Party Like You Are Eight Years Old

There are a few holidays each year that usually end up being kind of a let down. My birthday is one of them, because it is on New Year's Day. The night before is almost always a great time, but no one wants to do anything on January 1st. I opened all of my gifts at Christmas, everything is closed, movies are sold out, it's cold outside, and hangovers abound. Generally not the best day.

Another disappointing one is Valentine's Day. I really don't know many adults who love, or even like, February 14. We are all obligated to spend money on each other and find creative gifts. It is a pain to take your significant other out because the restaurants are packed. Really, Valentine's Day hasn't been fun since we made cardboard mailboxes and took home class name lists and made cards for everyone and stuffed our favorite candy in the envelope. You always put more candy in the envelope for your best friends and that cute boy in your class. Those were the days!

I decided to bring that back this year. On Saturday, February 13 we are going to have a Valentine's Day party, grade school style. All of our friends should use the creative side of their brain and decorate a box, then bring cards for everyone (including candy, of course). I'll make food and cupcakes and buy a few bottles of champagne.

If this party ends up being a good time, maybe we can make it a tradition. Kind of like my new birthday brunch tradition to make January 1st a little better.

Half-Marathon?

Back in 2005 I worked at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Salt Lake City on one of their big fund raising events. I was always curious about the Team in Training program, but at that point I was WAYYY too lazy to do much more than be curious. From my couch.

I started running a little bit last winter and ran a 5K last June. This winter I have been running more and I was looking forward to running a 10K this spring or summer. I heard that The LLS Team in Training had added 10Ks to their program, so I decided to go to an information meeting and find out more.

Realistically, I could probably run a 10K next month without much problem. Talking to the people at the Team in Training program, I realized that what I really want is a goal to work toward. Not a crazy marathon goal, but maybe a not-as-crazy half-marathon goal. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a great idea. I would be raising money for LLS in the process, and I would get to travel to San Diego and run a Rock 'n Roll Half-Marathon.

Since I started running, a half-marathon has been on my "things to do before I have kids" list. (Right along with the Grand Canyon/Lake Havasupai hike.) And I have heard that the Rock 'n Roll races are a blast.

I decided that if I could run for one hour straight at the gym on Thursday night, I would sign up for the half-marathon. I have 19 weeks before this race and that seems like a good starting place. I jumped on the treadmill last night, set my sights on 60 minutes, and started running. It helped that I had a treadmill with my own personal TV screen, and that SpongeBob and iCarly (two of my favorite gym shows) were on back-to-back. After my one hour was up, I had run 5.25 miles, my hips were sore and I had blisters. Not bad!

That was my first step. I am going to take the next two weeks to make sure that I really want to make this commitment. Then my next step is to register at the kick-off party on February 6th. There I will meet my team and get my training schedule.

Along with training and running the race, I will be committing to raise $2900 for LLS. They will use some of that money to fly me to San Diego, register me for the race, give me some gear, put me up in a hotel, and throw the runners a party. The other 75%+ will go toward cancer research and patient services. I just hope that my friends and family will make the fund raising the easiest part of this project. If everyone I know gives me $20, I am good to go. Of course, they won't... so hopefully a few people will carry more weight.

I'm looking forward to getting a head start on the training over the next two weeks, then meeting my new teammates on February 6th. Then comes four months of training myself to run 13.1 miles and asking everyone I know for donations. Here's hoping that I stay as motivated (obsessed) as I have been for the past few days.

New BFFs

I love meeting new people. My idea of a great night out is when I stay up into the wee hours of the night having a drunk, yet wise and profound, conversation with a person who was a stranger to me only a few hours ago. After reaching into the depths of this person's soul during our incredible discussion, they become my new BFF. We part ways promising that we will keep in touch and go camping this spring and go to that Pixies concert and try out that new restaurant...

The truth is, I will probably never see that person again. I might add my new BFF on Facebook, then stay updated for the next several years on whether or not they were happy about the American Idol outcome or where they took their new puppy on a walk. I am great at meeting people, but terrible at following up. Unless it is a relationship that can be sustained with the occasional email/text/FB wall post and meeting for lunch every few months, I am not your girl.

I had a fantastic time on Saturday night and met half a dozen wonderful, interesting, exciting people that I would love to see more of. We made promises of Superbowl Sunday and Cinco de Mayo parties and I was so excited about my new group of friends. Now that the pomegranate martinis have left my system, I can see that there is a high probability that I will not be doing any of those things with those people.

I guess that it is in my hands as much as anyone. If I really want to make new friends, all I have to do is call the number on their business card or add them on Facebook and send them a message, but I have come to find out that I do not really operate that way. And that's okay with me. I love the friends that I have now, and I neglect them enough as it is. Instead of looking for something new, I should concentrate on spending time with the people that are already around me.

