Orchid sale!
Originally uploaded by cherrydg
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Memorial Day Weekend
My long weekend was spent mostly running or recovering from my run.
Saturday – Met up with Liz for an easy 2 ½ hour run. She’s an ultra-marathoner in our group so it was great to pick her brain for some training advice. For the second week in a row, I was the only person in my swimming class. I’d like to say it’s getting easier, but it seems the more I try, the more I realize just how much I’m doing wrong. Since Steve was out of town until Sunday night, I decided to force myself to practice for another hour after class ended. Exhausting.
I spent the rest of the day running errands, watching chick-flicks, and working on a few projects.
Sunday – Met up with some people from our running group to head over to Maryland Heights for a trail run. The loop was a little over 11 miles but the hardest run I’ve done so far. The terrain wasn’t bad but it was knuckle-dragging steep. I had no idea my heart rate could get so high from walking. Post-run we all went to Panera to refuel. I’m not really sure what I did the rest of Sunday. I know there was a much-needed shower, web-surfing, a trip to Chipotle, and CSI episodes sprinkled in there, but that’s all I can remember.
Monday – I promised myself after Sunday’s run that I would not run today so I hit the gym instead. Steve and I headed to Eggspectations for a late breakfast, then went into Leesburg. Even though his mom was out of town we were meeting his sister and nephews at his mom’s house for some BBQing and swimming. The storm came in sooner than we expected and didn’t pass like we all thought it would, but we still opted to eat outside huddled under an umbrella.
Saturday – Met up with Liz for an easy 2 ½ hour run. She’s an ultra-marathoner in our group so it was great to pick her brain for some training advice. For the second week in a row, I was the only person in my swimming class. I’d like to say it’s getting easier, but it seems the more I try, the more I realize just how much I’m doing wrong. Since Steve was out of town until Sunday night, I decided to force myself to practice for another hour after class ended. Exhausting.
I spent the rest of the day running errands, watching chick-flicks, and working on a few projects.
Sunday – Met up with some people from our running group to head over to Maryland Heights for a trail run. The loop was a little over 11 miles but the hardest run I’ve done so far. The terrain wasn’t bad but it was knuckle-dragging steep. I had no idea my heart rate could get so high from walking. Post-run we all went to Panera to refuel. I’m not really sure what I did the rest of Sunday. I know there was a much-needed shower, web-surfing, a trip to Chipotle, and CSI episodes sprinkled in there, but that’s all I can remember.
Monday – I promised myself after Sunday’s run that I would not run today so I hit the gym instead. Steve and I headed to Eggspectations for a late breakfast, then went into Leesburg. Even though his mom was out of town we were meeting his sister and nephews at his mom’s house for some BBQing and swimming. The storm came in sooner than we expected and didn’t pass like we all thought it would, but we still opted to eat outside huddled under an umbrella.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Project Fabric Stash Reduction
Drawstring pouch
And an attempt at a headband/bandana thingy. Headband is too narrow and bandana is way too small. 
And an attempt at a headband/bandana thingy. Headband is too narrow and bandana is way too small. Friday, May 22, 2009
Ten Years Ago Today
Yes I realize the church probably doesn't approve of goofing off in its doorway.Wednesday, May 20, 2009
In Spike?
The funny little growth on my orchid is about 6 inches long now. After doing some poking around on the web, I think that the plant is "in spike". If I'm lucky, it'll go into the "in bud" phase and give me some gosh darn flowers to look at.
Speaking of flowers, here are some pics from last Friday of the Easter cactus blooms.
Speaking of flowers, here are some pics from last Friday of the Easter cactus blooms.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Birthday Weekend
Friday – Hello 37! I kicked the day off by hitting the gym and then going for a leisurely run without a watch. It was pretty nice to run without being concerned about my pace. Next on the schedule was a massage with Mary, a trip to Trader Joe’s and Great Harvest, followed by sushi with Lisa. After my relaxing morning, I had to take care of some domestic responsibilities: grocery shopping, vacuuming and cleaning. Still beats having to work on my birthday. For dinner, Steve took me to The Melting Pot. Mmmm mmm good. He surprised me with a Flip Mino. This will be great to have when he does his Ironman in Lake Placid since it’s small enough to slip into my pocket or purse.
