You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2010.
Well, I did it. The score is Sarah, 2, and NaBloPoMo, 1. The first year, I missed November 11th, I think. I blame it on the fact that it’s Veterans/Armistice Day. I was clearly otherwise occupied.
I have to say, it’s been a hit-or-miss month with this return to blogging. Sometimes I really felt like I had to force a post. But other times, I really enjoyed it. I had something to say. So maybe it’s been good to do in the sense of bringing me back to blogging.
Can’t say I’ll do it every day from here on out, but I think I’ll stick with it. And thanks to those of you who stuck with me and came back after my long hiatus!
Have you ever hyper-extended a knee? I think I might have oh-so-slightly done so. The back side of my knee, along the inside, right where I imagine tendons or ligaments or whatnot are, hurts.
It hurts when I stand with my weight predominantly on that leg.
It hurts if I sit/lay with my leg straight out in front of me. But feels better if I bend the knee slightly.
It hurts when I walk. Strangely, it doesn’t hurt when I run. Go figure.
But I’m taking this as a sign to tone down the leg weight lifting, the treadmilling, etc, until it feels better. I’d like to avoid a trip to the doctor’s office if I can.
This year has already seen the Neck/Shoulder Injury Round 2 as well as a few other health problems that I think I’ll keep to myself (not gross or girly, just I don’t feel the need to share), and I don’t need to add to that list with just one month to go.
But it is frustrating to have this happen right when Jeannie, Dave’s wife (we went to high school with him, and I gave him the advice that finally pushed him into intending to ask her out, except she beat him to the punch line–love it!), well, Jeannie has me just about convinced to train for a half marathon.
And go to Florida to run one with her next year. Maybe. We’re debating our commitment, since it involves plane tickets and therefore money and time off from work.
I looked at 12-week training programs, and I’m already running the 8-10 miles a week that they recommend before you begin. And I can handle the weekday routines. It’s the build-up on the weekends, from 2 to 12 miles, that worries me. I need someone to run with. To keep me motivated, and to motivate in return. That’s really the only thing still holding me back.
So I’ll take it easy for a week or so and see how the knee feels. Ugh. Ouch.
I’m feeling particular uninspired about writing anything, even though I had a really pretty good day.
Lazy morning with John.
Early afternoon playing Aerobie with Mark and John.
SJ Broadway show of The Color Purple with Mark and John.
Visit to Nate and Shelly to take them soups made yesterday and to visit the baby.
Dinner out with John and Mark.
Couple hours in lab. (Yeah, I tried to avoid this. But at least I was only in lab for about 10 minutes on Thursday and Saturday.)
Now a lazy evening watching random TV.
And still, I’m just drawing a blank.
1. I gave John the recipe for dutch babies, and thus he made me breakfast. Delicious, and he gets all the credit! Chivalry is alive and well!
2. Purchased and/or planned out the last of our Christmas presents. Including an incredible wallet on Etsy for Cara that should match her purse. Can’t wait to see if she likes it. Also, I’m thinking Etsy is going to be a very, very slippery slope.
3. Used the turkey carcass that Mark gave us (Elizabeth, being vegetarian, was uninterested in keeping any turkey leftovers) to make an amazing Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, and let me tell you: it’s DELICIOUS! No extra salt or pepper or anything needed. Perfect as is. Though we did add some minced garlic. We’re already trying to figure out how to make it into a chicken curry soup. I’m thinking substitute chicken for turkey, half of the half-and-half for coconut milk, and add some curry powder and fish sauce. Should hopefully be equally amazing.
4. Made gallons of chili, also, and portioned out both soups into manageable portions. Enough for two meals for us, and several meals for Nate and Shelly, too, since we’ll take them half of each tomorrow. No sense in them having to worry about cooking meals when they have a new baby to occupy them! (Thanks again for the tip, Brat!)
5. Combed through all my recipes to come up with other things that make large portions so next weekend I can make them. I’m thinking chicken pot pie and enchiladas are next on the “bake and take” list.
Really, it was a productive yet fairly lazy Saturday. Just about perfect, especially when combined with wins by the Sharks hockey team and Stanford football team. Sadly, Arizona’s basketball team lost. Can’t have it all, I suppose.
Hope you’re having a great long weekend too!
John: Tell you what, I’ll make you a dutch baby for breakfast in the morning. Would that make you feel better?
Me: Yeah.
John: Or, even better, you could make it and we could pretend I did! They’re always better when you make them.
Today I am thankful for…
For my wonderful husband, who is also my best friend, who makes me laugh and smile through life. For his love and friendship every day for the last ten years, and for many, many more.
For my wonderful family, both immediate and extended, and their love and support. For our closeness and our family-ness. For the in-laws that came with John, and the way they have embraced me and welcomed me into their hearts.
For my friends, who are all so wonderful. For Mark and Elizabeth and the way we were welcomed us into their home today for a massive, delicious dinner. For James and Cara, and Nate and Shelly too. For all the laughs and hugs and memories we’ve shared. For the countless others who always make the day a little brighter when I see them.
For our collective health, our jobs, our health insurance, our opportunities, our lives together.
But most of all, today in particular, I am thankful for the doctors and nurses and hospital staff that took care of Shelly this morning. I am thankful that she gave birth to a happy, healthy baby boy. I am oh-so-incredibly thankful that she and the baby are both doing wonderfully well. I am so thankful that Nate and Shelly became parents, and I know they’ll be excellent at it.
The baby is, without a doubt, the cutest and most adorable warm bundle of humanity it has ever been my privilege to hold and cuddle.
Hearing that Shelly and the baby were doing well, and then getting to hold him, was easily the was the best part of my day. (Even more so than the stuffing.)
