March 2008 Archives

Yesterday Becky and I had our last training run before the big race next weekend. We only had to do six miles, but she came up here to go running, so they were a hilly six miles. About a mile and a half in, I stepped wrong on the perfectly flat and even sidewalk, and whammo! I went down like a ton of bricks. It hurt, but not too badly. One good side effect of a lifetime of being clumsy and uncoordinated is that I’m pretty good at falling down in the least hurtful manner possible. I twisted my ankle and banged my knee, but after walking for a couple of minutes, I was able to start running again, and I’m proud to say I finished the rest of the six miles.

I was more worried about my ankle, but it is my knee that really started hurting later. I took it easy today, and it is already hurting less, so I assume I’ll be in good shape for the race. Falling down aside, Becky and I had a nice run. She took care to point out all potential hazards and obstacles that I could potentially trip over. Sadly, that was not enough to keep me from tripping over this one stake that lay in the middle of the sidewalk. I knew it was there and I still ended up running in to it! That’s talent.

After the run, I embarked on a completely different sort of adventure. We’re thinking of buying a new house this summer, so we spent the afternoon driving around looking at model homes. Naturally, I have fallen in love with a specific house in a specific neighborhood, both of which are probably too expensive. Part of me thinks we should just hang out in the house we already have. We have a nice little house in a pretty, quiet neighborhood. But the chance to move closer to work while real estate prices are down is pretty enticing. Not that real estate prices in this area have dropped so far as to make moving closer in all that much cheaper.

I have to say, I found the whole process a little disheartening. All of the models are so loaded with options that they actually cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the base price. It is hard to tell what the house would be like without all that extra stuff, most of which I can’t afford, and plenty of which I don’t even want. None of the basements come finished, so that’s an added expense too. Then they charge extra for certain lots. If someone could explain to me why you can only get gas fireplaces in new houses, I’d love to hear the reason. I prefer real fireplaces. And then there are the people. Everyone is so determined to have a nice chat with you. Really, I’d like to be left alone so I can form my own opinions, and then I’ll ask questions if I have them.

We ruled out one neighborhood for sure, and I think we’re fairly close to ruling out a second one. That would narrow it down to two neighborhoods and a couple of different builders. Or we could always go with a newer existing home, which might be slightly cheaper than brand new. Or not move at all. Ah well, I don’t have to make a decision for a while yet. And now I have a pile of floor plans to obsess over, which is actually pretty fun for me. Yes, I have found yet another way to be geeky.

So how was your weekend?

This weekend I pulled out an old favorite recipe from just after I finished college and tried updating it a little bit. This recipe is a little carb heavy, but it is really easy and very tasty. I believe I copied the original recipe out of one of the early Moosewood cookbooks, but I have changed it a couple of times over the years.

Noodles in peanut sauce

1/3 to ½ cup peanut butter (the all-natural kind works best)
½ cup boiling water
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
3 small or 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or smashed
1 teaspoon cider vinegar (rice wine vinegar will work here too)
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
a tiny sprinkle of cayenne
6 to 12 chopped peanuts
1 tablespoon green onions
1 lime
Salt to taste

½ box linguine (I think this is eight ounces. I threw out the box) or to be more Asian authentic, you could use soba noodles.

Cook the linguine according to the package directions.

While the linguine is cooking, sauté the garlic in a little bit of oil over medium heat. Add the soy sauce and the cilantro and cook for just a couple of minutes. If you’re worried about the garlic getting too brown, add a teaspoon of water or veggie broth.

Combine the peanut butter and the boiling water. Stir in the garlic/soy sauce/cilantro mixture, and then add the vinegar and green onions. Add the dash of cayenne (cayenne is hot – you don’t need much, just a hint) and stir it in thoroughly. When the linguine is done, drain it and put it in a bowl. Pour the peanut sauce over top and mix in. You can serve these noodles hot or chilled, so at this point, either get ready to serve or put them in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.

Once you have the individual servings dished out, sprinkle them with the chopped peanuts, lime juice and salt.

Highlights of my weekend (the hippity):

1) Successfully running 10 miles. 10! Ok, I probably ran 8.5 miles. Even so, that’s really, really good for me. Becky and I did our ten mile practice run on Saturday. It was a little cold, and for a while there it looked like we were going to get rained on, but we did it! If you’re from DC, allow me to astound you with our run. We went from the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda to just past Fletcher’s Boat house and then back again. As in Bethesda to Georgetown. When Becky first suggested I do this race with her, I thought she was nuts. I thought there was no way I could run ten miles. But it looks like I’m actually going to pull this off!

