"I have to go lie down"

As some of you may have read on Chris's blog, he's all of a sudden become holier. When he was about to go into the shower the morning after getting ice cream scooped and sewn back up, he asked that I help him take the band-aids off of his back. I start peeling off the top one, and given that I haven't seen stitches for a LONG time, it was weird seeing them on his back. Seeing those made me feel extremely bad for Chris for having to go through it. The second band-aid came off, and then the third.

I became suspicious when the third band-aid was a deep red color, but I thought it might have been because of the fact that a needle had passed through his skin several times. I was wrong. Staring back at me, at eye level, was a small "divot" (as Chris called them) which was a pit of oozy-looking blood, and the stitches were lying about haphazardly.

"It's not supposed to be like that," I said to Chris, with the horror creeping in on my expression. He tried to see it in the mirror as my vision became dark and fuzzy. "I have to go lie down," I said, just barely stumbling out of the bathroom. My life was full of green faces, sweat, and dark, fuzzy vision for the next five minutes or so. All I could think about (besides keeping last night's dinner in my stomach) was how horrible I felt for Chris because not only did he have to deal with my impression of the Green Giant stumbling and falling over, he had to deal with the fact that he would have to go in to get stitched up again.

Then he said something that made me cringe: "You know you're going to have to put another band-aid over that." SHIT. That's all that came to mind. SHIT. I tried so hard to pull myself together and go back in there to face it, but my eyes and the rest of my body decided I couldn't handle it. Luckily, Chris found a way to cover the pit in his back up, and I recovered shortly thereafter.

The funniest thing about this story was that I have seen way worse things. I have seen a guy after a drunken accident on a motorcycle with the bone sticking through his calf, and I wanted to get closer! I've seen bone popping through the forearm of a kid at a high school basketball game. But apparently these experiences could not prepare me for the site of Chris's pit. Go figure. I have to say that I laughed the rest of the day about it, and I couldn't wait to tell my dad.

Excitement is building

Tonight I went to a informational meeting about the Ironman bike ride that's happening on April 27. Chris and I have decided that we are going to attempt the 100-mile route (but that might change depending on the weather). I'm really excited to get outside and try out my new road bike! I've put a couple of hours in on the trainer (and as you know if you read the post previous to this, the first time didn't work out so well).

I'm excited for spring in general, but I really need to get outside and get a feel for the road bike. I might change seats again because I really like the seat I bought for the mountain bike. I also have to figure out some other aspects to ensure that I'm not going to be putting unnecessary strain on any part of my body. More than anything I need to put in some "butt time" as the speaker was telling us tonight. Sitting on those seats for a long period of time is not the most comfortable situation, but getting your rear used to being on a seat again after having the winter essentially off helps.

I can't wait for spring and for when the street cleaners come through to wash away all of the grit on the road. By the way Mother Nature, it would be great if it stopped snowing.

Dehydration nation

One thing I never want to do again is get myself dehydrated. How did I accomplish this you might ask? By being silly and not drinking enough. It was that simple.

Let me back up. Chris went down to his parents' last Thursday and was staying through the weekend, so Kim and I were going to drive down on Saturday morning. My foolishness started Friday night after climbing. I climbed really hard, and I should have eaten enough to replenish when I got home, but I clearly did not. I just wasn't that hungry.

Saturday morning came, and I had my regular breakfast of cereal and snacked on some toast mid-morning. I did a little bit of strength training, and drank about a glass of water. Not enough, but I didn't realize that until later. Anyway, Chris encouraged me to bring down my bike so I could put some time in on the trainer (we're planning to do the Ironman bike ride in April 27). When we got down to his parents, we had vegetable soup for lunch, and a few hours afterwards, I decided to get on the trainer.

I only drank a glass of water during my hour workout, and the way I was sweating, I likely needed at least twice that much. And since I was already likely dehydrated before I even started biking, it was a recipe for a bad night (and subsequently a bad next day) ahead.

About a half hour after finishing up, it was about time to eat dinner, and I got an extremely bad migraine, one that made me so nauseous that I couldn't eat. I had to go lay down for a while. Chris brought me in some soup, bread and lots of water, and kept checking up on me. After a few hours rest, I still had a bad headache, but was feeling better.

