New Hampshire Trip

We flew in Saturday afternoon, just long enough for me to see the Atlantic (and the pictures look just as dorky as when I saw the Pacific). Chris drove us up to Ipswich, where we went to a really nice beach. I have to say that I can't believe how many Dunkin' Donuts there are on the East Coast. Holy crap - it seemed like there was one every half mile!

We then drove to Gilford where we met Chris's parents for dinner. We were up bright and early at 4:45am (some earlier than others) to get ready and drive to the start of Kim's Timberman Half Ironman. We by chance found her before the swim to wish her luck and for Chris to take some pre-craziness pictures.

We cheered her on at the start and grabbed some spots to watch her come in. Then she transitioned lightening fast to the bike, which took the crazy and incredible woman just over three hours to do. Apparently the terrain is a little hilly out there (haha). To pass the time, we cheered on other racers coming in. Someone was silly enough to hand me a small cowbell, which I think was an inspiration to all the racers.

Then it was off to the run. Kim had to do two loops, and was incredible. She and her friend helped each other through the last part of the race. Side by side, they finished together. It was amazing to be able to cheer her on during this event after seeing how hard she trained and how dedicated she has become.

Later that day after Kim took an ice bath (eek!), we headed to Friendly's, an ice cream shop with something called a Jim Dandy, which is essentially a double banana split (Chris and I split one). After sending me into a sugar comatose, we headed into Newton (near Boston) to stay with one of Chris's friends. It was fun hanging out with them and we got to sleep in an incredibly comfortable bed. I was tempted to steal it.

Monday was a hurried day with Chris and I heading back to Minneapolis. Or so we thought. We ended up getting stuck overnight at Midway due to the weather conditions in Minneapolis. Who knew the southeastern part of the state was going to flood over the weekend, and that those storms were moving towards Chicago? We were one of the few lucky ones that were able to get onto the 6:15am flight out the next morning. Staying overnight at the airport wasn't that bad for me because I had a terrible migraine, so all I wanted to do was sleep anyway.

We got back home around nine the next morning, and tried to get ourselves together. We both smelled less than wonderful and were tired of traveling. Yes, I was still tired the whole morning after sleeping how many hours. I'm really glad that we were able to go support Kim. I'm proud of you K-Rex!

Here are some pictures:

My feet going in the Atlantic.

Crane Beach - perfect soft sand.

Lake Winnipesaukee, where Kim began her Timberman 70.3.

I don't know how she concentrated on the swim with scenes like this.

Kim and her friend Laura close to the finish line - way to go Kim!

NH, here we come!

Chris and I are going to New Hampshire this weekend to cheer on Kimmi during her half-Ironman (crazy girl - hope we don't embarrass you too much!). We leave Saturday morning, fly into Boston, then drive to Laconia. To be honest, I'm not sure where we are driving to, but it will be around there. We're going to be staying at a hotel with the fam and go cheer on Kimmi Sunday! We're going to visit one of Chris's friends on Monday, hopefully with the very tired and sore triathloner. haha.

I'm such a nerd because I'm really excited to take the lightrail to the Minneapolis airport - I haven't had a reason to take lightrail yet. And I'm super excited to hear some more of that Boston accent when we land. Hee hee! And I'm excited to see the Atlantic coast and see some of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. And I can't wait to take of and land! Maybe it's easier for me to just say that I'm excited for this, and to ask all of you to send Kimmi some good karma. She is gonna rock!

Finished my throw!

I finished the throw that matches the quilt on my bed! Woohoo! I think I started a few months ago, and I really enjoyed the pattern once I got the hang of it. Pulling it apart in the beginning was a pain in the ass, but by the end, it became second nature. Here are some photos of my handiwork:


I like how it looks wavy. I think I would like to make another one because I'm not sick of the pattern yet, and because I'm kind of nervous to try something completely new. I told my mom that I want to knit her a pair of socks, and unknowingly I've placed some pressure on myself by doing so because with each of my past knitting projects, if it didn't turn out, it was ok because they have been for me. But now I want to start making stuff for other people, jeez. But I know that Mom will be understanding (right Mom?)

Thunderstorms!!!

Last night we had some crazy thunderstorms. I had been out at a moving-out party for Mary and her roommate and ended up getting home around 2:30 or so. When I was driving home, there was crazy lightning, but it was still a ways away. Within 20 minutes, after I had climbed into bed and was trying to fall asleep, it started.

