Friday Follow Up

Posted on July 24, 2009 by 21cm

I hope you aren’t having a heart attack that I’ve posted 3 times this week! This is number 4. I hope that makes up for my lack of presence lately.

I forgot a couple of things yesterday (and ran out of numbers)

1). All during the run at Vineman I thought over and over and over again “No way I’m doing B2B – NO WAY! I’m cancelling my registration; they’ll give me back some money; I hate this; I’m never doing this again. I’m over it. I’m doing the Folsom Olympic Distance Triathlon on Aug 9 (formerly FIT) and I’m all in for B2B. I have a plan from Coach Tammy. More on that later.

2). If you worry about losing your hard drive or saving your digitial pictures you should look into Sugar Sync. It is super easy to use and it lets you access your backed up files from anywhere. You can also share your backed up pics on FaceCrack. It is secure. You can check it out for free and if you like it you can get a whole lot of storage for not a whole lot of money. Good stuff.

Posted in Friday Follow Up | 5 Comments

Thursday 13 numero uno

Posted on July 24, 2009 by 21cm

Misty and SWTri Girl both do it so I’m doing it, too.

Uno – I’m still a little sore but I guess that’s to be expected

Dos – I ran last night. It was re-affirming to be able to run for 30 whole minutes

Tres – I swam today. Just 1200 meters but I did it

Cuatro – I got my first 2 weeks of a training plan from Coach Tammy.

Cinco – My life is about to change

Seis – I covet Pirate’s bike and don’t want to give it back but I will

Siete – Every day that goes by I get more proud of my bike split at Vineman

Ocho – I’m a little slow to appreciate myself

Nueve – My baby girl is with my big girl and I miss both of them.

Diez – Can’t stop thnking about ice cream and I don’t generally eat ice cream

Once – is running out of how to write numbers in Spanish

Doce – is ever grateful for the internet

13 – but sometimes too lazy to use it

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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Hump Day Miscellany – The Lighter Side of Vineman

Posted on July 23, 2009 by 21cm

1). My friend Susan is the most super-dee-duper sherpa in the whole wide world and no – you can’t have her for your race. She took perfect care of 3 of us all weekend and managed to get DPR to the airport with minutes to spare to catch her flight home. Her bike stayed with me because we didn’t have time to get back to my house to pack it up.

2). DPR and I were born to race together. We are perfect roomies and always have a good time. This Vineman was the 3rd time we’ve gone to a race together and she’s come and stayed at my house twice. We always have fun.

3). Going to Vineman with 2 friends from FMRC and 1 bloggy peep was really fun – perfect.

4). I met and exchanged words with Sister Madonna Buder – twice. The first time was as we were getting post-race food. I told her she was such an inspiration and then I said, “I guess you’ve probably heard that a few times before” to which she responded “Well yes, I have but I never understand why”. I told it was because she just keeps going and going and going and she said “well so does everyone here”. Her humility was remarkable.

I saw her again as I was taking my bike out of T2 to go home. I had an iPhone in my hand. Another friend walked up and we were all talking. I did not have my friend take a picture. How stupid is that but I also felt that it would be a little awkward to ask for the picture so I didn’t. I did try to broach the topic of her has an inspiration again and said, “you have God on your side” to which she predictably replied, “We all have God on our side. You just have to be open to him”. So I made no points being articulate or intelligent but it was really special to have had that encounter.

I just did a search on ‘Sister Madonna Buder Vineman’ and I found this

That's me - so what does this mean??

What I wanted to get was something like this:

That's her - 76 years old and still kicking ass

I asked her if she was going to Kona this year and she said that remained to be seen because she had to qualify. She will be racing IM Canada to do that. Let’s all send our prayers her way so she can try to finish that race yet again. I’m sure she can do it – she wasn’t that far behind me at Vineman (33 mins) and actually had a better run split than me.

5). I kind of fell in love with Sebastapol. What a cute town and it’s right there, sandwiched in between the ocean and the Napa Valley and right there in the Sonoma Valley which has a zillion wineries. It’s kind of a hippie town with a lot of rich people in it so it has that sort of diversity. I may spend some more time up there exploring.

6). Meeting Sister Madonna Buder must have been a path to making my dreams come true because I seem to have a sweet Tri bike all of a sudden. Can’t wait to do my first race on it! Folsom Olympic Distance Triathlon here I come!

