Prius

I bought a Prius. Woo woo!

New Job, New Place, New Car

I am about to buy my first car ever, move to a new city, and start a new job. Believe it or not, I also have even bigger fish to fry. Secret fish.

I have a lot on my mind.

So much for 13.1

Well, I have been holding out hope of running this Sunday.

Our goal was to run the half marathon in San Francisco. On the way, my knee got messed up, Learner got heat exhaustion, and we got way off our training schedule. (That's a lot of "gots.") But I was still hoping to go out and see what I could do. I went to the gym two days ago and ran/walked (because of knee pain) four and a half miles. Not really long enough or fast enough to finish the half marathon in the (pretty generous) time limit. I didn't push myself to the absolute limit, of course. I had time constraints and I am being careful about my knee. I wasn't wearing my knee brace. But, still, it's pretty clear that it would be a large challenge to try to finish the 13.1 miles, and even more of a challenge to finish it within the time required. So that's one issue.

The bigger issue is this: we have something more important to do on Sunday now. Learner wants to visit his brother and it might be the last chance for a long time.

So this is it: the death of 13.1. But I think I am becoming a runner. I have never been a runner before, and I like it so much, I don't want to jeopardize my ability to run by pushing my knee injury into an even more serious problem. I think becoming a runner (of a few miles, a few times a week) is pretty cool, whether I can race this week or not.

Stressors

I read an article about life stressors that listed both good and bad events as incidents which add to the baseline of stress to a person's life (or a family's life). So, getting married is up there with losing a job. Moving to a new house counts just like the death of a pet. I think there is an implication that the number of stressors is more important than the type, so getting married, starting a new job, moving to a new house, getting a pet, having a child, and whatever else good that might happen to a person would be more overwhelming than just one bad event.

I'm not sure that the good and bad should count equally, but I am starting to think that a large number of life changes can be very stressful. Not like I'm about to have a kid or anything. :)

What do you guys think?

Knitting Update: Starting Over

I made a mistake and then couldn't figure out how to fix it, so...I'm starting over. Tomorrow. Grrr. The ribbing and the beginning sweater were going well.

New Job

I was just offered a new job. It will involve relocation/a long commute, long hours, and low pay. On the other hand, it will be representing clients that I love to represent, training opportunities, and stable, full-time work.

Wish me luck.

Knitting Update: I'm making a sweater!

Yes, it was at least 111 degrees today, and yet I am excited about knitting a sweater. So far I have knitted half an inch of ribbing. I am very proud. I am taking my first ever knitting class---Learner signed me up for intermediate knitting---and I just don't know whether I would have done this on my own. On my own, I have made a shawl, some nice scarves, and a couple of hats. During the next four weeks of this class, I will knit a toddler sweater. In lavender. It's going pretty well so far. I love having a teacher there to fix mistakes and show me how to purl properly. (I guess I didn't manage to teach myself purling all that well---even though I thought I was doing it correctly.)

So, sweater time! I have to get back to my ribbing.

Wedding News

I loved my sister's wedding.

To start, her dress was beautiful. Next, City Hall in San Francisco turned out to be a fantastic place for the ceremony. While I had no idea what to expect, all of the details were touching, laid-back, and fun. The civil ceremony included simple, meaningful vows. The groom's two sons were the official witnesses--I didn't know you could have witnesses who are under eighteen years of age!

Dinner was wonderful. I didn't take the limo to dinner, but I heard the limo was lots of fun. Our family has a lot of kids and all of the ones at the ceremony and later at dinner were well-behaved. My sister and her husband picked out wonderful almond champagne for dinner. (They also provided red and white wine.)

Then, a smaller group of us (those without kids) headed over to jazz at Yoshi's. My parents love Yoshi's, so I've been there for jazz before, but I found out Friday that my new brother-in-law did the acoustics for Yoshi's, so he's got the inside track. We had great tables reserved for our whole group and we stayed for the second show of the night too. (You can always do that if they have room.)

Finally, my parents put on brunch the next morning at their house for the bride, groom, and groom's parents. It was nice to have even more time with them, particularly when we could kick back in jeans and sneakers. Of course, my sister was still wearing her wedding bling, but other than that, everyone was casual.

All in all, a wonderful weekend.

Yard Work...Manicure...Wedding!

It has been a long week of tough physical labor, psychological stress, and severely limited compensation, but it is here: Friday. Oh, yeah, and my sister's wedding! I am psyched. The line-up is: ceremony at City Hall, dinner at Kincaid's, entertainment at Yoshi's. Then, brunch and errands on Saturday.

The Neverending Story: More Hard Yard Work

Learner's mom has been staying with us since Saturday. There is a ton of yard work that needs to be done and that is why she came. Of course, it's so hot here that we have to start working early every morning and work until we just can't stay out in the sun anymore. She's planning to come back next week for another five days and maybe the next week after that.

I can't believe we're not done yet. We've weed-whacked, weed-pulled, cut, and raked enough weeds and branches to fill up our huge green bin for yard waste probably five times over. Maybe six. There's still more to do.

It feels good to work out in the yard, though, It's good exercise.

Hard A** Yard Work

I'm weed-whacking and raking out in the back yard in 87 degree heat. It's only 9 am and it's already 87 degrees. Of course, it's only 9 am and I've already done a ton of work. So I think it's been a good day.

My Sister's Wedding: T minus six days

My sister is getting married this coming Friday. Woo!

14 Years, 5 Months, 13 Days

14 years, 5 months, 12 days excluding the end date

Alternative time units
5278 days can be converted to one of these units:
456,019,200 seconds
7,600,320 minutes
126,672 hours
754 weeks

Walking Update: Knee Problems

Today is one week after my run with major knee problems. I walked three miles. I thought the 100+ degree heat would be the problem. Unfortunately, my knee bothered me more than the heat. Damn.

Friends are the jelly in the peanut butter of life.

That would be my paraphrase of an old Peanuts comic. I was just talking to one of my oldest friends about what's going on with her life and what's going on with my life. It had been a while since we caught up and the last I talked to her, everything at her job was going well. The situation has changed...drastically. Even though I couldn't really help her, I could listen and sympathize, just like she always does for me. Still, it brings me down a little bit when my friends (and family) are going through tough times, and I wish I could do more.

Running Update: Major Knee Problems

On Sunday morning we ran. My knees do okay on dirt and pavement but asphalt and gravel are another story. I'm recovering from some major pain now. Here's hoping I can run/speedwalk the half marathon at the end of this month.