Digital Life

Oh...but I've been a bad blogger...

Everything is fine, just busy.

And you know me, sometimes when I haven't blogged for awhile, I write and EPIC post about ALL the shiz in my actual life that has kept me from writing about it, but that is so DARN TEDIOUS to write and read...

Instead...here's the last two weeks of my life according to my iPhone

First...there are the photos that friends have sent me

Edith sent me this fabulous shot of DramaGirl playing field hockey

Mona sent me this photo of a Journey t-shirt, I assume to remind me that we are going to see Journey and Foreigner next weekend.

Then of course, there are the random photos that I've taken over the last couple weeks. 

What I was doing while waiting for a meeting (which was to take place at my house) to start...

About 3 hours later (see...there was a meeting....) I will also point out, it was a work-related meeting that took place on  a Friday afternoon...thus the wine bottle...but really, we were working!)

What DramaGirl decided to do instead of helping me carry in the groceries...interpretation? "I am REALLY TIRED MAWWWWWWWWWM!"

See that little white speck about five rows beneath the American Flag? That's Turbo.  He wanted to see the view from the top row of The Q.

DG and I did facials...pretty girls?

We met this young man at The High Dive after last weekend's 9 mile run (Don't worry...he was with his parents...not just hanging out at a bar on a Saturday morning). When his dad learned that I was an English teacher, he told me about his son's skillz, which he himself had discovered as a result of some "homework" related to the mulitple uses of The F Word. We named him The Conjugator

Alberta at The High Dive...if she looks a bit wired, it's because I think she's on her 3rd Shirley Temple at this point!

Speaking of Alberta...she's been busy too! As a matter of fact, this evening Betty and I are going to go watch her beat the shiz out of some other chick.

Seriously, she's taken up boxing.

Betty and I brainstormed and tried to come up with a good boxing pseudonym for her. 

FYI - Alberta teaches home ec...yep, she's the boxing home-ec teacher...Quite the dichotomy, dontcha think? We started with Alberta, the skillet, Smith (not her real name)... Here's my text exchange with Betty, who was with Beth, who is also a Home Ec teacher...

Betty

The reason I was googling "unicorn" and "spatula" is because I'd told Alberta we'd bring signage to cheer her on....you know with unicorns and rainbows and glitter...because that would be SO APPROPRIATE for a boxing match, no? I mean, I think it would really intimidate her opponent,

Alberta

Doesn't it sound like Alberta wants a glitter and unicorn boxing sign?

BTW...Betty just got a new iPhone. She's still working on mastering the touch screen keyboard, which has led to some pretty funny exchanges... 

Betty

to which I replied "Si!"

Of course....there are also the everyday exchanges with DramaGirl and Turbo, such as...

DramaGirl

I thought ice cream was a totally obvious reward for a B on a Biology test.

La Mesa's Octoberfest is this weekend. Turbo went with a group of kids last night that included a fair number of girls...I think he learned something about hanging out with girls.

Turbo

Of course, no week would be complete without some texting about The Housewives...This week's Beverly Hill episode was classic!

Mona

So...as you can see, I've been very, very, very busy.

I haven't forgotten the Nike Women's Half is in two weeks. I've got 10 miles and a big hill lined up for tomorrow. I'll keep you posted (yeah...sure ya will Alice...sure ya will)

A Little Bit of Randomness

There's no rest for the weary since the herd has another half-marathon, the Napa to Sonoma half, to do in about a month. So last Saturday, Betty, Elsie and I ran in Balboa Park. It was a beautiful, overcast morning, which definitely left me thinking WHERE THE HECK WERE ALL THESE CLOUDS for the Rock and Roll Half?

Previous weekend, I was running on that road...

No blue sky (on the Laurel Street Bridge going into Balboa Park)

I managed to eek out about 7 miles, which wasn't bad a week after running a half. Elsie and Betty got in five miles! After our run through the park, we met at Elsie's house for breakfast and as an added bonus, we got to meet Elsie's newest grand-calf!

Everybody gets some breakfast. (No, we did not offer mimosas to the baby...geeesh)

Is she gorgeous, or WHAT! (Betty loves babies)

Somehow, however, once the week started, even though it is summer, I managed to get in very little running--just two short runs on the mill. It's getting warm now, so I've really got to get in the habit of running earlier in the morning. I just really can't do more than 30 minutes on the mill.

We've got 8 to 9 miles planned for this weekend and Mik and I also have a plan to do more circuit training (squats, lunges, and core work) to train for this race. I'm hoping that doing strenght training will help me get past that 11 mile barrier that I've faced the past several half-marathons.

Ihave no doubt that Mik has been diligent about her strength this week, but me?

Kinda like the running...Not so much.

