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May 20, 2005
Friday!
Whew. It's Friday. I got to see Star Wars yesterday morning and it was fun (not fantastic, but fun). I won't ruin the story for you on the off chance that you've been lost in Antarctica for the last 30 years... but it was entertaining, and taking a few hours off to play hookie was pretty nice too.
I got some stuff done on my to-do list, including ordering a few things I need to complete the raffle prizes - I should get the things early next week and then I'll send out your goodies.
For those of you reading with bloglines, look! Over there! <<<< I managed to get my little icon widgety thing to show up in bloglines! I feel so geeky. Oh wait, I'm an engineer, I'm already geeky. I guess it's ok then.
I didn't go running this morning because work beckoned, but I will go this weekend. I am trying a new method of running, Chi Running, and although I feel a little silly doing some of this stuff while running in public I have to say that it actually seems to be working. His theory largely involves keeping your lower legs relaxed, leaning forward, and letting gravity and your quads do the work. I felt totally feeble and ineffective but kept working on it... and you know what? At the end of my 3 miles: My calves did not hurt at all (not even during the run, which is pretty uncommon); my knees and ankles felt great; and my quads felt like they'd been doing some serious work.
So tomorrow or Sunday I'll get out there again with my shuffle and do it again. I haven't exactly been slacking off... went to martial arts 3 times this week, ran one day. Which probably has a lot to do with my improved attitude. So all you readers out there, please do me a favor, ok? If you notice me starting to buzz and whine as if my internal fan is overheated, tell me to get off my ass and do something. Thank you.
I've been reminded that I didn't really do a race report for Revlon. I have to say that it was incredibly crowded - I've never been around so many people in my life and it was somewhat overwhelming. On the other hand it was almost dizzying, realizing that all of those people had raised some money for cancer research. Very cool to be a part of something so powerful. Michelle and I weren't able to run as fast as we wanted, but running across the finish line in the colloseum was pretty darned wonderful. Then we took the afternoon to hit a yarn shop and have some yummy lunch - it was nice to have a day just for me for once.
OK, I think that's a sufficient amount of rambling for now. I dug the sock out of my computer backpack and dusted it off and I'm now to the heel flap - there's some hope that the thing will start taking shape sometime soon! Which is great because I'm heading over to visit with Susan tonight (at her house!) and she's probably going to think my pace is a little off.
Must remember... when I feel and act like an out-of-control whirling dervish, must exercise. Must.
Posted by synedra at 2:26 PM | Comments (1)
May 17, 2005
Scenes from Santa Cruz
This has been a good day.
I have had a very stressful couple of weeks, which has been compounded by the fact that I apparently forgot that I turn into a raving lunatic when I don't exercise. Sometimes I fear that I am not very bright. Finally, this morning, I took a long, hard look at myself and realized that I might stop flapping my arms and squaking like a rabid chicken if I moved my body around. So I went running. And I felt a lot better. And tonight I went to martial arts, and felt even better. And my wonderful husband went and dealt with my martial arts school issue, which was a huge load off of my mind. I think I'll keep him...
Also, I made a to-do list and moved a lot of things to the 'done' category. Plus the remaining list looks manageable. It's really not that bad. Not even the 'work' part. The 'non-work' item I'm looking most forward to is finding good prizes for the raffle winners. I really love trying to match stuff to people, and I'm hoping to get all the goodies in the mail tomorrow. And I feel so good having raised this money, I'm glad to give some of you a little something to thank you for participating with me!
My co-worker is finally back from vacation so I went to lunch with him, which was fun. He allows me to babble non-stop (most people roll their eyes, but he just looks amused and waits until I'm out of breath before he tries to talk). Plus I got some much-needed perspective by talking to a homeless person while Erik (my co-worker) ran into the deli to buy him a sandwich. Erik's a good guy. I'm proud to know him. Don't tell him I said so, though. His head is already fairly swollen, especially on the days when he kicks my ass at Scrabble.
And now that my to-do list looks more manageable I can get back to knitting on those poor neglected socks. And cast on for the kitty bed. And my summer tank. What the heck, I might even get that one DONE before the summer is out. The J4M KAL may be just what I need, an excuse to spoil myself for a little while and stop feeling like the world will stop spinning if I take the time to soak myself in the tub... or knit for a while just because I want to. Apparently the world doesn't require that I race around non-stop without stopping to smell the roses. Thank goodness.
It looks like Susan will be coming home this week. She's been doing so well in rehab, I'm so proud of her.
All of the electronic equipment in my office (hardware VPN router, wireless router, network backup drive...) is working correctly and flawlessly. Of course, my office *does* need a tiny bit of tidying but it's on my list! Also the order for my new Powerbook went in today, so I'll have a new computer sometime next week.
Oh wait, I forgot to mention... I FOUND the lost yarn!
Like I said, a Very Good Day. Tomorrow there will be pictures. Of something.
Good night, all.
Posted by synedra at 11:03 PM | Comments (1)
May 13, 2005
Rising from the Depths
Ok, I know, I've been a bad blogger. After the Revlon Run/Walk I came back to a huge pile of work to do and tons of angst in my personal life. Let me sum up... I don't like change. Change is swirling about, causing me much internal anguish. Fortunately it seems like it's calming now. Perhaps on another day I will expound on the issues in my children's school and the inevitable political battles raging at the martial arts studio, but today I have something more important to do.
It's time for me to do the raffle. I said I'd do a raffle and it looks like all of the donations are in, so here we go! I made over $400 so there will be (drum roll please...) *5* prizes! The knit blogging community never fails to astound me with its generousity - thanks to each of you who contributed to my effort (or that of the other walkers). Enough sappy stuff, let's get to the loot! But how does one make random numbers? Yes, yes, I AM an engineer. But I am a lazy engineer and it's Friday evening so you'll forgive me if I don't feel like churning out some handy randomization code. Thank heavens for google. I searched on 'random raffle program' and what did I find? Of course. random.org. Pretty obvious, now that I think about it.
I have a list of people all ready, and now I'm going to make numbers! So according to the random number generator, the winners, in order are:
1) Kimberli
2) Elizabeth
3) Danielle
4) Lucia
5) La
I'll send an email out shortly to the winners and see what they want. Remember, you can choose from Spinning, Socks, Sweets, or Surprise! The prizes will be filled in the order they were drawn in case of conflicts...
So, tell me, what do you want?
In knitting news, my fixation socks are coming along slowly. Now that my life isn't so crazy I should be able to make more progress on them. I'm thinking seriously of joining the Just For Me knitalong, although the very notion of knitting something that I will wear is a little dizzying. I'd make my tank top out of that luscious Lily yarn I have hanging around upstairs. Of course my cat would have to live without his bed for a bit longer and then I'd feel silly for having worked so hard to get the needle... well, I don't have to decide right this minute.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but at least there's good loot to be had!
Posted by synedra at 9:39 PM | Comments (7)