Posted in Hump Day, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Vineman 2009 – A Little Visit to Hell

Posted on July 21, 2009 by 21cm

Every race is a learning experience and this one was no exception. On Friday night we went to the pre-race talk with the Pros and heard Joanna Zeiger (among others) speak. The MC talked about how she had had one bad race after another (mechanical failures, nutritional issues, physical problems) and her response to that was “Sunday is a another day” and it was with that in mind I approached my race.

Race Day –

Setting up – One of these things is not like the other:

We got to T1 to set up and I unrolled my socks to discover that one was the kind that goes just to the top of your shoe and the other one was an ankle sock. I should have taken a picture but I didn’t. I did decide that the mis-matched socks were a good luck charm and carried on. I didn’t have a lot of time before my wave went off so I went through the normal pre-race port-a-potty panic (I was still in line with 14 minutes until my start) but it all worked out and I was on the beach in my wetsuit, cap, goggles and wearing my chip with moments to spare.

The Swim – Is for Fish

Meh. I swam. As always I spent the entire time wondering what the hell I was doing in the water. Water is for fish – people don’t belong there and OMG will I NEVER get to the turn around???!!! When I finally got there I felt something hit my foot and realized it was the bottom of the river. I could see the bottom of the river and I could touch it. Absurd. I stood up to take a look around and then dove back in, being careful not to scrape my nose, and finished my swim doing my normal crazy zig zag in my normal 45 minutes which was okay because I have not been swimming much lately.

T1 – Bikes!

There were bikes still in the rack!! I was very excited and uplifted by that. I had a hard time getting my wetsuit off (nothing new there!) but I got it all together, stuffed my wetsuit and towel and cap and goggles in the plastic bag and took off.

The Bike – What Scenery?

When I first got going there was a woman with a 59 on her leg ahead of me. I decided I would just pace off of her for while but then I felt like I was going too slow and it bugged me so I passed her. We played cat and mouse for a long time and I came to know her as “59” because I didn’t make nice and exchange names with her. I was killing it on the hills and she would pass me on the flats. I finally got tired of 59 and just dropped her at about mile 40, before Chalk Hill. I didn’t see her again for a very long time.

I noticed a few interesting things on this bike ride. First of all I noticed every once in a while I would look up and think “oh – it’s so pretty out here” which was a distinct difference from last year when I found the race so annoying for disrupting my sight-seeing time. Last year as I got near Chalk Hill I found myself in the center of a lot of chatter about the hill and this year I was annoyed at the prospect. But I wasn’t cruising with a steady crowd all around me. I was riding and either passing people or getting passed but no one was tittering about a hill that really isn’t that big a deal.

I had wanted to have a 20 minute PR over last year’s bike split of 3:37 As I got to the top of Chalk Hill and looked at my watch and saw 3:45 I wanted to cry. How COULD that happen??? I was so much faster. Then I looked again and realized that was 3:45 total – including the swim and T1 and I looked at the other time on the watch which was 2:53 so I was happy – oh so very happy because in my head T2 was down the hill and around the corner. Only it wasn’t. The ride kept going and going and going and I started thinking “give me some chute – this distance is killing my time!!” and then I thought “oh – yeah – that’s how this goes. PEDAL FASTER!”

Total bike time was 3:19 which was 2 minutes longer than I wanted it to be but it was still great. According to my favorite pace calculator 56 miles in 3:19 is a pace of 16.8 mph which made me very happy.

T2 – bikes, damnit

I found my spot easily and switched my stuff. Nothing interesting there except there were alot of bikes in the rack. I put that out of my mind because it was women 45+ so that was 3 age groups below mine as well as my own so big deal, right? I did my best not to dwell on the obvious and just got the hell out of there.

The Run – My Journey Through Hell

I started out running and thinking “oh my – it’s hot” and found myself really pushing to keep running to the first aid station which is just after mile 1. Not a happy thing. In fact I found myself walking very early on and thinking “come on – just run. You can do it – just run” but it was really hard. It also occurred to me that the race was going to take a very, very long time if I kept walking so I did my best to run when I could. Every time I saw someone in FoMo team kit I tried to pick it up and whoever saw me would say “You look great!” When my friend Joe said that to me I responded, “Is always better to look good than to feel good” because I did not feel good. I felt wrung out and limp and hot… so very, very hot.

