Fish Out of Water

Restaurant Review: Sapporo Grill (thumbs up)

2012-02-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

Sapporo Grill (Wednesday 1/25 @ 7pm)
4 stars = will return

Service
The restaurant was unusually busy for a Wednesday evening, and we had to wait about 10 minutes for a table. We asked about sitting at the sushi bar instead, since that can often be less of a wait and it appeared as though several spots were available, but the hostess told us that there were too many large parties and reservations. I wondered about this, as I didn't know it was possible to reserve at the sushi bar, and when I asked for clarification, the hostess revealed that the underlying issue was that the server assigned to the sushi bar was also responsible for several large parties with reservations at other tables. I can definitely understand this challenge, but if large groups reserve in advance, shouldn't the manager assure that appropriate staffing levels are in place to handle all of the patrons?

Once we were seated, we perused the menu and noted some changes to the offerings (see details below under Menu Options). A server passing by noticed that we looked ready to order and didn't yet have any drinks, and she asked if we'd been helped yet. Unfortunately, the answer was no, but she assured us that she'd send our server over right away. This was an unusual experience at Sapporo, as we've been to the restaurant many times and have never before had any delay in service.

Our server, Diana, soon arrived to take our drink orders, and for the rest of the evening, she was sufficiently attentive. Her friendliness did seem a little forced at times, however, which made the interactions feel a bit less-than-genuine. So the visit was a little disappointing in the service aspect.

Food Quality
We ordered yasai grilled vegetables to share as a starter and were very pleased with the skewer of fresh veges in a light soy glaze - artichokes, mushrooms, zucchini. The request for no onions was definitely honored! Mr. E ordered 3 sushi rolls (I don't remember all of the names), and I ordered my favorite M2, which is one of the vege rolls and includes mango, mushroom, steamed asparagus, and avocado rolled in a soy wrapper. Yum! No problems with my requests for no sauce and no scallions, and Sapporo definitely rates highly every time on the fresh quality of the food and the easy accommodation of special requests.

Value
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are a great value for sushi rolls thanks to the "buy one, get one for $1" promotion. Our entire meal of 4 rolls, 1 starter, 1 cocktail, and 1 beer was $56, including tip. Considering that the regular roll prices range from $9-$14, taking advantage of this promotion is a great value!

Menu Options
One of our favorite starters in the past was the yaki ramen, but that item no longer appears on the menu. Likewise, my favorite wine (Pacific Rim Riesling) has also disappeared from the menu, which is very disappointing as the only remaining Riesling is not nearly as tasty for my palate. Other than that, however, Sapporo has a very broad set of offerings on the menu, from starters to rolls to sashimi to full-scale entrees, so it's never a problem to find something to enjoy. Also, as mentioned earlier, the kitchen never has any objection to making modifications to accommodate food allergies or restrictions, which is great for me.

Restaurant Review: Revolution Wines (thumbs up)

2012-01-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Revolution Wines (Friday 1/20 @ 7pm)
4 stars = Will return

Service
On a very rainy and windy night, we sought refuge in the cozy environment of this local winery, choosing a table near the side window looking out at the new patio area. We were greeted warmly and promptly, and the service throughout the evening was attentive, for the most part. The only stumbling block occured when we had finished our bottle of water and had to ask twice for a refill.

Food Quality
We ordered the chef's plate of charcuterie and cheese with fresh thin crostini, homemade ciabatta bread with oil and vinegar, marinated olives, and the roasted beet salad. Our beverages included glasses of the winery's own Revolutionary Red, Syrah, and 2 different Cabs. Everything was tasty, and we especially enjoyed the castelvetrano olives in the mix (our new favorite olives - now if we could only figure out where to buy some!). The beet salad included roasted potatoes and arugula with bacon on the side (for Mr. E's enjoyment), and was just the right portion size for dinner with the other munchies. Mr. E was very pleased with the meat options on the chef's plate, and I was impressed by the little "extras" under each type of cheese - sliced apples, dried apricots, and roasted red peppers. Yum!

Value
I had found a coupon in the News & Review for 10% off, so our total for all of the food and 4 glasses of wine was right around $70 (seems to be the magic number in our recent outings!). Revolution also has a great Friday-night pasta special each week that includes a side salad, pasta dish, and a glass of wine for $15. We decided not to take advantage of that prix fixe meal this time, but when we return on a future Friday, we may opt for that offering, depending on the type of pasta and sauce. Also, if we had been a wee bit earlier for Happy Hour 4-6pm, we could have had one of the house wines for $3 per glass. I took advantage of this offer several weeks ago when I was at Revolution with a friend earlier on a Friday evening, and the $3 glass of Syrah was yummy (regular price $7, which still isn't bad). Overall, the quality of the food and the pricing for the small plates and appetizers make this a pretty good value for wine and munchies, especially if I can find another coupon!

Menu Options
Although the menu is somewhat limited, the olives, bread, and chef's plate are reliable standbys that we could order again and again. In addition, the small plates offer a range of seasonal salads and proteins, and there were no issues with making a few modifications to our order to accommodate my food restrictions.

Restaurant Review: Michelangelo's (thumbs up)

2012-01-16T15:40:00.001-08:00

Michelangelo's (Wednesday 1/11/12 @ 7pm)
5 stars = Will return & will actively encourage others to go

Service
Mr. E had made reservations, and we were promptly seated at one of the small tables-for-two arranged along the front wall, very European-style. Our server, Tage, arrived soon thereafter for our drink orders and to bring some of the yummy house-made rosemary bread (warm!). We haven't been to Michelangelo's for at least two years or so, but we recognized Tage as well as the owner from previous visits. I always think it's impressive to see that sort of longevity in the restaurant business, especially among the waitstaff. Throughout the entire meal, Tage was attentive without being fussy and friendly without being false, and she didn't flinch even slightly when we modified our orders. No excessive waits, no rushing to finish one thing before another arrived - the pacing was perfect.

Food Quality
One of my favorite items at Michelangelo's is the grilled calamari steak (why don't more restaurants opt for this presentation instead of the usual deep-fried route?!). My memory of the calamari appetizer with polenta proved to be quite accurate, as Mr. E and I enjoyed this dish along with the house-smoked salmon bruschetta, sans cheese sauce. Since I had mentioned my garlic & onion issues to Tage, she made sure to check with the kitchen for each dish, and even came to let us know that the salmon rub has a tiny bit of dried onion in it. That amount isn't enough to set off my radar, so we could still order the dish, but I truly appreciated her conscientiousness and attention to detail.

The portions are quite large, so I decided to opt for the chicken and olives small plate as my entree while Mr. E ordered the lentil and sausage pasta special. Both were delicious and provided some leftovers for the next day. Mr. E swapped out the penne as listed in the special for the house-made tagliatelle, which was part of the other nightly special, and again the kitchen had no problem making that substitution and still delivering our dishes in a timely fashion (unlike during last week's dinner at Tuli...).

For dessert, Mr. E ordered the flourless chocolate cake, which was accompanied by gingerbread gelato. Divine. The gelato truly tasted like gingerbread, with flavors of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon, and the cake was rich and dense. Too dense for one sitting, in fact, so about half of the cake came home with us as well.

Value
The total for our meal of two appetizers, one small plate, one entree, one dessert, two beers, one glass of wine, and tip was $78. Keep in mind that this meal extended into the next day thanks to the leftovers, which Mr. E and I both enjoyed for dinner the next night, so that's really $78 for two total meals. Now that's what I call value!

Menu Options
Michelangelo's has expanded the menu since the last time we visited with the selection of small plates, and I really like having this option, especially since some of the yummy appetizers are quite large. The variety assures that I'll always be able to find something tasty to order, and the chef's willingness to modify dishes to meet dietary requirements moves this restaurant back to the top of our list of venues to visit frequently. Can't wait to go back soon!

Restaurant Review: Tuli Bistro (thumbs down)

2012-01-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Tuli Bistro (Wednesday 1/4/12 @ 7:30pm)
1 Star = Will not return & will actively encourage others not to go

Service
We were seated promptly at a 2-top near the bar. Our main server, Claudia, took our drink order as we started to peruse the menu. Once our drink order was placed, however, the arrival of Mr. E's beer and my glass of wine was less than speedy. Strike one.

Claudia then took our food order and communicated my garlic/onion issues to the kitchen, which led to a brief negotiation about a substitution for the risotto but concluded with assurances that another satisfactory item could be used in the dish under the scallops. Then the wait began. I noticed that a couple at the end of the bar who had arrived after we placed our order received two dishes before any part of our order appeared. During this time, Claudia continually returned to chat with a trio of diners at the end of the bar near us, but she didn't actively check in with our table. I signaled her to inquire about the status of our order, and we heard her ask the chef for the ETA on our food, to which the chef replied, "I'm just about to fire it." Excuse me? You're just now about to prepare an order that was placed at least 20 minutes ago and well before that other couple arrived who are already enjoying their food? Strike two.

Despite the fact that we could hear this interaction, Claudia did not return to update us for a few minutes, at which time she assured us our order would be ready in 2-3 minutes. Mr. E set his watch. Almost 5 minutes later, my scallops arrived along with another plate from some other table's order - not the correct entree for Mr. E! Strike three.

Food Quality
When we did finally get our correct order, we enjoyed the small portions (not unexpected) on our plates. My original entree was supposed to be scallops over beet-infused risotto with beet greens, but apparently the base of the risotto contains some garlic. The substitution provided was sauteed spinach and yukon gold potatoes. Relatively tasty, but as Mr. E pointed out, not really much more than breakfast potatoes that you can find almost anywhere. Mr. E's steak was fine but nothing special.

Value
Our total dinner with two drinks, two entrees, and tip was $70. That's the equivalent of about three orders from Ma Jong, most of which lead to leftovers for additional meals. I understand and appreciate that using local and seasonal foods can be more costly, and I'm willing to pay more to support this type of fare and establishment, but I want something special to result from the preparation and presentation. Tuli fell far short of this expectation.

As a sharp contrast, the previous weekend Mr. E had grilled some tri-tip for himself and some fresh scallops from Taylor's Market for me, and both items turned out beautifully. Cost of 4 scallops at Taylor's = $10. Cost of 3 scallops at Tuli's = $18. The scallops at Tuli truly weren't any better than what Mr. E had prepared, so what's the point of paying double?

Menu Options
Since I have some food allergies and limitations, two important factors for me when rating a restaurant are the variety of options available to me on the menu and how flexible the kitchen is about making accommodations. I was very excited about Tuli initially since a note at the bottom of the menu indicated "Substitutions welcome," which is not a common message to diners. Unfortunately, the actual substitutions used in my dish were lacking in creativity.

2011 Themes - Food & Wine

2012-01-03T11:46:00.001-08:00

As I was composing my Year in Review, I noticed several themes emerging from 2011, so I'll be adding some theme-based posts to the blog over the next couple of weeks. Let's start with Food & Wine...

Brunch
For the past couple of years, I've had a monthly brunch outing with S, M, Ir & S. This group started as a way of staying in touch with M when she was no longer a volunteer at PP and then evolved to also include Ir & S when Ir left PP as well. I take responsibility for organizing the monthly date and trying to find a convenient time/location for everyone, usually in Midtown or Downtown Sac, since M doesn't mind driving from the Arden area and the rest of us live close to the grid. We've tried several different spots over the years, including Fox & Goose, Waffle Square, Bernardo's on 15th, Orphan, Crepeville (both Sac locations), Sweetwater, and Danielle's Creperie. The criteria for selecting a good spot include value/cost, menu variety, good coffee, and an option for pancakes (for M). Based on these criteria, I'd rate the above locations as follows, from best to worst:

Orphan (meets all criteria)

Crepeville (no pancakes)

Fox & Goose (can get crowded)

Bernardo's (minimal menu variety)

Waffle Square (falls down on coffee)

Danielle's (bad coffee, canned fruit)

Sweetwater (minimal variety, higher cost)

Mr. E and I also enjoy weekend brunch, and although we've tried a couple of other locations (Kupros Bistro most recently), we do tend to favor Orphan, with Fox & Goose in second place.

I decided to count our total brunch trips in 2011, based on my datebook and my Outlook calendar, and for the meals that were noted specifically, the frequency definitely leans heavily towards Orphan!

Orphan - 9
Bernardo's - 4 (partly b/c Mr. E watches the Bears during footbal season, so I occasionally join him for part of a game)
Fox & Goose - 3
Crepeville - 2
Waffle Square - 1
Kupros - 1
Elixir - 1
Danielle's - 1

Home Cooking
Mr. E is always very supportive of any home-cooking efforts, and I continued my baking trend with a focus on breads. The recipe for "French bread" that comes with the Kitchenaid mixer has definitely become a favorite, although it doesn't at all produce a typical French baguette, which is what we expected. Instead, the consistency is more similar to an Italian bread, with a soft middle and crusty outside. I learned that it's best to split the recipe into 6-8 demi-loaves rather than having 3-4 large loaves, so we can have a couple in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. The most recent batch was perfect, as I made 1/2 the recipe, which resulted in 4 demi-loaves, one of which was the perfect accompaniment to our Christmas crab dinner.

When we visit France, we love to have the multi-grain baguette, so I was on a quest to find a similar recipe to mimic that flavor and consistency. I found a recipe for multi-grain, seeded, crusty bread, but in my two attempts thus far, the dough simply doesn't rise much, so the loaves are rather small and VERY dense. The flavor is excellent, but I'm going to experiment with future batches by reducing the amount of seeds and using some white flour instead of all wheat flour. I'm hoping that substitution might help make the dough less solid, so this quest continues into 2012.

We did manage to find a tasty recipe for fish tacos with an Asian-style slaw, the latter of which we also made as a side for another meal. New baking experiments included Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Cookies from the J Vineyards cookbook (outstanding!), Figgy Pudding (very, very dense, but extremely tasty once I transformed it into bread pudding), and Carrot Pumpkin Muffins (tasty but also quite dense and hard to cook all the way through). Other ongoing favorites include Cranberry Chocolate Chip Macaroons (dark chocolate, of course), Cranberry Orange Scones and/or Apricot Scones, and Whole Wheat Pizza Dough.

Date Nights
Mr. E and I have decided that January will be our month of weekly date nights to try out some of the Sac restaurants we've talked about but have never visited. We tend to return to our favorites - Ma Jong, Orphan, Sapporo, Burgers & Brew. So on the list for new spots are Tuli Bistro, The Golden Bear, and Kru (I've been with L but Mr. E hasn't been at all). However, we've learned from past experience not to experiment with a new spot for our anniversary celebration, so for that week, we'll return to our much-loved but not recently visited Michelangelo's. Let's hope that some of the new places live up to their reputations!

2011 Year In Review - Q4

2011-12-30T11:22:00.001-08:00

October
Despite my decreased running activity, I managed to complete the Urban Cow 1/2 Marathon on the 2nd. I've done this race every year since we move to Sacramento, so I was determined to keep up the tradition, despite my slower pace. Adjusting to this difference has been quite a challenge psychologically, as it's hard not to remember how my running used to feel and what my pace used to be, and accepting that I'm no longer a 1:50ish 1/2 marathoner has been a mental triumph. These days, I try to just be content with the fact that I can still run at all rather than trying to push for more.

On the 5th, Mr. E and I headed off for our trip to Lyon and Geneva (see separate post for details), where we met up with his sister and brother-in-law for several days. We returned on the 14th and enjoyed having a whole weekend to settle back into our routine.

I've been part of a list-serve for ABDs/PhDs in the Humanities who opt for careers outside of Academia since I was in grad school at UW-Madison. The community has changed names and structures several times, and the current incarnation is called Versatile PhD. The founder, Paula Chambers, has gradually evolved the site over the years so that now ABDs/PhDs in the Sciences have their own group, and many subscribers organize local meet-ups of VPhD members to share ideas and network. I decided to give that a try for the Sacramento/Davis region, so our first meeting was on the 21st at Weatherstone Coffee in midtown Sac. We were a small group, but I'm hopeful that we might continue to meet and gradually attract new folks, especially since our next meeting is scheduled for Davis, so that might be easier and more attractive for the UC-Davis population. I also forgot to mention that in July, Paula asked me to submit an article for the online content of the web site as well as to be a member of a week-long panel discussion focused on "Careers in Grant Writing." So nice to be able to contribute to a community that has provided helpful career advice and support over the years!

Mr. E and I enjoyed another food tour on the 22nd, this time with a focus on midtown Sac as part of a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen foundation. We'd already been to several of the restaurants on the list, but we enjoyed having some tasty appetizers and visiting some new spots, especially Kupros Bistro on 21st Street.

Our Sacramento Ballet season opened with "Dracula" on the 28th, just in time for Halloween. Throughout the Fall, Mr. E was very attentive to college football, especially since the Badgers started off so strong. Thanks to the broadcast schedule, we were able to watch most of the games at home, even the heart-breaking last-minute losses 2 weeks in a row. Drat!

November
My sister and I were finally able to coordinate our schedules so that I could go visit her and B in their new home in Austin, so I made a trip to the Texas State Capitol on the 9th-12th (see separate post for details).

On the 19th, we helped S with her move for a couple of hours in the afternoon before attending the Beaujolais Nouveau festival from the Alliance Francaise in the evening. We had joined the Alliance Francaise when we first moved to Sac in 2004 but had let our membership lapse. This year, however, we decided to re-join in the hopes of having more opportunities for me to experience French language and culture, which just aren't terribly common here in NorCal.

The new Central Terminal B at the airport had opened in early October, and one of the unique features is the public art program. Mr. E and I attended a guided tour on the 20th to learn more about each piece, and it was fascinating to see the sculptures and mosaics up close rather than just passing them by as we departed for or returned from a trip.

We spent Thanksgiving with Mr. E's colleague S and his family and then repeated our wine country weekend tradition from the 25th-27th (see separate post). Mr. E had been sick for over a week at that point, and when we finally got him to the doctor on the 28th, we learned he had pneumonia! I worked from home several days that week to take care of him during that first really nasty stage. He's been gradually improving, but the full recovery period could take at least 6 weeks. Poor guy! He doesn't get sick often, so he really goes all out when an illness does finally creep in...

December
Despite his illness, Mr. E was feeling up for his scheduled trip to Houston for work the 5th-10th. He also extended his stay over the weekend to visit friends G & G and son L in their new home near Dallas. I kept busy during his absence with wine and munchies on the 9th at Revolution Wine with C, whom we'd met at the Beaujolais festival; monthly brunch on the 10th at Danielle's Creperie followed by C's lovely party that evening to celebrate her 2-year milestone of being cancer-free; and a marathon of "Top Chef" reruns with L on the 11th at home.

On the 13th, I went to a workshop sponsored by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) on "Integrating Health & Equity into the Sacramento Region's Regional Plan." Although I haven't been a member of the City Planning Commission since 2007, I've still nourished my interest in urban design and planning, and I'm especially fascinated by how such decisions can intersect with and affect public health.

Mr. E and I joined a surpisingly large group on the 17th to celebrate S & N's new apartment in the midst of other holiday preparations - cookies, holiday photo cards, final decorations, gift wrapping, etc. I had taken the lead to organize a cookie exchange and gift swap at PPMM, both of which were scheduled for the 20th, so I got to take home a mixed bag of holiday treats along with beautiful silver earrings from L, who turned out to be my "gift buddy." I also suggested a rather last-minute holiday potluck for the 22nd, which was quite well-attended.

Since we didn't have any travel or hosting plans for the holiday weekend, Mr. E and I just enjoyed some extra time off from the 23rd-26th. HP has a "shut-down" the week between Christmas and New Year's, so Mr. E is still on "break" while I'm back at work. So far this week, he's steam-cleaned the carpets, re-configured the big downstairs rug, collected and dropped off a bunch of stuff for the Salvation Army, washed down the patio, re-hung the patio lights, cleaned up paperwork from the desktop, and done multiple loads of laundry. So great to have those house chores done in time to start the New Year off fresh. :)

Happy 2012 to all!

2011 Year in Review - Q3

2011-12-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

July
Our annual summertime visit to Mom included dinner at the new Marshfield Tavern, just behind the Roche Bros. grocery store near the high school complex. And of course we had to indulge in some fresh-from-the-Atlantic-ocean lobster on the 3rd before heading into Boston.

We went to part of the Red Sox game on the 4th, but our bleacher seats were in the bright sun, and I just couldn't tolerate the heat and humidity, so we left fairly early and enjoyed the rest of the game from the air-conditioned comfort of Boston Brewery right across the street. The Sox lost that game but emerged victorious the following evening, when we stayed for the whole game, despite the warm temps during the early innings. We made a short road trip to Salem on the 6th and walked around some of the historic area before grabbing lunch and a frozen treat prior to making our way back to Logan for our return flight.

Our schedule aligned perfectly to get us back to Sac just in time for the visit of our dear friends K & M, who now live in Phoenix, AZ. We got to meet their son J for the first time when we went out for dinner on the 8th, and then I joined the trio for a special wine-tasting at Todd Taylor at the Old Sugar Mill in nearby Clarksburg, along with P & J. Mr. E wasn't able to attend since he was getting ready for his upcoming work trip, but I brought home a couple of bottles to share. On the 9th, we spent the day on the American River with Gold Rush Whitewater Rafting on a trip organized by our gym. Lots of fun, but we were tired after the whole day in the sun and agreed that a 1/2-day excursion would be perfect next time.

Mr. E spent the 11th-15th in Houston for work, and I definitely had no desire to visit that city in the middle of the summer!!! On the 12th, I finally got to see my sports medicine doc, who confirmed the stress fracture diagnosis on the 3rd metatarsal of my right foot. He indicated that the walking boot is the proper treatment and that I'd likely be in the boot for about 6 weeks total. By this piont, I'd finally begun seeing some improvement in both the appearance and pain in my foot, so I was hopeful that the remaining 3 weeks would pass quickly.

When Mr. E returned from Houston, we caught another River Cats game on the 16th and enjoyed morning brunch at Orphan as well. On the 25th, I continued our trend of film viewing with "The Greenest Building" at The Crest. We attempted another brunch at Orphan on the 30th, but it was too busy, so we headed to 33rd Street Bistro instead. We've had mixed experiences at this restaurant, primarily because the quality of service doesn't match the food, and I'm much less forgiving of poor service than poor food. Unfortunately, this visit didn't change our impressions at all, and we were relieved to return to Orphan on the 31st and confirm our love of that spot!

August
Thanks to PPMM's new Title X grant for a health center in Carson City, I headed off to Miami Beach for a week of meetings the 1st-6th. Due to "weather" issues in the Midwest, my flights were delayed several times, but I still managed to reach my destination late on the 1st, so I didn't miss any of the meetings. Mr. E was very understanding of my need to depart on his birthday... And luckily, this was the day that marked 6 weeks in the walking boot, so I was able to leave that particular accessory at home!

We embarked on a trip to the Pacific Northwest on the 11th, flying into Seattle and then driving down to Portland to meet friends C & S and daughter C for lunch before joining my cousins W & M for dinner and an overnight. We drove back to Seattle on the 12th to watch the Sox beat the Mariners, but the outcome on the 13th wasn't quite so positive. We opted to drive up to Vancouver the morning of the 14th rather than staying for the 3rd game, which was definitely a good decision, since the Sox lost in one of Wake's multiple attempts to get his 200th win. Our trip wrapped up on the 16th.

On the 25th, we went to the Crocker for another film, this time about John Singer Sargent and one of his contemporaries, whose name I can't remember right now, which was sort of the point of the film - both artists were popular at the time, but Sargent's work has continued to be more favored.

We rounded out the month on the 28th by joining some fellow Badgers for the annual Big Ten bowling tournament. Although I grew up with candlepin bowling and didn't ever bowl ten pin until after I moved to Madison in 1997, I was one of the highest scorers on our team! Despite our small but mighty group, we didn't bring home the trophy, but maybe we'll do better next year.

September
We went to another River Cats game on the 1st and managed to watch most of the game before Mr. E dropped me off at the airport for my red-eye flight back East to visit Mom. We enjoyed several good beach days, including one with great waves for playing and body surfing, along with the requisite fresh lobster, of course! I returned on the 6th, just in time to drive to Reno on the 7th for a Title X internal team meeting.

