Getaway weekend, a bit of a bust...

So, Thursday, our anniversay, I was prepared to head down to Bend for:1. a romantic dinner with my husband while my parents watched Allie. 2. Some family time for the 3 of us. 3. To walk the Pacific Crest half marathon.

I suppose 1 out of 3 ain't bad? No romantic dinner with hubby, because hubby did not come to Bend and no time for the three of us either. He had an earache for awhile, which he stubbornly persisted in not getting checked, so guess what? It got very bad. So, bad he was in horrible shape Wednesday when he finally relented and went to the doctor. I figured now that he had some anti-biotics, and pain meds he would be on the mend rather quickly. So, instead of leaving early Thursday, we waited around and let him sleep and relax. By the afternoon it was clear J. wasn't mending so well. It was decided that Allie and I would go ahead and he would come down Friday. I called him Thursday night, after a romantic anniversary dinner of pizza with Allie and my parents while watching the Beavers baseball game, and he was bleeding from his ear. So, he went to see a specialist Friday who put a tube in his ear and told him not to wait so long before coming to the doctor. He never made it to Bend.

However, he seems to have considered that the doctor may have given him some good advice. You see, J. doesn't go to the doctor. Is it an Alaska thing? Is it his family's macho attitude, of "hey, if you haven't severed a limb, why go for medical treatment?"

Anyway, Allie and I made the best of it. We took a canoe trip down the Deschutes, which Allie didn't like so much, because it was long and as she said, "We could get eaten by wolves."

Saturday I walked another half marathon. That makes a whole marathon in June, (broken up by a few weeks) I ended up, by chance, walking with my college roomie, C. which was great, we chatted and got caught up on old friends. C. is a much more cheerful and optimistic walker than me, so it made it a lot more fun. I finished in 3 hrs. 47 mins. Shaving 3 minutes off my last half marathon time.

After walking Allie and I enjoyed the hotel pool, where there was a strange incident. We came to the pool and set our towels and bathing suit cover-ups on a chair, and put our flip flops under it. Allie and I were playing in the pool when a couple and their child or grandchild came in. Dad/Grandpa went into the pool with the boy, and Mom/Grandma sat down on our chair on top of and crumpling our clothes and towels and kicked our flip flops under it. Yes, there were other chairs around the pool.

Perhaps I'm overly sensitive to these kind of things or have a different set of manners, but I found this really rude. I conjectured this is the type of person with an over inflated sense of entitlement- it is she who cuts you off in traffic, parks in the handicapped spots because she just has to "dash" into the bank, she is obilivous to the needs of others. Clearly, I didn't know this woman, she could be Mother Theresa in every other aspect of her life...but at that moment she embodied "that" person. Luckily, she left before Allie and I did, because I could feel my sarcastic self slipping out, and saying something like, "Gee, I really hate to trouble you, but you've crumpled up and sat on my daughter's and my clothing and towels, so I if I could ask you to move your bony little keister...." with a super sarcastic smile. That would be bad. So glad I didn't do that.

So...this weekend we have the nephews and we are off to Bend again for the long holiday weekend. Happy 4th of July!

Tidbits from the junk drawer of my mind....

Do you have "junk drawer" in your kitchen? I have always had one, and I remember my mom having one when I was a little kid. I haven't snooped around her kitchen lately, but I think she's abandoned the practice. Too bad...the junk drawer is a treasure trove.

For instance our junk drawer in the kitchen has: candles, batteries, napkins, cough drops, spools of thread, assembly and warranty info on our electronics and appliances, zip ties, plastic forks and small things that have broken off larger things. I tend to collect and keep those screws, washers and random plastic bits that break off things. Its my hero fantasy that some day if our refrigderator collapses in a heap, and I pull out of the junk drawer that unidentifiable plastic "thingy" that fell off of it , and like a miracle healing from a televangelist- our refrigderator is restored. I feel there is a certain sacredness to keep the bits that break off in hopes that whatever is broken will be whole again. J. would say, "Honey, you're a freak."

Anyway, my mind is rather like the junk drawer these days, here is what is in it:

Good things: I found a really great dress for my 20 year class reunion. It was a saga, all the dresses are either for a slightly sleazier version of Britney Spears or Great Grandmother of the bride floral tent nightmares. Also, if you are over size 12 fashion designers assume you wish to look dowdy, matronly and like you've fashioned your clothes from discarded tablecloths. Fortunately, I found a fun yet age appropriate dress that emphasizes the good bits, and hides the bad bits, and was the cheapest of all the dresses I tried on. Allie gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up and said I looked great and it showed off my "J.Lo booty."

Also- for our anniversary (tomorrow) J. gave me a brand new desk and matching chair! Brand new- nice looking too, very Pottery Barn-ish. We don't usually have new furniture- so its quite a thing.

And- We are leaving for a trip to Bend tomorrow 4 days away. Yay!

Neutral things: I am puzzled by my hair. Usually its pretty full and nice- suddenly it is weirdly limp and waxy. No changes in shampoo...I'm oddly addicted to Triscuts and cheese lately, like a look forward to eating them and think, when I get home I will have Triscuts and cheese and that excites me. Is that a sad commentary on the level of excitement in my life, or a reflection on my ability to enjoy life's simple pleasures?