I am immensely thankful for all this, and more.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
The chex mix is in the oven, the spiced nuts are ready to follow as soon as the chex mix is done, and the plans for tomorrow are set for stuffing and green beans and heading over to Elizabeth and Mark’s house for a grand Thanksgiving dinner.
Sadly (sort of), Nate and Shelly will not be joining us.
Because it looks like they’re going to be busy having a baby!!!!!! HUZZAH!!!!!!
I’m going to be a surrogate-auntie!!!!
Trivia questions:
There are three hockey teams in the NHL who’s names are not plural. Can you name them? (Admittedly, I got started on this from some blog a week or so ago that I can’t now remember, sorry.)
How about the NBA? How many and can you name them?
Or the NFL? How many and who are they?
And here’s some fun trivia for you, or possible trivia answers:
Hockey-related: Recently, the New Jersey Devils recorded the first home shutout since 1997 for a goaltender NOT named Martin Brodeur.
Men’s NCAA basketball-related:
The longest Division I men’s basketball game went five overtimes (Cincinnati defeated Bradley in 1981). The longest DII game went seven overtimes (Black Hills beat Yankton in 1956 for DII).
The record for DIII schools was just set by Skidmore v. Southern Vermont.
Here are some facts from it:
Skidmore set an NCAA all-division record with 69 points after regulation.
The combined total of 133 points in overtime is the most ever in a men’s NCAA game.
And finally…
The game had more rebounds than fans. 142 people came to watch, but the teams had a combined 166 rebounds. Another NCAA record.
Good for Skidmore and Southern Vermont. What a hell of a game.
I just planned out the next six-ish weeks at work, and it includes working about four of those six weekends. Including Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. Including Thursday this week. Not for long, but still.
I feel like I’ve been focusing so much on finishing up at the current job, and spending my free time either exercising or sleeping, that I haven’t had much time for myself lately. Probably why I’m also throwing posts together before collapsing in bed.
But here are some things I want to do, little things, when I have time time:
1. Finally write up my trip stories about Papua New Guinea, as well as Ecuador and the Galapagos.
2. Make an indentation on the stack of unread books on my bedside table. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of John’s comic books because the (a) don’t take brain power, and (b) I can read a few pages and put it down instead of getting sucked in and reading all night.
3. Work on some of the recipes that I’ve been reading and drooling over in the Fine Cooking that my parents send John for his birthday. They all look so fabulous and tasty, but the last thing I want to do when I get home at 7:45, sweaty from the gym and exhausted from the day, is start in on a big meal.
4. Find some new running routes, either by poking around online or by driving to some different locales and then just running. I know this kind of falls into exercising, but I’m thinking more in terms of the long, casual runs on the weekends. The ones that are about time and distance rather than speed, that are about getting out and enjoying the day rather than making it through a workout before the gym closes. Same goes for bike routes, though it’s getting cold so those are maybe a bit limited by weather, seeing as how they’re longer than a run.
5. This sounds silly, but catch up to where John is on a couple video games. He has a bunch, and I play a few of them, and it would be nice to, say, finish editions I and II so I can start on III, which looks awesome.
6. Declutter my house. It needs it and I need it. But then again, we’re looking to move in the next six months, so maybe I leave the decluttering for the packing and unpacking process? But I feel like I need some change in my living environment.
7. Spend some quality one-on-one time with various friends. For example, Cara. We see each other fairly often, but mostly with John and James in tow. It’d be nice to get in a girl’s night. Throw in Shelly and subtract one-third of the alcohol (she’s pregnant) and it’d be a pretty awesome time.
8. Go scuba dive for fun. I haven’t done this in Monterey in forever. It’s all been classes, which have their own rewards, but are not about me, underwater, blowing bubbles and making friends with fish.
9. Watch more hockey and college basketball. I’ve got to soak it all in for the next however many months before the summer drought (and baseball) settle in.
That’s it, off the top of my head, but I’m thinking I need to make some time to do some of this. Even if it maybe means a few less workouts. Or a few days longer at the current job. My mental health could probably use some or all of the above, just to make me feel happier and more centered and more grounded in my life.
Two-thirds done with NaBloPoMo. Thank goodness! I’d remembered how easy it was to write when I had something to say, but not how hard it was when I had nothing.
So this weekend was a Family Fly-by. My parents were here Thursday night, on Friday we blasted up north to see my grandparents and my mom’s sister. To spend as much time as possible with my grandparents. Because we can. Despite hearing stories repeated, or repeating comments louder and louder. To see my aunt, and help her pack and start to move. Because we’re nice people. Despite the snappiness.
Saturday was more of the same. Moving. Talking. My mom and I got in a bit of shopping. Big dinner with my dad’s sisters, their families, and my grandparents. That was fun. I always love to see that family group–there’s no pressure, I can just be me. They treat John and I like adults, even though we’re part of the “kids” generation. Maybe it’s because I didn’t really know them as a kid, and they only really got to know me as an adult. Of course, this meant the “are you going to have kids” questions have started to emerge from the woodwork. Um, not yet.
Today, I had breakfast with my parents and grandparents at the retirement community my grandparents now live in, then came home. I spent most of the day doing errands, like trying to get the Thanksgiving food shopping out of the way, and at work. I need to teach my viruses to know when it’s the weekend and to wait until Monday for attention.
The weekend had it’s moments for eye-rolling, it’s moments of “WTF?”, but also it’s moments of laughs and smiles. Sort of like any family gathering. Good times. My parents stayed up north today, and are flying home tomorrow. I’ll see them in a month, but it never seems soon enough. All part of being family, I suppose.
It's all in my head 