ahhh, a day off work

Not even dropping my lone metal 6.00mm crochet hook behind the stove can make today anything less than lovely. (It took me 20 minutes of trying to MacGyver together a broom-wall contraption to retrieve it to just give up and move the stove completely out of the way and squishing myself back there to get it. I discovered a lot of dust and some old pasta. Ick.)

Today has been lovely because:
a) I slept in.
b) I went on a run with Gracie, during which an old woman driving her Mercedes nearly ran off the road while trying to gawk at my dog's adorableness. I know this only because she was doing that head tilt/making that aww" shape with her mouth.
c) I walked around my neighborhood and took pictures.
d) I got goodies at the Wal and gave myself a pedicure.
e) I am watching a really cute movie about Ireland.
f) I am slow-cooking pork for 20 hours to make BBQ. I got some Sticky Fingers Tennessee Whiskey sauce, but I don't like it as much as the original. It does have a kick to it, though. Josh is coming over for a really late dinner in a little bit.
g) I started a new blanket, for a co-worker's nanny. It's a shell-stitch pattern, really pretty. And really soft, with this yarn.

Time to get back to it, in fact.

whew.

Today:
--it's in the mid-70s and humid, so I decided to skip a run and go to the gym. I get to the gym and realize I left my card at home. So I come home, and I can't find it. It's only $5 to replace a card, so the $5 would have been a much better solution than coming home and tearing my room apart. D'oh.

--I've come up with some things I really need to get accomplished in the next few days, while I'm living all by my lonesome again. I need to clean my room and get rid of at least a garbage bag's worth of clothes (I do this at least three times a year yet it's never enough. And I've bought fewer clothes in the past year than I did through college. What gives?). It's always good to clean before you go on a trip - makes coming home a little nicer, I think. And a co-worker needs me to make a baby blanket for her nanny, who is pregnant. It's a good excuse to go yarn shopping - I don't count it as breaking my yarn diet because it's for someone else.

somebody's got a case of the Mondays

I totally have a case of the Mondays. This weekend was really fun - Josh and I went out to dinner Friday AND lunch Sunday (practically unheard of, since our schedules are so random), I went to the beach twice, and I had a nice run yesterday. But Monday rolls around and I just don't want to go to work. I'm cranky at the TV for not providing anything but "World's Scariest Moments Caught on Tape." I'm cranky at all the food I just bought at the store for not being what I want. I'm especially cranky that until I leave for Columbus next Thursday, I won't have had two days off, back-to-back, in more than a month.

I'm going to be pretty lonely the next few days. My good pair of jeans is going to Vegas on Wednesday and Josh is dog sitting all week, too. Looks like it's as good a time as any to keep on running with Gracie (my goal is to take her on a 3-mile run this week on a not-too-warm day) and to hunker down with this ripple afghan (it's about twice as long as seen in this picture).

Gracie loves the spring

I just went for a 1.5-miler around West Ghent with Gracie ... man is it gorgeous out! It's about 70; there's a slight breeze to cool you off when you're too hot. Perfect. I came back and I've had to refill Gracie's water bowl twice. She is panting quite happily. Seeing her happy little face is incentive enough to commit to taking her out in a big way at least four days a week, be it out for a run, or to the dog park, or to First Landing, or for a nice, long leisurely walk so she can chase birds and squirrels. Oh, and I'm glad I don't feed her wet food - I don't have to worry about this rat-poisoned dog food recall.

Today I'm headed to the beach with Lauren and Nick (again). I'm going to do a big shop at G.W., catch up on lots of TV and I'm hoping Josh and I can go out to dinner at my favorite pizza place in Chesapeake. A perfect day off!

13.1

I'm smiling in this picture because I just saw my parents and Josh.

2:55:39 was my chip time (when I crossed the start till when I crossed the finish). 3:02:something was my gun time (from when they began the race to when I crossed it. I was several thousand people - and about seven minutes - back). I beat my goal of finishing in less than three hours.