I tried to focus on short term goals – the next aid station, that cow up there, the next house, “run the flats you can walk the hills” but it was a death march from the get go. I forged on just waiting to get to the winery which gets you to the half way point. When I got there I convinced myself that the irrigation ponds and the moisture from the grape plants made it cooler and that it was easier to run on the dirt. That worked and gave me a good mile’s worth of running and then I made a decision to stop at the porta-potties as I came out. Big mistake. Huge mistake. It was even hotter in there, I didn’t really need to go that badly and when I got who should I see right ahead of me but 59. DAMMIT! I started running and I passed her and said, “and so we meet again” and made some comment about the heat but pretty soon I found myself walking again and she passed me and I just couldn’t muster the energy to take her. I let her go.

With about 4 miles left, after walking for way too much of the race, inspired by 2 men who had decided to walk the whole thing, I got sick of it all. I also got passed by a woman with 55 on her calf and I thought “oh no – I’m losing another place. This is no good at all” I picked it up and ran and passed her and then I started to walk and she passed me. I started thinking I would let her have it and then I thought “OH NO YOU DI’NT!” and I started running and she started walking and I kept running. I had no idea where she was but after considering letting her take my place a couple more times I resolved to hang on and keep her behind me and I did.

The Finish

I forced myself to run from one light post to the next…. run to the mailbox and you get to walk from 1 light post to next and then run, run for 3 light posts and you can walk for 1 and then finally, finally I was at the point where people were cheering and ringing cowbells and I ran.. I ran and ran and ran because the Vineman has the most torturous path to the chute of any race in the world and you hear “almost there – just 5,000 meters to go!” over and over and then finally you are running on the grass and you run some more “just 100 meters to go!” and finally you hit the first mat and you know the guy is looking up your name and then you hear you name and WOO HOO!!!! you smile and give a little what what arms in the air and finally, finally you are DONE!

I was more than done I was cooked to well done. Charcol briquet done. Don’t even stick a fork in me because I’m so dried out it will just blow a hole in me. Done. And just after I crossed that line 55 came in behind me – 11 seconds off my time – woot!

My run took a whopping 2:50 and more than eroded the bike PR for a finish time of 7:02 over last year’s 6:55. On the plus side I didn’t die – I didn’t even quit.

In Conclusion

The biggest thing I learned, and I’ve learned it before which is why it was such a big lesson this time. is that I never, ever, ever want to finish another race wondering if I could have gone harder. I feel that way about this race. I know it was very hot but I’m not convinced I worked as hard as I could have and I hate that feeling. This isn’t the first time I’ve felt that way but I intend to make it the last time. Oh yes I do. And you know what? The next time is a new race. There’s always a new race and another day and you can always try again and tri harder.

Posted in Events, Monday Monday, Pain and Suffering, Racing, triathlon | 11 Comments

Monday Monday – A Tale of 2 Shoes

Posted on June 23, 2009 by 21cm

Like a lot of women I have many pair of shoes. Unlike most women my shoes tend to be flat and comfortable. I own heels but they stay in boxes at the back of the closet unless I’m going somewhere fancy and dressy. Most of the time I wear flat, comfy shoes or short heels.

I have one pair of shoes I’m particularly fond of. I picked them up at Ross for $20 before I went to Peru. They are slip on, low rise, leather shoes and they are like walking on air. I also went to Clarks and bought a cute pair of $120 Mary Janes but the $20 specials turned out to be the shoes of choice.

My shoes also have kind of a life of their own and they live in various places in my room. Most of the time they sneak out en masse and park themselves in front of my dressers. Occasionally I toss them all back in the closet – generally on the right side. I have a shoe rack but the shoes rebel, scattering themselves helter skelter as they please. I also have a shoe bag thing on the left side of the closet for seldom worn shoes.

A couple of weeks ago I went to put on my favorite black shoes and they were not in front of the dresser. Hmm.. a lot of other shoes were there but not those. I looked in the closet – I didn’t see them. I started hauling shoes out and re-arranging them in pairs but no favorite shoes were to be found. I was sad and confused.

