did when I was a kid. Better balance without assistance. Then Eight Minute Abs which is almost as hard as the buns. And finally, Eight Minute Arms with 3lb weights (because it's what I have here). This was the easiest by far. I could keep up with the repetitions on every exercise. I think the guy who does the videos sounds positive and encouraging. Is that weird?

At work we finally got our new laptops and I got my first taste of Windows 7. I must say, it's pretty nice. I think I'll always be a mac girl, but Windows 7 has a much better user interface than XP. I tried Office 2007 too. I'm not loving the ribbons. But I did figure out how to turn them off entirely so that made me happy. Plus, dude, I got a laptop for my job. Awesome.

Other than that, I've done some playing on the web, although not much. Here's what I've come up with so far:

• For the Bolder Options runners and The St Paul Runners, it's time to sign up for the Ragnar Relay 2010. Remember, this year Bolder Options is the charity receiving the proceeds from the race which makes it even better.


• To Jenny and Aunt Elaine When I'm rich I'll buy you one of these. No one else will understand the penguin reference.


• Amanda, here's how to make your own pho. Sorry, I couldn't find one with seafood, but my co-op does reliably sell squid so at least I know where to buy that ingredient.
  Also for Amanda if that other aquarium ever gets too big, here's one you might like better.
  And finally, Yo, Amanda what are you doing for the super bowl? I can bring any one of these bacon-snacks. Remember the one I made last year?


• To Eric of all people, this made me think of you. I think it was the Weber Grill.


• For all the Minnesotans reading this, check out our state's average IQ.


• For everyone, do you know the difference between kitchen devices and midevil torture tools? I got 90%. This just made me laugh.


• For ME! Want. That's actually pretty inexpensive. And Really want!. Maybe that's the case I'll get for the new work laptop.


• For, well, just here Squirrel proof bird feeder.


• And finally, 65 open source software downloads that someone claims will do something incredible. They look good but I got distracted when I couldn't make the entire article appear on one page.

Linkfest

• The best part of January? (Well, February this year, but still...) Superbowl Ads. Here's some classics. Although it didn't have my personal favorite, The Cat Herders. How many feel like they herd cats every day?


• I'm keeping quite about the Apple GodPad, but I always like to know about new games for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It drives me bonkers when you call it the iTouch. I just feel dirty.


• Want to know the meaning of Dumb use of resources? I call it feeding my neighbors car corn when we could use regular gas (which uses about the same amount of energy as corn ethanol) and feed corn to, you know, people.


• In honor of the state of the union (which I'm still watching), which bloc votes with you?. St. Croix? Sohio?


• Staying with the political/world theme, learn the true meanings of flags. The USA flag is a little on the nose I think.


• Want proof that bit-torrent, piracy, and so on, aren't so bad? Now they're just giving the stuff away. Apparently even taking the DRM crap off works to improve profits.


• Mother natures is scary.


• Pie in a jar that actually made me think of Chris first, but also Kelly because she bakes and Amanda becuase I think of her canning all kinds of stuff. Cast Iron Skillet Pizza also reminds me of Amanda whose oven is too small to fit actual pizza.


• Why are the dinosaurs extinct?.


• And finally, I'm putting this here because I know some of you read my blog via facebook. If you do, consider yourself one of my 150. Thanks. I'm glad to know you.

Photo-mania

It's been a while since I've uploaded any pictures. Although I've still been taking them. I have a hard time focusing my attention on things like political speeches, as interesting and relevant as the State of the Union is to me. So I'm writing a blog post and editing photos while I listen. (Hey, if I miss anything, I'll check the internetz.)

Last Friday: I decided to pay tribute to Sudafed, one of my favorite substances ever created. Most of what's gone was used while I was flying back and forth from Cincinnati. There's nothing worse than being congested on an air plane. Ow.


Last Saturday: I must have been exercising because I once again decided to pay tribute to my poor, beat-up, well-loved iPod. Notice how the top is missing? It makes locking the keys interesting. I also spent a lot of time Saturday cheering and providing runner support for several friends at the Securian Frozen Half Marathon (good job to Tesha, Kate, Glen, Laura, John, Heather, and Robin for running the Half and to Beth for running the un-certified 5k). Beth and I were like the only people on Shephard Road cheering for the runners. Lots of people in Vikings gear that day.


Sunday: The Vikings lost. This is how my room looks when the Vikings loose. No. I'm just kidding. Sunday is my clean up day. I spent a lot of time cleaning, doing laundry, and generally putting stuff away. The rest of the week, I have little energy to clean. I'd have more energy if I shared this space with another human being. The fish don't mind the mess. Sometimes I hate how messy things get and I wont let people come over if I don't have time to clean. This is probably one of the most honest pictures I could put up.


