Clutchy Clutchy

Baby car is in the shop receiving a new clutch. I took her in yesterday morning and met my father at the shop. They seem really nice and I'll be able to pick up the car this evening. Actually I could pick it up right now but well I have to work! I was excited about riding into work with my Dad so I could knit. Well the man announces that I'll drive his car since I'll be dropping him off before going to my workplace. So out went the knitting idea! We had a nice ride in but it was a long morning for me and I was quite tired last night. I almost didn't make it through the Third Watch premiere. I did catch Las Vegas though. I am already hooked!

I did get some great knitting time in on Melissa's Sweater. I do wish I was quicker but I've already completed the back and the left front and just need to finish the right front. There are 4 button holes and I've completed one. I just need to finish the last three, sew up the sweater and block it. This will be my first real blocking experience so I've done my research and feel as prepared as I can be. I'm hoping to have enough yarn left to make some booties and a hat but it might be tight. I just wish I could remember where I got the yarn!

Krista and I went climbing at Stone Gardens on Sunday. It was a blast! We climbed for almost 3 hours and I would have stayed longer but Krista was hungry.

Next time, progress on the sweater (maybe a finished one!) and what my next project will be!

Tonight's Workout: Hill Training -- I have to run up a hill 6 times at three different speeds -- slow, medium and fast. It gets painful, real fast but it makes me faster!

Come On Weekend!

I'm on Weekend countdown here at work. Only 3 more hours until I can make my escape from work....tick, tick, tick.

Last night I settled down to work on Melissa's baby sweater and watch Friends. The show was great but soon the sounds of "RIP" began to fill the air! The pattern calls for a K2tog on the RS. Sounds easy enough unless you end up knitting 20 rows with the K2tog on the WS! So after ripping back, I only ended up doing about 6 rows total. I'll get more done tonight.

I'm hiding out tonight. Well, sorta. I am going running with a friend at 6 p.m. but only 3 miles and then I need to stop by my apartment to visit my kitty. I'm sure she misses me lots.

This weekend my big plans are to clean my car, clean my apartment, knit and visit with some friends. Oh and sleep in some! Can't wait!

Tick, tick, tick
Rebecca

10-Miler

I ran 10 miles last night. My thighs keep reminding me of what I did. It was a fantastic run but let me tell you, the last mile was a killer! This is the route I took around Seattle. We saw everything, even a man peeing on the side of the road. I think I'll be taking tonight off from exercise. I do have a Junior League of Seattle function to attend anyway. They said there will be a martini bar! Now that will get me through the day.

I enjoy being a member of the JLS but I do have to admit that I don't feel stylish enough to be part of the group. People always dress so nicely and look like fashion plates. Maybe they can give me some JLS fashion tips and I'll be styling. But I know the truth of the matter is I prefer my workout clothing and my laundry reveals that tendency.

I've been working feverishly on Melissa's baby sweater and hope to finish it this weekend. I didn't get any knitting done last night but I was lucky to make it to my apartment to visit my cat before heading back to Queen Anne for my housesitting gig. The really nice thing is the housekeeper came yesterday and changed the bedding. I had fresh sheets to slide into after my nice bath in the spa tub. It's luxury and I'm not going to be able to adjust to real life when I go back to my place permanently! Poor me!

Ta'ra

Rebecca

Fingertip Towels

Monica asked what fingertip towels were on my comments. Well after hours in Bed, Bath & Beyond, I can tell you they are smaller than a handtowel and bigger than a washcloth. Also according to my Mother, they are to dab your wet fingertips on after washing your hands...Errmmmm OK?

Blah! Blah! and Double Blah!

I want the weekend! Work has just sucked this week and it is only Tuesday! People are on some sort of rampage and one has to put their head to the ground to ignore them.

Strange happenings on the boy front too. A guy I worked with this summer at the Chateau randomly contacted me via email yesterday. We hung out a bit at the concerts and went out with others for beers but nothing else. I also found out he had a girlfriend so any possible love interest from me was evaporated. Well he wants to meet for coffee which could say friendship EXCEPT that he wanted to meet right away and seems pretty insistant on meeting this week. We'll just have to see.

On the knitting front, I'm trying to focus on my WIPs and not be so random. I swear I knit 3 rows on the sock, then knit 2 rows on Stephanie's scarf, wonder off to look at a knitting book, buy yarn, knit on that a bit and then wonder why I haven't finished anything! I need to focus, focus, focus.

So in order of priority, I plan to focus on finishing these items in the next few weeks:

1) Melissa's Baby Sweater -- the kid is due in a few weeks so I've got to make this priority number 1!

2) My sock

3) Stephanie's Scarf

4) Diana's Scarf

5) Krista's Multi-Directional Scarf

6) Julie's Scarf (need to decide on a pattern for this one)

Off to knit!

Rebecca

Waster

I think I just wasted an entire weekend. All in all it was a good one but in terms of accomplishing anything, I didn't.

