Turkey day weekend

5-day weekends are a really really good idea. I'm in the middle of the long Thanksgiving weekend and enjoying the break after the first 2 months of school.

The Seattle Half (and full) marathon is going on right now, but obviously, I'm not running it this year. My hamstring situation is still preventing anything resembling a normal running schedule and I'm continuing the trigger point pain release treatments from the gurus. I'm really hoping to be able to run pain-free again at some point, but am really frustrated in the meantime...I keep losing my patience and running 1-2 times per week, but I'm not sure that's such a great idea. I did the Howe St. stairs yesterday before a guru treatment and my quads are pretty mad at me today...it's been 4 months since Troika and I barely feel like a triathlete anymore.

So enough about running, let's talk about food. Thanksgiving was way fun. Chase went to the east coast this year and I claimed her spot at the table with Heather and went with her to her family's in Montesano. Let's just say that there was SO much food that even after 20 people had dinner, there was hardly a dent made in the food volume and it looked as though dinner had yet to be served. Super yum. Heather's mom, Candy, is a chef and owns the restaurant Savory Faire in Montesano. She also has a really cool BIG kitchen in their house with an island that's a huge cutting board---you can actually chop on it, it's not just for show. Heather and I got to her parents' house fairly early so we could help a little with the cooking...we were hungry already and Candy whipped up a frittata-- basically in her peripheral vision-- for us while all the other things were simultanously in motion the bigger dinner prep...impressive. The wine was opened just before noon and I had a blast using huge restaurant sized bowls and knives (really big ones!) and helping with the cooking (OK, it was more like just having a front row seat to watch the production, but I did do a little work on the stuffing). I'm also proud to report that Candy taught me a new way to cut onions. We went back and forth to the restaurant twice for supplies and it became apparent early in the cooking process that Candy is second only to Julia Childs in the use of butter...we're talking big hunks of it melting all over the place for various dishes. My "Cooking Light" tendencies went out the window and it was a real holiday. We (ok, she) even made a green bean casserole that was totally from scratch, down to the homemade onion straws for the top---no canned soup (it was real sour cream) or anything pre-fab in this one. I had a great time...by the time I got home to the Shoebox it was 9 p.m. and I fell into bed.

The rest of the weekend has been pretty mellow...Seujan and I went to see the kid's first JV basketball game last night and I've done a little studying, a bit of working out, and a lot of relaxing...nice to have some down time before the last few weeks of the quarter and finals coming up...

Hey-Hey, Ho-Ho

Prop 8 has got to GO!!

These are some pics from the Proposition 8 Protest rally yesterday in Seattle...great event! Leave it to gay people to turn a protest about the lack of civil rights into a bit of gay pride in November. After a morning run, I went to a little pre-rally mimosa party yesterday morning before a group of us went to Volunteer Park for the gathering and the big march. We ended up with this cool flag and ran up to the front of the march, landing us within the big photo in the newspaper today (OK, you had to look really hard to see us, but we'll take it). Anyway, it was awesome and there were something like 7,000 people there.

After the march, I went to see a super massage guru at a running shop in Lynnwood about my hamstring. This 76 year old guy is amazing and does killer trigger point/pain release work with the assistance of some crazy machines that are like, well, little body jack-hammers. It was unlike any treatment I've ever had and pretty amazing--nothing like the stuff I'm learning in massage school, that's for sure. I'm definitely going back to him and am hoping he can become a bit of a mentor to me...he works primarily on runners/athletes and knows a ton.

After the marching and the hammering, I met the usual suspects back on the hill last night for Hot Flash and a bit more vodka than may have been neccesary...much fun as always. It was a totally fun day and the studying work ethic was, um, pretty much toast.

I studied a little today (still not enough, but the books were cracked, I promise), got in another nice outdoor bike ride, and made some guac burgers with Seujan. She is training for a crazy 50 mile trail run in about 3 weeks and had run 20 miles yesterday and 26 today...it's possible she's really the nutcase I always believed her to be...I mean, really, WHO DOES THAT, right?

School continues to be great although I have a test and a practical in my kinesiology class on Thursday that could be a bit of a challenge...last week in that class, I got to be the muscle model. Our instructor,Michael, used me as a demo and drew on my back with magic markers to outline the muscles. Then we all drew on each others' backs and it was really pretty cool. The only problem was in the practical class later that day when we were doing massage on each other and getting the marker ink all over our hands, the sheets, and our shirts...I think the last of it finally came off of me in the pool the next morning. Anyway...yeah, there's a test on Thursday that will probably be a bit harder than all the other tests so far. I've taken my muscle flashcards to bed with me a few times, but the information didn't magically jump into my dreams or my memory upon waking...I may have to actually study.

Mellow Saturday

Another week of school flew by and it appears I'm already about halfway through the first quarter already...wow. Although I'm happily settled in to student mode, I'm still pretty tired a lot and have been really wiped out at the end of many school days. This week, I had another test and learned tons of new stuff in the hands-on classes including a great neck sequence--I zonked out about 3 times on the table in class that day when I was the recipient!