I couldn't get over the spectacle of it all. I know it's one of the Beach's two big running events (R&R being the other), and thousands are there, but the sheer size of it was awesome. From the fighter jets flying over head during the National Anthem, to spectators handing out beer after mile 9 (I couldn't stomach the thought during OR after), to having a fellow runner recognize me from six months of races ... it was all so much to take in. I loved it, even though I only realized the enormity of it at mile 7. Like, really? I have to run six more miles?

I'm already thinking ahead to the Fleet Week Half, since I'll be out of town for R&R.

Will I sham rock on?

My parents are here; I painted my toes; I dutifully ran my taper runs.
I saw Irish dancers at the expo; I have my bib/chip; I ate pasta for dinner.



(Bad journalism transition alert!)



All these things can mean only one thing. It's time for the half marathon I've been training for since October!

I'm going to go watch some basketball with Josh to make myself sleepy. I'll report back after the race!

is it summer yet?

This weather is a tease. Today was for my favorite floaty skirt, bare legs, high heels. Walking Gracie at 2 a.m. in shorts and a T-shirt.

I'm ready to not sleep in so that I can run five miles before it's 80. I'm ready to sleep in and make noon trips to the Oceanfront (but knowing never to go on a Saturday or Sunday because of tourist traffic on 264). Knowing to go to the secret beach instead of the Oceanfront. Back porches with doors open and going to work with a sunburn. All-you-can-eat crabs on the back porch of a smelly seafood dive (and trading away my crabs' mustardy parts for big claws). Festivals galore. Margaritas and sunsets on a glider at Ocean View Fishing Pier.

Tomorrow should be another nice taste of it. High of 79. Lauren and I are going to the secret beach before it's back to reality: dermatologist appointment, kiddie crochet class and (of course) work.

oops

I haven't forgotten about this wee blog. In no particular order, here's what I've been up to.

--I bought MegaMillion tickets, which was well worth the $2 if only because we spent lots of time at work dreaming of how we'd spend it. I'd buy a swank house (probably one of those big old ones down by the Hague), a condo on a beach and the Virginia Beach Chili's for starters. My mom's idea topped that - build a house connected to a brand-new Chili's. She's a smart one. Anyway, it was a moot point because the two winning tickets were sold in Jersey and Georgia. Oh well. Next time those 1 in 176 million odds are MINE.

--Computer time has been pretty minimal lately - Gracie has been a very bad dog lately, with several accidents on my bed (both sneaky and not-so-much-so while I was sleeping beside her). I've been cleaning my bed and changing sheets like a maniac, and, when I let her loose on the bed while I'm on my computer, I'm constantly turning around to make sure she's not peeing somewhere.

--I finished my basketweave scarf! I really love that pattern. It's soothingly repetitive. Now that I have the FPdc/BPdc down, I'm working on a baby blanket with a slight variation. Anyway, here's the scarf: (As an aside, people didn't recognize me today at work because of the straight hair. It was pretty funny, and very sweet, because everyone kept complimenting it.)

--Running, kind of half-heartedly the past two weeks ... I hate to admit it but I'm losing steam for Shamrock. I just want it to get here so that I can a) see my parents and b) stop being such a slave to a running schedule. I know I'll be excited the day of, but I just want it to get here already. I really like swimming laps and biking at the gym. I don't want to give up running completely, because it's so great and it works you like nothing else, I just want to do it without a race goal in sight. I really love 5Ks and I want to keep doing those. (As a side note, a co-worker e-mailed me and several other runner-types today, asking if we'd want to do the Dismal Swamp Stomp, but I'm not sure that even its cool name could compel me to do a second half marathon a month after my first. Plus, I'll be going to Ohio State the weekend before, and do I really want to tax myself in two opposite ends of the spectrum (drinking vs. running) six days apart??? I don't think so.)

-- I saw Jonny Lang in concert for the fifth time and took lots of pictures.

--Lots of work, lots of boyfriend time, and generally feeling tired the past few days. I'm hoping tonight will solve that.