Ore-GONE

We took a few days off a couple of weeks ago and went to Oregon...Portland, to be exact. It was 4 days of go, go, go...not much of a "relaxing" vacation, but very fun!!
The first few days we rented a car and pretty much covered the whole of north-western Oregon (and some of WA as well!!) The first day we went to the Columbia River Gorge and did some hiking. It was a little muddy, as it had just snowed the weekend before and had not totally thawed, but MAN was it nice to get outside, walk into the mountains and trees and to take a deep breath of fresh mountain air.
The next day we did a super-duper tour of Washington and Oregon... We started at Mt. St Helens, which was covered by fog, but was still a beautiful drive through the snowy mountains. I found my dream piece of land -- a plot up on the mountain overlooking the lake...only problem is that you could get a little eruption! Then we drove south and went through Warm Springs and Sisters, which are cute little mountain towns.
The next day, I re-introduced Mr L to the wonderful West Coast...we drove to the coast, went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which was pretty cool...Then to the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale, which has been stranded on the beach of Fort Stevens since 1906. We went house shopping in Cannon Beach (where the movie The Goonies was shot!!), just becuase it is so fun to dream of living in one of those beautiful homes on the beach...then we went to Tillamook, where there is a cheese factory. We ate free cheese and got out of there becuase it was packed (rainy Saturday, what did we expect).
We spent the next day exploring Portland, which is a very walker friendly town and has lots of fun places to eat and fun neighborhoods to explore. Tristan's recommendation of the Tin Shed for breakfast was probably our favorite place of all.

Now it is back to the old grindstone...and the flat plains of Iowa.

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30 is Not So Bad After All!!!

Last night I decided to do a "test run" - to run outside in the cold to see if I was going to do okay in Mass. If you don't already know, it snowed over a foot in the Boston and surrounding areas last weekend and the weather now is in the 20s...and I have less than two weeks until the race!! So...I decided to run outside last night. It was 30 degrees in Des Moines (with a windchill -- feels like -30! No, just kidding, it was in the teens with the windchill). My plan: Run 10 miles. I mapped out a route, I got off work early enough so it would be light outside. I went to my hotel and put on my test outfit: gloves, hat, pants, sweater and long socks.

I started off. The first mile was HORRIBLE!!! I knew I was never going to survive the cold of the race!! My lungs were on fire, my cheeks were numb, my feet hurt...I was running through snow and frozen grass. I decided that maybe I would only run 3 miles (the shortest loop I could do without just turningn around and giving up). I missed the treadmill for once.

At mile two, the wind was lesser (or I had gotten used to it?) and the sun started to set, leaving me with a nice view of the sunset. I hit a "hill" in the sidewalk -- great training for the race! It was getting better... By mile three, I decided to do another loop. It wasn't so bad afterall.

So, after my original thought that I was going to die, I decided that it may not be TOOOO bad after all. I hope!!! Pray for sun, that's all I can say!

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Where Are My Pants?

I guess I have to drag out my long underwear for the race!!

I sure hope it doesnt snow...

Luckily in Iowa this week it is supposed to be up to the 30s and maybe 40s...so I will probably try to brave a practice run outside. Maybe.

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January Ends

January....almost over! Happy Birthday to Mr. L, Karen M and Brandon D!!! I miss you all!

This month has been pretty interesting -- I have been living in a place with snow, which I have not done in about 12 years. It has been fun having it around, although sometimes one gets tired of the semi trucks who drive 70 mph in the middle of a snowstorm and then you pass them a couple miles later jackknived on the side of the road...and tired of trying to figure out things to do inside!! But, we have balanced this with a few snow days at work -- yes, SNOW DAYS!!!

Also, there has been a little bit of traveling in order to get away for the weekend -- I went to Mass, which was not really much warmer, but I got to spend time with Mr L's family (sorry, grandma!). We also went to Boston and took a very small road trip to Vermont, which was beautiful. The houses with their gables and dormers (I am learning about these...) really are postcard perfect, especially with snow on them, which there was.

Mr L and I also met in Memphis last weekend and had a great day exploring the city. Unfortunately, Mr L got sick on the second day and so we did not get a chance to go to Graceland and see Elvis. Ah, well, next time, I suppose.