I found another pair of shoes (2nd favorite pair of black shoes) and went off to my meeting. I decided that I must have left favorite shoes in Oceanside and they were gone. That hardly seemed possible since I was pretty sure I had worn flip flops and/or running shoes down there and yet my shoes were gone and there was no other explanation.

I was so sad. I thought about how I tramped all over in Peru in those shoes and about how they could never be replaced – I didn’t even know who made them. Then I thought about how for many women in Peru a lost a pair of shoes would leave them with no shoes at all or with maybe a pair of sandals. That was a sobering thought and forced me to rapidly get over my sense of loss and count my blessings.

A few days ago I was trying to figure out which of my many running shoes I wanted to wear. I just wasn’t in the mood for the ones currently in circulation and needed an old stand-by and I knew some of them were in the shoe bag on the left side of the closet. I looked in there and what should I spy with my little eye? FAVORITE BLACK LEATHER SHOES! Not lost at all.

In a similar vein, as I was getting ready for Anchorman I went through my transition bag and mentally through my transitions and I realized my race belt was missing. For the uneducated a race belt is an elastic belt with a couple of clips on it that you use to attach your bib number to. It keeps you from having to pin the number on your shirt which, for a triathlon that starts with a swim, doesn’t work so well. So I’m frantically ripping apart the transition bag trying to find the belts. No belts. I go through the drawers where they should be. No belts. I clearly remember unpacking from The Relay and putting them away but I cannot, not for the life of me, remember where I put them. It’s now 10:30 PM and I have to get up at 3:45 to get ready for this race – CRAP! I think to myself, don’t panic… just go brush your teeth, relax your mind and you will remember. Teeth brushed – memory gone. Finally I looked at another drawer unit and thought “oh yeah- I have some room in there. Maybe that’s where I put them” and sure enough – there they were. Phew! I finished packing and hit the sack.

I thought about all of this for a while and it occurred to me that it’s really nice that I can turn my thoughts from my personal loss to the plight of shoeless women in Peru. It’s also nice that if I put something on the back burner of my mind it will usually wander forward and I’ll find it. But mostly I thought…. I had a thought… what was that thought? I know I had one….hmmmm… I’ll get back to you when I find it.

Posted in Monday Monday | 5 Comments

Quick Stuff

Posted on June 19, 2009 by 21cm

I guess this is the Thursday edition of Hump Day Miscellany.

Things I love

1). A great day in the wine country going on a bike ride with Juls, Runner Susan and her lovely husband The Chef. We had such a great time! Runner Susan is everything you ever dreamed she was and more – sweet, adorable, entertaining and the hostess with the mostess. The Chef is charming as only a man in a white cycling kit can be.

We had a beautiful ride and then we went back to Susan’s room to shower and go for lunch. The Chef provided glasses of ‘recovery juice’ that looked and tasted remarkably like red wine and was just what I needed. Then The Runners Susan took us to a delicious lunch where we consumed some more wine. Fabulous. After lunch I would rather have gone back to the hotel with the whole gang for a group snuggle nap but I’m pretty sure Julie and I would have fought over Runner Susan and The Chef would have gotten jealous and felt left out so it was better to just hit the road. Not sure I was totally legal for that but we made it to my house where Julie and I proceeded to pass out on different couches.

I wish I could go on vacation with the Susans all the time and that we could take Julie with us.

2). My jet lagged daughter apparently left her wallet on the roof of the car when she got gas and a man picked it up and walked to our house with it. He removed not one cent of the roughly $85 that were inside. I got the call about that while drinking wine and eating delicious food in Napa which made it a doubly lovely day.

3). I found a new cycling route today and it has a big hill – just enough to make me work but not terrible.

Things that make me mad:

I had some of these. I remember thinking “grrrr… I need to put this in HDM” but now I foget what they are. And that’s probably one of the things I like the most.

Posted in Accolades, Cycling, Events, Fun in a tub, True Love | 3 Comments

Anchorman Race Report – Winner!

Posted on June 12, 2009 by 21cm

Last Sunday I raced the inaugural San Francisco Anchorman. Great race! (check and see if there is an Anchorman race in city near you!) If you have always dreamed of doing Escape from Alcatraz you should consider this race as a solid alternative. The course is very similar but it’s half the distance for 1/4 of the price. All the thrills without emptying your wallet – good stuff!

