Westward tomorrow...

A week in cargo shorts and chacos (my uniform of choice) has passed quickly and my latest visit to "spa Bueken," aka the home of my parents, will come to a close tomorrow when I fly back to Seattle. It's been a good, warm week and I've slept and eaten very well as always. I also have had my feet on the beach every day I've been here...so nice. Yesterday we went to the movies and saw "Marley and Me" (I cried as much as when I read the book, yikes) and today we did a short trip over to the neighbor island, Jekyll, for lunch and a little sight-seeing.

In anticipation of sitting on airplanes all day tomorrow (and killing the very last piece of the Christmas cheesecake tonight), I got in a bunch of workouts today. I went for another 4 mile run on the beach (hamstring hurt, but the scenery and stretching a lot before/after helped)...then to the gym for an outdoor swim with my mom after breakfast...then back to the gym in the late afternoon for a spin class. I hadn't taken a spin class yet on this visit and it's always good to do at least one and get in the experience of a southern-influenced ride. Usually, this means a drawling and somewhat cheerleader-ish instructor playing country and christian music with several intermittent "whoo-hoo!" yells, but this time the teacher was a guy named, George, who was probably in his 50s. George had slightly less drawl than most of the health club staff and he was sucking down a venti cup of Starbucks on his bike in between swigs from his water bottle...however, he did kick my butt and the southern influence was still there as the music included one Lynard Skynard song and 2 Willie Nelson cool down songs.

I must admit, I do have a soft spot for visiting the whole southern scene and have found myself saying things like, "yes, ma'am" and "y'all" here and there. I didn't eat any grits this time, but the my mom's cooking has been steallar and the last dinner of the vacation my mom has made (upon my request, god love her) is another big heap of fresh boiled shrimp...YUM.

It's a nice place to visit...but...

So here are a few reasons why it's GREAT to visit St. Simon's Island, GA for the holiday week...

1. Record high temps of about 80 degrees 2 days after Christmas. I took this attempt at an artsy photo today as I was walking the beach in shorts and a tank top with my feet in the water, wishing I'd packed my wetsuit for a swim:


The format of today was basically this, with a few breaks in between for meals and an errand to care for some friends' dog:

Run/walk on the beach
Nap on the beach
Read on the beach
Walk the beach text messaging with people in Seattle who would really appreciate this scene

2. My mom & stepdad who are way fun beach buddies and who go to the gym and appreciate happy hour as much as I do...my mom and I had a good workout yesterday on weights and in the outdoor pool at the island health club. How many other 40-somethings can brag about their mom like I can?

And now let's just contrast the reasons to visit with the reasons for me NOT to live here...I think this bumper sticker is pretty much 'nuff said:

WTF?

And then there were the 6 dudes (I'm guessing they were also Georgia Bulldawgs) on the beach next to us today, several of whom were literally peeing on the wooden fence in the public parking area at about 4:30 p.m. when they and we (unfortunately timed our exit and) were leaving the beach...

The good news about the "run on the beach" part of today was that I did exactly that...my first run in several weeks. I've still been feeling the stupid hamstring, but have been pretty diligent about stretching lately and decided I couldn't pass up the chance to run on the beach. I stretched, walked a warm up, ran 4 miles, walked, and stretched again...I felt the hamstring during and after, but it wasn't horrific...I'm calling it a success. I really want to have my running self back and healthy in '09...I miss it.

New Christmas carol from the Beatles?

I always find it a bit odd how you can get on a plane in one kind of weather and get off to a completely different world --I love it, but it's a little wierd. I left Seattle late on Christmas Eve after a(nother) day of watching more snow dump on everything and navigating the city with big boots and my trusty 4 wheel drive. I had dinner with my pal, Dave, on Alki and then he shuttled me to the airport where I tossed my hiking boots and heavy socks in the back of his car. DONE with those for a while, thankfully. I put on my flip flops and boarded the redeye flights for the south. On Christmas Day, I got off the plane in Jacksonville to my mom & stepdad (also in flip flops), 75 degrees, and sun. Ahhhhh. As soon as we got home, my mom put the turkey in the oven and I put on shorts and took off in her car for the beach... where I had a long walk and did a little decompression of the last week(s)...more of that to come, for sure. I love my mom's cabrio (see photo above!) and am psyched that it's my ride for the week.