On the 16th, Mr. E left for a long visit to Chicago. I caught another River Cats game solo that evening and then splurged on theatre two nights in a row with "The Drowsy Chaperone" from Runaway Stage Productions on the 23rd and "Mr. & Mrs. Fitch" at the Studio Theatre on the 24th. Mr. E returned on the 26th, and we made time for several date nights that week to enjoy being together again.

2011 Year in Review - Q2

2011-12-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

April
We started the spring with a visit on April Fool's Day to Cafe Rolle after seeing this local restaurant featured on Food Network's "Triple D" (Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives). Although we had to wait a bit, given the small size of the restaurant, we were both very pleased with the food and the friendly service. We also took advantage of the large map of France on the wall to get a better understanding of the Lyon region, as we were already thinking of plans for our trip later in the year. Our server gave us some great advice as well, since he's originally from that region.

The Red Sox began the season with a loss to the Rangers, and my datebook is full of sad faces next to the game times, as the first month was rather pitiful. *sigh*

Mr. E and I made a trip to the Mondavi Center in nearby Davis on the 6th to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Absolutely amazing. Our seats were very close to the stage, which I usually don't enjoy, but for this performance, being able to see the dancers up close was riveting. Totally worth the traffic jam in the parking lot afterwards...

We tried another local spot featured on Triple D on the 9th, but our trip to Gatsby's was a big disappointment. I had been looking forward to the beet sliders, which we'd seen on the show, and I ordered them without onions (of course). The chefs are in the middle of the restaurant, since the space used to have hibachi grills, so we could watch them preparing our food. This means that I got to witness the chef put the onions on my sliders, notice the note on the ticket, and then simply remove the onions rather than making a new batch to fix the mistake. Um, hello? If I'm allergic to onions, then just taking 'em off doesn't really help much if they've already contaminated the food underneath, now does it? Coupled with poor service, this lack of quality food definitely turned us off, so no return visits for this spot.

The 10th was much more fun, with Marie's annual Spring Fling and egg hunt. I actually found both "prize" eggs, so I got to go home with two cool Easter-themed decorations.

On the 16th, Mr. E and I participated in the Local Roots City of Trees Food Tour, which led us to various spots in downtown and midtown Sac. We got to have tasty nibbles along with an informative tour about some of the local history. I had alerted the tour guide to my food allergies, and most of the spots we visited were able to prepare something to accommodate these restrictions. Perfect weather, yummy food, and interesting local history made for an ideal afternoon.

We headed down to Oakland on the 19th & 20th to catch part of the Sox vs. As series. My datebook shows a sad face for the 19th and a happy face for the 20th, so at least we got to see one good game!

One of our goals for the year was to explore more of this area and take advantage of activities in the region (hence the food tour and restaurant visits), and we continued this theme with a guided morning hike at Rancho Seco park on the 23rd. I think we picked a perfect day, as the sun was warm but comfortable, so the lack of shade during the hike wasn't an issue.

Our first River Cats game of the year (a loss) was on the 24th, preceded by brunch at Orphan, one of many visits to this our favorite restaurant spot by McKinley Park.

The month finished with the annual Sac Ballet performance at our gym on the 29th followed by a studio performance of Beer & Ballet on the 30th. The latter is always a fun event, as most of the pieces are choreographed by the dancers, and tickets include beer or wine (hence the name).

May
Since the Fall of 2010, I had been experiencing recurring and ongoing pain in my right hip/lower back/oblique area. I went to a sports medicine doc, a physical therapist, and had an MRI done, but nothing provided a diagnosis and/or treatment plan, except to reduce any activities that made the pain worse. Of course, I'd already done that and had greatly cut down on my running, but I also decided to try a chiropractor, based on the recommendation of my favorite massage therapist. When I pulled something nasty in my back at the end of February, I was very relieved to have the chiropractor to help so that I didn't suffer too much during the trip to Panama. But by this point in time, I wasn't really seeing any additional improvement or benefit, so I gave it up as another lost cause. Rather frustrating.

Mr. E and I made a long-delayed trip to Monterey on the 5th-8th. This was another spot we'd talked about in the past, but other plans kept pushing this farther down on the list. Although the weather was a bit cool, we enjoyed the Aquarium and walking around the historic downtown as well as the waterfront. And I love my little silver sea otter earrings with the small aqua stone - a great memory of watching the critters themselves as they frolicked in their habitat at feeding time.

On the 13th, we closed out our Sacramento Ballet season with "Modern Masters." We're such big fans of this local company, and I'm so glad we became season subscribers! We also attended the "Tapas & Tutus" fundraiser on the 22nd at House restaurant on Capital Ave, which was a fun event and the first time we really mingled with other donors.

Mr. E headed to his annual Brewfest at Miller Park on the 21st, and the weather this year finally cooperated, with sunny skies and temps in the 80s. In previous years, this weekend has always been marked by a spike into the 90s, which isn't terribly comfortable for an outdoor festival!

We both headed off to see our families at the end of the month, with Mr. E going to Chicago from the 25th-29th and me going to Marshfield from the 28th-1st, primarily to help celebrate my aunt & uncle's 50th wedding anniversary on the 30th. What a great reason for a party!

June
Mr. E & I attended the annual PPMM Voices for Change fundraisder 2nd. This event honours loyal donors, local activists, and exemplary volunteers who support PP's work, and it's always inspiring to hear about the work these folks do on behalf of PP.

On the 4th, Mr. E headed off to San Diego for the HP supplier conference, which continued through the 9th, and I attended a studio performance of the Sacramento Ballet on the 5th.

The Sacramento French Film Festival was earlier than usual this year, and we attended screenings on the 18th, 19th, and 25th, with a small discount as members of the Crocker Art Museum. We became museum members back in October 2010, right before the grand opening of the new building, and we've really enjoyed the new space along with the member benefits. On the 23rd, we continued our film viewings with "Gen Silent" at the Crocker. This was a moving and fascinating movie about older GLBTQ folks who sometimes go "back into the closet" as they age and need additional health care or support. So many parts of our health care system need attention, but I had never thought about how challenging it can be to have to hide parts of yourself just to get the appropriate and caring attention you need when you're ill or elderly.

In the midst of all this, I learned on the 20th that I had a stress fracture in my right foot. I'd been having pain for several weeks and finally noticed a red inflamed spot in the middle of the top of my foot, so I figured I should get to the doctor. She diagnosed me right away and sent me to get fitted for a short walking boot. Her diagnosis was confirmed several weeks later when I finally got in to see my sports medicine doc, but wearing the boot provided immediate relief, even if it was a bit clunky and warm! This treatment also meant that I couldn't do any impact activities until I'd recovered, so my decrease in running became a total cessation, which was probably a good thing for many reasons. Luckily, I'd already increased my swimming thanks to the winter Polar Bear challenge at the gym, so I could still be active despite the injury.

PPMM's annual Morgan Scholarship luncheon for the Sacramento region was on the 24th. Mr. E and I usually attend to support the graduates of PPMM's Teen Success program who have been selected to receive scholarships to pursue post-secondary education, and we're loyal donors to this program as well, especially since I provided support for Teen Success for 5 years prior to assuming my new job duties at PPMM.

On the 26th, we headed to an ice cream social sponsored by the local UW alumni group. We hadn't gotten involved with prior events much, but we decided it would be good to meet fellow Badgers in the area, and we enjoyed chatting with folks of all ages and comparing memories of Madison.

At the end of the month, we headed off to the East Coast for a visit to Mom on the 29th. Unfortunately, our flights were delayed, so we ended up staying at a hotel in Braintree when we arrived late that night and then dropped off our stuff at Mom's on the 30th on our way to Provincetown for the day. I hadn't yet taken Mr. E to visit P-Town, and we had a great time strolling around, enjoying the sites, and having some yummy seafood.

2011 Year In Review - Q1

2011-12-27T12:08:00.001-08:00

Every year when I replace my datebook, I go through the previous datebook insert to transfer birthdays and other special occasions, and I always enjoy this process of reviewing an entire year's worth of activities. I decided that this year, I'd document some of this by composing a Year in Review for my blog, so here's the first installment of Q1 (January 1-March 31).

January
I don't have anything in the old datebook until January 17th, which reminds me that I ordered the new insert late, as I thought I still had an automated 3-year renewal in effect. Oops!

Mr. E and I celebrated our wedding anniversary #8 on the 11th. Go team JEMS! Je t'aime, my one!

On the 20th, I survived my second summons for Jury Duty since we've been in Sac, and I didn't even get called in for a possible panel, so I got to just read all day and meet Mr. E for lunch at Cafe Roma. This was followed by the first of several monthly Happy Hour outings with Steph, beginning with Revolution Wines on 29th & S.

Mr. E headed off for a work trip to Denver on the 31st, and I joined him the following weekend.

February
Our winter trip to Denver was filled with snow and cold, which felt very appropriate for the season, but I really wished I had packed my snow boots! Mr. E found a great deal on a hotel that has a heated outdoor pool on the roof deck, so I got to swim in the snow. :) We discovered the nearby Avenue Grill as we wandered around, and we so enjoyed the dinner offerings that we returned the next day for brunch as well.

On the 10th, we began our Sacramento Ballet season with "Romeo & Juliet," which was absolutely wonderful, with excellent dancing and emotional performances by some of our favorite dancers (e.g. Stefan).

Mr. E had a second work trip, this time to Houston, so he was gone for the week of the 14th, butI declined to join him for a weekend in Texas. :)

On the 19th, I helped out with the final in-person National Practice Test event for the Sac Kaplan Center, and also TAd an online Math Refresher course, along with a couple of other marketing events.

March
After much planning, we finally organized and hung our Gallery Wall in the stairwell. This wall extends from the landing between the two short flights of stairs all the way up to the base of the high clerestory windows, which are basically at the level of a 3rd floor, if our townhouse extended that high. Since we completed two major home projects in 2010 (the first floor in January/March and the balcony enclosure in November/December), we had decided to be more selective when putting up all of our artwork again, so rather than having lots of items distributed throughout the house, we conceived of the idea of this Gallery Wall as a way to display numerous items all in one large focal area. I laid out the pieces on the floor to estimate how/where to hang each piece, and then Mr. E did the ladder work as I supervised and adjusted the positioning as necessary. We've both been very pleased with the final result, and I was even able to rearrange a few items to find a place for the new elephant print I purchased in Austin later in the year.

On the 6th, we headed down to the Hilton by SFO in anticipation of my early flight the next morning for my Road Scholar trip to Panama with Mom from March 7th-12th (see separate blog entry that encapsulates the experience). I got back in time for the Shamrock'n 1/2 marathon on the 13th, and considering how little I'd been running, I was quite pleased to finish in just over 2 hours.

For my birthday weekend over the 19th, we headed off to Santa Rosa and a visit to the J Vineyards Bubble Room. Yum!

On the 24th, Steph and I decided on Burgers & Brew on R Street for our monthly Happy Hour, and then Mr. E and I continued our Sac Ballet season with "Icons & Innovators" on the 25th.

In anticipation of baseball season, we upgraded our mlb.com subscription to mlb.tv so that we could stream all of the games through the Roku rather than just having the Audio Gameday access, but the opening of the season in April didn't look too good for my Red Sox. *sigh*

Holiday Song for Calypso

2011-12-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

(to the tune of "Jingle Bells")

Oh she's Calypso cat
She's such a silky one
She stretches on her back
And sprawls out in the sun

Front paws as white as snow
And go-go boots behind
A snuggler and a burrower
She always speaks her mind

Oh Calypso, Calypso, she's Calypso cat
All curled up in her saucer bed just waiting for a pat,

Oh Calypso, Calypso, she's Calypso cat
My vampire kitty lover girl, oh yes, she is all that!

Holiday Song for Captain Jack

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

(to the tune of "Little St. Nick")

Oh way up north
Sacramento lies
Where the rivers meet
Under deep blue skies

There's a tiger cat
And he lives on Q
With his human folk
And Calypso too

He's a little Jack cat (little Jack cat)
He's a little Jack cat (little Jack cat)

He's a stripey boy
Whom we all adore
As he rolls around
On the kitchen floor

Such a fluffy one
With the softest fur
He's a little cat
With a great big purr

He's a little Jack cat (little Jack cat)
He's a little Jack cat (little Jack cat)

Oooh... Captain Jack cat (Captain Jack lives in Sacto)
Oooh... Captain Jack cat (Captain Jack lives in Sacto)

Eggs

2011-12-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

I never really thought that you needed a recipe for hard-boiled eggs. Just dump them in some water, let them boil for awhile, and try not to forget to remove them from the stovetop before the water boils away and the eggs stick to the bottom of the pot (not that I've ever done that, of course... that's what kitchen timers are for, right?).

However, I recently finished reading "The Kitchen Daughter" by Jael McHenry, in which food plays a large role in the life of the main character. Most chapters begin with a recipe card for a particular food item, and one of these recipes was for hard-boiled eggs. The process is pretty simple: place eggs in cold water, add a pinch of baking soda, bring to a boil, turn off heat, let eggs sit for 12 minutes, and then peel.

I decided to try this out with my most recent batch of eggs rather than just letting them percolate for 25-40 minutes or so as I usually do, and I must admit that the results are impressive. All of the eggs are cooked beautifully and are very easy to peel, which isn't always the case (though I store them in the fridge in the shell until ready to eat rather than peeling them ahead of time). I forgot the baking soda part of the process, and I'm not sure how that would really affect the results, but I may try the full recipe next time, just as an experiment.

And a side benefit of this particular method is that it's more environmentally friendly, since the stove-top is only actively pulling power for 12 minutes instead of 25+ minutes!

Wine Weekend - Thumbs Down to Morimoto Napa, Thumbs Up to J Vineyards (of course)

2011-12-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Mr. E and I engaged in our 3rd annual Thanksgiving weekend trip to wine country, with stops planned in Napa Valley on Friday, Sonoma Valley on Saturday, and Vacaville on Sunday. Unfortunately, since Mr. E was sick, we had to cut short part of our activities, but I'm so glad we came home when we did, especially since we found out on Monday (when we finally got to the doctor) that he has pneumonia. No wonder he felt so miserable!! Despite this fact, we enjoyed our Friday and Saturday events:

Friday 11/25 - Napa Valley
Our first tasting appointment was at William Hill, where we shared sips of tasty Cabernets and enjoyed being the only folks at the winery. As we left, we appreciated the autumn view over the vineyards.

We then headed farther north to find Prager Winery & Portworks to pick up a bottle of port as a favor to S & S, who had hosted us for Thanksgiving and asked if we could run this errand to get some port as a gift for S's father. Finding the site was a bit challenging, as it's on a small dirt road off the main highway, but we managed to locate the correct place. When we entered, however, we realized that we didn't know exactly which port was appropriate. Uh-oh... We made good use of our new HP Touchpad tablet out in the car, along with the free wi-fi from the neighboring inn, to find a phone number for S so that we could call and confirm the correct purchase. Ah - gotta love technology when it really works for you!

Mr. E had made lunch reservations at Morimoto Napa, and we arrived in downtown Napa a bit early so that we could walk along the new riverfront path and enjoy some of the new mixed development in the area. The lunch itself, however, was definitely a lowlight of the trip. Mr. E ordered the ramen for $14, which was described as "Morimoto's chicken-noodle soup," but he only found 2 small pieces of poultry in the whole bowl. Our maki choices were far more successful (and reasonably priced at around $9 each), but the service was lackluster at best, with a young female server who barely smiled and was rather slow at each stage of the meal. This is clearly one of those "celebrity-chef" restaurants that trades on the name and reputation rather than on delivering actual quality food and service. Disappointing.

After a brief tour of the nearby Oxbow Public Market (and purchase of a lemon cupcake for J to enjoy later), we headed to our afternoon tasting appointment at Robert Craig. A friend of Mr. E had made a reservation for us at the tasting room, which is tucked away amongst some bland commercial buildings near downtown Napa. Our host, Jeff, was very friendly, informative, and passionate about the wines, but he wasn't a very good listener, despite the fact that he several times emphasized how important it is to validate everyone's own unique experiences with tasting wine and exploring how it can hit the palate differently for different people. When Mr. E and I attempted to provide feedback, he countered with additional information that wasn't really directly related to our comments. Regardless, he was very attentive, and we did make a purchase of two high-end Cabernets to add to our wine fridge.

We decided not to try to fit in a stop at Trefethen and instead just headed over to Santa Rosa to the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, our favorite launching point for this type of visit. For some reason, however, the usual Friday-evening wine-tasting wasn't offered, supposedly due to the holiday weekend (even though we're both quite sure we enjoyed this activity for the past 2 years when we did the same trip). We asked about the option for a suite, given Mr. E's illness and the consequent increased snoring, but we were told that the hotel was fully committed, so we made a quick stop at the nearby Safeway for some additional medicine for Mr. E and earplugs for me. Mr. E trotted over to Baja Fresh to grab some dinner, and I picked up some fabulous seafood & vege udon from Boathouse Sushi. Such a contrast to Morimoto!!! My udon was chock full of all sorts of goodies in addition to the noodles and was definitely worth the $14 (which included the tip).

Back to the hotel to find a movie-on-demand ("Unknown" - pretty decent and worth the $4.99 fee) while we ate dinner. Thanks to the earplugs and some extra pillows, I managed to get a decent amount of sleep even though Mr. E was a bit noisy.

Saturday 11/26 - Sonoma Valley
I got up for a run around the rather hilly path across from the hotel, and we grabbed Starbucks for breakfast on our way to the meeting spot for our Sonoma Canopy Tour. This is a zipline tour in the woods near the Alliance Redwoods Christian Conference Center just past Occidental, about 45 minutes northwest of Santa Rosa. We had reservations for the 9:30am tour, along with 6 other folks (8 person maximum per tour). Our guides, Colin and Molly, were great, and we had a fabulous time on all of the zips along with the final rappel down at the end. Mr. E didn't cough at all during our zipping! Neither of us had done a zipline tour before, and we both agreed we would definitely do it again. Although Mr. E sometimes has issues with heights, the harness and lines are so sturdy that you feel completely secure, despite being high off the ground.

We made a quick return stop at Starbucks for some snacks and then watched part of the Badger game back at the hotel before going to our favorite wine-country experience, the Bubble Room at J Vineyards. Surprisingly, there was only one other reservation at 2pm, so we shared a table with a very congenial mother and daughter pair who were visiting J for the first time. As always, the service from Courteney and Dana was excellent, and the food from Chef Mark was incredibly tasty. He and his staff do a fantastic job of adapting to dietary restrictions, so although my offerings were different from the usual tasting menu, they were all extremely yummy and appropriate companions to each wine.

Although Mr. E and I had agreed not to purchase additional wine, since we were picking up both our October and December wine club shipments, we couldn't resist the special deal of 25% off on two or more bottles of the J Pinotage. This is a very unusual wine that we've come to love, and the wine is only sold on-site. Since neither of our shipments included the Pinotage, we figured it was worth the extra cost to have a couple of bottles to enjoy.

I repeated my yummy udon for dinner, but Mr. E wasn't very hungry, so he just got some chocolate cake at Safeway and ate part of that later in the evening. This night, the ear plugs and pillows just weren't sufficient, so after lying awake for about 45 minutes trying to drown out Mr. E with my Aqua Cube (water-proof mp3 player), I recommended that we just check out and drive home so that (selfishly) I could get some sleep. We had already decided to nix our plan to stop at the Vacaville outlets on the way home on Sunday, given Mr. E's condition, so we really didn't have any other reason to stay.

One thing I hadn't considered, however, was the night-time fog that creeps in during the winter. The drive home was a bit scary at times, with very low visibility in certain places, but we still got back to Sac in about 2 hours. We both headed off to bed in our separate rooms (thank goodness for the pull-out couch in the office for me!) and managed to get several more hours of sleep.

Overall, we had a lovely weekend, even though Mr. E wasn't quite up to par. But we were both glad to get home early and have time to just relax and rest on Sunday.

P.S. Mr. E unpacked our wine on Sunday, separating bottles into our fridge and wine storage in the island. On Monday, I happened to be pulling a bottle from the island and noticed that we had 2 bottles of J Chardonnay, which seemed odd to me, since we're not big white wine drinkers and usually opt for the shipment offering that doesn't include a white. I then double-checked our other J inventory and the list for the October shipment (which we'd already paid for) and discovered that we had gotten the wrong wines! We should have gotten 2 bottles of 2008 Nicole's Vineyard Pinot Noir in our "All Reds" shipment for October, but instead we got the "All Wines" version, which included a Chardonnay. I emailed J that evening to notify them and see what could be done to correct the error, especially since we'd already been charged the higher price for the "All Reds" shipment. I got a response on Tuesday morning, apologizing for the mistake, indicating that we should keep the Chardonnay, and promising that a bottle of Nicole's would be sent to us. Sure enough, the missing Nicole's arrived today, just 2 days later. Now that's what I call awesome customer service! This is why we (HEART) J Vineyards!!!

Austin Peacocks

2011-11-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot one of the most unusual parts of my Austin trip - seeing the "urban peacocks" in the Mayfield Park Nature Preserve! J and I stopped by the park on Friday on our way to her studio and strolled around a bit to see the peacocks and follow a trail down to the lake. Most of the colorful males were perched on trees or the roof of the building, and we saw a couple of the more drab females strolling around the grounds under the trees. So odd to find peacocks in such an urban setting!

As I mentioned to J, it reminded me of my trip to the Chateau de Fontainebleau back in 1995 when I was living in France and working for EuroDisney. I visited both Versailles and Fontainebleau and definitely preferred the latter (less crowded). During my visit, I decided to enjoy my lunch outside in a small courtyard (I'm pretty sure it was the Jardin de Diane), and I was delighted to discover peacocks wandering about the area! I shared some of my lunch with a few of them, and that image has always stayed with me.

Austin Adventures

2011-11-16T11:52:00.000-08:00

After many efforts, my sister and I finally were able to align our schedules to accommodate a trip to Austin for me to visit her and see the new Pilates studio and new home. The weather was pretty nice for most of the trip, though the final day was a bit toasty, despite the high winds. A brief recap of my Austin adventures:

Wednesday 11/9 - Travel Day
This may sound odd, but I was quite excited to be flying on Southwest so that I could leave out of the new terminal at the Sac airport! The new Terminal B has been a huge project around here, and it opened both early and under budget - amazing. A couple of neat features are the large number of public art pieces and the emphasis on local restaurant offerings. (Mr. E and will be taking a public art tour of the Terminal led by a docent from the Crocker Art Museum this weekend). The terminal is beautiful, with lots of windows and a light airy feeling. Also great to have another Vino Volo location (airport wine bar), and I took advantage of the opportunity to purchase a bottle of the Tra Volo red blend to bring with me.

My flights were all on time, so I got to Austin around 7pm. Dinner with J & B at home (yummy salad fixings, fresh bread, wine) and some snuggling with the kitties before bed. Calypso and Captain Jack's "Texas cousins" include Pebbles, Bam-Bam, and Lucy. So nice to have access to kitties even when away from home!

Thursday 11/10 - Pilates & Dinner
I went for a run in the morning and then lounged around reading in the sun with the kitties while J went to Bikram yoga. Quick load of laundry when she got back, and then we headed off to her Pilates studio, http://www.simplypilatesstudio.com/, which is an absolutely beautiful space. I had seen pictures, but being there in person was of course much better! J and I worked out for about an hour before her friend and colleague, Kate, arrived to do some Ki Hara resistance stretching with us. J had just gotten back from the annual PMA conference, so she and Kate had lots of "Pilates business" to discuss, and I enjoyed hearing them talk about the different issues facing the association and about what J learned or noticed at the workshops she attended.

On the way home, we stopped by Zilker Park to see the natural pool (closed on Thursdays for cleaning) and walk around a bit. We passed the kayak and canoe rental area and figured we might take advantage of that the next day, depending on the weather.

Dinner was at the Eastside Cafe, a local restaurant that focuses on fresh and sustainable offerings. I decided to try some new items, so I ordered the sesame crusted catfish with sides of broccoli and okra with tomatoes. Mr. E and I have seen okra used often on Food Network shows, but I'd never actually eaten it, and I was quite pleased by the preparation. I'm sure the mix of tomatoes and ginger helped to provide additional flavor and texture.