Monday: I remember working on Monday and not doing exercise. On purpose. I went to the gym on Sunday and Saturday. Apparently my fish tank was all I could think of to photograph.


Tuesday: There was work. There was the gym. And there was the most awesome breakfast ever: Banana slices with peanut butter and chocolate chips. I am learning to embrace peanut butter as a protein source.


Today: This is a pair of earrings I love.

A new accomplishment

Ok, so I'm mildly problematically addicted to the Word Challenge game on Facebook.

But I did just get a new high score.

Linkfest: Long overdue

• The bread I tried to make. I failed. It still looks good.


• Freaking love it when the police chief tells Governor Pawlenty to leave health care alone.


• I'd really love this. It drives me bonkers that Minnesota has one of the best health care programs for publicly funded programs and we get much less money from the federal government than states that have totally lousy public programs.


• This may be why I have such a hard time concentrating on a football game.


• Why you should never make a bet about doing something on national television. Too funny.


• This is what Africa looks like to me.


• Want to see something entertaining? Turn on the elevation feature on the map. All those ups and downs represent a change in like 8 feet of elevation. The one really big spike is the bridge over Cedar Ave.


• How bacon is meant to be enjoyed? Just ewww.


• Planning on traveling? Find out how the airlines will be screwing you with extra baggage/food/convenience fees they've made up recently. I actually just had a fairly ok experience on Delta. Even though our plane had mechanical problems and I got back a day late. I got basically a free ticket out of it. I think I'll use it for Texas.

Photo-fest

My attempt at making bread. The verdict: Fail. I think the flour went bad in the freezer.



Satsuma mandarins: best food ever.



When I was home, I got a hair cut. It was sort of a spur of the moment decision.



Quilts at home. Mom has more handmade quilts than anyone I know. And I'm including my pooky bear in this, although she's definitely the best competition.



A painting in my parent's living room. It's the signature of my dad's art teacher. He was like an extra grandpa to me.



Sunrise on the airplane.



Sometimes, I don't know what to photograph. I use whatever is lying around and try to find an interesting angle.

As my eyes start to close...

It's been a busy couple of days.

Yesterday I worked. All day. Also, I attempted to bake bread. It did not go well. I had some shape issues. I also think that the flour went bad in the freezer. Can that happen? The bread tasted funny.

Today was a blue jean day at work meaning I hid in my office and did paperwork all day. I stay away from people when I'm not as dressed up as normal.

I came home and ran at my favorite running spot. ::Side note - YO! City of Minneapolis - it's time to plow the sidewalks again. This slush hurts my body when I'm running through it.:: I was less puke-ish after this run than I have been after the previous two this week.

A friend of mine had tickets to see The Wizard of Oz - Soundtrack provided by the Minnesota Symphony which was very cool. I realize I hadn't actually watched the movie since I was a little kid. There's a lot in there for a five year old to miss.

Now I'm getting ready for bed. My camera is already put away or I'd show you pictures of my bread failure and other things I've been doing recently.

The Cleaning Monster...

I should run in the evening more often. It makes me very productive. After the run today, the cleaning monster came out. Although, sadly, all the labels in my refrigerator do not face forward, or in any uniform direction. Neither do the labels in my broom closet. (Irmghard told me at Christmas that she just does this naturally when she puts things away. Funny.)

To give you an idea of my, ahem, standards, I finally folded the laundry that I washed last Friday after I was sick. Yes. Today is Wednesday.

Now all clean clothes are put away, semi-clean clothes are hanging on my door, and dirty clothes are where they belong. My bed's made but that's probably the least impressive thing on the list.

The kitchen is also clean which has been a long time coming. Dishes just seem to multiply. I also have a layer of crud that cannot be removed from the floor despite my best efforts. What should I do? It cruds up right below the stove, around the dishwasher and under the counters where I stand to chop and prepare food. Blergh!

Happily, the place has also been vacuumed. I even got out the little hose tool today and hosed under the front of the couch. It's clear I hadn't vacuumed in a while (or I'm really sloppy when I'm sick) because there was quite a bit of detritus there.

Tomorrow on my list is taking stuff to good will and taking plastic bags to the co-op for recycling.

Right now I'm rocking out to Sarah McLachlan. I used to love her music. It was the only thing Alicia and I could agree on coming home Columbus Ohio at 4:00am. Then, I don't know, I just got over it. But it's great to hear again. My current favorites are "Mary" "Good Enough" and "Ice" from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, and "Angel" from Surfacing.

RUN! And then look at these pictures!

I repeat what I said Sunday about running outside in the cold and then feeling ishy in the tummy.

On Monday I celebrated left-over brussel sprouts from Christmas dinner with Amanda and my Pooky Bear. There was no exercise.


Tuesday, similarly, there was no exercise. Instead I went to work early, got home at 4pm and took a long nap. This is what time I woke up from that nap. I was awake for an hour or two before I threw in the towel and went to bed for the night.


