Post Thanksgiving

The time after Thanksgiving has been quiet. I guess it is now winter. The days are officially colder, we had snow and all I want to do is hibernate. I'm trying really hard not to hibernate because I know fun and interesting stuff is outside the house, not inside.

On Friday, I went a for a great hike with Jackie, her dog, Canyon and my dog, Meeka. We hike the Mesa Trail starting in South Boulder. It was a beautiful sunny winter Friday day. I always get a little worried taking Meeka out to the trails because she has select hearing. Yes, she only listens when she wants to. However, on this day, she was a wonderful dog. I'll have to take her to that trail more often.

Saturday morning, I woke-up to snow. I had planned to run so I dressed warmly and put on my yak traks. I had a nice run including my five- minute warm-up and cool-down run, I was outside for 45 minutes. My feet felt great while I was running. Here's to hoping that they stay this way! Then after a quiet day that included a nap, Michael and I went to a yoga. I go to a yoga class about once a week but to convince Michael to go with me was a special treat. To make the night even more special, the yoga class was free.

It's now Sunday. The day is cloudy with a 40% chance of snow. I have a few things I want to do in town like finish some pottery pieces, look for a pair of trail running shoes and pick some Skins Compression tights. Can I really get out of the house?

Thanksgiving Day

The day started off very peaceful. I slept in until 10:00am and missed both a morning hike and yoga. Oh well, I guess my body needed 9 hours of sleep!

About 2:30pm, I put the turkey in the oven. I had no idea how long the turkey would take to get done. I was estimating somewhere between 2:15 and 4:00hrs. (The 7.5lb turkey ended up only needing 2.5 hrs. ) After the turkey was put in the oven, I went back upstairs to nestle in my bed to read. However, Meeka had other plans. She came upstairs; sat right beside me in the floor and just stared. In a few short minutes, I figured out that she came upstairs to get me to take her outside. We went on a nice quiet hour walk across the street. As I was walking, I realized what a quiet day it was and remembered the people who were affected in Mumbai.

When I came home, I started all the side dishes for dinner. I'm so glad that I started them early because the turkey was done lots quicker than I expected. I made mashed sweet potatoes (the first-time ever), green beans, stuffing (that I got free from work, it was Arrowhead Mills) and gravy. About 5:00, everything was done and ready to eat.

Michael and I had a very nice dinner together. We even opened a nice bottle of wine. It was a from a winery in California, Elyse. There's a funny story about this wine that I'll tell you another day if you haven't heard it. After dinner we played a Ticket to Ride - Switzerland, a game. I actually won which doesn't happen too often when he and I play games together.

All in all, Thanksgiving day was quiet but good.

Thanksgiving Eve

On Thanksgiving eve, I got off work early, 3:00. I was so excited to have a few hours to myself that I ended up cleaning the house and planning our thanksgiving meal. Yes, I know that there are better things to do with 2-hours of free time than cleaning the house. After, I cleaned and planned our meal, I went to the gym for a workout. I ran on the treadmill for 2 miles plus a 5 min warm-up and cool-down. During this time, I realized why I have only run on a treadmill less than 5 times in my life. It is boring!!! After my little run, I started my strength building training program. I got about halfway through and decided that I was done. I finished all my core exercises and called it quits.

After the workout, I made my way over to Whole Foods. I wasn't sure what kind of mess I was walking into but I decided to take a chance. The parking lot wasn't that crazed so I figured the store must be okay, which it was. After getting a snack and a few unique items that I can only get at Whole Foods, I checked out and then preceded to meet a few friends out for drinks at the Kitchen. I had a great time catching up with friends.

For whatever reason at 11:00, I was still wide-awake so I went to the 'normal' grocery store to buy the rest of Thanksgiving dinner. I walked out of Safeway at 11:45pm. The nice thing about shopping that late was the store wasn't busy. It was amazing though that several families were shopping that late at night. Needless to say, after I got home and put away the groceries I hit the sack; I was very exhausted.

This weekend - (Sat. Nov. 22)

This weekend was very productive and relaxing. Yesterday morning, I got up and did a short walk-run workout totally 30 min. When I came home I was in a nesting mood. I made butternut squash soup and applesauce. It was my second time making butternut squash soup and my first time making applesauce. Both turned out great. In the afternoon, we went to the pottery lab to finished some pieces and then I went for a massage. Last night, we attended a friends surprise birthday party. After we got home, I was so tired but laid in bed watching Army Wives for hours. It was fun to stay up late. Today, I slept in until 9:00, ate breakfast, took a nap, finished reading Eragon, took a walk and then we went to Gary and Cindy's for dinner. It's always great fun hanging out with them.

Now, it's time for a short week of work - that's a sure thing to be thankful for!

Brutus is 'on-hold'

If you read my blog from Saturday, I asked if someone could pretty please adopt Brutus. Good news, his status on the Boulder Humane Society's website is 'on-hold.' Let's keep our fingers crossed that he goes to his new home tomorrow. YEAH!

