i'm seriously wishing i had done the polar bearing this morning...argh. next year.
instead of new years resolutions, which i haven't really figured out yet, i'm going to leave you with a few words from rabbie burns (you know i've got a soft spot for scots...this makes me wish i was celebrating hogmany...)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne
auld lang syne - times gone by
braes - hills
braid - broad
burn - stream
fiere - friend
gowans - daisies
guid-willie waught - goodwill drink
pint-stowp - pint tankard
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Monday, January 01, 2007
Monday, December 25, 2006
and to all a good night
christmas at home always involves the following things:
1. a trip to tj obrien's, the original home-for-the-holidays bar-hang-out.
2. christmas-eve-day trip to the holyoke mall with my sister for last minute christmas shopping.
3. hosting christmas eve at our house (we have a great christmas house due to an extra-large christmas tree).
4. my parents going overboard on presents under the tree (i swear the size of the piles hasn't shrunk in years) and eating bacon & egg sandwiches specially prepared by my dad.
5. another dinner at nonna's christmas day, even though everyone is beyond tired of eating.
this year was no different except that i was probably going to be doing more cooking than usual, and i was going to have to fit some running in. saturday night was the night out to tjs - had a really fun time catching up with our little crew and some other high-school folk i haven't seen in ages, and managed not to have too much of a hangover when i woke up the next morning.
christmas eve-day shopping wore me out even though the mall wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it was going to be, and since i had given my mom most of the recipes for our dinner, i thought it best that i help cook as well (for all you foodies out there, we had a boneless pork roast with a spice rub, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, roasted asparagus with parmesan.) so no running for me on christmas eve.
by the way, have i complained about how warm it is yet? this is the most unchristmasy christmas ever. but onward with the overly long post.
after opening (too many) presents, eating and watching a very cute movie called millions, i decide it was run time. i only had to go 3-4 miles, and so that meant to the end of my parents road and back. i left the ipod at home since it was such a short run, and took off into the chilliness.
the run was an easy one, and i was awake so didn't feel very creeky. i've only however took of down that road and never come back up, and this time i was particularly aware of all the downhills i was going to have to tackle on the way back up. hmmm. i shrugged it off and remembered the run was just a tiny one and continued to enjoy it.
as i approached the end of the road, i noticed a man in a santa hat walking ahead. the closer i got, the more santa-like he looked. as he heard me approach, he turned my way. he even had a white beard. his jacket was blue and shiny, but his eyes were merry and very santa-ish.
"ho ho ho!" and a sloppy grin.
now i thought he might be drunk. it was not quite 1.
"merry christmas" i cheered as i reached the end of the road. "this is where i turn around."
i'd like to say that he was smiling when he said "you're chasing me *again*!" but it might have been a little more like a leer so i picked it up a little, and called back "have a happy holiday!"
people say there's weirdo's in the city but i'm probably more nervous running on sparsely-housed and heavily-wooded road then i am in central park after dark.
i conquered hill after hill with little difficulty but a tiny pain in my right arch, and was happily sprinting in the final stretch when out of NOWHERE a very MEAN very LOUD dog charges in front of me and stops barking and snarling at me like crazy, blocking the path into the driveway.
see what i mean?
my mom has stories of this dog and it's not a nice one. let me start by assuring you that i like dogs a lot. i've never had one, but i like 'em. however, i am no dog whisperer and if a dog is aggressive and without leash or owner, there's other places i'd rather be. our neighbor saw this particular dog chase a cat and then when it caught it, tore it to pieces. facing this little bastard down was not how i wanted to finish my run.
so there we stood literally in the middle of the road, with him barking *so loud* and crouching, looking like he was going to snap any second. i couldn't remember if you're supposed to be aggressive or passive so i went for more aggressive then not. with no sticks in sight (to throw - i'm not that aggressive), my counter attack was to take a strong stance and yell "hey!" back at him. awesome, i know. if you're laughing right now, you're allowed.
in the meantime, i can't believe that no one in my house (which is a bit set back from the road, but not that far set back) or any of the neighbors can't hear 1) the crazy dog bellowing and growling like mad or 2) me yelling "hey!" repeatedly at him. so i start moving towards him, and he moves back and around, and we're kind of circling each other like...like...people in a knife fight...until my back is to my house and i start backing up the driveway until he backs down and trots on off.
i go into my house and my parents are both in the living room and i exclaim "how did you not hear that!!" they confess to hearing a dog, but my dad thought it was down the road so they didn't bother to check on me. after retelling the story a few times to them & my sister, my mom, who walks a lot, and just throws a stick when she sees him, says "i think he just wants to play."
yes, if playing is looking like you want to tear my face off, yep, then i'm sure he was just out looking for a playmate.
so i guess i'm going to have a fancy new running accessory for the next few days. it's called "a stick."
merry christmas, every one.
today's mileage: 3.3
total mileage: 318.8
1. a trip to tj obrien's, the original home-for-the-holidays bar-hang-out.
