Looking Back: November

November to me means the beginning of many things: the rainy season, the holidays, the  end of the year. It is always strange when it hits you that this year is almost over! Then you start to reflect on what has happened over the last year and it all seems to be a bit surreal at times! Here are the stats.

Running: In November I ran 172.7 miles and climbed 34,108 feet. Most of my mileage was due to a couple of longer runs on the weekends as well as one race, the Quad Dipsea (QD), which has become sort of an annual tradition. The QD is a two time out and back which has about 2,500 feet of climbing for each out and each back, for a total of almost 10,000 feet. This is always held the weekend after Thanksgiving and is an excellent way to burn off those turkey calories. I also biked 41.8 miles, which brings the yearly total to 268.8 which is an average of about 5.6 miles or one round trip commute per week.

Reading: I did not read as many books in November, most likely for a few reasons. One, my audio-book reading time goes down when I am not in the car or running alone and I did not really do much of either. For real books, I have been getting regular old hard backs from the library, which by the way never have as long of a hold period as the eBooks. However, other things in life are taking up precious reading time, so I have not been doing as much reading of the real books either. Here is the list in order of preference (audio-books in italics). I ended up reading 5 books.

The Last Days of Night****
Refugee****
Behold the Dreamers***
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls***
The Impossible Fortress***

Travel: This month I did not stray too far from home, mostly because it was the holidays and I hosted so I stayed around for that, and then I had the Quad Dipsea one weekend so I stayed around for that. Otherwise, I did a quick weekend trip to Pomona to go to the NHRA drag race finals, which were a lot of fun even though my guy did not end up winning. Also, I did go to Marin county for runs with friends and to do the annual volunteering gig with my brother, where we sweep the course of the North Face 50 mile race. After doing it for four years in a row, we finally earned a new radio handle this year. We will heretofore be known as: Menudo!

Me and the broski, North Face 50 mile sweeps

 

Sunset over the Farallon Islands, Marin Headlands -- NF50 sweep

Sun setting on the Pomona Raceway. NHRA Finals.

Etc.: The garden is dead. I was thinking of planting some winter things, but am not sure I will get to it in time (or maybe I am already to late). So now it's just raking time, although I did buy a fun toy, a leaf blower, so I will probably have some fun with that in the coming days! Although I have never really used one before... Wish me luck!

San Francisco at dusk from the Vallejo steps.

What happened to you in November? How was your Thanksgiving?

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Looking Back: October & November

You know how sometimes you go into a motivation rabbit hole and you just can't climb back out into the light?  I have been going to work earlier than normal and it's dark all the time and a glass of wine and a movie has been sounding way more appealing than suiting up and going running. Not to say that nothing is getting done. I have been revamping the backyard, which is my excuse for not running on some days (cross training!) and there is a never-ending supply of leaves to be raked. And I've purged the closets again and again. And now it's December, the month of parties and friends and eating and merriment and although fun, it sometimes gets a little overwhelming! I look forward to January, when things quiet down and I get back into the running groove. Until then, here's what's been happening!

Running: In October, I ran 167  miles. I am actually surprised at this number, as I was sick for a couple of weeks and went home to visit my parents one weekend. In November I ran 125 miles, which doesn't surprise me, as I was sick (again!) and I had my Mom in town one weekend. My longest run was the Quad Dipsea (28 miles) and man was I sore afterward! As for the biking plan, it's pretty much gone out the window, as I got a flat and I have been lazy about fixing it! I need to get back on track with that for sure! However, I have already reached my 2,000 mile running goal for the year and have way overshot my 250,000 ft climbing goal (I have about 400,000 feet of climbing so far this year)!

Reading: In October and November, I read 5 books each month, the best being Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, which talks about aging and having too much stuff and life in general. It was a quick and easy read that, although I am not of the same age, I could relate to a lot of the author's tales. Otherwise, a lot of them were just so-so and I especially was not a fan of The Nest, which got great reviews or A Little Life, which was really depressing and just went on and on.