Saturday – Headed to Ashburn for a 12-miler with the group. The main discussion point of the run was this guy Chris who was running the Massanutten 100-miler that started at 5a.m. Runners have 36 hours to complete the distance. After the run, I dragged myself to swimming class where I was the only student this week. Nothing like having a bunch of parents who are waiting for their kiddies watch me as I struggled through the water. At first it bothered me but then I figured that many of them likely couldn’t swim very well either. The only difference was that I had the kahunas to admit it and do something about it. (Whether or not this was the actual case is unknown, but it made me feel better enough to ignore them.) For whatever reason, the instructor decided to try to teach me the breast stroke. I’m sure my breast stroke looked more like a frog having a seizure.
After my activity-filled morning, I lounged around a bit before my family showed up for what my sister called “Meat-fest 2009”. My parents marinated a bunch of meat, and then my BIL decided he wanted to bring kabobs also. Dr. Atkins would have been proud. The rest of the day was spent drinking, eating, and eating some more.
Sunday – Made a pancake breakfast for Steve, my sister, BIL, and bro. After everyone vacated the house, I spent the afternoon knitting and watching TV. To casual observers it probably looked as if I was doing nothing, but I actually was able to finish one of the sleeves for the sweater that I’m making. I thought about going for a run but opted to watch the DVR’d season finale of Gray’s Anatomy. (Why does that stupid show always have a tendency to make me cry?)
Saturday – Headed to Ashburn for a 12-miler with the group. The main discussion point of the run was this guy Chris who was running the Massanutten 100-miler that started at 5a.m. Runners have 36 hours to complete the distance. After the run, I dragged myself to swimming class where I was the only student this week. Nothing like having a bunch of parents who are waiting for their kiddies watch me as I struggled through the water. At first it bothered me but then I figured that many of them likely couldn’t swim very well either. The only difference was that I had the kahunas to admit it and do something about it. (Whether or not this was the actual case is unknown, but it made me feel better enough to ignore them.) For whatever reason, the instructor decided to try to teach me the breast stroke. I’m sure my breast stroke looked more like a frog having a seizure.
After my activity-filled morning, I lounged around a bit before my family showed up for what my sister called “Meat-fest 2009”. My parents marinated a bunch of meat, and then my BIL decided he wanted to bring kabobs also. Dr. Atkins would have been proud. The rest of the day was spent drinking, eating, and eating some more.
Sunday – Made a pancake breakfast for Steve, my sister, BIL, and bro. After everyone vacated the house, I spent the afternoon knitting and watching TV. To casual observers it probably looked as if I was doing nothing, but I actually was able to finish one of the sleeves for the sweater that I’m making. I thought about going for a run but opted to watch the DVR’d season finale of Gray’s Anatomy. (Why does that stupid show always have a tendency to make me cry?)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Swimming, Mothers, and a Russian
Friday - First weekend in two weeks that both of us were in town. Stayed in and made beef stroganoff for dinner.
Saturday - A harder-than-expected run followed by a quick breakfast then my first swim class. What can I say; I'm a natural born sinker. Spent a few hours scrubbing the patio furniture and deck. By 12:30 I was ready for a nap. Not sure what happened the rest of the afternoon. I think I spent it trying to clean up the guest room and working on some knitting projects. For dinner Steve and I went to Bangrak for some yummo-licious Thai food. I was craving a chocolate extreme blizzard from DQ so we made a quick stop for some frozen goodies.
Sunday - Hit the horse path of the W&OD trail for an easy 8-miler. Critter count: 1 groundhog, 3 rabbits, and 3 baby fox (tried to snap a pic but they took off). Hit up Gordon Biersch in Rockville where we were meeting our friend Rina. The three of us spent a lot of time together at the job where Steve and I met. And by a lot, I mean 3 weeks straight followed by one week at home then on the road again. Thirteen years later she's still doing the same job but now lives in Germany.
After lunch it was off to Leesburg for king crab legs and way too much food at Helen's Mother's Day gathering.