School & Creativity

Today when I was in the chiropractor office waiting to be taken back to a room, I was skimming through a magazine. One of the headlines mentioned the Blue Man Group. Of course, this caught my attention because we saw their concert last year in Vegas and I really enjoyed the creativity that was showcased. (If you have never seen them, you must. It is a very cool show.) This specific article that I was reading, talked how the founders of the Blue Man Group needed to expand it's creativity to something new so they created the blue school. The school's mission statement is to cultivate creative, joyful, and compassionate inquirers who use courageous and innovative thinking to build a harmonious and sustainable world. Yes, this is not the 'normal' approach to education but I really think that this unique approach is worth looking at. If you are in the NY, New York area, I think you should attend an open house (then of course, let me know what you thought, just because I'm curious. )

a good winter day

Today I went hiking with two friends, Mary and Diane. We hiked the Ceran St. Vrain Trail in Jamestown. The hike was much longer than I expected at 6.6 miles but still a very good hike. After the hike, I treated myself to a cup of coffee, a haircut and a trip the grocery store, which is really a chore.

Quite often, I browse the Boulder Humane Society's website. Years ago, I wanted another dog but now I realize that Meeka is very happy as a 'only dog'. Plus, if I'm honest with myself I don't have time to take care of two dogs when I'm training for triathlons. However, with that all that I said, I found my dream dog. Check BRUTUS out. Since I can't have him, can someone please adopt him, pretty please!!

First time donating blood

So, today I donated blood for the first time. I was excited but nervous. All went well until the end. Right when they pulled the line, I started feeling hot, clamy, and like I was going to faint. They put cold clothes on me. While they were doing this, the lady that took my blood was talking to me. I heard her but not really. It sounded like she was in a tunnel. I also started to see white spots. It was a very strange feeling. I didn't faint but I was close to it. After lots of cold compresses, I started to feel better. I had some 7-up and goldfish crackers. I thought I was ready to set up but nope my body thought different. I had to continue laying down for several more minutes. After a bit of time, I sat up and then moved chairs so they could take my vitals. At this time, I was feeling close to normal. After another cookie, I walked back upstairs to my desk. All in all, it took an hour - a bit longer than I expected.

The rest of the day, I felt a little off and hungry. I can't seem to get enough food.

Will I do it again? I think I will. Why you ask? It's good to donate blood and I think I can beat the bad feeling next time. I do wonder if one has to donate a pint of blood? Several people have suggested that it might be too much for me.

Until next time....

can you use a preposition to end a sentence with.

Well, it's 11:00 and I haven't yet blogged today. Remember, I must write something every day. People say that to become better at something you must do it on a regular basis. Yes, I write every day but I write emails. If I blog everyday, I will come up with topics to write about. For example, today's topic just write and why you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition.

With this topic, I discovered the following things:

• It is a leftover grammar rule: in Latin, it would be impossible to end a sentence with a preposition, so they made it against the rules to do so in English simply for tradition's sake.
• The rule is not of dire necessity, I will not compromise the strength of a sentence for tradition.
• The rule says it’s bad grammar, but most modern experts on grammar say it’s not. So, I don’t figure I have to follow it

YES, we did & WOW!

Today was election. A few minutes after 9pm MST, Obama was announced the next president of the United Status. WOW!!!! I'm happy. I even watched his acceptance speech. It made me smile. I can't wait to see what will happen. Lot's of positive stuff is coming our way.

Earlier tonight, I was talking to my dad on the phone. With it being election day, we were talking about the election. He mentioned how Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's univeristy, gave all the students the day off and bussed the kids to polls to vote. We both thought this act was cool. However, my dad proceeded to explain that all 'these people' see is one global issue - abortion. Dad continued to explain how abortion was a given freedom and right. Wow! My dad thinks that abortion is a freedom and a given right. I was smiling so big when I was hearing him talk about this topic. I think of my dad as a somewhat conservative guy but learning how he feels about this issued made me think even better of him. He has moved my dad from my being my wonderful dad to super 'cool' dad.

3 sad things today

I heard about three sad things today:

1. Winnie's dog, Maggie, had to have emergency surgery this weekend because she had a ruptured tumor on her spleen. She is still in critical condition.
   
2. My cousin, Joy, lost her babies that were conceived via IVF.
3. Senator Obama grandmother passed away, 1 day before he was elected president.
   

NaBloPoMo

The name NaBloPoMo is derived from NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, where participants try to write an entire novel in one month. We're here because we can't commit to an endeavor of such magnitude, but we can post on our blogs every day for a month! Weekends included.

Let's see if I can do this. Can I blog for everyday of the month? I have already missed 2 days but I can do the other 28 days.

Back to the first paragraph, I've had several friend do the National Novel Writing Month. I've always admired them thinking I could never do it. However, I do think, I can do National Blogging month.

Okay, let's start.