Travel: Having traveled a lot during the summer and then gone on vacation in September, October and November were more like decompression months, where I stayed home a lot and worked in the yard and/or around the house. I did get up to see my brother a couple of times in Santa Rosa, I went to visit my parents once and I took a couple of smaller trips to Auburn, Sacramento and Tahoe. I found a great video game arcade and bar in Sacramento that has all of the old games, like Donkey Kong and Mrs. Pac Man. Along with pizza and beer and the fact that the games still cost a quarter, it can't get much better than that!!

December is almost over and Christmas is nearly upon us! I hope that you and yours have a great time wherever you are and I will see you all next year!!

What do you like to do when the weather gets cold and its dark outside? What are your plans for the holidays?

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Looking Back: November

November was one of those months where you feel kind of relaxed and you think you have plenty of time until Christmas and then all of a sudden, you get a slap in the face because it's already Thanksgiving and the advent calendars are about to come out. This November I even scheduled a couple of "free" days in order to get some of my December errands done early, but they quickly became "non-free days" or at the very least "not as productive as I wanted them to be" days.

Running: This month I did have a couple of long weekend runs (20 + 20 + 18 miles respectively). That coupled with a race gave me a grand total for the month of 126 miles. Aside from a run or two on the weekends, I have not been doing a lot of weekly workouts. However, I did rack up 20 miles of hiking, 18 miles of cycling and 3 strength training sessions. My goal for December is to do at least 2 strength training sessions per week.

Reading: I only read 4 books in November, which on one hand is a bit surprising since I did travel for work. However, on the other hand, when traveling on the plane I watched movies instead of reading (The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game). Also, one of the books I read was 849 pages long and it took me a while to finish! The four books were:

A Spool of Blue Thread (3 stars)
Into Thin Air (4 stars)
11/22/63 (4 stars)
A Tale For The Time Being (3 stars)

Travel: November was (mostly) a month of  doing things around my local area. I spent a couple of weekends going over to Marin to run on the Dipsea trail, I had my Dad visit and we worked on some things around the house, I had people over for dinner, and I met up with friends for hikes. In addition, I hosted 17 people for Thanksgiving at my house, which went over pretty well in my opinion!

I did travel for work to New York, and I spent a fun time with old friends in Brooklyn and Queens before heading over to Manhattan for two days in the office there. My favorite thing to do in the city is to eat and I did plenty of that! I had great Haitian meat pies in Brooklyn and Russian food in Queens, and then in Manhattan went to two great restaurants: Deux Amis and NoMad.

I am looking forward to January when it will be a bit more relaxed and I can finally do that project in the yard that I have been meaning to do for the last 6 months (wow, has it really been 6 months already?). Until then, there will be a barrage of Christmas parties (I have 3 in the next week alone!) and a bit of shopping and cookie making and eating and visiting and hosting. And eating.

How did November go for you? What is your favorite Christmas cookie (to make or to eat)? How many Holiday parties will you be attending this year? 

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Be It Ever So Humble: Getting Robbed

Don't freak out; this post is NOT about what you think it is.

I decided that I would post from time to time about the joys of being a homeowner. I am sure that many of you have similar stories and I would like to know how things are in your neck of the woods. Are they the same as mine? For instance, do YOU have a nosy/creepy/annoying neighbor? A loud xyz near your house? An animal that poops in your flower bed or eats your homegrown veggies? What woes do you have in your neighborhood?

My first woe is this: Alarm Systems.

When I first moved in, the "curtain twitcher" (my nosy friendly neighbor across the way) came over to introduce herself (at 8:30 p.m. and mind  you, I normally go to bed around 8:30) and to talk about the neighborhood and the goings on and the other people on our block etc. Apparently the guy behind me "might" be a drug dealer, the people at the end never leave their house and the people across the street rented to someone because they moved to Paris for work (but that is the only non-owner occupied home on the block). I learned all of this (and more!) in about 26 minutes, as the clock was slowly ticking toward 9:00.

