Baby we were born to run....and then collapse

Well dear readers; I've been waiting to post until I got some images to go with it. I'm surprised my hips didn't take up the whole frame.

Sunday started with a storm at 5am. I was rolling over in bed hoping it would keep raining. I got up at 5:20, woke up the girl and we drove down to Montrose Harbor. The sun broke into a glorious day by the lake and all of my excuses were over....we had to run.

We warmed up, started running and stayed right; so the uber-runners could pass us. Lots of feet went by. Overall I think we did a decent job considering I had racked up my ankle and the girl was in Florida, so we really didn't have a regular training program. We ran half and walked half; and we finished between 46 and 48 minutes. The girl was two minutes ahead of me.

At one point the vein in my head was beating along with my feet hitting the ground. The girl kept up really well and was full on energy when we finished. When I looked behind me, it was a bunch of ladies with strollers and old ladies in there Lark Carts. (Kidding...kind of).

The best part of course, besides the finish line, was having breakfast with the girl and my Mimosa.

I think we will do it again; but train more. It was a bit brutal for that early in the morning, but I think we are both super happy we did it, all the same.

Me....Just Me.

Don't mean to scare you gentle reader. This is me with a washed face, no makeup,and 65 hours of work last week under my belt.

While trying to be a professional everyday, on the weekend has left me not wanting makeup or cute clothes. Black yoga pants; black tshirt; washed face...that's about as good as I am going to do today.

The girl comes home on Tuesday. I wish I could say that I came close to my goal of riding or walking to work every day. Riding happened twice in 17 days.

What I did accomplish was a huge amount of work for the company. I got the fridge stocked with girl foods awaiting her arrival. The best thing I got to do, which really just happened was spend some really needed time with Mr. Yen. A couple days together can heal a lot of things....disattachment, lonliness, and we got some good conversation in.

I also got to spend lots of time with my closest friends in between the grind of the job. But I will admit that getting back to the routine of the girl is something I am awaiting. I don't know how people work 70 hours a week and maintain any kind of balance of family or friends. My ass was kicked this week, and I guess this photo reflects it.

On to part two of the summer. Some more hard work; a little more camp; family reunion and Door County. I'm looking forward to this half.

This is America

This is America. For a number of wonderful reasons.

I miss the girl, but I made a lot of plans around this weekend. Next week is another incredible crunch at work. Here is one reason this is America. I can't bitch about work because I am lucky enough to have a job; and in the midst of this ramshackle economy, my office is currently booming.

Yesterday, I went to the beach. As a rule of thumb, I don't do beaches. I hate sand, the bumpy ground; being fat on the trendy North Avenue Beach where everyone is super buff; and I don't like flys or sitting on the ground. But my friends asked me to go, so I went. It was just long enough to get some sun and yell at the lifeguard for dropping the f-bomb around kids. Luckily, my kids weren't there in the water; after yelling at him, he might not have saved them if there was an emergency. So, the North Avenue Beach is another reason why this is America. A place where bikers, walkers, runners, parents with double wide strollers, and beach goers can bask in the glory of Lake Michigan and drop the f-bomb.

Speaking of the f-bomb, my dear friend Guido, the superior German, was dropping the f-bomb for several long minutes while waiting to get into the parking lot at the zoo. Listening to a German drop the f-bomb and have road rage was completely worth the trip alone.

We had a little bbq with friends. Mr. Yen dragged out a huge bag of fireworks that I think have been sitting in the basement for twenty years. It was filled with bottle rockets and firecrackers. Mr. Yen, Guido, Dan, and Jim were like four little boys, with a bottle and one of this big lighters that you use to light the grill. They made a lot of noise, but no pretty colors.

My favorite 4th of July activity is to be on the lookout for ugly shirts with the American Flag on them. You know, men who wear the polo shirt with big red and white stripes going across their big bellies. I saw a lot of them this weekend.

It was a great weekend to be an American.

A Nap Was Needed

I pulled an Ellie today. Ellie is my mom. She is 78 and has a penchant for staying in her pajamas all day. We don't like this, because at 78 she should be dressed and moving around. Most days she gets dressed and does stuff, but some days, she's just in her jammies. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

This was the rarest of Saturdays where I did not have to get up and go off to some fun function with the girl; sure errands could have been run, and definitely some precious time in the sun could have been spent. But I slept till 11am (don't remember when I did that)....Mr. Yen made me a real breakfast we chatted, laid back down on the bed and were on our respective laptops; and then I napped again until 3pm.

It was luxurious. I don't feel guilty because I did manage to clean the cat box, feed the kitties, do the dishes, and sweep the house in between, but overall....that was decadent.

I'm sure I'll be thinking of you all tonight at 3am when I can't fall asleep.

Happy Saturday.

There is a tear in my eye...and I'm wonderin' why...cause it sure shouldn't be there at all.

I've been a boring blogger lately. Talking about work, routine, nothing exciting.

You know, that is how life is sometimes. I should be happy that I can fill my gas tank half way up every week. The lady at the gas station in front on me told the clerk, "Put $6.00 on pump 4."

