Numbers, numbers

Mr. Wonderful and I stayed home this year for Thanksgiving; at first I was sad. But I must admit not spending the $$ and plans to work on the house seemed like a good consolation prize. Unfortunately, he came down with some sickness, so the house progress has been zero. Of course that means PLAY TIME for me (until I get sick, anyway).

I'll summarize in numbers as they were buzzing through my head last night. And NO--I'm not sharing any HR, cadence, or watts numbers. I don't even know where my HR strap is and I don't care right now. Life is good.

• 7 of the last 8 - days I've exercised. Thanksgiving Day was the exception.
• 34 - eggs I used in making my famous homemade noodles and awesome molasses cookies.
• 6.7 - miles in my longest run of this year on Friday. I'm so proud since I've never thought of myself as a runner. I set out feeling awesome and that I could run all day. Thankfully, I had the good sense to turn around when I did!
• 9.33 - pace in km/hr of the jog above. I'm practicing for my Europe trip. (-; No, it's not a superb pace, but I'm more than pleased. Plus, I think the GPS lies; my treadmill paces are usually slower.
• 1.5 - molasses cookies I ate on Thanksgiving day (+1 piece of Chocolate Eclair Cake)
• 7 - # of brothers, sisters, half-brothers, step-brothers, & step-sisters that I have. I saw 3 of them this week.
• 104 - degrees of the water temp in my hot tub. Ahhhh.
• 83 - years old is my grandmother.
• 6.99 - dollars that it took to surprise my grandmother last week with a birthday cake. She was beside herself in having been surprised. Sharing the cake with her card playing buddies the next day, she actually made a long distance call to me to ask where I bought it b/c it was so good. It made my day.
• 2 - hours of trail work I did today after riding my mountain bike to Wapehani and back home.
• 17 - the number of large pizzas I wanted to eat after the trail work. I was worried about bonking on the way home since my lunch consisted of an apple, a banana, and 5 shot blocks. Those don't go very far with 30 miles and 2 hours of trail work.
• 3 - lbs I've lost in 3 weeks by trying not to eat molasses cookies, homemade noodles, and pizza.

And I'm looking forward to another road ride on Sunday providing we can beat the rain. Fingers are crossed!

Not a lot of news

Last weekend was superb for exercise, high 60s in November. Those days are special; perhaps not as special as warm, sunny days in December or January. Nevertheless, Saturday I headed out for a 5-mile jog.

Living on top of a ridge, my first 2.5 miles are down hill. Naturally, I had the misfortune of having to stop at "Creepy House" when one of the 3 barking German Shepherds came out to the road to greet me with snarling teeth. The lady who owns it yelled for it to return home after I had stopped and turned to face the mutt ready to put my foot down its throat. Amazingly, the dog abruptly halted on the pavement, slid a little looking very awkward, minded her command and fell back.

I continued in peace until I reached the 2-mile point. Does everyone mark their routes like I do? The 2-mile point is denoted by the 2nd pole past the old lady's house with the garden. (The 1-mile point is Creepy House.) Anyway, a cow in the pasture had his big head through the fence wire and proceeded to stare. I've never been stared at like that before! His big eyes and the way his head followed me down the road creeped me out almost as much as Creepy House. Yes, I was looking behind me while running. My mind pondered all the things I should say aloud to the cow while I reminded myself to avert my eyes. Don't want it charging, right? As if.

So, the return trip featured the same beast eating the greener grass on the other side of the fence. As I jogged by, it turned & engaged the creepy stare, stopped chewing, and followed my every move. The long grass was literally hanging out of its mouth looking like a green, misplaced mustache was there was so much of it sticking out. It was hilarious. At that point I was wishing I had my camera b/c I think Cheryl would have enjoyed the pic of a silly-looking cow.

After the uneasy human-animal episode, I came upon the house that had the flannel-jacket, thick mustache & caterpillar hat wearing dude who was working on his Chevy. The moment I passed, he started revving up the engine multiple times. Was it for me or for him? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I wanted to tell him he wasn't hitting on all 8.

Then--THE HILL. This thing is steep! In my car, I have to shift down to 2nd gear to get up; I managed to NOT walk it and found 3 more dudes at the top wondering why anyone exercises, let alone on THAT hill.

Once more I had to go by Creepy House. This time, the man & woman were both outside with 2 of 3 dogs unchained. Luckily, by the time I got to the house, he had encased both dogs in the cab of his crusty pickup. Whew.

The last 3/4 of a mile produced a tailwind. Ahhhhhh.

Sunday's adventure was a long mtb ride. I had a fantastic day technically and physically. I messed up technically only when I tried to choose other-than-normal lines through the rocks. I was trying to mix it up and do new things, but floundered a couple of times. Oh well. It's good to see what works and what doesn't.

On a whim, I decided to purchase a ticket for New Moon tonight to watch w/ my neighbors. My buddy Jade is a huge fan. I liked the books, so now I'm succumbing to pre-teen hysteria and will stay up past my bedtime. Party on!

Slow Motion

It's November. I feel like everything is going in slow motion...the house, the building, my ride speed, etc. But if that's true, how did Autumn get here so fast? Why did the leaves fall so fast? It's like one day they were here looking beautiful painting the landscape, and the next, they were brown and on the ground.

Anyway, the house progress is extremely slow and is limited to 6-7 hours a week due to various other projects. Hubby and I worked Saturday putting siding up; I was relegated to cutting (yes, with a saw! Yay for tools.) and handing up correct measured pieces. I think I would have enjoyed hammering more, but I don't think I would have liked walking on the awning. So, the top is done--we still need to finish the bottom. Looks a little clunky still with our siding scraps, scaffolding, and ladder outside. Nevertheless, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all the windows!

The building has also had some down time. With the electrical finally finished, the drywall and insulation experts are on scene this week. We made a last minute decision to spend some extra $$ and have spray foam installed under the installation. This should better insulate and help seal the place. Angela's translation: I should expect to never see a spider or lady bug inside the building. LOL. As if. But I do dread the upcoming chore of painting which will fall on our shoulders. Any volunteers? We'll supply beer.

With temps in the high 60s, I wanted to ensure I pedaled my bicycle on such a glorious day. Again, I was reminded of slow motion. I am SO out of shape, but I'm OK with it right now. Running errands in town, I decided to hit the Wap instead of driving to Brown County. The trail was covered with leaves! At times it was difficult to spot which way I should go. In fact, on the first lap, I took a wrong turn and ended up back at the parking lot way too early. Oops. A group of guys had just finished a lap and headed out with me; they assured me the leaves were dry. Guess what! Dry leaves are slick too! I didn't go down but had a few close calls. Perhaps it wasn't from the leaves--it was more likely the roots hiding out underneath. A couple of people are doing mucho trail work out there; I think the new reroutes will certainly help take the 'ouch factor' out of some of the steep hills on the backside while hopefully adding some more miles.

Somewhere along the way, I ran through dog poo. Yuck. I took my bike to a car wash after the ride! It was on the way home and I had some quarters. I say it was $2 well spent.

One slow thing I'm grateful for is the onset of Winter. The Old Man can stay away for a little while longer. I want to play outside some more!