In other life-randomness, in this post that is in search of a point, or an overarching theme, or hopefully, at least, a reasonable transition from one idea to the next, I can share the following:

• HBO-GO may be the most evil iPad AP ever because now I can watch ALL of the episodes Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm as I lie in bed, which has kept me up and away from sleep too many times these past two weeks.
• I've started wearing a mouth guard because, apparently, I clench my teeth as I sleep (surprised by this? I didn't think so). I don't like it.
• Father's Day is this weekend, and for the first time EVER I am prepared and will NOT be running around in a panic on Saturday!
• I can loose 6 pounds in 10 days on the South Beach Diet, and gain most of it back in two when I start eating carbs again. I know this because this is what I did yesterday and today.
• Betty got a bib to the Napa to Sonoma half...and is all legit because she paid the transfer fee and so she gets to run as Betty this time, and not as Tiger or some other random pseudonym.

Speaking of the Napa to Sonoma half...We almost had a major debacle in our travel plans...luckily I discovered my own epic-almost-failure as the herd travel organizer which lead to this email last week.

Hey Herd, 

It was bound to happen eventually...you're booking agent and travel organizer has made a whopper of an error. 

I THOUGHT that I'd made a reservation for all of us at Embassy Suites in Napa. I have several emails to all of you saying that I was going to do that...

Then we got the email that we got into Nike, and so I switched my attention to booking rooms/flights to San Fran.

Oh...then I probably went and taught a class or something.

Anyway, I was checking to confirm things this morning, and I couldn't find a hotel reservation for Napa. I called Embassy Suites, and they don't have a record of it either AND they are sold out!

So...I booked two rooms at the Double Tree in American Canyon...although I may change it. It's not in Napa...it's in American Canyon, which is farther away, although it looks nice...  GAH!

The truth is, I think the herd would stay in a Motel 6 if I booked a room there. I'm the one with the "minimum hotel" requirements.

Stay tuned. Our trip to Napa should be quite the adventure!

Want to, Have to, Need to...

The problem with regularly neglecting my blog, and then not posting for more than a week, is that just too many darn things happen, including the moments, which at the moment, I think would make good blog-fodder and so I take a picture (or two).

My computer is full of such photos.

Why not start off with the mimosa photo...taken this morning from Shades in Ocean Beach with Mik, Betty, Michael, Irene, Walter and me in attendance

I ran 10 miles last week, so I backed off to 8.5 this week. Next week, I'll run 12. It'll be my longest run before the Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon. Today was an easy run for me. I used the same "take it easy in the beginning" strategy. In fact, it was the same route that we did two weeks ago when I belly-flopped and skinned up my hand. Only this time I managed to not fall on my face.

Walter ran with me for most of the morning, but he decided to run to a friend's house. We'd been there two weeks ago on Sunday, and laughed that some morning, on one of our runs, we'd just drop by to say, "hello!" He dropped by. I did not. I flipped a U and headed back to the start to get my 8.5 miles in.

Last Sunday, Walter and I got to enjoy an absolutely fabulous sunset from the deck of our friends home. They have, according to Walter, "one of the best homes in San Diego." No lie. There is NO WAY to be on this deck and NOT have a beer...which is also what Walter did at 8:30 this morning.

Another random photo from last week....Last Saturday night, Betty and I met up with Kat at The Belly Up, in Solana Beach to listen to B-Side. Elsie's tenant plays in the band, but she was tired and we couldn't shame her into joining us. Betty and I had dinner with the hubbies before the show. As is their typical behavior, they did NOT join us on the dance floor. No matter... 

Also taken last Saturday morning...we ran on the Mission Beach boardwalk. I mentioned to Betty that it'd been awhile since I'd taken a sweaty picture of it. I'm sure she thinks she lucked out and that this lovely shot of us disappeared into my iPhoto folder. Betty and I had great runs that morning. I ran 10 and she ran 9.2.

Yet another, previously unpublished photo, taken last Friday when I rode my bike around Fiesta Island in the afternoon. It was a little windy, but overall a lovely ride. 

Then there are those events for which I have no photos...including:

• Monday night: Dinner Club - Elsie asks the Ken Club bartender what kinds of wine are available. Bartender says, "We have red...and white." Elsie decides to have a cosmo. Bartender says, "excellent decision."
• Wednesday night: Madge, Betty and I have dinner at Mona's new house. It is fabulous and Mona is an extraordinary cook. We eat and drink and laugh and eat some more. At 10:30, Walter texts me, "are you OK?"

So...where am I going with all of this?

It's been "Literary Arts Festival" week at the college where I teach. I have some really excellent, creative, hardworking colleagues who put it all together. This year, there were two writers who came to talk to students about writing in general, and to read their writing specifically. I went to listen to both readings.

