Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Lotsa cooking this evening. At least, a lot for me of late. Whipped up some sauteed spinach with toasted pine nuts and garlic as a side dish, and then made taters and tofu with a miso gravy for the main course. The main recipe came out of Vegan with a Vengeance, and it was pretty darned good. Had to make a couple of tweaks, of course – the grocery store only had 3 nasty shallots, so no shallots, and the miso was almost out so I estimate I used closer to 3.5-4 tablespoons instead of three (why leave 1/2 a tablespoon in the container?). All in all a good dinner, and I’ll have a great lunch tomorrow at work, too.

Work was catching up after the time off. Lots of email to catch up on Surprisingly, no voice mails, but that’s a good thing (I despise voice mail – especially since our phones don’t give you a visual clue that you have voice mail).

I blame Julie, but I’ve been wanting to cook more of late, and to stretch myself on my cooking skills. I’m an okay cook, but I know there’s more I could be doing. To that end I’ve picked up the Veganomicon yesterday. It’s the same authors as Vegan with a Vengeance (well, one of the same authors), and I’ve tried other recipes of theirs with good results. the book’s a good entree to vegan cuisine and a variety of cooking techniques. I’m halfway tempted to do what Julie did, go through the entire cookbook and cook every single recipe. It would be good practice, and a good stretch. Not sure if I’m quite up to an undertaking like that yet. It would help if I had a working oven first.

And BC would have to spend much, much more time at the apartment. I can’t eat all this food by myself, even doing leftovers. That and I’d have to actually (*gasp*) have people over to eat.

It is awfully tempting, though.

I had been thinking about gaming systems, but if my obsession behavior the past two days is any indication of how it would be if I got one, I really, really should not. I picked up the new Zelda game for the DS, and it’s been absolutely fantastic. Some of the elements are a bit slow, but for the vast majority of the game I think they nailed it for my gaming likes. So much so that I’ve been up far, far too late the past two nights playing the game. Only had to revert to guides twice, which is a good sign for me.

Big thanks to the folks who came out on Friday, I had a marvelous time, and it was good to see people. That was precisely the b’day celebration I needed – low key and fun chatting and watching folks chat.

My eldest niece and her mother popped up today to play tourist, so we wandered through the Mall and a few museums. She absolutely loved the Metro. It’s a shame Air & Space is still so disorganized and doesn’t have more hands-on stuff for kids – that’s what she stopped at whenever we were in an exhibit, the ‘I can play with this’ things. She also spent most of the day talking about going to City Lights, my now former favorite Chinese restaurant in town.

The service was, in a word, atrocious tonight. They were busy, that much was readily apparent, but that’s no excuse. No one came by to check on drinks. My niece managed to down her water and her soda fairly early, and even after I specifically asked a server to get her a refill of her soda (even handing him the glass), it never came back. Then I couldn’t manage to flag anyone down because they were all flying by so quickly. The one guy I did finally catch was one of their busboys whose English was somewhat lacking, and unfortunately my Spanish is non-existent, but we did manage to get soda refills, at least, for the niece and her mother. To say I’m miffed would be an understatement – this is a place where the more established wait staff calls me by name, in Chinese, when I come in, so it’s not like I’ve never been there before. Hell, I was lying in bed for about 1/2 an hour just now and all I could do was dredge up much-unused vocabulary for expressing in Mandarin exactly how annoyed I was at the whole thing (and it’s amazing what ancient vocabulary can be dredged up in the service of strong emotions). As it was I did get one of the management staff before we left and let them know that this was the most dismal service I’d ever received there.

Otherwise it’s been a lovely weekend. I’m going to get my newest toy hooked up to the bike tomorrow and head out on a ride with a friend after his bike (re)fitting. Haven’t played with it yet, so this is the inaugural run. Should be interesting to see the data once I’m done.

Thanks to those who wished me well yesterday, I appreciated that.