The other thing she told me, which was interesting but not great, is that since we live on a street that is very easily accessible from the freeway (great for commuting!) sometimes thieves will get off the freeway, kick in your door, steal your TV and get right back on the freeway in a matter of minutes. Now, I am not super attached to my TV, but I am pretty attached to my life, so I decided to get an alarm system.

First of all, getting an alarm system is a pain in the butt. It's worse than getting cable. First, you sign your life away by paying up front for the install/equipment and the first month. Next, some creepy guy comes to your house and tries to suggestive sell you on $9,000 worth of equipment, which by the way, will ONLY cost you an additional $900 in install/equipment fees and another $50 per month on top of the original $40 per month you already agreed to pay. Of course, in his spiel, your area is VERY dangerous and it's IMPERATIVE that ALL windows, doors, peepholes, cracks and crevices be set up with an alarm and preferably a camera and a direct line to the CIA.

So I get the standard, the one that I ALREADY paid for and I kick the creepy guy out. Now, one of the things you also have to get, which creepy guy pretty much brushes over the details of, is a permit with the city or county. This is like a registration with the local police. However, creepy guy did mention that they would take care of it for me. I thought this was great until I got a bill in the mail from them, asking me to reimburse them for taking care of it for me.

Fast forward to three months later when I am riding my bike to work and my phone rings. I ignore it because who the heck is calling me from a 1-800 number at five in the morning; I figure it must be an east coast telemarketer. Turns out it was the alarm company, calling me because the alarm went off for no reason. The police were dispatched and they did not find any signs of a break-in. I was happy to hear that, and I thought that was the end of that. Until I received a bill last week in the mail for $84 for a "false alarm". I thought, "No problem. I have a permit. I will call them and tell them there has been a mistake".

Not so fast, little girl. I looked it up and here are the details.

General False Alarm: With permit = $84, Without permit = $154
Robbery False Alarm: With permit = $156, Without permit = $226
Genuine: With permit = Free(!), Without permit = $70

So, the only way to save money is if your alarm is genuine, aka you get robbed by a burglar. Otherwise, instead of getting robbed by a burglar, you get robbed by the city instead.

Do you have a home security system? What are the rules in your area? If you don't have an alarm, what frustrates you about one of the rules of YOUR neighborhood? 

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Looking Back: November

Get the advent calendars out! It's almost Christmas! This year, I have to work the day after Christmas and so we are going to have our family time a couple of weeks beforehand, so it's coming up quick! So let's recap November before December gets underway. November was a good month, albeit a busy one!

Running: November was a whacky running month. The first weekend, I paced a friend for a 100 mile race in Arizona, which was about 40 miles for me (overnight, in the dark, in the desert). The weekend after that, I paced a different friend for a 100 mile race, which was another 22 miles. Besides that, the rest of the runs were pretty minor. However, due to these two, monthly mileage came in at 186 miles.

Reading: Due to the fact that I spent a lot of time with other people and not a lot of time at home, I had one of my worst reading months this month! I read ONE book, Quiet, which I really enjoyed. However, it is not one of those "quick page turner" kind of books. It has a lot of interesting information and I took a few notes, but it was more like reading for knowledge than for pleasure. If you like the book, or if you want to hear a little about it, OR if you need a new podcast to listen to, check out this episode of the TED Radio hour.

Traveling: For pacing, I went to Phoenix and then to Auburn/Folsom. Both were dry and dusty and I did not see much due to the fact that I was mostly there in the dark. In addition, I went up to my parents for the weekend and then to my brother's for Thanksgiving. It was great to see my parents and to be "home" for a while, since I will not be heading up there for Christmas. November starts the busy weekend (and driving) time for me, so I often rent a car for the months of November/December. It ends up costing less money (and considerably less time) in the long run. I still think that my decision not to have a car otherwise is a good one.

