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.

Portland Surprise

So we're in Boise right now, eating way too much food and enjoying spring break (quilting! thrifting! skiing!). I know there are a few who are staying close to home this week, and so I wanted to provide a little activity for our fellow Portlanders who could not make their dream spring break trip (which is Idaho of course...). Last week during a run along the beautiful Willamette, we stopped to enjoy a world famous site that had previously gone unnoticed--

There in the median on Naito Parkway and Taylor, sits the World's Smallest Park, Mill Ends Park. It was created to be a colony for leprechauns and a location for snail races. When you visit this humble park and crouch beneath the shade of the delicate tree, know that you are the only person in the world, at that moment, enjoying this miniature gift from nature.

I have 12 mini bowls, but no mini spoons

As I am constantly dreaming about miniature knifes that will put peanut butter on tiny pieces of bread that sit on tiny plates, or (even better!) eating tiny pancakes with a tiny knife and fork, it should come as no surprise that the World's Smallest Postal Service made my eyes widen when I found it this morning.

It immediately reminded me of these elaborate notes my friend and I would pass to each other in junior high. I would spend hours the night before making a tiny card out of wallpaper with an envelope made of a magazine page, and include random trinkets like dog erasers and other weird things I found in my room. The practice ended when she got caught with the package she made that included a few tic tacs and random vitamins, and the vice principal thought she was dealing drugs. I guess she thought it was ridiculous that 14 and 15-year-olds would still be childish enough to create origami boxes filled with magic tricks and last Halloween's Sweetarts.

Although the VP could have been right after all. I was a naive eighth grader, she was a "cool" ninth grader. And while I went over to her house sometimes after school and we would talk about how much we both loved Sublime, she favored chemical experimentation on the weekends while I did my pre-calc homework and practiced the violin.

Penny Pusher

Jon had a quorum Pinewood Derby on Friday night at 6:00. At 5:35, we pulled the block of wood out of its official box and created this masterpiece. Way too heavy for regulation (of course...don't you realize there are very strict rules?) but it did beat one car, once.

We forgot it on the gym stage and I have no idea what happened to it. I hope a child somewhere is enjoying its innocent smile. Or pulled off all the coins and bought a Milky Way.

Here's a tip.

Start running when you think it's not really raining that much. When you start your journey, make sure it starts raining much, much more. Wear a jacket that you think is waterproof, but really isn't (Layered over a jacket with amazing sponge-like qualities). Run for 8 miles. Make sure the last two are in an out-and-out downpour. Make it home, and peel off every rain soaked layer.

Look at that pile and think about how much water weight you just lost, instantly, just by following my few simple steps.

Marchtasche

Let's just say Jon's a little more aerodynamic as of late...but not completely.

Frozen tofu.

This is one half of our first batch of vegan ice cream. Where it belongs. My stomach was not happy it visited. I ate one mini bowl and I was actually considering throwing up, which hasn't happened since the great junkitis episode of Christmas 2005. Turns out, silken tofu is great with lots of dark chocolate but not so good with only vanilla flavoring and soy milk (I even added cinnamon!). It tasted like frozen, sweet tofu. The worst part is that the other half was given to our friends, although lots of frozen huckleberries might have made it more palatable (and I think practicing vegans have numb taste buds to soy products). Jon wouldn't touch the stuff, which was a red flag in itself. I have to say I was impressed with the texture.

I don't know why I'm into making vegan ice cream all of a sudden, but I'm ready for round two, sans tofu. (arrowroot, anyone?) I think my competitive nature wants to conquer this non-dairy beast, then pound a pint of whole milk and crush it on my forehead in victory.

You get what you pay for

Our top of the line, Memorex ("true flat screen"--not to be confused with a flat screen) only shows overexposed blurry images for the first 30 minutes when you turn it on (getting worse). Since we bought the cheapest TV Target carried with gift cards, we paid $20 for a 3 year warranty. I just got off the phone with a lady who will give me a gift card for the purchase price ($90) since it costs too much to fix. According to Target, this is what $90 will get us--

Plus $20 out of pocket.

What did I just do?

So after telling several people this week that I would not be running a marathon, I signed up for a marathon today. Blame Jon and his pep talks, but at least he's running it with me.

If anyone else wants to join us, today's the last day to sign up before a price jump (it's the Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon June 27).

just too good.

Jon and I have gone to see this local band, Nurses, play a few times. We really like them, but it takes me about 10 minutes to get a hold of myself and not almost laugh...

Because two members look almost exactly like our friends Jameson and Christian (think Christian when he dyed his mustache brown, and Jameson still had a glorious beard before it was shaved for naught). See? I can't get over it.

Love is...

The Waffle Window. (Basil, bacon, and brie, if you're wondering.)

Running eight miles.

A Glockenspiel.

Playing cupid.

(also noted--lots of dark chocolate, a new-to-me dress, angel food cupcakes, a husband who misses his favorite band because someone was not feeling well.)