The first was Dorothy Allison. She talked about how writers have to take risks, and to write about the things that make us just a little bit afraid. Fiction writers (and probably non-fiction as well) take these things, and then tell lies about them. 

Lord knows that I have been known to embellish some things on this blog. In retelling some of our adventures, I may change the order of events, mostly to clarify a story but also for comic effect ...but usually I just report (I NEVER embellish running stats). 

I do love the idea of writing about those things which make us afraid...or even just a little bit nervous. I think some of the best blog posts I've written were ones that made me nervous. The ones where I paused, even for just a bit, before I hit "Publish Post." There are certainly some things that I don't write about because it would be hurtful to someone I know. Most of these topics, however, generally have nothing to do with running. They're just ideas that I have in my head.

On Thursday night, I went to hear Roger Bonair-Agard. If you want to read his poetry, you can look here, but if you really want to get a sense of him as a poet, you have to see it. If you don't really like poetry, go see it anyway. It's really not going to be what you expect.

Anyway...he talked afterwards about being a writer who doesn't write because he wants to, but because he MUST write.  For most of us, we'll never make a living from this writing gig; writers write because we cannot imagine life without it. 

Listening to Dorothy or Roger talk about writing was both inspirational and also made me feel a little guilty that I'd been neglecting my blog. I ever expect to make a living from writing, but I write here now because I cannot imagine NOT writing, and that made me feel more writerly...sorta in the same way that running with the track club makes me feel like a runner...not the type of runner who is going to win awards, just the kind who runs because she needs to, they both made me feel more like a writer.

All of which makes for a lousy-boring-listy blog today, but it's something that I just had to do.

Just a Little Respect

Earlier today, and for most of this week, I've been really fired up about some things, so while this post may go down in the annals as the reason why one doesn't drink wine and blog, I am still compelled to write...as this has been one heckuva week.

I am the daughter of two public sector employees (a teacher and a nurse), both are retired now, but they did not retire early, nor did they retire to riches. They live a comfortable life after careers of taking care of others, but they are by no means wealthy and living the high life.

It hurts when I hear some say that because of collective bargaining, they were able to retire with excessive benefits and have now become a burden on society. I get angry because my parents, while comfortable, are not living off the fat o'the land. They do not cruise the Bahamas, or go on annual vacations to Europe, or have a home in the mountains and another at the beach. They live moderate lives that they have earned. They worry CONSTANTLY about the cost of health care and in some cases fear that they are just a few steps away from being a financial burden on their children.

I am a public sector employee, a school teacher, as are most of my friends, and I have been for almost all of my adult life. I do not have a "part time job" as a public school teacher, and while I earn enough to make a comfortable and reasonable living, I am by no means wealthy. And let me add, that even though I am a community college instructor, this is, by no means, a part time job.  Most of my teacher friends are sitting at home tonight grading papers and planning lessons for tomorrow, even though their official work day ended several hours ago.

I understand that unions have problems. In fact, I have not always belonged to a teacher's union, and only do right now due to local issues (and by local issues, I mean issues related to the college where I teach and where I teach only). There have been lots of times in my life where I did not agree with the union line, with union politicking, with the policies of unions to protect their membership at all costs which inevitably leads to the union defending some pretty indefensible teaching. I would be among the first to admit that there are people in my profession who shouldn't be. They embarrass me. I wish they would quit.

However, that there are some weak teachers does not mean that all teachers are weak. In fact, the vast majority are quite good, working in deplorable conditions, with meager supplies, who make due in order to teach kids. None of us feel overpaid.

However, it angers me when I hear some sectors of the media say because am a teacher, and because of teacher unions, I am a burden on society due to the "unreasonable salary with health care benefits" that I earn. My salary, some claim, outweighs the value of my work. It hurts when I hear some political pundits decry teachers because we have "part time jobs," and because "those who can, do; and those who can't teach." Teacher unions have their faults, but I would defend an individual's right to join a union 'til the end.

But it's not just about me this week.

I have students who rely on financial aid. Let me tell you about Ricky. Ricky has severe cerebral palsy...think Stephen Hawking type cerebral palsy. He is in a wheel chair. He cannot walk. He can barely talk. He relies on an aide in the classroom who takes notes for him. Then he goes home, has a friend scan his notes into a computer so that he can read them in large print because he also has a vision impairment. He has a paper due next week. I know he started it this weekend because it will take him 10 hours to type a paper that will take my other students 2 hours (at the most) to do. However, what I know now is that Ricky is super smart, but he needs help. He really needs someone to help him to write the essays that he has in in head, but that he cannot physically write himself. My tax dollars help Ricky, and people like him. I trust that someday Ricky (and other students like him) will do great things, but I also know that Ricky may not get the chance to do the things he is capable of because budget cuts will stop paying for his aide, as well as for other assistive devices he needs to use. Ricky is not a burden to society. He is a gift. He works harder to learn than most of us have ever had to. I wish all my students had the motivation that Ricky has.

