Double Dose

Saturday I went to yoga. I found a new instructor that is quirky, irreverant, demanding and amazing. I have so much to learn and finally feel like I can start improving my practice again. However, instead of the scheduled hour and half class, we did two hours of yoga. Not the best idea before a half marathon. I ran that the next day. It was actually a pretty intense week. I think I did a lot more exercise than I had either planned for or thought I did.

I later rode my bike to the climbing gym's member party. It would've been cool if I saw more people I knew and felt like climbing. They had a silent auction of people's left stuff. I thought that was kind of funny. If you left your stuff and never claimed it, it got auctioned. I am kind of amazed that people didn't bother to claim, oh, their CLIMBING SHOES or A WATCH, or their YOGA MAT. Do you not notice this stuff is missing? Do you not care? Unclear. I am a little anal about my stuff and well, I don't like to buy new stuff, so I tend to try to avoid leaving it behind or losing it. And if I am pretty sure I left it at the gym, I think I would go back and ASK. That part was amusing.

On another note, its daylight savings time again. Typically, daylight savings makes me want to crawl in a hole and not come out. I really like have afternoons to run and play in the sun. One of the luxaries of being a teacher if you can take advantage of it. So now it will be dark by 5ish soon and I will have to adjust. Really, its not that big a deal and I plan to try and implement the mantras of my new yoga instructor. OOOMMMMM! Its all in your head.

Snap out of it

I wish it were so easy. I always love when people tell me that, or I feel the need to tell myself. Hey, guess what, not going to snap out of it. The wiring is faulty at the moment and for the third consecutive fall converging upon winter, I feel, GASP, in a state of BLAH. I suppose the "medical" term is Seasonal Affective Disorder. Whatever. Whether such a thing actually exist, shorter days lead to less exposure to sunshine and dampening my mood, or there is just something up that I still haven't dealt with, who knows. But there you have it. Nothing seems to inspire my usually energetic, zest for life self. I sat there in the gym today staring at the bouldering rocks, meditating on their state of randomness. How deep. Climbed up, fell off. Climbed up, fell off. Climbed up, didn't fall off. Normally that's when you feel a sort of euphoria. The learning curve climb. Its very meditative. Not today. Today I wanted someone to notice and no one was going to, not even me. Maybe I will convert my house into a greenhouse with artificial sunlight and lots of plants. A kind of tropical theme would be most suited. My bed could be a hammock. I could cook in a fire pit and wash myself in an outdoor tub. I could get one of those light alarm clocks that start getting brighter and brighter so as to gently wake you from your restful sleep. A radio that plays running water or lapping waves. Ah yes. I would come home every day to a tropical paradise amid the winter blues. Trick my body and mind into thinking that the weather and time isn't changing. If I stick around long enough the earth's warming should take care of all that, right?!?

Victor and Loser

Another Bear win this weekend. It was a nail-biter of a game and hard fought. When the game went into OT after a Washington score to tie it in the last SECONDS of the game, I had to quickly find a place to watch. My local market often shows games on the TV by the butcher on weekends. It was off when I got there, but the butchers, ammused by my enthusiasm, quickly turned it on. The Bears defeated the Huskies, I bought some random groceries and headed home.

I saw Marie Antoinette last night. I liked Lost in Translation. A lot. Marie Antoinette was a very pretty film, but it was like watching a series of paintings - king and queen eating, king and queen getting into bed, revelry, excess. Eventually you kind of understand the amount of excess that went on during this time period and it was just boring. I later read the Wikipedia version of Marie Antoinette's life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette) and it is actually far more interesting than was presented. Its not worth seeing in the theatre. Its not even really worth seeing. Just read about her online or get a historical book and save your $9. Sorry Sofia, but you produced a dud this time.

Notes to Self

I accidentally switched off the wireless on my computer and couldn't figure out why my wireless had been down for four days. I was a little busy, so it didn't exactly take top priority for calling and fixing. I also needed internet access to search and see if I could avoid being put on hold for three hours and just fix it myself. My first search yielded a picture of the antennae and bells went off. This happened once before, but I kind of forgot that this was the first place I should check. So, here it is, note to self: Is the connection even on? Oh yeah.

Secondly, I made a new acquaintance at the climbing gym. Pretty standard, but sat around chatting a bit. Acquaintance adviced on climbing moving showing at some local theatre. Instead of picking up that this might be an invitation, I made some attempt to be funny and like all of my subsequent attempts came off as just being lame and jaded. Second note to self: When someone suggests random movie and you are interested, you say: "Is that an invitation? I would love to go check it out!" Doh!

I am certain I will have an opportunity to redeem myself, but sometimes I wish my life had a rewind button. Or perhaps a time freeze button, that gives me slightly more time to interpret what is being implied or said. I's a little slow. Here's to hoping acquaintance was so captivated that my lame responses were seen as quaint and quirky. Yeah, right.

Nothing to do now.

Three Things to Love

(1) Track practice
(2) Risotto
(3) Dark Chocolate

In that order. I went to track practice. The workout was a 5 minute run. Run as far as you can in 5 minutes, increasing speed each time. We ran it four times. I really like this workout. Its the second time we have done it, last time was for four minutes.

