09/22/03

Long run yesterday. Oof, my legs are sore!

Weekend was fun. Friday night, George and I had sushi, then met Colin & Polly at Kerry’s Irish pub, where one of George’s colleague’s band was playing. It was lots of fun. We were the only people sitting near the stage (except for an old toothless man) so they were playing our requests. Went to the pub for a bit afterwards.

Saturday was spent recovering from Friday night and doing some gift-shopping. After that, went by the pub for a bit for one of George’s friend’s birthday party. Then it was off to Emily’s house to meet her and Peggy for our trip to Diamondhead.

Emily has a massive Great Dane. I wanted to take him home with me, but he wouldn’t fit in my car, so I guess she won’t have to worry about me doggy-napping him. Dang, he was so big – he came up to my chin! I was afraid he’d jump up on me, but I’m sure he’s trained not to – he’d be 10 feet tall!

So we left for Diamondhead, stopping for dinner at Cracker Barrel on the way. Yum! Then on to the hotel. Watched Miss America (btw, Miss Maryland was robbed!) and went to sleep.

Woke up to the sound of thunder. Oops. Looked out the window, there was lighting. Yikes. But by the time we met Patience, drove the course, parked, and got ready to run, the weather had cleared up and we were able to run.

17 miles we did, and though it was tough, we made it okay. It started to get pretty warm near the end, so Emily and Peggy walked the last two miles or so while I ran most of it. Not too bad, even if it took us forever. (Again, we’re having problems with stopping too often and for too long.) But at least we finished.

Next weekend is 10-12 miles, thank goodness.

09/19/03

Hasn’t been a terribly eventful week (for me personally) which is why I haven’t posted anything. Haven’t run a step (ooh, isn’t Sunday’s hilly 16-17 miler going to be fun?) because of my damn blisters but I have been cycling a little, at least. Blisters are pretty much gone. Tonight George and I are going out to eat and see some music – I MUST NOT WEAR HEELS! NO MATTER HOW NICE I WANT TO LOOK!

Okay, I think I’ll remember that.

My old boss at GPA emailed me today. Wants me back to do some part-time work. How conveeeenient! Well, I could use the extra money. Clearly not the pride. So I’m going to meet with him on Monday about that.

Going to Diamondhead on Sunday. Well, Saturday night. Fun, fun!

09/16/03

Just a strange weekend. That’s all.

Finished my DQSC training class on Friday, near the top of the class! Yay! They wanted me to stay in reservations, but alas, I am now ensconsed (sp?) in a cozy cubicle in Inside Sales. Like it here a lot.

Went on my long run on Saturday morning with Peggy on the levee, Audubon Park, etc. Emily didn’t show up, we were worried that she was either sick or had dropped out. Turned out to be mostly the former, partly the latter. She hasn’t done too well with fundraising (well, she was studying for the MCAT this summer) so she may postpone to a later marathon. This is sad for me and Peggy, but if it works better for her, more power to her!

So Peggy had to leave after 8 miles because her leg was hurting her. Ack! My running partners are dropping like flies! So I finished the last seven alone, which wasn’t so bad, considering I didn’t have a radio with me. It was very hot, but it rained at the end, which was a godsend.

Chris came to town Saturday, we hung out. It was fun.

On Sunday, my mom came in with her new man. I like him a lot, actually. He’s very nice, funny, clearly adores my mom. Yay! And he’s Italian, which is pretty cool.

Nothing much more to say. When Chris and I went out Saturday night, I wore high heels. DO I LEARN NOTHING??? Okay, so the tops of my feet, thanks to BodyGlide, are fine, but the balls of my feet are covered in blisters. So no running this week. Must get some cross-training in. Sheesh. I am not very bright.

09/11/03

Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened the paper and saw a huge picture of Nick and Annie on the front page of the local section. Here’s the article, I’ll scan the pictures later…

Got a 94 on my test!

09/10/03

Still in “steamboatin’ school.” Kind of dull, but I’m learning some cool stuff. I guess it just moves so sloooowwwww. But whatever. I think we have a test today. First time in over four years! Open book. Whew.

09/08/03

Picture from the wedding:



Oh! I can’t believe I forgot! More happy news! Terry is pregnant! With little (ahem) Pamecita or Pamecito. Yay! Of course, ummm, you know, I already knew when she told me. Yeah. Okay, not technically, but I had suspicions. Like when we bought pregnancy tests “for a friend.” Yeah, puhleeze! Okay, there were other things too. Okay, technically I didn’t know. But you know what they say about 20/20 hindsight.