My particular participation in this race was, in a word, Supah! I had a really good time in spite of having to drag my tired kiester out of bed at 3:45 AM. Is that even legal? Had to be done, though because I needed a few cups of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal and it was into the car and off to the big city!

All of that went flawlessly. This race was pretty small (too small – you should ALL do this race next year!) so there wasn’t a bad spot in transition. I found one of the many great spots, set up and headed off to find a potty. Turned out the only ones available had flush toilets and running water. Ahhhh….

Back in transition I said hello to fellow team mates, put on my arm warmers and started to pull on my wetsuit. If you are doing a race on a chilly day this little trick will save you a ton of time in transition. Anyhow, I got the wetsuit 1/2 way on, put one arm in and realized I didn’t want to do that because we still had to ride a bus to the ferry (it was a bay swim) so I decided not to put the other sleeve on. But I didn’t want to take the first one off, either. So I didn’t . I just walked around and got on the bus with one arm on and one arm off, wearing an arm warmer. It was a look.

We got to the ferry landing for what we thought would be a short wait. Only it wasn’t. There was a snafu with the buses and I don’t know what else that left us hanging out there for almost an hour. That part didn’t bother me. By then I had pulled up the other sleeve and didn’t look so much like a crazy woman. The problem was that I really needed to pee only I had a wetsuit on and I was not in the water and i was not really willing to run to the rest room and deal with it as others were doing. So I just held it.

Finally the ferry was in, we were on it and on our way to the spot where you jump off. I really had to pee but I wasn’t about to chance hitting the head on the boat and jumping last so I just dealt. And then I jumped and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD that water was cold – roughly 55 degrees. That might have scared the pee right out of me but it didn’t and the timing mat was on the boat so it was game on – SWIM! So I swam. I tried to stop and tread water hoping I could, you know, warm things up but no. These things take time for me and time was of the essence – I swam on. Then I tried to focus on relaxing and just letting go but that was slowing me down and I’m slow enough in the water so I just decided to HTFU and swim.

For once I held a decent line and didn’t have to have a kayak guy chase me down or tell me where to go. This was one of these races where you get out of the water, pull off the wetsuit, put on shoes and start running. The run was about 3/4 of a mile and it was a perfectly reasonable way to warm up. But I really had to pee. There was nothing to be done about that, tough so I just sucked it up and kept going.

Finally I get to my bike and it’s off with the running shoes, on with the socks (pre-powdered), on with the bike shoes, on with the helmet, on with the sunglasses and I’m out of there, trotting across the grass to the mount point and boom! It took about 1/4 of a mile to have to start climbing. I get up the first hill the guy says “good job – just 2 more!” This was not what I wanted to hear because you know what? I had to pee and climbing was not helping but oh well. I just kept going because this ride is onlyl 9 miles so how bad could it be?

Here is the elevation map for the bike:

Bike Elevation - Anchorman

So it was a little bit hard. Be that as it may I dropped 9 people on the bike which has to be the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in a race – EVER! I was so happy with myself I forgot about how bad I needed to pee.

My other favorite part of the ride was when I was heading out for loop 2 going up that steep part right at the beginning. I got passed by a guy on a very nice Kestral who was just mashing his way up that incline. I thought “oh dear – I don’t think that’s going to work out for you, Mr.” but I let him go. It didn’t take very long before I was spinning right past him on the last big climb and I never saw him again until he finished the race – 20 minutes after me. He’s 41. HA!

I finished the bike and headed into transition to swap the helmet for a hat, the shoes and grab my race belt.

Off toward the bridge and right past those nice potties with the flushers and the running water. OMG but I’m on a mission! I’ve dropped these 9 people and I want desperately (and futilely) not to have any of them drop me on the run. As if… and I really had to pee but there was nothing to be done about it – I had to run. Down to the bridge, around the cones and back to the stairs. The long stairs. I got up those and remarked “there’s no sand!” and the guy up there pointing the way said, “not yet”. The famous sand stairs are a part of this race but I sort of forgot where they were. The run went on and on and it went up and up. And then it went up some more until we got to Baker beach and the famous sand stairs. Only problem was a whole lot of sand was missing so a lot of them were just logs that were cabled together. Macca says “don’t bother running them” and I thought that sounded like a fine idea. Kind of hard to run on logs that go down a steep slope anyhow. So down to the bottom, high five the guy who is there to tell you to turn around and it’s back up we go – ooph! I thought about just running into the water to pee but no – I had to keep going because someone had already passed me on the run and there were more on the way.

