a good day

Sorry, Saturday - your place in my heart has been stolen by Sunday. I still love your long runs in the morning, and your occasional evening out, but you've got nothing on Sunday anymore. Now that I have a job which very rarely activates the Sunday blues, I love the (relatively) late mornings in bed, the chance to enjoy a cup of coffee with Kyle, an uplifting church service, and lazy afternoons.

This Sunday was missing a few of those elements, but it was a good one nonetheless. I was up at 6 to head to a 7:30 race just south of Baltimore, the first test of my arduous winter training season. It was a hilly 10 miler and I was shooting for 8 minute miles, and I felt a little intimidated by the women in their fancy arm warmers, discussing their anticipated 7:40 pace.

Well, it turns out that I showed them, finishing up in a very surprising 1:13:14 - 7:19 pace. I knew after the first 6:45 mile that I had to either drop back or commit, and opted to see if I was up for the challenge. My last couple of miles were around 7:30 so I slowed down a little, but was really thrilled overall. Take that, arm warmer ladies!

I carpooled down with my buddy Dan, a social worker therapist at Hopkins a little younger than our parents, with whom I volunteer for Back on My Feet. I told him I'd drive him if he let me pick his brain about counseling for part of the 30 minute ride. He was extremely receptive and helpful, already trying to figure out how he could help me land an internship that's more than 2 years away. We decided to establish a casual mentorship and I'm really excited to call on his experience and local connections as I finish up the second half of my master's. (Is that proper use of the apostrophe? I never know in this case! Please tell me if it's wrong...using those incorrectly feels to me like having something stuck in my teeth or my zipper down and nobody telling me!)

We hosted "Focker Fest" for Kyle's roller hockey team, the Fockers (as an aside...my mother-in-law asked if she could get a Fockers jersey and wanted it personalized. Kyle told her ok, but it would have to read Mother Focker). It was a tightly-packed service porch (family room for those of you who missed that post) for the vieweing of the heartbreaking US-Canada gold medal hockey game. I enjoyed witnessing the differences between girls' and guys' get-togethers:

- girls wait until the food is served to indulge, and even then usually have to be prodded to serve themselves; guys dig in before you've even got it on the serving platter

- guys burp, belch and fart at will, without exclusing themselves (occasionally congratulating each other on "a good one"); girls never burp, belch or fart - everyone knows that. ;-)

- girls offer to help the hostess clean up; guys retreat to the basement to check out the host's stuff, and make more of a mess when they track the dirt back upstairs.

It was a great time though, and I felt fully justified in partaking in the wings, ribs, pizza and beer due to my earlier run.

Almost done... it was an excellent day because of the anticipation of good things to come this week for Kyle. He has two companies vying to gain him as a new employee, and either would be a good long-term career move. He'll get the second official offer tomorrow afternoon so we're praying it's a good one and the decision will be easy!

Ok, finally...the 8:30 bedtime. aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

are you kidding.

Many bloggers have charming little "series" in their blogs. A few I've come across include: Frou Frou Fashionista Fridays, Look & Learn, Freebie Fridays. I have decided to jump on the series bandwagon, with: are you kidding.

It will probably happen often on Fridays because by then I am so fed up with life at the office that I have to vent, but who knows, you may get a surprise every now and then.

For today's installment: are you kidding. Do not walk into my office and place something on my chair when there is a perfectly good mailbox with many sections to choose from hanging right outside my door. Why are people lazy enough to circle for hours around the wal*mart parking lot so they can get one spot closer, but then manage to muster up the energy to take those extra 10 steps in and out of my office?

Can't wait to shut this door behind me at 4:30 today.

red sky in the morning, sailors take warning...

My "merry band" of running buddies, as we like to call ourselves, noticed the red sky this morning and recalled this old weather warning: red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Now the forecast is set for up to 34 inches of snow and high winds. We cancelled our weekend trip, but T&B will visit us here next weekend instead.

Back to the run. I am so fortunate to have a few different running groups, so I never have to run alone and rarely have to resign myself to the treadmill in the stinky stale air of the gym. Fresh air is where it's at, yo! You'd be surprised at just how many people are willing to get up before 5 to run, and actually relish it. I place myself squarely in this group - even though it is sometimes torturous to pull myself away from my cozy bed and cuddly hubby at 4:45, I have very rarely regretted it (no offense, Kyle!).