2) Delicious Easter brunch with my mom. Good food and good conversation. I’ll take it. Plus she gave me pretty new earrings an Easter present.

3) When Seamus and I went through the drive through at Starbucks, they gave him a dog biscuit. I expect him to start asking for caramel macchiatos any day now.

4) The end of Lent. I’m not terribly religious – ok, I’m not even remotely religious – but I like the tradition of giving up something for Lent. This year, I gave up buying books. I think it was the hardest “giving up” I’ve ever done. Today I got to go on a little spree at Borders, and it was delightful. Except for the part where I couldn’t find any new mysteries that looked intriguing. Got any mystery book recommendations for me?

Lowlights of my weekend (the hoppity):

1) Even though we ran farther this week than last, I actually felt better physically at the end of this run. Maybe I’m finally building up some sort of stamina. However, my knees really stiffened up overnight, to the point where I woke myself up whenever I bent or straightened them. This morning I hobbled around looking like the Tin Man while walking Seamus. After a little while my knees warmed up so it wasn’t so bad, but they are still a little sore.

2) Target was closed, I guess for Easter. If I had known they were going to be closed, I would have dragged myself over there yesterday.

3) For as long as there have been Cadbury Chocolate mini-eggs, my mom has given me a bag of them for Easter. I deliberately did not buy any Easter candy this year because I knew my mom would give me a bag of Cadbury Chocolate mini-eggs, and those would be my Easter indulgence. Did my mom give me any mini-eggs? No! Because suddenly she doesn’t want to give the diabetic candy or something. The earrings she gave me are lovely and I quite like them. Unfortunately, now everyone will be out of mini-eggs, and I won’t be able to get any for a whole year! Unless Target has a stash since no one could get in there to buy anything today.

4) The jerkward asshats in my neighborhood who were setting off fireworks and terrifying my dog. I may not be religious, but I know Easter is not a fireworks kind of holiday. Those celebratory roadside church signs never say “he is risen, now let’s go light some stuff on fire!”

Today I am celebrating the second annual “I stopped accruing vacation time vacation day.” Actually, a quick check of my archives shows that the last time this happened it was in October of 2005, so I guess it is more in the nature of a biennial holiday. I would like to state for the record that I am not some sort of crazy workaholic. I’ve been with my company eight years now, so I get a bunch of vacation time. When I first started working there I had a lot of debt and no money, which meant I didn’t take a lot of time off because I couldn’t afford to go anywhere. Thankfully I paid off the debts and I make more money now, so that’s no longer the issue. Then I was hoarding vacation days because I thought I was going to get pregnant (ha!) and would need the time for my maternity leave, what with American maternity benefits being as craptacularly miniscule as they are. Clearly that’s a need that hasn’t come up yet. I am taking a proper vacation this year when we go to England, and then I have my 15 year college reunion, and I’d like to get out to Portland to see my brother, so I will be taking time off . It’s just that all of that stuff is happening later this year.

This enforced day off actually turned out to be very well timed. I’ve had a weird week, and I’m tired and I feel like I’m coming down with a cold. I already celebrated by sleeping in until 7:20 this morning (occasionally surfacing long enough to say “No, Seamus we’re not getting up yet”) and having a leisurely breakfast of slow cook oatmeal with chocolate chips stirred in at the end. I know – I’m a wild woman. I’m probably also going to make a couple of doctor’s appointments, book a time to get my hair cut, and look in to travel insurance for that trip to England. Later, I’m considering a trip to Target. And maybe taking a nap.

Whatever you do today, I hope you have a lovely Friday.

Seamus is a wonderful dog, a splendid pup, a most beloved hound, almost perfect in every single way. However, every so often he goes through a troublesome phase. See, Seamus is not fixed. He had heartworms when we got him, so he couldn’t have surgery, and by the time he could have surgery he had started having seizures. So no unnecessary surgeries for my boy. That means that a couple of times per year we have to put up with him being an annoying, fussy, lovesick little guy when some girl dog in the neighborhood goes into heat. We’re very responsible and don’t let him breed puppies or anything, but it’s not for lack of trying on his part.

Unfortunately, now it is his little girlfriend Lucy who is in heat. He wants to go looking for Lucy on a normal day, so he’s being triply insistent about wanting to go out and see her. On Sunday night we were watching a movie in the basement and we could hear him running, click click click in to the kitchen to stare intensely out the back window, pause, and then click click click back toward the front of house to stare out the window by the front door. I’ve actually kicked him out of the bedroom at night for the last couple of nights because the constant pacing, sighing and flopping was keeping me awake. At one point he actually went in to the bathroom and started pushing the trash can around with his nose. In the middle of the night! It’s like hanging out with a dog who is trying to quit smoking. Last night he tried to wake me up at 3:30, 5 am and 6 am by poking his head in the bedroom and shaking his ears at me.