Friday 11/11 - Pilates, Whole Foods "Mother Ship," State Capitol, Urban Bats
Same morning routine and then off to the studio again for about an hour-long workout together. I got to use the Chair, which I've never tried, and J was a really great trainer - she gave excellent visual and verbal cues and was completely encouraging throughout our entire time together.

Based on the time, we decided to skip the kayaking endeavor and instead headed downtown to the HUGE Whole Foods to meet B for a late lunch. I had a yummy spring roll with shrimp, carrots, cucumber, and avocado and picked up some fat-free gingersnaps for later. With two cars to deal with, we headed back to B's office just a few blocks away to take advantage of his free parking lot and then walked up Congress to the State Capitol.

Perfect timing - the next public tour was in about 5 minutes, so we waited around for the tour guide rather than wandering on our own. Several rooms were closed for the day, so the tour was only about 30 minutes, which was perfect. Mr. E and I had done the tour when we visited Austin several years ago for one of my academic conferences, and I had always remembered the unique aspect of the "annex," which was built entirely underground when the building needed to be expanded. The tour didn't include that part of the building, but we ended up there afterwards at the gift shop so I could buy some souvenir magnets.

The plan was then to go watch the bats fly out from under the Congress Bridge at dusk, but B found info online indicating that the bats had already migrated for the winter. Disappointed, we wondered if maybe there were stragglers, so he checked another site of a company that conducts "bat boat tours" and discovered that they were still offering the tour until the weekend. We figured it was worth checking out, but since J and I were getting a bit chilly, we stopped by Starbucks on the way to get some warm beverages before heading to the bridge. Unfortunately, the bats were a no-show. Drat! Guess I'll have to visit again during a more prime bat-viewing season!

Saturday 11/12 - East Austin Studio Tour
Same morning routine, although the laundry happened earlier so that I could have dry clothes to pack for my return trip. J had discovered that the annual East Austion Studio Tour was beginning on Saturday, and she and B were familiar with the Pump Project, an art house with multiple small studios for diverse artists, so we decided to make that our first stop and then wander around the area nearby. The entire experience reminded me of Sacramento's Second Saturday monthly event but all compressed into a shorter timeframe, since the E.A.S.T. lasts for 10 days straight.

At our final stop, I found a lovely print by Judy Paul and decided that a small poster of "Masala Elephant" would have to accompany me back to Sacramento. We then had a late lunch at Buenos Aires cafe (good food but rather odd service) and wandered to Texas Coffee Traaders for an additional beverage. Both J and I ordered iced coffee, since it was a bit warm that day, and agreed that it was hands-down the BEST iced coffee we'd ever tried - smooth, almost creamy flavor, not bitter at all, just delicious!

After that, it was time to head to the airport, where I enjoyed looking at the work of several local Austin artists while waiting for my flight. Due to weather issues in San Diego, I got back to Sac about 90 minutes late, but Mr. E and the kitties provided a welcome homecoming.

A wonderful trip. Good weather, great conversation and company, perfect amount of time, just enough to do without feeling crazy-busy. So glad we finally made it happen!

Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice

2011-10-24T12:25:00.001-07:00

Something I forgot to mention in my previous travel blog - the popularity of fresh-squeezed orange juice. The nearby Starbucks in Lyon had this great machine that produces orange juice on demand, no sugar added. You can actually see the half-oranges in the machine as they travel through the roller to produce your juice! I don't remember noticing this during previous trips, but we saw this offering on several menus and at several different types of cafes or restaurants. I wonder if this trend will travel to the US?

Lyon & Geneva Travel Journal

2011-10-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 10/5 (Sacramento > Geneva)
Travel day! Miss S kindly provided airport transportation for our 7:30am flight to Dulles. The free in-flight movie was "Mr. Popper's Penguins," which was fairly entertaining and better than I had expected. We had a 3-hour layover, and we took advantage of the time to grab some nibbles at Chipotle before a couple of phone calls. The flight to Geneva was pretty empty, and we somehow ended up in Economy Plus seats with extra leg room. Mr. E watched "The Green Lantern" on the in-seat video, and I watched "Captain America." For free movies, both provided good ways to pass the time. I would not, however, highly recommend the "special" vegetarian meal... not entirely sure what everything was in that little tray... We both attempted to sleep a bit overnight, with varying degrees of success.

Thursday 10/6 (Geneva > Lyon)
We arrived in Geneva around 8am and breezed through customs, though there was a slightly troubling encounter with a fellow traveler as we disembarked (because of course I totally intended to have that bottle of duty-free alcohol fall on her head when I opened the overhead bin...). Not having any checked baggage was definitely a time-saver, but we actually needed to kill some time as we weren't due to meet L & M at their hotel until 9:30am. We discovered that the train from the airport to the main Cornavin train station is free, so we got our tickets and hopped aboard. Despite an initial wrong turn out of the station when we arrived, we made our way to the Hotel d'Angleterre on the Quai Mont Blanc and then strolled over to a little cafe in a nearby park by the Brunswick Monument for coffee and spice cake.

At the appropriate time, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with L & M. Mr. E tried to nap while I went for a 30-minute run along the right bank of Lac Leman. So nice to have access to a shower and comfy hotel room after a long trans-Atlantic flight! We got cleaned up and then hoofed it back to the train station with L & M. More coffee to while away the time waiting for our train to Lyon.

With 4 people and accompanying baggage, we opted for a taxi from the Part Dieu station to our rental apartments in the Presqu'ile section of Lyon. Due to a couple of protests, the taxi driver used the bus lanes as the most efficient route to the Place Cordeliers, where we managed to find our designated building thanks to a group effort (sort of difficult to spot from street level). Up to the 3rd floor to find the Suite Opera (L & M) and the Suite Cordeliers (J & E). Completed the inventory, signed the contract, used L's phone to email the landlord about the lack of towels (despite my earlier email to confirm that there'd be 2 sets in each Suite), unpacked a bit, and then trotted across the street to the Monoprix store to stock up on some basics of food and supplies (e.g. toilet paper) for the next 6 days. Very convenient to have the Monoprix nearby - it's similar to the new Target superstores that include a full grocery section. Enjoyed our picnic-style dinner in the apartment and then crashed for the night.

Friday 10/7 (Lyon)
I did a 60-minute run along the east bank of the Rhone, which was redeveloped in 2007 into a great ped/bike path. My route took me south all the way to the Confluence, where the Rhone meets the Saone. Mr. E was up by the time I got back, with coffee ready. After breakfast, we started a load of laundry and then headed off to the market on the Quai Antoine to pick up some fresh veges, cheese, and a roasted poulet for dinner. I had a nice chat with a very friendly cheese vendor. By the time we returned to the Suite with our purchases, the laundry was ready to hang. So nice to have a combo washer/dryer in the apartment!!!

We set out for Place Bellecour to get some info at the main Tourist Office. Along the way, I led Mr. E by the big flower ball sculpture that I had noticed from the other side of the river while I was running. The sculpture was part of an exhibition in 2003 and was so popular that the City purchased it for public art in 2006. We picked up some brochures about bus and boat tours along with info about the Beaujolais wine region, in anticipation of an eventual road trip with L & M for some wine-tasting.

Feeling a bit peckish, we strolled down the rue Victor Hugo towards the train station to find a boulangerie, and after a bit of discussion, we emerged with a freshly-made jambon & fromage sandwich SANS beurre. For some reason, many of the pre-made items contained butter or mayo, neither of which is desirable for me, so it was lovely for these folks to make us a ham & cheese baguette without butter.

We then focused on our primary destination, the Musee des Tissus and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. These two museums are in adjoining buildings, and contain fascinating collections of textiles, fabrics, and assorted decorative arts. A very friendly museum employee chatted with me about language and learning before we started our tour. So great to have an opportunity to engage in conversation in French, as being able to be immersed in the language and culture was a primary reason for our visit.

After our museum visits, we purchased wine at the Cave Chromatique, a local wine shop whose owner has organized his inventory by colour to indicate the characteristics of the wine. He and I had a lovely long conversation as Mr. E and I made our selection, and he complimented me on my French. Nice to know that I haven't completely lost all of my linguistic ability due to lack of use! We then got a multi-grain baguette and a huge meringue at a nearby boulangerie before returning to the apartment, where Mr. E napped while I read. After checking in with L & M and making some plans for the next day, we enjoyed our poulet dinner with pommes de terre and a cheese plate and a game of Scrabble, which we left unfinished as we were both starting to get sleepy.

Saturday 10/8 (Lyon)
I worked out in the apartment for an hour (boot camp, Pilates, yoga) in the morning, and we met up with L & M around 10:15am to grab an espresso at the stand outside the Bar Americain across the street and then catch the hop-on hop-off city tour bus, which conveniently has a stop just down the block in Place Cordeliers. L & M got off in Vieux Lyon, about half-way through the tour, but Mr. E & I decided to stay on until almost the end, which put us right by the Musee des Beaux Arts.

Before visiting the museum, we walked up to Place des Terreaux to admire the big fountain with horses that have smoke coming out of their noses every 30 seconds or so. From there, we headed to the Opera to have a leisurely lunch at the restaurant on the 4th floor, which gave a great view over the city, despite the rainy and grey weather. After lunch, we returned to the Museum, which is sited in a former convent, so the entrance is through a beautiful courtyard of cloisters. When we were finished with our visit, we braved the weather and walked back to the apartment along the rue Herriot.

The leftover poulet was just as yummy for dinner as it had been the night before. The Scrabble game concluded rather unexpectedly, with Mr. E's first win - yay! As it turned out, foreign travel seemed to be quite lucky for Mr. E with games, as he also beat me later in both Rummy 500 and checkers.

Sunday 10/9 (Lyon)
More rain, but I went out for a 30-minute run anyway, again on the east bank of the Rhone but towards the north this time. Didn't see many other runners this morning...

After breakfast, we went to the market with M to get a poulet, potatoes, and veges for our planned group dinner that evening. We dropped off the food at the apartment and then walked to the Perrache train station to find some info about rental cars for the next day, as we had arranged with L & M to designate Monday as our Beaujolais road trip day. Unfortunately, all of the rental agencies were closed that morning, but at least we figured out where they were located and how long it would take to walk to the station.

We took advantage of our 2-day tour bus ticket and just managed to catch the bus at a stop near the station so that we could avoid the uphill walk in the mist to the Basilique de Fourviere, the huge white Basilica that dominates the City from the hilltop. This structure is also known as the "upside-down elephant," as the decorations and style aren't necessarily appreciated by everyone. A group of students (like Girl Scouts of some kind) were touring the site and providing homemade chocolate cake for a donation, so Mr. E got a snack before we walked around both the exterior and interior of the Basilica.

After buying a few souvenirs, we walked slightly downhill towards the remains of the Theatre Romain and the Odeum, both of which are over 2,000 years old. I remembered these sites vividly from my previous visit to Lyon in 1995 when I was working at EuroDisney, and I even have a picture of myself standing in the tiered seats of the theatre from that visit (much nicer weather that time...). I also remembered the Gallo-Roman Museum at the site, which has very little curb appeal but is wonderful inside, both for the contents of the collection along with the architecture of the building itself. The museum is built into a hill, so you enter at the top of 5 floors and work your way down a series of descending ramps to view all of the exhibits. Mr. E was definitely engaged by the history of the site, and most sections included introductory information in English, so he could really appreciate the exhibits without my providing constant translation services.

We had considered walking back through Vieux Lyon, but the rain and mist were pretty steady, so we opted instead to go back to the Basilica to catch the tour bus for a warmer and dryer return trip. As we were waiting, we were "entertained" by a small group of activists who were demonstrating around an SUV to protest use of that type of vehicle in the urban environment. We figured that this "protest" was going to be posted online somewhere, since the group repeated the same demonstration several times for a video camera.

Before going back to the apartment, we stopped at the Bar Americain outside stand for crepes (sugar & lemon for me, apricot for Mr. E).

Monday 10/10 (Beaujolais region)
Another 60-minute apartment workout for me before Mr. E & I traipsed off for the train station to fetch a rental car. We managed to procure one from Avis at a decent rate, since Mr. E is a preferred customer, thanks to his work travels. Although we were a bit later than we had expected in concluding the transaction, our timing was perfect, as L & M were just coming out of the building when we arrived.

We navigated to the A6 highway (only 1 wrong turn), with Mr. E at the wheel and me at the map, and directed ourselves towards the Belleville exit, figuring that would be the northenmost point to visit and we could then follow the map's wine road path south to return to Lyon. We didn't have any particular wineries in mind to visit, so we just looked for signs saying "cave ouvert" and turned off when we saw a likely spot to enjoy.

Our first stop was at Domaine St. Odile in St. Jean d'Ardieres. We tasted 1 white and 3 reds, all of which are produced from vine to bottle at the winery. Mr. E and I liked one of the reds, so we purchased a bottle to enjoy later in the trip. L had been feeling under the weather ever since we got to Lyon, and the rainy days didn't help at all, so she didn't partake much in the tastings.

Our next stop was Domaine Petit in Villie Morgon. Our hostess was Brigitte Petit, whose spouse was literally born in the wine caves and whose family has been in the business for several generations. Their approach to making wine is quite different, in that they tend to hold their wines for several years before releasing them rather than imitating other "classic" Beaujolais styles. This makes their wines distinctive, and we got to taste 5 wines, all made from the same vineyard but with very different tastes and qualities, due to the year of harvest. M bought a bottle of the 2006 (?).

Since we were getting hungry, I asked Brigitte if there were any boulangeries nearby. She told me they're all closed on Mondays, since the weekend is their busy tourist time, but she recommended the restaurant in the nearby town center. What a great value! We all ordered the prix fixe lunch menu, which included salad with smoked salmon, pork in mustard sauce, rice with mushrooms and peas, cheese, wine, coffee, and bread. Yum!

After lunch, we investigated the Cave du Morgon next door but decided not to try anything. We waved goodbye to the deer and other animals in the little park and then continued on our way south. As we drove up and down through the hills, we pulled over in one small town to walk around a bit and enjoy the view. We also stopped at a wine-tasting room to try wines from several different domaines, and our purchases there included cookies (L & me) and 2 souvenir wine glasses (Mr. E & me).

Mr. E decided to make one final stop for tasting, which resulted in a purchase of 1 bottle of rose (me) and 3 bottles of a red (L & M). At that point, we all agreed that we'd had enough of the winding roads, so we made our way back to a larger route and eventually to the A6 to return to Lyon.

We dropped L & M at the apartments along with all of our stuff. Trying to return the rental car was quite an adventure, as the under part of the train station is a bit of a labyrinth, but we finally succeeded and then headed back to the apartment on foot. We were pretty tired at that point, so we declined L & M's invitation to join them for snacks and just settled back into our own place, having made plans to gather for a final group dinner the next night.

One of the most interesting things about the wine-tasting was meeting the proprietors. So many of the wineries are truly family-owned and such a contrast to what we're used to here in California. Our visits were very intimate, and the "tasting rooms" were often just tucked away almost as part of the house itself. For example, at Domaine Petit, we pulled into the gravel driveway of a small house, including shoes and kid's crocs on the doorstep. Brigitte emerged from the house and led us down a small hill to the tasting room, which was basically a little room in the basement of the home. We noticed photos on the wall of children in the cave, and Brigitte explained that her kids had often accompanied her in the cave as they grew up. I asked if they planned to follow in the family business, and she just shrugged, noting that it can be a challenging affair.

It was definitely fortunate to have a French-speaker in the group, since most of our hostesses didn't speak much English. I enjoyed conversing with them and acting as interpreter for our group!

Tuesday 10/11 (Lyon)
I enjoyed my 40-minute pre-dawn run south along the east bank of the Rhone. Seeing the city lit up at that time of day was so beautiful, and I also got to notice the lights and light projections along the bike/ped path that I hadn't seen during my previous run, since that had been at a later time of day.

Mr. E & I decided to trek up (and up and up) to the Croix Rousse area north of us to visit the Maison des Canuts, which has exhibits about the history and technology of weaving. We had seen some small loom models in the Musee des Tissus, and we were both fascinated by the complexity of the machines and wanted to learn more. The silk industry was very important to Lyon in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and this art is still practiced to a much smaller extent today for haute couture and luxury fabrics. We didn't do the tour of the full Maison des Canuts but just walked around the couple of rooms readily available to the public to learn more about how silk is made and how weaving and loom technology have developed.

One of the special features of Lyon mentioned in my guidebook was the "traboules" - small passageways through buildings that serve as shortcuts and were used extensively during certain times of war. I was determined to find some of these traboules, and we successfully located two of them during our journey down from the Croix Rousse to Vieux Lyon (the old part of the city).

L & M had recommended a Vietnamese restaurant in Vieux Lyon, but when we found the location, the restaurant was closed (despite the sign on the door claiming it was open 7/7). We wandered around the cobblestone streets and ended up at a small cafe, where I had a fabulous salad with fresh tuna, roasted peppers, cucumbers, and shaved parmesan while Mr. E enjoyed a starter of Quiche Lorraine followed by some taglietelle bolognese.

After lunch, we walked across one of the pedestrian bridges over the Saone to the Quai St. Antoine to find the kiosk to buy tickets for the afternoon boat tour. We had some time before the tour, so we went the few blocks to Place des Jacobins to the Fontanel store, which had been suggested by staff at the Tourist Office as a place to find a flag of the City, since we both really like the motif.

Although the weather had been a bit cloudy in the morning, the sun had emerged during lunch, so our afternoon boat tour from the Saone to the Rhone via the tip of the Confluence was perfect. Mr. E took lots of beautiful pictures, and it was a great way to end our visit to Lyon. On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at the Bar Americain for a smoothie (Mr. E) and a hot chocolate (me) to tide us over until our final group dinner with L & M. Before finishing off most of our leftovers, we walked across the Pont Lafayette to one of the restaurants on a barge on the Rhone for pre-dinner drinks. Several of these restaurants and bars were moored along the east bank, as were numerous river barge cruisers, which looked like a great way to travel along the river.

After dinner, we said our goodbyes to L & M, packed up most of our stuff, put the furniture back into place (we had rearranged the orientation of the sofabed earlier), and did some light cleaning to prepare for our departure the next morning.

Wednesday 10/12 (Lyon > Geneva)
I did a final 30-minute run north along the east bank of the Rhone. It was nice to see this part of the bike/ped path without rain, though it was rather dark along a certain stretch where the streetlights for some reason weren't lit.

I threw some final laundry into the machine, knowing it would be damp when we left but at least clean, and then went off to Starbucks for coffee and orange juice to bring back for our last Lyon breakfast. We gathered the trash and recycling and our bags and set off for the Gare Part Dieu to catch our 10:34am train to Geneva.

We arrived in Geneva around 12:30pm, emerging from cloudy conditions in the mountains to a beautiful sunny clear day. It took about 30 minutes to walk from the station to the Hotel Residence St. James on the left bank of Lac Leman. We checked in, paid for our 2 nights, and dropped off our bags in the room. Ugh. Nasty. Old... dirty... noisy... loud TV from next door... Not even close to matching the photos on the web site!!! But I figured it was only 2 nights, so we'd just make due.

Prior to our trip, we had learned that Geneva is a VERY expensive city. We had noticed this when looking for hotels and were especially struck by the high cost of food as we sought a place for lunch. Even our "moderately" priced meal at the nice food court in the Globus department store was over 20CHF ($25ish) for a big piece of pizza (Mr. E), a small mixed salad (me), and a bottle of lemon fizzy water. Yikes!

We went in search of a creperie listed in the guidebook and ended up strolling around the older part of Geneva. We didn't find the restaurant, but we did discover the Maison Tavel, which houses a collection of art and artifacts in a beautiful old building. One of the best parts of the visit was the scale model of pre-1850 Geneva on the top floor. We managed to arrive at that exhibit at the same time as a tour group (Dutch?) whose leader was explaining about the city's history. Since the gentleman was speaking English, both Mr. E and I could appreciate his narrative. What I remember the most is that the area used to be called the "confederatio helvetica" in Latin, which is why the URLs for Swizerland end in ".ch" and also why the Swiss franc is abbreviated as "CHF." I'd been wondering about that latter item especially, so it was great to learn the reason for the acronym! We finally picked up some yummy crepes from an organic food truck near the river bank (cinnamon & sugar for me, maple syrup for Mr. E).

As we walked around, I realized that I was dreading the return to the hotel. When we got back, my dread was affirmed, especially since all of the nastiness had been augmented now by food odors. Yuck! I decided that I just couldn't stay there, not even for 2 nights, so I started to look through my guidebook and other information for possible alternatives. We liked the left bank and wanted to stay in that area, which limited our options, at least in terms of what was listed in our reference material. We set off for one nearby hotel, the Bel Esperance, but arrived to find a sign indicating that the hotel was full. To confirm, we went upstairs to the small reception desk, where the very friendly gentleman was super-helpful and called 2 other hotels to see if they had any availability. On the second call, we got lucky and found a double room at the Hotel Pax available for 2 nights at a rate of 150CHF, including breakfast, so we scurried back to the St. James, checked out, got a refund of 125CHF for the cancelled second night, and walked to our new hotel, which was about 15 minutes away. So much better! Quiet, clean, old-but-nice, updated bathroom. Phew!

We didn't bother to unpack much, given our short time in Geneva. We had passed an interesting-looking building with a restaurant about 2 blocks away, so we returned to Cookfriendly for pre-dinner drinks. The menu was rather limited, and we decided to go downstairs in a different part of the same building to the Cafe Cult for dinner. The building seemed to be an old church, and it was a great reuse of space to house 2 different eating venues. The best dinner value was the prix fixe meal, so Mr. E ordered the option with hare as the main course and I selected the chicken. We both really enjoyed the meal, although it was probably good that I'd forgotten the mention of foie gras with the chicken until after we'd already finished...

Back to the hotel to sleep, with the intent to search for a corkscrew the next day since we'd brought 2 bottles of wine with us from Lyon!

Thursday 10/13 (Geneva)
What a beautiful day! I got up for a 40-minute run along the left bank of Lac Leman and got to see the sun lighting up the mountain tops as it rose, along with the moon hanging over the city. We took advantage of breakfast at the hotel and then explored the commercial center (sort of a small vertical mall) in the same block to see what was available and making note of the grocery store for potential dinner options and the small department store for an inexpensive corkscrew purchase, if necessary. Mr. E also bought an International Herald Tribune, as the plan was for him to read in a park while I visited the Musee d'Art et Histoire.

One of the inexpensive things about Geneva is the public transportation system, as least for visitors, who can get a free public transport card from their hotel, giving access to all forms of public transit - bus, tram, train. We hopped on the tram near our hotel and rode a few stops to the Starbucks we had noticed near our former hotel. We got some coffee to share and then strolled uphill to the park near my destination museum. With the sunny weather, we had a clear view of Lake Leman and the Jet d'Eau, a huge jet of water that spurts up from the Lake and has become an iconic symbol of Geneva.

I spent almost 2 hours in the museum, which houses an extensive and varied collection on 5 floors, including archelogical artifacts, antiquities, sculpture, and painting. Visiting sites in Europe always reminds me of how very young the US is as a country, since other parts of the world can trace their history back to many centuries B.C. A little perspective and humility can be healthy (too bad more of our electeds and others in positions of power don't remember that).

I rejoined Mr. E at the park, and we walked through the older part of the city to find a place for lunch. We settled on Soupcon, which specializes in different types of tartare. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the salmon tartare would include chives and oil, so Mr. E and I exchanged lunches and I got to enjoy his chicken club sandwich (no bacon, no mayo). The food was tasty, but was the sandwich really worth 25CHF ($30ish)???!!! I think not.... At least we snagged some extra bread to save for a picnic dinner back at the hotel.

After lunch, we made our way to the Parc des Bastions, stopping to look at the Mur des Reformateurs and play checkers on the huge boards in the park (Mr. E soundly trumped me). We then jumped on the tram to go across to the right bank and the Musee Ariana, which is next to the United Nations headquarters. The museum existed prior to the U.N, and it's an odd juxtaposition to see the elaborate ornate older building near the modern and rather generic U.N. building. The museum houses the glass, china, porcelain, and other decorative arts of a private collector, who built the structure specifically to hold his extensive and varied collection and make it accessible to the general public. Mr. E perched on a comfy stuffed sofa in the first floor rotunda while I strolled around the 3 floors of exhibits.