There were a lot of people on the beach flying kites, walking dogs, and playing frisbee. I saw some guys who were playing bocce' ball and "Good Day Sunshine" was playing on their boom box. I decided that song should be filed under "Christmas carols" in my head henceforth. After my walk was the usual great family dinner which included my mom's awesome stuffing and my favorite cheesecake--both of which were made in enough volume to create leftovers for me to keep eating for days...perfect. We watched "Mamma Mia" and then I crashed hard and slept for about 11 hours.

Today is foggy, but it should burn off...I'm pretty resolute on my plan to see/walk the beach every day I'm here and wear socks only when it's absolutely necessary.

MORE snow...

I honestly don't think I've seen this much snow in my life...even the year I lived in Chicago. I'm actually starting to miss seeing pavement.

Yesterday morning, I met some girls at Voluteer Park for a sledding adventure. April & Becky had hosted a dinner party on Saturday night and busted out their serving trays to use as sleds. They were more successful than I was in navigating these things...on my 2nd run, I ended up in a backwards somersault and felt my neck go, "munch..." It hurt the rest of the day and I'm still feeling it a bit today. Here are some of us with the tray-sleds:

After the morning play session, April & Becky came over to the Shoebox for brunch. My afternoon entertainment was 45 minutes on the bike trainer watching the Seahawks on TV and the snow dumping outside my windows...it just kept coming down.

The late afternoon/evening was spent with the same girls plus a few more on a bit of a pub crawl around Capitol Hill. We did some bad karoke at the Crescent, went to the Saint, and ended up at Purr. In between locations, we joined a group of about 100 Seattleites who'd congregated at the top of the Olive/Denny St. Hill. There were lots of sledders---manyof whom were pretty tanked---zooming down the hill (which has been closed to cars for about 3 days) toward downtown. I was waiting for the Advil to help my earlier tumble and limited my entertainment to watching. The funniest thing about this scene were the random and crazy items people were using as sleds...there was a huge pink surfboard (usually with about 4 people on it), metal mixing bowls, a dog bed, pieces of garbage cans, miscellaneous plastic things, stolen real estate and restaurant signs, a desk chair floor mat, and quite a few other random items. It was quite a scene. When I did my now daily walk downtown to the gym this morning, I went by the same hill and it looked like a garbage dump. There were piles of the once-sleds and all the beer cans and boxes all over the hill, it was pretty gross:

When I got back to the Shoebox a few minutes ago, I dug my car out from under more than a foot of snow and started it just to make sure it'd fire up. It did and I'm currently in the midst of deciding whether to road trip down to Olympia overnight to see Heather & Chase or whether to join the group on the Hill for a potluck...I'm itching to get out of my 2-mile radius, but it could be a little dicey getting to I-5...

First quarter DONE!!

I wish I had a dollar for every one of these snow-caused fender benders around town...I saw this one today on Capitol Hill when I was on (my now daily) ice hike downtown.
There were no humans in sight of these marooned cars (and btw, don't you love that one of them is a Subaru with a ski carrier on the top...you'd think this might not be the most likely vehicle for this kind of mishap, right?!)...guess the drivers are just staying warm somewhere and waiting it out at this point.

Today started out sunny, beautiful, and COLD--like in the teens. Many of the streets were still covered, but not in snow, it was almost solid ice. This made it more difficult to find crunchier stuff to walk on and get any traction, but still fun to be out walking. I haven't started my car since Wednesday and am hoping it'll still fire up when this stuff melts! I also need the weather to change so I can wash my favorite XC ski pants that I've been wearing every single day! I'm starting to run out of running tights aka long underwear, too...

