The Half Marathon Runner

Emily is miffed at me cuz I didn't tell her until last night that I was running a 1/2 marathon this morning.

I'm at work right now and have been here late all week. I didn't want anyone to feel obligated to come since I wouldn't be much fun with all the work I need to do. And watching long runs are pretty boring.

So yes, I ran 13.2 miles this morning after all of 7 weeks of training. I wasn't getting out swimming or biking (too much effort apparently), I needed a goal for my exercising, and this was a pretty low-key race so I chose it. Melissa, her mother, and her sister all did it last year and told me it was really nice.

They also told me there was the big hill, but it wasn't that bad and the area was beautiful.

I chose to ignore the "big hill" part of that sentence and focus on the "wasn't that bad".

Every hill we went up (it was an out and back) I thought to myself that maybe this is the hill they were talking about.... then the road went DOWN into the valley and I knew the truth of the BIG hill.

I bet it was more than 12% grade.

Yes, I walked back up it. When the going gets tough, the Melanie slows down. This is why I can recover quickly after my events... I don't actually ever push myself.

My original time goal was 2:30 but after trying a "long run" (just over 7 miles) one Saturday my goal changed to "I hope I can finish", although I was hoping for under 3 hrs. I did it in about 2:43! Pretty proud of myself.

Now I am dead tired (I never sleep when I'm nervous/excited) and pretty sore (I need new running shoes but didn't want to get them right before the race), but I have a medal and that's all I care about right now.

Go me!

PS. They only had 3 porta pottys there at the beginning for ALL the runners. I didn't want to wait in line for 30 minutes since the race started in 20 minutes so I figured I'd go out on the course (this race included a full marathon, 50 miles, and 100 miles so they had porta pottys out there for them) but unfortunately everyone else had that idea too. I kept telling myself I'd stop at the next one since there was always a line... even at the end. Boy was I ever glad to get home I can tell you!
PPS. It started out SO COLD and then got hot and windy. For the last couple miles I could barely hear my book on tape. Dumb changing weather.
PPPS. I don't have any pictures, but I'll post something once the race puts some up.

A Simple Target

What does a pile of rubber bands,

And a home(work)made target

Placed on the wall across from my desk

mean?

It means Melanie is going crazy at work.

Conference

I LOVE conference. No stress, no responsibilities. Just sit and be fed. I totally understand why people pay clergy to preach to them. Nothing is required of them on Sunday!

I think I might have mentioned that before. I'm afraid the people at work might think I am a bit fanatical. Everyone heard how excited I was for it. Arvid asked if it was boring.. and hadn't I already heard it all before? No! and ... we all need to be reminded.

I did go to work yesterday after conference but just for a couple of hours last night. Mostly because I felt bad that Arvid, Akiko, and Tandra were all there during the day. I have such a high opinion of myself that I think I can get everything done next week although I know it will all be late nights.

This is my conference watching set up.... cleaned up a bit for the picture :-)

I took the used bowls and glasses of juice off of the piano bench and back into the kitchen. See all my crocheting needs on the piano bench with my notebook and remote controls? And then the yarn and stuffing (I was making a last minute elephant and pig Friday night for the fair). Don't forget the basket of Easter candy there under the bench!

Oops.. it suddenly got all quiet on the streaming video I have going here on the computer. Ah.. the prophet came in. I better go downstairs for the last session. I'll be so sad when it's over.

A Much Needed Break

I didn't have to work Friday! Since the powers that be have asked we only do overtime if it is STRICTLY necessary (translation they want you to think: We are starting to wind down and getting to the end of our budget so don't blow it! True translation: You are now going to be donating some work) I kindly offered to take Friday off since I had worked last Saturday. What a good employee I am.

On Thursday morning Arvid hemmed and hawed in the right direction (that even tempered Norwegian can never give a straight yes or no answer) so I told him he had until 5 pm to decide if it was OK. At 4:30 I came in to ask something about my bridge and he said "So your not coming in tomorrow?" And I replied, "That is correct".

I love manipulating my boss.

I had such a long list of things I wanted to do! I told everyone at the RS activity Thursday night my list. One of the ladies asked me how many of those things I thought I'd get done. Maybe 3.

Here it is:
Long Run (check... Friday AND Saturday )
Oil Change (check)
Talk to Bethanie for 3 hours (check)
Visit Melissa (in the hospital... the actual plan was to visit at her house but no such luck. They are upping his meds and he has to stay at the hospital through 5 doses. He did break the 5 day record at home by one day)
Go to the Temple (check)
Go to the Library for Books on Tape and THAT'S ALL. (check)
Walmart run (check.. though I still forgot a few things on that list)
Finish crocheting items to send (check)
Taxes (check.. Saturday)
Mail Package (check)(actually that was my Saturday run... to the post office)
Re pot and deadhead indoor plants (check)
Clean out outside garden (check)
Home Depot run (check) (OK so that wasn't really on my list.. I decided to get some flowers)
Wash Windows ....