In addition to the free transport card for visitors, Geneva also offers about a dozen free museums, including all of the sites we visited. Some of the museums have a small charge for their special temporary exhibitions, but their permanent collections are "entree gratuite," so we figured the money we saved on transit and entrance fees helped to at least slightly offset the high costs of food!

Another tram ride brought us back to the left bank and some browsing at the Victorinox store, makers of the original Swiss Army knife. The name of the company is a combination of the name of the founder's mother (Victoria), who helped him launch the original business, and the French word for stainless (inoxydable), since the invention of stainless steel revolutionized the knife-making industry. The company now also sells watches, luggage, clothing, and perfume.

Before purchasing food for dinner, we returned to the hotel to see if there was a corkscrew on-site, as I had noticed a little bar area near the breakfast rooms. The staff was very friendly and opened 1 of our bottles of wine. Since we knew we wouldn't drink the other bottle and couldn't bring it home in our carry-on bags (we avoided checked luggage), we left the second bottle with the hotel staff to enjoy or present to another guest. At the nearby grocery store, we got sushi (me), a roasted 1/2-chicken (Mr. E), along with some final bread and cheese to round out our journey.

Friday 10/14 (Geneva > Sacramento)
I awoke to a grey and windy day for a final 30-minute run from the left bank of Lake Leman across the Pont Mont Blanc to the right bank and back again. We gathered our belongings, enjoyed the hotel breakfast, and walked up to the corner of the block to catch the tram to the main train station, where we then connected with a train to the airport for our noon flight. The return flight from Geneva to Dulles was quite full, and we spent most of the time watching in-seat movies ("Super 8," "The Trip," and "Bridesmaids" - ugh! - for me; "Super 8," "Captain America," and "Zookeeper" for Mr. E). During our 3 hour layover in Dulles, Mr. E made himself at home with Chipotle, I got a big soft pretzel, and we lingered over 3 wine flights at Vino Volo. Despite some high headwinds, our flight home to Sac arrived pretty much on time at 9:30pm, and Miss S delivered us safely home to the kitties.

The vacation was wonderful, and having an entire weekend to "recover" before returning to work made the re-entry process a bit easier.

I forgot to mention our other souvenir purchases aside from the Beaujolais wine glasses! In addition to the usual magnet or two, we often try to bring back unusual but functional items (cloth napkins, provencal tablecloth, liquid soap holder with cows, etc.) along with temporarily restocking my supply of European candy. For this trip, we returned with a small white & black kitchen timer in the shape of a cat's head, a heavy-duty reusable shopping bag with "La vache qui rit" (the laughing cow), 2 bags of mini Lion bars, 2 bags of Regal'Ad chewy fruit candy (sort of like Starburst but not quite), and 2 boxes of Bonne Maman lemon tartelettes (I haven't been able to find them recently anywhere in Sac since Corti Brothers stopped carrying them on a regular basis). All items successfully survived the return trip.

Travels in the Pacific Northwest

2011-08-19T12:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8/11
S was kind enough to agree to airport transportation in addition to cat care, so she picked us up @ 5:15am (yawn) for our 6:20am Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. Given the early hour, we needed some coffee by the time we arrived, so we stopped at an airport Starbucks on the way to bag claim, figuring we had plenty of time before fetching the suitcase. However, by the time we strolled to the bag claim area, everything had been unloaded! We spotted our lonely suitcase in the Customer Service area and were reprimanded by an Alaska employee when we asked for the bag - Me: "We stopped for coffee along the way." She: "We need you to come get your bag right away and get coffee later." !!! We then headed to Avis to get our rental car and hit I-5 south towards Portland.

Our destination was the Lucky Lab Brew Pub on SE Hawthorne, where we met up with Ch, Sc, and Cl for lunch. Tasty food, but rather slow service. Great to catch up with friends and see how much Cl has grown over the past 3 years! We made a quick stop at a running store to look for Mr. E's favorite Avis shoes on our way to chez W & M.

While Mr. E napped, W, M, and I took a walk around the neighborhood and chatted. W made a great dinner with fresh veggies, poached turkey, shrimp, cheese, and bread, followed by homemade fruit sorbet and fresh blueberries. Yum! So nice to have quality time to visit with W & M, given that we last saw them in November 2010 for A's wedding, which didn't provide lots of time for in-depth chatting. I'm so glad they're both planning to retire next year and take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy life and their time together, given W's health challenges. Off to bed relatively early to catch up on some sleep...

Friday 8/12
I enjoyed a 40-minute run while Mr. E slept in and took a quick drive to the nearby Safeway to procure some Starbucks for the morning. We decided to eat breakfast out at Shari's Restaurant, a local chain with decent prices and fairly tasty food. The cinnamon pecan roll, however, was waaaay overboard...

Back on I-5 to Seattle, with a stop at a Mt. Saint Helens Visitor's Center about 40 miles off the highway to view the mountain. We considered doing a helicopter tour of the crater but decided to postpone that activity to another time. This turned out to be a good decision, as we encountered some unexpected traffic as we continued northward. Bleah!

Finally arrived in Sea-Tac around 4:30pm and checked into the Airport Doubletree. Fresh, warm chocolate chip cookies - yum! The parking fee was $20/day, but as we approached, I noticed several other airport parking options with lower rates, so we parked across the street at Wally Park, with an advertised rate of $13/day (yeah, sort of... more on that later). Mr. E did a short workout before we took the hotel shuttle to the airport Sound Transit light rail station to head to SafeCo field to see the Red Sox vs. the Mariners. Very convenient mode of transportation (and cheaper than parking near the stadium!). Our seats were in the right field bleachers - e.g. full sunlight - so we wandered around for awhile to check out our food and drink options. I got some treats at the bulk candy store (only stadium that I've visited with this amenity - yay!). I finally decided on a bento combo box that was a great value for the price ($12). Mr. E was less satisfied with his final selection of encased meat, but he did enjoy some beer.

We had agreed to meet at our seats, but when I got there, I realized the bleachers were just benches with limited space and no cup holders. In addition, the guy next to us kept spitting on the floor. GROSS! Not sunflower seeds, not even tobacco/chew, just plain ol' spit. EEW! I really couldn't stomach that, so I headed down to the next level to wait for Mr. E (handing a napkin to the spitter as I left and suggesting that he might need it to wipe up what he'd spewed on the floor). We sat at a table to watch for awhile and then spotted some empty seats in left field, so we walked over and enjoyed the rest of the game from that view. The only danger was the seagulls that wheeled in during the later innings and "bombed" some of the seats!!! We managed to avoid that outcome and decided to look for seats in a similar section for the next night.

Light rail and shuttle back to the hotel. Late night, but at least we won 6-4.

Saturday 8/13
Weight room and treadmill workout for me while Mr. E snoozed. Used our Hilton Honors meal vouchers for coffee and breakfast at the Espresso Cafe in the hotel, which serves Starbucks (good for Mr. E). Mr. E got in touch with D & L to make plans for lunch, and we used the computers in the lobby for directions and info for Chateau Ste. Michelle and Red Hook Brewery for our afternoon activities.

When exiting Wally Park, we encountered an unexpectedly high cost, due to some nasty taxes. Grrrr. The promised $13/day became $20/day - yikes! A very helpful employee asked if we had any coupons or discounts, and we discovered that AAA gave us 25% off, so we ended up with a final bill of about $16. Much better and still less than at the hotel. Phew!

Met D & L @ 11:30am by the brass pig at Pike Place Market. They kindly treated us to lunch, and I opted for a coffee & sorbet combo as we'd eaten breakfast so recently. Great conversation, great people, wish we could see them more often...

Headed out around 1:15pm for wine-tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle, a quick look around Red Hook, and a tasing at Januik (thanks to D & L's suggestion). Then back to Seattle to work out (Mr. E) and read (Dr. J) before the game. We had realized that the light rail station was a short walk from the hotel, so we hoofed it to the station rather than waiting for the shuttle.

With Beckett on the mound, we figured we'd have a positive outcome... until he gave up a home run to Ichiro on the very first pitch of the game! *sigh* At least we had good seats with no spitters, and we hung in there to the end, cheering on our boys as they rallied and almost came back but ended up with a 5-4 loss. Drat!

Back on the light rail and walk to the hotel. At least we had lots of other Red Sox fans around to keep us company.

Sunday 8/13
I had a lovely swim in the hotel pool before we repeated our breakfast favorites from the Espresso Cafe. We decided to skip the day game and head to Vancouver in the morning with plans to find a sports bar to catch the end of the game once we were over the border.

We'd gotten a great rate through Expedia on The Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Vancouver. However, the $40/day parking rather was rather unappealing, so I had done some research to find long-term airport parking at $8.50/day thanks to a coupon. We left the rental car in the lot, took the shuttle to the airport to find the TransLink light rail station, and enjoyed the quick ride downtown.

The first room we were assigned wasn't yet cleaned and prepped, so we had a slight delay as we got another room. Mr. E asked the concierge for recommendations of nearby sports bars, so once we dropped off our bags, we headed off to G Sports on Granville Street. Got there around 2:45pm to find the Sox game on 1 screen amidst many screens of soccer. Only a few other folks in the bar, mostly Brits (including the female server). We were just in time to order the yummy BC Benny off the breakfast menu (eggs benedict with smoked salmon!) and to watch the end of another loss for the Sox. This was also Wake's 3rd failed attempt to reach that elusive 200th win. Darn! So glad we didn't stay in Seattle to witness that in person!

Back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going out to explore the Gastown area. Mr. E got another recommendation from the Concierge, so we ended up at The Pourhouse, a lovely spot that reminded us both of The Shady Lady here in Sacramento, but with more "regular" folks rather than a mostly young-ish crowd. Mr. E enjoyed his beers while I stuck with a local wine. We both had some tasty snacks - Devils on Horseback and a Scotch Egg for Mr. E, Broccoli w/ Almonds and a Lemon Tart for me. The live jazz trio provided great background music, and we discovered that our waitress will be moving to Sacramento later this month. Small world! She's a newlywed, and her spouse is attending McGeorge Law School, so they'll be living in the Land Park area.

On our way back to the hotel, we bought some souvenirs and a bottle of local red wine. Very friendly folks at the wine store, both of whom had visited (or at least driven through) Sacramento.

Monday 8/15
I did a 50-minute run along the seawall from the Burrard Street Bridge almost to the big metal sphere (some sort of science museum, I think). We grabbed breakfast at Starbucks while waiting for the free shuttle to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Mr. E was determined to explore the whole area, despite his occasional fear of heights. We crossed the Suspension Bridge (230' high - about the same height as the shoulder of the Statue of Liberty), caught an informative 30-minute guided tour, tackled the Treetops Adventure and the Nature's Edge Boardwalk, and finished up with the brand new Cliffwalk. Mr. E was a bit light-headed by the end, so he sat for awhile as I picked up some souvenirs. Took the shuttle back to Canada Place and got lunch at Subway.

While we were eating, I glanced out and saw someone who looked just like Carla from "Top Chef" several seasons ago. Mr. E confirmed her identity, so as we left I quickly approached to tell her how much we had enjoyed watching her cook. :)

We rented bikes from Spokes to ride around Stanley Park and part of the seawall along the West End and Coal Harbour. What a beautiful day! We were blessed with amazing weather during the entire trip - sun, 70s, light breeze - perfect. Walked back along Robson Street and identified where we most likely had stayed during our first visit in 2003 (8 years - wow!). And Mr. E saw Carla again as we strolled - small city!

After we returned to the hotel, we went to the Business Center to look up some options for dinner only to find that there was a charge for basic Internet access - $6 for 20 minutes - WHAT?! And this was supposedly a luxury hotel with full amenities. Ha! I was quite annoyed. Especially since the Seattle Doubletree had provided both free Internet and free printing. Grrrr. So I consulted some of the guidebooks in the hotel room, and we headed toward the Yaletown Brewing Company for dinner. Mr. E had a tasty burger, and I had a fabulous Nicoise Salad with fresh salmon. Yum!

We asked our server for a recommendation for drinks, and she suggested Rodney's Oyster Bar a few blocks away. I was a bit hesitant when she described it as "very lively," but we figured we'd take a look anyway. Not only was the place very crowded, but it was also quite noisy - not my scene. We continued strolling along the street and found Society, which looked appealing thanks to its dessert menu and incredibly reasonable drink prices (starting at $6.95). I'm not sure I would have chosen this place if we'd seen the web site in advance, but it ended up being the perfect option for a Monday evening. We grabbed seats at the bar, and I ordered the Candy Collins, which came with a full poof of fresh pink cotton candy on top! Most unique (and tasty). We also learned that Mondays are movie nights, so "Forrest Gump" began showing on a big screen in the dining area behind us. This was accompanied by freshly-popped popcorn, which a server kindly brought us once it was ready. Mr. E had a couple of really good beers, including one that was a sample and not on the menu. We also left with a big ol' slice of chocolate cake for him to enjoy back at the hotel.

Our final stop was Yaletown Gelato, where Mr. E got a small cup of Stracciatella and I splurged on a big cup of Chocolate, Pink Grapefruit, and Raspberry (all nonfat dairy-free sorbettos). We managed to get back to the hotel with most of the frozen treats still intact...

Tuesday 8/16
We had a notice that the pool was closed under our door the night before - another strike against this hotel, as that amenity was one of the reasons we chose this location. Instead, I did Pilates and yoga in the room as Mr. E slept. We opted for a local Blenz coffeehouse for breakfast on our way to the TransLink light rail station to head back to the airport for our car.

Then on the road towards Seattle to catch our 5:40pm flight. We encountered a delay of almost 1 hour at the border - yikes! Good thing we'd left early. And good thing the weather was so lovely!

We reached Sea-Tac around 4pm and discovered that our flight was overbooked, so we'd have to wait for our seat assignments. As we whiled away some time looking around in case we ended up stranded at the airport, I happened to glance at the Departures monitor and noticed that our flight was delayed until 7:20pm. Hmm. We found a Customer Service area and learned that our original plane was delayed in Sitka, Alaska due to mechanical issues, so we'd instead be on a larger plane coming from Phoenix. The good news in this, of course, was that we would no longer have to worry about being bumped. But we did have to figure out how to spend the extra 2 hours in the airport. Lucky for us that Sea-Tac has a Vino Volo wine bar! We enjoyed several flights of wine and some snacks as we waited. A bit of a splurge, but at least it helped compensate for the inconvenience of the delay.

Our flight left around 7pm, so we landed in Sac @ 8:45pm. Luckily, S was flexible enough in her schedule to still come fetch us, so we got home to the kitties by aroun 9:30pm. Not too bad, but later than planned, of course.

Truly a fabulous trip, and one that gave us several ideas for when we return...

Belated Blurb on Monterey

2011-05-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

So after almost 7 years of living here in Sacto, we FINALLY took a long weekend trip to the Monterey Peninsula at the beginning of the month (May 5-8). We headed out on Thursday afternoon to avoid the traffic and arrived in Monterey around 5pm. E had found a good deal at the Hilton Garden Inn near Monterey Peninsula College, and since he's now got "Gold" status with the Hilton Honors program, we get lots of extra perks at Hilton properties! In this case, our room was upgraded to a suite, and the morning extensive cooked-to-order buffet breakfast was complimentary. Our first room assignment was rather unsuccessful, as the windows opened onto the parking lot near the highway, but when E called to ask about availability of a quieter location, we were quickly transferred to an interior (and larger) suite that overlooked the courtyard and pool area. Much nicer!

Thursday 5/5
We headed to Cannery Row to check out this renovated tourist area and find a spot for dinner. The views of the Monterey Bay were beautiful, and we had drinks and $1.99 shrimp cocktail at a restaurant overlooking the water. Not impressed with the service, however, we decided to search for another dinner spot. We walked along Cannery Row and tried a few other locations, with no success (menus and/or price for value didn't look appealing), but we did notice a public parking lot with a $5 all-day rate that would be useful for the next day.

After fetching Odo from the parking garage, we headed into downtown Monterey to see what we could find. We located the Trader Joe's (always helpful for picking up snacks and wine) and found a great Thai place just around the corner for dinner. Yum! I discovered a tasty local wine from Otter Cove as well, which then formed the basis for a wine purchase quest for the rest of the weekend.

Friday 5/6
Today was our designated Aquarium day. I had purchased discount tickets through AAA in advance, so we didn't have to wait in line at all. We perused a few exhibits on the first floor but made a point of getting to the Otter exhibit in time for the 10:30am feeding & training. Sea otters are so adorable! They remind me of Captain Jack for some reason, with their frisky natures and furry little faces.

After the otters, we continued to tour the first floor, spending time looking at the octopus, the different marine environments, and the aviary. In the touch pools room, we petted a velvet-y ray, a squishy sea cucumber, and some rough sea stars. We took advantage of some of the outdoor balcony areas to get panoramic views of the Bay, including spying some sea lions on a buoy and some sea otters "rafting" in a kelp bed, thanks to the telescopes on the landing. At that point, we were just in time to head back to the giant kelp forest tank to watch the feeding presentation and learn about the different creatures in the water.

Unfortunately, the jellies exhibit is undergoing renovation, so we missed out on that, but we got to see the "Secret Lives of Seahorses" and an exhibit about the threats to sharks, tunas, and turtles. We considered having lunch at the Aquarium but weren't overly impressed by the offerings. On our way out, we noticed that we were in time for a live presentation,"Waves and Windmills," which focused on how scientists and engineers are looking to nature for technological inspiration. For example, some windmills have scalloped edges on their blades that mimic the edge of a fish fin, which is more efficient for moving through air. And a German car-maker discovered that a boxy-shaped fish was the most aerodynamic, so it's designed a car with the same silhouette. After the presentation, we made a few purchases at the gift shop (including some silver sea otter earrings!) and then headed a few blocks away to find a lunch spot.

We selected a Japanese restaurant and enjoyed our Bento boxes. The evening before, we had noticed a wine-tasting room (closed at the time), so we wanted to see what was on offer for area wineries. The facility did have Otter Cove wine available (the one I'd liked at the Thai restaurant), but it was a bit pricey so I decided to keep looking for another possible vendor.

Since we didn't have any other plans for the afternoon, we decided to take a scenic drive along the Coast, up towards Pacific Grove and the Asilomar Conference Grounds. On the way back, we cut through downtown Pacific Grove to see some of the Victorian houses. When we got back to the hotel, we checked out some potential dinner sites on the Business Center computers. E was interested in trying a local brewery, and we found Peter B's in historic downtown Monterey. We both enjoyed the samplers of 5 brews along with some nachos, but we didn't feel like having dinner there.

Instead, we went across the street to a wine bar we'd noticed the previous evening while driving around. The wine-tasting system was "self-serve" style: you purchase credit on a card to insert into several machines hooked up to different wines and then you select the wine and the amount of the taste (1 oz - 6 oz). The machine automatically dispenses the wine and deducts the amount from your card, and you continue 'til you're done. Brilliant! Quite coincidentally, the wine bar was also hosting a tasting of 3 Sierra Nevada beers - Mr. E's favorite - so he was quite content sipping his brew as I sipped the wine. I also found a bottle of the yummy Otter Cove wine that I'd had at the Thai restaurant, and the price was lower than at the wine-tasting room in Cannery Row, which made the purchase even more appealing.

To wrap up the evening, we got some snacks at Trader Joe's and went back to the hotel to watch a movie-on-0demand ("Skyline").

Saturday 5/7
I went for a 10K run along the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail, which borders the bay and includes some parts of an old railroad line (rails-to-trails project). I was accompanied for part of the time by a gaggle of service members doing a 3-mile run, but I didn't get swarmed by the pack since I had a head start on 'em. Phew!

Today we allocated to wine-tasting in Carmel Valley Village. The AAA Via Magazine had a recent article about tasting rooms, which was perfect timing for a little research and advance planning. We stopped first in Carmel (by-the-Sea) to walk around this famously quaint yet extremely wealthy little village. Neither of us was terribly impressed with the experience, given the narrow and bumpy sidewalks (how does the City manage to avoid ADA lawsuits?), the overpriced boutique stores, and the general sense of pretentiousness. I'm glad we stopped for a visit, but once was definitely enough. The one good part of the visit was finding a fabulous mug from a coffee shop that has a sea otter as its mascot!

Our wine-tasting experiences were much more positive. Since we were in the area prior to the busy summer tourist season, we didn't encounter too many people, and all of the wine tasting staff were very friendly and willing to chat. Our first stop was at Chateau Julien, followed by Heller (all organic), Talbott, and Georis (our favorite). We enjoyed the latter sitting in a lovely outdoor garden accompanied by food from the on-site cafe. The weather was ideal - cool but sunny - so the al fresco dining was especially welcome.

We returned to Monterey and finished off our inadvertent Asisan-themed dining weekend with dinner at a Chinese restaurant across from Trader Joe's (yes, the TJ definitely became a landmark for us!).

Sunday 5/8
After enjoying our final yummy breakfast at the hotel, we hit the road and were back in Sac by about 1:15pm, with plenty of time for laundry, grocery shopping, and the usual weekend chores. Overall, a really pleasant and relaxing weekend getaway, and a great time of year to visit before the tourists descend in hordes!

Panama Canal Trip Journal - Mom & Me

2011-03-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Monday 3/7

MOM

Left Marshfield 4:45am in pouring rain-crowded but good flight to Miami-great flight to Panama City-plane about 1/2 full. Nice Hotel Amador on the entrance to the canal so can see ships entering and leaving the canal. Drove from airport thru Panama city and terrible poverty at the base of elegant high rise buildings. Hovels next to 50 story buildings of condos and banks. Swam a few lengths in hotel pool-felt good. Ate my supper from home and waited for J.

Stayed with E at hotel near San Francisco Airport Sunday night in anticipation of early flight. Got up 4:15am to swim before heading to airport 5:15am for 7:35am flight thru Houston. Extra space for that flight but not for next leg to Panama City. Met 3 other Road Scholars in Houston (from Wisconsin) and found 2 other Road Scholars, Tom & Barbara (from San Carlos, CA – near San Francisco), from same flight when arrived in Panama City – shared shuttle to hotel. I’d gotten a cold a few days before leaving, so was very congested and tired. Got room key, said hi to Mom, unpacked, in bed by 9:30pm.

Tuesday 3/8

MOM

J swam at 6:30am-nice breakfast-orientation 8:15am and off by 9:15am. Very hot .Went to Administration Building of Canal & Goethals Monument. J climbed VERY steep stairs in front of Monument. Drove thru Colonial Panama, Ancon Hill, which used to be dwellings of high ranking military officers. Now private homes-$million dollars. To Las Pencas Restaurant for lunch-nice buffet-still hot. 57 people in our group. Traveled this day in 3 small buses. Everything closed -schools, shops, banks etc. since Friday thru Wed due to Carnivale before Lent which shuts the city down. Streets deserted. From top of Ancon Hill before lunch wonderful view of high rises in Panama City. After lunch drove thru areas of restoration. Presidential house, churches. Wonderful restoration of old buildings. Went by a lot of poverty which our guide tried to explain by mentioning no rents, support by social security. Very winding streets and due to Carnivale, were easy to navigate. At hotel, excellent lecture about past, present and future of canal. Before supper I swam and J napped -buffet supper at hotel out by pool. After supper, video of Panama from Discovery Channel and then to bed.

Early swim was great – nice long pool and no one else in it! Lovely fresh fruit at breakfast (and at most meals). Met primary guide, Archie (Archibaldo), and others in group during orientation. A few other mother/daughter pairs (slightly older), several engineers, one former military who’d been stationed in Panama in the 70s. Learned that Tom (from same flight the day before) worked for HP and has written books on project management, one of which uses Panama Canal as case study – working on revised/new edition to include canal expansion. Split into groups for 3 smaller buses and met other primary guide, Wendell. Archie from Panama City (Pacific side), Wendell from Colon (Atlantic side), so got benefit of both expertise. View from Canal Administration Building showed Bridge of Americas on one side, golden arches of McDonald’s & municipal airport on other side. Lunch at restaurant overlooking Bay of Panama. Major downpour in afternoon while driving thru Colonial Panama. Afternoon lecture back at hotel by Jaime, who works for Canal Administration at Miraflores Locks (saw him again next day for video). Post-dinner video on canal expansion – due to be completed August 2014 and supposedly ahead of schedule. Building new larger locks on both Pacific and Atlantic side but will continue use of existing locks for smaller ships.