Here is the run elevation:

The way back was way more fun than the way out.

Back past the potties with the flushers and the running water and holy crap I’m desperate now and into the chute! Race over.

I did a 180 to head back to the potties with the flushers and the running water but of course I had to stop to say hi to my team mates and have a little chit chat time. It’s a wonder I didn’t just die on the spot but I didn’t – I made it back to the potties and peed about 3 gallons and felt so good I considered just curling up on the floor for a nap but I figured other people also needed those potties and I was thinking I had a trophy to fetch.

And I did get a trophy. I would have gotten a tropy if I had stopped and peed, too because I was the only one in my age group but if I had honored my bladder I would not be able to say that I beat both of the women in the 50-55 group and both of the women in the 45-49 group and 2nd and 3rd place in the 35-39 group so I earned that trophy! I suffered and sacrificed for it and I won it fair and square.

I’d go take a picture of it to post but I need to pee and I’m not putting it off.

Posted in Racing | 7 Comments

Monday Tuesday – Long Weekend Update

Posted on May 27, 2009 by 21cm

I’m okay with a Monday Tuesday post because this Tuesday is Monday for most of us. Monday was Memorial Day and I hope you all remembered to remember and honor those who died in service to our country no matter how you feel about the conflict they served in.

Here’s what I did over this long weekend (warning – this is probably really boring but I’m doing it anyhow because I don’t have time to be interesting and you asked me to blog so I’m blogging!)

Friday – Swim masters (2100 meters with a lot of kicking and breast stroke); run 40 minutes having to pep talk myself the entire way (come on – one more song.. just keep going.. you can do it), OWS in the evening with a whole flock of people for probably about 1400 meters. Of course I zig zagged all over and could NOT get to the rest of the people and they just kept being ‘out there’ so I finally gave up and swam in, blinded by the sun. Note to self – wear mirrored goggles next time and stay on someone’s feet!

Follow up swim with burgers and wine with favored training bud Caroline.

Saturday – leisurely ride with BFF masters friends and former riding partners, one of whom is recovering from a back problem then drive out to time trial clinic and do 2 laps (3 miles) in the horrific wind. Got 5 seconds faster the second time around so yea!

After ride head out to East Stump Hole to spend the day with CASA kid. Get home at 9:00 PM (because it’s a 2.5 hour drive out to see CASA kid)

Sunday – run with newbies in my New Triathlete Progam (I got 20 people in the program – woot!), talk about importance of stretching and demo foam roller.

Then go for trail run up Mt. Diablo with Caroline.

Monday – get ass handed to me riding with my training BFFs Dana and Maggs who were doing a dress rehersal for IM CdA. I thought that if they already had 56 miles on their legs I could keep up. WRONG! I struggled desperately to hang on to a wheel and was successful at times but would then lose it. Net result was 40 miles at 16.7 mph average – PR! I’ve never ridden that far, that fast before and we were going into the wind much of the time. I ♥ training with those ladies. They did another 16 to finish off a full 112. They are machines! I think they ran for 6 miles after that, too. I ran for 15 minutes and baby it was HOT.

Go to other BFF training friend Vali’s house for BBQ which was both delicious and fun.

Today – rest day! I worked but it felt like rest after all of that.

Tomorrow- swim/run

Thursday – conquer Mt. Diablo with Maggs. I am determined to make it all the way to the very, very top! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Posted in Cycling, Monday Monday, Running, Swimming, training | 4 Comments

Worry Doll Smack Down!

Posted on May 22, 2009 by 21cm

I have been invited to participate in a book shower. A book shower is where you do something more innovative for an author than just a vanilla review and in this case I am going to challenge you beat me at making a worry doll. But, as usual, I’ve gotten ahead of myself.