I hiked down to the gym for a swim and then to school where we were able to do our last practical exams...yea! A bunch of people made it in today and it was fun to have a classroom full of massages going on and most of our teachers there--really good energy. My friend, Mari, and I exchanged massages and got our final practical exams checked off. YEA!! I'm a third of the way through school and now on break until January 12! Whoop! By the time we all got done, it was about 3:00 p.m.and snowing yet again. Most people made a run for their buses and cars, but 4 of us went to Happy Hour at Southlake Grill to celebrate the end of our first quarter. I walked part of the way home with Laura and when we parted ways at 12th & John I slipped and fell on the icy/snowy sidewalk. How nice that I managed not to wipe out for the last 3 days when hiking up the icy hills alone, but bit it when I was with someone else.

Most of the Saturday night social options have deteriorated tonight due to the weather, but April & Becky may lead the charge out for some night sledding later at Volunteer Park...

Snow blast continues...

The snow blast/ice roads continued today and, again, school was closed. However, I was really fortunate/lucky that one of our instructors went in to school in case any of us could make it. I was the only one who could/did and was more than happy to hike down the hill and get my hardest exam checked off. Shew! It was great to get that one done.

My car has not been started now in about 48 hours, but my trusty hiking boots have logged quite a few miles! As much as I prefer 80 degrees and sunny, I'm kind of digging the snow scene this time. It's fun to be out and about and the sun today on yesterday's snow was really cool.

After I finished my kinesiology final downtown, I went to the gym. I was on the hamster machine watching the noon news when a story came on TV that I could also partially see out the window of the gym....

Why in the sam hell a bus driver --wait, make that 2 of them--- would go down the Thomas St. hill when it's a sheet of ice is beyond me, but it certainly made the news...and my little workout...and my walk home...more interesting. Things are still pretty dang icy and I decided late this afternoon (when one of my carpool buddies got sick) to ditch out on a party I really wanted to attend in Ballard.

Just after I reluctantly ditched the party idea, Becky proposed happy hour part deaux at Liberty...a few of us rallied and had another really fun evening with Andrew, the super cool owner, at Liberty. Tonight he indulged Becky's tequila interest and gave us a few tastings that were a bit more my speed than the bourbon last night. I also expressed interest in one of the cool bottles and, when we left, Andrew had emptied it and gave it to me. I had admitted earlier in the day that I think Andrew is great ("man crush!" Becky texted back to me), but I don't even know HOW to flirt with a dude and I'm going to brush off Stacia and Becky's accusations that I was doing so. The bottle is way cool, though, and I will seek a good use for it in the Shoebox!

Snow Blast 2008!!

Here's what my neighborhood looked like today!

Yesterday was a classic example of Seattle snow-phobia...schools were closed, the local news was amped, and it was all anticipation with no precipitation. Our school was open, though, and we had a review for today's big kinesiology test (definitely the hardest final of all our classes). After school last night, I knew I should study, but I went to Tatyana's for a walk, dinner, and a do-it-yourself tarot card reading with her new deck of cards. We had a fun walk near Lake Washington looking at Christmas lights, she made some great pasta, and next thing I knew it was after 9 p.m. when I was headed home. I tried to study a little bit and went to bed at 11:00 feeling a bit guilty and under-prepped.

I woke up this morning at 5:40 to THUNDER...huh??? I looked out and thought it was foggy, then switched on the TV and realized it was dumping SNOW. School was closed soon after...the universe had somehow rewarded my lack of studying with at least one more day till the test. Although I was really hoping to get 2 finals done today, I also love a snow day...and definitely needed some study time.

Living on the hill is great for a snow day---I was able to completely enjoy it without getting cabin fever and without having to even consider getting in my car. I lounged around with my coffee, walked downtown to the gym for a nice swim, went to a coffee shop to study, went for a walk with Martha and her pugs, and grocery shopped...as soon as I got home and was thinking about baking some holiday stuff, I got the heads-up from Stacia that some fun girls who also live on the hill were going to Liberty for Happy Hour. Sweet! I put on my snow gear for the 3rd time today and headed out yet again to meet them. They hadn't received the fish order for sushi at Liberty, so April & Becky went across the street and got us a pizza. We also had Andrew, the super cool bartender and owner of Liberty, educate us on several kinds of bourbon when somebody ordered a Maker's Mark. He brought us several samples and told us all about it. I'm not exactly a bourbon drinker, but it was kind of interesting (and throat warming) to try a few mini samples. We heart Andrew! I walked part way home with Stacia who had used her XC skis for transportation, pretty cool.