Bad things: I've come to love our kitty very much, who is still officially named Jack but is now called "El kittycito" by everyone in the family. Kitty is a maniac. He must know what we are doing at all times! There is no privacy from the cat. I can kiss going to the bathroom by myself goodbye- he just cries and mews at the door. I let him in. He can now "paw open" certain cupboards and mess around in them. He grabs whatever catches his fancy and drags it out to the living room to chew on and attack. He has decided 5:25 am is wake up time for me and hops on my chest uses his paws to pull covers off me while purring and rubbing against me. This said- I love him terribly, but its all too reminescent of when Allie was a toddler. I'm hoping he will grow out of it- he turns one next month.

Well, that's about all...off to enjoy time off- yay!

The proudest mom ever...

Well, I got a little weepy on Wednesday when my beautiful Allie gave a little speech at her 6th grade promotion. It seems not too long ago I dropped her off for her first day of kindergarten. I cried, she didn't - and once she saw the books and crayons, she just said, "Bye, Mommy"

Since then she has been doing well at school and growing up and now she's going off to junior high!!! I couldn't be prouder as she received an award for academic excellence and this spring she tested into both advanced math and advanced English. Only 60 students made it out of the 600 who tested.

Two teachers pulled me aside to say what a delightful kid she was to have in class and how much they enjoyed her.

So, how blessed am I? This beautiful, smart and funny girl is my daughter.

Also, in other news...this story is too funny not to blog about. As previous readers know, J. just got a new car. He worked it out with the dealership to have a few things fixed on it so they gave him a total beater loaner car. J. noticed a few stickers on the bumper but didn't bother to read them, although he noted some folks giving him some strange looks. Well, during lunch break in the Taco Bell parking lot he perused the stickers. One was a rainbow gay pride sticker another alternative radio, and a Sleater Kinney rock group sticker, but the one he ended up peeling off said "Dykes are Womyn too"- yea, definitely not J.'s thing (although he has no problem with the gay pride) Anyway, J. turned in the "gaypridemobile" (as we dubbed it) this evening. I think he got a little tired of my jokes, but he did play along by signing off his e-mails with a "stay strong sister"

Again with the walking....

Long time readers may remember at the inception of this blog last year, most of my posts contained incessant whining about some walk I went on with a training group to fulfill my goal of walking the Portland Marathon.

I'm no longer with the training group, but have been doing some walking on my own and toying with the idea of walking the Portland Marathon again. So, I'm doing two half marathons this month to see if I want to step up my training again and do the marathon. Its a lot harder to train on your own than with a group, but I guess this is an enhanced part of the challenge for me- if I can get my jello blob self motivated and train on my own.

Anyway, Saturday was the first of the two half marathons (13.1 miles) that I did. This one was okay, but I wasn't walking with anyone so I had to keep myself motivated with my only help being playlists from the trusty iPod. It was out in the country in Hillsboro, with fields and farms and nature stuff. It had a nice small town feel to it even though there were 3,000 participants. People who lived along the route set up chairs in their lawns and driveways to watch. One family was even enjoying breakfast at the end of their driveway and little kids cheered.

I didn't really interact with my fellow walkers except one strange lady who commented that I more "sashayed" and wiggled my hips more than "really walked." Okay, weird - picked up my pace to get away from her. Look, that's how I walk- with my childbearing, wideload hips I haven't much of an option. A friend who did the race commented on that a fellow running friend was like a gazelle- I am not like a gazelle, I'm more like a heifer or a clydesdale horse.

So, the walk went pretty well until about mile 9 when one calf muscle kind of seized up on me- I did a little hop walk because I knew that stopping would be deadly. Fortunately, that didn't last too long and I was able to walk it out. Then my mood started to sour a little- like all that bucolic, pastoral scenry suddenly became irritating and devoid of landmarks. And cows, the stupid looking cows! staring at us! I don't know, maybe cows have rich interior life that we cannot detect, but they kinda look not very bright. I don't know why I was seized with such a negative opinion of cows and some bizarre resentment of them the last few miles. I actually like cows- (they are delicious! muuuwahahaha...sorry vegetarian reader)

Anyway, 3 hours and 50 minutes later I did finish. My goal was to finish in 3 hours 45 minutes, so I was pretty darn close so, I feel good about that. I have to start feeling good about these things and not so negative on myself. So, I'm not fast, I don't look as great as other women on the course- I have a sashaying gait to my walk apparently, I'm not a gazelle, I'm much more like the bovines I disparaged on the course. I finished and I guess that's the thing, right?

Unfortunately, I got lost on my way out of the stadium to find my car in distant lot, so I put another quarter mile trying to find it, while swearing and muttering under my breath.

When I got home I showed Allie my finishers medal. Then I laid it on the couch where kitty was eyeing it in stealth crouch mode, and then jumped on it and dragged it away! I let him play with it for awhile before I picked it up and took it away.

I did earn it after all, and kitty didn't walk 13 miles.

A matter of perspective...

I took Allie to the Rose Festival Starlight parade on Saturday night. We had a good spot and waited awhile for the parade to begin. The first part of the parade is when the runners from the Starlight run come running through the parade route. Many of the runners dress up in silly costumes.

Allie and I were laughing at the various get ups, when Allie's eyes got wide and she pointed and said, "Mom, Oh my gosh! There is a guy dressed up like the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!"

I looked at the runner, and actually he was wearing a Nixon mask. Of course I found this absolutely heeelarious!! I pointed out to Allie that it wasn't the child catcher from the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" but actually President Nixon.

But one must admit the similarities are striking....