NBG 2.014 Fun Run

It WAS fun! The lights at the botanical garden were lovely. My favorite was the moon and starts display. But holy crap there were a lot of people stopping to take pictures! I nearly ran into them. I'm not sure I'm such a fan of the stopping for pictures, but then maybe I'm too serious. Come on. I'm trying to RUN here. In the dark. With only the holiday lighting displays to guide me. 

(Erin. Lighten the f*** up)

Ya. I'm still slow. My pace was 13:40. My last 5k pace was 12:29 and it about killed me, as Les would say. It was tough, for sure. This 13:40 was a good pace, though. And it was only 2 miles. And I've been doing run-walk-run training, which feels weird, and I ran the NBG as straight running, no breaks. After my 6 mi run last weekend, 2 miles doesn't seem like much. At the finish line, while waiting for me, Kent heard some runners talking about potholes. I didn't encounter any, but early on I noticed there was some pavement heaving from past freezes (or something) so I was already on the lookout for things to NOT trip over. Because I'm a bit clumsy.

First "race" of the year. Check! Kent called it a run. I corrected him. If you have to pay and you get a t-shirt and you get a bib (even if EVERYONE had the same number, haha it was number 2014) it's a race, no matter whether you race the race or just run the race. Ya, there's a difference. I ran the race. The timing clock said 28:42 minutes. My running app said 28:12 minutes and I killed the app 10 seconds after I crossed the finish. That's not the first time my app has logged me 30 seconds faster than the timing clock. I'm not sure what's up with that. Bad app? I hope not. I love this app. Next year: wear 

Next race: Virginia Is For Lovers 14k, Feb 15. 8.7 miles-ish. Someone come run it with me!!!! I'm running to finish, not racing for a personal best. Personal bests can come later. 

Meanwhile...weave weave weave! Still finishing up a Christmas gift on MayMac. I'll be working on that today as my vacation grinds away to its end. I return to work Jan 6. Damn! I want another week off! Or how about a month? And still get paid, thanks. It's been a nice two weeks. One week at Nags Head, NC, this week here at home. This morning's conversation:

Kent: What are your plans for today?

Me: I have none! hahaha!

But I actually do because I need to visit the mall for leggings at WHBM (the BEST leggings, lemme tell you), go to the pharmacy and the grocery store. In other words...errands. And a run sometime today. Before the rain gets too icky.

Because metamorphosis

Things have been changing dramatically over the past few years. I've gotten more and more involved with weaving, less and less involved with knitting and spinning and fluting. Getting less involved with flute is a huge departure for me because I've been playing nearly continuously for 40 years. I started young. Two things have taken the place of my fluting. Running and weaving. I've written about weaving.

And I haven't written at all, or hardly at all, about running, and I've kept somewhat quiet about it in general. I started running in June of this year.It didn't occur to me at the time that I could have chosen a different time of the year to start outdoor exercise. I just knew that I was turning 50 and I needed to run and that was that. There's an app for that!

Lots of very good apps, actually. I chose the Couch to 5k from Cool Running (coolrunning.com, not to be confused with Cool Runnings the movie loosely based on the Jamaican bobsled team). It's a good app and it got me to my first 5k. I knew I loved running after the first week, even though it was hard, hot, exhausting, sweaty, and expensive (shoes! holy crap!). I don't know if I've ever achieved that "runner's high" but there are plenty of times when there arrives a state of calm and effortlessness that is so relaxing and it melts all the tension away.

Six months on I've finished four 5k races (one on Thanksgiving in Sumter, SC., with my fabulously supportive sister-in-law), and am training for a couple of half marathons in 2014. Here's my line-up for this coming year.

• New Years Day: 2.014 mile fun run through the Norfolk Botanical Gardens Holiday Lights display
• January Challenge: Run every day (at least one mile, with Leslie and Rosenda)
• February 15: Virginia Is For Lovers 14k
• March 15: Shamrock 8k
• May 24: Elizabeth River 10k
• August 31: Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon
• October 4: Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon (with Leslie)
• October 25: maybe the Wicked 10k (probably)
• November: Sumter Turkey Trot (for sure, with Leslie)
• December: Surf-n-Santa 10k (probably)

And I might sprinkle in some 5Ks if I think I need a little interim excitement. Racing is FUN!

