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By kilax, August 4, 2012 11:46 pm

I hit 1,000 miles (run in 2012) yesterday!

I should have hit this number earlier in the week, but damn, those Olympics sure are getting in the way of getting things done. Just kidding. I mean, yeah, I am being lazy watching them, but if it wasn’t that, I would be lazy doing something* else. 

Does getting up at 4:45 am tomorrow with Erin to watch the Women’s Olympic Marathon make me not lazy? Or just stupid?

Probably stupid. But I think that the Women’s Marathon is one Olympic event I would like to see live. 

Erin and I participated in a marathon today after our 8 mile run.

I am not sure how we placed, or if we even made it to the podium. I am going to guess no.

I did find out that I don’t really care for Bloody Marys!

Alright, five hours of sleep… here I come! 

*For some reason, I first wrote someone instead of something. Hmm.

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By kilax, August 3, 2012 11:47 am

Did you have a comfort object/security blanket that you carried around as a child?

I had a little stuffed cat that my mom’s mom made me. It was really small, and kind of flat, but I loved that thing. I carried it around until it fell apart. Then I just carried its limbs. There is also a rumor that I put parts of it in my nose but that sounds disgusting so it must be untrue. 

I don’t have a photo of it (or even remember its name!) but here is my and my brother, probably about that age where I was still carrying it:

Guess what? I still have an actual blanket now, that I take with me when I travel, if I can. I made it with Steven’s mom before I went to Rome in the summer of 2005. I used it as my blanket when I lived in Rome. You’ve seen it on the blog many times:

It’s silly, but I really cherish that blanket, since I made it when Steven’s mom, and she is no longer with us. It reminds me of how generous and loving she was toward me. I casually mentioned I had been thinking of making a blanket to take to Rome and she was excited, took me out to buy supplies for me and helped me make it at their house in Kansas City. 

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By kilax, August 2, 2012 4:49 pm

In June I attempted to make a smoothie with our food processor.

I never tried a second time. Cleaning smoothie off of the counters and walls is only fun once. The second time it’s just annoying.

It’s funny – we have quite a few kitchen appliances, but not a blender. We had the “we can always just try to do it in the food processor attitude.”

Yeah. No. 

I casually mentioned wanting a blender 1,000 times and Steven’s dad got me one for my birthday! Apparently, it is also a food processor and juicer. Two things I already have! What an overachiever!

Don’t worry, this boring post will end soon. Really, I just wanted to ask:

What are your favorite smoothie combos?

I can just throw in whatever sounds good, and it will turn out amazing, right?

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By kilax, August 1, 2012 3:46 pm

It seems like time off from work is a bad idea these days. I come back to a zillion* emails and a million* new things to do on top of the list of things I already thought I had to do. STRESS.

But I had to take a personal day yesterday. It was my birthday! And for me, working on my birthday is really depressing. That last time I did was in 2008. I had to wake up early to make it to a meeting, worked all day, then cleaned my house that night because we had guests arriving the next day. I am pretty sure the day ended in tears (<– big baby alert).

Do you take the day off for your birthday? Or are you an actual grown up?

I didn’t just take the day off to lounge around the house (although maybe I should have). I had plans! I was going to do something I have wanted to do since I’ve known about the 31-mile long Des Plaines River Trail – bike the entire thing – the entire north to south length of Lake County.

Wait! Why stop there? Let’s bike it from start to finish to start – 62 miles (which ended up being 65 when it was all over, due to a few off trail adventures).

Gah! Why do I get these crazy ideas? Why doesn’t anyone stop me? Why do people actually join me?

Rode to Lake Cook Road – the road that divides Lake County and Cook County

Yes, I mentioned this idea to Erin, and she took a day off from work to ride the trail as well (yay!). She even borrowed a mountain bike to do it! The trail is crushed gravel, so that was a smart move. It was not an entirely smooth ride, and sometimes there was loose sand or rocks. By the end of the ride, I felt like I was riding only through loose sand. To be honest, the last 30 miles were tough. I am not sure eating Red Robin and having a heavy alcoholic drink was the right idea for lunch. Ha ha ha.

Actually, I think I need to fuel for my long bike rides like I do for long runs – eating more often, rather than a lot at once. Why didn’t I figure that out before? Derp.

It will be easier to remember now! I got my first official bike jersey for my birthday from my brother-in-law, Andrew! It has three pockets in the back for holding all sorts of food items. Isn’t it schweet?!

I also got a Nathan hydration pak (from my father-in-law) and new bike tires (from Steven). My new bike tires are BLUE! And they’re road tires – for my mountain bike! Steven also got me a bike tune-up! I have a feeling my next long ride will be a lot easier!

Other birthday highlights:

• An early morning 8 miler with some running club friends at a decent pace.
• Texts and emails and calls and Facebook messages with birthday messages throughout the day. And real cards too!
• Steven making me a very special birthday treat that I requested – cake batter flavored vegan cheesecake with peanut butter and chocolate accents and a graham cracker pie crust. And he made a special dinner request too!

• Erin taking the day off to spend it with me!

*Slight exaggeration