I had a dinner party at the Mansion on Friday night which was great fun but now I have tons of leftover food! Yikes! Lots of eating to be done.

Saturday I awoke and did an 8 mile run with my ChuckIt group. It was a fantastic run. I did get a strange foot cramp right after I stopped running. I'm not sure how to explain that but I think I've finally massaged it out. It was deep in the arch of my foot and I'm sure I looked funny hobbling to my car after the run.

I ran some errands and had a quick shower before meeting Krista for some climbing. After that I went to my brother's house to pick up my Mother. She took me to lunch but then tortured me with shopping for fingertip towels. I think we spent over any hour in Bed, Bath & Beyond looking at fingertip towels. It was hard work.

After that I met up with some friends for the Fremont Oktoberfest. I ordered the Jackson 5 special which was an entry fee plus 10 tastes. Let's just say, the 10 tastes were more than plenty for me.

On Sunday, Krista and I headed down to Black Diamond Olympic Tri to watch Stephanie. It turned into an entire day event which in a way peeved Krista and I. We had entertained thoughts of doing other stuff in the afternoon. It was super fun to cheer for Stephanie though. I have never yelled so loud in my life!

I then had Stephanie over so she could do some laundry at the mansion. Nothing smells worse than day-old triathlon clothing!

I also knitted up so baby booties for my running coach. His wife is having a baby on Wednesday (planned C-section).

Belay Certified

Well I passed! It wasn't as hard as Krista and I thought it would be and now I am an official belayer. Quite fun! We spent the rest of the evening climbing and had a great time.

I finished two mousies for a co-worker and she said her cats love them. She went home last night with them in her coat pocket. As she walked in the door, she tossed down her coat and went to the bathroom. She then heard some strange noises from the living room and went to investigate. Her male cat, Tellis was digging in her pocket for the mousies. She retrieved them for him and her two cats spent the rest of the night tossing them up in the air and slobbering on them. It's nice to hear that one's gifts are appreciated. I plan to start her mittens this weekend where I hope to have time to relax.

I started Stephanie's Christmas present last night and it's already looking wonderful. I know she'll love it!

I did a 45 minute run last night before getting ready for my dinner party (which is tonight). It was one of my worst runs in a long time. For the first 15 minutes, my feet ached and then I had to go to the bathroom, blah, blah. I finished the run but I hated it and hope to have a better one tomorrow.

Off to get cakes for the photoshoot!

Ta'ra

It's been a loooooooonnnnnngggggg week already

Whew! I can't believe that it is only Wednesday. It's been insanely busy at work all week and my evenings have been packed!

Monday night I took a intro to rock climbing class at Stone Gardens and had a great time. It was a bit nerve-wracking to have K as my belayer but she is a champ and didn't drop me. We go back to night to take our belay test so we can climb in the gym and try not to injury ourselves.

Last night I did my tempo run with ChuckIt and it was the best run ever! Darkness came on quickly as did a nice rainstorm which made the last mile of my run, the best! I really really enjoyed myself in some odd and twisted fashion.

I cleaned out my work bag last night and discovered that I have 4 WIP's in there! Why? oh Why? I am going to put them in priority order and finish them up. I've been making mousies for some co-workers. I also decided that I will make some for my friend's cats for Christmas. I just need to get cracking and not forget to make any for my Destiny. Gollum the fish doesn't much care for mousies and told me he just wants more fish food.

I've updated my race list and my in progress list. The sock is still going well though I did get distracted with the mousies. I'll get back on track with that tonight.

Next week brings my favorite part of Fall. PREMIER WEEK! I know, it's not good to watch lots of television but I just love Premier Week....I can't wait. Though I am a bit sad that John Ritter passed on and won't be entertaining me in "8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter." I never really watched it until this summer and then found it to be a treat.

Well I'm off to get my belay license. Wish me luck!

Return from Bike Camp

I went away to Bike Camp this weekend and re-united with my inner child. I left work early on Friday afternoon and headed up to Anacortes with a friend. We barely made the 6:45 p.m. ferry and save some $$ on our ferry ticket due to a really nice lady in line. She had an extra ticket and shared it with us.

Once we arrived on Orcas Island, we loaded up on the Camp Orkila bus. There were loads of children getting on the bus for a parent/child weekend. I told one little guy that I was going to camp and he said, "Me Too!" Then he told me all about his camp plans. We were both very excited about camp.

When we arrived at camp, it was a bit dark and the open-air cabins were not really up to my sleeping standards. I snuggled into my sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep though. I did awake quite a bit due to the hard sleeping surface and all the nature noises. Luckily we didn't have any of the raccoon visitors other cabins encountered.