This weekend is the Superbowl, which I suppose I may watch, but am not really very interested in... However, Dad is back! Hurray for the return of Dad!! So we will probably hang out inside somewhere...and why not a loud sports bar, right? (or my couch perhaps...)

Goodbye January...and now we are one more step closer to spring....

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Slippin' and A-Slidin'

Steering into the skid is something that when you are driving and skidding, your instincts rebel against. You go around a corner and you start to skid. You want to turn your wheel the opposite way to correct it. Wrong!

This morning when I got up there were 6 new inches of snow on the ground. The roads were half plowed; they had probably been done around 4 or 5 o’clock, but it was now 6 o’clock. I have a Pontiac G6. The ironic thing is this: For work we are only allowed to rent a compact car. Many people I work with are from Florida, Texas etc…places that never get snow. So, you have a bunch of novice snow drivers driving around in compact cars in 6 inches of snow.

So I drove to work…slipping and sliding the whole way here… but I got lots of practice at steering into the skid!

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Children of The Corn

After a long discussion with the United Rep, I made my way to Des Moines, Iowa. Via Omaha. Via Seattle. Via Tobin. Via San Francisco. Via New York. Via Massachusetts. Via South America.

I spent some time with K in Danville, eating and....um, eating. We had a list of places and types of food that we wanted to sample and we spent about 5 days living up to our dreams. The last day with her was spent in Berkeley, with her roommies and her Mom, going on a food extravaganza....for breakfast, chinese and tea, for snack pizza, and for desert, cupcakes and then....for another snack, chocolate. By 3 we were stuffed and so K dropped me off with my mom and we headed to Tobin.

I stayed in Tobin for a few weeks, visiting with Mom, Sara, Lea and Nadine and then headed to Seattle for our Thanksgiving up at Karl and Ruths. We ate some more (I even ate some turkey!) and we played lots of games and generally had a blast!

From Seattle, I was supposed to fly to Des Moines, but due to weather and a mechanical problem, I couldnt make my connection, so ended up having to go to Omaha instead (first time there, wow, its great *wink, wink*) and then drive to Des Moines. Luckily I had my Dad as company, as he had had problems getting his flight as well.

Now I am in Iowa; it was 18 degrees yesterday morning and snowing today. Welcome to work and welcome to winter!

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Stranded!

I am still here. Stuck in New Orleans. Not that I don't like this place, but I really had my heart set on going home today, hanging out with my buddy Kara and seeing the roommates at the house. I had a flight out for today at 2 pm. But I don't anymore. This is a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do". I told Lea when she was buying her ticket - DO NOT go through Denver!!! She listened to me. But somehow, when I went to buy my ticket, I was caught up in the greed of finding the shortest flight, the flight that arrived just when someone could pick me up and the flight that allowed me to get some work done in the morning and see my friends in the evening. And guess where that flight connected at? DENVER! I have been banging my head against the wall all morning just thinking about what a hypocrite (and see where it got me!) I am.

Actually, I have not been banging my head against the wall all morning. I have been running around like a mad woman. After sitting on the phone yesterday for hours wading through the monotonous automated voice that is the United "help" line and finally getting put through to an agent only to get the busy signal (about 487 times!), I finally decided that the way to figure this out was to go to the airport. So this morning at 4:45, I went to the airport and stood in the premier line (which is supposedly faster) behind (of course!) a lady with about 400 large bags which all had to be weighed and checked (hello santa!), a relative in a wheelchair and then, lo and behold, about 4 other relatives who cut in line with her at the last minute.

I finally got to the counter only to be told by the lady that there are "abosolutely NO flights today or tomorrow". Tears sprung from my eyes for a second before I swallowed them back and asked her again about getting to San Francisco. "Oh...San Francisco. I thought you meant Denver." WHEW! But still, there were no flights even to San Francisco unless I wanted to wait standby all day. Luckily, after about 20 minutes of searching, she found a flight early tomorrow morning (thank you lady!), and after being ticketed, I turned around and walked out. As I was walking out, a lady in the premier line cheered. I thought that it was pretty weird that she cheered, until I realized I didn't care why she was cheering. I felt like cheering too... I am going home! Come hell or high water or a crazy winter blizzard... I am going home!

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