09/07/03

Wow, yesterday was a loooooooong day. But a very very nice one!

I got up at 4:30 in order to meet Peggy and Emily at Audubon Park to do our 15 miles. Peggy and I were there by 5:30, but Emily was held up by some drunk college students blocking the road. (It’s weird to realize that we feel like we’re getting up early, but others are just staying up late. And stranger still that I used to be the one staying up late, and expressing disbelief at those getting up early. Okay, I still can’t believe I get up that early.)

So we got started around 5:50, while it was still dark. But the weather seems to possibly be cooling off, as it was almost chilly (in the mid 70s) and not quite as humid as it has been. Yay! So we ran. A few mishaps along the way which meant after 3.5 hours, we’d only covered about 13.5-14 miles. And I had to go, so I could shower and change for Nick and Annie’s wedding.

We do seem to stop a lot for various reasons during our long runs, which I think we need to stop doing. Unless the stop is unavoidable, of course. But the loooong bathroom, stretching, refilling water, chatting at the car breaks are messing us up. Of course we won’t have those during the marathon, so hopefully we’ll do better in the next few weeks about that.

After I got home from the run, I had to ride my bike down to the courthouse for the bike parade after the wedding. Then I had to wait for George to come pick me up. Then I had to help him pick out some clothes. So between all of those things, I had no time for a nap before I had to shower and get dressed.

So…the wedding. Polly and I met everyone else (bridesmaids and Annie and her mom and her mom’s friend) at a hotel room, and we all got ready. Flowers were being put together, hair done, makeup fixed, crying, gifts from Annie given out (we each got a piece of Annie’s artwork, which is beautiful.)

Drove to the courthouse with the other bridesmaids, waited in a narrow hallway for the wedding to get started. Wedding itself was very nice. There were funny moments (like when Annie couldn’t remember what she was supposed to repeat from the judge, and the crying child, and the “Judge of Love.”) and happy tearful moments (the vows, the way they looked in each others’ eyes, that sort of thing.) Once the ceremony was over, everyone hopped on bikes and we rode around the neighborhood a bit, honking horns and waving at the dumbstruck onlookers. That was, I think, my favorite part of the whole day. The weather was absolutely perfect, everyone was happy, it was just amazing.

Then we got to the house where the reception was being held, handily enough, two doors down from George’s house. It was really nice. Great food, yummy champagne, good band. Tent in the backyard, people mingling, meeting. Nick and Annie have great friends, and it was really nice to meet them all. So the reception lasted for a while, and Nick and Annie rode off on their tandem bicycle to go to their hotel across the river. (Actually, they just rode around the block for effect, but whatever.)

Then the guests hung out at the pub for a bit, and then went across the river to the Marigny where we met up at the Spotted Cat. Had fun there, but by this point I was highly exhausted. Stayed for a few hours until Annie’s cousin showed up so she could throw the bouquet. And I caught it! Yay! (Hmmm, poor George… No pressure! No pressure!)

09/03/03

Okay, it’s not so much that she hums, it’s that she hums a beat behind the song. And with feeling. It makes me want to kick the partition between our cubicles. (I have to confess, once I did. She didn’t notice.) I have taken to muttering to myself, to whimpering quietly, to clearing my throat. Everything short of, well, you know, saying something to her. I’m afraid I’ll explode soon. But, good news, it may not be necessary. We’re moving to different offices either today or tomorrow, and because I’ll be hired on, I will sit seperately from the other temps. Let’s just hope it’s far enough away that I can’t hear her.

I mean, this got me to thinking on people you just can’t stand, especially those that never did anything to you, like this monstrosity next to me. I mean, it must be chemical, because I’m really, really just very hostile (inside my head) to her. I don’t talk much here because I’m afraid if I say something, it will invite comment from her, and the sound of her voice makes me even more hostile. And the things she says are so dumb. Not to mention, of course, the throat-clearing and off-beat humming. It’s nauseating. But I’m sure I’ve met people like her before, and tolerated or even enjoyed their company. I really can’t figure out what it is about this woman. Hmmm. Maybe I’m just evil. (She keeps stuffed animals on her dashboard!!!)

So, now that I’ve got that out of my system…

I am in pain. I think it’s, embarrassingly enough, a groin injury. I suppose from riding my bike yesterday, since it didn’t hurt after running on Monday. Yeesh. This sucks.

Oh, happy news! My cousin Laura is pregnant! Sheesh, two cousins in one year! Yay! And this one will live closer, so I can visit. Yay!