2. christmas-eve-day trip to the holyoke mall with my sister for last minute christmas shopping.
3. hosting christmas eve at our house (we have a great christmas house due to an extra-large christmas tree).
4. my parents going overboard on presents under the tree (i swear the size of the piles hasn't shrunk in years) and eating bacon & egg sandwiches specially prepared by my dad.
5. another dinner at nonna's christmas day, even though everyone is beyond tired of eating.
this year was no different except that i was probably going to be doing more cooking than usual, and i was going to have to fit some running in. saturday night was the night out to tjs - had a really fun time catching up with our little crew and some other high-school folk i haven't seen in ages, and managed not to have too much of a hangover when i woke up the next morning.
christmas eve-day shopping wore me out even though the mall wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it was going to be, and since i had given my mom most of the recipes for our dinner, i thought it best that i help cook as well (for all you foodies out there, we had a boneless pork roast with a spice rub, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, roasted asparagus with parmesan.) so no running for me on christmas eve.
by the way, have i complained about how warm it is yet? this is the most unchristmasy christmas ever. but onward with the overly long post.
after opening (too many) presents, eating and watching a very cute movie called millions, i decide it was run time. i only had to go 3-4 miles, and so that meant to the end of my parents road and back. i left the ipod at home since it was such a short run, and took off into the chilliness.
the run was an easy one, and i was awake so didn't feel very creeky. i've only however took of down that road and never come back up, and this time i was particularly aware of all the downhills i was going to have to tackle on the way back up. hmmm. i shrugged it off and remembered the run was just a tiny one and continued to enjoy it.
as i approached the end of the road, i noticed a man in a santa hat walking ahead. the closer i got, the more santa-like he looked. as he heard me approach, he turned my way. he even had a white beard. his jacket was blue and shiny, but his eyes were merry and very santa-ish.
"ho ho ho!" and a sloppy grin.
now i thought he might be drunk. it was not quite 1.
"merry christmas" i cheered as i reached the end of the road. "this is where i turn around."
i'd like to say that he was smiling when he said "you're chasing me *again*!" but it might have been a little more like a leer so i picked it up a little, and called back "have a happy holiday!"
people say there's weirdo's in the city but i'm probably more nervous running on sparsely-housed and heavily-wooded road then i am in central park after dark.
i conquered hill after hill with little difficulty but a tiny pain in my right arch, and was happily sprinting in the final stretch when out of NOWHERE a very MEAN very LOUD dog charges in front of me and stops barking and snarling at me like crazy, blocking the path into the driveway.
see what i mean?
my mom has stories of this dog and it's not a nice one. let me start by assuring you that i like dogs a lot. i've never had one, but i like 'em. however, i am no dog whisperer and if a dog is aggressive and without leash or owner, there's other places i'd rather be. our neighbor saw this particular dog chase a cat and then when it caught it, tore it to pieces. facing this little bastard down was not how i wanted to finish my run.
so there we stood literally in the middle of the road, with him barking *so loud* and crouching, looking like he was going to snap any second. i couldn't remember if you're supposed to be aggressive or passive so i went for more aggressive then not. with no sticks in sight (to throw - i'm not that aggressive), my counter attack was to take a strong stance and yell "hey!" back at him. awesome, i know. if you're laughing right now, you're allowed.
in the meantime, i can't believe that no one in my house (which is a bit set back from the road, but not that far set back) or any of the neighbors can't hear 1) the crazy dog bellowing and growling like mad or 2) me yelling "hey!" repeatedly at him. so i start moving towards him, and he moves back and around, and we're kind of circling each other like...like...people in a knife fight...until my back is to my house and i start backing up the driveway until he backs down and trots on off.
i go into my house and my parents are both in the living room and i exclaim "how did you not hear that!!" they confess to hearing a dog, but my dad thought it was down the road so they didn't bother to check on me. after retelling the story a few times to them & my sister, my mom, who walks a lot, and just throws a stick when she sees him, says "i think he just wants to play."
