Humming

2009-10-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

Yes, I DID run 45 minutes at an 8-minute mile pace last night... That wasn't my long day either ;-) Our bike trainer should be in w/in the next few weeks as well. It'll be exciting to be able to run an hour...and THEN add on my biking workout. If I'm able to add my swimming sessions on w/the start of the new year, I'll be right on track to bust out some awesome sprint tri's w/the start of the next season. As long as my motivation stays high through Joey's deployment, a 1/2 ironman should be w/in my grasp.

The dogs were beautiful at the dog park last night. They were streaking across the park faster than any other pair of pups and everyone noticed w/awe. Harper is growing more and more aware of us...and Eure is growing more assertive, which troubles me. Now that she has Harper to dominate, she seems to think more highly of her "alpha" self and is being a bit of a butt all over again. It's like she's reliving her teenaged years. Sooooo, we have more work ahead of us w/her as the pack dynamic continues to settle. Hopefully we can get it worked out before Harper becomes a teenaged butt, too. I'm already dreaming of the day both our dogs have matured...we have wonderful dogs.

My car is STILL not here. We're going on month 3 w/a single working car...and it's really wearing on me. It must be worse for poor JC, my chauffeur.

Outside of that, I'm tentatively looking forward to this coming weekend. It'll be the first social drinking event I've gone to w/our generation in MONTHS. I'm been avoiding our normal clique purposefully as my distaste for heavy drinking split me from what seems to be most 20-somehtings. Wow how my priorities have shifted post-college. Anyway, our costumes were so good that Eure didn't recognize Joey in our dress rehearsal. Boy did she tell me about the intruder in the house.

So, that's a taste of the life of wee. This little engineer is out.

We are not the beautiful people...

2009-10-26T12:32:00.000-07:00

...but that's ok.

This is how I'm more comfortable. We camped out near Granite Falls last weekend and did the quick hike up to Lake 22. Next time we'll run this trail.

2009-10-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Just tried to burn the house down with rice. Like a ninja! May need a new pot.

...grant that I may always desire more...

2009-10-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

For the life of me, I cannot understand the type of person who curls up to watch TV every night (i.e. MOST of the people I work with). My soul is not content being still and there is rarely a day where I am sated with what I've accomplished. You cannot imagine how demoralizing it was to waste a beautiful summer planning a wedding that I knew would make me miserable. Top that off w/the death of the golf, so the loss of my freedom, and WOW was that rough. W/the winter rolling in and my mini predicted to arrive THIS WEEK, I find my head absolutely spinning w/the possibilities. We'll be able to alternate a few week nights w/the dogs so I can go run 6-10 miles (this bores our pups) and Joey can guiltlessly go play soccer w/friends. I'm also scheming to figure out how quickly we can train Eure up w/canicross & skijoring. Then factoring in how quickly Harper will be able to join us. Top that off w/thoughts of pushing myself to be ready for the Seattle 1/2 marathon and some winter camping...and omg, I can barely sit still @ work. There are, of course, the plans for the house, too: Jezahellions cat walk, finally finishing the painting of our home (yeah, we've been there for over a year now), convincing myself to make my master tree/universe quilt, re-organizing the garage (again) to fit in more equipment (winter camping gear and my glorious new road bike), finishing up the brakes for the Honda, and planning the minor mini upgrades (tinting windows, 3M protectant, and black vinyl wrapping the chrome)...

There's a quote I still remember enjoying in High School:

"Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” ~Michelangelo

Sooo, while my Love, Elle, gets to tear apart buildings for volunteer work ;-) and my other love, JC, is home sick (running all the errands we'd been neglecting), and my other loves (Jezahellion, Eure, Harper) are home sleeping... I shall return to the work where I drill away @ stress analysis...secretly plotting a fantastic girls weekend.

PS We climbed Mt Si last weekend, which was a pretty easy jaunt.

It's good to get back to it, but I struggle w/pacing our increase of activity.

