Road to Nowhere

LIONS and tigers and bears, Oh MY!
Ok, so it was just a lion, no tigers or bears...but still Oh MY!

KathyK wrote:LIONS and tigers and bears, Oh MY!
Ok, so it was just a lion, no tigers or bears...but still Oh MY!

Nice one!

Nothing like realizing that a cyclone fence is the only thing keeping your from being kitty food to liven up the afternoon!

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Good thing we went to the zoo yesterday. It's cold, windy and rainy today.

Funny thing: We painted our guest bedroom on Sunday (I started prep work on Saturday) and I'm still sore in all sorts of interesting places! Going up and down the ladder over and over and over again is a great workout - especially if you're doing it barefoot. I can feel it in my feet and my glute meds. Oh well. I look at it as strength training... and the room looks a LOT better. The previous owners had made it a pretty princess room for their toddler (sparking lavender walls, pepto bismol pink crown moulding), so it was pretty horrifying. Even Alec was happy to pitch in!



Okay, "happy" is an understatement. He begged to help out. And he did a good job with the roller, too.

Boy do you always have something "interesting" going on in your life. Sorry to hear about the kiddo and the school and the illness. That is tough for a kid to swallow and sometimes comprehend even. Sounds like you all already handling it pretty well.

P.S. I know I still owe you a blog and one is coming, I had a few "disasters" happen this spring that I didn't see coming but a new blog will be here soon. I just need to think of a title and figure out what I am doing for the fall.

Joel H wrote:Boy do you always have something "interesting" going on in your life. Sorry to hear about the kiddo and the school and the illness. That is tough for a kid to swallow and sometimes comprehend even. Sounds like you all already handling it pretty well.

P.S. I know I still owe you a blog and one is coming, I had a few "disasters" happen this spring that I didn't see coming but a new blog will be here soon. I just need to think of a title and figure out what I am doing for the fall.

Joel lives!

Yikes on the disasters. Hope things are on more of an even keel now. I'm ready, as always, to read one of your blogs. And the whole "I need to figure out what I'm doing for the fall" bit? Pfft. Fuggitaboutit. Just write! It's much more fun to watch plans as they evolve.

I'm typing this with sore hands tonight. We drove down to Eugene to pick up a set of bookcase/desk/storage units my dad built back in 1975. They're really cool, and I have detailed memories of when they were made... including the day when the cat walked on it before the finish wasn't quite, er, dry. You can still see the little kitty footprints.

I'm sore because the units are pretty big (total size, assembled, is 10 feet long, two feet deep and 7 feet, 4 inches tall) and not exactly light. Alita and I had some help loading them in the U-haul, but we were on our own getting them out of the truck and into our garage - in the rain. In case you've forgotten, Alita is 4-foot-11, and weighs less than these babies. We had a wheeled appliance cart, but it was still a little more excitement than you'd want on a dark and rainy Tuesday night.

The really tricky part? They need to go upstairs. Hm. I need to find some burly neighbors.

Things made by Dad...what could be a better way to keep him close? And better yet, you remember the shelves being built!!

My Dad passed away 10 years ago...I have a grandfather clock and a cedar chest that he made for me, and I treasure them both.
Funny story about the clock...during the 10 years that I was a single mom, I would occasionally get really stressed wondering if/how I could provide for my children, etc. During the times when I was so stressed I though I'd melt, the clock would chime...but not at the expected times. Like at 9:21 or something like that. It would only happen at high stress times, though, then it would settle back to it's normal routine.
One time, a year or so after Dad died, my Mom came to visit (I live in NC, she lives in WI). When she walked in, the clocked started to chime. It kept going for a minute or so.
A few minutes before my Dad died, I told him that I knew he'd be watching over us, and I knew he'd be back to visit, and that I'd watch for his sign.
So maybe the clock was malfunctioning? Perhaps, but I choose to believe that my Dad was checking in.

I know you'll treasure those shelves and all of the memories!

There must be an app for that.

Sounds like an awesome piece of furniture and what memories, gotta love it. By the way, you aren't a "big" man either so I can only imagine the scene with you and Alita trying to get that into your garage. You should have gotten it on video and put it on youtube, you probably would have gotten a few thousand hits!

KathyK wrote:Things made by Dad...what could be a better way to keep him close? And better yet, you remember the shelves being built!!