Today, I slept in. And went to work late. And got coffee on the way (and by coffee I mean a $4 latte with tons of milk) since I don't have any other food to eat for breakfast.
In a surprise move, I went for a run after work. I've tried to describe YakTrax before. In Minnesota right now, they're a necessity and I love them. I also use them as a motivator to get outside while the snowpack is still reliable. My knees have let me know that two days of running outside on YakTrax is all that's allowed in a week. I'm not injured, they're just letting me know. Also, my Nike+ system is ridiculously inaccurate with these little contraptions strapped to my feet. Nike+ told me I'd run 7.07 miles at a 7:47 pace today. I actually ran 4.2 miles at a very much slower pace.

Weekend Photos Rounup and Linkfest

Saturday - I went to Target after not seeing people, which I think I've already mentioned was a mistake. They are selling swim suits at Target. There's a -4* wind chill. It's Minnesota. In January. I didn't do much else on Saturday. I thought about exercise but I decided against the idea. For those who are interested, I also used my sick time to re-watch several Star Trek related things. I watched some of my favorite episodes of The Next Generation, which is the cast and stories I grew up on, learned about Deep Space 9 which is interesting so far, and watched several of my favorite movies included "the one with the whales" (comic genius); this one, and the last one with the cast from TNG. I am not ashamed to love Star Trek.
This is the other thing I did on Saturday:


Sunday - I was much more productive after getting out of bed at 1030. (I know, you'd think I'd be tired of sleeping after doing almost nothing else for the last 3 days.) This morning I watched an episode of DS 9, then went for a run at my running spot, 3.1 miles today. The run was rough, I think because I didn't exercise most of the week and it was cold out. I tried to explain to Kelly and Amanda and Eric how much air I have to suck down when I go for a run in the winter. It's like all I suck in is cold and not actual oxygen so I have to double and triple my efforts. All I breath in fills my insides, not just my lungs. I can't explain it. All the other winter runners know of what I speak. After I'm done I don't really want food because I've sucked down too much air.
I was going to go to the gym but then I discovered the UnderArmour running pants Mom got me for Christmas. I decided they deserved to be worn. And they are great.
Here's some of my running gear. Big thanks to Mark for the gloves and to Amanda, Kelly and Eric for the Nike+ system.

After the run I went to Kowalski's which happily had Brussels Sprouts. I headed home and roasted said sprouts while I warmed up from running around the lake.

Then I took my dish and Christmas presents (which were really just cards for the magazine subscriptions that are the actual gift) over to my Pooky Bear's house. Amanda was there too and we did our usual Christmas-in-January. Kelly made shrimp scampi and Amanda made a Chocolate Mousse (Kelly said to tell Eric it was pudding so he'd eat it). All of them were YUM.

Sadly my stomach is trying to kill me right now, it was trying to kill me before other people cooked me food too. I'm trying to decide if it's goat cheese, eggs, the soda I had after I ran (not my brightest move), the fruit juice (I haven't actually had much at all today) or something else. It's the opposite of fun but I'm sure it'll work itself out by tomorrow.

While I wasn't watching Star Trek, I did have time to play on the internet.

• They had something like this at the Heineken Brewery. Every time we put a beer glass on the table it would make a "coaster" with this technology.


• Digg called this picture "If Jesus Had a Cat" which seems pretty accurate (and hopefully not offensive)


• At one time, there were a ton of stories about people registering their pets at one or other of the online diploma mills just to prove a point but this is just ridiculous. Picturing a fairly uptight Jury Commissioner office.


• The Census is Coming and it's a crime to not return it. (Seriously.) Bonus points to the federal government for finally counting same sex couples.


• Now I don't have to wait for the Taste of Minnesota for funnel cake. Sorry. I think this is disgusting. (Although I have no such compunctions about funnel cake from the Taste of Minnesota or the State Fair.)


• Hey, speaking of Star Trek...


• If it wasn't around 100 years ago, it's probably not food. Also gross. And why in the world would you want to make fruit taste like anything else?


• I just thought this was an interesting article all about the options in web browsing. (Hey - if you're reading this you're on the internet so it does apply.)


• One way to break down 2009. Most of them do look entertaining. Legos. I'm just saying...


• Who actually got the stimulus money? Nice state by state breakdown. (I think this one is actually fairly apolitical too.)


• And finally, I've always found this to be true.

Recovery - an update

• My love for William H. Macy knows no bounds. I am not ashamed. When I got back from Target Air Force One was on. (William H Macy was in that?) Just reminded me how much I love him.


• Target on Saturday afternoon is never a good idea.


• After two days of not seeing anyone, Target is not the worst community reintegration idea possible. I lost track of how many panic attacks I had. I actually haven't had a panic attack in a store in a long time (largely owing to never going to Blockbuster). Target was just nuts.