Rainy run at Mom and Dads

Misc: Other than that, I went to all-you-can-eat Korean with the lads at work, had a great time at a Trail Running Film Festival, met up with a friend twice for Indian food and much needed girl talk, and drank a lot of yummy beer including this Sculpin IPA.

How was your November? Are you ready for the craziness of December? What is your favorite beer?

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Looking Back: November

What better time to do a November recap than at the end of December? I actually wrote this at the beginning of the month and then neglected to post it! So, good-bye November, hello and good-bye December!

To sum up November in three words, I would say: Work. Eating. Fun.

Work: has been crazy; we are still working a lot of overtime, since the end of the year is near and everything needs to be done by year end. We have been going in on Saturdays, which I actually like, because without the phone ringing and a new email popping up every second, I actually get some work done! On top of everything else, we had a guy go out on Paternity leave and the temp who was supposed to cover his desk fell through, so we have been doing his work too. I was already pretty swamped; doing his work as well has made me way behind. In addition, his wife had some complications and the babies came two weeks early, so we have been doing it for a few weeks now.

Morning view from my office window

Fun: comes before eating because a lot of the eating was fun too! However, I had a girls night at the house at the beginning of the month, which was a ton of fun. I made a bunch of muffin inspired foods and there was plenty of wine and a dance party was commenced. The weekend after that, my brother had an end of Harvest party and it was good to hang out with some of his girlfriend's friends who I had met before but didn't know very well. The next day we canned some pickled veggies and then had Sunday dinner because it's CRAB season! The next day I took the day off and volunteered at the local food bank. It is near my aunt's house and when I asked if she wanted to join, she, my uncle and two of my cousins came too, so it was a fun family affair (plus I chalked it up as a workout since I had to move so many cans of food). Thanksgiving was spent doing a bike ride and then I got to hang out with my extended family, some of who I have not seen in a while (and who are all grown up all of a sudden).

Food: has been plentiful this month! At girl's night, I served muffin shaped foods: mac and cheese bites, southwest chicken cups, mini chicken pot pies, mini quiches, artichoke and spinach dip cups, and....salad. The recipes were kind of thrown together from things I already liked making. At the Harvest party, there was brisket (I ate SO MUCH brisket!), corn, cole slaw, beans (with Jalapenos), and salad. There is always salad. For Thanksgiving there was turkey, of course, and some super good mashed potatoes. My favorite were the two different kinds of stuffing. At one party, it was brie and artichoke stuffing; at the other it was cranberry, sausage and apple stuffing. Both were delicious, even though they were pretty different. Finally, I took the turkey carcass home and made turkey stock, which will be used soon!

Aside from the top three, there has been some running (163 miles), a bit of reading (2 books), a bit of yoga, one trail race, a bit of biking and a little too much TV watching (Parenthood, Greys Anatomy, Top Chef).

What did you do in November? What is your favorite food to serve when people come over? Do you enjoy crab season?

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Currently: November

Current Book - 22 Brittania Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

Current Running Path - 

Running the Presidio

Current Drink - Lipton tea with milk and sugar 

Current Excitement - I had a really fun day volunteering at the food bank this week with my family. It was nice to do something for others and to see family members that I don't see often enough.  

Current fashion trend - Yup, it's Movember again.

Current Favorite Blog/Website - Amazon

Current Garden Item - We still have tomatoes, but I turned one bed under to plant some winter veggies...TBD what kind! 

Current Love - Bat kid! Our hero! It was so inspiring to see the outpouring of support for him and his family. So inspiring!

Current Food - Mandarin oranges and persimmons.

Current Indulgence - Baked goods. 'Tis the season. 

Currently Pondering - Whether or not I want to make bread pudding, which I will probably eat most of by myself, or just throw my old loaf of bread away. 

Current Mood - Lazy: this darkness is really affecting me this year!  

Current New Find - Did you know that Ross/Marshalls have exercise equipment? I even found a Nathan running belt there for about a quarter of the regular price! 