My Dad passed away 10 years ago...I have a grandfather clock and a cedar chest that he made for me, and I treasure them both.
Funny story about the clock...during the 10 years that I was a single mom, I would occasionally get really stressed wondering if/how I could provide for my children, etc. During the times when I was so stressed I though I'd melt, the clock would chime...but not at the expected times. Like at 9:21 or something like that. It would only happen at high stress times, though, then it would settle back to it's normal routine.
One time, a year or so after Dad died, my Mom came to visit (I live in NC, she lives in WI). When she walked in, the clocked started to chime. It kept going for a minute or so.
A few minutes before my Dad died, I told him that I knew he'd be watching over us, and I knew he'd be back to visit, and that I'd watch for his sign.
So maybe the clock was malfunctioning? Perhaps, but I choose to believe that my Dad was checking in.

I know you'll treasure those shelves and all of the memories!

That's such a great story, Kathy! And I like your explanation.

ounce wrote:There must be an app for that.

iSquashed?

Joel H wrote:Sounds like an awesome piece of furniture and what memories, gotta love it. By the way, you aren't a "big" man either so I can only imagine the scene with you and Alita trying to get that into your garage. You should have gotten it on video and put it on youtube, you probably would have gotten a few thousand hits!

True, I won't be trying out for nose guard anytime soon, and I'm feeling it this morning. If worse comes to worse, there's a moving company about a half mile away. We hired a couple of guys there (each of them was as big as two of me) to move our treadmill upstairs.

Still, it's so cool to have them. My mom got them when my mom and dad divorced back in the 1980s. They technically went to us when my mom died back in 1994, but we let my dad and stepmom keep them as long as they wanted. After my dad died, my stepmom's in the process of moving to a smaller place, so now they come back to us. It's a little bittersweet, but more sweet than bitter.

Okay! The bookcase/storage units are upstairs now.

Alita and I tried to do it on our own, but they were just too heavy for her. And the stairs too steep.


(If you look closely, you can see where my dad signed and dated his work. That was my stepmom's idea. )

So, we borrowed a neighbor, and the two of us were able to get all four parts (two bases, two tops) upstairs and assembled without too much huffing and puffing (though I'm going to be sore for days). Now all that remains is putting up the shelves and filling it with books and all sorts of stuff that's been living in boxes in our garage.



The space on the left once held my mom's sewing machine. It'll now be Alec's desk. It holds an iMac quite nicely, and the fact that you can swing the top down and hide the mess is pretty nifty.

Speaking of nifty, here's some cool trivia. The two main units (tops and bottoms) were built over the course of two years with a jury-rigged table saw that couldn't cut straight... but they fit together perfectly. Good job, Dad.

A great looking furniture set, Mark.

ounce wrote:A great looking furniture set, Mark.

Thanks, Oz! I haven't lived with it since the 1980s, so it's nice - but a little weird - to have it sitting there.

I was right about being sore this morning. What with all the chores and activities, I'm thinking this is going to end up a very low mileage week. I feel like I'm playing hooky.

Gorgeous shelving unit!
You are not playing hooky, you are cross training.

I agree, that's a beautiful piece of furniture. I'd love to build something like that by hand in my lifetime. And I also agree with Kathy - you just did the equivalent of spending 2 days in the gym!

KathyK wrote:Gorgeous shelving unit!
You are not playing hooky, you are cross training.

I like the way you think, Kathy!

Mike MacLellan wrote:I agree, that's a beautiful piece of furniture. I'd love to build something like that by hand in my lifetime. And I also agree with Kathy - you just did the equivalent of spending 2 days in the gym!

Thanks, Mike. Yeah. It's hasn't been the most restful vacation, but it sure has been productive.

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On the agenda today: Taking advantage of my Nike Employee Store pass to see if they had the latest versions of the Free in stock. They did!

I toyed with the idea of getting the Free Run 3, which is the latest version of the Free 5.0. But because I'm trying to move to lighter, more forefoot strike, I instead decided to get the Free 3.0 v4. (I have plenty of the 5.0s around, in case I want to use something a little more shoe-like.) I got a pair for casual wear and running.


For casual wear.


For running.

Now here's the weird thing. These have sort of a sock/bootie upper, and they felt constricting until I removed the insole. Much better. I'm also noticing that the upper creases a little at the toe end of the lacing, I hope that doesn't end up bugging me. Otherwise, they have a slipper-like feel to them that -- if my testing experience on the Free Run 3 is any indicator -- will only get more pliable as I wear them. The Free Run 3s (5.0) were nice, too, but I decided to go all in on the 3.0 this time.

Alita got her first pair of 3.0s, and so did Alec! He also got a Free Run 3. I hope they like them!

That is a beautiful piece of furniture, you should be very proud...especially for making it up the stairs without killing yourself.

Nice pair of shoes too, I am working my way down to a lighter shoe...but I am not there yet.

