One Week Count Down

Today is my one week countdown to my departure. Along with being super excited, I'm looking at a 'to-do' list which seems to grow every time I turn around. If I didn't know better, I'd think my cats are adding items to it when I'm not looking. But that's ridiculous because they don't have opposable thumbs; they can't hold a pen!

Just because she steals my place in bed doesn't mean she'd write on my 'to do' list, right?

Of course, sitting in a coffee shop so I can update my blog doesn't really help with getting things crossed off the list but it's all part of today's plan. No, seriously. The coffee shop is on the way to Michael's craft store which is on they way to my dad's. Part of the plan.

I will pop in again tomorrow for Friend Makin' Monday but that will probably be it for posts until I'm home. Still, I'll be around and creeping on other people's blogs because without them I have no social life I like to keep up with everyone else.

Just admit we're your only friends so we can go back to ignoring you.

If I do post at all while I'm away, it will be over here but don't hold your breath as I'm hoping I can just disappear from the online world for the three weeks I'm away. So I guess this is just a pre-emptive 'thanks for sticking around'.

Cheers!

Summer Weekends and Belated FMM

I had a wonderful summer weekend. A day spent up island and Shawnigan Lake and another day spent lazing in my friend’s sunny backyard while we celebrated her 30th. As much as spring and fall are my favourite seasons, summer definitely does have its moments.

I made sure to go for a swim while up at Shawnigan (in amongst drinking the incredibly strong drinks our family friend poured. I don’t think the man knows what a short glass is) and it reminded me that a) swimming really is an awesome workout and b) I really love lake swimming. There’s not much left of summer but I’m motivated to try and make it out to Thetis for a few morning swims. (Early is the key for Thetis before the crowds descend on it.)

I was back to my scheduled workouts this morning and got a rude reminder halfway through my run why you should always make sure you're well hydrated. Both my calves cramped up and felt like they had turned into rocks. I stretched them out by walking the second run section but let this be a reminder to you: as much as you feel like hitting snooze, get up and drink that pint of water you planned on before going for a run!

Yesterday was Friend Makin’ Monday (guidelines here).

The theme was letter to your future self and as much as it made me giggle to contemplate leaving:
Dear Future Self,
I hope you got your shit together.
Sincerely,
Me
I figured a proper response with some thought behind it was the appropriate thing to do (no matter how much I like to giggle). As a result, I’m a day late but some thought actually went into this so I guess it was worth the wait.

Dear Me-Sometime-In-the-Future (let’s say 10 years),

I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling to be the person I know you deserve me to have been but I hope that you’re happy with where we ended up. Remember that 10 years ago from when I write this, this is not where I thought I would be either but the journey’s been awesome so I’m happy with it.

I hope the adoption went relatively smoothly. What country did we end up deciding upon? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a West African Country to open up their adoption laws so you can keep the child immersed in their culture through Mohammed, Manimou, N’nato, Abouboucar and the extended MoonDance family. How about the possible plans for a second adoption? Yeah? Nay? Still debating?

I hope you’re the regular multi-day hiker that I want you to become. That’s something I always assumed I would become as a child, and it’s a dream that I don’t want to give up on. Not yet. Not until my knees give in. Or my back. Or some other required body part. And have we climbed Meru yet? Or at least made plans to head back that way?

Did we ever run that marathon? Even more important, did we travel somewhere for a really awesome marathon? I'm keeping my fingers cross that we've done the Drei Laender marathon. I mean, come on. Three countries in one race? Kind of awesome! Built in excuse to hangout with the Hostettlers, Fuchs and Villigers? All awesome!

This is Bodensee (or Lake Constance) that you run part way around for the Three Country Marathon.

My friend's adorable boys are not included in the race package.

And you know how much I love the apartment I’m in right now but please, please tell me you’ve got yourself sorted and have a house (rented or otherwise) with a yard and that you’ve gotten a chocolate lab from the SPCA and named him (or her) Murphy. Because Murphy is just the perfect name for a chocolate lab and beer drinkers will get the joke. Scratch him behind the ears for me. Oh, and maybe make some of those treats that Ian said Thompson loved so much. Don’t argue with me, just do it. And don’t let him terrorize the cats too much (if they’re still around in 10 years).