Saturday - A harder-than-expected run followed by a quick breakfast then my first swim class. What can I say; I'm a natural born sinker. Spent a few hours scrubbing the patio furniture and deck. By 12:30 I was ready for a nap. Not sure what happened the rest of the afternoon. I think I spent it trying to clean up the guest room and working on some knitting projects. For dinner Steve and I went to Bangrak for some yummo-licious Thai food. I was craving a chocolate extreme blizzard from DQ so we made a quick stop for some frozen goodies.
Sunday - Hit the horse path of the W&OD trail for an easy 8-miler. Critter count: 1 groundhog, 3 rabbits, and 3 baby fox (tried to snap a pic but they took off). Hit up Gordon Biersch in Rockville where we were meeting our friend Rina. The three of us spent a lot of time together at the job where Steve and I met. And by a lot, I mean 3 weeks straight followed by one week at home then on the road again. Thirteen years later she's still doing the same job but now lives in Germany.
After lunch it was off to Leesburg for king crab legs and way too much food at Helen's Mother's Day gathering.
Tussey mOUTaiNBACK
Someone in our running group put something on the message board about registration for the Tussey Mountain 50-miler opening up. It’s one of the few ultramarathons that isn’t a trail run. Intrigued, I posted some questions I had about training for a 50-miler on the board. What kind of base do I need to have? Is 20 weeks enough time to train? Can I still run my marathon which is 7 weeks after the 50-miler?
Keep in mind I posted these completely out of curiousity because I’d like to do one… before I die, not necessarily in 146 days. The responses I’ve gotten have varied. From my running friend Mandy:
Uh…HELLO!!...
50 MILES?
Did you see the elevation chart???
Are you going to “DNS” (Did Not Start) the Philly Marathon?
“…isn’t as difficult as…” Don’t kid yourself, it’s 50 MILES (FIFTY MILES).
From Al: I think that’d be awesome. (Of course keep in mind she did an Ironman so her thinking may be a bit out of whack.)
I mentioned it to Steve and he just gave me the same look he gives me when I’ve had too much to drink. But he’s training for an IM so he’s just as crazy. The ultramarathoners from the running group have been extremely helpful and very supportive – even though I actually haven’t committed to doing the race. One guy has offered to hook me up with some ultra-expert that he knows. Another lady has given me suggestions on how to train the next few weeks, and dates for when her and I can run together. Her e-mail ends with, “I know you can do it and I will help you.”
Uh oh.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Turquoise Green with Envy
It’s no secret that my goal in life is to end up on some tropical island. Who needs the corporate ladder when you can have sand between your toes 24/7? When I read about Ben Southall winning The World’s Best Job to be the caretaker of some island off of Australia I couldn’t help but be jealous. This guy gets to live in a 3-bedroom villa, feed the fish, take care of the pool, and all the other painstaking responsibilities of island living (note the sarcasm here) for 6 months. In exchange he’ll have to blog about what’s going on on the island – poor guy. Oh, and did I mention he’s getting paid $150,000? I was telling Steve about it this morning and he jokingly asked if I would take such a job. My response: “Heck yeah! I’d take the job without even asking you if you’d be okay with it because I figured you could live without me for a little while.” Jealous, so jealous.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Roll Edge Cardigan
I'm taking the plunge and am going to **try** to knit this cardigan. The yarn that I ordered came in while I was away so I'm going to start it tonight. Dun dun DUNN.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Austin!
Thursday – Left work early to do my long run since I knew I’d be oinking out all weekend. Finished packing, ate dinner with Steve then headed up to my parents’ house for the night. They live about 10 minutes from the airport which meant I didn’t have to get up at a painful hour for my 8am flight.
Friday – Packed flight to Austin. After dropping my stuff and Tica (Al’s pup) off at the house, Al and I went by Flip Happy Crepes for lunch. I had the tarragon mushroom crepe for lunch (delish) and then we split a berry crepe and a peanut butter dream crepe for dessert. We took our post-lunch bellies to Barton Springs for some lounging and swimming. Barton Springs is a spring-fed swimming pool in the middle of the city. It’s about an eight of a mile long and pretty cool (literally the water is 62 degrees).
