My Poor Baby

Learner had surgery scheduled yesterday. Then he was groggy. This morning, he was still groggy...and didn't remember anything we talked about yesterday.

The waiting room was decent, though. A bunch of nice people befriended me and complimented my knitting. I finished a hat and started a new scarf.

The highlight of my day was early on: when we arrived, the "surgery information" volunteer checked us in and asked if I was Learner's wife. When I said "no, just girlfriend," she said, "That's just as good. Sometimes better!" That made us laugh.

Heat Exhaustion

Heat exhaustion is scary. We are experiencing triple digits here. Learner felt ill for half the weekend because of the combination of high temps and running.

My knee hurt too much to run. Lucky me.

If you're running, you're winning.

I bought a running book and it says, if you're running, you're winning. So, I'm winning!

Boogers of the sea

Learner and I went to the Arcata Oyster Festival this past weekend. (We stopped at The Sea Ranch on the way up and back.) First we stopped at a stand that had grilled oysters with garlic and butter. I tried to swallow a whole oyster...unsuccessfully. But later, I cut up a fried oyster and doused it in coctail sauce and managed to eat one bite. There are no photos of either of these incidents because they happened too quickly.

Basically, oysters are gross, y'all. But Learner had so much fun, the trip was worth it. He ate 30 oysters, I ate 1/30th of an oyster. It's all good.

Running Off the Berries

4 miles this morning felt great. Must be the fueling up on chocolate dipped berries. Wooo.

Mmmm...

Instead of watching her show, I pretended to *be* Martha Stewart today. It turns out that making chocolate covered strawberries (and rasberries) is easy. You don't even need wax paper. Just a bag of chocolate chips and a microwave. The only trick is that the berries must be absolutely dry when you do the dipping or the chocolate seizes up and becomes useless.

In case anyone is interested, here's a list of all you need: a bag of chocolate chips, a carton (or two) of berries, a sheet of wax paper OR saran wrap, a platter or cookie sheet, a glass bowl, and a microwave. Line the platter with the wax paper. Wash the berries and then dry them very well. Microwave in increments of 30 seconds to a minute. Stir the melting chips. It is better to microwave less than you think and mix than to overdo it. Dip the berries and place on wax paper. Refrigerate.

I highly recommend making this treat.

Running Update: 2 miles...2 miles...4 miles...4 miles!

After quite a hiatus, I am back to running at least a few miles at a go. Cross your fingers for 13.1 in just six weeks!

Kitten Update: Still Cute

Explosion of Roses

Baby Pomegranate Fruit

Muffin Tops

So Learner and I found ourselves in L.A. this weekend. We had a great time at Venice Beach---I haven't been there since I was a kid. First, we had an excellent breakfast at the Mercedes Grille. Then we saw a great group of acrobats called the Calypso Tumblers. They were hilarious in between jumps. I wish I had taken a camera. There were tons of vendors selling knick knacks, sketches, henna tattoos, and fortunes. There were also a huge number of police officers patrolling the beach.

We were also taken in for two days and one night by one of Learner's good friends from college. She rocked. She was the best hostess ever. And she's the one that told me that in L.A., if you have a little bit of a tummy, it's called a "muffin top" by (her words) "L.A. bitches." Then she gave me a tiny tee shirt with "busters" written across the front and encouraged me to wear it to the beach.