Wednesday 3/9

MOM

Swam in AM. Breakfast. On big bus with 60 people. Ugh! To old YMCA building which is a market where local artisans set up stalls to sell wares. Many beautiful carvings, handwork, paintings, clothing. Drove and drove along roads with heavy vegetation and lowland rain forest. Our guide was excellent for whole trip. Went over Chagres River Bridge to Chagres River. Lunch at Los Lagartos, on bank of river and with an old crocodile just looking at us. Turtles sitting on his back and sunning themselves along branches. Drove to French Cemetery - no bodies in this cemetery, but many crosses representing 30,000 people killed when French tried to build the sea-level canal across isthmus and found it was an impossible task. De Lesseps, Frenchman who had designed and build Suez Canal with great success, thought this would be a similar construction, but after 5 years was bankrupt and had to quit. That was when USA took over in early 1900's and canal opened in 1914. Saw Pedro Miguel locks and Miraflores museum. Great video about indigenous people making dugouts canoes from scratch to reach 4 of 7 hydrostations along river which send information about weather to main station every 15 minutes so Lock Master will know if the ships can proceed thru locks. Boat makers use traditional ways of making craft and only modern thing is outboard motor rather than paddles. Video was about 3 generations in one family who make dugout and get it to river by dragging and pushing it. Dinner on 4th floor of Miraflores Lock Museum, right on canal so we could watch ships going thru canal as we ate. Back to hotel by 7:30. J swam and then to bed.

Went for 5-mile run from hotel along causeway to Naos island (1 of 3 small islands near mouth of canal). Passed new Biodiversity Museum under construction, designed by Gehry – typical funky angles and planes. Humid & warm but a bit cloudy so bearable. At YWCA, learned from Archie about "real" Panama hats worn by Panamanians with symbolism about how brim is worn up or down and about white "Panama" hats worn by higher-level administrative workers; also learned about carvings, basket weaving. Mom bought postcards & magnets but I decided to wait ‘til later (mistake… more on that at end…). Drove over Maddem dam/spillway & stopped at viewpoint for photos. Canal has several dams and man-made lakes to store & control water used for boat transit – each transit requires 50 million gallons of fresh water. New locks built for expansion will recycle about 60% of that with new detention basins. Arrived late for lunch and thus late for video at Miraflores Locks visitor’s center. Guides suggested we tour exhibits that closed in 30 minutes but group of us decided we’d rather watch the cruise ship currently going through locks, so up to 4th floor observation deck with cameras in hand! Dinner with a view, then return to hotel & pack in anticipation of early departure the next day.

Thursday 3/10

MOM

Up early to leave by 6:45 AM to get to boat "Islamorada", a tour boat with only us on it. Edwin was our leader along with our regular guide, Archie. Pilot came aboard after we left. All boats have to have a pilot to guide them thru canal and they board after ship is in mouth of canal. Training for this is often 15 yrs as a person learns how to guide larger and larger ships. We were accompanied by a yacht from Catalina and a huge PanaMax cargo vessel ahead of us. It cost our boat $1,000 to go thru and panamax ship over $200,000. Reservations have to be made and exact time ship goes thru depends on number of ships waiting to go thru and weather. "People" ships and military get priority over cargo. Lock master controls those decisions. We came thru about 1.5 hrs. before we thought so got to Colon early. Went thru 6 locks and saw many large and small ships along the way – took us about 8.5 hrs. Breakfast and lunch on boat. We could touch walls of canal and saw humongous machinery along shore used to build ships & complete ongoing dredging. Ships go thru hitched up to electric engines (like a train engine) which run along sides of lock chamber and are hitched to ships by cables. Lock chamber is 110 feet wide and large Panamax ships are 106 feet wide so cables keep ship in middle of lock. Docked in Colon. To Hotel-not a very nice Hotel-big and empty and not too clean. Had supper and then to bed. I swam.

Bags to lobby by 6:15am. Up at 5am to work out in fitness room (had to towel dry freshly mopped floor & elliptical machine!). Grabbed coffee. Ready to board bus at 6:45am to get to boat for 7:30am departure. Archie counted passengers… and counted again.. and again… 2 people missing. Mom & I had seen 2 women get on elevator when already on the bus. Sure enough, they’d misunderstood time schedule and finally came out at 7:10am. Luckily, boat dock was on island at end of causeway, just a few miles from hotel, so we kept to schedule. Escorted by Santa Catharina container ship thru Miraflores and San Miguel Locks, along with small yacht. Panamax ships are largest that can fit thru current canal. Great information from Edwin as we cruised. Touched lock walls – so amazing to be down at that water level and gradually rise. Saw remnants of French canal excavation – much narrower – would have outgrown cargo ships very quickly. Arrived early at Gatun Locks on Atlantic side so tagged along with another cargo ship that got VERY close behind us in first lock chamber! Bus through Colon (warehouses, lots of people in streets, seemed dirty & seedy, not very appealing) to Hotel Melia Colon, former military base. Lots of buildings but felt deserted & rundown. Minimal hot water. Large room, lots of tiles. Very humid, jungle very close on all sides. Tried to swim but pool was too dirty – picked out drinking straw when doing a lap (Mom was braver and stuck it out). Checked out "Health Center" to find only old, dilapidated, broken equipment – very disappointing. Nice little gift shop, however. No room number on our door – walked to end of hall & thought we were in wrong place but eventually figured it out!

Friday 3/11

MOM

J had to work out in room since workout machinery was broken! Off for boat ride on Chagres River-three 20 person boats. Our guides again were great. Goal was to see anything moving-birds, monkeys, sloths, croc. etc. Great trip and very hot still. We saw toucans, monkeys, frigate birds, blue herons, sloths, parrot. Our guide, Wendell, could make bird calls so we could see more as wildlife responded. J and I ended up in separate boats. We got off at a very primitive dock-hand made. Boats were obviously not owned by a big company nor was dock. Small buses met us at dock and we drove to ruins of Fort San Lorenzo, up on a high hill overlooking river. Heard a brief history of the fort, then back to Hotel for lunch and about 1 hr. free time. Went to R.R. station. 1 hr. ride to Panama City. Comfortable train and good windows to look out. To Hotel Crowne Plaza. J swam in lovely pool, outside on 4th floor so she could see sky and skyscrapers around hotel. Farewell dinner outside by pool. We were entertained by troupe of Panamanian musicians and dancers. Very colorful and interesting. Watched TV for 1st time since we’re there and saw the Tsunami in Japan.

Up at 6am to work out – Mom very patient with me – room large enough to move. Also got 2 unexpected/unwanted wake-up calls around same time – just another weird thing about this hotel! Down to buses by 7:30am. Grabbed some coffee & fruit for later. Hadn’t arranged with Mom about meeting up at buses, so ended up with different groups & separate boats – oops! Slight delay driving to boats as we had to wait at Gatun Locks for cargo ship to move thru – no big bridge to cross locks here, just small bridge in 2 parts that rotates out over water at base of lock chamber. So we’ve now sailed thru the Canal and driven over it at water level! 2 porta-potties available by river bank before boat ride – both locked – I used tip of a pen to jimmy ‘em open, and very glad since boat ride lasted longer than predicted (i.e. "real" restroom stop delayed by about 2 hours). Saw several types of birds, sloths ("perosozo" in Spanish – same word as "lazy"), howler monkeys, and butterflies during boat ride on Chagres River. Ended near mouth of river at Caribbean (Atlantic) Ocean. Stopped to see howler monkeys on way to Fort San Lorenzo. Wendell provided info at Fort. Explored some of ruins. Restroom stop at Ranger Station – TV on with news of tsunami. Lunch at hotel and a few purchases at gift shop. Train to Panama City for final evening. Got little snack pack when leaving train (made good breakfast snacks for next day). Crowne Plaza had scale in bathroom – odd! Also remarked then that all hotels had tile floors – makes sense for hot climate as well as easier cleaning. Tried to buy magnets at hotel gift shop but closed. Planned to try again in morning.

Saturday 3/12

MOM

Got up and left at 5:30am and J had to leave at 7:00am. Uneventful trip back on crowded planes. Easy to get thru customs. Wonderful interesting and busy trip. Best part was being with J.

Saw Mom off and got up a bit later to work out. Went to Fitness Center but machines not working so back to room instead. Grabbed quick fruit and coffee at restaurant. Gift shop still closed. Figured I’d get souvenirs at airport. Ha! Quick and easy check-in and security, only to find all duty-free, high-end shopping and not a single souvenir shop in sight!!! Wandered around, chatted with other Road Scholars on same flight (trio from Wisconsin, couple from San Carlos). Full but fine flight to Houston and to San Francisco. E picked me up & we drove back to Sac – I talked the whole way about the trip – made time fly by! Home by about 7pm to hug the kitties, unpack, and settle back in. Fabulous trip. Best Elderhostel with Mom so far. So wonderful to share this experience with Mom!!!

Winter in Denver

2011-02-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

Snow begins to fall
as we watch from inside, glad
that the car is parked

underground. Heavy
flakes cede to fluffy white bits,
and sounds are muffled.

Wintry days like these
are nice to visit, but the
hassle of walking

in slush and sleet makes
me truly appreciate
living in Nor Cal!

Discovery of a Long Grudge

2011-02-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

She's been holding a
grudge for the past two years. I
don't know what I said

about something in
the Break Room that was so bad,
but this does explain

why she won't respond
to my "good morning" greeting
whenever we meet.

Ode to Working at Home

2011-01-28T13:54:00.000-08:00

Slippers for me, fleece
for Ev - just some of the perks
of working at home!

Finally...

2011-01-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

The paint is on, the

furniture is all in place -

remodel complete!

A new rug under

the bed to define the space

(and keep our feet warm).

New loveseat and rug
in shades of brown and blue, but
Jack still likes his box...

If you look closely,
you can see Miss Calypso
enjoying the sun!

New Furniture!

2011-01-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

Red loveseat upstairs
in the library loft. Dark
brown ottoman and

arm chair to replace
dining set in the corner
downstairs. And later

a plush brown loveseat
(on back order) will complete
our new bedroom nook.

*photos to follow when all is in place

Sacramento Winter

2011-01-05T12:50:00.001-08:00

Tule fog descends,
lightly cloaking the city.
Mist hushes the dawn.

Steam rises and drifts
across the edge of the pool,
muffling sound and sight.

Buildings disappear
in the ethereal shroud
of NorCal's winter.

Trash

2011-01-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I just get
really tired of picking up
other people's trash.

Is it really so
hard to walk that extra step
to the garbage can?

Barely even a
foot away, and yet the trash
just can't quite get there...

Rose Bowl Lament - A Haiku

2011-01-03T10:13:00.001-08:00

We missed a field goal,
and Texas won by two points -
oh, what could have been!!!

*sigh*

New Kitty Perch

2010-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

The kittes just LOVE their new window perch. The sill of the window in our expansion area is wider than that of the office window (their old viewing site), not to mention that they've never before had access to the southern vista, so this has quickly become a favorite spot.

Cal with Chicago flag as part of our temporary window covering

"I'm a very serious (and handsome!) cat..."

Finished! (but not completely furnished)

2010-12-20T11:42:00.001-08:00

Our new master bedroom!

We'll eventually be getting white wood plantation shutters for the window, but for the moment, we've reverted back to our undergrad days with the sheet arrangement (and the awesome Chicago flag). So happy to be able to move back into our room over the weekend. The fan is from Casablanca (same brand as our awesome big ceiling fan downstairs), and the light fixtures are from Ikea (of course).

The cats were freaked out by the new space at first, as they'd been barred from the room during construction, and they're still getting used to the hardwood floors. But I think Captain Jack approves...

Busted!

2010-11-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

Mr. E used to wear a woven anklet that has now taken up residence in his cubby in our headboard. Oddly enough, however, this anklet somehow travels to other parts of the house - the living room floor, the staircase landing, the kitchen rug. Hmm... Wonder how that happens... Now we've got pictorial proof (so no more trying to blame Miss Calypso for the friskiness of the anklet, Mr. E!):

Busted!!!

"What? I'm just sitting here.

No, really... it was already here when I arrived..."

More Balcony Progress - Interior & Exterior

2010-11-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

Our new bamboo floor awaiting installation...

Insulation in the walls

Insulation in the ceiling

Drywall & texturing complete

"Mud coat" of stucco from front

"Mud coat" of stucco from side (and lovely scaffolding, too)

Balcony Remodel - Week #???

2010-11-17T16:46:00.001-08:00

We had some "down" time with our project while waiting for the window to arrive (must have been quite a journey!). But we finally got the new window installed along with the rough electrical, so the next step on the exterior is the multi-phase stucco process. Below are photos of Phase 1 (paper & wire prior to Inspection milestone).

The scaffolding will stay in place until the final stucco layer is applied (3-4 weeks, depending on the weather and its effects on the curing of the stucco). So it's on-street parking for Odo for several weeks, but the scoot can still live in the garage, as I discovered I can ease it out under the structure and the tape. Yay!

Note to self - parking Odo directly under a tree may be a better location to avoid sideswipes near the intersection but it's also apparently an ideal location to attract bird droppings... yuck!

A Great Experience - Chicago Marathon

2010-10-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Musings from the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10 "The Date to Motivate":

Being part of 1 of the 5 World Major Marathons is quite an experience, with over 38,000 runners toeing the line and 1.5 million spectators lining the entire race route
Wicked cool to see a Marathon welcome message at the Midway baggage claim
Best souvenirs = CTA ticket with Marathon image & special edition of the Chicago Tribune with list of ALL official finishers & times
All of us who officially completed the course did something that Ryan Hall (elite runner) hasn't done, since he pulled out of the field prior to the race due to "bad workouts" leading up to the event - I think we've all had "bad workouts," but I guess it's different when you make your living with this type of activity and have to consider the potential impacts to your career (or your rankings) if you have a poor performance
Maybe next time Ryan shouldn't make such a big deal out of trying to set a new American record... (performance anxiety???)
Running on wet banana peels late in a marathon is rather challenging
Hoses and spray bottles are most welcome late in a race when the temps rise to the 80s and the shade is hard to find
Note to spectators waiting for their runners at the exit to the gear check area - PLEASE move out of the way so we can keep moving rather than having to stop short and suffer leg cramps!
Crouching down quickly is definitely the fastest way to relieve a staggering calf cramp when trying to fight through the crowds at the end
Better to walk with a smile and enjoy the scenery than run with a grimace
So not cool for Niketown to keep the marathon merchandise at full price once the event is over (greedy, greedy - another good reason to boycott)
Cool course entertainment = Student orchestra at college (?) campus playing for runners
Staying so close to the Start/Finish is most welcome - Mr. E's parents rent a condo across from Millennium Park, so it took less than 10 minutes to jog to the Start at Grant Park (even had time for 2 porta-potty visits!)
Best post-race recovery = Swimming + Hot Tub
Best post-race meal = Starbucks reduced fat cheese, turkey bacon, & egg white breakfast sandwich - yum!
Best post-race sight = Mr. E at Buckingham Fountain holding up sign "Go Jo! Go Jo! Go Go Go!"
So great to see Mr. E with sign around Mile 10... Many, many thanks for the love, support, and toting of the no-longer-needed-but-rather-sweaty t-shirt - Je t'aime!
Definitely time to take a break from this distance for awhile... I promise, Mr. E, at least 1 year off from marathons

Is this Chicago or San Francisco??!!

2010-10-12T08:27:00.001-07:00

Mr. E's parents rent a condo just four blocks off Michigan Ave, right near the Lake and across from the fabulous Millennium Park. One of the best features of the condo is that it's a corner unit facing north, so the views are multiple and incredible. Over the past 24 hours, however, we've had some rather obstructed vistas, due to the apparent incursion of San Francisco's weather into the Chicago area...

Looking north: The Hancock Tower

The Hancock Tower (yesterday afternoon)

Where is the Hancock Tower??? (this morning)

Looking northeast: Navy Pier

Navy Pier (yesterday afternoon)

Where is Navy Pier??? (this morning)

Looking southwest: Millennium Park

Millennium Park (yesterday afternoon)

Where's the Park??? (this morning)

Balcony Remodel Week #2

2010-10-11T14:06:00.001-07:00

Sawhorses with view through new window opening

View to sky through new rafters

New rafters from right

New rafters from left

New roof peak from front

New rafters & roof peak from left

New full roof from right

New full roof from front

New full roof from left

New full roof from inside (looking towards existing ceiling)

New space all enclosed!

Balcony Remodel - Week #1

2010-10-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Our balcony remodel/bedroom expansion project began last week. Here are some progress photos to enjoy!

Carpet & balcony wall removed (interior view)

Balcony wall removed

Balcony wall & roof overhang removed

New wall framing

New wall framing & sliding glass door removed

New window & wall framing

Lounging Cat

2010-10-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Calypso sits in positions unlike any other cat I've ever seen. These pictures show Cal lounging next to me on the couch, watching a movie:

When I showed the photos to S at work, she laughed so hard that she started crying! :)

Quick Trip to Denver

2010-07-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-13T15:42:00.001-07:00

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

2010-07-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-18T17:51:00.001-07:00

Island, Cabinets, Tile

2010-02-16T20:27:00.001-08:00

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???

2010-02-16T18:44:00.001-08:00

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?

"Look at my lovely green eyes"

Kitty out of the box!

Calypso contemplates her surroundings as Jack teeters on the edge

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Now the lady gets the superior viewpoint

"OK, I'm outta here!"

Remodel Updates (Long Overdue)

2010-02-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted about our remodel project! At this point, it looks like we're heading quickly towards the finish line. This post provides some detailed looks at the construction work. I'll do a separate post to show some of the "prettier" work that's happened recently (cabinet installation, tiles, etc.).

This new beam (upper right) extends across the entire ceiling so that we could remove the wall between the kitchen and living room. The duct was put back into place alongside the beam.

No more walls between the kitchen and living room!

Mr. E hard at work with his new friend, "Mr. Chipper," removing the nasty adhesive that was left on the floor after we took up the grey tiles

New recessed lighting in the living room and new drywall covering the holes that had been made to do the necessary new electrical work

The new wall extension along the stairs and around the corner to create a nook for the fridge

Starting to work on polishing the floor prior to staining with a mixture of two greys

No more tile or sink in the powder room!

The shiny new floor (as seen from above)

Our emblem etched into the floor at the end of the entrance hallway

J building Ikea cabinets in the garage

Cabinets ready to be installed

Demolition Photos

2010-01-05T11:13:00.001-08:00

Removing the right-side cabinets

Left-side cabinets gone

All cabinets and sink removed

Drywall removal on the left

Drywall removal on the right

Dr. J removing the floor tiles

Captain Jack posing in the exposed pass-through

Captain Jack & Calypso in the empty kitchen

More of the Wall Tree

2010-01-05T11:08:00.000-08:00

This is the final shot of the right side, prior to demolition. Below is the full corner shot. And finally the left side, with Mr. E waving.

Christmas Tree

2010-01-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

Since we're remodeling our kitchen and 1st floor, we decided not to get a typical Christmas tree this year. Instead, Mr. E had the brilliant idea of painting a tree on the wall that will be demolished as part of the renovation. We each took one side of the tree and didn't look at the other's part until we were done, resulting in quite a difference in style, with Mr. E's being the more "natural" left side and mine the more "cartoon-like" right side. We then swapped sides for painting the ornaments; though it's hard to see in this photo, the side I decorated (left) includes some "tinsel" thanks to silver and gold metallic markers. For the finishing touch, we hung a strand of red lights and then tacked our holiday cards to the tree as they arrived. And thanks to Mom for the idea of making a star out of aluminum foil!

Of course by now the tree - along with the rest of the drywall - has been destroyed as we completed our part of the demolition work last week. More photos and updates to come soon!

Bagel Bliss

2009-10-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

Such a nice thing happened to me yesterday...

I stopped by Noah's Bagels on my way home from work to pick up a few of their yummy seasonal pumpkin bagels. The store was practically empty, and I happily spotted the pumpkin bagels in the display case. I ordered three to take home and chatted with the staff a bit, asking how long the pumpkin bagels would be available so that I could plan accordingly (figured I'd return and get more before the end of the season, since bagels freeze well).

When I got home and pulled the bag out of my backpack, it seemed a bit heavier and fuller than I expected, and I discovered not three but FIVE pumpkin bagels nestling in the paper! I checked my receipt to see how many had been charged and paid for, and the receipt confirmed my original order of three, so I was a bit confused. I called the store and explained that I ordered and paid for three but received five and wasn't quite sure what to do.

The response? "You were so excited about the pumpkin bagels that I just had to give you a couple extra."

!!!!!!! :) !!!!!!!

How cool was that?! Totally made my day...

New Family Member!

2009-09-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Early last week, I learned that the City Animal Shelter was waiving the $65 adoption fee for any adult cat over 1 year old. I inferred that the Shelter was experiencing a surplus population of felines, which of course awoke my "we have to save them!" instincts, so I broached the subject with Mr. E. We had tried to adopt a second kitty last fall after Calypso joined us but were unable to complete the process, due to an outbreak of panleukopenia that affected the black-and-white boy cat we had planned to bring home.

But the idea had lingered... so I went to the Shelter on Wednesday to peruse the likely candidates. I visited with a black-and-grey tiger boy who was there with his brother due to an owner surrender for "too many cats." The little guy was very friendly and sociable, and his purr overflowed the "Get Acquainted" room, so I recommended that Mr. E make a trip to meet the kitty the next day. Although our boy is only 8 months old and didn't qualify for the fee waiver, we decided that he was the one for us, so we brought him home that day (Thursday 9/17).

Mr. E had the honour of naming the new guy and selected Captain Jack as an appropriate companion to Calypso (if you need a hint, think "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies...). The first couple of days were... interesting... as the two felines got to know each other, but by this weekend, they'd pretty much settled in, as the final photo below indicates.

Welcome, Captain Jack!

"Grrrrr! I'm Captain Jack, the pirate cat!"

"What is HE doing on MY bed???!!!"

On day #3, little man Captain Jack charmed the lady Calypso

Floor Tile Tear-Out

2009-09-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

We're trying to do some DIY for our remodel to keep costs down. Since the carpet removal (see previous post) was pretty straightforward, we decided our next move was to attack the grey tile in the hallway and coat closet. We have the same tile in the kitchen and powder room but figured the hallway was a better place to "experiment."

Knowing that we'd have lots of dust flying around, we geared up appropriately with masks and safety goggles:

Mr. E took the first stab at the tiles with the scraper tool we'd purchased at Lowe's a few days before (see below), and I took the second shift about halfway through.

To help protect from the dust, Mr. E had taped a plastic drop-cloth to the walls and ceiling and brought our floor fan down from the bedroom to blow the debris out towards the front door as much as possible:

Removing the tiles was actually quite satisfying, and we managed to salvage two stacks of whole or almost-whole tiles for potential re-use. Removing the adhesive, however, was a different story... Here's the hall sans tiles, but the majority of the adhesive remains:

Mr. E took a chisel to the adhesive a few days later and was able to remove it all, but the process was very time-consuming, so we're now thinking it might be worthwhile paying the professionals to tackle this part of the demolition. We've got follow-up meetings with two potential contractors this week to discuss their bids, so we'll see what comes out of those conversations to help us make a decision about the remainder of the tile tear-out.

MOO!!!

2009-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that I'm featured on the web site of the Sacramento Cowtown marathon and 1/2 marathon, an event I've run every year since we mooved (ha, ha) to Sacto in 2004. The photo is from 2006, when I decided to have fun with the event and create a cow costume, complete with mini stuffed cows (courtesy of Mr. E) on my hat, shoes, and hands.