Goodbye 2009

We had such a fantastic year in 2009, that it is kind of hard to see it go. I tried new things, welcomed a lot of visitors, took a few trips, said goodbye to some great friends and met several new ones. Looking through my photos from 2009 made me nostalgic (if you can be nostalgic about things that happened less than 12 months ago.

January 2009

The year started with the tail end of our New Year's Eve party. This party was kind of a farewell to a group of our friends. We had nine friends move to different places all over the world within the next few months, and we miss them madly. We braved the crowds to see Obama's inauguration, then joined our fellow soldiers/spouses at an inaugural ball. I had a good excuse to buy a ball gown, we saw Barack/Michelle & Joe/Jill dance, and we were entertained by Bon Jovi and Josh Groban, among others. Quite a night.

February 2009

Levi & I drove to Savannah, GA to do a little exploring, then on to Disneyworld and Universal Studios, then met up with some old friends on our road trip home.

March 2009

Took a little road trip to Pittsburgh to see Adil and Ashley, saw the Andy Warhol museum at Carnegie Mellon, the French/Indian War museum at the point, ate wonderful food and incredible ice cream. Came home and saw Brendon Small in concert with his School of Rock. I got a new job at Earth Day Network. We drove up to Central PA to pick up our baby chinchillas, Snuggly Buggles and Scrambles the Death Dealer.

April 2009

My friend Shari brought her kids for a visit and we took them on the monument/museum tour. We saw everything from the Capitol to the cherry blossoms to the Holocaust museum to the White House and made huge meals for the seven of us. Flight of the Conchords concert, backstage at Earth Day on the National Mall where we met The Flaming Lips.

May 2009

Played with a pinata at Cinco de Mayo. Mom & Robyn came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. I showed them all of my favorite spots in DC, we met an old lady named Happy at the FDR Memorial, cried with the biker veterans at the Vietnam Memorial, saw pandas in the rain at the zoo, played on the giant at National Harbor, fed squirrels, and got yelled at by guards at Arlington Cemetery.

June 2009

Levi was promoted to SSG. I ran my first 5K in the pouring rain. When the weather finally cleared up for the summer we went on a hike with Mike & Suzie and relaxed at our new favorite winery in Maryland.

July 2009

Another road trip to Pittsburgh where we spent hours at the aquarium and zoo complete with a baby seal and baby elephant. Ryan came to visit for the month and we went to Busch Gardens, New York, the Late Show with David Letterman, Great Falls and took a West Wing tour of the White House. We crammed so much in, and it was one of my favorite months of the year.

August 2009

Yard work and painting at an elementary school for the Lockheed Martin volunteer day, zip lining with Sarah, kayaking for the first time, and dozens of bands (and $11 beer) at the Virgin Music Festival.

September 2009

Gramma & Grampa came to visit and we went on a tour of the U.S. Capitol. Levi and I did a high ropes course (another first) with Sarah, and I quit Earth Day Network (yay!) and got a job with Levi at Lockheed Martin. Now Levi and I commute to work together.

October 2009

Such a month... Our Make a Pizza party was a hit, Mom came to visit and we drove to Pennsylvania together to see the Amish people in Intercourse, went on another Capitol tour, toured the National Cathedral. I visited my family in Southern Utah where we went to Bryce Canyon, Snow Canyon, enjoyed the desert, carved pumpkins and had an incredible time. Tobi and Brady visited and we ran around in the rain, had all manner of fun with our friends and went to Six Flags. Whew. Another one of my favorites.

November 2009

Took a mind-blowing trip to Manzanillo, Mexico to see Ashley & Adil get married, snorkeled a coral reef and sunken ship, ATVed in the jungle, ate the best food and hung around in our swimsuits all day. Around the World party was a blast and the food was wonderful. Cajun Thanksgiving with friends then regular Thanksgiving with coworkers.

December 2009

Getting ready for Christmas, lots of shopping (hey, it's a highlight for me). Went to the National Christmas tree with Josh & Karen, moved into our new office. Visited family and friends in Salt Lake City where we saw everyone after way too long, went out to eat way too much and opened lots of gifts (yay!). Wrapped up 2009 the same way we brought it in... a New Year's Eve/birthday party with our new friends.

Good luck 2010... you have some huge shoes to fill.

Layoffs All Around

One of my favorite people at work was laid off, and today was her last day. It is so sad to see her go. She is not local, so I can't even take her out to lunch! All I can do is pay her early.

So many people are being laid off all over the country (and world) right now. Of course I am grateful that Levi and I still have our jobs, and a little worried about the future. Every time I hear a story about someone being laid off from their supposedly secure job, I get a little stab of worry. I guess all we can do is keep our resumes up to date and save as much money as possible.