yes, if playing is looking like you want to tear my face off, yep, then i'm sure he was just out looking for a playmate.
so i guess i'm going to have a fancy new running accessory for the next few days. it's called "a stick."
merry christmas, every one.
today's mileage: 3.3
total mileage: 318.8
Thursday, November 23, 2006
i earned my turkey.
indeed i did.
i got up this morning at 9 with the plan to leave the house by 10:30. challenge number one...no food in the house i like to have for breakfast. dad offered to make me bacon and egg sandwiches, which i love, but its not exactly pre-running food so i settled for an english muffin and a banana.
it looked very very cold from inside the house where i sat planning my route with the google pedometer. we live so far out, i was not exactly sure that our road was going to be ON the google pedometer but it was. since i haven't run since the 18 miles, i figured i'd do 5-6. plus we don't have to run much this weekend...between 8 & 12 i think so i figured i owed it to myself to play a little catch up with the mileage.
i checked the mileage from my house to my nonna's (grandmother's for you non-italians) which was a little over 6 miles. not bad. i checked the weather. bad. 40 degress, "feels like 34". yuck. and it was raining. steadily. did i mention i also do not have proper running pants yet? oh yes, i was prepared. since technically we can run in shorts in the 40's, i decided to brave it. i had some cheap gloves, a long sleeved shirt and, although i tried to protect my ears, everything i could find kept driving my headphones uncomfortably into my little eardrums. warm ears or music? music, no doubt. i was ready.
i ghetto-wrapped my ipod again and stepped outside. it was COLD. instead of complaining i just started going. the rain was steady, and not exactly light, but once i got going, it was manageable. it was really funny to run 1)on the road, 2)a route that i've driving a thousand times and takes maybe 10 minutes in the car, 3)without other people running around me. even when i've run in the rain before in the park, there were always other looney's out there with me. this time, it was just me, the wilderness & the road.
i'm still bothered by the shin-splint but i was so cold it didn't bother me as much. i wasn't having a hard time running, but the weather was just plain old unpleasant. about 1/2 way to nonna's, the wind kicked in, just in time for me to run down a wide, wind-tunnel of a road. that was the hardest part. cars were flying past me, spraying & splashing me with the run-off on the roads, and god only knows what they had to say about seeing some girl not only running in the freezing rain, but in shorts!
somewhere around 4 & 1/2 miles, everything loosened up, and i completely picked up the pace. i felt like for the first time in a while (sprints don't count, they hurt too much), i was running versus jogging. it was great. i didn't care about the rain, the wind...nada. i was *trucking!* down route 148 feeling completely crazy for running in weather like that and loving it. my dad drove by (he was meeting me with warm clothing) and i waved, happy i was looking good at that moment in time.
i realized right around then, that it would be much better for me to run 6/7 miles than 4 for shorter runs. i can really push the run at the end because that's when i start to really get into it, and leaving a run with that high is the best. so i can't be afraid of the longer short runs - they'll be easier than the shorter ones! duh!
when i got to nonna's dad was waiting and they both looked a little horrified at how be-draggled i looked, but i assured them i felt okay. the heat against my freezing cold & wet skin literally made me tingle with a strange kind of numbness, and my skin was totally red everywhere from the cold, but i felt great. especially after i changed into my sweats. but i have to say for myself that i am one tough cookie.
happy thanksgiving everyone.
today's mileage: 6.1
total mileage: 234.3
i got up this morning at 9 with the plan to leave the house by 10:30. challenge number one...no food in the house i like to have for breakfast. dad offered to make me bacon and egg sandwiches, which i love, but its not exactly pre-running food so i settled for an english muffin and a banana.
it looked very very cold from inside the house where i sat planning my route with the google pedometer. we live so far out, i was not exactly sure that our road was going to be ON the google pedometer but it was. since i haven't run since the 18 miles, i figured i'd do 5-6. plus we don't have to run much this weekend...between 8 & 12 i think so i figured i owed it to myself to play a little catch up with the mileage.
i checked the mileage from my house to my nonna's (grandmother's for you non-italians) which was a little over 6 miles. not bad. i checked the weather. bad. 40 degress, "feels like 34". yuck. and it was raining. steadily. did i mention i also do not have proper running pants yet? oh yes, i was prepared. since technically we can run in shorts in the 40's, i decided to brave it. i had some cheap gloves, a long sleeved shirt and, although i tried to protect my ears, everything i could find kept driving my headphones uncomfortably into my little eardrums. warm ears or music? music, no doubt. i was ready.