Despite being pretty tired all week, I kept the usual workout schedule and actually went for a run (2 in one week!) Wednesday after school...my hamstring is still pretty friggin' cranky, but I had another fresh air craving and went out for a 4-miler just as it was getting dark. The other highlights of the week were, of course, the election (which, fortunately, Obama slam-dunked before my bed time), going to Tatyana's for dinner on Thursday (what luxury---dinner made for me!), and having my new pal from School, Shannon and her partner, Emily, and Seujan over for dinner on Friday night. I made some killer chicken chili and cornbread if I say so myself.

This morning I was hoping to go out on my bike, but it was pouring. I got out my bike trainer and the 3 episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" I've taped over the last few weeks and settled in for an indoor ride. As soon as I really started sweating, there was a sun break outside and no more rain. By then, though, I was committed to my workout plan and absorbed in Grey's, so I stayed put and made it 2 hours on the bike...my butt and nether regions fell asleep at about the end of the first episode, but I took a quick break and regained feeling in all of my parts soon thereafter. Later this afternoon I walked down to Broadway and met Cathy and Cara at the movies to see "Happy Go Lucky." Unfortunately, the title of the film seemed to represent the writer's work ethic while creating the screenplay; the movie had no plot...all 3 of us walked out saying, "WHAT was that movie about???" as we walked to Siam for some good Thai food and conversation...good mellow Saturday.

I heart groceries!

Today is my mom's birthday...go mom!!!

My hamstring is still producing a dull roar most of the time, but I got fed up with waiting to go running (and starting to feel like I'm not really a triathlete anymore) and took myself to Greenlake yesterday for a run. I did a nice flat 4 miler in between rainstorms and got reaquainted with my running shoes. The hamstring is annoyed, but it isn't too much more pissed off than usual today. I must admit that there are some other sore things, though, that I'm feeling...kind of embarrassing that a 4-mile run made me sore, but I haven't run in a month so I guess it makes sense...yikes. As my mom, the birthday girl, would say, "Getting old is not for sissies." Augh.

This morning it was back to the pool. A few weeks ago Julie decided that we should stay a little later on Mondays and do 4,000 yards. This was the 3rd 4,000 yard Monday and it was a great workout, but tough...went to the gym later and definitely felt it.

Today was also my first no-work Monday as last week was the end of my time at the ADA...I'd like to say I was incredibly productive today with a totally wide open day, but, well...let's be honest and call it marginally productive. I did complete a poorly drawn diagram of the 3 layers of the skin with my colored pencils (thank god, our anatomy teacher says it will not be graded on artistic merit), installed MSN messenger (cause I need a 3rd means for IM'ing besides on gmail and facebook), and, upon worrying about my finances yet again consulted craigslist. I answered an ad to be in a focus group about grocery stores and got a call tonight. Looks like I'll be hanging out for 2 hours with other shoppers in the 35-44 age range to talk about grocery shopping next Wednesday evening! I was quite happy that one of the screening questions was whether I enjoy grocery shopping and I could tell Louise, the nice phone screener lady who was following her script very carefully, that I do, indeed LOVE it! Can't wait to go talk about food for 2 hours and make $75 next week!

Hopefully, this is Obama-eve...looking forward to seeing what happens with the election tomorrow.

How is it November already?

Holy smokes, how have 4 weeks of school already gone by??? This week flew...I was told that it must mean I'm pretty engaged in what I'm doing if the time is flying by so fast. True, I'm still really digging it and I think Tuesday was my favorite day of school yet. I had my first 2 quizzes on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and it appears that my brain is still capable of digesting academic content...good news there. I also made a new friend from the other day class at school which makes me pretty happy, too.

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a week and the week went by so fast I'm not even sure I can remember what to report! I had my last day of working at the ADA this week, so I cleaned up my cube and had a little send off from my colleagues which included a gift of a gift card to "Waking Life," a very cool massage supply store. Can't wait to go buy some more oil flavors to try! It was a little wierd, but really good to wrap things up there (although giving up my 24/7 downtown parking pass was downright painful).

I was lucky to get in a few nice sunny bike rides last weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) and walked to school once this week, too...but the weather is changing and this morning I realized that I hadn't been outside for a workout since Monday---deeee-pressing. I was pleasantly surprised this morning, though, when I got up and it was just gray and NOT actually raining YET (despite the forecast of rain/showers until the end of time). I got myself moving early and was out on my bike before 9:00 for a good 42 mile ride around the south end of the lake. I successfully beat the rain (whoo-hoo!) and had a really good ride...got home before noon and had plenty of time to prep for a practice massage on Seujan this afternoon.

The time changes tonight and it's fine with me to have an extra hour of sleep...or perhaps an extra hour of studying if I can quit screwing around so much (and doing things like blogging) when I SHOULD be studying...).