• I lack the attention span to watch a football game from start to finish. Perhaps I am too emotionally invested. WHO DEY!


• Cleaning up after being sick totally blows, but it feels good when it's done. (Not that kind of cleaning up.) I just haven't emptied the dishwasher or cleaned a dish or put my clean clothes away. The good news is I do have clean clothes.
  


• Watching football is better while writing this blog entry. Maybe I've found a better way to split my attention. (Oh, shoot, one of the good guys just got hurt. That's like all the wide receivers we have.)


• I miss people. I forget how to be around them when I'm, you know, not.


• Hey, the Olympics are coming.


• A ton of you are running The Securian Frozen Half for which I think you're crazy *ahem* I can't wait to come out and cheer! I have no idea how you managed to train between recovering from a fall marathon and crappy winter weather. I'm impressed by your discipline and hoping it rubs off.
  


• I'm actually thinking about a visit to my favorite running spot tomorrow for a little warm up run. It'd be nice to get my body moving again. Let it remember how good it feels to move. It's YAK TRAX weather too.


• This is what I imagine Amanda's job is like, if you can recognize that is funny as he!! and not sexual harassment.

Slowly, slowly starting to feel better

Wednesday was a normal. I had a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast. I had a bunch of meetings at work. After work I made lentil soup (which I still haven't sampled yet) and called it a night.


By Thursday morning, I thought I was going to die. (Thanks sinuses!) I took the day off work and spent 95% of it on the couch. I tried some medicine, some hot pack on my face and some good old fashioned sleep. It's really amazing that I had sinus pain (and I mean pain) the entire day and didn't wind up with a migraine. One of my fishes died on Thursday.
Really the most appropriate picture for the day is the dead fish lying in the toilet but even I have limits. This is one of the still-living fishes. I have no idea what his name is, although Steve or Amanda could probably tell you. (They wouldn't tell you the same thing though.)

Speaking of migraines, I woke up Friday morning with a big one. I slept most of today too. I think the headache is finally starting to let up. I have to grab my head when I sneeze (thanks again sinuses) but other than that I'm good right now. So good that I went out to clean the snow off my car in case I ever leave my house again. I thought it would be really snow-ice covered but actually it just took a minute or two to brush off. After that, I had to pick between Target and Laundry because I need both clean clothes and food. Ultimately I decided clean clothing was more important. I still have some provisions here, I'll last for one more day and it'll be warmer then.
On the way back inside I picked up the mail, including a nice packet from the Board of Social Work.
I'd really like to show you a picture of my new social worker license I received in the mail today. Alas, it has my full name and my license number on the certificate so I think I'll keep that image private. But I can now write LISW after my name, no more LGSW for me. For everyone worried about my health, I've already filled this thing up twice today, I'm trying to keep as hydrated as possible.

A Photo per day?

I tried doing Project 365 a while ago and it came to an abrupt halt when a water bottle spilled in the bag where I was carrying my camera and I decided it was best not to carry the thing around with me anymore. But it was fun to look back at those posts when I was taking pictures every day. I really wonder what the heck happened that day but it's nice to see myself smiling like that.

I decided I'd give it a go again. For the most part I've taken macro photos of things in my house which can be interesting. If nothing else it's photos for everyone to look at while they're here.

A Christmas present - that's Jenny and I as penguins. Go here to see Jenny knocking me down and me getting her right back.

That's an iPod I drop at least once a day *ahem* a well-loved iPod. I use it every time I work out. Remember I've been running for a long time. That's a lot of love.

This is how much money social workers earn.

Close-up of a painting from Dad.

Long Weekend Roundup and a Sunday Linkfest

Yesterday I think the temperature did not get above zero (that's 0* Fahrenheit for my international friends). I did not leave my building. I left my condo only long enough to check the mail in the hallway. Brrrr. I mostly laid around and read. I did a small bit of cleaning but not enough to be classified as productive.

Today has been much more productive. I woke up and finished organizing my iTunes Library. (That's like a monthly task, especially the album artwork) and I had a mild health scare (thanks to Google for helping me realize it was nothing and I'm oblivious).

Once I figured out I wasn't going to die I packed up and went to the gym. The gym in January is really quite an accomplishment for me. I can't stand the gym in January because of all the new members who fill it up. I particularly love February, March and April when the new members stop coming. I had a fairly positive attitude at the gym today which helped immensely. I went during the Vikings Game (there's a wall of flat screen tv's there, it's not like I missed anything) plus it was too cold for so many people to come out. I actually managed 5 miles on the elliptical. My legs felt like rubber afterward but the recovery was short. But dude, it's January and I was able to reserve the elliptical.