Check it out! http://www.sacramentocowtownmarathon.com/htms/accoaldes.htm

Remodel Project

2009-09-11T12:13:00.001-07:00

After 5 years in Sacto, we've decided to tackle a fairly extensive remodel of the first floor of our townhouse. This is inspired primarily by the limitations of the small kitchen and by my deep dislike of the tile counters and tile floor (grout - grr!!!). We'll be removing the wall between the kitchen and living room, extending the wall in the stairwell so that we can rearrange all of the appliances along that wall, and creating a large moveable wheeled island (cabinets, wine storage, countertop, stools) to give us greater flexibility with the space and layout.

Of course, the first step for any remodel is... DEMOLITION! Yep, the fun part!

Last Thursday, I began the carpet tear-out after getting inspired by a meeting with one of our potential contractors. I pulled up the carpet and padding and pried out the tack strips in the area by the couch. Later that day, once Mr. E came home, we joined forces to complete the project - he cut and rolled strips of carpet and pad while I continued to remove the tack strips. He jumped in to finish that part when I headed upstairs to participate in Congresswoman Matsui's phone Town Hall meeting on Health Care Reform. We both pitched in on the clean-up (sweep, vacuum, sweep again, vacuum again, etc.)

Here are some photos of the results:

Carpet pad and underlying concrete near the kitchen

Rolls of carpet and pad in the garage post-removal

Exposed concrete in the dining/living area

Lovely bare concrete in the dining area with Mr. E's "thumbs-up" for a job well done

Rather than install new flooring (e.g. hardwood), we're planning to have the concrete bead-blasted, polished, treated/coloured, and sealed. We both really like the look and feel of the concrete, and the various cracks and holes provide additional texture and interest. And later, we'll add some area rugs for warmth and to help define the different spaces.

I'm planning to post remodel updates here as we continue our journey. This is just the beginning of the adventure...

Cheetah Cat

2009-08-26T14:14:00.001-07:00

This is such a classic Calypso pose - lying on her back, tummy and feet in the air, just chillin' in her cheetah bed on the couch. How freakin' adorable can ya get?!

Tomato Transformation

2009-08-21T13:59:00.000-07:00

Mr. E likes to plant tomatoes in our plot at the FCG, but sometimes the harvest produces a bit more than the JEMS duo can handle, as the photo below demonstrates:

And this was just one rather small moment of picking the bounty! So you can imagine what the entire season's production may be. Anyway, since Mr. E does the planting and tending, it's my job to figure out how to use the yummy produce. This year, thanks to inspiration from an article in Edible Sacramento, I decided to finally attempt to "make" sun-dried tomatoes. We'd discussed this option in the past but were always concerned about how to keep the little jewels clean and protected from dust and dirt. My first thought was to use cheesecloth, but we don't keep that in stock and couldn't find it during any of our typical shopping trips. So then we brainstormed other ideas and realized that all we needed was a fine-grain fabric that would protect the tomatoes but still let the sun do its job. And voila - the idea of using sheer curtains was born!

We just happened to have some extra white sheers that we no longer used, and since we were going through one of our frequent "purge" cycles, it was the perfect opportunity to dig out the sheers and put them to a new and better use. As you can see from the photo above, I cut the curtains into smaller pieces to wrap around the trays of tomatoes that are placed on tables out in the bright sun of our balcony. We had no idea how long the process would take, but our first batch of Romas was complete in about 5 days, and the tiny grapes were finished in about 2 days. So now we have several bags of sun-dried tomatoes, and I even sent a sampler bag to my sister for tasting!

Above is a photo of the sliced grape tomatoes ready for drying, and below are the Romas all ready to go. We figure we've dried multiple dozens of tomatoes at this point, which will be great for cooking and baking in the winter months (savory scones, quiche, stir-fries, pizza) - yum!

I'm still rather delighted at this food "experiment" that uses a totally natural and renewable resource (the sun), our own hand-grown local produce (the garden is just 5 blocks from home), and re-used materials that we already owned (the sheers). Tomato Transformation = Sustainable Success!!!

Calypso Earns Her Kibble

2009-08-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I was part of a Focus Group on cat litter, thanks to Miss Muffin's presence in our lives. For two weeks, I had to use a new version of Fresh Step with "odor-eliminating charcoal" and then participate in a videotaped follow-up interview. We got an entire 25-lb bag of the litter for this time period, which was way more than enough, and then I was compensated $75 for my time. Not bad! I praised Muffin for "earning her keep," especially since the remainder of the litter lasted a few months, even though the product didn't hit the market until several years later.

Now Calypso is getting the chance to earn her kibble! I was asked to be part of a Focus Group about Pet Care, and apparently my responses to the screening questions were appropriate, since I was accepted as part of the study. This time, I have to keep a Pet Care Diary for two weeks as "homework," for which I'll be compensated $35. At the end, I'll participate in a 2 1/2 hour group meeting, and I'll receive another $85 for that activity. Sweet! The black-and-whites rule!

Smart Cat

2009-08-17T13:55:00.001-07:00

Doesn't surprise me at all that the kitty who earned a GED is a black-and-white... definitely the best sort of feline out there!

Calypso Cat

2009-08-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven't yet posted any photos of the wonderful new kitty that joined our household last November after our beloved Miss Muffin left us. So here are a few shots of the riduculously-adorable and sometimes-crazy Calypso:

She's a big fan of any type of box or container - this happens to be our paper recycling box in the office, but she's just as ready to jump into the laundry bin.

Yeah, she's a stretchy cat... It's amazing how long she can be when she sprawls out in such an unladylike manner!

She's also a very snuggly cat, both with us and with the black-and-white friends that provide her camouflage on the bed. We love our new kitty! She was definitely the right choice for us, so she knew what she was doing when she purred and licked me at the shelter to convince me to take her home. :-)

SF Marathon

2009-08-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Even though my time for SF in July (4:18) was longer than for Napa in March (4:07), I'd say it was a better marathon experience overall, since I actually achieved all of my goals for the race:

Manage the hills
Run the entire course (no walking at all - only the 2nd time I've done this in 6 marathons)
Enjoy the scenic tour of the city
Avoid injury & feel good afterwards
Finish in about 4:30

So why aren't I totally enthusiastic about this when people ask how it went?

It all comes down to that phrase at the beginning of this entry - "even though." Because despite the fact that I didn't have a time goal and that I approached this marathon and my training with a mindset of just-enjoy-the-ride, I still couldn't help feeling a slight pang of disappointment with the time. This is especially silly considering that I estimated my finish time at 4:30 when I registered (to get into the appropriate wave start), and I'd ordinarily be thrilled to finish a race 12 minutes faster than expected. I even got a really good photo out of it (see above), which is rare, as my race pictures usually show me in a really odd pose or make me look like I'm not even moving.

Sometimes I get really frustrated with my perfectionist exacting mind that often is more detrimental than helpful to my personal growth, development, and contentment. But I guess the only thing I can do is keep trying to work on celebrating my achievements without always having that little voice in my head wondering "Was that really enough?"

Yosemite

2009-05-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

We finally took a trip to Yosemite this weekend (it's only been 5 years since we moved here...) with our friends K & M, who will soon be relocating to Phoenix. It's odd how the thought of an impending departure can serve as a catalyst to finally get to those items on your "bucket" list of things to do and see...

Thanks to Purple Roofs, we found the Queen's Inn by the River, a great B&B in Oakhurst just 13 miles from the southern entrance to Yosemite on SR41. One of the primary attractions about the Inn was the adjacent Idle Hour Winery and associated Beer & Wine Garden. We enjoyed our glasses each evening and returned home with 2 bottles of just-released Cabernet Franc for our collection. Yum!

* * * *

Friday 5/8
K & M picked us up around 4pm, and we arrived in Oakhurst around 7:30pm. After a passable dinner at the nearby Crab Cakes, we joined the festivities in the Beer & Wine Garden for awhile.

Saturday 5/9
We left the Inn around 7am to grab breakfast at Starbucks and Jamba before heading to Yosemite. The road to Glacier Point had opened a few days earlier, so we made that our first destination, and it provided an amazing panoramic viewpoint of the entire Yosemite Valley 3,200 feet below, including Half Dome, the Awahnee Hotel, Curry Village, and Yosemite Falls.

We had thought about hiking down Four Mile Trail to the Valley, but the trail was closed due to hazardous conditions. Instead, we decided to try the Pohono Trail towards Sentinel Dome, which our Lonely Planet Guidebook recommended as a great alternative to Half Dome (since that strenuous climb wasn't on our itinerary, especially since the cables don't get installed until later in the season). The uphill climb provided some great views of El Capitan, but the remaining snow on the trail proved to be not only challengine but also misleading, as we eventually reached a point where we could no longer discern where the trail continued! By then, we'd been hiking for over an hour, so we all decided it would be best to turn back and continue by car to Yosemite Valley.

We stopped for a photo opportunity at Tunnel View and then found a parking spot along the road near the Lodge so that we could head on foot to the Awahnee for lunch. The wait at the dining room was too long (no surprise), so we ate in the bar instead, accompanied by an inquisitive squirrel that scampered from table to table looking for scraps. This wildlife encounter brought to light K's surprising fear of squirrels, as he got very nervous when I reached down towards the little critter under my chair!

After a quick stop in the Sweet Shop for dessert, we caught the shuttle to the trailhead near Yosemite Falls and braved the strong spray across the bridge at the base. Our path back to the car was a bit longer than expected, as we crossed the Swinging Bridge over the Merced River rather than taking the shorter route towards Sentinel Bridge. But this did lead us past a pair of deer by the roadside, so the detour was worth it. We drove back to the Inn, had a pre-dinner glass of wine, and then walked up the hill to the Sweetwater Steakhouse.

The journal in K & M's room at the Inn had provided a warning about this restaurant, but Rocky, the father of the Inn's proprietor, whom we had met in the Beer & Wine Garden, had given a positive review. Unfortunately, we should have trusted the journal... Although the food was fine eventually, we waited almost 1 1/2 hours for dinner, and my plate was lukewarm when it arrived, so we sent it back for a fresh meal. A rather frustrating end to an otherwise lovely day.

Sunday 5/10
I got up for a 3.5 mile run (lots of hills!) as the others slept in a bit longer. We checked out around 8am and grabbed breakfast at Starbucks, Jamba, and the Yosemite Roasting Company.

Our destination today was the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. While waiting to join the (free) ranger-led nature tour at 10am, we walked a short ways into the grove and discovered the bright red funky-looking snow plant, which our ranger later identified. The 1 1/2 hour nature walk took us to the Fallen Monarch and the Grizzly Giant and was loaded with tons of fascinating information about these amazing trees. Our ranger, Marea, was a wonderful tour guide, providing insight and show-and-tell items (cones, seeds) related to the sequoias and other conifers in the forest.

I had downloaded a trail map from the Yosemite web site, so after the tour, we continued through the California Tunnel Tree uphill to the Museum in the Upper Grove, where we took a snack break. The downhill trail (a bit longer but easier!) back to the car bought us past the Clothespin Tree and the Faithful Couple. We hardly saw any other visitors during our hike, so we could really just enjoy being outside, surrounded by the trees and chipmunks and squirrels.

Our drive home led through Mariposa (a different route from how we arrived), and we got back to Sacto around 5:20pm, just in time to watch the Red Sox on ESPN as they [barely] beat the Rays.

* * * *

The weather was ideal, our timing was perfect, being with close friends was wonderful, and overall the entire trip was great, with the one exception of some less-than-impressive dining experiences.

So... when do we go back???

Y2K

2008-12-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

In the middle of my 7-mile run this morning, I reached my goal to log 2,000 miles this year. Yippee! I'm even 2 weeks early, despite having some injuries, illnesses, and travel that prevented me from always hitting that minimum of 40 miles/week.

Time to celebrate! Breakfast at Crepeville tomorrow morning sounds like a good start...

Oh, and just because I hit that milestone (pun intended) doesn't mean that I'll take a break, since my official training for the Napa Valley Marathon on March 1st started last week. So I'll still be pounding the pavement as usual, but it's great to reach that personal goal.

P.S. In case anyone was wondering, I set this goal for 2008 because I didn't run any marathons this year, so I thought it would be cool to see what I could accomplish cumulatively with a full year off from marathon training. With 2 marathons last year (Madison + CIM), my yearly total was only 1,949, which gave me the idea for a nice even 2K for this year.

Goodnight, Sweet Muffin

2008-10-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

1992-2008

I love you, sweet kitty.

I'll miss you terribly...

Something I Never Thought I'd Buy...

2008-10-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

...a pack of newborn-sized diapers.

OK, OK, now just relax. I haven't changed my mind about never procreating (phew!).

In fact, the diapers are for Miss Muffin, since her Stage 4 kidney disease (so sad...) has recently left her slightly incontinent. My wonderful Mr. E did a search for kitty diapers and discovered this link (the first video is a must-see), so we figured we'd give it a try.

Of course, it's a bit tricky to figure out what size baby diaper will fit a 7-lb cat, since the diapers aren't in S, M, L, sizes but rather categorized by weight. Is a newborn baby "up to 10 lbs" really the same size as our little black-and-white furball? Umm... well... not exactly.

But close enough will have to do for now.

New Toy Gone

2008-09-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Back on July 7th, I posted about my new running toy, a Garmin Forerunner 405, given to me by my wonderful Mr. E as a birthday/Christmas gift. I was so excited to try this technology and be able to track my runs accurately, and all went well for the first few weeks.

But then... Things went downhill pretty quickly once we started to travel...

Well, actually, let's back up a moment, since the first problem happened here at home during a Sunday long run when the Garmin suddenly lost satellite contact in the middle of East Sac. Grr. Frustrating, but the reset was quick, so I didn't think much of it.

During my July month o' travels, the Garmin was just peachy in Buffalo. But back at home, it lost the satellite over near Old Sac in the middle of a common route that hadn't caused problems before. And once we hit the Pacific Northwest, it was all over. The Garmin didn't like any of the satellites in either Seattle or Portland, and let's not even mention the lack of reaction in Las Vegas. I had set the Garmin to "lap" after every mile, which it should have been able to do accurately based on the GPS technology, but when it started reporting miles at a 6:30 pace or faster, I knew something was quite wrong. Even on my best speedwork days on a treadmill, I've never pushed past a 6:53 pace, so there's no way that I could do a 6:30 on the road, especially given the way the runs were feeling (e.g. fine but certainly not speedy!).

So eventually I gave up and just used the Garmin as a timer to estimate my distance during our travels. But really, who needs a $350 timer??!!

Unfortunately, I was about 3 days past the 30-day return time limit at Fleet Feet by the time I was able to get back to the store. The manager suggested I contact Garmin directly, and the helpful Garmin agent took all of my information (after a verrrrry long wait), told me to try a full reset of the unit, and gave me a return authorization number in case the reset didn't work. A few days later, the Garmin gave it up again at the beginning of my Sunday long run, this time right in the middle of downtown on Capitol Ave between 16th & 17th. Arrrgh!!!

Now if the Garmin had been less expensive, I might have been willing to try to tweak it or make some allowances, but $350 is a significant investment in a running tool, and I expected it to work as all of the literature claimed it would. So I sent it back to the manufacturer and received a brand new unit in the mail about 10 days later. I was so hopeful!

But alas, 'twas not to be. On the third run with the new unit, the Garmin again lost satellite contact. So back to Fleet Feet, this time to exchange the Garmin for a different model in the hopes that perhaps another type of unit would be successful for me. I left the store with a Suunto and looked forward to better results.

Drat.

The Suunto has a GPS pod to wear on your arm or clip onto your clothes. The wrist unit is smaller than that of the Garmin, since the Suunto GPS technology is in the pod rather than in the wrist unit, so it was nice to have something smaller and flatter on my arm. All went well on the first run, but then the next time, the Suunto GPS gave it up at mile 2.7 of a 6-miler. *sigh*

Another trip to Fleet Feet to return the Suunto, and at this point, I decided that I wasn't meant to have a GPS unit for running, so instead I left with a sporty Timex Ironman watch that will at least allow me to time my runs and keep track of my splits during races. This also meant that I had quite a bit of credit to use for other purchases, considering that the Timex was $65 compared to the original $350 for the Garmin.

Frankly, I think all of the difficulty with the various GPS units was me. Not in terms of user error, but purely in terms of physicality or electrical energy. OK, that probably sounds a bit strange, but I've often had trouble with automatic sensors on doors or faucets or toilets. I've actually walked right up to an automatic door only to have it not open. Likewise, I'll put my hands under a faucet that someone else has just used, and nothing will happen. And I've had those automatic toilets flush at rather inopportune times. So I'm convinced that something in my physical make-up just doesn't play well with certain electrical devices.

And since my Timex watch has been working just perfectly, that'll suffice as my new running toy for now.

River Cats & Karma

2008-09-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

This morning at the gym, I saw a gentleman wearing a River Cats t-shirt, so I asked him if he knew the outcome of the first round of the playoffs, and he told me that the Cats were victorious over the Salt Lake City Bees, and the PCL Championship Series begins this week with the Cats defending their 2007 PCL Title. I asked which games would be at Raley Field, and he said Games 1 and 2 are Sept. 9th and 10th at home for the Cats.

I'm currently teaching an LSAT class on Monday/Wednesday, meaning the 10th is out, but I figured tomorrow night the 9th might be a possibility, so I left a message for Mr. E this morning about maybe taking in Game 1 tomorrow evening (after my LSAT tutoring and instead of my UDA meeting).

Here's where the karma part enters the picture...

Earlier this morning, one of Mr. E's higher-up colleagues had given him and Ms. F four vouchers for River Cats tickets, so not only are we getting to go to Game 1, but we're also not even paying for the tickets. Sweet!

Just Another Old White Guy

2008-08-26T14:11:00.001-07:00

I was disappointed enough when Senator Hillary Clinton was forced out of the campaign (not to mention angry and sad and frustrated about all of the crap that she'd been subjected to and the ridiculous comments that could ONLY have been directed at a strong woman - is the thought of a woman in power really still so very scary to so many people???!!! how sad... how shameful...).

So when the announcement came about Senator Barack Obama's choice for a VP, that was just more sickly sweet nasty cloying icing on the cake. Great - just what we need - another old white guy for VP. Thanks so much, DNP. Way to go.

I think this editorial cartoon sums it up quite nicely. So much for change...

Vancouver or Toronto sounds more and more appealing every day.

Seductive Statistics

2008-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

I often struggle with my running in terms of what my goals are, how much is "enough," and how fast I "should" be going. As much as I enjoy having running buddies at Fleet Feet, it's also sometimes difficult to put things in perspective when I'm surrounded by people who run as much or more than I do, especially when I feel as though they're all faster than I am.

Logically, I know this isn't true, but it can be hard to avoid putting pressure on myself to match up to someone else's goal or pace, even if that's not realistic for me. I'm great at reminding others that you have to "run your own race" and "train your own training," but I don't always put that into practice for myself.

Case in point: One of the FF regulars, A., often runs with her brother, B. Most of the time, they end up out in front of me, but at a certain point, the distance between us remains constant, meaning that our paces from then on are about the same. However, I don't usually feel that I can catch up to them, and at a recent 10K, they both finished in front of me by several minutes. I also discovered that A. did the CIM 2007 in 3:28 (!!!) and the recent SF Marathon in 3:45, which she described in the context of "running slower and feeling better."

I worked so hard for my sub-4:00 CIM 2007 time of 3:57, and I can't even imagine what it would be like to run a 3:28 marathon. The 3:45 feels somewhat more within the realm of possibility, but probably not on a hilly course like the one in SF. So even though I'm impressed by her accomplishments, it makes me feel somehow less.

Focusing on statistics like this can be seductive, because those figures are so concrete and tangible. Even though I know that what really matters is my own goals and how I feel, it's so tempting to get pulled into the numbers.

So here's a number that I discovered today that I can really embrace... According to Runner's World, only 17% of women who ran marathons in 2007 finished in under 4 hours (September 2008, p. 36). That puts me in some pretty darn good company, and I can definitely be proud of being in the top 17% of female marathoners.

Now that's a stat to inspire and motivate and remember whenever I start feeling discouraged!

Small World...

2008-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

At the Kaplan Academic Summit this past weekend in Las Vegas, I discovered that Kyla H., the primary administrative contact from the LA area who helped to plan the event, is the daughter of my 11th-grade U.S. History teacher.

Buffalo & Baseball

2008-07-17T10:35:00.001-07:00

Last weekend marked the first of 3 trips in July (Buffalo, Seattle/Portland, Las Vegas). I was in Buffalo to finalize my resignation as manager of Chandelle and complete the transition to the new manager, Miss S, who will be a fabulous addition to the troupe (though she still needs an animal...). I'd never been to Buffalo, and H was kind enough to host me and play tour guide on Sunday.

H had mentioned that he and D have a guest room with private bath as well as a pool, but that still didn't prepare me for their mansion. And I do mean "mansion" in the literal sense of the word, as the Wicks House was one of several mansions built in Buffalo in the 19th century. Wow! It was so interesting to learn about the history of the house, and although it's about five times the size of our cozy townhome here in Sacto, it still felt very warm and inviting, primarily thanks to its friendly and down-to-earth inhabitants, H and D, and their lovely puppies Emma (Samoyed) and Luca (Husky).

During our sightseeing on Sunday, H and I went to Niagara Falls, Niagara University, and downtown Buffalo. We met up with D back at home to head across the street (literally) to the Darwin Martin Complex, a Frank Lloyd Wright project. We took the in-depth 2-hour tour, which was very informative and included visits to both homes and the gardener's cottage. H and D had toured part of the site before but hadn't seen or heard everything on this tour because the site is still undergoing renovation and restoration, so more had been completed since the last tour they attended. I thought the $30 price tag was a bit much at first, but the thorough tour was worth the cost, especially since the funds will go towards continued restoration.

On the plane ride home, my seatmate was watching Sweeney Todd on his laptop, and I couldn't help glancing over every once in a while, though Mr. E and I have already seen the film (and I still don't understand why the signature song "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" wasn't included - how can you not have the lyrics "...the demon barber of Fleet Street"???). At one point, the gentleman asked if I'd like to watch as well, as he must have noticed my glances (oops!). Of course I declined, but he was quite nice about the whole situation.

Later, I pulled out my copy of the Draft Sacramento 2030 General Plan, as I've been working my way through the entire document prior to the July 31st deadline for submitting comments. My seatmate apparently tossed his own sidewise glance at that point and asked me about the document, which started a rather lengthy discussion about planning and design. I learned that his wife is from Carmichael, so they often visit the Sac area, and he's a big fan of Sacramento even though his home base is in San Diego. We shared similar views of what makes good design and why everything should have high quality, and he showed me MySketch, a great Google tool that allows you to draw/simulate objects and buildings and place them on any given map.

Eventually, the conversation subsided for awhile, and I was able to finish my review of the GP. At that point, we started to chat again, and I asked him how long he'd been in Buffalo and why. He answered that he'd been there for work for a month, and only then did I discover that he's a professional baseball player. NO WAY!!!

He currently plays 3rd base for the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He started the season as a back-up infielder for the Yankees but was released in June. Eventually he revealed that he'd played several seasons with the Houston Astros - including a trip to the 2005 World Series! - and a couple of months for the San Diego Padres.

What struck me the most was how down-to-earth he was. No bragging, no trying to work his accomplishments into the conversation. Just a nice, friendly, grounded guy who's devoted to his wife, twin sons, and baby girl on-the-way, and who happens to play ball for a living. He had such a great attitude and perspective about everything, including what it's like to be a bench-warmer in the Majors versus getting consistent playing time in the Minors and being able to actually improve and evolve as a player.

It was only as the flight ended that we exchanged names, and of course I had to look him up on mlb.com to see his history and stats. I would never have recognized him from his picture in that nasty Yankees cap, as his glasses and spiky hair made him look quite different. And only when I read over his history did I learn that he'd been tapped as an NL All-Star in 2005 when another player was unable to attend. So neat that he didn't mention that or make a big deal out of it.

Of course now I'll have to start following the Bisons to see how the rest of his season goes and to muse about the odds of his somehow being traded to the Oakland organization so that I could go watch him play at Raley Field with the River Cats!

