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

Awesome run this morning, about 10-11 miles (probably 10, given the ‘off’ factor of my pedometer). Totally on pace and what not to run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in 3 weeks. Yay! *knock wood*

Our newbies had a group run, either 25 minutes or 30 minutes, depending on the group (sprint/olympic). None of the sprint folks showed up (whoops), so we just looped around Hains Point. I had been all worries earlier in the week about biking over and then having someone to watch gear, then had the “Duh!” moment when I thought about my long run this morning and that the meeting site was only about 2 miles from home. So, ran over, met them, ran sweep with the last runner (great conversation), then did another loop with one of my volunteers (fastish for me, slow for him), then home.

It’s going to be one of those weird spring days where you can’t decide quite which jacket to wear. No matter, one way or another I am getting The Heck Out Of The House today. I think some furniture window shopping is in order.

Quiet weekend here. Steven was in town and crashed here for the weekend, but my legs were bothering me (a side effect of the prednisone, I think), so I was rather more of a stick in the mud than usual. Was good to see him, but was disappointing I didn’t feel up to wandering out (or doing much of anything). Did get in a lot of gaming, both on the DS and the PC, which made me wonder if I really needed to upgrade the PC as little as I use it. Eventually, I’m sure, but it’s not a priority in the budget.

Also caught up on reading (not but so much you can do when the most comfortable long-term position is with your legs stretched out and relaxed), both the current book (“Ironcrown Moon” by Julian May) and delved into the ever-present pile of magazines. I’ve gotten “free” subscriptions to a couple of magazines over the years, and they end up sitting there until I spend 15 minutes to flip through them, see if there’s anything interesting to read (usually not), and toss ’em out. They end up costing more in psychic distress (clutter) than the “free” label would imply, so getting them out is always a good thing.

Okay, and no one told me I could stream bossa nova jazz through my WiFi and TiVo, why? So loving this tonight as I clean and straighten and putz. So mellow, so perfect. Love bossa nova.

And now for a not-loving TMI moment:

If I never see another lentil cooked in the middle eastern style again, it will be too soon. All damned day I’ve been farting onions and mujadara spices from last night’s dinner. Ugh.

So anyway, mixed love today. Loving the streaming music, loving the laptop on the couch again. Not loving the cold, not loving the gas. Loving the cleaner apartment, not loving reviewing ethics reports (long story – it’s not even my area of law, but we’ve all been roped into it in our section).

Quick thoughts because I need sleep, post swim and post vegging tonight with the TiVo.

Thinking about hiring a coaching service for my season this year. We have a deal through the club that’s not bad, and some specialized feedback might be a very good thing. Have until the end of the month to decide, so i’m going to ruminate on it.

Got my nudie calendar for this year finally. Third year running for this particular one. Just something about the models he’s chosen… It’s smaller (width wise) than the previous years’ calendars, but it works really well in the space I have it in – the extra length lets it match the bulletin board more easily. Good choice.

And, of course, there’s the naked butt staring out at me when I come into the living room now (nice back!).

Ran completely out of coffee this morning and was too hungry to stop at the grocery store on the way home. Will have to try and get some tomorrow evening after the gym and dinner with MG.

Running should prove interesting tomorrow morning, but from the state of the sidewalks I’ve seen today it should be dry where I’m running. If not, I go slow. No killing myself this year, I’d like to actually run the silly 10 miler this time around.

I hate when recipes lie. “Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.” 40 minutes my ass, how about 2 hours? Liars. And I think this happens more often than people think with cookbooks (because, really, if it said “2 hours” would most people try the recipe? no).

Finally got snow. I was debating biking to work tomorrow, then MG reminded me that no one will know how to drive tomorrow and I really didn’t want to be on the road with those fools. Point taken, I’ll walk. Did go run this afternoon and with 15 minutes to go the snow started (tiny little stuff, but snow nonetheless). That was fun, been a while since I’d run in snow.

Of course, if it sticks around, it won’t be the last time this week, either. Provided it’s not too icy.

Picked up gobs and gobs of groceries yesterday, before I realized it was going to snow. Needed tons of staples, so off I went to pack my little bag lady cart and subsequently my limited cabinets with lotsa food. Forgot coffee, though. Will have to pick up more after the pool. Was otherwise feeling a little bit of my hermit-mood for the weekend. Did go see a play with Richard, his much belated birthday gift, this evening, and MG was over last night and today, but was feeling the urge to just stay in and nest. Trying to break out of that some, but it was a particularly social week, with two happy hours, so perhaps I was just burnt out.

I’m killing the Uberlist for this year. I’ve gotten up to 80 items and I just can’t go any further, and now half the things I’ve put down I’m not sure I want to do this year, so phooey on it. I think I’d rather set up a rolling list of goals, like paying off two of the sub-loans with my student loan providers, and then build up from there. I do have temporal goals that will suit themselves to a yearly list (i.e., race goals), but some of the other stuff I found myself wanting to concentrate on is likely more multi-year than not, especially the financial stuff.