After a night's sleep, I got up and ate some oatmeal and toast and washed it all down with a tall glass of water. My migraine persisted though, and it's still bugging me now. I had to leave his parents' place before noon because I was not getting any better. I've been sucking down water and Gatorade all day, and sticking to bland foods (my stomach got messed up too), and the migraine is still hanging out. Grr...what do I have to do to make you go away!!!

By the way, migraines suck. Don't get them.

Climbing awesomeness and green-thumbiness

With Chris down at his parents' place, I climbed with Garbe. We both ended up having a really good climbing night. I got pretty close to finishing the crack clean (but I ended up slipping out once). Then I climbed a 5.10c, which took me quite a while to get up because instead of making slow deliberate movements, I ended up trying to make dynamic ones and I kept falling off. But in the end, I made it.

Garbe, the street-shoe wearing climber, went right up some crazy routes. I think that kid would be unstoppable if he got climbing shoes.

Besides climbing, my green thumb has been busy. haha I re-potted the big pot of plants Chris's parents got me for my birthday. I suspected they would be getting root-bound because of all the blooming, and I was right. It was my first experiment with re-potting any plants, so we'll see if they survive. The good thing is is that they are all bulbs, easy to completely cut down and start over with.

Presentation Success!

Today was the day that the projects I've been working on for over ten months were presented to Council. I was extremely nervous (even though I did not present) because I've never had anything I've worked so long on go in front of a group such as the City Council. The work I did will affect the City's five-year financial direction including affecting each of the funds I worked on.

Luckily I had good news to tell, which the Council members were thrilled about. They were very excited to hear that the funds were doing better than originally anticipated and that we had such long-term detailed plans. Hard work can certainly pay off!

It was a good experience for me, and I'm glad that the plans were so well received. I was, however, hoping that there would be some difficult questions asked, but I've gotten a difficult questions throughout the process and from the departments we met with. All in all, I think it was a good first major project, one that will continue for quite a while since these plans will be updated annually. Congrats to me!

My newest pride and joy

With spring right around the corner (or the spring that is upon us, depending on the day), I started looking around for a road bike. I had been planning to get one for some time, and now seemed like as good a time as any. I started my search at Erik's off 494. The clerk showed me some good ones, but a little out of my price range. I next tried the Boehm's just down from us, but they are going through a remodel and I was told it would be too difficult for them to bring bikes up from the basement where they're currently being held.

So after talking to Kim through Chris, it was recommended that we try out the Erik's in Roseville. Before climbing tonight, we headed up there. The staff was very helpful, even though without knowing it, I walked in 15 minutes before they closed (they insisted on helping me though saying it was no problem). I ended up finding one that was similar to the ones I tried out at the other Erik's, only less expensive (because it's the Sirrus Base model, whereas the others were the Sirrus Comp and the Sirrus Sport).

I am extremely excited about getting a longer ride that a trip around the parking lot. We're planning on doing the Ironman bike ride on April 27 (we're planning on doing the 100-mile ride if the weather's ok). This bike will definitely be better to take on long rides. Here's a picture:


I can't believe how much lighter it is than my mountain bike. I've also ordered a rack for the back so that I won't have to have my bag slung across my back anymore; I'll be able to carry all my stuff in the bag that goes on the rack! I got clips so I'll just have to get shoes soon to go with it. I got the pedals like Chris has where it's the clip on one side and a platform on the other.

I love its sleek black color. A kind of funny back story to this is that at the first Erik's we went to, the clerk started by showing me a white bike with pink shit all over it, and then he showed me one with butterflies on it. Eventually we told him that I'm not into all the girly colors and designs.

Best birthday week ever!

As many of you already know, I have turned the ripe 'ole age of 24 last Tuesday (and for those of you who didn't know, I turned 24 last Tuesday). I must say that my family and extended family (here I'm thinking about Chris's family) made me feel extremely special :) Thank you to all of you!
Although I mixed up the traditional birthday meal, it was a very tasty change - and my amazing aunt and uncle got strawberry shortcake for me, so I got half of it :) I'm looking forward to going home and getting the whole meal (wink wink Mom).

