Back from Vacation!

I just got back from a wonderful vacation! We went up the coast and did some bike riding through the redwoods and a lot of hiking. Then on the way back we did a day of wine tasting in Napa. Just a wonderful time. I even did a bit of reading and knitting (while on the road). I have pictures to post. But, my computer refuses to connect to the internet and it's just being a pain (I'm on my husband's computer today). So, I think it's time I finally spent that money I've been saving for either a bike, kayak or computer and get that computer. So I'll be on his computer a lot tonight doing some good research - but I already have a good idea of what I'm going to get. And as soon as I do, I'll download my pictures and post them! Oh yeah, and last night we made fresh pretzels and mozzarella cheese!! :-) And a beer kit is on the way. . . I have a lot to post about!

Vacation!

I am headed out to a nice vacation. As soon as I get back I'll post about my hikes, bike rides, reading along with pictures (I hope)!!

Weird Weather

The last few weeks the weather has gone from really cold, to really hot (up to over 100 degrees) to really cold and thunder storms. I rode my bike to work on Thursday, and by Thursday afternoon it was raining hard enough that I had to get a ride home. I was worried that I was going to get my long run in this morning. But the rain went away and it was just beautiful outside. I ended up doing just over 8 miles and I feel really good! Now to just get my bike back home from work. Oh, and sign up for that 5k my daughter and I keep talking about!

Mother's Day and Other Stuff

Well, first and quite important is the fact that one of the harder days at work is done and over. It's a day we plan for for a semester and we make sure it goes off smoothly for the faculty, students and visitors we invite. It went well, but of course there were the typical (and maybe not so typical) things that went wrong this year. But, to the people attending it went smoothly and that's what is important. That, and the stress of working on it is over - for another year!

Now on to Mother's Day. A month ago I decided I wanted to go to a good brunch for Mother's Day. Actually, I've been wanting to go to one for a while, but this seemed like a good excuse to make the plans. So, I called and made reservations for my family, as well as my parents and my in-laws. So a group of nine of us are going to a Doubletree Inn Mother's Day brunch. I'm really looking forward to that. Then, my oldest daughter and I are treating ourselves to some time at the new spa in town. We are going to have a massage, a facial and a pedicure! Now, I've never gone to a spa before, so I called to see what the basic procedure is. I understood that they give you a locker. . .and that between the massage and the facial they give you a robe and a warm blanket and that you can stay in the robe for the pedicure or change to your own clothes. You can even take a shower in between if you'd like. But what I'm still processing is the "before the massage you dress down." If that's what I think it is, why didn't they say we get the robe before the massage?!! I am not walking anywhere in my birthday suit!! And yes, I will have a normal (but cute) pair of underwear and not my typical thong for that day as well! We'll just have to figure that out before Sunday!

On another note, I've been keeping up my reading and running. But I really don't feel motivated to do my long run tomorrow. But with what I plan on eating and such on Sunday, I had better get some kind of run in. So, I think I need to go relax with a fun book (I'm trying to finish a non-fiction book right now that maybe I should put aside tonight) and picture a nice, enjoyable long run before I go to bed. Maybe the fact that I ran last week in the heat (okay, it was in the 70s when I ran but to me that was hot) and this week it's overcast and rainy and I'm going to have to pull my long pants back out to run in. Then again, what great weather to run in and won't it feel good to start off my weekend with a nice, long run and then got into the shopping we're supposed to do (pricing out new kitchens) on Saturday and my fun filled day for Sunday?! Yes, I think that does sound better. I'm off to my reading/relaxing/visualizing! :-)

Running

I just got back from my long run. It went well, but it was warmer out. Okay, it was only 75 degrees out, but since last week it was only 60 later in the day, this seemed really hot! But, I'm glad I did it. I'm trying to keep up my running and I'm actually going back to running in the morning some days before work. So that feels really good! And I'm also reading more as well. I'm trying to finish the big pile of books I have by my bed. Especially the older ones and the ones I started oh. . .a year or two ago! Maybe it's my type of a spring cleaning!!

Books & Doctors

I've actually been reading at a decent pace again. I just finished another book from my tbr pile - "Grave Secrets." I liked the book and actually look forward to the next one in the series. I've also been running, which I really enjoy. But I went to the doctor's office last week to see a specialist about my knee. I can run fine with a brace (and every once in a while it gives me trouble midweek), but I wanted to see if I could run without it. Well, that doctor is "not a fan" of running since it's really hard on the body (knees, hips, etc.) and would prefer that I try to do more biking and swimming. But, if I want to continue to run, he's sending me to physical therapy to try and strengthen the muscle around the knee and told me to continue to wear the brace and use advil as necessary. And that some day it will just hurt too much to run. So, I just figured that means I need to continue to wear the brace and that since I don't use any pain medications now, I'm in pretty good shape. He even said my x-ray looked really good. But, others in my family had different ideas and gave me a hard time about wanting to continue and keeping up my long distances. So, for him I said I would cut back from my weekend runs. And when I did a mile less today, he said he never asked me to cut down :-/ I give! Oh well. It was much warmer this morning anyhow, so doing 6.25 instead of 7.1 is not such a bad thing. Especially since I was able to run three times midweek. But we'll see next week. I need to go to an evening function for my work on Thursday (and I just realized last night that all of my dresses are too cocktail-ish for a work function - so I need a new dress!), so I may not be able to run three times mid-week next week. So, maybe I'll do my 7 miles again on the weekend! We'll just have to wait and see.

Reno

It's about time I was able to post a bit on Reno. We had a great trip there. Spent some time with extended family, and then some good time with just my Grandmother. It was wonderful to hear her stories and be able to talk to her without outside interruptions. She had said before that on this specific birthday (and I won't list which one here in public) that she wanted to smoke, drink and gamble! Well, we went to Reno, everyone else drank, and we had candy cigarettes - but we had fun and we took a funny picture!