Good luck to all of you out there. I hope your jobs are secure and you can weather the recession.

My 2008 Favorites

I am finally getting around to putting down my favorite things of 2008. I'll be happy if 2009 is half as great as 2008 was. These are things that made 2008 worth talking about.

1. Getting in (better) shape. Thanks to my walking/biking commute to work, the George Washington Parkway bike trail and our favorite little gym on Fort Belvoir, I am 20 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year.

2. Fireflies. One of my favorite things about moving to a new place is being constantly surprised by the different plants and animals. The birds and trees were enough to keep me excited all year, but nothing topped watching the fireflies.

3. Campaigns and rallies. We spent a good amount of the summer and autumn months at the Obama campaign office. We met some great like-minded people and saw a tiny piece of what it takes to run for a national office. I think it is like working as a towel boy for your favorite football team, then watching them win the Superbowl.

4. Rock Band. Yep, I spent plenty of time plinking away on a plastic guitar or singing into a microphone this year. I like the way you can get anyone to come to your house if you just say that you have Rock Band. A couple of drinks and Rock Band for a few hours... that is what Friday nights are for. Or Wednesday, or Monday...

5. Rachel Maddow on TV. Okay, I rarely get to watch her show on MSNBC because of my cable-less-ness. She has been my favorite political newsperson for the few years that she has been on Air America, and I love love seeing her all over the place now! Go Rachel!

6. The Batman roller coaster at Six Flags America. Hanging over the ground like you are flying. Coolest coaster ever.

7. Bust magazine. I finally subscribed to Bust this year after picking up individual issues for a while. Every new issue is better! Nice job making a magazine for working/crafting/DIYing/indie green feminists who vacuum and make cupcakes! It shows that you can be a feminist and feminine at the same time.

8. Lolcats. I guess technically I started loving this at the end of '07, but who's keeping track? icanhascheezburger.com and punditkitchen.com have turned into staples in my house. Not quite as important, but still worth noting, are lolsecretz and locatbible. Too ridiculous to explain.

9. Teaching ESL lessons. I work for an international business. Along with that comes international people. A few employees from Pakistan and the Philippines got together with me for weekly ESL lessons. I made up the lessons and they completed them in surprisingly creative and funny ways. It helped us get to know each other really well and taught everyone proper comma placement at the same time!

10. My Kenyan chat buddy. On the international note, I have a Skype chat buddy from Kenya. He teaches me words and tells me about his day to day activities. It is nice to hear about how different things are in other places.

The Joy of Icing Calves

My first day of running left me a little beat up for the next two days. I had no idea that my calves would give out on me like that! After a night of Tiger Balm, tons of water and stretching and bags of frozen vegetables, I was much better.

Yesterday Ashley and I went for our first run together. We went down to the George Washington Parkway since it is flat and beautiful and it has mile markers. We started our running and walked when we got tired. We went about three miles like that, and I was exhausted by the time we got back to the car.

I was more discouraged by the end of this run than I was the first time. It seemed to tire me out more and I think that is because 1) it was after a full day of work and 2) my legs were still recouping from my first-ever run on Monday morning. I learned a less this time and went home and immediately stretched and iced my calves. They feel much better this morning.

It was great having someone to run with. It was less boring and I pushed myself more. I did not want to stop running too early, so I would go just a little farther than I wanted to. It was also much easier for me to go on the run in the first place. We planned on going, and I didn't want to wuss out on her.

My next step is to find a 5K that we are both interested in running. I am thinking that it should be two months out. I am confident that we can train to run a full 3.1 miles by the end of August. Then we can move up to bigger races, like a 5 mile, then 10 mile. I am not going to think any farther out than that.

My friend is in town for the next two weeks, so it will be difficult to work my runs into this altered schedule. I just started, so it is way too soon to lose this spurt of motivation!

Top Twelve Reasons I Am Glad That I Moved

Here are a few reasons why moving here has been really, really good for me:

1. I walk everywhere.
2. I don't have a car, so I can't go shopping and go out to eat in the evenings while Levi is at work. I actually have to find something to do with myself at home, which is usually constructive.
3. No more smoking.
4. I still talk to my family a lot, but now I have much more to tell them about.
5. I get to see and learn more about history and politics than I ever would have anywhere else.
6. I am never bored.
7. I found out that I can make friends like a pro.
8. I don't drink much. I am pretty much healthier all the way around. No smoking, not as much drinking, not eating out as much. Plus, we have Trader Joes, so yummy + healthy is easy to find.
9. Great local music scene.
10. About a million new book stores, music stores, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.
11. Joe got me a bunch of Mac software, so I am closer to my laptop than ever.
12. I live in a place that is cool enough for everyone to want to come visit.

I know there are a lot more, but these were on my mind today.