Long day of cleaning. It was very much needed, I’d let the dining table become a junk depository and it needed emptying, and laundry needed doing, and vacuuming, and dusting, and all that stuff needed to happen. Was more motivated than usual because FJ!! popped by before MG and I ran him up to BWI to fly home to LA. All was in order for his visit, so face was saved and he didn’t see how junky it looked 24 hours previous.

Not to say it’s a show apartment, but it’s gotten much better as I’ve concentrated on fixing individual areas.

One thing I had decided to do this year on the list was a charity event. With AIDS Marathon pulling out of DC due to the incomprehensible actions of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, I think I’ve settled on a biking event that helps Food and Friends here in DC. I’m going to an informational session for them tomorrow evening, and if I like the info I see from them I’m likely to sign up. The ride’s in July, and that’s a good time to build up to the distances we’re looking at. I like the work the charity does here in DC, so I’m favorably inclined to them, but I still want the chance to ask some questions before I make the plunge.

After the odd email exchange about our newbie program, the volunteer meeting yesterday went well, though I found out I’m the sole co-leader from last year who’s continuing on into this year. Ack! So, whole new crew, but with a lot of infrastructure set up for this year. It’s going to be a fun season. Now we just have to find a goal race so we can get some of the other information into focus. As the one carry over I’m getting a lot of questions, and that’s fine. Just call me Mr. Triathlon.

Have done some little wanderings around the edges of MAL this year. MG and I went to the hotel last night and chatted with friends for a couple of hours. Then today we went to the market and I plunked down far too much money on stuff from Nasty Pig (but it’s going to look lovely once I get the jeans hemmed, and wear the bar vest out to the Eagle). Ran into tons of friends, saw some folks whom I though I recognized but wasn’t quite sure enough of to go say hello, and generally enjoyed myself. Did end up a little dehydrated at the end, I think, but am making up for it now that I’m home.

Need to do lots of cleaning tomorrow, laundry and general straightening. FJ!! is going to stop by, I think, while he waits for his flight after leaving the hotel, and the place definitely needs to be made more guest-worthy if that’s to happen.

When I left work today, I felt like someone had taken a large stick and beaten me, repeatedly.

To say that we were busy today would be an understatement. I don’t know that I’ve ever been this involved with the process, and trying to set up both the 07 budget (with the Hill, and internally), and also negotiate stuff for the 08 budget (with the OMB) is not a wrestling match I’d recommend to anyone. Heck. On. Earth.

Thankfully I had workout gear, so went for a nice weight workout (first one in ages, grr). Felt much better afterward, while taking a lot of time to zone out, zen out, and just generally release the cares of the day. Definitely a big help then. Then out to dinner with a friend and into the Metro to come home. Spotted a fellow cult member and caught him up on the latest cult gossip from Monday’s meeting.

Praying tomorrow isn’t anywhere near as bad as today was. I’ve got calls to make to some other offices to answer some questions we’ve been asked, but it shouldn’t be quite so bad. I hope.

It’s a good thing I normally bike commute, and thus had an extra pair of pants in my office to replace the ones that got soaked on my walk to work this morning. Whee.

Gorgeous day, after the rain ended. Slept for crap last night, though, so a rest day for me. Had a cult co-op meeting tonight which was going well until the issue of discriminatory pricing came up at the end (we charge less for seniors to use the fitness center, even though we’re all supposedly equal members of the corporation; it’s the only place where anyone pays anything different for “extra” services past the carrying charges). Nerve touched, on all sides. Fun, fun. Should be an interesting election season for the board in two months.

Get fitted for new orthotics tomorrow (yay new orthotics, yay killing off the deductible in one fell swoop). Mine are fine, except the little front part is about the sheer off. Will have to talk about whether it makes sense to have 2 pairs, given how much abuse I heap on them. We’ll see. In any case, the old ones will reside at work until they die so I don’t have to keep hauling them on the bike. Every ounce not carried is a good thing.

A nice, quiet start to the new year. I did go biking with the club. We did about 20 miles (plus to and from the site), most of which was in the rain. Should’ve put on my toe covers, but I don’t know that it would have kept my socks from getting as soaked as they did. Regardless, it was a fun time, and I’m going to try to do more rides with the club from now on. It was just too helpful to be out with other folks on the bike.

Though I suppose it is, as I told one friend tonight, “the masochism tango in all its forms.”

What that would mean is earlier bed times, though, since the weekday rides are at (ugh) 6:30 am. Not a bad thing, overall, but the change will be rough to adjust to. I’ll have to confirm that we’re still biking, since it’s not really winter here yet in DC (no temperature lows are predicted to get below freezing in the next week, and we have highs predicted in the 60s).

(side note: I worry about the areas that are getting neither snow nor rain this winter – that precipitation, no matter the form, though snow is better in some areas, is necessary for the spring and summer or large parts of the country could be in drought, yet again, which is Not A Good Thing)

Lots of cleaning today and all weekend (and two big batches of soup made as well), and likely will continue. I’m still trying to cull down the posessions, even after the culling I did before the move. I emptied out an entire footlocker worth of stuff, so now I have to figure out what to do with the extra locker. I think I know how it all accumulated, but I’m glad to be rid of it.

Anyway, off to bed for this Moose, have to get up and run. That Cherry Blossoom race is only 3 months off now…