My dream race is the NYC Marathon.

Another race I'd like to do is either a half or a full marathon at Disney World. It looks like incredible fun. Or a race in Europe. Also someday. But clearly I'm addicted to this. It has kept me sane, and therefore employed because I didn't up and quit, through a personally terrible year of work. I've also lost about 25 lbs - which was not the primary goal but I'll take it! I need to take at least another 25 or 30 off before I feel like I'm fit enough to start training for a marathon. And do more cross training. I've tried hot yoga. Kent thrives on it but the jury is still out on that for me.

"Add 1 heaping scoop to 8oz of milk or water"

Why is it always that said scoop is at the BOTTOM of the can of protein powder when you first open it?

As the zombie trainer on my Couch-to-5k app says: aaarrrghhhhhhh.

Sarah, Pirate Dog. Aaargh...woof

I'm so sad to report that Sarah, our oldest dog, had to give up her left eye due to glaucoma. Very big sigh. She did great with the surgery, has eaten, had some water, took her antibiotics and pain killers, and has mostly been napping tonight. She even got to have her teeth cleaned and three of them extracted while she was sedated. Good thing, too, because two were close to abscessing.Thank goodness!!! The good people at Dog & Cat Hospital here in Ghent were wonderful, and as usual she charms everyone who meets her.  Her right eye still has some sight, and we'll be treating it twice a day with prednisone drops. Forever. She is a special dog.

She doesn't have a pirate patch, but we might let her wear one for Halloween. 

Update: Overnight went great, this morning Sarah was pretty spunky and snugly for a dog who had surgery less than 24 hours ago. Scarfed up her pudding-like recovery food. Tonight we try out dry food soaked in water. Amazing how she changes when she's not so much in pain. 

In other news, Samantha is back with Kat. I supported Kat in her decision to give temporary custody of Sam to Kat's older sister because I think it was the right thing to do at the time. Now that Kat has a more stable home and work situation, Sam is moving back to Kat. I'm so happy for them both and I think we'll get to see them next weekend.

Last week I attended a delightful weaving conference. I forgot to bring the good camera. Big fail. I have some iPhone pictures but they don't do justice to the excellent weaving I saw. I was so, so, so inspired. So much so that I am finally almost done with winding the warp for the Bambu 12 shawl in gold and dark gold. As I'm winding I'm also considering that the pattern I'd chosen is maybe not the one I want to use with this fiber. I saw a wonderful example of dimity and I want to do that. I'll probably find a basic pattern in the Davis book, and I'll do a little reading on dimity rules. It'll be a two color warp and a two color weft, in big plaids. I do like plaid. Checks. Colors that cross. 

I'm sure it's dicey to change course in the middle of winding a warp. I might be creating extra work for myself. Oh wait. I am DEFINITELY creating extra work for myself. It's worth it to create something unique and all my own. A large check in dimity, inspired by Marjie Thompson. 

Weaving: Where The Inspiration Comes From

September 2011
For this latest project, the Autumn Towels, I was inspired by two things. First, I read a post on http://rigidheddleweaving.com/blog/plaid about an online tool for creating your own plaid patterns. I browsed to the site, and while I was looking at all these lovely Scottish plaids and whatnot, I thought oh how lovely a plaid in fall colors would be. So, that blog post and the change of seasons is what got under my skin. 

In real life the colors are a little brighter, but this is really turning out exactly as I had envisioned it here, or well pretty close. Below is my calculations for warp and weft and how the colors should line up and how many of each should be sleighed in which order. This was right before I figured out how to read a weaving draft.

September 2012
My original plan had been to show how I set this thing up. As I was sleighing, I realized where I'd made some mistakes. I hadn't planned on doubling the Cottolin. And I don't remember why I wound the warp that way. But I did, and wove it as such. I used the tartan generator online to construct the plaid just the way I wanted it.  

