and one more thing

did anyone else out there, upon hearing the news that marcel marceau had passed away, react by miming sadness or was that just me?

it's the weekend, and you know what that means

another weekend and that means another race... this time we did the Panerathon 5k. it was a more "challenging" course than last weekend (there were hills) so I ended up three seconds slower than last week. that's such a bummer. however, I did totally blow past this woman on the last hill and I could sort of feel her spirit crumble as I ran by and that was kind of nice.

this week I tried to do an interval workout during the race to see if that made me any faster (you know, one minute on, one minute off, two on, two off, three on, three off, repeat...) I think that's a bad idea during a race. the only thing it seemed to do was mess with the other runners around me. serioulsy, I could tell it was freaking people out. sor-ree.

next week I think we're doing some kind of dinky 5k on Saturday which means I'll get to sleep in on Sunday. yea!!!!!! I can't remember the last time I had a relaxing, sit on the couch and do nothing Sunday. ah... can't wait!

too much drama

about a year ago, I was completely hooked on grey's anatomy. I watched it religiously every week and, if I could be around for the "live" show, I'd make sure I caught it some other way. however, as the season went on, I found myself watching it less and less. I'm not sure if it was the unbelievable dramas with which the characters are confronted or the unbelievable whininess with which the characters deal with their problems that began to bug me. whatever the case, I didn't even bother to watch the season finale. or the episode before that. or the episode before that, or the episode before that...

last night I was home building some furniture that I just bought so I turned on the TV. Ugly Betty was on and I definitely have a soft spot for that show. Ugly Betty was followed by the season finale of grey's. I watched it. and it was bad. full of unnecessary and unbelievable plots and lots of bad acting. so the question is, what's changed? is it me or is it the show? me thinks it's me but me don't know.

anyway, I'm pretty excited about this weekend: Jen and Noble are driving through town on their way from CA to PA and they're staying with me from Sunday night until Tuesday! however, I've got a lot cleaning to before they get here...

oh, and I'm also running in another 5K. last weekend, I was second in my age group (and there were more than two of us!). this weekend, I just want to run faster than I did last weekend. and who knows, maybe one of these weekends I'll be the only one in my age group and you know what that means - I win!

I think it's time

for me to actually own my own place.

on Friday, I sort of had this epiphany, gut feeling, whatever, that I should look into buying a place. not a house. more like a condo or townhouse type thing. and probably not in Boulder. more like in Denver. in a quaint city neighborhood like the one I lived in in Pittsburgh. after a year and a half, I'm kinda done with Boulder. for a young, non-married person, childless person, this place only really makes sense for a few years. don't get me wrong, it's great and all, in some ways. but in some ways, it's just bizarre. so many of the other young, non-married, childless people here are searching for "something." in fact, I'd say that about 80% of the young, non-married, childless people here are searching for "something."

granted, we've all had times in our lives when we've been searching for something and I think that during those times, people are more, hmm... shall we say self-centered? so imagine living in a town that's full of self-centered people.then, on top of that, imagine living in a town where you have to be understanding and mindful of other people's self-centeredness. plus this place is just so small and homogeneous.

so, I've been doing some browsing on-line and getting excited about the prospect of finally getting to pick my own paint colors. today I got a recomendation for a real estate agent in Denver. the next step is working up the courage to call. this could be hard, given my committment issues and my difficulty making big, life changing decisions. however... I think it's time.

smaller numbers all around

another sunday, another race. this time, we did a 5K (so that's smaller mileage) and I ran a lot faster than last week (like 1.5 minutes a mile faster) and, my bib number this week was 10 (last week it was 11). so there you have it. smaller numbers all around. that's a good thing.

next week Boy and I tackle the Panerathon - a 5K sponsored by Panera bread with free food at the end!

where do you live?

I feel like this is an abbot and costello routine waiting to happen.

A: "Where do you live?"

C; "I live on A street."

A: "Well I know you live on a street but which street?"

C: "A street."

A: "No, no, no. What's the name of you're street?"

C: "I already told you. It's A street!"

See what I mean?

happy football season everyone!

yes, that's right, it's started again. football season is here. and, having a dad who had season tickets for the Steelers and only had daughters, I was raised to like football.

the Steelers' posse reconviened today after a long break and it made me realize that I kinda like hanging out with guys sometimes. I haven't seen these guys in almost a year but did any of them question our friendship? wonder what was wrong and if were mad at them? think that I had wronged them by not talking to them for so long? nope. just a simple "good to see you again. how've you been?" and everything was good. oh, and the Steelers won. that's always good too.