Doesn't the Chocolate Lab look like a tall pint of Murphy's?

Please don’t have lost your amazement at the wonders of the natural world. Does thunder still make you smile? Do pictures of lava flows still excite you? Does a starry night still take your breath away? Please say they do.

And please tell me that you still sing to yourself when you think no one can hear you and that you bust out the dance moves when the feeling strikes you. Don’t worry about embarrassing your children when you do this in front of their friends. You grew up with your dad doing that and you survived. So will they. In fact, it might even help to make them even more awesome.

Also, have you single-handily negotiated peace in the Middle East yet? No? You should get on that. I’m too busy to deal with it right now.

Sincerely,
Me (from 10 years ago, which is really right now when I write this, but not when you read it, you know what? I’m just going to assume that we’re all on the same page with this and close these parentheses.)

How Out of Shape Am I?

I went to turn off my alarm clock yesterday morning and I pulled a muscle in my arm in the process.

I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.

Reached for the alarm clock...

...pulled a muscle.

Wow!

In my defence, I was facing away from said clock with two sizable kitties sleeping on my legs. (My cats are Maine Coons which means they are of the large-and-in-charge variety.) Rolling over wasn't really an option unless I wanted the hairball of death coughed up on the bedspread. Some slight hyperextension may have occurred. (It totally did; I felt it the exact moment when my elbow went that little bit too far.)

It was pretty much back to normal within a few hours but there were the occasional twinges when it reminds me of what I did. Usually when I go to lift something heavier than my jacket.

I've tried to explain to it that I'm sorry, could it please stop twinging? But it's having none of it. Maybe I should have just faced up to the hairball of death.

Summer arrived in Victoria, stuck around for about a week, and then decided it was vacation time. From a let's-go-do-sh!t point of view, I'm really bummed. From a hey-we're-running-outside-three-times-a-week point of view, I'm actually okay with it (just don't tell my fellow Victorians). I'm not a heat person and running with an overcast sky and a temperature that struggles to routinely hit 20C is fine by me.

Still, I would like to go camping at some point this summer (in the sense of "summer is a specific time of year", not "it's summer weather. Because it's totally not!) and for me camping = tent (because I'm old school, yo!). There's nothing fun about camping when the weather's like this.

Except maybe the built-in excuse to stay in your sleeping bag and just drink all day.

Worst Workout Partners Ever.

Meet Linden (light) and Tosio (dark).*

My little kitties recently turned 8 years old. As they get older, they're settling down. Their idea of activity is running to the food dish, eating three bits of kibble and then running back to sit beside me on the sofa while I type. Save for the occasional lap around the apartment while playing tag, they're very lazy cats.

Except for last Thursday night.

I went to bed later than I intended (thank you, Phil Plait) but was still on track for roughly six and a half hours of sleep... until the above innocent-looking-schadenfreude decided to play tag for twenty minutes at 4:00am. And this was no ordinary tag, this was hissing tag. They even hissed at me when I got out of bed to try and calm them down!

By the time they wrapped up the game at close to 4:30, I was wide awake and never did get back to sleep. I crawled out the door to work as the two little devils darlings decided to forgo their usual follow-the-food-lady-to-the-door routine and just sleep on my bed. I swear they were taunting me.

I texted my running partner and cancelled Friday's run. With only four hours of sleep, I was doubting my ability to walk home never mind going for a run. We did end up going for our run on Saturday morning, but Friday night was given over to sitting in a movie theatre instead. (I saw Super 8. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it but I don't know if it deserved all the rave reviews everyone was heaping on it.)

The only problem is that it's three days later and I still haven't really caught up on the sleep due to a busy weekend. Here's hoping I catch up tonight so I'm ready for tomorrow's run. If they wake me, I'm going to duct tape them to the wall.*

*They're named after hockey players. I almost named them Merry and Pippin. In hindsight, that would have been a better choice given their complete inability to comprehend what's going on around them.

**I'm not really going to do that.***

***I may, however, do something like wash their blanket because I know how much that pisses them off.