Go East, Young Woman!

Yep, I'll be heading back east again Sun-Fri to help my sister deal with some of my Dad's ongoing health issues. So it looks like E will be hangin' solo with the Muffster next week!

Although Dad is out of ICU, he's still seriously ill, so we need to make some decisions about how and where to best care for him, especially since it looks as though this may be a rather drawn-out process. It's hard to make arrangements from a distance, since both J & I are on the Left Coast, but hopefully we can make some progress next week and then return to our lives, at least for awhile.

Family ain't easy...

Update

My Dad's out of the ICU and both E & I returned to Sacto on Sunday. Dad's still seriously ill, but we're hoping he'll be strong enough to go to a Rehab Center within the next week or so. In the meantime, E headed off to Mad City for an HP Recruiting trip this morning, so I'm hanging solo with the Muffster until Friday. That's about all for now...

Oh - remember that Giftmas time post about annoying jewelry commercials? The same thing always happens around Feb. 14th, of course, and I tend to talk back to the TV frequently whenever these little ads appear ("Every kiss begins with K[ay]" Bleah!). But my wonderful E did gift me some fab and appropriate bling-bling this year - a 2004 World Champion Red Sox key ring!!! Yeah, baby!!!

City o' Champions, yes indeed!

Family Emergency

FYI - I'll be away for a little while b/c my Dad is in the ICU at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. He's been there just over a week now. My sister, J, flew back east last week & I joined her yesterday, as did her spouse, B. My sweetie is flying in this evening. Dad's condition at the moment is "critically stable," so it's sort of just a waiting game right now to see how he progresses.

Running Visit to Davis

The 23rd annual Davis Stampede occured yesterday, and I did the 1/2 marathon on an absolutely perfect day - sunny, clear, comfortably cool.

My last 1/2 marathon was here in Sacto in October, and my time for that event was 1:54:23. Yesterday at about the 8-mile mark, my legs felt like total crap, like I was literally running on empty (could have been the cocktail and wine I had the night before, hmm?? oops). I was still hoping to beat my 1:54 time, though, but at a certain point I started to just hope I could even finish!

So... needless to say, I was quite pleased with my final time: 1:48:23. That's an improvement of almost 30 seconds per mile! My average pace was 8:16 (compared to 8:42 for the Sacto event). And I placed 11th of 54 in my division.

Not bad for a chick who didn't take up running until after college...

In Honor of Groundhog's Day (a bit late)

Another ode to Puxakitty/Pooksatawny Muffin:

Garbanzo Cat
Falling from on high, the small beige sphere plinks to the floor
Curious feline sniffs the foreign object on the slate landscape
A circular path traced by silent paws as the hunter noses the new prey
Pink tongue darts out to taste the salty dew
Contemplative, cautious, a nibble pierces the firm skin
Grasping the smooth curves to swallow the legume
An unexpected treat from human cuisine added to the feline palate
Yet another can opener's siren call to heed