I also recognized during the weaving itself, as I did further research into Tartans, that what I was weaving was truly a plaid, not a tartan. Tartan plaids have very specific criteria, to begin with they are done in a twill and have an odd number of colors. Ha. No twill here, no sir, not on a rigid heddle loom! Actually, I'll bet Jane could figure out how to do twill on an RH, but I'll forego and use the floor loom for that business. Also, an even number of colors. There are a gazillion mistakes and I learned so much from this project. 

It's bright and cheerful and plain woven and soft and wonderful. I love it. It's also VERY long and I'm thinking I can get several fun towels from it. Hm...Christmas presents? I think I have another post about this project but this is, as Paul Harvey would say, is "the rest of the story."

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm a foodie.

"Although the two terms were sometimes used interchangeably, foodies used to differ from gourmets in that gourmets were epicures of refined taste, whereas foodies were amateurs who simply loved food for consumption, study, preparation, and news.^[1] Gourmets simply want to eat the best food, whereas foodies want to learn everything about food, both the best and the ordinary, and about the science, industry, and personalities surrounding food.^[2] After some time of differentiating between the two, the term Foodie is now considered the term for food exploration and enjoyment, whether gourmet or not, thus superseding the term Gourmet."--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

I should be coding my monster Excel project for work, and instead I am scheduling our next trip to New York City. Partly because I feel like crap (BPPV again), my eyes hurt, and the thought of staring at code for three hours is migraine-inducing. Because of the vertigo.

Oh hell, call it was it is: let's just say Manhattan because we won't go north of Central Park, or further west than the Brooklyn end of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

We were at Sinigual, this really wonderful Mexican restaurant in Midtown with Kent's cohort from CAPE, and one of them said "So, are you guys foodies?" We'd been raving about Colicchio & Sons, and that place in Pittsburgh with the amazing beef, and I said "nah, I dunno, seems like it has such negative connotations." Snobby. Then I started thinking. Hm. I think everyone who knows us would probably call us foodies. 150 (estimated) cookbooks, and three of them are Michael Ruhlman and one is Thomas Keller. We pine for Top Chef when it's on hiatus. We attempt unique and interesting cooking adventures at home. I spend quality time with Roberta's food dictionary whenever we visit her home. We go out of our way to find the right knife, not necessarily the best knife, and the right pot, not necessarily the best pot - although Le Cruset is pretty much the be-all-end-all for enameled cast-iron cookware. And who needs more than two? We use them all the time. LOVE. We make our own stock. Why? Well, for one I have a yeast sensitivity and it is almost impossible to find stock that doesn't contain yeast for flavoring. But when we finally finessed the crap out of our stock, we discovered that it is a) the easiest thing in the world to make and requires almost no attention and b) tastes amazing without adding anything else to it. It's stock with attitude. See note about Michael Ruhlman, our hero for pulling back the veil of CIA mystique and bringing beautiful food to the home. 

Yeah, I'm gushing. Which also makes me a foodie, I guess. Kent, too. The nicely balanced (no kidding) habanero slaw at Luna Maya. The juicy drippy crispy grinder at Zero's. Fellini's perfect french fries. Meatloaf at No Frill Bar & Grill. Actually, just about everything at No Frill is outstanding, but their portions are enormous and it's a bit of a turn-off. Cucumber panicotta at Colicchio & Sons. I just love the Tortilla Soup at Max & Erma's and the Southwestern Omelet at Charlie's. I will swear by  Ivar's Fish & Chips, and their clam chowder, as the best until the day I die. Bryant Park Cafe's french fries on Sunday - the oil gets old fast and it's freshest on Sunday. Go figure. Kent has a thing for the perfect french fry. I have a thing for great fish and chips. We both have a thing for yummy food, wherever it might be. 

(And while I was wandering off picking up the Michael Ruhlman link, I stumbled across one of his posts about the from-scratch BLT using his Big Green Egg. Oh. My. Goodness. Want. Someone please buy my baby grand so I can buy a Big Green Egg!)

Granted, most of this I can't even eat anymore because of the dairy and yeast thing, When I do decide to risk it, I want it to taste really, really good.

9/17 Update: Last night we caught up on Top Chef Masters - he waited for me to return from CW Seminars. Gooooooooo, Lorena! Woo!

