Fish Out of Water

Quick Trip to Denver

Mr. E spent last week in Fort Collins, CO, for work, so I flew out to join him for a weekend visit to Denver, the mile-high city. I'd never made it out of the airport before (love the United terminal - light and airy, some decent food options, great bulk candy store), but I've heard and read great things about Denver, especially its revitalized downtown area. We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel smack in the middle of 17th Street, just 1 block from the 16th Street Mall. The location was great, as was the hotel itself, and if the weather had been more temperate and typical, I'm sure we would have walked quite a bit or taken advantage of the BCycle bike program. However, given the 90-100 degree temperatures, we instead took advantage of Mr. E's rental Prius to get around the area.

Reflective walls of Cafe on the rooftop of the Museum of Contemporary Art - we enjoyed lunch here on Sunday afternoon after viewing the museum (many thanks to my contact at Civicore who arranged for complimentary guest passes to the museum!)

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Capitol before 5pm on Friday to tour the interior, so we settled for a look around the outside and a photo to add to our collection of State Capitol visits

This spire is from the Millenium Bridge, a bike and ped crossing over the River from the north end of 16th Street Mall into the Highland neighborhood (reminds me of the Zakim bridge in Boston)

View from the Museum of Contemporary Art

Painting by Vance Kirkland at the Kirkland Museum of Decorative Arts - we both liked his later paintings, especially the "dots" phase, but unfortunately only one is currently offered as a print - drat! We had hoped to purchase a print to bring home...

Another work by Vance Kirkland - Mr. E was kneeling on the chair of the Frank Lloyd Wright dining set to take this photo. The museum was AMAZING, with an incredible number of objects to admire in a wide range of styles. So glad this was a priority destination on Saturday!

View from the Museum of Contemporary Art rooftop of a pedestrian bridge

Chef at Hammond's Candys working with the raw ingredients to make candy canes

Raw ingredients on the work table - note the blue flame under the hood to keep the candy warm and malleable. Hammond's Candys makes hand-cut candy sticks, lollipops, and canes.

View from the Capitol towards the City-County Building and the mountains

Mile-high marker on Capitol step

State Capitol

Interesting architecture (Mr. E likes these compositions!)

Public art at the Convention Center - I call it "Big Blue"

Team Spirit

Nice ink, huh? I got lots of comments on showing my BoSox team spirit when Mr. E and I went to the Sox vs. Giants game at the end of last month. :-)

Fabulous Felines

Not that I'm biased or anything, but our kitties are just totally adorable and extremely photogenic. I think we have more feline photos in digital form than anything else! So I figured I'd share some of the recent images so that everyone can enjoy our fabulous felines.

We call this "planet beet."

Jack calls it "scary alien thing bigger than my head - HELP!"

Hmm... and what happened here? I found this crime scene one day when I got home from work. In case it's not obvious, that small lamp does NOT belong on the floor.

We finally moved the printer off its stand so the kids could have unfettered access to the office window to watch the world outside. Note that they've also taken over my yoga mat. *sigh* The sacrifices we make for our children...

Kitty bliss!

Calypso likes to drag the blanket off the back of the couch...

...and burrow into it. Kitty in a cave!

Spooning

Dreaming

Sooo tired...

Look what I brought home from the store - kitty in a bag!

New Patio Set

Long time no blog... Figured I'd share photos of our new patio set, courtesy of Pier 1 (coupons are SO helpful!). So nice that the big chair cushions actually fit quite well on the little UW-Madison Terrace chairs, too.

Inaugural Oakland Running Festival - HILLS!

Most people would associate hills in the Bay Area with San Francisco, right? Yeah, well, the SF Marathon last July couldn't hold a candle to the nastiness of the Oakland hills yesterday - yikes!

Although I'd seen the course map, I was totally unprepared for the reality of the hills. The first part of the course through mile 4 was fine, with just some gentle rolls through the neighborhoods. The terrain got a bit steeper up to mile 6 as we approached and ran through Temescal Park. Miles 6 - 8 got even nastier, and just when you thought it was all over (ha!), miles 8 - 10 led through the aptly-named Mountain Boulevard, which was enough to destroy both quads and soul. *sigh*

The view of the entire Bay as we descended by the Mormon and Greek Temples was almost enough to make up for the effort of the ascent. ALMOST enough... Not really... Especially since it really sucks to have completely fatigued legs when you're only 10 miles into a 26.2 mile race. *another sigh*

I walked the last of the 2 nasty hills in a vain attempt to save my legs for the rest of the course, but by then it was just too late. The descent was actually challenging as well, since it was rather steep and very long. The flatlands at the end were a welcome relief but not enough to refuel the tank.

So... let's chalk this up to a great learning experience, shall we? I ended up walking & trotting (yeah, couldn't really even call that running) for the second half of the race. Not pretty. But I wasn't alone - I ended up with a little group of folks in the same situation, and I even passed some other disappointed full marathoners as well as several half marathon walkers during the last 5 miles or so. And I managed to jog (maybe even run?) for the final blocks to the 26-mile marker and the finish - yay!

Observations & Lessons Learned

Dr. J's body doesn't like long, continuous hills
Mental determination only goes so far in keeping the legs going
Challenging courses are a true test of perseverance
Oakland neighborhoods have major community spirit - awesome support with cheering, food, drinks, & music
Running through confetti at the start is super-fun
Spectators who offer sunblock at the start are much appreciated
Having a half-marathon begin 90 minutes after a marathon is extremely helpful for race logistics (not to mention traffic control at the porta-potties)
Finishing an hour later than usual (5:18:02 - 12:08 pace) isn't so bad considering the body fatigue and amount of walking
It's crucial to have a supportive partner, especially when your calves cramp up to the point of falling down when you're walking back to the hotel afterwards
I'm still not sure that beer is the most useful mid-race or post-race beverage to offer
Long-sleeved technical tees with thumb-holes are awesome when they actually fit right
I liked being in the "finish with a smile" impromptu Pace Group (my term), and I actually did finish with a smile
Most runners were really conscientious about trying to dispose of their trash in the numerous receptacles along the course (though I did end up with 2 gloves full of Cliff wrappers by the end)
No matter how the training goes, you just never know what you'll get on race day
I'm glad the Chicago course will be mostly flat

REMODEL COMPLETE!

Island, Cabinets, Tile

Custom-built island from Tri-County Cabinets (on large casters so we can move it around easily)

New tile (Home Depot) on powder-room floor & new yellow paint (Lowe's Valspar low-VOC "Sunbeam") on walls

Kitchen cabinets (Ikea birch), granite ("Blue Pearl"), and glass tile as seen from living room

Kitchen cabinets, granite, and glass tile (closer view)

Up close with the kitchen tile (from www.modwalls.com)

Who Needs a Cat Tree???

We finally got a new computer desk chair last week from Ikea. And, like most Ikea items, the chair came in a box. While Mr. E assembled the chair, he left the box on the floor of the office, intending to take it to the recycle bin once he had finished.

The furry kids, however, had different ideas (see below). I guess we can't get rid of the box now!!! Who needs an expensive pet-store cat tree when you've got such inventive kitties who are totally into the sustainable idea of "reuse" for everyday items?!

How many kitties in a box?