Random Tuesday

Bits and pieces of this and that.

Yesterday was a beautiful day to run, but I didn't. The sun was shining, it was quite warm, the wind was gently wafting through the grasses. But the pollen count was off the charts and I still had a sore throat so I decided gulping in great breaths probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Excuse? Possibly, but at least a good one. I've had my cold this year and I'm fighting off this next one for all I'm worth.

Saturday morning I ran 15 miles with Anita, again on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail. We went from the parking lot to the end and back and averaged about 45 seconds per minute faster than the week before. It was a scenic run, but there was lots of dodging everyone else who was taking advantage of the cold, sunny dry morning. We're still horrifically slow, but the nice thing about that trail is we finish running faster than we started. I take it as a good sign that although I'm tired after these runs, I'm not in the least bit sore.

I finished the feet on my second pair of socks. That's a good thing, because I don't really like the yarn. I have a blue streak across my finger, where I wrap the working yarn, so I have a strong feeling that I'll have blue tootsies when I start to wear the socks. There's still the leg to knit but I've decided to make these short, probably 3 inches of pattern and 1 of cuff.

I figured we weren't going to have any more hard freezes this year so I started cutting back my frost-burned jasmine. A little late, as it turns out. I had to carefully clip around all the new growth. I also decided that this year I absolutely have to find a new gardener. The current ones keep the grass short, but I think they do that by killing it. Anyone who knows a good, affordable gardener/landscaper in this area, let me know.

I took my nephew out on Sunday to buy his Hanukkah present. Yeah, we're a little slow but at least we did it sooner than last year. He's an enjoyable kid to be around and we have fun together on our little jaunts. I can't wait to see what he's going to come up with to get for his 13th birthday, this October. Knowing us we won't be shopping for that until the following January. He's going to be an interesting teenager.

I'm having my usual trouble adjusting to the spring time change. I like it being dark in the morning but I think it's going to take a couple of weeks to reset my sleepy switch at night. Right now I think I could sleep from about 5:30 pm to midnight very well. That's actually more than I usually sleep but then what would I do from midnight on?

That's all I've got for now.

Where did the time go?

For weeks I've had nothing to say, but time to write it up. I'd sit and stare at the screen and try to think of something interesting to relate. Blank. Now I have lots to share and no time in which to share it, so I'm going for the twitterized versions:

1) I finished knitting my very first sock. It's very cute. I'm quite hooked on sock knitting.
2) I ran 12 miles on Saturday. It was a great run, both physically and psychologically.
3) I saw the Billy Joel/Elton John concern in Oakland on Saturday. For old men they really rock out!
4) I started knitting my second pair of socks. Toe up this time.
5) I spent Valentine's Day with my mom. Because every little girl dreams of growing up and spending that very special day with her mother.
6) I'm going to Vegas this weekend!
7) I ran and worked on my day off yesterday. Got a lot done.
8) I made my plans to go to Vermont in May to run the marathon.
9) I registered for the Oakland Marathon Half.
10) I'll elaborate later!