there is a season

Today it rained... hard. I got very wet walking/running/shuffling from my building to the train station. It was fine in Auburn this morning so I wore flip flops but then it turned stormy. I was trying not to bust because it is really slick on the walkway to get to the train stairs. There was even thunder when I was running. It was practically an east coast storm! None of the wimpy drizzly maybe-I-don't-need-a-jacket rain that we have most times here. But my lawn and plants are enjoying it so it's not all bad.

I went to the doctor and I am going to do physical therapy for my back. Supposedly they will show me exercises to help me out, and I am supposed to get a more supportive chair at work. I am really supposed to get an "ergonomic evaluation" but we'll see how well that request goes over in the current budget crisis situation. I guess it can't hurt to ask. Hopefully I can get past this soreness and resume some level of exercising, because I have been limited mostly to walking for the past couple weeks since swimming made it hurt worse.

We might be getting a new fence in back. The neighbors behind us are putting new fences up on the sides at least. Today when I came home part of our fence was laying on the ground in their yard, so either the wind was really really strong or they put it on the ground. I just can't let Kenzie out now, at least not without a leash. She bolted after a cat this morning and ran a long way before I caught up with her (I was being bad and had her off-leash at the park). So she is on leash-arrest. She is very cute these days and wants to snuggle a lot on the couch which I am happy with. Her little cut is healing quite well and pretty soon she will not have to wear the cone of silence (or non-scratching). Anyway, we are hoping to split the fence cost. Our neighbors' grandson works for a contractor so they are doing the labor for free. We went over and talked to him tonight and he is coming by tomorrow to let us know whether his grandparents want to do the back fence too or just the sides. It is falling down so I am hoping they want to, but I don't know what a decent price is for the fence. It's 75 feet, and the posts that they have in make it look like about a 6 foot high fence. I guess we will see what he says and decide if we want to go ahead and do it. The joys of homeownership. There is always one more thing to do... but I like it. We have put our GT flag out and received several comments from our neighbors, though one person said they liked our "hornet" flag. It's the Yellow Jackets, puhleeze!! People here don't really know GT so it's all good. :)

spoilers

The worst thing about these Olympics is that it is impossible not to find out who won certain events if I look at the internet during the day. Luckily I have been able to avoid it most days, but it kind of stinks that so many events are on such long tape delays. The coolest thing is that we get the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) channel, which shows everything earlier than NBC. So I don't have to stay up to midnight to see the big events, which is pretty nice. I wish NBC would just show the events on east coast time and not wait until 8 pm to begin coverage when it is taped anyway. The CBC also shows more different events. We watched the men's triathlon yesterday and I was cheering so hard for the Canadian Whitfield to win!! He got the silver but it was very exciting at the end. We just watched tae kwon do and have seen some rowing, trampoline, softball, BMX biking, and some other events that are not being covered much on NBC.

I think I am going to wait until next year to do a triathlon. I talked to Sarah about it over the weekend and she made me feel a lot more confident that I can do it, and she answered a lot of my questions. But my back is still not feeling super after hurting it the other week. It felt really sore after I swam for the first time. Also, Joel's dad decided not to do the triathlon because he has not been swimming at all. I am not 100% sure that I'll wait, but it is probably the best for me. I talked to Dad this weekend and he made me think I should go to a physical therapist and see if they can help me strengthen my back. If I wait until next spring I would have time to do that. Also, I am trying to lose weight this fall so I can focus on general fitness and losing weight this fall. If I am successful it would put me in good shape for a triathlon next spring, and also my other goal of doing a marathon. Sigh. I have never had a persistent health problem besides a sore knee in soccer one season and a sore wrist in softball. Unfortunately a back problem is quite a bit more debilitating and I don't want this to be something that will bug me every year once or twice like it has since I hurt it the first time. It is hard for me to stay active without a clear goal in mind, so if I don't do a triathlon it will be a test for me to see how I can do trying to stay fit and lose weight with more general goals in mind.

summer summer summertime

It has been quite warm the past few days here. I have actually liked it!! Heat is not so bad when it is not for 3 months straight! :) Today Joel and I played softball at a City of Auburn picnic and game. It was the Maintenance and Operations workers versus all others. We won by quite a bit, partially because M and O didn't have enough players. I pitched batting practice before the game then pitched the whole game for my team. It was fun but I am sort of tired. My back started to hurt a little but it was towards the end of the game. I hit okay, but mostly got on base because the third baseman had two or three throwing errors allowing me to be safe. Joel had some good hits but impressed everyone more with a diving catch in the outfiled and a putout of one of their guys at home plate. It was really fun.

