Race Report: Mews Gear and Beer 5K

Cold.  So very, very cold.

As you know, I love this race.  I think the Mews is a great place, good beer, good food.  The race is fun – tough course, but a great, downhill finish.  Free beer, good shirts, and great food when you finish.  We used to have a great tradition of doing the race as a big group, hanging out after until they kicked us out, and then moving the party elsewhere.  That tradition ended after only a couple of years for various reasons, but like many other traditions in my life I’m unwilling to give it up.  So I insist on running each year and drag whoever I can get along with me.

This year, we didn’t get to go and pick up the numbers early and get our free beer, because J had to work, and we had a lot to do around the house to get ready for Thanksgiving.  My brother graciously went and drank our free beers for us.  What a giver.  My parents watched Emilia, and kept her last night as well.  Bonus!

I did not want to run this race.  If you looked at the thermometer, you’d understand why.  26 degrees and windy.  It was cold, maybe the coldest race I’ve ever run.  I had many layers on (including one made of too small spandex.  Sexy), and I was still frozen.  Due to my awful sense of direction, we only arrived about 30 minutes before the start, which was a blessing.  Just enough time to get our beer wristbands and hit the port a potty before we started.

Even though the race field looked smaller, apparently everyone was just huddled in the tent for warmth, and the start was pretty crowded.  J and I stuck together for about 2 miles, and didn’t walk at all.  Then he pulled ahead of me, and I walked a bit up the giant hill at the end.  I probably could have run up the whole thing, but I had it in my mind that I was going to walk, so I did.  Kind of stupid, but I was pretty happy that those were the only few minutes I walked the whole race.

After the race, we had some beers and, when the line died down, got some food, which promptly turned to ice.  It was really that cold.  We were outside for about 2-1/2 hours total, and I may never warm up completely.  Still, it was a fun day – I’m just glad I don’t have to do it again for another year!

Happy Saturday!

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

How important are book covers in getting you to read a book?

Not at all. Especially now that most of my reading is done on my Nook or Kindle. Even back in the day (ha!) when I bought more books or went to the library, covers never really swayed me. I do most of my easing based on recommendations from others, or I stick with an author I like.

I do kind of miss browsing the library shelves for something that just looks good, and reading for hours on the train. Since I started driving to work, my reading time has drastically decreased, and that’s something I need to work on.

Fashion! Turn to the Left.

Describe an outfit that makes you feel good. (It can be from any period of your life.) Double points if you post a picture of yourself in the outfit.

Take yourself back to 1991.  Put yourself in my shoes: I was a dork, there’s no other way to describe me.  I was in Honors classes, awful at gym, sang in the choir, never kissed a boy.  I wanted to be cool, I even hung out with cool kids (well, they were at least cool to me).  I tried to dress fashionably, to downplay my giant glasses and even giant-er buck teeth (braces would come shortly after).  I begged my thrifty mom to buy me name brand clothes, even though they weren’t cheap.

When I was in 7th grade, I had to interview someone for a project in the gifted and talented program, and I picked Patrick Kennedy, son of Ted Kennedy (further dork evidence).  My preparation for the interview including picking out what I considered to be the perfect outfit.  I put all of my “cool” clothes together.  I thought I looked awesome:

– blue Skidz short overalls (one strap down)

– black BUM Equipment tee-shirt

– brown boat shoes with the laces unties but ties into that curlicue thing

– black Chicago Bulls hat

Wa-La

Every Time I Turn Around

Tell us about your first friend.

My first bestie lived behind me.  We’d traipse through the woods to each other’s houses.  I don’t even remember what we played, aside from when we built a “treehouse” that involved a carpet remnant on a branch.  We were complete opposites, looks wise and personality wise.  I was Punky, she was Margaux.  We both had brothers, hers older, mine younger, and sometimes we let them play with us, if they were lucky.

I moved into the house in third grade, in the middle of the school year, and often wished she went to my school instead of a private school.  She moved away in the fifth grade, only about 5 miles away but it was SO FAR we only saw each other a few times.  She missed my birthday party and I was devastated.  Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I’ve forgiven her, and enjoy seeing her and her beautiful family.