I went to the pet store to pick up filters for my fishes who badly needed them. (Sorry guys.) Then I stopped at Chipotle and got enough to feed a small horse a steak burrito. I think I may need to establish a minimum running distance before Chipotle is allowed. I'm not sure 5 miles is enough but whatever.

Now I'm sitting here watching football Go Vikings! For today only: Go Cowboys too!. I can't believe I have to work 5 days in a row starting tomorrow. How's that go again?

While I'm trying to figure that out, here's some things for you to ponder:

• What do parents in North Pole, Alaska tell their kids when they ask where Santa Claus lives? There's no link with this one. I'm just curious.


• Are trains equipped with snow plow blades?


• Does this mean we need to give a salary and benefits to the dolphins at Sea World?. I go to be in the water with a pink dolphin while I was on Semester at Sea. Very cool.


• Ingenious or ridiculous? Only a true nerd (brilliant with no common sense) would ever think of "running past the screen" to try out the graphic.


• Aint that the truth?


• It's 2010. Where's my rocket pack? I'm gonna need it so I can go live in a cave on the moon and be the social worker for all the colonists.


• What's your favorite iPhone app? I'm only linking to this because of the last two. I think the plant a tree idea is cool.


• I feel a sharp pain every time someone says "it's the end of the decade". No, THAT'S NEXT YEAR!!! But here's what we did for the past 10 years that were spread over two different decades and two different millennia.


• Finally, Ice Diving: The Follow Up. First what's the wrong way to get into a lake? You just walk in? Seriously? And how warm is Lake Michigan? It's pretty big and I can already hear Amanda telling me how water holds more heat than air so it'll take longer to cool off. If it wasn't 33* I don't want to hear about it.
  Here's how to do it the right way. And the right way again. I giggle every time I hear the little girl on the video say "it was the worst experience of my life". You know she'll be back next year.

2009: Liz's year in review

For the past couple of years, I've written a year in review post, always after we are completely done with the former year. (Year-in-review posts at the beginning of like, December, make me crazy. Dude, we're not done yet.) See how 2007 and 2008 treated me.

January started off pretty much like this January, with Amanda and I jumping in a lake for no particular reason. 2009 was a much warmer jump than 2010. It was in the 20's that day.

February (that's a weird month to spell) was a mix of continuing to reel from the bed bug infestation and an awesome time in Florida spent drinking with the aunties hanging out with my family and running a lot. I needed Florida in February because we had record setting cold in Minnesota in January of that year.

March saw the beginning of fund raising for Bolder Options and a recognition that 2009 was, indeed, going to be the year I ran a marathon. Incidentally, it's not too late to give. Bolder Options is a great mentoring program in the Twin Cities. You can show your support by donating here. Big Thank You! to everyone who supported Bolder in 2009.

April was the month I became a pet owner. How long do guppies live? (Ha, I just thought, "until they jump into Lake Minnetonka through a hole in the ice and become minnows". It's obvious what I was doing today.) One of the original guppies is still alive. One died and I've added two more since then. None of them actually have names from me but both Steve and Amanda have given them names they try to teach me.

May Jim Borgman made an allusion to my high school English class that everyone in AP English at Walnut Hills can recognize. The real accomplishment of May was running a half marathon.

June is the month I get a year better every year. This June Sarah came for a visit. I think she'll be back.

July and all summer really, was heavy duty marathon training. It was in July that I ran my first fifteen miler while I was at home in Cincinnati. I still remember thinking I was never going to get off that path. Three laps is really a long time.

August was Ragnar Relay time. I was so sick. I just remember not being able to keep any food in my body and drinking water and sports drink non-stop. And I remember Beth and Robin and other other Beth and small children waiting at the top of Hidden Falls Drive for me and cheering. In 2010 I'd like to run Ragnar and be healthy at the same time.

September was the month I did my 20 miler in preparation for the marathon, but the real event was the Bolder Dash which Dad actually came to town to watch.

October was marathon month. First, the running mates ran the Twin Cities marathon and Jenna, Beth and I biked all over the cities to cheer for them. Then the running mates helped me train for my marathon by telling me about some, um, interesting plumbing issues anyone can have. Then I flew to Amsterdam and ran the Amsterdam Marathon. And stayed sober long enough to tell the tale.

November gave me the worst nosebleed I've ever had, and the most expensive. I just got another bill in the mail yesterday. (This is why we need healthcare reform.) It's also the month of Thanksgiving: my favorite holiday.

December brought me back onto the race track in a fun but completely unspectacular way. Christmas was one of the best visits I've had with my parents. I got them very little actual stuff and more gift certificates that wont accumulate in the house (I hope). I got Mom a gift certificate to Kiva and rugs from Ikea, Dad a magazine subscription and The Vegetable Bible for cooking. I got them both a gift certificate to The Green Dog Cafe because they like to go out to eat and I like that it's local food. (I can still hear my cousin saying "We only drink the milk if we know the cow".) And then I began thinking about how to ring in the new year.