My Tuesday/Thursday group is a sub-group of a large Baltimore running club, the Baltimore Pacemakers. The Pacemakers do long runs together on Saturday mornings (at a more sane 7 AM), and track workouts on Wednesday mornings. This little group of us that convenes on Tuesday and Thursday includes 8 or 10 folks who run about the same pace and just prefer the company of others to the solitude that some crave while running. We range in age from 28 (ahem, I am proud to be the youngster) up to 60ish, men and women, several Ph.D.s, an M.D., a professor, an architect, one of my fundraising colleagues, a lawyer, a Washington Post editor, a published author, and a professional mom. In a normal setting I would probably be slightly intimidated by a group like this, but on the road before dawn, we're all just runners. Albeit, runners with very enlightened conversations through labored breaths.

Sorry, I tend to get wordy when it comes to running. I like it! What I meant to write about was what we experienced this morning, mostly before dawn and all before 8 AM. We started early to get 15 miles in before the storm hits. Several of these folks are heading to Beantown with me, and all have one spring marathon or another planned, so missing our long run isn't really an option.

On the first leg of the run I had an inspiring strategy conversation with my colleague about the shape that my program is taking and it's potential for the future. So much better to talk about that stuff outside of the flourescent lights of the office. We headed to Druid Hill Park, a place that has a bad rap in Baltimore as it's on the brink of a sketchy hood, but is really a hidden jewel full of challenging hills and a freshly paved 1.5 mile track around the lake. We encountered a contingent of Hopkins ROTC members, decked out in camo, combat boots, and huge packs, and exchanged cheers for one another as we passed. Which led to a shared book review on Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" which I'm almost done listening to in the car. We saw the ducks gathering around the line between ice and water in the lake, wondering if they know the storm is coming? They probably have a better idea of what's going to happen than we do. We watched the sun rise over the city and noted the red sky and clouds. We talked about the crazies we encountered at the grocery store last night and what we all plan to cook up this weekend as we're snowbound. There was no mention of the Super Bowl, but one of the group who had recently hosted a party at her house for the Packemakers did share an interesting insight from her teenaged daughter: Mom, when you guys are running you never talk about running, but when you're not running that's all you talk about! So true.

I pulled away from the group a little bit at the end because the water breaks were becoming more frequent and I just wanted to finish. As they came in, a few told me how strong I was looking and we all shared a "great run, guys" and many thanks before heading our separate ways - to the lab, the hospital, the courthouse, the office, wherever. Even though I'm sitting here sore and tired now, I already can't wait for Tuesday morning. And for that matter, Monday morning, when I run with my team at the homeless shelter - there, though very few have jobs or homes, but similarly, you don't notice the differences out on the road. But more about that next week.

What was the best thing that happened to you between 5 and 8 this morning?

FREAK OUT!!!

I listen to the radio throughout the day at work and between that and checking weather.com, am hearing and reading some pretty amusing and panic-inducing (for others, not this noco native) terms describing the impending storm. I will document them here as the day progresses. Should you hear any good ones, leave a comment and I'll add them to the list for all to enjoy. Let it snow!

how balti-morons clean up snow
9:04: paralyzing

9:07: high-impact

11:22: Here's a picture to make Dave swoon:

1:51: Disruptive Snowfall, Potenially Paralyzing

1:21 on 2/5: the snow has begun! Here's what I just found on the NOAA website...maybe I shouldn't be kidding around!

THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RECORD SNOWFALL FOR THE BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON DC METROPOLITAN AREAS. TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND LIFE-THREATENING. HELP YOUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT FIRST RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES BY STAYING OFF THE ROADS.