I didn't make it to the the game until late in the second quarter because Boy and his brother made me run in a 10K in Nederland, Co this morning (which is like 8,400 ft.). I know this race was at high altitude and all but man, I used to be in way better shape... despite the fact that boot camp has started up again (yes, I'm doing it AGAIN), I'm considering running in some kind of race every weekend from now until... well, until I don't feel like it anymore. this feeling may pass quickly but for now, I'm considering another 10K at the Res. in Boulder next weekend. it's only $20 to enter and you get a shirt. sign me up!

words I never thought I'd say and mean

"I could really use a thimble right now."

the shirt

I've been watching a lot of the U.S. Open these past few days and I'm absolutely fascinated by the fact that in almost every men's match, at least one of the guys is wearing this shirt. in one of the matches over the weekend, both guys were wearing "the shirt" in the same color.

interestingly enough, the shirt has a fairly high sucess rate. it almost always wins. there's gotta be something to that.

spoke too soon?

okay, so thank all of you who have expressed concern over my potentially problematic personal position this past weekend. the good news is that things with Boy are on the mend. after a few days of thinking about it all, Boy and I got together and had one of those really good conversations where you feel connected with and therefore closer to the person you're talking with. I've got to tell you, it restored my faith in humanity a bit which I needed, given what I've dealt with the past three years.

after two disastrous relationships and a few failed friendships with individuals who did things like used a spreadsheet to keep track of the status/value of their friendships and or got crazy, freaky, upset because they didn't get their way, I was beginning to think that people (or the people I tend to find myself around) just sort of suck. (not you guys, of course. you guys are all awesome!)

it's not so much that I thought people suck, more that a lot of people are stuck in their own drama and couldn't give two hoots (or even one) about anybody else. I think this is true about a certain percentage of the population and, unfortunately, a large portion of that certain percentage live in boulder (but that's a topic for another post). I was beginning to think that Boy was one of these people and it's so nice to know that he's not. it's also nice to have that core connection to someone, where you're able to see each other for everything you are, good, bad, and the stuff in between, even if that connection lasts for just for a moment, so long as you get a moment every now and then.

you could probably tell from my last post that things have gotten a little iffy with me and Boy. while all relationships have rough patches, I think it's safe to say this is more than a patch. and, looking back on my blog entries, I can't help but return to the quiz my friends m&m invented for me last summer. Boy did not pass the quiz and I probably should have respected those results. sigh...

okay, so Boy's parents are in town this weekend and I've been tagging along to a lot of their events. they are nice people. lovely people, in fact. however, it's been a bit tough for me and I know that Boy would never understand why. for various reasons, I've had a hard time feeling like I'm even part of my own family so spending so much time with someone else's family feels strange to me. on top of that, Boy's brother, David, also lives in Boulder so there's four of them and one of me and I can't help but feel like the fifth wheel, especially when I'm the one sitting at the special chair that's been added to the end of the four person table.

through the personal narrative called my life, I've come to discover that I'm a bit of a loner (probably more than a bit). while I enjoy social interactions and what have you, I'm just very used to having time to myself and it feels really, really uncomfortable when I don't get it. sometimes it makes me tired. and sometimes I just need some down time. this weekend, I haven't gotten it. but Boy never needs downtime. and Boy doesn't like to be alone. he's a triplet (have I mentioned this before?) and his family is actually normal and happy and not at all disfunctional (which, personally, I consider abnormal) so he just doesn't get why I might be uncomfortable or unhappy (ever). and I know he never will.

so what do you do with a situation like this? sometimes I think it's nearly impossible (through no fault of his own) for him to truly understand the heart of who I am, what I've been through, what I'm feeling, etc. sometimes I think that's bad. and then other times, I think it's good that he's so different and has such a different perspective. it's confusing. it's tough. and it's what I've been thinking about the most lately. sigh...

run away!

it's the end of august and the students are back in town. and that means the town is crazy like an i-hop on Sunday after church gets out.

