Burley makes it better

Last week we ran 14 miles and it did not go well. I picked a slightly sketchy, boring trail in SE Portland to run (a) I was underfed to start with and felt like I was sleepwalking most of the time (b) I was crazy thirsty 95% of the time, with one reprieve coming from a dirty gas station sink (c) and I tried to refuel during the run with smarties (d). Using a powder based candy while you are slowly dying from thirst could have been the worst part. The last mile felt like ten.

This week was a 16 miler. I was doubtful after last weeks disaster, but compensated by being crazy prepared. I ate lunch 2 hours before, then a snack an hour before, we brought GUs along (the chocolate was surprisingly delicious), Jon got me cushy socks for my blisters, I drank a lot of water, and the route was beautiful and breezy along the river. I drove Jon crazy with my calories to consume/running time analysis, and I drank from most of the many drinking fountains on the way. We were a little creaky by the end, but it was a really good run. We were so happy. I did a celebratory dance. We walked along the dock next to the parking lot for the nice floating homes where we had parked. Then we looked closer at our car and realized someone had smashed the driver's side window, and stole my purse, his wallet, our phones, and GPS. The old non-video iPod was considered not worth the effort.

It was, to say the least, a buzzkill.

Things could have been much worse, and really, what was stolen has been frozen, cancelled, or will be replaced. But I have mourned a few things. My original BYU ID from freshman year. A foux bois notebook Kenz made me. My purse, which was a simple homemade tote bag. Jon is missing his MTC meal card and a picture of a high school friend he creepily kept in his wallet. It feels weird that someone, somewhere has these things of mine. I feel violated and scared that our address was on our checkbook. Did they see my food stamps card and feel bad? What did they buy from Fred Meyer's for $1000?

But I was looking for a charger for my old Nokia brick phone and came upon this. It made my heart smile. Cree's getting married today! (not to anyone pictured)


Burley, Idaho trip fall 2005. We attended a high school dance, made 17-year-old girls jealous, and were mistaken as foriegn exchange students. My eyes are doing that thing Kenz loves to make fun of--wide open and in a hypnotic trance. (Also, note my strange pose.) Such a good memory, it makes missing car windows seem trivial.

24!

Birthday weekend is an excuse for Jon and I to do all the fun things we like to do in one day. Or two. Things like the Waffle Window, vintage shopping, Spencer's first birthday party (hot dogs...yes!!), high quality pizza, a treat basket (inc. soy jerky, which I suspect Jon got merely because he was curious), bike rides, a picnic in the park, and having friends stop by and eat cake (with no candles and no singing--therefore there was no moment when a bunch of people stopped what they were doing to stare at me while I try to extinguish a fire--a gift in itself). Most importantly, we got to play Kenz a brand new rendition of the birthday song on the toy piano and glockenspiel.

I had such a good weekend with Jon and with friends, but I wish Kenz could have been here too! It is our first birthday apart except for (nerd alert!) an ill-timed orchestra trip to Vegas in high school. Luckily we both have husbands that know we needed a full 48 hours of awesome to compensate.

Self indulgent, but...

I was bored so I thought I would post a picture of myself. Or an interpretation of.


The background is a quilt I'm hand quilting, for those who wanted a picture.

sheesh.

I'm trying to work this morning, but it's not going well. I keep thinking about how me and Jon missed our friend's birthday recently because we had no idea it happened. They even invited us over that night, but I had made this do-or-die pledge to finish my taxes, and so we stayed in. (There was no mention of the birthday) And now I feel awful that I chose taxes over friends. So this morning I have the following conversation with myself playing in my head:

Me: I can't believe I didn't know! I feel so bad!
Myself: Don't beat yourself up, you can't feel bad about not doing something for a birthday when you honestly did not know about it.
Me: But when I keep my birthday to myself I secretly want people to know even though I don't want to tell.
Myself: That is stupid.
Me: I know. But I still feel like a bad friend.
Myself: Make a belated birthday something and get over it. And the fact that you feel unreasonably bad about something that the actual person probably didn't lose sleep about means you are trying to be a good friend.
Me: I need an apple pie a la mode Jelly Belly.
Myself: Here's two.

What can I say--I'm a dweller, an overthinker, easily guilt-full. And my birthday is on April 19th.

Whew. Now I can't feel guilty because I made someone feel guilty that they forgot my birthday.

Spring! Break!

The last time I had a full on Spring Break was high school (thanks, BYU). And now I am not even a student, but I enjoyed it anyway (thanks flexible at-home job!) We started the week with a few estate/rummage sales, coming away with a sweatshirt, skirt, owl figurine, and 2 yards of fabric for a grand total of 85 cents. Next was Boise, with a lot of food, a wall of frozen yogurt, and this:


That is a helmet I'm wearing. After a two year hiatus and all this Natasha Richardson stuff, you know my paranoid self was going to wear one (thereby leaving my mom without skull protection--a truly selfish deed). I should have let her wear it since my only fall was considered a "slump" at best, but she had a perfect day on the slopes. It was such a great day for skiing we didn't care about the forgotten passes left at home, the burned pork in the crock pot, and the fact that my dad accidentally missed a hearing.

After a short 55 minute flight home, we drove out to the coast with some friends to watch general conference in a house with an incredible view.

There were at times 9 different couples and four kids in the house, but I don't think it could have worked out better. Although I did forget my kite. We had a great run on the beach and the weather was beautiful--all us Oregonians were shocked at the appearance of this thing called The Sun.

I found out that sea foam is actually a sea-foamish color.

This is not a picture of my child (sorry Marissa, your child is all over the net) but he looks so cute shoving handfuls of sand in his face.