i ghetto-wrapped my ipod again and stepped outside. it was COLD. instead of complaining i just started going. the rain was steady, and not exactly light, but once i got going, it was manageable. it was really funny to run 1)on the road, 2)a route that i've driving a thousand times and takes maybe 10 minutes in the car, 3)without other people running around me. even when i've run in the rain before in the park, there were always other looney's out there with me. this time, it was just me, the wilderness & the road.
i'm still bothered by the shin-splint but i was so cold it didn't bother me as much. i wasn't having a hard time running, but the weather was just plain old unpleasant. about 1/2 way to nonna's, the wind kicked in, just in time for me to run down a wide, wind-tunnel of a road. that was the hardest part. cars were flying past me, spraying & splashing me with the run-off on the roads, and god only knows what they had to say about seeing some girl not only running in the freezing rain, but in shorts!
somewhere around 4 & 1/2 miles, everything loosened up, and i completely picked up the pace. i felt like for the first time in a while (sprints don't count, they hurt too much), i was running versus jogging. it was great. i didn't care about the rain, the wind...nada. i was *trucking!* down route 148 feeling completely crazy for running in weather like that and loving it. my dad drove by (he was meeting me with warm clothing) and i waved, happy i was looking good at that moment in time.
i realized right around then, that it would be much better for me to run 6/7 miles than 4 for shorter runs. i can really push the run at the end because that's when i start to really get into it, and leaving a run with that high is the best. so i can't be afraid of the longer short runs - they'll be easier than the shorter ones! duh!
when i got to nonna's dad was waiting and they both looked a little horrified at how be-draggled i looked, but i assured them i felt okay. the heat against my freezing cold & wet skin literally made me tingle with a strange kind of numbness, and my skin was totally red everywhere from the cold, but i felt great. especially after i changed into my sweats. but i have to say for myself that i am one tough cookie.
happy thanksgiving everyone.
today's mileage: 6.1
total mileage: 234.3
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
home, home on the range
it's good to be out of the city.
i almost missed the train on the way to grand central. no one wanted me. cabs were changing shifts and they were only interested in people going to the airport. i felt like the scruffy puppy in the pet shop window..."pick me! pick me!" with not a second to spare, one did, and mangaged to get me to the train with a few (er, exactly 2) minutes to spare. i tipped him 50%. i hope he has a nice thanksgiving.
then my friend becky's dad picked us up and we drove home to lovely brimfield. we waved hello to the stars, hung out in front of the fire in the living room before heading out to a "sports bar" on rte 20 in "palma" (spelled palmer). ah home. i am always delighted and horrified with what i find here. tonight we just tried not to attract too much attention.
after just a few, and not nearly enough catch up, we headed back home. i'm going to try to run tomorrow, although truth be told, i'm afraid of the cold, mean dogs, and not having any water to drink.
wish me luck.
oh! ps. on my last fundraising letter, i said that people should tell me what they are thankful for and send it in. not ONE of you did, so you "special" thanksgiving post may not have as much thankful content as i would have liked, but i'll do my best to fill it with some thankfulness of my own.
g'night
i almost missed the train on the way to grand central. no one wanted me. cabs were changing shifts and they were only interested in people going to the airport. i felt like the scruffy puppy in the pet shop window..."pick me! pick me!" with not a second to spare, one did, and mangaged to get me to the train with a few (er, exactly 2) minutes to spare. i tipped him 50%. i hope he has a nice thanksgiving.
then my friend becky's dad picked us up and we drove home to lovely brimfield. we waved hello to the stars, hung out in front of the fire in the living room before heading out to a "sports bar" on rte 20 in "palma" (spelled palmer). ah home. i am always delighted and horrified with what i find here. tonight we just tried not to attract too much attention.
after just a few, and not nearly enough catch up, we headed back home. i'm going to try to run tomorrow, although truth be told, i'm afraid of the cold, mean dogs, and not having any water to drink.
wish me luck.
oh! ps. on my last fundraising letter, i said that people should tell me what they are thankful for and send it in. not ONE of you did, so you "special" thanksgiving post may not have as much thankful content as i would have liked, but i'll do my best to fill it with some thankfulness of my own.
g'night
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