texas log: day 1

can i just say that the heat in El Paso is INSANE!!!!!! i went for a 30 minute walk with my sister yesterday accross the FRICKIN DESERT. i'm not kidding. unfortunately they are turning said desert into plots of land for sale for a new housing community. so we were walking through dirt, rock and sand, dodging the bull dozers in 103 degree weather. again. not kidding. i haven't sweated so much since.... well.... since i ran 7 MILES ON SATURDAY!!!! actually, i don't think i even sweated that much on saturday.

the poor kid has been miserable in the heat. she could never live in texas. we turned on the hose in the afternoon and let her run through as we squirted her with the spray nozzle. she had a blast! it reminded me of my summers as a kid growing up in the texas heat. the husband has been miserable and sluggish too. so the kid squirted him with the hose.

but last night in the early evening a storm rolled in from the mountains with big black clouds, lightning bolts and thunder. it didn't actually rain where we were, but it was awsome to watch. my sis has a view from her house of the mountains, and we sat in the back yard drinking wine and watching the storm. husband and kid splashed around in the warm tub (it was a hot tub, but we dumped in 5 huge bags of ice to cool it down)

today we're headed for austin. all i can say is thank God my mom has a swimming pool. i'm sure that's where the husby will be spending his time, with a cold tecate.

we're such studs!

ok. my friend batman and i ran this morning. we ran almost 7 miles, doing an 8 and 2 minute cycle. just a couple of months ago i wasn't sure i could get back into running at all. now we're changing our strategy from training for the long beach half-marathon to training for the LA marathon! I wanted to have some crazy thing to do before i turn 40. a tatoo, navel piercing, jumping out of an airplane. but i think the LA marathon is an admirable aim. i think i'll stick with that. well.... maybe one teensy weensy little tatoo. i've wanted one for such a long time.

so we're off to texas tomorrow. hittin' the trail. on the road again. texas, texas, yee haw!

my what BIG eyes you have 

ok. somebody say something

ok. i know SOMEbody has to read my blog. and i know who you are- all two of you. leave me a comment. a word of encouragement. a thought for the day. just say hello. ANYthing.

got you sucka!

killed the basilisk. now what?

summer fever

ahhhh. what a beautiful day in southern california. sky is so blue. i'm cutting out in 15 minutes to head to the beach with the husband and the kid. so excited i am (watched return of the jedi the other night for the first time in ages) i'm gonna take my jog down there while the kid rides her new pink bike.

so i've been obsessed with this harry potter and the chamber of secrets pc game. in my sleep i am fighting slugs, trolls, gnomes, fire crabs, spiders and basilisks. i've gotten to the chamber of secrets, but i cannot for the life of me kill the bloody basilisk. he keeps chomping on me. i'm sure there is some trick. i was stuck in this one room for EVER, and couldn't find a way out. i threw spells at almost every brick and crack, until i finally just walked up to the only door (which i had tried to cast alahamora on over and over again) and it opened....just like that.

all i can think of right now is the trip to texas. we hit the road a week from sunday, and i can't wait! my mind is already on vacation. i'm hope we get to hear some music this time. just want to go to some outdoor joint and drink a pitcher of shiner and listen to some good southern rock while stuffing myself with some ribs. maybe even an outdoor concert or two.

ah. my fifteen minutes is almost up. time to skee-daddle.

bathroom humor

so, i've officially started training for the long beach half marathon. my friend batman is my coach and motivation. he's already run a marathon or two, and done several trialathons and an iron man! i've officially been running in earnest for about 4 weeks (after my six month hiatus), and today we did a three mile trek/run through a rocky and brushy terrain. i thought it would kill me. so 3 miles sounds like nothing when thinking about a half marathon-but up hills, over and around rocks, through brush is no easy feat. and i had a little digestive problem that thwarted our first attempt at our run. we had to make an emergency retreat back to the bathrooms (which was no easy feat! we were already 15 minutes into our run, and had to make it back to the beginning of the trail and drive to the port-a-potties about a mile away- but i had no choice. it was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.) so on the second try things went well, and it was beautiful up there in topanga canyon.

lesson learned from this experience: stay away from eggplant parmesian the night before a run in order to avoid severe gastro-intestinal turbulence. or else, wear depends!

dreaming of texas