Unplugged

How much of the day are you plugged in? Do you consciously set aside offline time, or does it happen whenever it happens?

I am plugged in pretty much all day, and its starting to annoy me.  I make a conscious effort to not even bring my phone downstairs when I work out in the morning, because I don’t want to be tempted to check it.  I have it with me all day at work, except at meetings, because that’s just plain rude.  And at night I either have my laptop or my phone at all times, except dinner (which is hard).

I need to set aside more offline time.  There’s simply no reason for it.  The world will not end if I don’t check Facebook, I mostly get junk email, and I’m all set with seeing pics of boobs on Instagram.  It’s a habit, really, and it annoys me.  Add it to my ever-growing list of resolutions.

Unwritten

Tell us about a blog post that you didn’t publish.

I went through my drafts to see what I’ve never posted, and came across this one about J (creatively titled: All About J).  I’m not sure why I never posted it – maybe we got in a tiff and I didn’t want to be publicly nice to him.  Maybe I had something “better” to post that day.  Or maybe, I just didn’t really feel like what I had written did him justice.  It can be really hard to put into words what you love about your partner, the person who knows you better than anyone else, who sees you at your best and worst, who stands by you even when times are tough.  Writing the things I love about J almost seemed trite, like it wasn’t enough.  I think that’s why I never posted this – I just couldn’t get it right enough to put out there.

I realized that I haven’t blogged about the most important person in my life: J.  Most of you know him, know how we met, what we do, but you may not know the reasons I love him.  Here are a few:

– he spends a good part of his spending money to get me gold dollar coins to pay for train parking

– when I crossed the finish line at the marathon, he was jumping up and down, cheering, and taking pictures

– he takes his electric blanket off and gives it to me when he’s cold

– he makes a fabulous turkey gobbling sound

– he’s a really good cook, and always tries to keep it healthy for me

– he doesn’t mind listening to me sing along with OAR in the car, over and over again

– he brings me scratch tickets.  When I lose, he lets me scratch his too

– he used to be really shy around my friends.  Now, they’re just as much his friends as they are mine

10 for Everything

The newest Facebook “thing,” blog style.

1. I had my first kiss in college (the rock of love).

2. I talk to my mom everyday, especially since I had the baby. I think it started when I was 38 weeks pregnant and she’d call every day and ask if I had the baby yet.

3. I tell Emilia that the things I love, in order, are her, Daddy, and coffee.

4. I have been egged twice. Not my car or house, but myself.

5. I have a hard time spending large amounts of money at one time. For some reason, I’d rather spend $50 in each of 4 shopping trips than $200 in one. Target is the exception to this rule.

6. I can’t drink coffee while eating yogurt. The thought disgusts me.

7. I can fit my fist in my mouth.

8. I don’t have eye teeth or wisdom teeth.

9. Baxter has a voice. He sounds like Eeyore. J and I speak for him too much.

10. I love my family. But I love being alone too. Just not for too long. I talk to myself too much when alone.

Thunder

We bought Baxter a thundershirt, not because he’s scared of anything, but because he’s a jerk when people come over. He barks, cries, jumps, and is just a pain in the ass. He likes clothes, so I forked over the $40 and got him the shirt, money back guarantee. My brother and his girlfriend came over tonight, I figured it would be a good trial run.

He jumped on top of my (glass) coffee table as soon as they opened the door. Thundershirt fail.

You’re a Hard Habit to Break

If you could quit one bad habit instantly without difficulty, which would it be?

My (current) worst habit is always being on my phone or my laptop.  I even annoy myself with it.  I don’t even do anything interesting, like read or play a game.  I just surf and look on Facebook, where nothing interesting happens and I don’t even care anymore.  It really has just become a bad habit, but one I can’t seem to break.  We’re working on a “no phones at dinner” rule, but one of us always ends up sneaking it out to look up something.  Sometimes its refreshing to not be connected and not care.