Things I've been up to...

Here's a summary of the last 10 days...

Last Sunday - My first powder day!!! :)

8 inches overnight at Copper and we were first chair thanks to my friend Nick T letting us stay at his place in Breckenridge. Riding in powder is amazing but kind of hard. Then Nick P and I headed to San Francisco for the American Geophysical Union conference.



Monday-Friday - conferencing, which wasn't as much fun as usual because I got sick on Tuesday and stayed that way until Friday morning. My poster was on Thursday and it went fine, that was the only thing I did all day other than sleep and watch TV. I was hoping for inspiration on my PhD topic at the conference but don't think I found it. Also, I was really disappointed to be too sick to do my big run. Although I did do about 4 miles partly along the bay Wednesday morning. That was nice but maybe not a great idea considering my sickness.

Saturday - flew home, but gave up my seat on the early flight for a $400 voucher with Frontier :) I also have enough frequent flier miles with them for a one-way ticket, so Chris and I are pretty much set for a free trip somewhere next year!

Sunday - laundry, church, shopping, laundry, packing, presents with Chris, and watching Christmas Vacation

Monday - back to the airport to fly home! My mom, brother (David), and sister-in-law (Julia) picked me up at the Atlanta airport and we headed straight to my aunt's house for some mexican train and homemade eggnog.

Today - lunch with Tricia and her 3 month old baby (cute!). Grocery shopping with mom (for 15 people, it took 2 hours). Dinner with David, Julia, and cousin Adam, and dessert at the Varsity. David noted that times have changed when there is a whole room in the varsity and it's only white people, and there's Fox news on an LCD flat screen TV. But the onion rings are still good! Stopped on the way home for pictures of some humping reindeer. Ended the night with the Dark Knight, what a good movie.



Tomorrow's Christmas Eve! Maybe I'll feel good enough for a run. And, Chris gets to town, yay, I get to see my husband again! :) Goodnight!

Holy Crap!

The title of this blog is how I felt when I got home from my run last Saturday. Two Saturdays ago, I planned to do a 9 mile run. This was second longest run ever, so my goal was just to make it 9 miles and keep the pace easy so I could finish. I ran it in 1:45 and was pretty happy about it. So, last week I was planning on a 10 mile run, but kept getting distracted by work (hate it when that happens). Saturday morning I woke up and had a lot to do, but figured I'd run for "only" an hour and a half. Since this is something I know I'm capable of, I didn't really worry about my pace. I just ran something that was comfortably challenging, and stuck to my walking 1 minute every 10 routine that I do for long runs. I was amazed when it was time to turn around and I had made it as far as I did last Saturday! I finished 9 miles in just under 1:30! I don't really keep track of pace on these runs but one of my last miles was 9:30, including one minute of walking. So, I'm pretty excited about that! :) Also, I felt good almost the entire run. Sometimes I was breathing hard but it was never painful or anything. Sweet!

My goal is to run a half marathon by the end of the year. There aren't any official ones around Colorado this time of year, so I'm probably going to end up running 13.1 miles by myself on Dec. 31. Running is funny because I really despise it when I'm not running regularly. But when I do it 3 or 4 times a week - I start to really love it. I'm planning on running 10-11 miles Wed or Thurs this week in San Francisco and can't wait. :)

It almost evens out

Things that are ticking me off ...
1. My GCM code is encountering negative PBL depths and I don't know why or how to fix it.
2. As I was trying to fix it, the program just stopped working. Now when I try to execute it just says "Killed". Screw you code.
3. Chris keeps flipping to some ESPN awards show and it's disgusting how enamored the announcers are with Tim Tebow. Same was true during the SEC championship game last weekend.
4. I'm not sure when I'm going to write my paper that is due next week. I thought I would have had my code running several days ago.

On the bright side ...
1. I had a great lunch at the Silver Grill today with Rachel, Nick, Levi, Matt Bishop, and Beth.
2. It looks like it will be snowing this weekend and Chris and I are planning on going snowboarding, if I can afford it time-wise.
3. I had a really nice swim this morning and got in 2000 yds, and am hoping to run 10 miles in the AM!!

Remembering Dad

Today's been a little emotional for me because I've been thinking a lot about my dad, who passed away Dec. 10 2003. I don't really talk about him too much, and especially not about the fact that he's gone. I would bet that the majority of my friends in Colorado don't know that my Dad is no longer living. Mainly, when does such info come up in day-to-day conversation? But also, I don't usually like to talk about it because it makes me sad. So, maybe talking about it on my blog is a step in the right direction.