Thankfully, this shouldn’t last much longer. I sure hope it doesn’t! Any second now I expect to see him pouring over a set of engineering plans and conferring with a motley assortment of animal pals on a scheme to first tunnel out of our house and then go down through the chimney into hers, Oceans Eleven style. There’ll be a parrot lookout, a monkey working electronics, a cat burglar (of course), a squirrel for roof work, a field mouse to be the inside man, a gopher to help dig any tunnels, and perhaps a fast-talking meerkat who can help them get equipment. You laugh, but he is one determined little guy.

Professionally, I spend a lot of time looking at websites, rethinking websites, testing new website functionality, writing copy for websites, editing copy for websites and picking content to feature on websites. I do all of this with the ultimate goal of making the websites valuable to our existing customers and attractive to potential customers. In my personal life, however, I end up neglecting this website more than I’d like.

It occurred to me that I should apply some of the same principles that I use in my job every day to this here blog. I mean, I can quote chapter and verse on “tips for driving traffic to your blog/website” and yet I never, ever put any of that information to use for my own benefit. I’m not sure what that says about me, but anyway, here goes. My ultimate goal with this website is to continue to improve my writing skills, to stay connected to my friends (both the ones I had before this site came to be and the ones I’ve made since), to continue the habit I’ve had, off and on over the years, of keeping a journal, and to have a good time doing it.

There are so many topics in my life that are now off limits for one reason or another that recently I’ve struggled, really struggled with what I can and can’t say here. So, I’m going to try some stuff that is new. Some of it may not work, but hopefully some of it will. I figure I’ll make a real effort to write about the heart-healthy, diabetic-friendly, vegetarian recipes that I try to concoct. The problem with recipes is that I’m not a very precise cook. However, that has backfired on me a few times lately in that I haven’t been able to replicate something I’ve made, so I’m trying to measure and document what I’m doing a little more accurately. Naturally, I’ll still sprinkle in plenty of baking recipes too.

I read all the time, so I’m going to try my hand at writing book reviews more regularly. Hey, one of the few I’ve ever written actually got a comment from the author! Talk about positive reinforcement. I’ve got one or two other ideas cooking, but they aren’t quite ready yet, and I’m sure I’ll still do plenty of my usual rambling too. Without further ado, here’s my first book review.

I picked up Look to Windward after Chris had recommended Iain M. Banks a couple of different times. Chris and I seem to have similar taste in books, so I knew I was probably in for a good read, and I was. I’m not bragging when I say that I am a ridiculously fast reader. I can tear through two or three books in a day if I have the time to sit around and read. With Iain Banks though, I really had to sit up, pay attention to the ideas he was presenting, and think about what was happening. Look to Windward is an interesting look at the clash of cultures taken to an alien level and also on the responsibility different cultures bear toward each other.

Half of the story takes place on Masaq’ Orbital, which is a constructed mega planet run by an all-powerful AI called Hub, populated mostly, but not exclusively by humans. And in fact, none of the main characters in the story are humans. Instead, the AI, his drones, and two aliens, an ambassador and a composer are central to the plot. The composer is in a self-imposed exile from his home planet, which is starting to recover from a civil war -- a civil war that the Culture (the civilization that built the Orbital) unfortunately helped start.

The other main character(s)are Major Quilan, a traumatized veteran of the civil war who may or may not be an assassin, and the soul of a former admiral which he carries around hidden in his head. Some of the scenes where Quilan grieves for his wife, who died in the war and also died in a more permanent fashion when the ship carrying her Soulkeeper was destroyed, were really moving. It’s a convoluted and complex story, and I’m not even getting to at least half of what happened because it is so hard to explain properly. He does a wonderful job of weaving together all of the various threads to a satisfying resolution. This may be the first book I’ve ever read that essentially ended, and then had three more chapters. Three very necessary chapters so you didn’t have to wonder about various unresolved plot elements, but still, an interesting way of wrapping up the story, with a twist at the end. A good twist, not a stupid one. It was an excellent book and I highly recommend it. I’m definitely going to be reading more books by Iain Banks.