Current Outfit - I vacillate between pajamas, work clothes and running clothes. 

Current Peeve - People who walk and text. 
 
Current Song - This is a good running song, or is great if you just need a pep me up!

 

Current Triumph - I had a very fun and successful girls night in last weekend with food, drinks, dancing and fun! I need to do that more often! 
 
Current TV Show -  The Good Wife; I am trying it out. So far, it's pretty good. 

Current Wish-List - Printer ink. It's not cheap. I think the ink is about half the price of the printer!

Currently Delaying - Working on my Christmas cards. I know it's early but they take a while and I like to get them out right at the beginning of December.

What's your favorite TV show right now? What is your current love? What song do you listen to when you need a burst of energy?

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Then and Now: November

Okay everyone, let's say it all together now: I can't believe that November is already over! I know; you have heard it before. But yes, it's December (already). November is over. What happened? Luckily I take photos, because lately I can't remember! Due to my blogger issue with photos, I am doing this collage style this time (thanks everyone for the comments -- I am uploading to flickr and then pasting the code into the blog). So here you have it, the Who, the What and the Where of 2011 vs 2012. 

2011: 

Who: Baby A (aren't crying photos the funniest? Look at that face!). 

What: Chicken Feet and Bran Flax Muffins

Where: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, San Francisco, Sierra Nevadas

2012: 

Who: Ladies who lunch brunch

What: Crabs, Oatmeal pumpkin cookies

Where:  Santa Rosa, Oakland, San Francisco

The Extras: 

Books: 

2011: 10 / 2012: 4

Last year in November I read 10 books. Clearly I had a little more free time than this year! This year I only read 4. Last year, many of those books were really great. The greats included The Art of Racing in the Rain, The Book Thief and The Help. This year the best of the four was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which was an interesting book about a girl gone missing and her husband's adventure once she is gone. 

Miles: 

2011: 126 / 2012: 131

It's weird; I thought I ran less miles this year than last, but I beat my last year mileage by 5 miles. Who knew? 

Races:

2011: 2 / 2012: 1

Last year I ran 2 races, a half marathon and a 5k turkey trot. This year, in lieu of the turkey trot, I ran on my own, but I still completed one obstacle race instead.

Do you like crab? What's your favorite holiday treat? Did you run a turkey trot this year?

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Looking Forward

Today I am looking forward to hopefully talking to my Mom on the phone before she leaves to go Back East to see HER mother. She and my Dad are finally taking a couple weeks off to go travel and have fun and see some family. I am so excited for both of them. I am also looking forward to my lunch time walk, which affords me views like this:

This week I am looking forward to dinner and running with the Broski (he still has not given up! Hurray!), a short work week (I guess that is next week though but I am taking it) and lots of pumpkin based dishes! I already made pumpkin curry, pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin seeds and...whoa I am starting to sound like Forrest Gump! Pumpkin!

This month I am looking forward to many family and friend reunions! November and December are all already booked full every weekend. There will be turkey with the Broski, brunch with friends, friends coming to visit from the Midwest, a holiday walk in the city with the family, 2 concerts and more! It will be a packed 30 days (or 45!)

This year I am looking forward to getting more comfortable at work, traveling, settling in more, running a couple of Ultras and of course The Boston Marathon! The family is probably going back east with me for a grand hoopla of a time. It should be a lot of fun!

*inspired by Lisa

What are you looking forward to? What is your favorite pumpkin dish?

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Currently: November

Current Book - Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (it's not what I thought it would be, as in, it's not as good as I thought it would be).

Current Favorite Celebrity - Paul from Top Chef (my Mom and I just watched the finale)

 

source

Current Drink - Water. I have been drinking a ton of it! 

Current Excitement - A good friend is coming to visit the Bay Area for the first time and I can't wait to show her around my city, to do some running and to catch up!  We have both been busy lately and haven't had as much time to do so. 