It pains me that if state budget cuts to disabled students continues, Ricky won't be able to finish his education.

I could go on and on about the vets who are in my class who need services that they aren't getting, about the number of classes being cut at all levels, about the teachers being laid off, about libraries closing. I have friends who are cops, who literally risk their lives, trying to keep mine safe, even though their budgets are being cut. I have friends who are fire-fighters who save our houses and our communities from danger. I have friends who are lifeguards, and trust me, their daily lives are NOT like an episode of Bay Watch. 

I get what the other side is saying...we need budgets, we spend too much on some things. I know how nobody wants to pay more taxes. I get it all...all I'm saying is that in this time of pain for all, it's really important to not minimize the important work that public employees do...for the public. The vast majority of us are the middle class. We are not burdens on society. We are not wealthy. Most of us are just getting by, trying to raise our families, and in fact, most public employees are more than willing to take furlough days, pay cuts, do what we have to do, need to do to sacrifice for the greater good.

We'd all just like a little respect is all.

Oh Geez...not THAT again

Yep, it's my foot.

AGAIN!

Damnit, Janet...

After a very light week of not-really-running because we had HARRY POTTER PREMIERE SHOW plans* and because the lil' sis in the OC needed some tech support for a new computer she recently purchased, and because I am here to serve and all, and because I went to the OC to assist my lil'sis, which lead to not getting to run on Saturday, which was fine since it poured rain all day anyway, and  EVEN MIK, who is a complete DIE HARD ATHLETE decided to run on Friday afternoon and not Saturday, and who avoided the rain, despite ALL OF THIS, I finally got onto a dreadmill on Sunday and what happens? (Damn Faulkner would be PROUD!)

All I know now is that my achilles tendon is relatively swollen and I don't like what THAT means.

NOT.

ONE.

LITTLE.

BIT

((sigh))

So, I guess the somewhat good news is that, at least, I don't have a 1/2 Mary looming on the near horizon, so I guess I have some time to ease off and recover.

But still...WTF is up with the feet?

((sigh))

So, in the interest of posting something on this blog, yet having no heffer-stories or running tales to regale with, I'm left with this bullet-post of quickies of other sampling (that's what SHE said) of other shiz in my life...

• I logged an unimpressive 7 miles last week.
• Walter and I (and DramaGirl and Turbo) waited several hours to to see the premiere show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at midnight on Thursday. This effort pretty much EXHAUSTED ME for the remainder of the weekend.

The Line for HP. We were actually near the front of it. 

Several electronic devices (and plenty of sugar and caffeine) were required to stay awake to the START of the midnight show

Me and DramaGirl...I'm thinking I look the most tired

• The SoCal sky, after a rainstorm is beautiful.

I think I see a Snoopy dog and a flower in those clouds.

• In a rainstorm, I can cross the San Diego river in my SUV. Yes, Virginia, there is a San Diego River, and yes, it rises every time it rains.

After I saw a Honda Civic cross the river at Fashion Valley, I figured I could do it in my Honda Pilot...

• I walked into my office this morning, only to discover that someone else had been in there over the weekend and had walked away with my keyboard and mouse, which left my computer functionless.
• I have LOADS of shopping to do for the Turkeyfest on Thursday and haven't started THAT yet
• Christumkkah starts in 8 days and I've done NOTHING for that holiday yet either.
• We went to a Himalayan restaurant for my BILs bday last night. This was dessert. Milk Balls. They were delicious.

OK. I admit it, I took the first bite.

I will, no doubt, be posting sporadically for the next few weeks until the semester is over and until the first part of Hanukkah has passed. For fun, you could play in the family, "how many Latkes will she fry" contest. Pick a number between 100 and 200... I think you'll be close.

You parent some, you run some, you laugh some...

You parent some...

• The other night, DramaGirl emphatically told me that I "JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT IS TO BALANCE ALL MY RESPONSIBILITIES!!!!!" 
• To which I calmly replied, "really? I mean REALLY?"

You run some...

• On Saturday, Mik, Kat, Walter, Betty and I ran. Walter and I ran 9 miles (each, not combined). Then for the first time in AGES, we went to World Famous for breakfast and mimosas!!!

It would have been a much better photo if taken from the OTHER direction, which would have shown the OCEAN behind us and not the parking lot...GAH!

