Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Neener, neener, neener.

Dear Diary,

Life is good. For so many reasons.

13. Right near my new job there is a tiny Mediterranian grocery. I love this grocery, both because it has a shit ton of spices, but also because they have awesome prices and a little eatery that serves wondrful kevab. I was over there buying spices one day and happened on a small jar of Rani chai masala. $3. Why not? How bad could it be? I followed the directions...lets see...boil two teabags, 1/2 tsp. of chai masala, some sweetener, a cup of milk, and oh, spicy heaven. I'm hooked. Every morning now, I have a pint of this and a small serving of oatmeal.

12. Four days ago the wind blew the rain fell, and when it was over, the temperature had dropped about 12 degrees. HeLLLLOOOO fall. Fall means running in the afternoon again. It means salted carmel mochas. I raised the blinds that have been shielding the kitchen from the sun. So now my kitchen looks out onto the back yard again, to a degree that makes it feel like you're in one of those observation blinds at a nature center.

10. On the first tbeautiful day I went for a run five miles to the gym, for Yoga. I was in the zone, feelng great, deep into my zen groove.

Then that little rat bastard chihuahua ran out of its front yard, straight at me, and sank its tiny little rat bastard fangs into the back of my ankle. Yes, it bit my ankle. Hence the term. Fucker. I completely, and utterly, hate chihuahuas. My grandmother had one, and it was old and crazy. It didn't have any teeth but would chase and attack me and gum the shit out of me, leaving a huge welt on my hip.

Yes, it's safe to say I hate chihuahuas.
But it was still a beautiful run.
9. September was the month that apple announced quietly they would no longer provide updates for the iPad1. This means that as apps become more sophisticated they woukd crash more than they already have. I was already experiencing crashing every five minutes. So, I put my ipad up in Ebay and it sold in an hour, for about 1/4 of what a new one would cost. I decided that I would save up the rest and pick up an iPad3 in a couple months.
I came home that day and found an ipad3 on my pillow. Sweet Baboo said he felt bad that he had a working iPad and I didn't. <3
The next day, I canned apples and jam while I watched Law and Order on Netflix on my ipad.

8. Every day with my morning oatmeal I have some of the cinnamon apples from the many pints I canned from the big apple tree in the back yard. With my kick-ass chai.

7. Friday night Sweet Baboo and I went on a trail run with some friends and Mini-Baboo. Some were going to run several of the 10k loops, and Baboo and I headed out together--his first run since finishing the last of the Grand Slam of Uktrarunning last Sunday. But it turns out even superheroes need a rest, and after one lap Himself and I snuck Off and had coffe (him) tea (me) and a light dinner. Then we went back, picked up mini-Baboo and dropped him off at his brother's place.

6. Saturday, i picked the last of our grapes, pruned the two grapevines we have, and made a grapevine wreath. Then I made five pints of grape jam. Grape lavender jam. Or tried to. Shit just wouldn't gel. So, I have five pints of pancake strip.

5. The coolest thing about my new iPad is that I can dictate to it and it writes what I'm saying like with this blog post, so if I'm feeling lazy, or cooking something, driving I can just talk to it and it types what I say. Blogsy seems easier to use now.
4.One of the things that I love about chai is the history. Apparently tea was introduced to India by England, and Indians promptly transformed their delicate, royal, steeped beverage by boiling it with warm spices and milk. It's a rebel beverage. It's a beverage that thumbs its nose at convention.
3. On Saturday, I also made and froze a pint of pesto using basil from my backyard, sun-dried tomatoes from my tomato vine, pine nuts grown locally, and some Parmesan cheese.
2. Sunday, me and Baboo and Dreadpirate headed out to Mt. Taylor where I took some pictures on my new iPad
and transformed them using an ap called sketch
I took some pictures just by themselves.
I didn't take the one below. Baboo took that.
for some reason taking pictures is easier for me on the iPad. I think it's because I have a nice, wide version of what the picture will look like.

I'm also on instagram now.

I break, for a moment, for a cent picture of blind kitty:

 
 
 
1. Yes, it's safe to say life is good. When I have time to fritter making jams and condiments, taking pictures and running, there's not too much about it that's bad.
...

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Happiness is...

Dear Diary,

Happiness is...

13. ...slowly, but surely, coming back from a 6 month sloth fest. I've been doing a few mountain climbing hikes, and a few tempo runs where I ran until my lungs burned. I have make it hard to make it easy, right?