Tonight, I had to bid farwell to the girl as she leaves for a two week trip to see her grandparents in Florida. Packing was not hard; it is the bag for the plane that is hard. She had her cell phone, her Nintendo DS, and her IPod. She had three chargers in her suitcase; a few books; plenty of gum, and a stuffed animal. She is flying alone and was nervous about it. She asked me if she was going to die on the plane.

I said, "I don't think you will die, but there won't be a lot of snacks."

She seemed fine with that. Saying goodbye to a child, even at 11 years old is rough on any mother. Is she spreading her wings too early? I know the answer is no. She's been making this trip every year since she was a wee-tot. But it is always hard to let her go. I came home to an empty house with two cats who wondered where the girl had gone.

I've got plenty to do these next few weeks. I'm trying to train (badly) for this 5K; I've got more pressure at work than ever, and I am planning our family reunion in August. It's plenty, and yet with her gone, there is a void. I'm telling myself to be prepared as when she goes to college, it's only going to be worse.

I think it was because she was sobbing when she left. She said, "I'm just going to miss you mom." And this year, I didn't cry. I know the minute she lands in Grandma's arms she will be happy as a clam; and the doors of independence have opened to her, and I have to let her walk through them.

Well, now I can clean under her bed without her knowing. There is always a plus side.

Don't Trust A Man With a Knife....Unless He's Holding Meat.

It's been a heck of a couple weeks. The girl got done with school; I was so busy with work, I'm sounding like a broken record. I'm now getting ready for the girl to go to see her grandparents, so I will have to stick to my guns about riding my bike to work every day I can.....getting ready for the 5K.

Mr. Yen and I got a rare night out and went over to the Vicomte's house for a delicious barbecue full of ripbs, bratwurst, champagne, potato salad, blah blah blah. It was DELICIOUS. It was nice just to hang with the ladies while the men talked about...about...I don't know what they talked about.

It was just nice to relax.

New Thoughts on Header Image

Hi. I usually put up a photo of Hilda, whom I have a tatoo of on my back and represents the quinticennial woman as far as body type to whom not only do I identify, but think is realistic.

Tonight, I changed a bit for Summer. The Foshay Tower was once the tallest building in Minneapolis. It represents forward-thinking, pro-industrial midwestern values that I was raised on. It also happens to office not only the first therapist I ever went to, but the doctors that gave birth the girl.

It's a great building, here is some history:

The building has been credited as "the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi", although some previous structures in Minneapolis were considered by some to be skyscrapers. It still marked a significant landmark in the push skyward, as the tower was the first in the city to surpass the height of Minneapolis City Hall, completed in 1906. Being "west of the Mississippi" is also somewhat vague—it may have been the first building of its height in the upper Midwest, although buildings on the West Coast (such as Seattle's Smith Tower) were as tall or taller. It remained the tallest building in Minneapolis until the IDS Center reached the same height during construction circa 1972. It remains one of the tallest concrete skyscrapers to this day, second only in height to the Empire State Building in New York City.

I feel like I am a small building, surrounded by huge buildings, but this summer, I will finally realize my greatness.

A Picture Might be Worth 1000 Words, But What if You Don't Have A Camera?

This was a weekend where I should have had my camera.

Friday, the girl finished fifth grade with a report card of straight A's. She has been with the same class since kindergarten and has really developed some great self-confidence because of that. She received an invite to the gifted program for next year which means she will leave her current class. She has a couple of friends in the new class, but it is not the same group that she has grown up with. Since she decided that she wanted to take the challenge, I was happy that she felt that confident. We might not see the same grades next year because it is an accelerated program. But we will see what happens.

We spent Friday in Millennium Park with all of her friends and their moms, my friends. It was fun to watch them playing in the fountain, getting soaked in their clothes. 6th grade is so different than 5th grade. It's the pivotal year of what kind of attitude girl's adapt towards their self-esteem and kind of school experience they are going to have moving forward through high school. Perhaps I worry for her, because I had such a miserable 6th grade experience. It's just been so great so far, I don't want her to lose her stride now. But of course, she is the girl, so my concerns are probably for nothing.

Madame and the Vicomte came over on Friday night and we ate Chinese food in our new backyard, and Mr. Yen taught Madame how to play poker with the girl and Mademoiselle. They all wore funny hats. Vicomte and I sat and talked about...about...I can't remember, I was tired. They went home and the girl and Mademoiselle fell asleep on the couch, which is another time I wish I had pulled out the camera. The climbed into bed with their clothes on and I had to get them into their pjs, they didn't remember.

Saturday, the girl and I had a full day planned of shopping for summer clothes and going to see my cousin. The girls cold was a little sniffley and I didn't want to push that onto the little baby. It was really nice to just let the girl and Mademoiselle play and relax. I brought her to her parents and we had some lunch and went and did some shopping. The blessing of the weekend was that when we went bathing suit shopping, she found one at the first store...We came home and had dinner and watched the Nanny Diaries.

Today was father's day. I wish I could be with my dad in Minneapolis, but I was just there, so I called him and was glad to hear my siblings were coming over. Mr. Yen went to the boy's baseball game and out to brunch and the girl went with her dad. So I spent father's day running an errands, and re framing some photos that Mr. Yen had of the boy in old cracked plastic frames. I put them all in new frames. It's so cool to see the progression of the photo of Brian holding the boy the first time, and then one just taken last week when he graduated from 8th grade.