2009-10-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

This is how over a month of lame happens:
9/11 thru 9/13: My wisdom tooth removal weekend.
9/18 thru 9/20: Still not supposed to workout (see above surgery), so spent time getting the house back in order post-wedding (seriously took ALL weekend).
9/25 thru 8/27: Worked through the weekend.
10/2 thru 10/4: Worked through the weekend.
10/9 thru 10/11: JC's sinus surgery weekend.
10/16 thru 10/18: JC's drill weekend.

Finally - 10/23 thru 10/25 - free, free, free! May go visit Marlo if things work out. May pick up the mini if it's ready. I hope we'll get out hiking at least - camping would be even better! Puh-lease hold off rainy season.

Facilitating Adventures

2009-09-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting a preformance road bike for a while - both to ride to work and to be my future Tri bike. Lately, I've come to realize that anything I purchae now, will likely (with care) last till I'm in my 40's or OLDER. Sooooo, I'm upgrading the quality of items I purchase. That said, it wasn't difficult for the sales people to talk me into this originally 3K 2008 Specialized Ruby Expert.

Isn't she pretty? Aaaaand, omg, she'll be fast. Considering the pending Mini Cooper, our wedding debt, my school laons, and my need for a few other toys this winter...well, I did the responsible thing and put her on layaway. This is the first time I've EVER used layaway, and i'm pretty excited about it. It's not like I'd ride this beauty much this year, considering the Seattle rainy season is starting to kick in. I have up to a year to pay her off, but plan on upping that so I can bring her home in the Spring when all the new 2010's are in high demand...yet, I'll only have paid a lovely end of season price for a 2-year old new bike. Wow, am I excited.

Next up on the must-have list:
Second set of skijoring gear (in a few months after Harper has matured).
X-country skate skis (@ an end of Season sale...so in the spring).
Mt. Climbing Gear (around February when we take the B. Alpine climbing class).

For now, I'm 'end of summer' cleaning out the house from unused gear and kinda wishing I was going back for Rose Homecoming. The onset of fall/winter should bring more snow shoeing, x-country skiing, and canicross adventures. Color this little engineer SOOO excited the wedding biznasstyness is over and we're moving on to real adventures.

090509 Favorite Pics

2009-09-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

B4 climbing the mt...

On top of the crater rim...

Wonderful boy...

Wonderful friends...

I'm a lucky girl.

This little engineer is out.

2009-08-21T13:28:00.002-07:00

T-14 days
So far, my best advice to others is to plan your wedding in your least favorite time if year so you can get hitched right before your favorite time of year. Had I thought this part through, I would've been enjoying this summer w/Joey and our pups w/out wasting time in-doors...planning. Planning is going well, btw. We have nearly everything worked out and the stuff not already worked out will probably be cut. Our wedding isn't going to be perfect - I'm sure there'll be hitches and funny moments and times of awkwardness, but that suits us. In my frustration that we didn't elope, I plan on breaking just about every other tradition. We're taking pics b4 the wedding, so I plan on just staying out and greeting guests as they arrive - none of this hiding the bride bs. This will alleviate tension on my end and I really just can't wait to see old friends anyway. I also refused the concept of a first dance - we dont' dance so why start if it's going to make me anxious? If we can sub in something else we normally do, then I'm all for it...but dancing while 80 people stare at me just sounds like torture. The only piece of the plan that isn't working out is that I'd like to have our dogs there - they're our family too. Yet I have no idea who I'd trust with them while we were busy - Eure is instinctually a guard/alert type dog, so not just some fru fru to be led around. Most people can't comprehend the difference between a true working dog...and well, the family dog who'll sleep for 16-hrs a day and can't problem solve...but I'm straying topics. It'll be good to see people and it'll be good to just get this damn thing over with. I don't enjoy planning something that seems so superficial to me - I'd rather spend hours planning a trip to climb WA peaks or train the pups further or...guh - a gazillion other things seem more monumental. There's also my more personal anxieties - I don't really enjoy partying like I used to, so I'm anxious old friends wont understand; I'm anxious about all of JC's family who are upset about the lack of religeon in the wedding; and I'm anxious about Joey's friends whose closed conservative minds are so easily upset when I speak bluntly. Oh well, it's only a single difficult day that's sucking up so much time...then I get to move onto the easy part - going back to life as normal w/JC, Bri + 3 wonderful girls.