It was loud, bright, and windy. Shep, the dog I'm taking care of, was terrified. He actually came upstairs into the bedroom, which he has never done. He needed to be by me, to make sure that we weren't going to die. He's not a fan of loud noises to begin with. I got up again and was checking around the house to make sure that it wasn't going to blow away, when the power went out. It flickered a couple of times, and caplooey. It was out until around 10:30 this morning. It's so annoying having to reset all the digital clocks.

We survived the storm (obviously). When Shep and I went out for a walk this morning, we saw some significant branches strewn across the sidewalks that were ripped off in the wind. I was surprised there weren't more. And luckily (thankfully) no damage here.

This morning was kind of nice not having power because I had it in my mind that I would have to start cleaning right away (vacuuming, laundry, etc.) but, alas, I couldn't do it. So I pouted on the deck, with a book. Damn.

Biking to work

Yesterday I biked to work. It was awesome! It was casual Friday, so I wasn't as concerned about looking presentable. And I figured that since it was Friday, and around 7:30, there likely wouldn't be as much traffic, which there wasn't. The trick was to find the bike lanes. Apparently the City of Minneapolis enjoys creating bike maps for downtown without specifying which direction the lanes are, making it a little tricky to plan out a path. Chris offered to ride with me to work though, which I appreciated very much :)

We took the U transitway to Dinkytown, then went across 94 to the Stone Arch bridge, then into downtown. The morning ride was quite nice, and since I'm not in bike shape, I ended up sweating a bunch even though it was cool temperature-wise. The ride home was a lot hotter. I think it was around 93 degrees when I was riding back, which isn't so bad I found out. I'm still not a fan of the heat, but there was a good wind which helped. On the way home, I swung by the place where Chris works, and we biked back home together.

I didn't think that I would get used to living in the city, but the longer I am here, the more I am liking it. One of the major things I love is the fact that I can take a bus or bike to and from work. It's a really cool thing, and I'm likely giving my mother a heart attack right now. Depending on the weather, I think I'm going to make the biking into work a habit on Fridays.

Life in general

As the date quickly approaches for the Mayor's budget speech (August 15), we in the budget office are working hard to get the budget document ready. I put in some overtime already this past week and will almost positively have to put in some more next week. The days go by really quickly though because we are so busy.

Chris and I made our way to the climbing gym a few times last week though, and we've been doing quite well. I almost completed the crack climb, which is awesome for me. My hands are a little rough from that, but I'm hoping that I can build up some calluses. Chris has been pushing me to boulder more too, and we have decided that we should boulder more frequently. Bouldering means it is a much shorter route meaning there are no ropes, and the moves are much more dynamic and you have to do them perfectly. It's a great way to develop perfect form, which will really help when we rock climb. Of course one of the keys things that you need when you boulder is core strength, which is something I apparently don't really have anymore, so it's something I have to work on.

And I just finished Stephen King's Lisey's Story and I liked it a lot. I haven't read any of his books for a long time, so I forgot how much I like his writing. I basically read most of it on the bus to and from work. Great place to read. I'm starting Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story. He's pretty damn funny. Last night when we went to the bookstore, I found Mitch Albom's One More Day, which I am looking forward to reading. I have really enjoyed his other two books, and so I am confident I will likely cry a little during this one too. I'll keep you posted :)

Reaction to the I35W bridge collapse

As most everyone around the country knows (and around the world for that matter), the I35W bridge collapsed, and terrified many people. I got calls minutes after the news broke out from concerned family members, checking to make sure I was ok. I also received text messages from friends outside the Twin Cities just to see if I was still kicking. Personally, I don't know that I had ever used that bridge, and if I had, it would likely have only been once. For me, it doesn't really scare me that something like this happened because these events are so rare, although given this country's failure to properly invest in infrastructure, it may become less rare, and then again it may not. For those who drove over the bridge every day, it might have been a more traumatic experience.

I hate to say it, but this could have been a lot worse. Had repairs not been going on, and had those other four lanes been open, many more people could have died because of (1) more cars on the road and (2) higher speeds because if more lanes were open, traffic likely would have been moving more quickly. Since I didn't know anyone involved in the collapse, I have can say that I hope that our engineers can learn a great deal from this and use that knowledge in the reconstruction.