Current fashion trend - Leggings. Are. Not. Pants. 

source

 

Current Favorite Blog/Website - My Life as a Foreigner -- her last post was about some of the things that may make her crazy. And let me tell you, one of them involves a pet snail.
 

Current Garden Item - tomatoes / lemons

Current Love -  Seeing my family not one, not two, NOT three, but five times over the last five weeks! 

Current Food - This Philippine dried coconut from Costco (ps. It's only 8.99 at Costco!). They also have mangos by the same brand. They are equally as good.

Currently Pondering -What my #12 race for 12 in 2012 is going to be!

Current Indulgence - NOT running, although it just feels wrong. The darkness is facilitating it though. 

Current Mood - Happy but a bit tired out. 

Current New Find - Samsung Galaxy S3. Yup, I got a new phone!

Current Outfit - I've spent a lot of time in running clothes lately. Plus I wanted to post this photo. Look at Broski. He is concentrating on getting over that finish line! Grrrr. 

source

 

Current Peeve - People who walk and text. Pay attention or get out of my way! Or learn to walk straight and fast and pay attention while you are doing it! 

 

Current Song - 

 

Current Triumph - I still have not bought a book this year. In fact, I haven't even missed it! Its funny how you really don't NEED many things and how there are usually easy alternatives to certain things you thought you wanted! (Next up: A no pantry buying spree!) 

 

Current TV Show - I have been tuning the TV to the local radio station. They just put out a new CD called Live From the Archives, which is all live music that was recorded in the studio or at a KFOG concert. It is a pretty good line up. You should check it out if you are looking for some good new music! (Especially if you like the song above, there will be lots on the CD that you will love!)

Current Wish-List - An apron, a new Garmin (Mine JUST stopped uploading to my computer). 

Currently Delaying - Calling DMV. What I need will probably take 4 seconds but I keep putting it off! I don't know what my problem is. 

What things do you put off a lot? Any new music you are loving lately? What's your biggest pet peeve right now? 

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Then and Now: November

Every time a new month rolls around, it seems like there is no possible way that another month could have rolled around again already. But the hits just keep on coming. So now November is over and we head once again into the holly jolly Christmas time. Since we have a holiday in November, it makes you realize how much some things change while other things stay the same. Here are a few comparisons from last year to this year, then and now, November style.

The Who:

Every year Mr. Lovely’s father has a big feast at his farm. A pig is sacrificed (sorry buddy), the wine flows freely and good times are had by all. Last year, I took some photos but this year I slacked. However, I still managed to get photos of my friends at the farm each year. 

2010: 

Maaaah

2011:

Oink

The Where:

Before or after the November pig roast, I like to take a detour to visit the surrounding area. Last year, I had a great time in NYC, while this year, I enjoyed the harbors of Rhode Island (did you know that RI has roughly 400 miles of coastline?) 

 2010: 

Brooklyn Bridge

2011: 

Old Mills in Bristol

Last year, I also took a road trip from California to Iowa, to visit a friend of mine. I went through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. It was a beautiful drive, full of snow and gorgeous landscapes. This year, the only road trip I have taken is by foot! It’s been a few less miles, but much harder work! (You can learn more about my road trip here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5)

2010: 

Driving through the Colorado Rockies

2011: 

Running through the leaves in CA

The What:

Some things stay the same and here is the proof. 

I always like to eat small bites of things. 

2010: 

Street food in Guangzhou, China

2011: 

San Francisco Turkish appetizers at A La Turca

I tend to cook a lot in the fall, and I guess apples are always on the menu 

2010: 

French apple cake

2011: 

After baking so many apple dishes, I finally discovered the joy of an apple corer

I always love fall colors!

2010: 

NYC Central Park 

2011: 

Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA

So, it seems like November, for me, is a month where many things are pretty traditional. I may try a new apple dish or travel to a new location, but basically there are certain things I just can’t do without, every year! Perhaps it’s because a lot of activities revolve around the holiday?

What were you doing last November? What was different this year? What remains the same?

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