09/02/03

I’m soooo sleeeeepy. Dunno why, got 8 hours last night. But it was a very tiring weekend. Friday night, George and I met Chris and Teresa for dinner, before they went to a concert at the House of Blues. Then we went to the pub for a few minutes, nothing terribly exciting or anything. Everyone was saving up for the bachelor/bachelorette parties on Saturday night.

On Saturday I went to the mall, bought a new shirt and some new shoes, then went over to Annie’s to help make bird seed sachets for the wedding. I finally met her sister, Claudia, who I really like. We had a bit of wine and cheese, then I went home to get ready for the bachelorette party. Meanwhile, George was meeting the guys for the bachelor party.

The girls had fun. We took the streetcar to the Columns, a hotel on St. Charles. I used to live practically across the street, but I’d never been until this weekend. We drank mint juleps…how sophisticated. After a while there, we headed across St Charles to the Mayfair, and stayed there for a while. Yes, we imbibed a lot (and I made a drunken “I love you maaaan” call to my sister) but at least we didn’t fistfight…unlike the guys. Okay, maybe “fistfight” isn’t quite accurate, but those boys…I swear…this is why they need the civilizing influence of women. They argued, they fought, they insulted each other, and in the end, they left poor Nick to wander around the Quarter until the first ferry at 6 a.m. I say “Poor Nick” but really, he told us on Sunday, that was his favorite part of the night.

Sunday was spent recovering, and on Monday morning I went for a planned 14-15 mile run with Peggy. We were supposed to go to Diamondhead, but Emily was sick, so we just went to Audubon Park. Because of the raw spots on my feet (caused by the brand new heels I wore on Saturday night), I wasn’t exactly feeling 100%, so we ended up doing about 12 miles. And walking the last three. In 3.5 hours. Yeah. Our speed doesn’t exactly bode well for the marathon. Not that I’m worried. I know yesterday was a fluke.

Spent the rest of yesterday cleaning my house. It’s spick-and-span! My mother would be so proud.

08/29/03

So today I accepted a position with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. Yay! The pay is very very low, but the benefits are great – travel! I’m not supposed to talk about it at all around here until after next week (the head of the department who hired me is going on vacation next week.) but I don’t think anyone here will read this, so I should be safe.

Am going running after work. Monday morning is our long run in Diamondhead. And thank goodness, the long run the weekend after that is on Saturday, the day of the wedding. So I can have fun at the wedding and not have to worry about running! Of course, I’ll probably be so exhausted I’ll want to drop, but better than being dull and not being able to have some champagne, eh?

August 27, 2003

7.25 miles or so yesterday evening, after work. Was hot and humid, but not as bad as it has been. There was a cool breeze at one point. One of the benefits of running in the evening. Saw Patience running around, asked her about my leg cramp. She didn’t seem to think it was too serious, I probably just needed to take in more electrolytes. Okay, so more salt tablets and (blech) ClifShot next time. Which will be in Diamondhead on Labor Day.

Have my second interview with Kinko’s today. I hope. Next may be the difficult decision of which job to take, the one at DQSC (which isn’t definite yet) or Kinko’s. Gosh, I could have people fighting over me to give me a job! Wow. That would be new.

8/25/03

Good run on Saturday morning. Was supposed to be 14 miles, turns out, though, I only did 13. Chris told me the big loop of the LSU lakes is 7 miles, it’s really only 6.5. I thought that I had to have miscalculated it, though, because I did the first loop in 1:21, which is a sub-12:00 pace. And I walked quite a bit at the beginning while I sorted out my headphones. So even though it was 6.5 miles, it was still a pretty darn fast 6.5 miles. Finished in 2:47 for the whole thing. Not bad at all. However, my calf got a cramp about 3 miles from the finish and only today is my calf not sore. Yesterday my right calf and my left quad were sore, so I was pretty lopsided.

Went out on Saturday night with Teresa, Joe, and Debbie. Yay! I haven’t seen Debbie in ages, probably a year and a half. So we had a good time seeing Mike’s band play. (Mike is Debbie’s husband, they drove in from Houston.) I used to drive to Houston to see them a lot, sometimes once a month. But I haven’t made the trip in a while. And now their son Christian is almost 7. Seven!! I was his first out of town visitor at six days old! I feel a lot closer to him than he does to me, since I’m fairly sure he doesn’t remember those first visits I made. (Though he is a very smart six year old…I can’t help but think my vast intelligence must have rubbed off on him in some way…come on!)