Delicious risotto. I don't really follow recipes. Some quantity of sauteed onion, mix in cup of arborio. Add broth of your liking (I used mushroom broth.) Meanwhile, saute mushrooms and red bell. Add some salt, white wine, pepper and various garden spices to rice and continue to simmer. At some point, cut carrots and some sort of green squash (I used something called a mayan squash, like a round zuchinni. When rice starts to get soft, add veggie mix, continue to simmer, adding butter, wine and more salt and pepper to your liking, until everything pretty much cooks through. Yummy. Risotto is such fun. Because you pretty much need random stuff and mix it in with some broth and butter and viola, you have a meal. Follow with a square of dark chocolate and its just about perfect. Sleep.

Oh, one more thing. I have a strange obsession with Battlestar Galactica, the new series. I can finally download it from iTunes, so forgive me if I start writing about television you could care less about.

Dirty Hippy, Argh!

Do not, I repeat do not bring your foul stench to yoga again. I could see the crusty oily matte of hippy's foul head and with every relaxing breathe I was supposed to be taking, my nostrils were pierced with horror. Every nose hair stood straight up and the cloud of foul surrounded my sacred yogic space. Argh! Bathe for the love of Hannah! Is it too much to ask? I mean really people. I can understand all the reasons why we must conserve and consume less and yada yada. But I don't care. Soap is CHEAP! And while water is a nonrenewable resource, I can think of a thousand ways to still keep clean using substantially less water. Its not as if I live in a hot, sticky, humid climate. No, its 70 most days. You can bathe every other day and still maintain some decent level of cleanliness. It wasn't as if hippy had worked out hard prior to yoga and was a sweaty mess, no, just DIRTY. EWWW! May hippy never find another to breed with and make dirty hippy kids. I like my hippies clean. Be hippy all you want, but find a way to bathe, or don't come indoors and offend the masses. Please, take a shower! En serio.

Race Day

This weekend I ran the Bizz Johnson half marathon in Susanville. It was a gorgeous fall day, although slightly chilly, and the trail crosses a series of bridges and passes through tunnels along the Susan river, giving spectacular views of golden and red color and the gently rolling river.

My parents came as well. It felt like high school again with them cheering me on at the half way point and then again at the finish line. It was pretty cool. Running through the dark tunnels was a little sureal, but overall it was a great race on a crisp, golden fall day.

The night before we shared in the glory of the Bears defeating Oregon. Let's recap. Final score: 45-24. DeSean Jackson and Justin Forsett get a huge CAL BEARS GREAT! And Nate Longshore, well isn't he just a welcome treat. But does he really send Jessica Simpson two tickets to every game? Come on, I'm not convinced she deserves an honorary fan spot. I mean, isn't she from Texas?!?

As a Cal fan, there are a lot of ups and downs, and well, let's just hope this season continues to go up, up. I can not actually mentally log any typical, smack-your-forehead, Bear errors. Was I dreaming?!? Perhaps the only missed play of the game was the interception in the Cal end zone, other than that, pretty clean game. Yeah!

I also took today off and after having dinner with a friend last night, drove toward home, stopping to meet CT for lunch. It was so pleasant. We went for a meandering walk, ate a lot of Mexican food, then chatted some more. I hadn't realized how much I needed a mental health day. The race left lots of time for reflection, had some great family and friend time and now I feel ready to face the calvary. Next week marks conferences with parents. They are usually pretty painless, but there are always one or two that prove slightly difficult. I look forward to a breezy week of walks, yoga, climbing and oh, that other thing called work. But with a clearer mind.

Rain?!?

I ran eleven miles this morning through the trees. As usual, it was lovely. People were awfully friendly this morning, everyone was saying good morning to each other. Normally, I get vacant looks when I wave, say hi or good day. I had planned to head out with the track club, but I didn't really make the 8:30 call. It was more like 9:30 when I hit the trail. I hit the turn around point and cruised down the hill feeling strong and steady. Then at mile 9, I was feeling it. As I improve as a "runner" (I use that term somewhat losely...I was a swimmer years ago and that was something I actually excelled at, running not so much,) I find that what was once mile 5 for struggling was then mile 7 and now is mile 9. Mile 9 was, unfortunately, the stretch between the bridge and the kiosk that seems interminable regardless of how many miles I do. Double ugh. Its mental. Yes, my legs are fatigued, but really its this mental block I have to overcome. Think about something else. I got home, made a delicious lunch, and am now sitting here enjoying some coffee and dark chocolate listening to the rain. Rain?!? What the...?!? It was a drab dreary day and I am pretty annoyed that its been gray all week (this is why you don't want to move to California people...really,) and I was thinking some movies and planning after my run would do the trick. But rain?!? Really. I'm not ready for rain. I'm ready for summer, because, well this is usually when it happens where I live. Its too soon. Ah, well. Relaxed and high from a run, I think a movie and rain will just have to do. But tomorrow, no rain. Rainy days as a teacher are a fate close to death. No bathroom breaks, kids cooped up all day and dreary clouds make everyone a little more edgy. Maybe I will paint my windows with a sunny beach scene, then we will never know the difference. Window paint, anyone?

Phone Call

Last night my brother called me. He starts telling me about his fishing trip. He says, I caught this fish, and that fish and a fiance. A what? I didn't really recognize that fish's name. A what? A fiance. I asked EM to marry me. Oh my gosh! And so, of course, being a woman, I asked what he said. Response: I held out the ring and told her "Say yes or swim." You did not. Yes. I was hysterical with laughter. I am sure you think this is appaling, but its not. Its hilarious. That's my brother. And pretty friggin' cool. I was having kind of a moody day and that sure cheered me up. As long as all I have to do is show up the day of the wedding and be in some family pictures, because that's me.