So I got everything done except washing the windows! And that might happen tonight. I say might because I bought 2 books last night in celebration. I told myself I would get Brandon Mull's and Garth Nix's new books SATURDAY NIGHT if I got my list done (I had to do Saturday night otherwise I would read them and get nothing done!). Read one last night and am about 1/3rd through the second (I'm actually pretty proud of myself for not reading this morning).

Now I need to get to church. I got up early this morning thinking I could get some stuff done before church but now I'm going to be late. Sigh. People with 10 kids get to church on time and I can't get my little ol' self there on time!

Making A Candle

The last few days at work have been no fun at all. I blame it on the speed of this submittal (2 weeks to design and produce drawings for a 2 span bridge) but in all reality it is completely MY fault I missed two major design changes and made a couple mistakes in my calculations which resulted in changes to the drawings. The hardest part is that Arvid is the one taking the brunt of it since he is doing the QA/QC of my drawings. Even now, while I can have Sunday off, he and the drafters are there now. I offered to come in this evening, but he said I could get done my part on Monday (agreeing with his redlines).

Needless to say the upkeep of my house and person has suffered somewhat (I have spent the last couple evening either laying in my bed, reading in my bed, or sleeping in my bed.. depending on the lateness of the hour that I arrived home). So today after looking around I decided to strip my bed, start the washer, and make a candle (having never made one before).

That's the smart thing to do when ur housework falls behind, right?

First I cleaned out an old candle, saving the metal thing at the bottom, and made a wick. After doing extensive online research about wicks (about 2 minutes) I braided 3 strips of cotton material and painted it with a permanent marker (They said to put some sort of mordant in it to retard the flame... mordant sets dyes so I figured a permanent marker is a sort of dye. This is how my mind works).
I melted some wax in my double boiler (a floating metal mixing bowl in boiling water) and then dumped in the wax.Notice the two colors? I had two colors of wax. This is the candle cooling in a water bath. (The pliers are for pulling the pan out of the boiling water)

And it worked!

I was actually thinking I'd have a post about how not to make a candle, but it's still burning.. even after cooking sauce for lasagna (now there's some comfort food. I haven't had time to go to the store so I needed to make something out of my cupboards/freezer) and writing this post. I probably should blow it out now if I want to stop the two colors from mixing, but I'm afraid the wick will turn to ash and I won't be able to light it again.

Now I will finish making the lasagna and perhaps the world will be OK again.

PS. To top it off Arvid is the one telling me to learn from the mistakes and MOVE ON. The other night I took advantage of his words and said something rather harsh. All he did was say "Jeez!". Talk about making a person feel bad... (I'm such a girl :-) I need to do better. Everyone at work needs a break. Perhaps after this goes in on Tuesday we can breathe more easily since we have the whole of the next 2 months to design our last set of bridges.

7 Wonders of the Day

The Readers Digest mentions a book that talks about the 7 Wonders of the Day, such as finding money in your pocket and high fiving babies. I'm going to make my own list.

My favorite one they mention from the book I'm going to add to my list and I didn't restrict my list to one day.

1. The other side of the Pillow

2. Climbing into clean sheets

3. Getting home from work when the sun is still up

4. Coming downstairs in the morning to a clean kitchen

5. Getting a thankyou note in the mail

6. Drinking fresh made orange juice

7. Sister answering the phone on the first ring

Update: Squishy was back in the hospital Wednesday but he's going home today with new drugs. Lets pray they work.

Goodbye Mop

You know those ads on TV for the Swiffer Mop and the poor old broom and mop get discarded?

Well, when my wonderful sister Emily was here for the Cherry Chub reunion she got me a Swiffer Mop. I used it for the first time the other day (don't judge me.. I've been at work.). Next thing you know....

Goodbye Mop. Too bad there aren't any pink flamingos in the neighborhood for you to hook up with.

PS. I need to add a caviot to a comment two posts ago about Arvid being only 0.28 of an engineer (I might have mentioned something about it at work and Angus kindly offered to give Arvid the address of this blog... I know I know how to keep my mouth shut, but for some reason I fail to use this skill when I need it (ALL THE TIME)). Arvid was/is busy doing other things than helping us 24/7 with our bridges. If you add up all the time he spends at work you will probably get a 1.28 engineer, or more.. probably more like 2.28. I actually feel sorry for him right now because he's the one adressing all the comments for Bridge Package 2, redlining up the drawings, and organizing the drafters. Again I ask... what are those Seattle dudes DOING all day?