The book is The Double Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz who brought us the Daring Book for Girls. These books are delightful compilations of fun activities and information that are good for girls to have. The information and many of the activities are applicable to boys, too but by and large this book is designed with girls in mind just as the Dangerous Book for Boys was designed to de-sissfy today’s growing boys and liberate them from the absurd molly coddling of the 21st Century (it’s so annoying when people try to keep their kids from getting killed). Anyhow, I digress.

So here’s the deal. We were asked to select an activity, do it, and propose a challenge. On page 167 is the very fine activity – make a worry doll. Worry dolls are not something to worry over – they are supposed to take your worries away. From the book

Parents and children [fom Guatamala] have made these dolls for centturies to help soothe the fears of worried children. Traditional worry dolls, made in ets of six are about a half inch to 2 inches in height….. Tradition has it that when a child is worried or anxious at bedtime, she can tell her troubles to one fo these tiny dolls and then place it under her pillow.

I made one and I challenge you to make one that is way cuter, funnier,wilder, or whatever you want – just make it “er” or “ier” than mine.

Here are the instructions:

Materials:

2 flexible, plastic twist ties (each about 4″ long) or skinny pipe cleaners work, too
Embroidery thread or very thin yarn (6 strands 20 – 24 inches long)
1 bead for the head (1/4 inch or so with a hole for threading)
Permanent marker
Glue
Scissors

Makig the Body – Bend one twist tie in half. Tiwsti it once or twice in the middle. The loop on top will be your doll’s head, and th eends on the bottom will be the legs (figure 1). Curl the very ends fof the legs to make tiny loops for the doll’s feet. Bend the other twist tie in half, and wrap it around the middle of the other twist tie to create the arms (figure 2). (now I’m too lazy to type all this up so I scanned the page. Click to make readable)

Easy! I didn’t have a bead so I used a bedazzle bead and here is my little doll (please refer to 25 things about me #20 to understand how I both love doing this stuff and yet suck at it)

GO!

and send me a picture of the results, please. I’ll post them when I’ve gotten a few.

Posted in Book Review | 4 Comments

Hump Day Miscellany – Training?

Posted on May 20, 2009 by 21cm

I’m having some trouble really embracing my training plan. It isn’t like I’m not training -I am. Not compared to people like DPR and Muppet Dog Molly but still – I ride, I run, I swim. Except when I skip my workout. Like today. Today was swim/run but I have a problem. Huge problem. No Nano. Nano es no bueno. Nano has the white screen of death and I have tried everything including:

1) press menu and the middle button – no good (tried this over and over and over)

2). reformat hard drive

3). restore from iTunes

4). press middle button and menu then middle button alone

5). press middle button andm menu then middle button and play

6). turn off; turn on, lather, rinse, repeat.

White.Screen.Of.Death = no run and no run = no swim.

I know – ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I’ll deal with this issue later.

In other news:

Things that make me say EW! – I went to Costco the other day and as I was loading the car I spotted a man with a raw foot long hotdog hanging out of his mouth. It was still attached to a 2nd foot long. He was eating this thing.

Things that make me laugh – the Jack in the Box. ad with the tiny cowboys herding teeny little cows. The line in the song “herding cows the size of Schnauzers – but they’re cattle” just makes me laugh every time.

Thing that make me roll my eyes – the Carl’s Jr. ad with the lady who has menopause and needs a smoothie to keep from going postal. Please. Not funny, not clever, and really annoying.

Things that make me say WTF? – the pizza commercial (Dominos? Pizza Hut?) about the meatball whisperer. Unbelievably annoying and stupid and uninspiring and I can’t even remember the brand so totally ineffective, too. F-

Things that make me say OMG! – McBikey and I were riding on Tuesday morning and he flatted. He got out his stuff and I went to get the C02 from my bag and discovered I had no tube on me! Yowch! What’s worse is that I know I had put a new one in there not too long ago so not only was I vulnerable, I’ve lost a $6 tube somewhere. Bummer. I’m all fixed up now.

Things that make me say Yay! – Adorable little Shawn Johnson won Dancing with the Stars. Way to go Anton Apollo Ono for reminding everyone that the Olympic star should always get the trophy!

In te process they turned her from this

to this:

and made her miss her Prom but she won and she’s a champion so GO SHAWN!

Although I don’t condone factory farmed meat based food I think this ad is funny so here it is:
to this:

Posted in Hump Day | 4 Comments