Oh...there's the ocean! Another foggy, cool, perfect running weather morning

•  All in all, it was a great run. Walter and I took it easy, my goal was to maintain/average about an 11 minute pace. Garmin said...11:02.
• Tuesday night I ran on the 'mill...not so pretty. I guess I shouldn't run after a Carne Asada Torta and Sangria. The numbers are still to the right on my Daily Mile entry. Not terrible, but it was painful.

You laugh some

• After the run we returned to the car and we were parked next to THIS

Betty was impressed!

We are pretty sure this guy was a Laker's fan...It was the cell phone cover that really convinced us.

• OK...maybe we shouldn't have been so entertained, but this car was REALLY over the top in decals, purple and gold, purple tail lights, KOBE license plate cover, (KOBE license plate!), Lakers or Die vibe. It was an impressive display. Don't ANY of you say anything about it being DramaGirls first date... DON'T YOU DARE...

Oh Yeah...I'm Alive....Randomness...Something for everyone!

Classes begin on Monday. This should expain my virtual absence from the virtual world this week.

However, despite my LASER-LIKE FOCUS on getting ready for the first week of classes, I am guilty of frittered away minutes this week by shiz like this.

Exhibit A - Entertainment

Betty's fault...she drives a swagga'wagon and sent this out as a point of pride... I spent the rest of the week singing "where my kids at? where my kids at?"

Exhibit B - Thought

Contributed by my office-partner Tate. It's a little long, but as an English teacher,my favorite part is when he calls out the dangling modifier in the line "I stopped an old man along the way, hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies..." LOL (OK...Only the English teachers and anal retentives are laughing right now...I know that)

Exhibit C - Inspiration

Anne posted this earlier this summer, but I've told a few people about it, and they've suggested I post it on the blog. It reminds me to not be afraid of doing what I think is right.

Exhibit D - The Herd

And how much of my happiness would not be possible if not for my family and the herd.

I managed to get in two runs this week (MEH) and am planning on running with the herd in the morning. It'll be our first group run (I think) since San Francisco!

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Mine (such as it was) is over now. Back to work on Monday!

How the heck did THAT happen?

I know that for many of you, summer is still in full swing, but for many members of the Herd, as well as for my kids and for me, summer is winding down and school is starting up within the next week or so (in fact, I think Betty was back at school today, but she is an administrator, so maybe that doesn't count). I report back to work on August 16, so I have one more week off. My kids start school on Wednesday (DramaGirl's FIRST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL) AND Thursday (I'm not sure why the middle school is starting on a Thursday. I guess they're easing their way back into it, so that's when Turbo will be back at it.)

So, even though it feels like the middle of summer (although to be honest, the weather here was so lousy for so long that it doesn't even really feel like it's started yet), I'm going to take a moment to look back and reflect on these past few months. They've been quite full of fun, family, and friends.

So, here's my list of things I've learned so far this summer....

• Do NOT mess with flight attendants. True Story... I can't believe I neglected to tell it earlier. On the way UP to the SF 1/2 Marathon, Elsie, Mik and I had a front row seat for watching a belligerent guy be escorted off the plane because he wouldn't stow his carryon items completely underneath the seat in front of him. I don't know if he thought this was some kind of NEW RULE or what, but he decided to be just a complete a-hole about it. We'd pulled away from the gate when he started getting all mouthy with our FA about her repeated request to push his bag under the seat, and then in a moment of complete idiocy, he raised his hand as if he was going to strike her. Like a blackjack dealer at the end of her shift, our FA wiped her hands of him and said she was DONE... Shortly thereafter, the pilot returned the plane to the gate and the guy was escorted off... People clapped.
• A corollary to #1 is "Never mess with a black woman with her hair swept over one eye!"  This is what our flight attendant, who had an AMAZING voice and who had EFFING SUNG the FA drill (you know the oxygen-masks-dropping-from-the-overhead-panels, and help-the-children-first, and your-seat-cover-may-be-used-as-a-flotation-device-in-the-unlikely-event-of-a-water-evacuation thing that you never listen to...) told us after B.A.D (belligerent a-hole dude) had been escorted off the plane. I don't know if this is going to translate well but after B.A.D was escorted off, those of us sitting around his empty seat were a little unnerved. He caused a scene! He was beligerent. I felt REALLY bad for the two women who were sitting on either side of him. Our FA made light of it and in addition to singing, she was hysterically funny and did a whole comedy routine about never messing with her...LOVED IT!

This was NOT our FA, but it was her hair-style.