Top Ten Non-Knitting Uses for Double-Pointed Needles (DPN)

Sometimes you just don't have the right tool for the job. You have to use whatever is nearby. For a knitter, that's usually a set (or six) double-pointed needles.

10.  Prod your unsuspecting adult child to determine his level of hungover-ness.
9.    Kebab skewer for small things. Pearl onions. Grape tomatoes. Baby bay scallops. Soak the wooden needles well before placing on grill.
8.    Pick those stubborn popcorn kernals out from between your teeth after the movie. Make sure it's clean. Eeww.
7.    Defensive weapon on the subway. Or Macy's.
6.    Move itty bitty pieces of chip solder into their rightful place on your solding project.
5.    Straight edge. If you grip your needles like your life depends on it, use them as a set of french curves.
4.    Chopsticks. Very skinny chopsticks. Must be desparate.
3.    Use multiple DPNs as a fence to keep peas from rolling off the counter
2.    Remove pimientos when your significant other prefers his green olives un-stuffed.

and my very favorite non-knitting use for DPNs...

1.   Martini olive pick. Martini aficionados know: sometimes olive picks are just too short.

 Yes, our first Broadway show.

 

Hey, where have you been?

It's been a very long time since I posted anything, and it's been a very, very busy five months.

The kitchen is 90% complete. Only a few tiles and the floor are to be finished. Finally! And we love it. 

From left, Kent (aka DH), Peanut (aka Samantha), and Kat (no aka). The photo is a little dark but check out those GORGEOUS cabinets (mahogany-stained hickory) and beautiful backsplash. Highly recommend Costco for kitchen cabinets. 

'Tis the spring/summer concert season for the Tidewater Concert Band, and we've had many gigs recently. Musically things tend to quiet down after Independence Day then pick up again around Labor Day. I'm struggling to get that Stars & Stripes piccolo solo under my fingers but it is hard. I'm not the principle piccolo but we wanted to have at least two piccs playing - for fun, you know? So, earplugs firmly in place. I continue to work. 

Did I mention I got another floor loom? La-la-la-loving it...I know I romanticize the idea of refinishing and reselling old looms but I'm sure the reality is much different. I did have fun with the first one, though.

Speaking of WORK, that ugly word, I am once again managing a software project. Ah, the glamorous life of a m******f******s***f***** business analyst. Nah, I'm kidding, it's not so bad. I am doing another project, a web app again, quite a major addition to a web reporting application that I already manage and previously implemented. It is very challenging to have two developers in one country, 10 hours ahead, and one developer in another country, two hours behind, and none in my own country. The phrase "never the twain shall meet" comes to mind. It isn't anywhere near as awful as The Project From Hell three years ago. Four years ago? Time flies. We are scheduled to "go live" next Wednesday, and we are only a week behind schedule. I would not call it an Agile project, although it started out that way, but it was definitely a rushed project. 

The last day of school was today. DH brought all his stuff home. Three bins. The foyer is again a disaster area with things to be donated and/or loaned, a large stroller and a pink Disney walker (Peanut's), a Bow-flex (anyone? Bueller?), my gig bag and music stand, and the stuff that actually lives in the foyer - salmon sofa, key table, green throw rug. 

Kat and the Peanut are staying with us for a short time. It's a little stressful having a ten-month old in the house, but also quite wonderful having them both here. They are a delight and I get to play gramma to a sweet dimpled little girl whose first words seem to be "doggie." Maggie Doggie has made sure Peanut feels welcome and has allowed herself to be used as a pillow. Tasha Doggie is gentle with her, and Sarah Doggie has kept her distance and let Peanut come to her. DH and I are both charmed, and Momma Kat is getting on her feet again.

DH has officially started his summer gig with the Google CAPE program and there is a great deal of travel occurring over the next couple of months. 

Primo (aka Nick) is still at BB and living in Ghent. Secundo (Patrick) is working, and rescuing stray baby birds, turtles, and tarantulas in Kansas. He's not a dog person, but that apple didn't roll too far away from the tree. 

Much package mailing to do and weaving photos to post. 

All is well.