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September 26, 2005

Thunder Thighs

I love this Nike ad campaign! I know several of us have complained about the jeans/big thigh issue so I know there's an appreciative audience here. The butt one rings true for me, too. My only gripe of sorts is that the thigh one says that the thunder thighs are "unwelcome in the petite section." Why can't people understand that petite, at least when it comes to clothes sizing, has more to do with the length of your arms and legs than how skinny you are. They're a clothing company for cryin' out loud!

Now if I could only find a company to launch a great ad campaign extolling the virtues of dry, blotchy, freckly, pale skin, under-eye circles, cellulite, and spider veins and I'll be set!

I didn't run *again* this morning. We had a dr's appointment and I was pretty wiped from spending another incredible (and record-breakingly hot, 108-degree) day at ACL Fest yesterday. This morning my little friend responded with some swift kicks and punches to the nurse's attempts to find her heartbeat by pressing on her with the heartrate monitor. Which cracked me up. Which made finding her heartbeat even harder. The nurse had to leave us for a while so she'd calm down. I don't like being prodded at, either ...

Posted by jenandmats at 8:36 PM | Comments (3)

September 25, 2005

swimming and singing and not much running

My running went along smoothly this week again. On Friday I cut things a little short, not because I didn't feel good; more because I'd just gotten tired of running in the heat and humidity. I feel like if we just hold on a few more weeks there's going to be some *really* good running in store.

I had the best intentions of running "long" on Saturday morning, even though the logistics of meeting and parking would be complicated due to the road closures for the Austin City Limits Music Festival, but after 100-degree heat and wind all day Friday at the festival we came home, took cold showers and cleaned between our toes and behind our ears, and then promptly crashed. Hard. Like the dead. And so there was no running yesterday morning. Which was probably for the best since we started back at it again yesterday just after noon, with even more wind and dirt and heat. The wind and dirt were a real obstacle to enjoying oneself, but if you tried - even just a little - it was pretty easy to have a fabulous time anyway.

As was the case with the trip to Cancun, I'm finding that my energy level stays much more constant without the frequent trips to the beer tent. And I spend a lot less time in sweltering porta-potties, despite consuming enormous amounts of water throughout the day. (I think this morning I have a Kettle Corn hangover. That stuff is severely addictive.) I've also had to wear a damp shirt over my face to filter out the dirt and the cigarette and weed smoke in certain crowds (including, at times, under the tree where we camped our stuff - we're surrounded by old farts who smoke weed like they're in a reggae band. Seriously!)

So here was Friday:
Asleep at the Wheel - from afar - good way to get started
Kasabian - which I don't remember much of, actually
Steve Earle and the Dukes - **highlight so far***
deSoL - Latin dancing in the shade
**BARTON SPRINGS POOL TO FLOAT IN THE COLD WATER**
Robert Earl Keen - old standby and very fun
Thievery Corporation - **another highlight** we listened from the comfort of the shade for a while before we got the strong feeling that we were missing out on something really good, and we wandered over and were really impressed.
Allman Brothers - parts were really good, but I realized that I love that band *despite* its long guitar solos and not because of them.
Keane - great way to close out the first night.

And then yesterday:
NOT Kathleen Edwards - who didn't make it, so I was disappointed.
Aqualung - good but sooo mellow in the heat and wind and dirt.
Buddy Guy - from afar while I had lunch but good!
**POOL**
Death Cab for Cutie - really good and fun, even though I felt OLD in that crowd.
**POOL**
Jet - **highlight so far** they were loud and they ROCKED.
Block Party - sounded good, although we were pretty far back
Oasis - very fun and more rockin' than I expected

We're slow to git goin' this morning. But I think I'll wrap this up and put my running/swimming/rockin' clothes on - they're not very stylish, but running clothes allow for comfortable alternating between sweating and swimming. On Friday I wore regular clothes and regular underwear and had to change into my swimming stuff and that was way more effort than it was worth. Yay running clothes!

S'posed to be a high of 102 today. Yikes. More trips to the pool in store ...

Posted by jenandmats at 11:11 AM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2005

Viva Mexico!

After a week of fun in the sun in Cancun we are back "en casa." I'm crabby and mildly depressed. Doing piles of laundry isn't really helping. Blah.

Both of my brothers made the trip this time, so there were six of us in the condo this time, as opposed to the four in there last year and the five the year before. Next year if everyone goes there will be seven! I wonder if everyone will mind sharing a small condo with a seven-month-old? My poor brothers were already stuck out in the living area on the Murphy beds. They won't mind having a crib in there with them next year, I'm sure!

In years past we've spent most of our time wandering from the beach to the pool and back again, but have managed to get out and be a little adventurous. This year we were even less adventurous than before. Just *a lot* of reading on the beach and participating in the resort-sponsored activities. Yes, we were dorks. Yes, I did aqua-aerobics (with my Dad!) to Mexican disco. Total "americanos," except that I got to use my Spanish quite a bit - I almost always started off in Spanish and only used English when things appeared to be getting overly confusing. Even though I really only use it once a year while I'm there I think conversing has gotten easier each time we've gone down there. And it sticks with me for a while even after we come back.