BC and I went out to Vegetate for a marvelous meal, after he shared a gift or two (the eyelash curlers were a particularly humorous touch, and set the right mood for the evening). Then we came back here and proceeded to polish off a bottle or two of really good wine from the bottom of the rack, cuddle, and watch Mars Attacks, which he’d not seen (he had accused me once again of not having movies with real stars in them – so of course I had to pull out the one movie I have that has pretty much nothing but major actors in it). All in all a wonderful way to end the evening.

Today we were completely lazy and slept in until noon or so, with more cuddling and general gentle treatment of the hangovers we both had from the good wine the evening before. Just back from a nice dinner down at Jenny’s where we were mildly creeped out at the number of spiders hanging out right outside our window. There were two beer signs in the window, attracting a lot of bugs, so the spiders were very active, and very distracting as you’d catch them out of the corner of your eye. Not a place for the arachnophobic. But the tofu dishes we shared were both just incredible (their fiery tofu is fantastic – I almost always order it when I go).

He’s on his way home now, but he’ll be out tomorrow at Cantina, so those who’ve not met him will have a chance to do so if you come out tomorrow evening. Should be a fun time, and hopefully the really, really bad 80s cover band that was playing there this evening won’t be there tomorrow. If they are, we’ll have something other than me to pick on.

Hadn’t seen BC all week. Our schedules hadn’t meshed at all, so we hadn’t gotten together until this afternoon. When he walked in I just held him for several minutes. Hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him (and vice versa).

After a short while we went to go see D-War: Dragon Wars.

Worst.
Movie.
Ever.

This is so getting added to the cannon of bad movies. Thank heavens the theater was in no way, shape or form crowded, because I kept leaning into BC’s ear to MST3K the thing (actress: “Don’t we have a plan?” me: “Honey, you don’t even have a plot, of course you don’t have a plan!”). Lawdy, what a mess. Sudden scene changes with no warning or transition, people suddenly knowing all about this obscure Korean fairy tale, the Tim Gunn lookalike bad guy, it was all just dreadful. It was very difficult not to dissolve into loud laughter, though we did giggle a lot over in our little section of the theater. A lot of so-so CGI was really wasted there.

Checked in on ‘s pussy, who thankfully was still alive and happy. Off to an amazing dinner at Vegetate after that, then home to get in some needed alone time. He had to zip home, but we have a date set for tomorrow. Which is good, since I just spotted his sunglasses on the dining room table.

Prior to his arrival I was feeling quite blah this morning, so I spent a good bit of time cleaning, my default reaction to feeling out of sorts. The bathroom looks much better for it, as do all the floors. BC and I are going to go on a charity run next weekend, so I’ll finally get rid of a bunch of stuff I need to donate, and make room for some folding chairs I have, and my two clothes drying racks when not in use. I’ve been feeling a bit out of sorts in general at home, and now that race season is almost over (with the big effort races out of the way), I can actually focus on home stuff. The whole “entertainment” portion of the main room is a bit of a mess, moreso since my PC is now on its last leg (the CPU fan is making a most disagreeable noise). The two pieces there, the large desk and the big shelving unit, were bought for my last, large bedroom, and not for this space. They sort-of-work, but not really. A more proper entertainment center with media storage and perhaps a small desk and book shelf would work much better.

Not that any of that is happening any time soon, mind you. Debt reduction first, more decorating later. Paying off that loan this week cut a good year off the total time it’ll take to kill off all remaining loans with that company (just two more there). That’s the company with the highest interest rate, so with the greatest chance for savings on interest by paying them off early. It’s definitely been nice to see the payoff date change from several years in the future to just a year and a half (well, less than that, but that’s date if I continue the current payments with no more early payoffs) with the two sub-loans paid off these past couple months.

Time enough, despite the fact that I feel like I would make a hummingbird look patient when it comes to these things.

The nice thing about being off work is having time to do a more involved breakfast. Toast with lemon-pear marmalade was a treat.

That said, I was about ready to give in and get the Bizzy Gal version of coffee this morning – the water was taking forever to boil.

Unlike my experience after running races, I’ve not had any sort of specific soreness. No torn quads, no knee pain, no problems walking, just a general, overall soreness. Everything is sore. Not in a debilitating way, at least not totally debilitating, just a general feeling of soreness and the knowledge that I should be taking it easy.