Regrets
Last night we were all on the couch - Joey, w/Harper on his left, Eure between us ('her' place), and Jezahellion on my lap. Those are the moments I know I'm lucky - damn lucky to have a small piece of the world to call my own where I not only belong, but am needed and loved. And it's moments like that I hate the wedding even more. Why make such a fuss over something that is perfect on it's own? Why add the stress? Why invite the criticism? The wedding did not force us to broach uncomfortable issues - we'd already found our peace w/religon, not having kids, where we see our lives going, and we've been committed to each other and only each other since the first year we met. Why does everyone always seem to need and expect more? For months, I've been pretty upset w/myself for giving in to this wedding concept. I've seriously been struggling w/blending in w/the norm and wasting so much time and money...and then we started taking back what is ours. Throwing traditions out the window has been like finding redemption from being untrue to our relationship and our own needs.

This is probably my last post pre-wedding. There will be so much to get done in these final days. Then there will be better posts of mountain conquoring, dog training, and honda rebuilidng. Till those better days...

This little engineer is out!

Harper's first day @ the Beach

2009-08-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

...and her first successful car-ride. How can you not love this face?

They spent a few minutes of true freedom running in the surf in on a beautiful Seattle Saturday morning. And then we all strolled together - we all love the ocean.

They're most beautiful when they're soaking wet and hopelessly sandy like this. My second-hand dogs make my heart happy.

Work, work, work, and working on play.

2009-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

JC and I never forget how much time we've put into Eure, we just don't always see how effective it has been...until you compare our little girl to the new #2. Harper has a good base of being house broken and only chewing on appropriate things (though her teeth and her demeanor make me think she's never had a rawhide or cow hoof or bone to chew)...but she's horrible at all the little things that make our life w/Eure functional.

Cars - She cannot ride in a car w/out losing control of facilities.
Thresholds - She bolts out doors (this is horribly dangerous).
Mouthing - She has a v.hard mouth and 'hurts' w/out understanding stop signals.
Toys - She doesn't seem to know what toys are for - she chews on Eure instead.
Stairs - she's horribly uncoordinated on them. I doubt she was aloud to go up stairs in her former life.
Drive - Where is this working dog's drive? We need to understand her motivators better.
Leave the cat alone, leave the cat alone, leave the cat alone, leave the cat alone, leave the cat alone...
Recall - Completely MIA and SO necessary for our life style.
Leash skills - I LOVE how she wants to go, go, go on a leash, but what a puller.

Wow, there's a BIG world waiting for Harper and this is just the start! At least she has Eure by her side through all of this - JC and I just need to remember to be patient in our excitement to work with her.

2009-07-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

And then there were two...

...and all were happy. Harper (7-months) and Eure (14-months) on day 2 of the family completion.

Cougar 10-Mile Defeat

2009-07-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the 10-mile trail race of the Cougar Mountain Series I've been running. The pace in this race started quite a bit faster than the 8-mile race, so it felt great. From the beginning, I knew I was going to be able to up my time from 2-years ago...till I misstepped on mile 4 and rolled my left ankle. I couldn't put weight on it at first but slowly tried to walk it out. Wow did it hurt! After 3 or 4 minutes, I decided I could hobble back along and would finish the race. My ankle burned, but putting weight on it wasn't a huge issue. Though I thought I was taking care of my foot placement, I managed to roll it again on mile 6. This time, there was a bit of a pop and I thought I was surely out of the game. Once again, I spent 3 or 4 minutes walking it out and stubbornly refused to give up. Apparently I didn't learn my lesson...and on mile 8, I rolled and popped it a final time. From there, I hobbled out of the race. A mere 6 minutes off my time from 2-years ago...despite 5-10 minutes of ankle trouble and walking the final 2-miles out. This was THE most defeating race I have ever run. To be so close to my goal and have a joint and not conditioning issue...