I needed to go to target today after work to pick up a prescription for Abby. (yes, that's right. my dog shops at target.) however, the parking lot was total chaos, complete with packs of roving frat type guys and gangs of girls with shorts too short and hair too long. I don't know what it is with these types of people but they seem to be unable to both walk and pay attention to the world around them at the same time.

after struggling through the parking lot for five painful minutes, seeing nary an empty spot, I decided to ditch the mission. the craziness of the parking lot was reflected in the traffic around town too but I eventually made it back to the safety of my apartment, slightly north of, and therefore isolated from, the campus/town environment. thank god.

my new plan is to go back to target early on saturday morning, before the students are up and out. but actually, it doesn't have to be that early. I remember when I was an undergrad, I'd get miffed if people were being loud in the dorm before 11:00 on a weekend. seems like sleeping that late would be physically impossible for me now. wow - I think I've maybe grown up...

Colorado's most famous export, next to Coors

I think I may have a 24-hour bug. at least, I hope that's what it is - I'm tired, my body aches, and, despite the fact that it's aproaching 90 outside, I'm cold. part of me wonders if I have west nile. Boy insists that I don't. but I might. we are prone to west nile out here and I have gotten about a zillion mosquito bites in the past month. however, I'm resisting the temptation to look up west nile symptoms on-line because the last time I used Web-MD, I convinced myself that I had menengitus.

so, it's beautiful and sunny out (of course it is) and I'm lying on my couch, under a blanket, being sick. but, this is not a sad thing - a few hours ago, I discovered that there's a Dog the Bounty Hunter marathon on tv. I'm way behind on my New Yorkers, I'm reading like three books right now, and there is the Sunday Times. but a dose of trashy tv is good for you, every now and then, and right now, this is just what the doctor ordered!

Boy and I saw wait, wait, don't tell me last night, which was good. but... I kind of thought that, being at a live taping, there'd be more to it than the normal show, especially since the tickets were like $45 a piece. however, there wasn't. hmm... me thinks public radio is probably doing okay.

anyway, the show was good, none the less, and what was most interesting to me was how spry Carl Kasell is. I wouldn't thought he was the type of guy to run across stage and energetically high-five people but you know what? he is.

in other news, I discovered today that if you go to flickr and search on my ex-husband's name, you'll find a picture of him dressed in black and dancing, by himself, with a white feather boa. um... do you think I should be reading into that at all? what if I tell you that the picture was taken in San Francisco? should I be reading even more into it?

what can I say? I'm on the cutting edge of exercise. read this article to see what I mean.

while exercising this morning, I rode past a u-cut christmas tree place on the way to work and it made me wonder if other languages/cultures substitute single letters for entire words the way that we do. who amongst you would know? Cara would. but she's in Africa right now. hopefully she's keeping up with my blog while on safari.

I also rode past a truck that had a Jobox on the back of it. Jobox, which combines the words job and box into one, seems to be the opposite of the bicapitalization craze that's going on right now. I wonder if, in a few years, the bicapitalization thing will reverse and we'll go with the smushing thing instead? so many questions about language today...

let's see... what else... oh, I've been seeing a lot of humming birds lately which I find interesting. until this year, I had never actually seen a humming bird. others would see them and say "oh my god! a humming bird!" but when I'd turn to look, s/he'd be gone.so far this week I have seen three. I was buzzed by two of them while drinking a beer on the deck of the potbelly restaurant and bar after my first leg of the wild west relay. then I saw another one while I was out for a run earlier this week. they are so little and delicate. and their wings make the most overwhelming sound (especially when they fly close to your head). I am enamored with them right now.

oh! and Boy and I are going to see Wait wait... Don't tell me! tonight. very exciting. even though you've chosen not to hire me twice now, I still love you, NPR.

my toe is bloody

seems to happen every year after I run a lot. yet again, one of my toenails has fallen victim to the wild west relay. what's interesting is that it's a different toe. and actually, I think this one is going to make it (unlike the others that eventually fell off). this may be a gross topic for some of you but hey, it is what it is.

not that you care, but:

right now I am eating the best salad EVER. I bought it this morning at whole foods. it's pre-made and, of course, was a expensive. it's a little salad and I stood in the salad aisle for a while, wondering whether or not this little salad was worth $3.99. I thought it wouldn't be but I bought it anyway. and, to my surprise, I'd say it's actually worth $4.25. super yummy. super, super, super yummy!

hi. I'm an aunt.



isn't he cute? :)

we all have those days at work every once in a while but in my new position, I have this new coworker who seems to be one of those people who, as my friend Mike would say, "lifts herself up on the misfortunes of others" and so she hasn't been the most cooperative/helpful person and so I think my day can best be summed up with this.

anyway, it's not all bad. we ran a timed mile in boot camp today and I shaved almost a minute off my time from four weeks ago. seeing as four weeks ago, my time was 8:30, that's not so bad.