Showered up, grabbed a fish taco and watermelon agua fresca (taste just like watermelon juice) before going to a play called The Method Gun that one of Al’s friends had suggested. The play was artsy for lack of a better word. One scene had two of the actors prancing around stage naked with helium balloons tied to their nether regions. Our post-theater critique concluded that neither one of us really got it and that perhaps we should see the movie Streetcar Named Desire since it was the play for which the characters in the play were rehearsing – well, except they were performing the play minus the main characters. We then went to a bar called Emo’s for a few beers and to listen to a few bands. The two opening bands were pretty good but the featured band T Bird and the Breaks was awesome.
Saturday – Headed to the Pecan Street Festival. I was starving by the time we got there so we bought some seafood concoction and cherry lemonade from one of the food vendors. About halfway through the meal I told Al that whatever we were eating was awful but that I so hungry I was going to eat it anyway. She agreed and added that we couldn’t wash the funky taste away with the drink because the drink was just as awful. Oh well – no food poisoning so life goes on. We spent most of the afternoon listening to various bands, watching different performers, and checking out the vendors at the festival. We left there and headed toward another part of the city for some shopping and dinner. The fish taco and steak taco were good but neither one of us could drink the margaritas that we ordered. It must’ve been made with some dirt cheap tequila because it made my nose hairs feel like they could start a fire. We picked up some cupcakes from Hey Cupcake who ran their business out of a trailer then did some people watching and knitting at Joe’s, a coffee house that Al frequented when she was working out of her house. We had planned to go back to the festival to listen to a few more bands but we ended up going back to the house and chit chatting ‘til the wee hours of the morning. BTW, the cupcakes made up for the day’s nasty food and beverage selections.
Sunday – 7:30 a.m. flight back to BWI. I had lunch at my parents’ before driving home in the dreary rain. I was too tired to do anything but lounge around on the couch the rest of the day and had to go to bed early because I was just zonked.
Friday – Packed flight to Austin. After dropping my stuff and Tica (Al’s pup) off at the house, Al and I went by Flip Happy Crepes for lunch. I had the tarragon mushroom crepe for lunch (delish) and then we split a berry crepe and a peanut butter dream crepe for dessert. We took our post-lunch bellies to Barton Springs for some lounging and swimming. Barton Springs is a spring-fed swimming pool in the middle of the city. It’s about an eight of a mile long and pretty cool (literally the water is 62 degrees).
Showered up, grabbed a fish taco and watermelon agua fresca (taste just like watermelon juice) before going to a play called The Method Gun that one of Al’s friends had suggested. The play was artsy for lack of a better word. One scene had two of the actors prancing around stage naked with helium balloons tied to their nether regions. Our post-theater critique concluded that neither one of us really got it and that perhaps we should see the movie Streetcar Named Desire since it was the play for which the characters in the play were rehearsing – well, except they were performing the play minus the main characters. We then went to a bar called Emo’s for a few beers and to listen to a few bands. The two opening bands were pretty good but the featured band T Bird and the Breaks was awesome.
Saturday – Headed to the Pecan Street Festival. I was starving by the time we got there so we bought some seafood concoction and cherry lemonade from one of the food vendors. About halfway through the meal I told Al that whatever we were eating was awful but that I so hungry I was going to eat it anyway. She agreed and added that we couldn’t wash the funky taste away with the drink because the drink was just as awful. Oh well – no food poisoning so life goes on. We spent most of the afternoon listening to various bands, watching different performers, and checking out the vendors at the festival. We left there and headed toward another part of the city for some shopping and dinner. The fish taco and steak taco were good but neither one of us could drink the margaritas that we ordered. It must’ve been made with some dirt cheap tequila because it made my nose hairs feel like they could start a fire. We picked up some cupcakes from Hey Cupcake who ran their business out of a trailer then did some people watching and knitting at Joe’s, a coffee house that Al frequented when she was working out of her house. We had planned to go back to the festival to listen to a few more bands but we ended up going back to the house and chit chatting ‘til the wee hours of the morning. BTW, the cupcakes made up for the day’s nasty food and beverage selections.
Sunday – 7:30 a.m. flight back to BWI. I had lunch at my parents’ before driving home in the dreary rain. I was too tired to do anything but lounge around on the couch the rest of the day and had to go to bed early because I was just zonked.
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