• The coldest winter is a summer in San Francisco. Although this quote (or something like it) is often attributed to Mark Twain, it isn't his. I know because I looked it up once...anyway, I have spent 4 of the last 10 days in the Bay Area and neither time have I packed appropriately for it. I shoulda packed a winter coat, both times. GAH!
• A race in SF is going to be far more hilly than I think it will be. I thought I'd done SOME hill training in prep for SF, but it was nowhere near enough. My legs are still recovering from the hills.
• Plantar Fascitiis never heals completely. It always needs to be managed. I spent most of last summer trying to deal with some pretty major PF issues...and due to the hills, they're back, not as bad as last summer, but i REALLY need to get back to stretching and strength training, or else... 
• It is vitally important to take time to recover after a race. Part of the PF problem I'm now having is that I've run three times since returning from SF. I probably should have taken the whole week off, but I didn't. Then earlier in the week, Walter and I ran five miles in our "hood," which, in retrospect would have been a really good thing to do BEFORE running SF due to the fact that we live around some pretty wretched hills. The next day, my heel said "OUCH GIRL! WTF?"
• A good limo driver know his size and exactly how much room he has to fit in there. 

An amazing parking job...what were YOU thinking?

• Never bet on horse races based solely on the horse's name and expect to win. Walter and I really do need to go to the track more often with Mona and her husband Darryl. First of all, they are Ken and Barbie adorable, but we shouldn't hold that against them. Last weekend, I lost money on horse-races at Friday's Twilight racing (first post is at 4pm instead of 1pm), but had a GREAT time anyway, enjoying margaritas and dancing to Common Sense. I also made a new friend in Leah (Mona's friend from OC...who told me the SADDEST running story about how she was walking to the start of the San Diego RNR 1/2 Marathon in June, tripped on a crack in the wretched sidewalks downtown, blew out her ankle, and couldn't race!). This is something I fear before every race, that I'm going to trip over the sidewalk and hurt myself. Leah is living proof that it CAN happen.

Me, Leah, and Mona at the "after race" concert last Friday. Our mantra for the evening was "I LOVE TODAY!"

• A one hour flight from Oakland to San Diego is really NOT enough time for me to complete a  an entire post...I started this one as I was flying home from Oakland.



Pre-flight preparation...perhaps this slowed me down? Nahhhhhh

• I really need to figure out a way to say "no" to extra projects during the summer. All those extra projects have really cut into my blogging and running and family time. I cannot believe it's August and I have not been to the beach once! On the other hand, it was the coolest July on record in SoCal, so even if I'd had the time, I probably would have skipped the beach anyway.

I took this during my flight home from Oakland last night. That's the Sweetwater Reservoir in the foreground and the ocean (and this summer's ever present) fog bank in the distance

• I am still a runner. After last summer, I wasn't so sure this was going to be true, and I'll be honest, I always have a certain amount of anxiety before I start running - every single time - that I won't be able to. That it will be as difficult and painful as the first time I ran more than four years ago. And to this day, every time I start running, and I find it enjoyable, I'm a little bit surprised and very relieved.
• I agree with Meg, it's really not about drinking and running, or running and drinking. It's about hanging with the girls, our friendships, how we support each other and make each other laugh. I don't know if there's a book about the adventures of the herd or not, (but thanks Meg for thinking it would be fun to read, or that I could write it!). I do know that I would have never caught the running bug if it hadn't been for the herd. I am pretty sure that I would continue running if they all decided to quit, but I know I wouldn't have nearly as much fun. The other thing I know is that apparently word about the fun The Herd is having has spread. I received a text message from a group of younger-than-the-herd teachers who gathered this past weekend in Palm Springs. They're calling themselves The Udders. I wonder if they have Udder-names yet?

Presenting "The Udders....

Anyway, the summer isn't entirely over yet. There's still a few events on the horizon including the End of Summer Fire Run on August 29. And even though my calendar has many more empty days in August than July did, I know that things will happen and I'll book up!

The Money Pit (and other topics)

I started a post two nights ago...but it's been one of those weeks, and I was pretty surly about work, and the house, and life. But I finally came to grips with reality and realized that I really have nothing to be surly about, so I deleted the post. It was really was really, really, REALLY too whiney...even for me.

So...this week has been all about the money pit (aka our house), DramaGirl (aka -soon to be middle school promoted*), work, and a little bit of running thrown in for good measure.

The Money Pit
On the house front...10 years ago, we bought a "fixer" and we've been "fixing" it ever since. It's our  very own money pit. Most of this is my fault because I have a GOD DAMN VISION for this house and come hill or high water, I will see my VISION come to pass. Walter, would live in a shed and be happy (so long as there was a little black and white TV that he could watch sports on... You may think I'm exaggerating, but you'd be wrong.)