It would be hard not to think of my dad today, and so, like the past 4 Dec 10ths, I've tried to find ways to honor his memory and celebrate his life. That way I can remember him in a happy way without being sad all day. Tonight Chris and I went out with our friends Jeramy and Christine (and their 6 month old, Carson, who was sleeping the whole time) to Macaroni Grill. I had forgotten about the times I went there with my dad, but after our friends suggested it some good memories came back. My dad really liked antipasta salads - the ones that are more meat and cheese trays than salads. One time when he and I went to the Macaroni Grill, he was insistent on getting one, and basically told the waiter how it should be made, so that the chef could make one for us. :) Very funny, and very my dad.

It was really nice to be out with Jeramy and Christine, they have come to be good friends of ours out here but we haven't seen them much since the little one came along and everyone's schedules got more hectic. Another thing about my dad is that he would make friends and strike up a conversation with anyone. When I was young this really embarrassed me, but I appreciated it more the older I got. One of my cousin's most embarrassing moments as a kid involved my dad and I. For some reason, we had this little inside joke when I was somewhere around 4 of having a bad breath contest. Who knows how that started. One day, my cousin, my dad and I were at the grocery store, checking out. And I figured, I bet the cashier wants to compete in the bad breath contest. So I asked her, "Want to smell my breath?" My cousin was mortified, of course, but I saw nothing wrong with it. I don't remember my dad's reaction, I really hardly remember the event myself but it will live in emphamy in my family.

Anyway, my dad had several people who cared a lot about him. I got phone calls from his old friends who I hadn't seen in ages right after he passed away, and one of his friends even called me the following Christmas to say he still missed my dad. So friends were really important to him.

I'm lucky to have really good friends, too, and the few times I felt sad today I reminded myself of this and how important it was to my dad, too. Today was nice because I ran with Mollie during lunch and then had coffee with a handful of friends in the afternoon - so it's been easy to remember how lucky I am in that respect.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few of the memories I had today of my dad, just to help keep him alive in my heart. Thanks for stopping by.

Who has the time????

I've been annoyed today by the lack of time I have in each day. What's even more annoying to me is how much some people seem to get done in a limited amount of time. How is a person supposed to keep up with a house, job, relationships, and hobbies? What's more, how on earth does one do all this sanely with kids?? I really appreciate my friends who don't pretend to be perfect. Hearing that other people don't have it together makes me feel a little better. I feel relieved when I'm at someone's house and it's not sparkling. On the other hand, it's somewhat stressful to me to be around people who try very hard to have a "I have it all together" image.

I started the day feeling this way because of the current (well, pretty much perpetual) state of our house - we have a tree with no lights on it, lights on the house left over from last Christmas that no longer work, two knee-deep piles of clothes on our bedroom floor, dirty dishes, a backyard littered with wheelbarrows and hoses (now buried in snow), and a garage that is hazardous to walk through. So, I feel a little bummed that none of that got addressed over the weekend. On the other hand, who cares? I had work to do and ran 9 miles on Saturday, went to holiday parties Friday and Saturday nights, and spent Sunday snowboarding at Copper and at the Avalanche game in Denver. I didn't have time for all of that other crap, and I had a really nice weekend.

Sometimes I feel like I have to fight to stay sane because of this lack of time issue. The best thing I can do is to just break up tasks and try to do a little each night. Tonight I washed the dishes, went grocery shopping with Chris, and cleaned most of the bathroom. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the laundry. I just have to remember that my life is not completely together because I enjoy it, and I'd much rather spend a day snowboarding than scrubbing my tub. On the other hand, it's worth the work to keep my house somewhat in order because it saves me from stressing out when I realize we live in complete chaos. It's all about balance. I'll let you know when I get that one down.

Pancakes and Beer

1. You need to make the pancakes I talked about in the previous post. They were so so good. Especially when eaten with lots of bacon and coffee with eggnog. Can life get any better?
2. The only chance of life getting better is all of the delicious seasonal beer out these days. New Belgium's Giddy Up, Fort Collins Brewery's Big Shot, and Coopersmith's Jingle Ale are all really good. Big Shot is my favorite winter ale, it is perfect. It's actually a little hoppy (I don't like really hoppy beers like IPA's) but not too much. Jingle Ale wins the award for the most fun coming-out party. I went to Coopersmiths with Matt, Beth, Rob, and Kelty tonight for a pint and it is a very unique but tasty beer. It has cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and other odd spices that you would expect in banana bread but not beer. In addition to having $2.50 pints, they had a full bagpipe band with Irish dancing, and a brass band that played some holiday tunes. It was a great night!