The pool and the Caribbean were both perfect in temperature (except after sipping a virgin pina colada at the swim-up bar I got a little cold) and the soft sand was never too hot. I was much more self-conscious in my two-piece swimsuit than I have been in my running clothes, but I loosened up after a few days. Of course, it was a lot easier to be relaxed about it after happy hour when people were less likely to be in a critical mood!

Even running down there was much better than it has been in years past - mostly because I didn't feel that I *had* to, like I did last year (the prior year I was in "the boot" with the stress fx for the whole trip.) I only ran a few miles each outing, but I ran with Andy and my Dad so it was time well spent. It was even more warm and humid there than it is here, but we took our time and got right in the pool when we got back.

The last full day we were there was Mexican Independence Day. The festivities started way too late -11pm - for the person I've become since becoming a more serious runner: early to bed and early to rise. In that respect it was similar to our Canada Day experience a few years ago, except that I wasn't as serious a runner back then and we *did* stay up for the festivities, and the reason *they* don't start until late is that they can't start their fireworks until 10pm or so because it's not dark until then on July 1! But to celebrate the day on Thursday everyone (but me) had bandera (red, white, and green) margaritas with dinner, and Andy and I watched the ceremonies on t.v. and watched the fireworks from the balcony. Viva Mexico Cabrones!

*sigh* Stupid laundry.

Posted by jenandmats at 5:40 PM | Comments (1)

September 9, 2005

If You Don't Know Me By Now ...

Two things have kept me from blogging recently: 1) bad wireless signals in my favorite hang-outs; and 2) the Yahoo! Music. When we're home, we have the music going, and since it's my computer that's in charge of blasting the tunes, if I want to blog or surf I have to stand in front of the stereo while I do it. Standing and blogging is no fun, even if you can dance while you're doing it.

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's race plans for the fall and the deliberations behind them. It's tough at the same time, though. And I think tomorrow will be sad, too, since it's the Zilker Relays, which is the kickoff of our Distance Challenge Series. It's only 2.5 miles a leg, and we've run it before in various shades of sorry shape, but it's at 6:30pm and it's likely going to be h-o-t. Plus our team from the past two years had already started falling apart. And Andy was asked to run on another team, so I felt like *somebody* was trying to tell me something. So I'll sit it out. And have a good old time, I'm sure. Even when the race is over and the beer is flowing in the party area. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Is that sufficiently pathetic?!

And I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself at all. Things are still cruising along; I have been so lucky with this project. Being able to run and stick to a routine in seeing my friends and spending time down on the trail has made things slightly less overwhelming - yeah ... like my life hasn't changed *that* much.

Speaking of pathetic - we're watching The Office Christmas Special. Again. Brent's cover of Simply Red's (?) If You Don't Know Me By Now makes me cringe and laugh until I pee my pants at the same time.

Psssssst. They tell me she's a girl!

Posted by jenandmats at 8:13 PM | Comments (5)

September 5, 2005

Bad Katrina

(I wrote the entry last week sometime and am now just getting around to posting it! Lame.)

New Orleans is one of my favorite places in the world, even though I've been there only twice. Living in Galveston for four years gave me a serious appreciation for the weird, the eclectic, the historical, the humid, the shabby, and the anything-goes atmosphere of an old, run-down, Gulf port town. Galveston was actually *the* financial hub of the Gulf before New Orleans was, until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1900. It never really fully recovered. In New Orleans I saw everything I loved about Galveston on a bigger scale.

During our first trip there we stayed in a B&B on the edge of the French Quarter near the Tremé neighborhood. Our first night there the shoes that we had worn to go crabbing that morning in Galveston were stolen from on top of the car where they were drying out. Those shoes were nasty to begin with - why else would we have worn them in the ocean? - and after being salty wet in the car all day they were especially ripe. I hope the person who took them enjoyed them! We had such a great time on that trip: we ate and drank like royalty, went on a "haunted history tour," took pictures in front of Jackson Square, ate beignets and drank chicory coffee at Café du Monde, and actually enjoyed being schnookered out of money by random jokesters on the street (well, maybe not "enjoyed," but we got a giggle out of it.) Matty actually went with us on that trip, although she was a little overwhelmed by the big city and probably does not have as good memories of the trip as Andy and I do.

On my second trip there I was accompanying Andy on a business trip, so I had plenty of time to wander on my own. On the Saturday morning of the trip I took a cab out to Audubon park for a 5K walk/run which I actually won (the women's division!) There was a post-race party of course, and even though I didn't know a soul there I had a great time sitting around drinking beer and talking with people. I was amazed at how much New Orleaners (?) sound like New Yorkers. It's a really strange accent, and nothing like what I've experienced in the rest of Louisiana, which has been more like something out of "Steel Magnolias." Everyone seemed so laid back and accepting and happy. I rode the trolley back to the hotel down St. Charles with my trophy in my lap and a nice little buzz in my head from the beer and the victory.

I love that town. I hope it comes back from all the wind and water and sludge and disaster bigger, better, and weirder than it ever was before.

Posted by jenandmats at 6:48 PM