Saturday, November 21, 2009

Friday night

Friday night was very exciting. I am a huge Food Network addict. I watch it more often than I actually cook anything. I have spent hours learning how to blanch things, temper chocolate and bake a souffle, but I've never actually done any of those things in person. I just watch.

Well, there is a Food Network show called Dinner Impossible with Chef Robert Irvine. I watch it all the time. The premise of the show is the chef is given some random culinary challenge to cook for a group of people at a special event and make it happen in weird scenarios, like he is given a kitchen that isn't fully equipped with everything, or the kitchen is outdoors, etc. So imagine my surprise when I went to a dinner for a group of triathletes and right behind me I hear Chef Robert Irvine say "I have now completed my culinary triathlon." They were filming an episode of Dinner Impossible right there. He was cooking for a group of triathletes and other VIPs. So cool! He is smaller in person, but still has his big "guns" of arms. He walked right next to me and I happen to be the same height as he.

He promised he would do a real triathlon next year and raise money for a charity. Yeah! Triathletes will convert one at a time.

Today I dropped off my bike for my race and went to a baseball game with my dad. So nice to head out to a game in the fall. Love baseball.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Blonde Again

So I am now officially blonde again. After 1.5 months of brunette, I am back to the fake me. I love being the fake me.

I went to pick up my packet yesterday for my race and ended up in bike envy. I don't think I saw one bike for less than $2k, probably more like $5k. Oh well, the bike I have is the bike I have and what can I do? Triathlons are my hobby and I love 'em, but not so much that I drop a small fortune.

I am going to a dinner for all the athletes tonight and then dropping off my bike tomorrow and then on Sunday...stay tuned.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009


Smile

This photo is the set up for my race this weekend. It is coming along! So nervous...but on to the good news!!

I have a lovely new smile thanks to my dentist. It should be a nice smile; it was dang expensive. But it was worth every penny.

I just got my braces off and love my straight teeth. I can't stop smiling. I do have a big plastic thing over them to hold them in place until I get a retainer (ick!).

But my teeth have never looked so good. Thank you dentist! I now have one new thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Dreams explained

So I open up my email and a headline reads "Top 10 Nightmares Explained." Here is what it said:

Natural Disasters
An earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, or other end of the world dream often means a way of life that needs to be surrendered. There is something going on that is likely to trigger a dramatic change from what is safe and familiar. This may not be a literal move, but could show emotional upheaval, or the need to accept a whole new way of being in the world.

This makes sense with what is going on in my life right now.

Good Tuesday Morning

I had excellent sleep last night, finally. But I dreamt that Mt. Rainier was erupting and lots of people were on the mountain. I don't know why I dreamt that, but it was a horrible dream.

This morning I arose and headed to Starbucks to treat myself. It was fully decorated in red and silver with beautiful garlands for the holidays. I love stepping into a delicious smelling winter wonderland. I love everything about Starbucks during the holidays: red paper cups, pumpkin scones, cranberry bliss bars and mouth-watering gingerbread. I love their special menus with gingerbread and peppermint flavored goodies. While I am not a coffee drinker, plenty of speciality items on the menu satisfy my taste buds.

What a happy morning. I am singing Wham's Last Christmas to put me in the mood.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Weekend Update

Saturday I participated in the last Splash and Dash of the year: 2000m swim and 3k run. It was cold, cold, cold. I couldn't even feel my feet on the run. It was like running on air.

I then met my group for a 2 hour bike ride...at least it was supposed to be 2 hours. I flatted about 15 minutes from finishing and I ran out of CO2s. A car pulled up next to me and a very old gentleman with handicapped parking made his way out of the car with his cane. "Do you need some help?" he asked in his old man's voice. "No, I'm okay," I replied. It was very sweet of him to stop, but I just couldn't ask him to help when he could barely get out of his car.

Another biker then stopped to help who had clearly just fallen off his bike. He was gushing blood and offered his services. I really just needed another CO2, which he didn't have.

It was kind of a funny and sweet situation. Getting offers of help from people who I should be offering to help. What goes around comes around. I always, always try to help bikers. If I have a pump in my car and I see a biker changing a flat, I stop and offer my services. I block other cars when I see a biker out on the street to protect them. I know what it is like to be out there with flats and crazy drivers.

After which I attended a baby shower for an old roommate. She was very pregnant and glowing and beautiful. But, I am a deer in headlights with baby products. All of women were discussing labor and which baby lotions work best for rashes and I sat there happily eating homemade cake and nodding as if I understood anything they were saying.

On Sunday I ran the Iron Girl race. I love to support all-female races. I had an easy 10 mile run that felt like nothing. I just felt like I was lightly running and averaged around 9 minutes/mile, which isn't fast, but it felt really easy. It gave me some confidence from my bad workouts last weekend.

I then did a long swim at the gym.

Then I met up for a meeting with my triathlon group to go over racing strategies and we shared some stories and good times and laughs.

After that, I went to my parents' house to see some old friends in town from my hometown of Seattle. So nice to catch up with friends and eat good food. Delicious, crunchy chocolate chip cookies somehow kept finding their way into my stomach. I don't know how that kept happening.