Took the rental minivan back to the car rental place this morning. As promised, because of the delay in getting the car on Saturday, they took a day off the rental. I should know this location’s a bit flakey, but I’ll take the freebie (this is the 2nd time this has happened – and I’m okay with an hour of my time spent getting 1/2 the cost knocked off). Afterward I was debating coffee at the little place around the corner when I remember that Sticky Fingers is now open on Mondays in their new location, which is right on the Green line.

Dragged a friend over to meet me, and had what was one of the best sticky buns I have ever had. It was precisely what I needed. Hit the grocery store on the way home, bought more fresh fruit so snack on today, and came home to zone out. And pop lots of ibuprofen.

Tried a nap at some point, but no go. Killed lots of monsters on Sacred, leveled up a couple of times. Thought, briefly, about doing a bike ride tomorrow as I was putting away clean jerseys, but very quickly thought better of it. No exercise tomorrow, likely not any on Wednesday, either. Recovery is more important than feeling like I need to get moving again. Although I think I’m going to go get new running shoes tomorrow. If I feel like wandering out, that is.

The current pair is, well, disgusting, a result of all the water dripping into them from the run, and the dirt of the road coating them. Not to mention they were getting old, and this was the end of them.

Past that the plan is to rest more, do some reading for work, and kill more monsters.

Oh, was down at least three pounds between Saturday morning and this morning. RNJTM pointed out that 7 hours was probably 7k calories, minus whatever calories I put in (nowhere near 7k), although most of it was likely water loss. We’ll see tomorrow morning after today’s eating.

Still processing the emotional impact of the race. 70.3 miles is a long way to travel, both mentally as well as physically. Unlike after the century ride I did in July, there was no sobbing this time, though there have been a few “whoa” moments. I’m sure it’ll process in the time it needs to process, though it would be nice if it didn’t wait until I was back at work to do anything too emotional.

Had an incredible meal last night at Vegetate with BC. He said if that were what veggie cuisine were like all the time he’d not really miss meat. Not a bad compliment. We did the restaurant week thing there, and added the wine pairings, which worked well (especially the ruby port with the chocolate-with-hot-peppers torte & ginger sorbet – yum!). Fantastic meal. This is only my second time there, but we’ll definitely go back. I just wish they were a bit more Metro accessible (they are, they’re just a good several blocks walk from the Metro).

Much snuggling and talking followed.

Contrast that meal with the one we had at Viridian on Tuedsday. For a restaurant known (among the veggies I know) as being very veggie/vegan friendly, it was disappointing that none of the prix fixe entrees was vegan. I did end up doing three courses, and the courses were okay, but the restaurant lost out – ordering the vegan entree and the two other pieces separately came out to less than the prix fixe price. Odd. And the video of the house demolition (which played over and over again over the bar) was distracting without being entertaining. I’m sure I’ll go back, but not any time soon.

Phone replacement ordered for my Treo. That’s all I’m saying for now, since it won’t arrive until next week. Suffice to say I’m looking forward to the switch, and thank you, thank you, thank you to a friend, who shall remain nameless, for a nice discount on it.

Took the tri bike in to the shop yesterday, so no riding for a bit. It’s had this persistent creaking noise for the past month and it’s driving me nuts, so I just said, “figure it out and fix it,” and left the bike with them for a week. So, long run this weekend, then some rest, perhaps Sunday a dip in the cult co-op pool and some sun to even out the lovely biker’s tan I have (“you’ve got a built-in wife-beater,” says BC). Looking forward to seeing a bunch of folks (and showing off BC) on Saturday afternoon at a get-together in the inner ‘burbs.

Relatively quiet this week at work. It’s a blessing when Congress goes out of session (a mixed blessing – it’s been hot and humid here like most of the country, but a blessing nonetheless), especially in my practice area. Playing catch up on a couple of things, and managed to dig up a nice source of funds which had been forgotten. That was worth at least my annual pay, so I feel like anything else I do this year is gravy, to paraphrase my first CFO in the government (after I did something similar).