Joel H wrote:That is a beautiful piece of furniture, you should be very proud...especially for making it up the stairs without killing yourself.

Nice pair of shoes too, I am working my way down to a lighter shoe...but I am not there yet.

Lack of is a very good thing. (Thanks, Matt, for all these emoticons! Too much fun.)

It's funny. I started to switch to 3.0s last spring after the Eugene Marathon... but I got sidetracked doing a summer of testing work on the new Free Run 3s that just hit the market this week and never quite made it back. I've been wearing an earlier version of the 3.0s in casual wear for years now, so I think it's time to take them

Let's see... what else have I done since Thursday this spring vacation week? (not counting prepping and painting a room, fetching and installing wall unit and going to the zoo, which I did earlier in the week)

-Took a day trip to the Oregon Coast
-Went bowling (why do only the kids get bumper guards?)
-Cleaned up the garage
-Raked moss out of the lawn
-Cleaned the quarter-century-old cigarette smell out of the new furniture
-Loaded the bookcases and straightened things up
-Finished touch-up work and final touches to new and improved guest room
-Grilled burgers
-Played video games with Alec

What haven't I done all week? Yeah. Run. I need to work on that, pronto.

Miraculously, I've only gained back a pound...

You were too busy to gain any more than a pound...you were very productive!
But now it's time to lace up those new shoes and run a bit, hmmm?

Your such a slacker, you couldn't find time to run? What are you trying to do, spoil your son with all this father-son time? Geez, he might actually grow up to be a responsible young adult at the rate you are going.

KathyK wrote:You were too busy to gain any more than a pound...you were very productive!
But now it's time to lace up those new shoes and run a bit, hmmm?

Ma'am, yes ma'am! I'll be doing that a little later this morning.

I need to take a look at my time for running and consider whether it'd be better if I start getting up before dawn one or two days a week to get some miles in. I enjoy the peace and quiet of those runs, and adding in some consistency seems like a good idea, but getting up that early feels suspiciously like training...

Joel H wrote:Your such a slacker, you couldn't find time to run? What are you trying to do, spoil your son with all this father-son time? Geez, he might actually grow up to be a responsible young adult at the rate you are going.

Oh, good point, Joel. What was I thinking?!?

Another nice note. Alec got distracted this morning getting ready for school by how nice our guest room looks now. He got to see how a little elbow grease transformed it from disaster area to very nice space. Which is good for us to see, too, because we have a powder room that still has that gawdawful sparkling lavender paint. We're going to paint is a gray so dark it almost looks black. Pretty princess paint is going goth!

I think I killed my Eugene hope by watching live broadcast 2 EPL games instead of 20 miles on Sunday. I would be really pissed if my team Manchester United lost, but not only it cruised an easy 2:0, but also its rival Manchester City lost 0:1. Now ManU practically wins the league title.

Guess worth it, huh?

Jerry wrote:I think I killed my Eugene hope by watching live broadcast 2 EPL games instead of 20 miles on Sunday. I would be really pissed if my team Manchester United lost, but not only it cruised an easy 2:0, but also its rival Manchester City lost 0:1. Now ManU practically wins the league title.

Guess worth it, huh?

I'm thinking that's a great omen for your hopes in Eugene, Jerry! Missing the 20 for that was totally worth it.

Jeez Mark, stop playing video games and get running already!

Mike MacLellan wrote:Jeez Mark, stop playing video games and get running already!

Hey! Skylanders is pretty fun, and you can team up on adventure mode....

*Sigh* Okay. I'll go out. I mean, it's mostly sunny and nearly 60 outside right now. The trees are blossoming, the grass is growing. It's spring!!

It's about damn time.

Low HR Run: 60 minutes (4.61 miles)

Weather: Hazy sunshine, warm, a breeze. 58-61 degrees. Gear: Free 3.0 v4s, shorts, T-shirt (!). Fuel: Chiarade before, carried water in handheld.

My first run since April 1, and it felt like starting all over again. My HR was all over the place. My legs wanted to go faster than my body would allow, and slowing down was nearly impossible. The result was one of those heart rate tracks that looks like a saw blade.

My new shoes (Nike Free 3.0 v4s) probably had something to do with the difficulty. Not only are they are 3.0 sole -- I have been running in a 5.0 sole -- but they're a different design from the old 3.0s I used to wear. So this run was largely a getting-used-to-the-shoes exercise. It's safe to say, that might take some time, as I experiment with trying to run more efficiently.

One other thing to note: these shoes are HOT. Even though it's 60 outside, my feet got very sweaty. So sweaty that I'm losing all sorts of callus off my heel. Weird.

Average HR for entire run: 131