12. ...making sun-dried tomatoes, for free, in my car. I promised pictures; here they are. I discovered that wax paper will stick, so the 2nd batch was made with a silicone baking sheet. Perfection!

11. ...approaching Autumn. I've ditched a few afternoon runs. I had completely reasonable reasons for doing so too. The thing is, it's hot. And I. Am lazy.

10. ...local events. I went to a local fatass 50k (look it up) last Friday night, starting at 8 pm. We were to do ten laps of 5k each. Actually, 3.4 miles each. Mini baboo did all ten. Dread pirate did all ten. I did five. I loved that run. Good course, completely enclosed, and the moon was so bright that at one point, I put away my headlamp.


9. ...firsts. This was Mini Baboo's first 50k. It took him a little over eight hours, and the next day he hobbled around, complaining, "this must be what it feels like to be old."

Uh, well Squirt, that depends on your definition of old, and hell, I hope it doesn't hurt that much when I'm old. --er.

8. ...I did five laps because at the beginning of the run, my stomach started bugging me. I ate three hours before I ran, but it felt like I had just eaten, and eaten too much. my stomach hurt. Not my gut, but my stomach. It burned a little, and when I tried to tank up on Heed, or drink lots of water, it felt worse. Eventually, I stopped. By Monday it was still with me.

As long as I stuck to small, very small meals, I'm fine. I have no other symptoms, gastric or otherwise. I have enough energy. I'm sleeping well. I've been reading and it's possible it may be related to the thyroid thing. I have an appointment with an endocrinologist soon. One of the nurses I work with said I should get "scoped".

I hope that doesn't mean what it sounds like.

He nodded.

Upper? I asked, hopefully.

"Both," he said.

So, you're wondering why this is happiness. The truth is, I can stand to eat some smaller meals. I've been really struggling while the shit monster of gluttony has had a firm grasp on my ass. It is nothing but good for me to eat smaller meals for a while. I am up to 163 lbs now, and no, I haven't updated my ticker because it's too painful to do so. My goal is to walk into the Javalina Jundred trail run 13 pounds lighter. Watch me.

7. ...accomplishments. This weekend Sweet Baboo is going to run the Wasatch Endurance Run, his 4th and final 100-miler of the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning. There were 25 that started. 15 remain.

Meanwhile, I continue to be dazzled by Baboo's Feats of Strength.

6. ....seeing the progeny. I'm only allowed to show up at three aid stations at Wasatch, so I'm going up to go up north of Salt Lake city and see the Daughter, who is living near there and going to school. We might do girlie things, like getting a pedicure.

5....appliances that shut themselves off. I have several of these, including an electric kettle, toaster oven, bread maker, crock pot, and coffee maker. They all shut themselves off. I come from a long, proud line of women who have nearly burned their own houses down because they became engrossed in something while the stove/oven/misc. appliance was left on.

4....belt buckles. 'Nuff said.

3....flying on Southwest Airlines. Did you know they select stewards based on their sense of humor? They always do something unexpected. The best one was when we arrived in Albuquerque after a trip. The steward came on the loudspeaker, but instead of the customary lengthy welcome blah blah and here's the weather and thanks for flying with us he simply said, quietly, Get off.

2. ...Teenagers. Jes, I said it. Especially the ones with all the angst, and pain, because they are sooooo misunderstood. They will frequently tell me that they are all religions, because God is Everywhere. To which I've learned to say, "that must make December pretty busy for you. but at least you get a lot of holidays off, right?" They are frequently a bit peeved that I don't take life as seriously as they try to do.

Don't worry, Petal. You have lots of time to hate life and to gather reasons to be full of pain. Your parents' failure to accept your black nail polish and tats isn't one of them. Meanwhile, put the razor blades away. If I'm ever in a possession to hire someone for a behavioral health position, the tats and nail polish wont give me pause, but I'm definitely going to think twice if I see parallel rows of scars up and down your forearms.

1....my feet, and legs. Every time I travel I am reminded of this. After a race, when I'm stiff and sore, I will often deftly navigate around people being pushed through terminals in wheelchairs and think, somewhat irreverently, about how nice it would be to sit down more often. But then I remind myself, at least I get to get up. The mountain trails I run on aren't handicapped accessible. I'll keep, and be grateful for, my legs and feet, even when they hurt.

...

 

Moved.

 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...