This afternoon we are going to a baby shower for Morgan and Amy, so that should be fun. They are having a girl so we looked at all the little baby clothes at Babys R Us last night. We wanted to get her a little Mariners outfit but the ones for the little babies were pretty silly looking, so we will get her one next summer when she is a little bigger. We ended up getting an outfit with green stars that was cute, and a sheet and blanket that they had on their registry. Babies R Us is really disorganized with their registry. Or at least not as organized as Target, which puts the aisle numbers on the list. But we found what we needed. Now off to see lots of little baby things.

olympic dreams

I love the Olympics. I am totally in to all the cheesy back stories with the Olympians hugging their parents and waking up at 5:00 am to train every day and so on. I remember watching the Olympics when I was little and thinking I would be there one day. Well obviously that was just a dream but I love hearing about the people who really make it happen. I remember playing at the pool, pretending the lane lines were a balance beam and doing cartwheels and flips. Pretending that my dives into the deep end were for medals. I have really enjoyed watching the synchronized diving so far. Not only are the dives awesome, but two people do them at the same time! I am amazed by what people can do... the extents of ability if humans push themselves.

Tiger Mountain

Today we hiked Tiger Mountain. I am really tired! We started out on an easy level trail but decided to go for the summit. All together it was a little over 6 miles with about 1200 feet elevation gain (I think). It was the first time that we have taken Kenzie with us on a hike and she loved it! It was nice because she actually pulled me up the hill! Well, not really but she was very eager and it might have helped a little. The problem was she also wanted to pull when going down the hill which is a little dangerous. Especially on tired legs. Chris and Marisa came with us and Chris brought his dog Lady, so Kenzie had a hiking buddy too. Both dogs were pretty tired at the end and thirsty too. We gave them some water out of the lids of our water bottles but when we got back to the car they both drank a lot. The dogs both had a great weekend because we took them to the dog park yesterday. Ashlee brought Lady and both of the dogs had fun running through the tall grass and meeting lots of other dogs.

I am thinking about doing a triathlon in September. I have not been running much since the half marathon and I am thinking that it would be more fun to train if I do multiple sports. I am going for a bike ride tomorrow, but I have not been in the pool yet. That will be a challenge. I guess I have to decide if I really want to do it. I went to the website and it's $70 to sign up! That's a little expensive and I am not sure if it's worth it since I would be trying to train in a fairly short time. However, end of September is pretty much the end of the triathlon season here because the water is cold and by then the weather starts to turn bad. So if I don't do one this year, maybe I'll do one next year. And if I don't do one this year, maybe I'll run the half at the Seattle Marathon. Options, options...

flat on my back

I hurt my back... again. It is no fun. Joel, Marisa, and I went hiking on Sunday at Cougar Mountain. The hike was not strenuous, but I slipped on some gravel at one point and felt a little twinge. We then went and played Wii Fit and it really started hurting. It's not as bad as before, but it hurts to sit up for a long period of time, so I have taken sick leave from work the past two days. I plan to go back tomorrow, as it is feeling a little better. I am sitting up right now and doing okay so that is a good sign. Unfortunately this is the third time I have had this similar pain. After the first time, the doctor said that once you have hurt your back once you are prone to doing it again. Sadly this seems to be true for me. I am not sure what to do to help it. I ran a lot, I even played soccer, but the most random things hurt it. BOOOO for back pain.

from the earth

My garden is really starting to produce. It makes me happy because I like to see things grow and know that I planted the tiny seeds! The peas, spinach, and lettuce have come and gone. I let the spinach go to seed by not picking it enough, but I'll try that again. The lettuce looked good but didn't taste great. I read that if it doesn't get enough water it gets bitter and I think that's what happened. The peas were awesome but next time I would plant them in phases so they didn't all come at once. I would do most of the garden in phases instead of all at once next time. So far we have not had good luck with carrots, but most are still in the ground so I am hoping they work better. The raspberries are in delicious season. I ate a blueberry off the bush this week (even though there are only about 5 total) and two strawberries yesterday. And this week I got the first of what may be many zucchinis. They look small and cute then - wham - all the sudden they get HUGE. I am going to make zucchini bread this week with the first couple. The tomatoes are growing but still green. They should be ready in a week or two. From the mixed squash bag we also have a pumpkin plant with a couple pumpkins coming. The broccoli is going nicely too, but I'm just not sure when to pick it. Probably pretty soon it will be big enough for a meal or two. The big X factor is the brussel sprouts. They have been eaten by some type of bug, and no sprouts are visible yet. I have canteloupe too but I planted those too so they may not bloom in time. The best "bang for the buck" has been the raspberries and peas. Those produced so much, and with raspberries they are expensive in the store so growing them saves a lot. If the tomatoes produce like last year, those are winners too. The other stuff may or may not be cheaper given the time and expense of growing them. I worried at the beginning but I have actually enjoyed the garden a lot. It's fun to go out every day or so and see what is growing, harvest a little, and watch as things get bigger. I tried to grow some flowers too but sadly did not have much success with those. I think it may have been a little cold, or I didn't keep the seeds moist enough. Someone in our neighborhood has beautiful sunflowers and daisies but none of mine came up! Next year I will try again. Having a garden and a yard is hard work sometimes (my back was not happy after weeding yesterday) but to be able to sit out back and see all the plants is very peaceful at times. It has officially been a year since Joel and I bought our house and I am happy.