Fine, I'll stay inside and drink hot cocoa with my hubs. :-)

check ya later, city

The next two days can not go fast enough - I am so excited for our weekend trip! We'll leave mid-afternoon on Friday to drive 6 or 7 hours southwest, hopefully in the opposite direction of the impending snowstorm, to meet up with Tera and Brett in Damascus, VA. It's just about as close as we could get to halfway between Atlanta and Baltimore.

buh bye, balto (yes, people call it that - weird)

Tera found a cute little bungalow to rent for very few U.S. dollars (as Kyle commonly refers to what most of us usually call money) and we're going to do some hiking, seek out some live bluegrass and small town food, and officially start planning our big trip for the fall.

hello, bungalow

What big trip, you ask? We'll be heading waaaaaay south in probably October or November, to check out Patagonia and the Andes. We'll likely try to stay mostly in either Chile or Argentina, yet to be determined. We'll definitely be checking out these craggy beauts, do lots of hiking, hopefully some rafting and mountain biking, and maybe even ice climbing on glaciers ridiculously close to Antarctica.

So yeah, it's time to get down to planning and training. We want to be in great shape so we can enjoy our adventure to the fullest, and of course, we have to break in our gear so we don't look like the inexperienced city dwellers who stopped at REI on their way to the airport. For now, we'll start here.

the mountains of Virginia

And we should make it home in time for the Super Bowl. Phew! You know I didn't want to miss that. ;-) Have a great weekend!

good management "NOW".

Ah, Mondays. I thought mine was going less than swimmingly until my husband forwarded me this correspondence from his oh so tactful (and well-written!) supervisor. If you think you are fed up with your job/boss, read this and you'll be thankful for what you've got. It is verbatim, except the names have been altered slightly so when poor Laron Washingtan, who is already embarrassed for being singled out by the delinquent boss, googles himself he won't find this.

Team,
Please let's not adopt the practice of "Out of Sight Out of Mind". This morning I asked you to supply me with any change(s) you may have in the February, 2010, Visitation Schedule. Up to now I have only received responses from Valerie Gallup, Art Square, Larry Marton, Roscoe Hensin, Marlin Johnston, and Laron Washingtan. Needless to say this is totally unacceptable that out of 15 people I have only 6 responses. I have a deadline to keep and when I have to gather information from people responding at the last minute it makes you look bad and it makes me look bad. I don't like it when I look bad and you should not like it when you look bad. I need this information "NOW".

Needless to say, Kyle continues to search for a new job. Happy Tuesday.

budgeting 101

One of our goals for 2010 is to create and stick to a budget. Sub-goals include giving more to church and charities, saving more in our 403b/IRA, and saving for a big trip we're planning with Tera and Brett. I love Excel so I made a kick-@$$ (why did that create a link? I don't know. where does it link to? Please don't blame me if it's something dirty...I was trying to keep it clean!) spreadsheet to track our expenditures. It's on google documents, allowing me to update whenever, wherever, we'll always be together. I'll be there and you'll be here -- oh sorry, Shakira took hold of me there for a minute!

Anyway, back on track! I've still got a ton to learn about money management and budgeting, but I feel like we're on a really good start after a couple very expensive years of getting married, buying and renovating a house, and generally living a carefree newlywed lifestyle. It is SO much easier to say no to impulse purchases if you know you have to go home, enter it into that spreadsheet, and watch the balance for that category decline. It's really been making me re-consider my choices and only purchase things I love. And I get to use Kyle's favorite phrase of the post-Pike ladies "I don't love it", which of course conveys a feeling only slightly better than indifference.

Now, onto the GO DO THIS RIGHT NOW part of the post. I just got off the phone with Comcast and had our monthly cable/internet bill reduced from $109.25 pre-tax to $84.95 pre-tax, and ended up with 20+ more channels, including HBO! Oh, Larry, Brett and Jemaine, how I've missed you! I had put off calling for several weeks since I'd heard that my sweet-as-pie sister-in-law Lesley did this, because I really hate confrontation and asking for things, even when it's over the phone and I know I could just hang up the minute things get awkward if it bothers me enough! But I worked up the courage and got a really nice girl on the phone, whom I told that I was considering switching providers because I just couldn't justify spending more when others were offering the same service for much less. Without question, she offered me the current promotions being offered to new Comcast subscribers.

Off I went to my budget spreadsheet and changed the cable category from $120/month to $95/month (just in case we are too lazy to go to the redbox and fall victim to the temptation of pay-per-view). That extra $25/month will be going toward paying off my new bike and our other athletic pursuits. What would you use it for?

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