Ice Diving - I want to go again!

I can't believe I have to wait all year to do that again. I am now a Walleye.

I promised Jenna that no pictures of the Ice Diving incident would wind up on Facebook so I won't be including them in this post (because my blog automatically posts to Facebook).

Amanda and Jenna and I hauled ourselves all the way out to Excelsior (I know, it's just south of Canada and right next to the Moon) where a rectangular hole was cut into the ice on Lake Minnetonka. Beth met us there and watched the Ice Divers for a time before picking her daughter up in Plymouth. (The city limits of Plymouth actually share a border with Canada.)

When we got to the event center Jenna began to understand the enormity of this undertaking. It was packed. We hung around for a little while and talked together with Beth. Then we got in line and headed downstairs into the queue of divers. They had a warming tent this year. (I think they learned from the ridiculous experience of having 900 people packed in one room last year.) We actually were so late in the queue that we wound up not having to use the overflow space in the warming tent, we just waited inside and then went straight to the dock. Amanda and I jumped together and Jenna wound up jumping with a girl who was alone and needed a partner. Then we regrouped inside and compared notes about when specifically in the jump our brains had turned off *ahem* compared experiences.

I think the funniest part of the day was the look on Jenna's face when I said, "you want your shoes to be on tight enough they don't come off when you're swimming, but loose enough that you can get them off if your shoelaces freeze". I didn't tell her about my contacts freezing last year until after the dive.


What was different from the first year:

• Amanda was not physically up to par - oh wait, that's the same as last year. Last year Amanda was starting to get Influenza the day we jumped. This year, she had a residual foot injury. I was actually kind of surprised she jumped. We decided I'm a very bad friend for wanting her to jump so badly.
  


• Another diver, plus a spectator. With Amanda's foot injury I thought I was going to be diving alone so I recruited a running partner to jump with me. At the last minute Amanda couldn't stand being left out so we were all three going to jump together. I thought a second running partner and her son were going to jump as well. That running partner's husband "vetoed" the idea, but really just gave her a nice excuse to stay warm and dry. (We'll get her next year when she reads about all the fun we had.)


• No contact lenses. Last year I had a little issue with my contact lenses freezing as I was getting out of the water. No, seriously. I took them out last night and wore glasses to the lake. (Another reason there will be no pictures.) My eyes did not freeze this year.


• Robe, not towel. I learned from last year that a big fluffy robe is the most desirable attire for being wet in sub-freezing temperatures. A towel is simply inadequate.


• Swim cap, which Amanda called cheating. When I was thinking about this and going through all the steps in my mind the part I was dreading the most was walking back to the car with wet hair. (I have a lot of hair on my head and it takes forever to dry.) So I wore a swim cap. Amanda called it cheating. Her hair was dry by the time we ate and left.


• I swear the water was deeper than last year. Last year I remember being able to see the bottom before we jumped in and I remember being able to push off the bottom. I don't think I pushed off the bottom this year to get under the rope but it's hard to say. Landing in the water is not a part of the day I remember very well.


• Similarly, I swear the hole in the ice was skinnier, probably because the ice was so thick, too much work to cut it any wider. The whole looked skinnier in width, definitely not a shorter length to swim.


• I swam all the way across this year, no firefighter dragging me. That was actually my goal for the dive: get across on my own power. I needed help getting up and off the ladder onto the dock, but I did get all the way through the water on my own. (So glad I spent all those years on the swim team.) Amanda, in an hilarious move, actually told the firefighter to get ready for her before we even jumped in the water.


• I waited outside, wet, to see Jenna jump in with the partner she met in line, Torie. They were about ten pairs behind me so I had time to put on my robe. My feet kind of hurt (from being wet and cold) but what really hurt while I waited was my hands. They were so cold. I had each one wrapped in it's own blanket. I kept thinking, "I'm gonna loose all my fingers and Gordon's gonna be right about this being a bad idea." Actually my fingers stopped hurting long before my feet thawed and stopped hurting. I'm afraid walking around in shoes with numb toes is more likely to make me loose a toenail than marathon training.


• Much better crowd control this year, made for a much more pleasant line waiting experience. Last year Amanda and I almost got crushed and we waited in line for at least 90 minutes. And didn't eat breakfast. This year we waited for about ten or twenty minutes in line (inside), jumped, and ate. I ate Jenna's bacon. The potatoes and the coffee were the best.


• It was much colder than last year, leading Amanda to suggest we have a minimum jumping temperature. I think 3* may be the magic number. ("Three's my lucky number.)