What I should be saying is that I'm lucky my ankle is healing quickly and doesn't seem like it'll have lasting issues. It's nearly down to it's normal size and I think I'll be back out running paved trails by the week's end. I am also lucky that I have the 13-mile race in 3-weeks to find redemption. For now though, Eure and I are pretty frustrated w/my immobility. Soooo, it's time to get back at this work bs and research ankle strengthening exercises @ lunch.

Hope y'alls weekend was better than this little engineer's.

Honda N600 Upgrades - Day 1

2009-06-30T18:18:00.001-07:00

Task: Unsticking the driver's seat for Ms. Wee.

Step1: Jack up car for the first time (thank you JC and your glorious low profile floor jack).
Step2: Remove driver's seat (thank you previous owner for making this so easy).
Step3: Remove seat track from seat (thank you JC for pointing out the splendid nutplates).
Step4: Clean 30+ years of grease off tracks w/chemicals that made me high.
Step5: Grease, roll, let set, repeat. (thank you JC AGAIN for having product on hand).
Step6: Reassemble (tomorrow after the grease has set)!!!

Todo List:
1) Replace nearly 40 year old seat padding and sew new seat covers...after all the mechanical components are back in order.

Darn it's good to be an engineer!

Lake Melakwa

2009-06-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

While my mom was in town, we made it out to Lake Melakwa.

It's still covered by 80% ice...

...but Eure enjoyed it anyway.

Next time...we'll RUN this trail!

:)

Triad Lake - Buck Creek Trail

2009-06-19T09:54:00.000-07:00

We tried to make it out to Triad Lake...

...but ran into avalanche after avalanche. Only made it back 8-miles.

A good backpacking trip nonetheless.

Eure thought so too!

The past few weekends.

2009-06-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Idaho was suprisingly awesome in the summer...

...

...and so was MN.

This little engineer is too busy living to write a real post. More later.

2009-05-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I bettered my time for the 5-mile Cougar Mountain trail run from 2-years ago. There's nothing like a trail run on a MOUNTAIN to humble you though. Here's to hoping the 7-miler in a month goes even better.

After, we went camping out near Leavenworth along Icicle Creek. For car camping, it was pretty cool. Temps were getting a bit warm for the poop even though we kept her coat watered down. Alas, she made it to the top of Icicle Ridge and was quite proud of herself. The second day was frustrating, but shows us how far we are and aren't in training.

Along those lines, we're in a frustrating but somewhat necessary obedience class w/Eure. She's SOOOO much more aadvanced than any dog in the class...yet she's also the most extreme w/focus and lack of focus. We're using the class purely to build our teamwork as she already knows all of the commands.

This little engineer is out.

Where I left off...

2009-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

Running w/the guys was AWESOME. I pulled the pace for the first few miles, then amiably kept pace and chatted (note to self: the guys don't chat when they run) for a few miles. The last few miles they picked up pace and made me seriously work to retain the glory of keeping up w/supper tall running guys. And, bam, I did it. I finished right in the middle of the pack on their final kick and WOW am I happy about that. I wasn't feeling Herculean strong either - just able. I'm not sure if we run again tonight, there have been a lot of storms passing through.

On top of that, I started the Commuter Challenge w/a group of guys at work. They've given me the code name 'sprockette' (which barely ousted the code name Diva Knievel) and I've biked to work 1 day this week (15miles round trip). It's not much, but it's enough to keep me going on my normally off days. Our team is not super competitive, but it'll be neat to see how far we bike during the month-long challenge.