Throughout the day I saw some crazy car gymnastics, some wackos on bikes (one of whom was wearing ski goggles but no helmet), some kamikaze sledders, and watched a lot of happy dogs having fun in the snow. I also got to practice a little massage on Becky's feet at Happy Hour as they were really cold. And in between it all, I actually reviewed the 30 muscles I need to (hope to!) know when my test actually happens. I also swam a mile in the pool just to see how long it would take and did it in 26:07 with no warm up. I'm calling it a good day!

Furry fun

I'm currently dogsitting 2 of the cutest labs on the planet, Winnie and Maddie (oh, yeah, there's a cat around here, too somewhere... as evidenced by loud meows at all hours of the night that sound like a small child who's very cold, hungry, or in pain though clearly this obese feline is none of these...but I digress from the protagonists of the story, the dogs and yours truly). Winnie and Maddie are 3 year old litter mates and cute, cute, cute, dontcha think???

Here's Winnie:

This is Maddie

This is "We're sitting for a cookie, why is that camera phone in our face?" pose

These wonderful creatures (and me until tomorrow) live in Ballard where, like everywhere else in the Seattle area, "SNOWSTORM 2008" hit last night. This storm-- which has been over-predicted for several days-- actually happened (!) and snow fell last night until past midnight.

I was scheduled to work this morning at the 12 K's of Christmas Fun Run in Kirkland with an arrival time of 5:00 a.m. After a beer and dinner with my pal, Lisa, at the 74th St. Ale House last night, I came home and attempted to crash early. This was unsuccessful for several reasons: (1) my head was way too busy, (2) 2 dogs in the bed leaves less-than-optimal space for a human (this does not help my body image, suddenly I feel too big for a bed?!), and (3)the snow/road conditions + alarm set for 4:00 a.m. I got up at 11:00 to watch the news, the snow, and a bit of SNL while the dogs didn't budge out of the bed (after all, why should they?). I think I finally slept from about 12:30 - 3:30 and then was UP again. I fed the dogs (who were like, "Food at 4 a.m., cool, you can dog sit anytime!") and enlisted their help for a quick walk and road condition assessment, trying not to think about how wacko it is to be walking in the freezing cold at 4 a.m. on a Sunday. Things weren't too frozen, so I decided to get out there and go to Kirkland with my biggest ski coat, toe and hand warmers, lobster gloves, boots...and a marginal attitude. The drive was no problem and I got to the site to meet up with my friend, Karra, and the other race prep peeps.

We set things up for the race for an hour or so at which time the Race Directors said that the Kirkland police might cancel the race due to slip 'n slide ice conditions...we had to wait till 7:00ish for a decision, during which time we idled at least half a tank of someone's gas blasting heat in a truck to sauna level temperatures. The cops cancelled the race and I was free to bail at 8:00 a.m....let's just say I was not disappointed.

I got home and took the doggies to a local school ball field for a little illegal off-leash action. On the way there, I did a little impromptu skating as 2 energetic 70ish pound labs pulled on their leashes in anticipation. They are really good on leash, but get pretty excited before a play session. Fortunately, I stayed upright, albeit leash tangled here and there. After some swearing and near misses of my butt-on-pavement, we arrived at the field to find at least 10 other outlaw dogs playing off leash in the snow with their humans. Good times. They are a blast to watch as Maddie will fetch endlessly as if impersonating a cheetah (ok, that's an embellishment, but she is crazy fast), and Winnie chases Maddie, never the ball. Yesterday we were at Golden Gardens where they turned into 4-legged mudballs, but today the grass and snow prevented a chilly post play hose session.

Not sure what's on the schedule for the rest of the suddenly free day...perhaps a nap or some studying. This week is finals week and I have 4 to go including one big one on Thursday. I can't believe the first quarter is almost over already!