Anyway, after several years of whining and nagging and suggesting and plotting, I finally got Walter to agree to put in a pool about 4 summers ago. LOVE the pool. But, I've been looking at a hill of dirt behind a retaining wall for about 4 years thinking it would make a LOVELY upper patio. Finally, this week, we poured the pad.

Pouring concrete...amazingly difficult work. The concrete is brown, so it's not just dirt your're seeing.

OK...so now there's another concrete pad above the pool. So what's the big deal? And No, that box of Corona is not a landscape feature....

OH...now I get it. I'm talking about the view,  not the Corona... It's just filled with random crap...I swear.

See...

So...much of the week included me dealing with the contractor and the cement guy.

DramaGirl
The other part of this week has been all about DramaGirl, who is "promoting" from 8th grade to high school. We went to the high school registration this morning. She'll be going to the high school where i used to teach, so I have relatively few worries. After school today, I took her and two of her friends to a nail place to get pedicures and manicures...they're such chicks!

DramaGirl and friends getting pedicures...

Runs
I don't wanna write about work because it's BORING...but I will write about running! I managed to get in THREE WHOLE RUNS THIS WEEK. (Can I hear a WOOT! WOOT!)

• Monday - Walter and I ran around our very hilly neighborhood. MEH! I have some hill work to do to get ready for San Francisco next month. We KNOW that won't be a flat course. (3.03 miles, 34 minutes)
• Tuesday - I went to the SDTC track club workout. Walter was meeting with a client in Ontario***, so he had to miss it. Too bad. It was a tough-ass workout! 2 mile tempo run followed by a set of 8 x 100 strides (with calestentics) and another set of 8 x 100 sprints, followed by more sit-ups, planks, and other evil core exercises. OMG it was tough (and it was the first workout of the season...an alleged "easy recovery workout" for those who'd run the marathon. I'm wondering if I should be scared...very scared.
• Wednesday - My back ached...could it have been all the dropping to the ground and sitting up/plank/pushup action I was into the night before (Don't get all excited G, I'm still talking about the track club workout).
• Thursday - Three mile treadmill run. Used to love the 'mill. Now I can barely tolerate it. My whole goal, once I get on the 'mill is to see how quickly I can pound out three miles. Today it took me 32 minutes.

Tomorrow, Walter and I are going to do some strength training and Saturday, our second run with the track club's 1/2 Mad Group. Oh yeah...and there's this little "promotion" exercise in the morning.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone and Happy Father's day to all the dads out there!
____________________________

* They don't call 8th grade "graduation" here. They call it "promotion" instead. So tomorrow morning, there's going to be a "promotion" ceremony. I'm  pretty much OK with the nomenclature. I mean after all, it's 8th grade. But to be honest, all the hoopla certainly makes it FEEL like a graduation**. 


** Also if we call someone who is graduating a graduate, do we call someone who is promoting a promoate?


***There's an Ontario in California too. I am sure it is nowhere near as lovely as the one north of the border. The Ontario in SoCal is mostly known for what might be the most enormous strip mall EVAH. When driving from the south, you're also grateful when you get to Ontario because that means you're past  Norco, which is the most toxic smelling place EVAH due to the methane emitting from all the COWS!****


**** Heffers do NOT emit methane. Not like this anyway. I'm just sayin'

Yeah...this started off as three things...pfffft..

Well...this started off as a Three Things Thursday post, but since it'll be almost Friday when I finish it...I'll just label it a Bullet-Crazy-Friday post.

My self-proclaimed Spa Week is almost over. DramaGirl is back home tonight. She's coming down with a cold of course, after a week of being an ACTOR and a second week with the cousins. She managed to get on and off a non-stop plane all by herself. I am both proud and a little sad that my baby is growing up. She had an EXCELLENT time with our SF cousins (Thanks to Connie, Emily, Rebecca, Steven, and Johanna for entertaining her and to Connie and Emily for taking her shopping in Union Square). She may NEVER be the same having experienced the shoe floor in Macy's Union Square..uh oh!

So, despite being a little lonely in the evenings and sleeping like absolute CRAP in a WAY TOO QUIET house, I managed to stay pretty busy through the days. Here's the short version of the week :-) (yeah, yeah, yeah)

• Tuesday - I hadn't been to a Tuesday night SDTC workout in at least a month and (I'm soooooo gonna sound like a reality show contestant here) I didn't know what to expect. I have been running two times a week, strength training a few times a week. We were doing 800 repeats, which are freakin' HARD. So, how'd I do? I ran negative splits for the first three 800's. My last 800 was about 3 seconds slower. All of them were sub-10 minute mile pace...the last three were under 9:30. Can I hear a WOOT WOOT and prediction for a sub 30 minute 5K at the Carlsbad 5000 in two weeks.
• Wednesday -  Betty and I did the 5 Cities Tour. The weatherman said there was a chance of rain, but we said "pfffft...we spit at the rain" and rode anyway. Luckily, there was no rain, but as we headed back up the Silver Strand toward Coronado there was hella wind! 
• I feel like I never take enough photos, so I tried to take LOTS on Wednesday.