This weekend my training schedule for the ten mile race called for me to run nine miles. Given that eight was a bit of a challenge, I decided to ask for help. In spinning class on Thursday night, I begged my dear friend Becky to do the nine and ten mile training runs with me. Luckily for me, she agreed, and on Saturday morning we set out for a run together. We had gorgeous weather for it – not too hot, pleasantly sunny, nice breeze every once in a while. I ran all the way to the halfway point without stopping to walk, which was the longest continuous stretch of running I’ve ever done. I did have to stop and walk a couple of times (the ever-patient Becky claims she prefers walking to running really slowly, but she may have just been humoring me) and my legs definitely refused to run at the very end. Still, I felt better than I did even two weeks ago when I ran eight miles. Part of that was the company, I’m sure. Thanks, Becky! Running with you is at least a million times better than running without you. :)

I did develop a blister on my right ring toe (aka the piggy that didn’t get any roast beef) around mile seven, which has me a little concerned. I’ve never gotten blisters from running before. Hopefully it was just a one time event. Last night my knees were killing me and I was so tired that I was falling asleep on the couch by 10:30, but they felt better by mid-morning today. Now I just have sore quad muscles. I skipped working out today to give my body a break. I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do or not, but it felt right.

So, yesterday morning was awesome. Seriously, anyone who needs a confidence boost should sign up for some sort of race. I can’t tell you how good it felt to get to the end of nine miles in under two hours. Now I know we’ll be able to finish the race within the time limit for sure. I wish I didn’t have to stop to walk at all, but I’m pleased with what I’ve accomplished so far.

Making the day even more awesome was the text message I saw when I got back to my car. My friend Julie had her baby! A little girl. I am so very happy for her and her family.

Next weekend: Ten miles. I’m not sure I had another mile of running in me at the end of the nine miles, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

Wednesdays are rough days for me. I have a lot of time consuming meetings, and I have to edit an article that comes in and has to back out in less than three hours, plus I have to write my own very timely article that cannot be done ahead of time for something else, and coordinate and approve a bunch of other copy. Don’t feel too sorry for me though –I dump the whole mess on someone on my team who pulls it together and gets it out the door. Of course I still have to get a lot of other stuff done on top of my special Wednesday projects, so the day is just a wee bit challenging.

It’s not unusual for me to drag home late, tired and nursing a headache on Wednesday nights. Typically I collapse onto the couch and stare at Law & Order episodes for a couple of hours. But tonight, well tonight I had Top Chef to look forward to. I know it is silly how much pleasure I take in this show. But it is people competing by cooking food! I love food! And cooking. And debating ingredients, and criticizing (or applauding) the choices the cheftestants make. Oh, and the judges. I adore the guest judges, and judge’s table.

So, first impressions: Is it me, or are the chefs swearing more than in past seasons? It’s not that I object to the swearing, but the beeping out of the swearing gets kind of old. Of course, there were amusing moments. It didn’t have anything to do with food, but “Padma was like, ‘Yo, casa motherfuckers.’” has to be my favorite quote of the evening. I was pleased that Stephanie (I think it was Stephanie – it always takes me a couple of episodes to learn their names) won. Curly hair, nice smile, seems sweet, what’s not too like? I also like the guy from New Zealand. John and I have dubbed him “the hobbit.” Interesting elimination challenge too, having them go head to head cooking classics against each other. I could not believe that the two people who got chicken piccata apparently did not know what chicken piccata really is, and I think it was a little unfair to put soufflés on there. Soufflés are really hard if you don’t have a recipe to check proportions! I also totally called the person who ended up going home. See, I’m being vague so as to not be a spoiler, but it was pretty darn clear who messed up their dishes in both the quick-fire and the elimination challenge with fairly basic, un-chefly mistakes.

I’m not sure what I think about the whole “we’re a couple” thing with the one pair of chefs. I mean, they may both be fabulous cooks, but it feels a little like stunt casting. We’ll see. And no, my problem with it has nothing to do with them being a lesbian couple. If you think that about me, you haven’t been paying attention. I will close by saying this: Bravo, the show works the way it is. You don’t need stunts or chefs swearing all the time. Just interesting judges, good challenges, and of course, talented chefs. Thanks for giving me a reason to look forward to Wednesdays again for a while.

This morning, when my clock radio went off, I rolled over, and without conscious thought, turned it off. I slept a total of an extra 58 minutes. 58 glorious extra minutes! It wasn’t just good – it was full on Tony the Tiger Grrreat. It meant I didn’t make my get up early goal for the day and I had to do some rushing around, but it was totally worth it. I felt so much more like me all day today.

In other news, apparently I should complain about the stock market more regularly, since all three of the major indices posted crazy gains today. Yippee! Now let’s keep our fingers crossed that they don’t all turn around and drop again tomorrow. Slow and steady growth, please. Good for the economy, good for jobs, good for all of us.

