long time, no c

It's been a while since I posted in earnest, blah blah blah. I've been busy!

First of all, I put an offer on a house that I *really* liked - it had character, which is an exceedingly rare commodity in suburban Maryland heck. I have a hard time convincing myself that living in one of the Little Boxes is going to be bearable for me. But, disappointingly, the bank has decided to go a different way. It's them, not me.

So, back to square one with that. Ugh. I spent all this time spinning my wheels to get financing, etc, for the last house, and I will have to do it all over again if I find something else. Which I hope I will!

About that race a week and a half ago - I was really happy with how it turned out. It made up for the crushing experience I had the last time. As usual, Clare is the woman. She must have some kind of magic touch, because I have never been so consistently active in a long time. Not that it seems to be helping me to drop any weight. I am eating pretty well, too. Not the best anyone ever ate or anything, but pretty darn good, especially for me.

In happy (!) news, my dear friends Melanie and Clare (different Clare) came to visit over the weekend all the way from Maine. I know Mel reads this blog, so HOLLA! We saw the giant pandas, sloth bears, and the lowland gorillas, that just welcomed a new little one to the family. They were all super cute, but my favorite was the baby gorilla. I think if I were an animal, I would be a primate. Or possibly a turtle. But definitely one of those.

We also went to the Museum of Natural History. We saw lots of good stuff, but I *really* liked the current exhibit : Written in Bone. It involved different human remains found around the Chesapeake, mainly from colonial times. Lessons I learned; don't smoke a pipe, brush your teeth and don't ignore tooth pain, don't suck on/handle/eat off of lead, don't get ricketts (Vitamin D deficiency), tuberculosis (bacterial), or syphilis (if you don't know about that one, I'm not going to go into it here), and don't get shot by an arrow. All I can say is I am very grateful that I live in modern times and this country - even a very lower class modern day American has a vastly superior lifestyle to the king of England just a couple hundred years ago (or less). Some of the things every person had to deal with in colonial times was truly horrific. I will be saying an extra prayer of thanks tonight.

Anyway, we had an awesome time catching up and reminiscing. Seeing people I haven't seen in a while makes me feel old! But I love having guests - especially ones that bring me beautiful yellow bowls from my beloved Maine. Thanks, Mel, you're the best.

Shaun is gone. Has someone told the State Department to warn India and Nepal? Come back safely, Shaun, and try to not get kicked out of any more countries...

This weekend, Brooke, Molly, Meghan, and Aly and I are heading to the Cape (no, New England readers, *not* Cape Cod - I'm from Jersey, figure it out). The weather is looking like it might be crappy, but I am going to get to go a day early, and I don't think any of my friends are joining me early, so I am looking forward to a mini retreat all by myself. I will bring some writing stuff and some reading. I am really looking forward to it, and to hanging out with my married/super busy friends. This will be a really great opportunity to spend some time with them - things like this don't happen very much these days, and I only expect that trend to decay further the more children they all have.

Well, it is past my bedtime, gentle reader. I am heading to the Land of Nod with the thought that I don't have any tooth notches, and I have the good company of many fine friends.

ttfn

Thank you, Mr. Gilbert.

I did it, I ran the whole 8K! For those non-European readers of mine, that is 4.92 miles. I am wiped right now, but I will fill you in soon.

A very cool guy known only to me as Gilbert, came back and ran the last third of a mile or so with me. He made me go faster than I would have without him, and distracted me into finishing strong. He is a marathoner and possibly the nicest guy in the world. Anyone going to the marathon in a couple of weeks, please cheer for him!

The first signs of spring

Before the trees put out leaves, before the crocus start peeping out and the forsythia protest the gray of winter with joyous yellow, before we dare outdoors without a coat, and before we crack open a window to let in a soft breeze, the little bulb plants show up at the grocery store. Jonquils, daffodils, tulips, cyclamen, and sweet smelling hyacinth. Today, I bought a little unopened purple hyacinth, and carried it to my car in the snow. I salute the grocery stores for bravely rebelling against the death of the cold with the delicate smells and pastels of spring. I am a sucker for those little plants, and I can only hope it will live in my chilly apartment. I vow to put it in the sunny window in the kitchen.

This morning, I went to Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. It was nice! I really liked it - it was the closest thing to Westminster that I have found here. I think I will keep going, but I don't want to get too attached, because I think I will be moving east soonish.

I had a good relaxing weekend - I needed it after last week. I had a rough workweek - we had a calibration that was really time consuming, and I am far behind on my regular duties. Sigh. But tomorrow, we might have a delayed opening, or even a cancellation! Yay!

I have a busy week coming up, and a lot to get done... will I get it all done? Tune in later and find out!

I have signed up for the 8K in two weeks - that is 4.92 miles. I know I can finish - I can walk if I need to. I have had a really good week in terms of exercising. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday - I think that is a record! I am nervous about it, but I think it will be ok - I hope.

I just came back from Ethiopian - I have to say, it is my least favorite food genre, but my lentils and injera were really good! A vast improvement from the last time I tried it. Good company, too.

Hope you all have been paying attention to the stories I have been posting to the left? Some of those are really good... don't miss out!

OK, I think I have used too many exclamation points in this post - minus 5 points.