New Toy

2008-07-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Mr. E, wonderful partner that he is, decided that he wanted to give me a Garmin Forerunner for my birthday. Considering the high price tag ($350 for the Garmin 405 with GPS and HRM), I managed to convince him this should cover both birthday and Christmas. So last week, he called Fleet Feet to find out if the new Garmins were in stock, and I procured my new toy:

For all of the non-runners out there, let me explain a bit. First of all, this model is much smaller than the previous versions, which is great for those of us with small wrists who don't much like to wear anything "extra" during a run. Secondly, the GPS technology has improved a great deal, so this version should be very accurate in terms of tracking the exact mileage of any route in any location. Thirdly, the "auto pause" feature is extremely useful when running in downtown Sac, since it pauses the timer when I have to stop for intersections and then automatically restarts when I'm running again. Very cool.

I'd always resisted having any sort of "real" timing device in the past, but since I've gotten more serious and intensive with my running, it makes sense to have a tool that supports my training. I haven't yet hooked up the HRM (heart rate monitor), but I'm planning to try that on Friday to start getting the hang of it.

I don't know how much I'll use some of the advanced functions, but so far I'm enjoying the basic statistics that the Garmin provides for each run: overall time, overall pace, calories burned, total mileage, mile split times (I set the "lap" feature to record each mile so I could see my split times during and/or at the end of a run).

One of my fears was that I'd discover that all of my routes are actually much shorter than I had estimated. This was proven true on Sunday for a long run, which I'd though was 14 miles but was really only 13.3 - yikes! That's quite a shortage! However, I've confirmed that my West Sac 8-mile route is accurate, and my Land Park 7-mile route (which I always sort of knew was a bit short) is about 6.6, so not too far off. And it's not like I'm going to go back and correct the distances in my workoutlog, but it'll be nice to know now that all of my distances from now on are true.

However, I am going to re-measure that long run route again this weekend, as I'm having a hard time believing that my estimate was so wrong...

In the meantime, I've been using the mile split times to motivate myself to push harder over the past two days. Yesterday, my last 2 miles of an 8-miler were 7:48 and 8:02, and today my last 3 miles of a 7-miler were 8:02, 7:50, and 7:52. Considering that I can tempo run on a treadmill at 7:18-7:24 for 4-5 miles, I should certainly be able to do sub-8s on the road. I think the obstacle is just that I tend to start out at a cruising, comfortable speed and stay there rather than kicking it up a notch after a warm-up.

Now the main challenge is not to get too obsessed with the new toy...

Renters vs. Owners

2008-06-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

It's about time someone starting questioning why we seem to value home ownership so highly in this country. This column challenges the paradigm, which is something I've been wondering about for quite awhile, especially since I've been getting involved in and educated about urban planning. So much emphasis is placed on home ownership, and yet perhaps that's not the right perspective through which to view the values and ideals of affordable housing and healthy, safe housing for all.

Up until 2004, I was a renter my entire life, and I never really shared the "American dream" of owning a home. Why bother? As a renter, I could call my landlord or management company if something needed repairs, I didn't need to mow the lawn or take care of the yard, I didn't need to shovel the driveway or the front walk when it snowed. Why would I want to forsake this freedom for the yoke of owning a home that not only requires a mortgage but also regular maintenance and care?

Even now, I'm still not convinced of the benefits to owning versus renting. We pay more in our monthly mortgage than we did in rent, and the tax write-off doesn't compensate for that added expense. We also have additional insurance for our home, including an Umbrella Policy, that we didn't have as renters. Where's the big advantage? Supposedly, owning a home is a good investment, but like any investment, it really only pays off when you sell it, and who knows when that will be or what the market will be like at that point.

In the meantime, I prefer to look at our abode as a HOME, not as an investment, i.e. a refuge for our little trio, a place to relax, a place to make livable for our lifestyle. But we could do that just as easily in a rented apartment rather than a townhouse-style condo. And I don't want to consider every purchase we make or every change to the interior in terms of "will this add to our ROI?" "how will this affect our resale value?" If we want to make a change so that our HOME is more to our liking (e.g. redo the kitchen, enlarge the bathroom), then we should evaluate the pros and cons in terms of how it will improve our own standard of living rather than trying to anticipate how it will sell at some unknown future date.

However, I seem to be in the minority at this point. I hope this starts to change...

After all, if our culture hadn't been so focused on owning a home, then we wouldn't have encountered the current fiasco as a result of sub-prime loans and high foreclosure rates. So can't we now learn from this lesson and shift our paradigm?

Teen Pregnancy "Pact" - Umm... not so much...

2008-06-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

So it looks like the uproar in Gloucester, MA, may be coming to a close. Ellen Goodman's column, however, points out the problem with breathing a sigh of relief at discovering that the young ladies didn't have a so-called "pregnancy pact" - does the lack of an intentional plan really make teen pregnancy suddenly acceptable for some reason??

And just out of curiosity, did anyone ever really mention the boys or men involved in this whole ordeal? Where's the call for accountability and responsibility there? Where's the blame game for the males in all this? Somehow, that part ALWAYS seems to be neglected...

So long, Schill...

2008-06-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Mmm... must be nice to get paid $8 million to rehab for several months and then be done with the season.

Thanks for the memories, Curt. We'll never forget the bloody sock in '04 or the 8 2/3 innings almost-no-hitter in '07. You've been a stalwart work-horse for us, and we couldn't have had the joyous and amazing WS run-up and victory in '04 without you. For those reasons, I'll forgive the conservatism and Bush-stumping (though you should have known better...).

So long, Schill...

Climate Change

2008-06-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

We're spending a week in the Midwest (Chicago/Madison), and I'm remembering one of the biggest "cons" of all about this part of the country - the climate. Such a contrast to Sacto, where the heat is high but the humidity is low, and that truly makes all the difference in the world. I'm not sure I'm ready for this climate change, and it would definitely make the list of unappealing features of this region as a potential relocation spot whenever we choose to leave Cali.

However, I am sort of looking forward to the thunderstorms that have been predicted for tonight and tomorrow. We don't get much of that weather in NorCal, and it's something I miss. It should be especially striking to watch from the high-rise apartment where we're staying, which is just a block from Lake Michigan and has a great view of the Lake and Navy Pier.

Biking in May

2008-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

I met my biking pledge of 100 miles in May and even slightly exceeded it - yay!

I'm really proud of myself for doing this, since I'm not much of a cyclist and tend to be a bit wary of biking as I don't feel terribly comfortable or adept in the saddle. But I also knew that the best way to get over this feeling was to just get out there and bike some more. I definitely feel more at ease now and noticed that I actually got a bit faster on my daily commute. I also figure the extra workout was good for my quads (and thus good for my running...). And now I'm much more likely to jump on the bike for errands, as Mr. E and I did yesterday when we trekked to the FCG and Fleet Feet and Blockbuster.

I know the heat will hit soon and I'll stash the bike for awhile until the cooler weather returns, but I'm pretty sure the bike commute will resume as a viable option later in the year thanks to this experience in May.

Lester Routs the Royals

2008-05-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

So, d'ya think Curt Schilling is just a wee bit jealous that another Sox rookie has a no-hitter???

We were at Schill's big "almost" last year against Oakland, when he went 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball and then shook off a sign from 'Tek to give up a single hit. Doh! The Sox still won a great game, 1-0, thanks to a solo homer by Big Papi, but I imagine that Schill has been kicking himself ever since, especially with the recent performances by the young guys on the BoSox staff...

I've actually been to a no-hitter once, when Mom and I took our trip to D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival in March 2001. Sort of on a whim one evening, we jumped onto public transportation to see the Red Sox play the Orioles, and Hideo Nomo (remember him??) pitched a no-hitter that game. How cool was that! By the late innings, even the opposing team's fans are starting to root for the no-no, simply because it's such an amazing feat, especially if you love the game and appreciate the beauty of the accomplishment.

I'm not expecting anything similar this weekend when we're in Oakland to see the Sox take on the As in a 3-game series, but I'd be happy to take at least 2 out of 3.

VICTORY!

2008-05-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

Gay Marriage Legal in California

Not that I did much of anything to help this occur, but I'm still going to celebrate. YAY!!!

May is Bike Month!

2008-05-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

In the Sacramento region, May is Bike Month! I'm not much of a bike rider, as I don't do it often enough to feel terribly comfortable, but I decided that I'd make the effort this month to bike to work at least 3 times a week and give the scoot a bit of a rest. I pledged to ride a total of 100 miles, and I'm up to 60 already. Woo-hoo!

I have to admit, though, I did swap the bike for the scoot this morning. Today's temperature is supposed to be 100+, which is definitely skirt or dress weather for me, and that just doesn't work so well on a bike, at least not the kind that I have.

One of my primary concerns initially was figuring out what the City codes are for bike riding in terms of streets vs. sidewalks. I've always gotten rather annoyed as a pedestrian when people ride on the sideWALK, as I don't feel it's the appropriate place for cyclists. However, when I looked up the City Code, the language in Title 10.76.010 was rather vague: "...no person shall ride a bicycle on a sidewalk except within a residence district or where a sidewalk is designated as part of an established bicycle route." And what, exactly, is a "residence district" compared to some other district??? My entire path to work goes along streets that are at least partially residential, so I guess that counts...

Anyway, I interpreted this to mean that riding on the sidewalk is acceptable if there's no other designated bike path or bike lane on the road, but I definitely still adhere to the Code statement that "Pedestrians shall have the right-of-way on sidewalks," so I'm always very alert and often exit the sidewalk to make sure I don't have any ped conflicts. Too bad other cyclists aren't this considerate, as I almost got mowed down by a bike rider on Tuesday morning as I was finishing up my run (I was crossing the street according to the Walk light and a cyclist came zooming around the corner and almost plowed me over - arrgh!).

I've actually really enjoyed the biking more than I expected, despite the horrible helmet head (a small towel and extra tube of hair gel currently have joined the contents of my cube in order to address this issue in the morning). One of the coolest things is that I see more and notice more, since I'm moving more slowly and am very aware of my surroundings.

On Tuesday morning, for example, I saw William B. and Vivian G. (cool Midtown community activists and fans of Sacramento history; I'm not sure they recognized me with a bike helmet and sunglasses when I greeted them, however...) on Q Street just past the Sac Bee offices, and I saw William B. again yesterday afternoon. Yesterday morning as I was riding through the intersection near the Sac Bee, I heard someone call my name and turned to see Mike, one of my running buddies from Fleet Feet, who was on his bike on the way to work (he's a much more frequent biker than I am). And in the afternoon, I saw Mayoral candidate and Midtown Business Association activist Shawn E. near the MARRS building on J Street as I was zigzagging a path to make progress despite the crossing train on 19th Street. I even biked over to Raley Field on Tuesday afternoon to pick up tickets to the River Cats game tomorrow evening.

Biking has definitely increased my sense of community thanks to these personal connections, and I think it's something I'll do more often, though not in the nasty hot summer months that are quickly approaching.

Marathon Musings

2007-12-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

Even though I was happy about my sub-4 results from last week's CIM, it didn't all really sink in until I started reliving parts of the experience over the next couple of days. I worked so hard to see that "3" on the clock as I crossed the finish line, and reflecting on both the run itself as well as the journey finally led to that feeling of euphoria that I had felt after the Madison Marathon in May, even though I hadn't achieved my goal in that race.

So to honour this event, I wanted to memorialize some of my musings and thoughts during my post-marathon moments over the past week.

Run Your Own Race
This truism was totally reinforced for me, as I completely stuck to my plan for this race. I started with the 4:00 pace group, I didn't charge the hills, I re-fueled every 2 miles, and I let my body dictate the pace after hitting the half-way point. The result? Not only a sub-4 time (YAY!!), but also a remarkable lack of blisters, chafing, and cramping. Lovely.

Training IS Worth It!
In addition to running a 3:57:28, the benefits of my training were demonstrated by how quickly my body recovered. I felt close to leg cramps after the finish, but with some stretching and movement throughout the day, only my quads were still a bit sore by the evening. After taking 2 days off from running, I hit the road for a 6-miler on Wednesday with just a bit of residual stiffness and tightness in my legs. Being able to recover quickly from a marathon is definitely proof of the time and effort I'd put into my training, not only the running but also the weight training.

Umm.... Yeah, About That Recovery Time
OK, so I have a hard time slowing down, and I was used to running 4 days a week during my training, with distances of usually 10+ for my non long-run days. So I did 6 miles of my Land Park route on Wednesday (2 days off after CIM) followed by 6 miles on the treadmill on Thursday (due to the rain - bleah!). Mmm. A rather sharp pull in the left quad after that workout. Damn. I took Friday off from running and did another Land Park 6-mile loop on Saturday. Still sore in the quads, and my measly 10-mile long run on Sunday definitely suffered as a result. At this point, 10 miles should be easy for me, but I was dragging by the time I finished. I guess my body was trying to tell me something - namely, that I needed more recovery after the 26.2 miles - and as Mr. E suggested, "I hope your PhD mind will listen!" Yeah, yeah. Fine. I didn't run yesterday, and I only did 5 miles this morning even though my training calls for 7 miles. Does that count as sufficient recovery?

(And yes, I'm training again already, this time for the Davis Stampede 1/2 marathon on February 3rd. It's always been a fast race for me, and I ran my current 1/2 marathon PR of 1:44 in Davis last year, so I figured it might be interesting to actually "train" for it this year to see if I can intentionally get a faster time.)

Training Triumphs

Making 2 of my 3 20-milers into 22-milers
Running successful negative splits on all of my 20+ runs
Getting a 10K PR (47:14) in the Run to Feed the Hungry as my tempo run for the week (7:37 pace for 6.2 miles)
Completing all of my treadmill speedwork, including the 4 X 7:04 mile intervals twice (and keeping that pace for 2 miles at the beginning of the final speedwork run)
Running 1/2 marathons before work during my peak weeks
Doing a final tempo run at a 7:24 pace for 4 miles

Marathon Memories

Not feeling nervous or anxious at all
Ideal timing of taking the bus to the start
The woman talking about how she doesn't focus as much on time for a marathon but rather on meeting people and the experience itself, because "a marathon is special"
Pulling ahead of the 4-hour pace group after the halfway point
Seeing the 1/2 marathon time of 2:01:00 and thinking that was just about right
Feeling totally confident when I saw Mr. E for the first time near the 15-mile mark
Mr. E's constant support and encouragement when my smile wasn't quite as bright the next time I saw him a few miles later
The man who passed me after about mile 23, asking if I was an ultrarunner and saying he'd been chasing me for the past 5 miles (I think he was near the 4:00 pace group at the beginning, too)
Hearing a woman cheer for the "CAC member" as I ran down J Street near Big Spoon and realizing she was talking about me
Seeing Nic with a hand-made rainbow-coloured sign on the corner of M and 24th
The volunteer shouting "3:48" at the 25-mile marker and knowing that I was really going to make that sub-4
Surprise at passing Nick from Fleet Feet during the last mile
Putting my head down and kicking in with a little extra going by Capitol Park, then the Capitol, then the gradually narrowing lane turning onto 8th Street
Seeing the 3:58+ on the clock as I turned the final corner onto Capitol Mall and approached the finish, with Mr. E's cheers to spur me on
Joy and tears and relief at the end to share with my wonderful partner Mr. E

And I still get choked up even now when I picture that moment. This was such a big personal accomplishment, though I had gotten to a point of acceptance during my training, knowing that my body might not give me what I wanted on race day. To then achieve my goal and feel so confident about it during the marathon was just wonderful and strengthening and fabulous. I'm really proud of myself. And I'm so happy I'm a sub-4 marathoner. It's something I wouldn't have even considered just a few years ago. It's pretty amazing to think about the entire process and to relish those final few moments of the journey.

Now it's time to focus on the 1/2 marathons and 10Ks for awhile. Though I have to admit, running marathons is a bit like having kids (from what I've heard anyway, since I don't have or plan to have any personal experience) - the euphoria you get from the end result is so great that you quickly forget all of the pain and can't wait to do it again.

But don't worry, Mr. E, I promise to keep my word and stick to the shorter distances. No more marathons for at least a year, OK?

Marathon Milestone

2007-12-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

I DID IT!!! WOO-HOO!!!

Yep, I achieved my sub-4 hour marathon goal in the CIM yesterday. I felt strong through mile 16 and stayed confident throughout, even when I started hurting later in the race. I followed my plan (take the hills conservatively, start out with the 4:00 pace group, eat every 2 miles), and broke away from the pace group after the half-way point. I stayed in front of them the entire rest of the time, and rounding that corner onto Capitol Mall to see the "3" on the clock was absolutely fabulous.

My gun time was 3:59:03, but my chip time (aka my "real" time) was 3:57:28, which is a 9:07 pace and almost a 10-minute improvement over the Madison Marathon from May.

Phew! All the training was worth it. The morning runs, the "dread"mill workouts, the 20+ milers. It all made me stronger and faster and more confident, so I was able to reach my goal. Yay!!!!

So after some well-deserved rest, the next focus will be the Davis Stampede 1/2 marathon the first weekend of February. This has always been a fast race for me for some reason (my current 1/2 marathon PR), even though I've never really "trained" for it to reach a particular time goal. This year, however, I'm going to make that little extra effort to see if it pays off. More on that later...

For now, I'm going to bask in the glow of my sore quads and admire my finisher's medal as I savor this marathon milestone.

World Champion Red Sox - AGAIN!

2007-10-30T14:22:00.001-07:00

Yep, definitely time for an update. And I never thought I'd be able to put "World Champions" in the same sentence as "Red Sox" and "again" in my lifetime... WOO-HOO!!

The yelling was pretty loud in our house Sunday night after the unexpected sweep of the Colorado Rockies. Mike Lowell so deserved that MVP (though I did wonder if maybe Dustin and Jacoby might be selected to share the honours - there's always next season for the rookies).

Oh, yeah, note to Red Sox management: SIGN LOWELL, DAMMIT!!!!!

Even my Mom stayed up to hear the outcome once the score got so close (and she's on the East Coast, so that's pretty darn late).

Oh, yeah, note to MLB bigwigs: FOX BROADCASTING SUCKS!!!!!

The announcers were horrible, Tim McCarver made mistake after mistake in his "colour commentary," the commercials were excessively long, and what sort of lame post-game coverage was that??!! A few interviews, a few trophy presentations, then a final mini-wrap-up. That's it? That's all we get? ARRGH!

Other than that, watching the game Sunday evening was a lovely way to finish up a day that began with a 22-mile run (great negative split - 13 minutes faster on the return!), transitioned into a great potluck and bocce contest at the Fremont Community Garden (with a surprise visit by Rob Fong to present a City Council resolution to recognize Mr. E's work on the Garden), and almost came to a crashing halt when the Rockies roared back to come within 1 run. Thank goodness for former River Cat Bobby Kielty's pinch home run! Even without the troll hair, he'll be memorable for Red Sox fans.

Oh, yeah, note to self: Finally time to wash those "good luck" Red Sox sheets...

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2007-10-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

In reverse order...

THE UGLY
Red Sox extra-inning loss in Game #2 of the ALCS. So glad I turned off the TV at the end of the 10th inning. When I heard Gagne was about to enter the game, I knew it couldn't end well...

THE BAD
Umm... see above. Why exactly does Francona stick with this guy? It's one thing to be patient with a slow start at the beginning of the season (e.g. Dustin Pedroia, leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year and local Sacto-area boy from Woodland), but it's another thing to stubbornly hope for the best in the post-season.

THE GOOD
My 20-mile run yesterday morning, the first of three 20+ runs in this marathon training. My primary goal was to run a negative split, as I tend to have difficulty holding myself back at the beginning and then regret it later. So I was psyched to see a great negative split at the end: 98:00 for the first 10 (yeah, slow, but that's the point), 90:00 for the second 10 (that's actually marathon pace).

Now let's just hope I can move "The Ugly" into "The Good" after ALCS Game #3 tonight...

SWEEP

2007-10-11T12:07:00.001-07:00

OK, so it's a bit tardy, but how 'bout that sweet sweep o' the Angels by my Boston boys? Not bad, not bad at all...

ALCS Game #1 - tomorrow night - and it's all good 'cause the Yanks are OUT!!!

Cowtown

2007-10-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Wow - I can't believe it's already been a year since the last Cowtown when I gussied up my running clothes with multiple mini stuffed cows (see archives for October 2006 for post and photo). I remember that race pretty well, though, since I was quite unhappy with my time.

This year, Cowtown is simply part of a longer 16-mile training run, since I'm training for the CIM, so it won't be such a big deal if my time isn't fabulous. I'm hoping for a decent 1/2 marathon time, but certainly not expecting anything like my PR at the Davis Stampede back in February.

In the meantime, the more important news is BASEBALL, of course:

Red Sox WIN Game 1 vs. the Angels, 4-0. Beckett pitched a beautiful complete-game shut-out. Youk and Big Papi came through with homers. Jacoby pulled off a great catch in left. Gotta love it!
Yankees LOSE Game 1 vs. Cleveland in a smackdown 12-3 style. Woo-hoo!

What more could a member of Red Sox Nation wish for in early October??!!

GO SOX!!!

Modifications

2007-07-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

I've hit a running plateau during the last month.

That first 10K after the marathon was great - River City Run, PR by more than 3 minutes - but since then, it's all been downhill. I hurt my back one week, so I was off my mileage as I recovered. I haven't felt energized by a run for a couple of weeks, so I took several days off to see if that would help, but it didn't. So then I figured maybe this is just something I have to work through mentally, another aspect of preparing for longer runs.

But it's all still blah.

I've already "fallen off the wagon" with my initial maintenance plan (see previous post), as I just couldn't bring myself to keep that once a week treadmill workout going. That's definitely a mental block, but I justified the change by deciding that I should continue to run outside while I still can, since eventually the weather will get too hot (summer) or too rainy (fall). OK, that's valid, especially since I'm not in training mode at this point.

But my 15-milers and even some 10-milers have felt like absolute crap lately. I still get the mileage in, but I can't help thinking it's more "junk" than anything. Yet I don't want to decrease my weekly mileage too much, as I'm totally anxious about losing the improvements I made prior to the Mad City Marathon. I hate the fact that it can take soooo long to improve physical fitness and that you can lose that new ability soooo quickly (at least, that's how it feels to me).

To top it all off, my right big toe (the one I had surgery on in October 2003) has been hurting for a week now. Very frustrating.

So I'm not sure quite what to do. I feel like a failure for not sticking to my plan, yet at the same time I wonder if my plan was too ambitious for a period of time that's supposed to be "maintenance" rather than "training." I don't want to be in training mode all the time. I want to have some time when I can be more flexible with my workouts, but I also feel stuck in this routine because I don't want to backslide and have to start everything all over again from my baseline.

At this point, I'm probably going to start training for CIM in mid-August once the CAC re-opens after annual close-down. That way, I'll have two full weeks with no CAC to perhaps scale back a bit on my workouts and then start fresh when I'm about 14 weeks pre-race. I think that sounds reasonable.

Now if I could only figure out a way to make my peace with whatever I do over the next two weeks prior to closedown...

Post-Race Musings

2007-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, May 27th, I ran my third marathon. It was my second Madison Marathon (Mr. E and I ran the same event together in 2004 - the first marathon for both of us - the day before we climbed into the car with Muffin to drive cross-country to Sacramento).

The weather was absolutely beautiful - sunny, clear, light breeze, low 50s at the start, no humidity - perfect for running. My clothing choices of shorts, sports bra, t-shirt, and gloves were right on. I shed my shirt around the halfway point and removed my gloves around mile 16.

Mr. E provided awesome support throughout. He surprised me with the new Kathrine Switzer book Marathon Woman a few weeks before the race to provide some additional inspiration, he scheduled a post-race massage for me at Kneaded Relief Day Spa on Tuesday morning, and he totally focused on making sure I was taken care of in every way for that weekend. During the marathon, he cheered me on and took photos at the start, around mile 10 as my pace team approached the Edgewater, miles 12 & 14 near Picnic Point when I threw him my t-shirt, and mile 16 as we headed up the long slow Monroe Street incline by Trader Joe's. Then he joined me near mile 21 in the Arboretum to "run me in" to the end at the Alliant Energy Center. This was so wonderful, because I was really struggling for those final miles, so having his companionship helped me to keep going and finish strong. I couldn't ask for a better partner, and I'm so blessed to have my pooka-E!