And finally, does anyone watch the Biggest Loser? Why didn’t they vote anyone off tonight? And how fake was Bob’s “Oh my gosh, Mark is back!” act? Also, why are the girls being whiny babies? Yes, it is unfair that men lose more weight and lose it faster than women. In fact, it sucks. But you’re ten weeks in to the show – it’s not like that is brand new information. Oh, and who do you think would win a cage match between Jillian and Allison Sweeney? Jillian looks tough, but Allison’s got all those years as Sami on Days of Our Lives under her belt. That’s got to count for something.

So I’ve been a little busy lately. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up my blog today and saw it was completely blank! When your job involves giving people advice about the stock market and the stock market decides to lose its fucking mind for an extended period of time, life can get complicated. While I personally don't give the advice, it is my job (in a way) to ensure that advice gets from the advice givers to the customers in a timely fashion. This entails, well, a lot of time and effort on my part, to keep it nice and vague. Although really, half of the people at my company have blogs now, so I don’t think writing about my job carries the same peril as it did before. Still, better safe than sorry.

Anyway, work=busy and exhausting. Plus I’ve been doing the whole getting up earlier thing, which leaves me even more exhausted. And then they (they being the guv’mint) had to go and move daylight savings time up, which means that for the last two days I got up even earlier. I heard an interview with some expert on the radio who said that if you get thrown off by switching the clock forward one hour, you probably have some underlying sleep problem. Well, duh. I could have told him that.

And hey, I turned 37. I ate Indian food and brownies, and got presents, and fielded calls from friends and family. I have no complaints about that, although it is a little weird to be officially in my late thirties. My friend Laila recently came across a videotape from our Beach Week trip after we graduated from high school, and she claims that I have not changed a bit, but I know that is a lie. Back then I was thinner, blonder, and had way less grey hair. Being 18 was fun, but overall I’d say life is definitely better now, grey hair, crazy stock market and all.

No, the other thing…no the other one…running outside.

This week’s training run distance was eight miles. Now, I conquered 7 miles last week, so while I was a little nervous about running eight miles, I thought I could probably do it. However, I wanted to run outside this time because a) I will not be able to run the actual race on the treadmill, and b) it was supposed to be nice out today, and I’m desperate for even a hint of spring.

This meant that it was time for coping mechanism #1: shopping. First, I went in search of that dorkiest of accessories, the waist pack. I desperately need to get new contacts, so I have to be able to carry both my contact case and my glasses with me when I run in case I have to take my contacts out at some point. Yes, I really am blind enough that if I don’t have either my glasses or my contacts, running around outside would be seriously dangerous for me. After securing myself a sweet little fanny pack (shudder) I went looking for a lightweight running jacket. Why is it that so many of the exercise clothes makers assume that women want ridiculously ugly workout gear? I’m not interested in magenta or lime green clothes. And Under Armour, why is your crap so incredibly expensive? I don’t care if your jacket is made from the same advanced polymer as the space shuttle, $90 is way too much money for a little jacket. I couldn't find a jacket to buy, so coping mechanism #1 was only partially successful.

Coping mechanism #2: read a book, didn’t really seem to apply. I’ve tried reading running magazines a couple of times, and typically I find their training tips confusing. I’m all for articles like “we test new running shoes and rate them” but I find the profiles of people who run ten marathons per year in 2 hours and 19 minutes too intimidating. And what the hell is a tempo run anyway?

Coping mechanism #3, baking, would have been actually counter-productive, so I didn’t bother with it.

So I came home, ate lunch, and loaded up my fancy new gear (aka the waist pouch), got changed, and headed out for my run. It went pretty well at first. I had forgotten to charge up my iPod, so it conked out on me about three miles in. At four miles, I actually felt surprisingly good. At five miles, I hit a hill and wanted to lie down and die, but kept going. I may have walked just a little bit on the hill. Then my right foot started to hurt, so I walked a little bit more. Finally, the end was in sight! I turned in to my neighborhood, ran half a block, and my body just flat out quit on me. It was like it went “hey, we’re home! I’m done.” even though I still had half a mile to go. I’d run a few steps and then walk, then run a few more, and walk. Mostly I walked. As I crested the overly steep hill upon which my house sits, I gathered enough energy to run the last tenth of a mile, and then I was home. At which time I caught a glimpse of myself in the storm door – crazy hair straggling out of my pony tail and frizzing, red, sweaty face, runny nose, and huffing and puffing chest. Wow, do I make running glamorous.

I staggered inside, feeling like crap. After a shower and some time hanging out on the couch I felt closer to human, but now I am completely exhausted, and my ankles hurt and feet hurt. I’m going to keep at it, because I really want to do this race, but outdoor running? Still not my friend.

At least I can say I (mostly) ran eight miles. Farthest I've ever run!