In other news, if you're looking for some funny stuff, check out this website:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

So many laughs, so little time.

Failure

Last night, while lying in bed, I starting thinking about the thing that I've been thinking about for a few weeks: I should cancel my gym membership. I simply haven't gone much. I have little desire to, plain and simple. It's not that I don't want to work out period, it's more that I haven't found something that works for me.

When I signed up for the membership at the beginning of this year, I was thinking back to when first moved to Champlin and used to go about 5-6 times per week. The main motivator there was that (1) I had someone to go with that enjoyed the same classes and (2) I didn't have much else to occupy my time. Now I find it difficult to want to drive anywhere besides errands, and the time makes me not want to go at all.

What I really want to do is start biking again, but the temperatures haven't gotten to where I would like them to be, and I certainly don't want to bring a nasty dirty bike back into the living room. It feels like I'm in a slump. I love going climbing and I like the little bit of walking that I do get when catching the bus (which is really only a few blocks) or walking to the bakery.

I know what I need to do: I need to come up with a way to start off small, to get myself going, motivated, and getting myself used to a routine. Right now, I think I should try getting myself in the routine of going on walks around the neighborhood. Of course saying something and doing something are two different things. I need to find something that works for me, and I need to stop feeling like I've failed because ultimately I'll be saving money and I'll stop thinking of reasons why I don't want to drive all the way to the gym.

Wo-blam!

All of a sudden, I've been getting socked with projects at work, some are simple but time-consuming, others are difficult and time-consuming. I've been having a very difficult time lately with getting control of my stress. Mentally, I can tell myself to breath, take things one step at a time blah blah blah, but my body is won't listen. I'm working on it though, and I think that by the time I retire, I will have better strategies for dealing with work-related stress :)

This week is a big week for me because of departmental meetings about the project I've been working on since I started as an intern. It's a good chance for me to practice speaking in front of people (who are primarily department heads) and it has been extremely interesting hearing their feedback on my work. Many of them simply do not know enough detailed history to really give me definitive feedback, but it is interesting to hear what sorts of questions they have. It has also been an opportunity for me to see how much I don't yet understand about the politics of the budget. The reason I say that is because my boss has fielded a number of questions to which great care has to be undertaken to answer them.

The whole purpose of these meetings were to educate affected departments, to get their support, and to keep the lines of communication open. I think we accomplished those things so far. Also it has been an opportunity for all of us to begin formulating how we are going to present the final draft to Council on the 17th. I still haven't decided if I want to participate in that presentation (I would most likely be presenting with the CFO of the City - tough act to follow!) On the one hand, I realize it would be a great time to practice my public speaking skills (on live television mind you), but on the other, I think that I may not be ready to take that plunge just yet. Even without cameras I tend to blush heavily and get a bad case of dry mouth. I did quite well presenting to department heads; I might leave it at that for now.

In other news, Chris and I are looking forward to heading up to our friends' cabin this weekend. It will be a good chance to relax and have some fun.

Oh! And in other more exciting news, I climbed a 5.10d/c clean when we were at the climbing gym Monday. That's the most difficult climb I've gotten clean yet! There's another really fun one that I worked on a while ago - I really want someone to get a picture of me doing one of the moves (I can't really describe it, but I think it would look cool).

Bye bye virus

I am finally feeling better after ten days of sickness and missing three days of work. It's about time! I'm excited to potentially get Dairy Queen today (it opened up for the season recently). I'm also excited to be able to walk around and get out of the apartment without feeling like I'm going to die (yes, that was an exaggeration, but from time to time, that's what it felt like). What should I do first???

In knitting news, I started the NES afghan, and it doesn't look like much yet, but it soon will. I think Chris is excited for it. This is the beginning of me using different colors within my projects. Maybe someday I'll work up to knitting things like this:Projects like that would be very time-consuming, but the end result is pretty incredible I think. For now, I'll stick to easier projects. I think I'm going to go for a walk - finally enjoy the crisp winter air after being cooped up for so long! Woohoo!