I need a jumping buddy

I'm starting off by saying that my ice plunge partner was in a car accident last week and has a mean doctor with NO sense of humor *ahem* hurt her foot and is unable to participate. Having seen the weather report, some people would say I lucked out because it is going to be cold on Friday. I'll probably still go as long as I can find a plunge partner. We're not allowed to do this alone. My pooky bear is the perfect, although very unlikely, candidate for new jumper. I'd jump with any of the running friends but they've all sworn off actual jumping in favor of spectating. A couple of the runners have kids (read: boys) who are old enough to jump so the kids are also candidates. (Do you think my running mates would mind if I introduced ice plunging to their kids new year's traditions?) We'll see who my partner is when I wind up taking the plunge.

In other news, I caught up on some reading today, recovering from the long drive and staying out of the snow. What'd I see?

• The next book I read? Maybe. Depends on if I can find audio versions.
• Troubling news for many Minnesotans. (Minnesota has one of the biggest Hmong communities in the US.)
• Amanda, this is for you while your foot gets better. Just in case you do ever take a physics class.
• Speaking of running this website has great potential but is totally unhelpful for cold weather running. How does it not tell me to wear long johns at -5*? Maybe it'll be more helpful at deciding which temperature to switch from shorts to pants.
• From the grammar police, 10 mistakes I am too perfect to make. My favorite is the cartoon illustration of how to choose "affect" and "effect". From now on I need a verb I will choose "eat".
• I had a moment of thinking I was in the top 50% of earners before realizing a social worker will never go in that bracket.
• Speaking of student loans, how expensive is college? and won't driving a Ferrari get you just as far in life?
• While at home Mark, Irmghard, myself and several others had a discussion about food, why subsidizing corn is about the dumbest thing in the world (sorry, small soapbox), and my favorite comment: "If we don't know the cow, we don't drink the milk". Now, Mark is a chef and works in a food bank that works with several co-ops in the area so has can actually go meet his cows and get raw milk from them. (Ha, laughing at the visual of Mark milking a cow). For those of us who can't go meet a cow and take it on a date, there's help.

Vacation: Exhausted

I don't know how some of you people come to town and just go go go all day and all night. I'm ready for a nap.

After the family party Grandma came to our house. Grandma was almost as sick as Dad was when I arrived on Tuesday. She tried to eat broth but her throat hurt really bad. (If I don't go home with the plague it will be a miracle.) So we put her to bed.

Mom and I headed over to the phone store which was completely empty. (I know, what the heck?) My phone died on Thursday, like can't turn it on, nobody home, nothing makes it better, died. Luckily this one is under warranty. This is the second of the same phone to die in about a year of my owning it. (I don't get you people who can have phones that last three and four years. What's your magic?) So they're sending the replacement phone to my house. But I had to buy a new phone so I can have a means of communication on the drive from where I am to my house. Once I receive the replacement phone I can take the purchased phone back for a refund. Is anyone else dizzy?

After shopping we cleaned up (some) from the Christmas party. Although the second we sat down we both about passed out.

This morning I helped Dad pack Grandma's stuff to go home. We only forgot one bag and luckily that was Christmas presents and not clothes or money. Dad went off to Portsmouth with Grandma.

Before lunch I did a little workout with weights. My arms and legs feel like they're about to fall off. I wonder if the 8lb weights at the gym really are still 8lbs. Dad's 8lb weights felt heavier. Maybe I'm out of shape.

I met Deb for lunch (Skyline, duh!) and then we went to the Krohn Conservatory and walked a little of Eden Park. It's really windy. While walking and driving we discussed running The Pig Half marathon. Initially I had been opposed to running it because of certain, um, concerns. But when Deb talked about it I started thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Plus one of the St Paul runners is also thinking about running it so I might have a travel partner. (Read: One of the St Paul runners has a brother running the marathon who will never stop bugging her if she doesn't run it. But I'll take advantage of the situation all the same.) Deb said she'd let me know if a week or two what she decides. I guess then I can run the Minneapolis Half still too. I'll have to bump up my long runs this spring ahead of marathon schedule.

Now I'm back home. It's snowing outside but it doesn't appear to be sticking to much other than the bushes. (I know, they have bushes here that are still green. It's wild.) Dad's on his way back from taking Grandma home and I think I'm about to take a nap. I think Jenny is coming over to eat leftovers to visit with me in a little while. I hope she eats the leftovers because I never want to see food again.

Family Stealing Party 2009

Really, it's the family Christmas party but we play a game where we all steal each others gifts. I had a blast. Here's the photo proof.

It's not a party unless we get to see someone's underwear.

Christmas: A Lot of Fun Actually

I was planning to run this morning but got a reprieve because of lousy weather. (It's vacation therefore I shall not run in the rain.) Instead, I got up mildly late. We had a lazy morning and opened presents around 10:00.

This is referred to as "the family Christmas tree" this year since I made them throw away the old Charlie Brown Tree when they moved.