So these are my times so far:

Madison Marathon, 5/04 - 4:26:14 = 10:08 pace
California International Marathon, 12/06 - 4:19:19 = 9:57 pace
Madison Marathon, 5/07 - 4:07:01 = 9:26 pace

However, my goal for this time had been to run 9s, which would have given me a sub-4:00 overall time. So what happened? And what lessons did I learn to carry with me into the CIM this year to help me achieve that original goal?

Timing Miscalculations
I started thinking "sub-4" rather than "run 9s." I looked at the pace calculation based on my Davis Stampede 1/2 marathon PR of 1:44:01 in February, which put me right around 3:50 for a marathon. Then I looked at the BQ stats and realized that I'd moved into the next age group of 35-40, so my BQ time would be 3:45 (max 3:45:59) rather than 3:40 for the 30-34 age group (BQ times are based on your age on the day of the next Boston Marathon, not your age on the day that you run your qualifier).

And I got greedy.

I started thinking about how great it would be to BQ, and I lost sight of the original (reasonable, feasible) goal of achieving a sub-4. After all, cutting 20 minutes off my overall total was much more likely than trying to cut off 35 minutes. And my CIM time had been affected by the fact that my left knee started hurting at the half-way point, which is why I missed my goal time of 4:15 in that race, but that would still have meant improving by 30 minutes.

I should have maintained my original focus. My four 20-milers during training were all right around 9s, and my Shamrock'n 1/2 marathon in March was 1:49:46, which estimated to a 3:58 marathon time. If I had stuck to that plan, I'm confident I would have achieved that sub-4.

Going Out Too Fast + Hills = Leg Cramps
Based on that initial poor decision, I started with the 3:50 pace team (8:48 pace). This was my biggest downfall, and the most common mistake for any runner - going out too fast at the beginning of the race. In a shorter event, you may be able to recover from this or even maintain a faster pace for the majority of the distance, but not in an endurance event like a marathon (26.2 miles, let's not forget).

I felt fine for about the first 12 miles, although the pace team took the hills a bit faster than I was used to. Not to mention that I didn't train hills at all here in Sacramento. I knew the Madison course had some rolling hills, but I didn't factor in how I'd need to adjust my stride to handle them and keep a consistent pace.

By the time we hit the halfway mark, I had already dropped behind the 3:50 group and realized that goal was out of reach. However, even on my own, I maintained a 3:50 pace until mile 15, which was one of the many small victories that I celebrated as I continued the route.

Soon thereafter, however, the leg cramps really hit. I've never had this experience before, so it was really difficult to know how to handle them. The worst spots were my left calf and my right quad, and I'm sure the combination of starting too fast and not being ready for the hills was the reason for the pain I endured.

At that point, I started to walk through the water stations. And yet I was still exactly on target for 9s when I hit mile 20 and saw the 3:00:00 race clock. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come, and those final 6.2 miles were a major struggle for me.

I managed to find a little burst of energy at the end to finish with the 4:07:01 time, but I definitely paid for it. My leg cramps were nasty, and my left calf seized up when I was stretching afterwards, to the point that I had to sit down on the ground to avoid falling down! Yep, that was a new experience, and one I'd like to avoid at all costs in the future. Stairs were quite challenging over the next two days as my muscles slowly worked themselves out.

I'm familiar with the CIM course at this point, and I know that it also has a fair number of hills, despite the fact that the course overall is considered "downhill." So once I start up my training for CIM in September, I'll need to figure out a way to incorporate some hillwork, either on the treadmill and/or on pavement.

Insufficient Fuel
My training regimen for long runs (over 12 miles) had been to eat 1 protein bar prior to the run and then 1/2 bar every 4 miles during the run. For my 20-milers, I also had a bag of Jelly Belly Sport Beans to add a little extra motivation and energy for the final 2 miles. I planned to follow this same pattern during the marathon, but once I started getting tired and sore, I didn't feel like eating anymore. I had 1 bar at the hotel along with some water with the power shot powder before heading to the start, but then during the race I ended up eating only 1 1/2 bars rather than the 3 that I had brought with me. And the Sport Beans stayed in my pocket the whole time, too.

I did take water frequently, and started to alternate water and Gatorade after about the halfway point. But I'm sure that the lack of fuel affected my overall energy and electrolytes levels, which made the leg cramps and fatigue even worse.

Next time, I need to stick to my re-fueling plan, whether I want to or not. I also need to start experimenting with Gu or other non-solid types of fuel as I train, since those would be more easily absorbed (and carried!) during a race.

Chafing
Luckily, this didn't impact me until after the race! My normal regimen is to apply anti-perspirant to my feet to prevent blisters, and sometimes I put a little Vaseline under the straps of my sports bra to prevent any rubbing. During my training, however, I didn't experience any chafing, even during my four 20-milers. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take extra precautions for the marathon, and I ended up with a nasty patch of chafing between my cheeks. I didn't feel it until I had changed after the race, but the next 3 days were rather uncomfortable with walking and sitting and driving.

This abrasion, more than my recovering leg muscles, kept me from running again until Friday (5 days after the marathon). I did 7.2 miles on a treadmill that day, and the chafing acted up again just a bit. Luckily, it seems to have healed now, and my run today (8.2 miles) was just fine, although I did apply some Vaseline ahead of time, just in case!

But I've learned my lesson and will be sure to lube up sufficiently before all of my future races.

Small Victories
Once I realized that 3:50 was out of reach, I had to shift my paradigm. I could easily have gotten frustrated with myself and been grumpy and unhappy for the rest of the race, and since I have very high expectations and put pressure on myself to be perfect, this would have been an easy trap to fall into. However, I figured that wouldn't be a very good way to spend the next 13 miles, and I didn't want to spend all this time training and running only to be pissed off at the end because I'd missed a goal. So instead, I re-adjusted to focus on getting that sub-4, as I told Mr. E when I passed him before the halfway point.

I was psyched to see that I was still on the 3:50 pace, according to my pace chart bracelet, at mile 15 and that the pace team wasn't too far ahead of me yet. That was pretty cool.

But then I started to slow down and hurt more. So I decided I needed to remember all the training and preparation I had done, all of the time I had put in, the tempo runs and speedwork on the treadmill that I endured since I knew they would help. And I focused on how the journey itself was a triumph, since I'd never trained this way for a marathon, with such specific running and weights regimens, not to mention the four 20-milers along the way and the many times I got up early to run 9-12 miles before work. All of that in itself was an accomplishment. I now know that I can do tempo runs and speedwork and that I'm stronger and have more stamina than I give myself credit for. That's a good thing to remember when you're hurting badly and still have over 8 miles to go in a marathon.

I let myself walk through the water stations. I even mentally decided I could walk up the hills if I needed to (Breese Terrace, Monroe Street, Nakoma, the Arb ups & downs). But I didn't have to do this. I managed to keep running up every single hill, even that long stretch of Monroe Street and the steeper grades in the Arb. Considering how my legs were feeling at this point, this was definitely a small victory. Oh, and of course I had to run for the race photographers as we rounded Monona Bay during the last 2 miles!

I think the very best thing to come out of this was that I was truly ecstatic at the end, even though I hadn't run the race I wanted to run or that I planned to run. I was beaming (as the photo Mr. E took of me in the car afterwards attests), and I felt great and victorious for the entire rest of the day, despite the aching muscles and chafing skin. I know some of this comes from the "runner's high," but some of it also comes from being able to change my focus to the positive rather than dwelling on the negative.

And since I know at least some of what went wrong, I also know how I can fix those challenges in the future. I'm so close to making that sub-4 goal, and I'm sure I can do it. I don't usually try to do two marathons in a year, but I really want to reach this goal, and I want this training to pay off, so I'm definitely going to run CIM in December.

Here's the plan:

Maintain weekly mileage at 30-35 miles
Include at least 1 weekly pre-work run of 9-10 miles
Increase long run base to 15s prior to September
Implement weights maintenance workout
Continue treadmill speedwork every 3 weeks and tempo runs on the off weeks
Experiment with different types of food during long runs
Ramp up to similar training regimen in September
Stay focused on the goal of running 9s
Enjoy the journey!!!

I ordered an official race photo today to commemorate my PR. Even though I detoured from my goal, I still want to remember this race and the lessons I've taken away from it. In Marathon Woman, Kathring Switzer says something like, "Running is like life. You can plan and prepare all you want, but you never know what will happen." That's a good motto, and it's a conclusion I'd already reached over the past decade or so as I've gotten more serious about my running.

A good mantra to adopt for the long run, no?

It's Baseball Season, Baby!

2007-03-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

First game of the season last night as the A's traveled to Sacramento for the annual exhibition game against their AAA farm team, the River Cats, at Raley Field.

Much, much traffic - more than I've ever seen for any River Cats game, and that includes the AAA All Star Game and associated activities several years ago. I wonder if the earlier (6:05pm) game time attracted more folks who work downtown? Or made the outing more "family-friendly" since it was a school night?

No matter, I managed to get to my seat in the section behind home plate by the 3rd inning (slow traffic, not enough shuttle buses). By then, the A's were already winning 4-0, so I settled in for what looked to be a rather challenging night for the Cats.

However, the tide soon turned, and the Cats made the game exciting, even to the point where it looked as though they might claw their way to a victory. Unfortunately, despite valiant efforts in the final innings, they left two men stranded on base in the bottom of the 9th to finish with a loss of 11-10 to their big-league counterparts.

Still, not bad for the minor leaguers!

And two other events of note: (1) Nick Swisher (former River Cats, now on the As) hit 2 solo home-runs during the game (note to Nick - get a hair cut!!!!), and (2) Lou Merloni (former utility player and fan fav for the Boston Red Sox) is now playing for the A's.

Overall, a great way to start the season!!!

Next up: Cubs or Brewers (or both) when we're in the Midwest in May/June, at least 2 games of the A's vs. Red Sox 4-game series in early June, and at least 2 games at Fenway during our East Coast trip over the July 4th holiday.

It's baseball, baby! Woo-hoo!!!

Problems with Peanut Butter!

2007-02-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

So I already suffer from peanut butter discrimination here in Sacramento, since I'm unable to purchase my preferred brand of Peter Pan Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter anywhere within a 100-mile radius. I find this especially odd since this item is made by ConAgra foods, which is based out of Irvine, CA. However, due to recent news stories, I've learned that production and distribution occur out of a plant in Georgia, so perhaps that's why I have to stock up on my trips back to the Midwest and East Coast.

But now it's even worse! Those recent news stories are all about the recall of my daily spread! I learned about this yesterday from boston.com and sfgate.com. Being the proactive consumer that I am, I immediately checked the lids of my small stock of pb and found to my dismay that ALL of them belong to the batch that may be tainted. DRAT!

Obviously, of course, the two open jars are fine, since both Mr. E and I have been enjoying their contents for awhile and haven't gotten sick. But who knows about the other jars? RATS!

Luckily, we'll be heading back to the Midwest at the end of May, which isn't too long to wait to purchase more stock, and I imagine that the potential salmonella threat will be well taken care of by then. But what will I do in the meantime when my current open [safe] jars are depleted? How will I top my bagel? How will I fill my celery? How will I enhance my rice cakes?

And on a side note, why hasn't the Sac Bee picked up on this story yet?

Ode to the Scoot

2007-02-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

It's rather amazing what can fit into the storage seat of a Honda Metropolitan scooter...

Box of coffee and 1/2 dozen bagels from Noah's
16 oz. Jamba Juice
Commuter mug filled with homemade non-fat latte
Warm clothes to throw on after a long run
Sweaty clothes that have been shed after a long run
Backpack full of workout clothes and shoes
Bags of fresh fruits and veges from Sunday Farmer's Market
15-pack box of Toasted Nut & Cranberry Luna Bars + 3 large containers of Crest Glide Dental Floss
3 large bottles of Eucerin Original Moisturizing Lotion
Tall brown stretch boots from Chadwick's
Iron, Scrabble dictionary, and book of short stories (Christmas presents for Mom and Sis)

And my personal favorite recently...

Magnum of Robert Thomas Pinot Noir from J Vineyards cushioned by the NFC Champions Bears long-sleeve t-shirt for Mr. E

Cool Sac Sight

2007-02-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

The painted poles on the corner of 16th & Q Streets in the corner of the parking lot of the former ICI Paints store - I think I need to start doing more of these Sac Snapshots, since we've got lots of cool and funky little bits and pieces in this City. Hmm. Another project, perhaps?

Nature's Postcard

2007-01-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

Returning to Sacto from Vegas on Route 58 that cuts across near the Mojave, we encountered a microclimate of rain, wind, and sleet. And then we got our reward - a rainbow cutting a swath across the grey sky above a lone Joshua tree. I think we're going to print and frame this one...

Winter in Sacto

2006-12-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's a seasonal theme lately. And winter has definitely arrived. Not the typical rainy, grey winter that we expect, but rather a COLD winter.

Yes, COLD.

Because 28 degrees is 28 degrees is COLD no matter whether you're in New England, the Midwest, or even sunny Northern Cali.

Scooter apparel for mornings like this = wool knee socks, jeans, ankle boots, turtleneck, wool sweater, leather jacket, scarf, peacoat, gloves. And my hands were still white by the time I got to class for my Spanish final this morning.

Yes, Virginia, there IS cold weather in Northern California. Winter has arrived...

Autumn in Sacramento

2006-11-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

This photo is for all of those folks in the Midwest and New England who think that Northern California doesn't get any bright fall colours (and I used to be one of those people...) - take a look at this tree, right outside of our bedroom window. Not bad!!!! ;-)

Aloha!

2006-11-17T14:24:00.000-08:00

(Check out some photos by clicking the Hawai'i link under "Photos" in the left sidebar...)

Time for a quick recap of our recent visit (and my first!) to Hawai'i.

We're lucky enough to have a friend, K, from West Sac who's working in Honolulu for 6 months, so we stayed with him at his condo near Waikiki. Thanks to United miles, we got our 2 round-trip tickets for about $100 (not to mention 2 free round-trip tickets for future use on the way back for being voluntarily bumped and spending an extra 3 hours at LAX). Overall, a fairly economical way to travel to the Islands!

Wed 11/8
Arrived about 3 hours late due to equipment issues in SFO. K picked us up and did a brief driving tour of Honolulu and Waikiki.

Thurs 11/9
We got up and set out to run to Diamond Head via Montsarrat (northerly route) before the big crowds hit. We arrived around 8:30am and met another runner couple on their honeymoon (which included doing the NYC Marathon the Sunday before). This friendly German couple didn't know they'd need $1 per person to enter the park, so luckily we had enough cash to spring for a little "wedding gift" for them. We jogged up part of the path but then walked once the going go too rough and uneven. Quite a workout to climb all the way up, but the views were more than worth it! Then we headed back down and ran back to the condo via Kalakaua (southerly route), which took us through Kapiolani Park and along the Waikiki beaches again. All in all, about 10 miles of running, plus lots of climbing hills and stairs...
After breakfast at Starbucks, we set out to walk to 'Iolani Palace and the City Hall but ended up taking a detour through Ala Moana Mall and the Ross Dress for Less near Ward Center. I had success in finding a new bikini, and Mr. E purchased a new blue "aloha" shirt. At that point, we decided to start heading home, with stops at Jamba Juice, the Ward Farmer's Market, and the ABC Store (gifts and groceries) along the way.
Once K got home, we had some puu-puus up on the sky deck, then headed to Brew Moon for dinner.

Fri 11/10
Since K's spouse, M, was due to arrive in the early afternoon, we decided to hit downtown Honolulu in the morning before meeting up with her. We retraced our path through Ala Moana Mall and continued along Kapiolani Blvd to 'Iolani Palace and the State Capitol (which was closed - perhaps due to Veteran's Day???). Then we continued our walking tour down Fort Street, paused in another Ross but didn't make any purchases, and ended up at the Aloha Tower on the Marina. We went up to the observation deck to get a great panoramic view of the City. M met us there, and we lunched at Don Ho's.
Since M had the car, we then drove out to Pearl Harbor and walked through the museum to see the USS Missouri and USS Arizona exhibits (didn't actually wait to get tickets to go to the memorial itself).
Then back to the condo to swim a bit before K got home. Our big dinner out was at Alan Wong's - my meal of "Da Bag" and "The Coconut" was fabulous!

Sat 11/11
After working out a bit, we piled into the car to head up to the North Shore. First stop was the Dole Plantation, where we walked around the gardens a bit, fed the scary-vicious koi, and had some pineapple slush.
Next we continued our route up to Waimea (I think) and our final destination of the Polynesian Cultural Center. We wandered around the different Islands, saw the Tonga drummers, sampled some poi, did a little bit of hula, and enjoyed the canoe parade of all of the different performers.
We returned to Honolulu via the shorter route through the middle of the island. K, M, and Mr. E went swimming while I went for a run along the Ala Wai Canal and inadvertently ended up on Kapiolani Blvd where I found my Mom's old address @ 2459.
Back at the condo, we gathered some puu-puus, dinner fixings, and wine and headed up to the sky terrace to grill out for dinner.
Once someone started roasting garlic on the grill, we beat a hasty retreat to the elevators and went for a walk along Kalakaua to the International Market Place with a return along the beach.

Sun 11/12
Slept in a bit, then went to Snorkel Bob's to rent gear for me and Mr. E before heading to Hanauma Bay. My first time snorkeling, and it was great - so odd for me to swim in WARM ocean waters, since I'm used to the cold Atlantic Ocean on the East Coast!
We had packed lunch so we went up the coast a bit to Sandy Beach to watch the boarders as we ate.
Then back in the car to head towards Honolulu and the Bishop Museum. We toured some of the exhibits, watched the planetarium show, and had fun in the hands-on Science Adventure building.
After dropping stuff off at the condo, we headed out to stroll along the beach and stop at Duke's for a drink. Since the place was way too busy and loud, we kept walking and ended up at Tiki's to have drinks and a light dinner on their patio above Kalakaua Street. Then it was off to Big Kahuna's 3D Glow Mini Golf - 9 holes of this experience was enough for all of us!

Mon 11/13
M got up to drive K to work, then met us back at the condo. I had gotten up early to run the loop around Diamond Head (without the climb to the summit), so then M, Mr. E, and I went to hike to Manoa Falls.
On her way to the airport, M dropped us off at Hilo Hattie's to do some last-minute shopping. We took the free shuttle to Ala Moana Mall to finish up our final purchases, then walked back to the condo to pack in anticipation of our departure the next day.
Since K had to work late, we decided to got to the bargain movie theatre at Restaurant Row to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. K picked us up afterwards, and we finished off some wine at the condo before heading to bed.

Tues 11/14
Up bright and early to get to the airport by 6am. Our flight to LAX was uneventful, and once we got bumped to the later flight, we went to the International terminal to find better food options for dinner. I had yet another bowl of udon (this was at least my fourth during the trip, starting with lunch at SFO back on the 8th). Since our luggage had left on the earlier flight, it was waiting for us when we got back to Sacto, and we got home to Q Street around 10pm. Miss Muffin was VERY happy to see us, and she loves her new tropical collar, too!

A great trip! Wonderful sites, fabulous hospitality, great time with friends. And we'll get to host K and M for Turkey Day and the special J Pinotage vertical tasting next week. :)

What Is "Enough?"

2006-10-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is something I've been struggling with lately, trying to determine what defines "enough" for my life. How many commitments? How many activities? How many aspects of my personality am I supposed to try to feed, nourish, and satisfy at the same time? And who defines that mandate?

I know the answer to the last question is (or should be) "Well, I do, of course." And yet, I don't know the answer. Je n'en sais rien.

I feel as though much, if not most, of what fills my waking hours is meaningful, and yet some part of me still feels like it's just not "enough." I'm just not doing everything I should - not enough work, not enough social or political activism, not enough exercise, not enough engagement with friends and family, not enough travel, not enough learning, etc., etc.

And yet... I look at my agenda and wonder where or how I could fit in additional activities. The question of determing what those activities would be and why they would somehow add so much more meaning to an already-full schedule is secondary, since the very act of doing something "more" sometimes seems like the answer.

Though I know it's not. Random frenetic action isn't the solution. Unfortunately, I really don't know what is, so sometimes simple action alone seems to provide at least some sense of satisfaction.

Here's what's already on the agenda of this Fish's life:

Grants & Projects Coordinator @ PPMM (M-F, 30 hours/week)
Trainer/Teacher @ KTPA (5-12 hours/week, sometimes includes weekends)
Business/Technical Director for Chandelle (daily email; other time commitment varies depending on tour schedule or other administrative tasks)
Spanish 401 @ SCC (M-Th 8-8:50am, weekly homework 2-3 hours, ends mid-December)
Secretary for HOA (bi-monthly meetings, daily email, occasional special meetings)
Planning Academy (Mondays 5:30-8:30pm through December 4th)
Planning Commission (1-3 Thursdays per month 5:30-9:30pm-ish, meeting prep 3-5 hours, occasional meetings with applicants or public)
General community involvement (periodic workshops or meeting for General Plan Update, Metropolitan Transportation Plan, caRsa, public library, Docks project, R Street projects, JKL projects, etc.)
Working out @ CAC (Pilates 3-4x/week, Power Pump, volleyball, water aerobics, step)
Running (20-25 miles/week including Sunday morning Cafe Fleet Feet 10 or more miles long run)

And of course this list doesn't include one of the major priorities of my life, which is spending time with my wonderful partner, Mr. E. For example, tonight we've got the Harvest Social @ CAC followed by the play "Yellowman" @ Celebration Arts. Tomorrow we're heading to SF with our friends & neighbors for a day-long scooter adventure. And hopefully on Sunday we'll have some alone time to spend together after doing the cleaning, laundry, Farmer's Market, garden, etc. Yes, the Fish and the Lion need some intimate moments, too.

I wonder sometimes if perhaps my life is too full, if the constant switching gears from one activity to the next is, in fact, the cause of my restlessness or feelings of "not enough." Would my mind and soul be more tranquil if I didn't try to do so much?

In the end, I just don't know. But perhaps that's OK. Perhaps it's not about finding the solution but simply about asking the question and following whatever path appears to lead me on the journey.

Cows - Born to Run!

2006-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I did the Cowtown 1/2 Marathon - my 3rd consecutive year for the event. Since I've been focusing less on time/speed for my running lately, I decided to have some fun with this event. Mr. E took some photos of me, but this close-up from our friend D gives a really great view of the "moooooo!"

I also had mini-cows in the laces of my running shoes, which didn't quite make it into the photo frame here...

What's Wrong with This Picture?

2006-10-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

As I left SCC today after Spanish class:

Male student walking to class
Navy blue sweatshirt with BOSTON imprinted in white & red
Dingy baseball cap with NY on the front

Really, now, that's just not right...

Especially since the Tigers didn't manage to stomp the pinstripes last night. *sigh* At least the As were victorious. And let's hope the Dodgers go all the way, too - I'd love to see Nomar and Lowe (among others) in the Series again!

"Manny" Happy Returns

2006-09-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

The last line of Gordon Edes article says it all: "Let Manny be Manny somewhere else."

Finally. I've been a non-Manny fan for many years. I don't care about the numbers - the stats don't tell the whole story. It's about the attitude, the commitment, the professional courtesy. About not celebrating on your way to 1st base so that what should have been a double is only a single because you're too busy pumping your arm instead of running. About running all the way to 1st even on a routine grounder because there's at least a slim chance you might leg it out. About considering the TEAM above the INDIVIDUAL.

Yeah, Manny, that's what it's about. I don't care if you're a fun guy, a goofball in the clubhouse, a kick to be around. What I - and legions of other Red Sox fans - really care about is how your performance affects the team. It's great that you're a slugger, that you put up high numbers and get those RBIs, but that's only great if you actually play on a regular basis. And think about how much higher those numbers could be if you really played all out, every day.

Time to go, Manny.

And Red Sox management - time to get a backbone, cut your losses, and give in to Manny one more time by acquiescing to his request for a trade.