Oh, it’s not the iPod that’s died, it’s the iHome speaker/clock/radio thing – the dock has somehow slipped and won’t connect correctly. I know this because the Apple dock that synchs the iPod with the computer works perfectly with no slippage. Good to know the old 3G is ticking along like clockwork.

Still debating Chesapeakeman, too. I think the low-key setting seems more my style. Won’t be as much crowd energy, but I think I actually prefer that, given my treatment of most exercise as a solo thing. We’ll see, but I’m thinking I may be having a talk with my boss about it this upcoming September.

It’s dangerous being home with a new(ish) cookbook, a lot of time, and the desire to cook something. I think I went a little nuts about dinner for BC tomorrow. Tomato salad’s done and marinating overnight, and there’s a coffee granita in the freezer and chocolate espresso balls in the fridge. The entree is fairly simple to put together tomorrow night over pasta. Should be a good meal, though I am disappointed my oven’s not reliable enough to bake bread or I’d have done that, too.

So, why home? Because my newbies ran their goal race yesterday up in NJ, and I wanted the extra day for recovery from traveling. It was a fantastic time, everyone finished, and we continued the tradition from last year of one of ours being the last finisher on the course, with yours truly meeting them on the other side of the finish line with their medal.

Glad I took the extra recovery day, it was nice not to have to get up at o-dark-thirty this morning, as I had the previous two days, nice to get in a long run on a Monday, and nice to get out to the grocery store while it was still relatively quiet. Should’ve gone swimming, too, but one can’t do everything. Started the write up for the ride the previous weekend, but not done yet. Have to get that up this week, but not tonight. For now it’s off to bed so I can ride in the morning.

Finally cooling off in here now that the thunderstorms are rolling through. I can’t really hear them over the dishwasher, though. It was a ‘clean the apartment and do laundry night’ for me, hence the dishwasher running. The dining table looks nicer without so much crap on it, as does my desk. Amazing what actually filing the stuff in the ‘to file’ pile will do for the place.

Now if I could just make a dent in the ‘to read’ pile.

Good bike ride this morning. I’m hoping the weather will be relatively nice so I can run in the morning. While I’ve been biking a lot more, and finally getting back to swimming, I’ve neglected my running over the past week, which is probably a contributor to the foul mood from yesterday (which was gone after a good night’s sleep and the ride this morning).

Popped by the bike shop to pick up supplies. Sadly their choices of Shot Bloks was very, very limited, so I only picked up a couple. I’ll have to pop back out somewhere else to pick up more. Still haven’t been able to try the margarita flavored ones, but I wasn’t too keen on the pina colada ones. They were okay, nowhere near as gross as vanilla clif shots were, but not a favorite. I prefer the black cherry or cran-razz flavors so far. Oh, and the bike shop was able to take my old bike tubes to recycle them. Yay! Better than dumping them in a landfill, for sure. Glad I remember to take them with me to work this morning in anticipation of the shopping trip.

Swim tomorrow, then maybe dinner in town with BC and some friends. Have to behave as I have a long ride on Saturday, around 4 hours or so.

Evidently I needed extra sleep. I didn’t set an alarm for this morning, figuring I’d get up somewhere near my normal time. I think I did, but went right back to bed until around 8:30. Sinful. But it felt good. As a result I didn’t get out on the bike until around 10, so finished up the planned ride around 12:40ish, not quite 40 miles. The ride itself went well. No close calls with small children this time (went out about a month ago with a friend who ended up running over a small child who turned suddenly into his path with no space to dodge her; thankfully aside from a little cut on him, neither were seriously hurt). Only had to yell at one person (“Watch out!”) on the zoo property as he came at me head on while looking at birds off the trail rather than where he was going, and otherwise folks were behaving as I expected them to.

I find that I dislike riding the capitol crescent trail once you cross into Maryland. I’m sure the DC side would be just as bad were it as densely populated, but there’s a definite uptick in strollers, idiots wearing head phones and other obstacles. Heart rate goes up in such situations (stress much?), but so be it.

Debating a planned swim, I think I might be better off doing that tomorrow evening. The rest of the evening is set aside for le crush and a cheesy movie & dinner. Until then, it’s time to make coffee. And gather fruit.