This is the salt mine that is at the foot of San Diego Bay in National City (or maybe it's Chula Vista...I'm never very sure where I am here)...betcha ya never seen touristy photos of this kind of thing do you?

WTF is up with Blogger's new photo feature...it took HOURS to upload this sweet photo of Betty and me starting our five cities tour! GAH! GAH! GAH!

Riding up the bike path on the Silver Strand - I swear I thought for a minute the guy on the bench was sitting there necked as a jaybird. Turned out he just had on pants the same color as his soon to be really sunburned back.

This is where Betty told me that she thought she left her T on the WAT???? In other words...a little soreness as we came into Coronado. Riding into the wind on the Strand was like doing hill training without the hill

Some Navy Seals were training and it looked like they were chasing the ferry we were on as we rode back to San Diego from Coronado

Some protesters were protesting something near the airport, causing a HUMONGOUS traffic jam.

We stopped to watch the protesters

• In other news - My 30 year high school reunion is coming up this summer, so I spent some time Wednesday night scanning in some old photos to post on the reunion's FB page. I have only three comments to make about all the photos...
• When I post a picture of DramaGirl, many of you have said that she looks just like me...we'll you should see pictures of us at about the same age. 

That's me in the back row in the yellow shirt.

• I will also add that, perhaps as a result of being completely OVER PHOTOGRAPHED as a child, DramaGirl knows how to work her angles in a photo. Quite honestly, even when she's taking a goofy shot, she rarely looks bad in pictures. I can't say the same thing is true of me and my contemporaries. Of course it could also be a result of my MAD PHOTO SKILZ in which every photo is either blurry or off center, but I seemed to regularly take people by complete surprise.

I cropped about an inch from the right side of this photo...yeah centering, not my strong suit. These are some girls from Drill Team Camp. I'm not in this photo, but that's my sister in the back on the left.

• Second, I can't help but notice how thin I was. The sad part is that I NEVER thought of myself as then then. In fact, quite the opposite. I shake my head at it now. I weighed about 115 lbs, and I remember being frustrated that I couldn't get below 110... GAH! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I feel bad that I don't weigh that now (well...ok...I do a little), I'm mostly struck by how I thought that I was fat when I clearly wasn't. It's sad the negative self image I had of myself. 

Yeah...that's me in the white. Yes I was a cheerleader. Shut up.

• Thursday - I played THE BEST APRIL FOOLS JOKE EVAH on Walter today! He's been in Peoria, AZ this week with his dad, his brother and his brother's kids and Turbo for Spring Training. Last time he went to Spring Training was probably 20 years ago. We weren't married then, but while he was gone, I bought a new car. Truth be told, it was probably one of the worst cars ever built (Mazda Capri) and I probably got the worst lease deal EVAH, and it took SEVEN WHOLE YEARS TO PAY THE DAMN THING OFF (because I have such superior negotiating skillz), but I LOVED that car. I mean, how could you not LOVE a red convertible?

What a sweet car, and no I'm not pregnant in this photo, it was the style then...very Flash Dance/Madonna-Material Girl inspired, don't you think?

• Someday, maybe, I'll devote a whole post to the summer that Walter and I drove around the country in that car (and when I say around the country, I'm talking from San Diego, to Miami, to New York City, and back though some really flat states in the center of the country, over the Rockies, through Utah, Nevada, and then back to San Diego). It took us five weeks. One night, in Ohio, we couldn't find a place to sleep, so we slept in the car. He says that after we survived that trip without killing each other, we could probably stay married forever, so he decided to marry me.
• Anyway, that I bought a car when he left town sorta bothered him. So, today, after picking up DramaGirl from the airport we went and did this...

Look what I bought honey!

And it's ON SALE!!!!!

• No...I did not buy the almost $50,000 Volkswagon Toureg, but I did send Walter a text message and photo SAYING I did. He didn't believe me at first (because he's so clever), but then DramaGirl and I got him on the phone and started talking about what an excellent car it was and then DramaGirl started telling him about some of the "really cool" features on the car (GENIUS!), AND THEN I reminded him of what I did LAST TIME HE WENT TO SPRING TRAINING.... and then there was this silence...where I knew I had him and he was thinking "OMFG...she went and bought an effing CAR WITHOUT ME....AGAIN...
• And then I got to say APRIL FOOLS!

Everyone's back tomorrow and my house will be messy again and everything will be back to normal.

All in all, a really excellent week!