Eure has been slowly getting the idea that running is for moving fast and chasing stuff and not for sniffing and eating grass, so she finally popped out a phenomenal unlead 5-miles (usually some oen runs or bikes ahead of her to keep her moving at a good pace - she pulled the pace for several miles on this last run). 5 miles in 37 mins flat is pretty good for us. Yeaya to training my little runner - I don't think people understand how much work it is w/a BC. Keeping her from stalking bikes, cars, people, dogs, trees, etc, etc, etc has taken MONTHS of positive reinforcement.

Though I v.much feel like ranting about designer dog breeds and pure breads for the sake of vanity, I wont. Instead, this is what you can get when you pick up some one else's mistake...

...georgous 'border collie' goodness.

This little engineer is out.

The Dark Side

2009-04-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

There are times that I wish my competitive side wasn't so dominant - I'm not very good at hiding it's existence and it can make me restless. Sometimes, though, it comes in v.v.handy.

Most of the older engineers around me have their PE's...and they waited till their 30's & 40's to get them. That was the origin of the drive that enrolled me in the summer PE review class @ UW. I plan on taking the class this summer, studying on my own for 6-months and then taking the class again before I take the test. Yes, I plan on knocking the test out w/in the next year. If all goes well, I'll be the youngest engineer w/in the group to complete it..until some new upstart decides to one up me. Either way, I'm excited about the test - I'm an awesome test taker.

Aaaaand that stinky competitive side finally kicked me in the butt to invite myself to the guys' running group on Tuesdays. These are all Boeing guys in my new group....and they're all pretty tall. I have no delusions that I'll be hardcore struggling to keep up w/them on their easy days, but this will be v.good for me. My only goal is to keep up w/them for 2-3 miles on their way out, and do the back on my own. We'll see how it goes for my first run w/them tonight. Hopefully Eure can join me next week. This should put me at the final level I want to be at before the 5-mile trail run in a couple of weeks...which is exciting. I didn't spend enough time building up a strong base last year and my final mini times were slower.

Goals, goals, goals - gotta love the summer. This little engineer is out.

2009-04-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

We will meet Boomer on Sunday.

2009-04-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

The first thing I thought when I saw this Element was, "wow, that's gay...at least they support gay rights". I know, I'm an a$$hole. Really though - soccer mom stick people...and cats, the cliche apple decal, AND it's an Element. Well, look closer, like I did and... "Omg, that's awesome!". They're gay men stick figures w/their cats and they drive a gay car. Rock on you clever little men - your car makes me smile when ever I pass it.

The end, this little engineer is out.

2009-04-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

She arrived this morning and is definetly a toy and not a commuter...for now. The breaks are too soft, so need to be worked on before I'll be driving her around. It's also going to take me a while to befriend manual transmition.

This little engineer is out for the weekend.

2009-03-30T19:22:00.001-07:00

Want to know the best way to take a perfectly rugged and robust border collie and make her look like a city girl?

Throw a powder blue soft shell jacket on her. While up at my Aunt's cabin this past weekend, we were hiking in and out of some pretty deep snow. That w/the chilly temps deemed it jacket worthy for the pup. When we weren't out hiking, we were living like movie stars as we spent nights in the hot tub drinking wine while the snow fell upon us.

All in all, a good weekend for this little engineer.

The Domestication of Wee

2009-03-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love suculants.

This color matches my eyes some days. Joey and I replaced all the hardwear, too. LOVE the grey towels, right?

Aaaand leave it to Nash to have pretty awesome friends.

All in all, a great weekend.

The most irresponsible I've ever been...

2009-03-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

...was the time I purchased this old Honda N600 from a seller in Kansas.

Everyone else has shiny toys...the boys have their motorcycles, my friends all drive Lexus or Audi's...and now, I have the car of my dreams. Small and efficeint - the way everything should be. My goal is to keep it running on my own (with Joey), which will be a great adventure.

Bad decision? Probably. It was my turn to act my age though.
This little engineer is excited.