After presents I cooked Christmas dinner. I actually liked cooking. It made me feel like a grown up. Possibly increasing the enjoyability was the fact that I was only cooking for six people and all of us were heading to a huge supper so there wasn't pressure to produce mass quantities of food. I also did the dishes (because if it was Mom she'd be wrapping them up around sundown and Dad's just getting over the plague so he's not allowed to touch dishes or food right now).

Once all the dishes were clean, we headed down to Kentucky for Christmas Spaghetti.

Luke helped me take some pictures. And we took one of ourselves.

Irmghard's new favorite toy and the sweet guy who gave it to her.

After all the cooking and cleaning and eating, that's how I was feeling too.

Tomorrow is the family steal-a-thon Family Party which we're having at the condo club house. I think it's going to be really fun and I can't wait to see everyone.

For vacation I will cook, clean and lift heavy things

I can't even remember what I did yesterday (and am too tired to make the two mouseclicks it would take to read my entry from then) but I woke up exhausted.

Mom and I went to get my car back from the shop. Merry Christmas Liz! Here's new tires and an oil change.

I cooked lunch (notice how I didn't mention breakfast? Yeah. I didn't eat it either.) and then got to work. We're having what I lovingly refer to as the Family Steal-a-thon at our house on Saturday, actually at the "club house" but still, basically here. Mom is basically getting it catered which means we're making about five things instead of ten. I made Tangy Cauliflower Salad as a side because most of the catered sides are, um, quite rich.

After the cauliflower I cleaned the kitchen so I can mess it up tomorrow when I make Christmas dinner. Cauliflower gets everywhere. The little crumbles break off and get on the floor and they're impossible to sweep. They have some sort of stealth action that makes them not want to be swept away.

Mom and I took one load of assorted items to the club house today too but I wouldn't let her set it up. We took chairs (for the 45 people who are coming on Saturday) water, tea, and fruit juices and a couple of the snacks. I couldn't bear to send the tangy cauliflower away though. I spent so much time with it today.

Yesterday it was pushing the cart up the hill. Today it was standing and cooking, cleaning, and carrying heavy things up stairs. I'm wondering how people say they don't get exercise at the holidays. I'm wondering how early I really need to wake up tomorrow in order to run before presents and cooking. It feels like I'm going to need a run just to relax by then.

Right now I'm waiting to go see Mark and Irmghard a whole lot of family down in Kentucky. Where Mark will be cooking. Remember when I said I didn't eat breakfast? This is why. I have an empty belly and I can't wait to fill it.

Merry Christmas!

Vacation: Underway

Vacation so far feels like work but it's a welcome change from the other kind of work.

After running which I wrote about earlier I convinced Mom that we should go back to Skyline for lunch. It was packed. Clearly everyone else from out of town had the same thought I did.

After Skyline we went to the toy store across the street and got Luke's present. I picked it out.

Then, lists in hand, we headed over to Hyde Park Kroger where (surprisingly) I ran into no one that I know. It was packed. Nut-house may not be the right description, just tons of people and tons of shopping carts. The store also has a very odd layout. The produce is the last thing you come to. It was about there that I really felt like any more people surrounding me with their carts was going to give me a panic attack.

(I'm still hungry by the way.)

After Kroger I went down to the Green Dog Cafe and got the last of my Christmas presents to my parents. Wow, just took like 10 minutes to read their menus. Now I'm really hungry.

When I got back from my solo shopping trip, Mom and I went over to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a new stock pot (which is awesome by the way) and bath grip strips (family in town and all).

I dorked around and recovered from all the shopping, driving and traffic. I took Mom back out for one last trip of the evening, to Bangkok Bistro, my other favorite Cincinnati food for take out. Dad still isn't eating so much.

And then I started cooking.

I wrapped presents while the chicken broth and wild rice were cooking. The entire time they were cooking, over an hour. Then I got into the active phase of making the soup: peeling the chicken off the bone. It's so yummy. (I am so hungry.) Mom was making Moon Beams, the best treat ever, but I only got to have two because they're for the party.

We both finished cooking around the same time. Chicken broth is never, like, a clean thing to make. The pot gets this weird chicken goo-film on it that can't be described. It's not really that gross, just hard to clean. Plus the broth boiled over and stained the stove. It gave me a mild heart attack thinking I wasn't going to be able to get it out. I think I did mostly. Thank god for that glass top stove cleaner.

Now it's well after midnight and I'm dog tired. All my wrapping is done. One-third of Christmas dinner is done (the soup). And we picked out family photos to embarrass everyone else entertain everyone at the party. Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in. Not sure if I'll run. Also not sure when Christmas Eve Dinner will be eaten. Mark's cooking. Yeah!

Ok, my eyes are starting to cross. I'm headed to bed.