Morning arrived with the promise of pancakes and coffee. Diana and I made sure to fuel up before heading off to our respective classes. I took basic bike maintance and she took Kayaking. We both had fun and met up with Sara and Wendy for lunch. After lunch, Sara and I headed off with a bike group for an "Island jaunt". We quickly found out that

Orcas Island is the hilliest island in the San Juan Islands. I think of the 30 miles we rode, about 25 were hills. It was beautiful though and I did snag quite a few photos.

We arrived back in time for dinner and then attended a sport nutrition class. It was very interesting. Sunday morning arrived bright and early with eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast. I then took Advanced Bike Maintance and learned so much. I feel much more confident about working with my bike now. Diana, Sara, Wendy and I then caught the Noon ferry home.

I didn't get much knitting in this weekend since I didn't want to get my yarn dirty and there wasn't a comfortable place to sit. I did work on my sock in the car and it's coming along. The yarn is Regia and it's color is called Mottle Rainbow (#5033). It's a joy to work with so far.

Sock Sposure

Here's a picture of my sock beginnings! I think it's going quite well.

Fall Socks!

Fall into Knitting

Fall is in the air! I love waking up to crisp mornings and enjoying a nice breezy day. It's back to my favorite kind of weather though I did hear that higher temps would be making a come-back this weekend.

I've been busy planning my Christmas knitting projects! I've completed a hat and mitten set for one friend and have started a pair of socks for me. I've never really knit socks but I'm making my best attempt. They are coming very nicely so far. I'll post a photo soon.

I'm also going to make a pair of Raspberry colored mittens for a co-worker. I hope to start them this evening but it all depends on how long my Junior League Meeting takes.

I ran with my running group last night and while it took me 11 minutes and 48 seconds to do a one-mile run, it only took our fastest woman runner 11 minutes and 11 seconds to run TWO miles. She is truely awesome and I do love watching her run. It's quite fun to watch all the different running styles in my running group. Some people make it look so easy while others have the most difficult of gaits.

I plan to start the cable knit sweater this weekend while on Orcas Island. I'm going for a Bike Camp but I know there will be plenty of downtime. I'll need to remember my camera too since the Island is so beautiful!

Rebecca

Lake Stevens Olympic Tri Race Report

4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning came too quickly and too darkly. I awoke and got ready before peeking outside. I really didn’t know it could be that dark and quiet. I then loaded up my bike and took off to Lake Stevens.

Stephanie and I arrived around the same time and parked near each other. We went to get our timing chips and some air for our bike tires. Couldn’t find the bike guy but quickly received body markings and timing chips. These were really nice ones with neoprene strips.

They announced that the international racers would be starting before the sprinters and so we lined up at the shore of Lake Stevens. The buzzer went off and I quickly dipped into the balmy 70-degree water. The faster swimmers quickly drifted out of view but there were some die-hards stroking alongside me. A one-mile swim is quite a distance! I ended up chafing my neck somehow during the swim and I now look like I have a hickey! Not so good looking at work!

Swim Time: 42:32

Once out of the water, I dashed up to my bike and grabbed some Goo and a Powerbar.

Transition 1 Time: 2:27

I started along the 24 mile bike course and felt a little woobly. I kept pedaling and soon found out about the deceiving hills on the bike (they looked like flats but weren’t!) along with a nice steady rain, some serious hills and the occasional headwind. It all made for a hard bike course. There were some times when I felt so alone out there but I made it!

Bike Time: 1 hour 48:07

Susan, a fellow Supergirl caught up with me about 2 miles before the end of the bike and cruised into Transition 2 with me. We took off together but she quickly lost me in the run.

Transition 2 Time: 1:56

The first half of the 6.2 mile run was completely uphill. I saw most of the other Supergirls on the course from Seujan to Diana and Stephanie. I knew I was almost dead last at this point but didn’t really care. I was finishing and I was doing it strong. I ran intervals for a 5 minute run and a 1 minute walk. It was hard in the beginning but after the turn-around, it was all downhill. At mile 6 with only .2 miles left a 70 year old woman with asthma passed me! I was a bit upset because I really didn’t want her to beat me! Diana ran me in the last 150 yards (as usual) and cracked me up. I finished strong and I did it!

Run Time: 1:32:30
Total Time: 4 hours 7 minutes and 31 seconds.

I also did some knitting this weekend but will discuss that later. I'm tired from the race and writing the race report!

I Did It!

I did it! It took me 4 hours and 7 minutes but I finished and I had a good time. More details later!

It's close!
Only one more day before my tri. I'm nervous but I know I can do it. I'll be thrilled on Sunday when I'm done. Can you believe that I have to get up at 4 a.m. for this tri? What kind of crazy person is putting this on?

Thanks for your support!

Best Run Ever!

Last night I decided to head on out for a run around Greenlake. My back had been hurting and had kept me up all night with the pain. I hoped that a nice run would help work out the kinks. If it didn't, then I decided I would walk the lake.

I started out slowly and began building up my tempo. My back felt great! My breathing was perfect! I was on fire! I ended up running my fastest Greenlake run ever and I loved it!

I was going to go swimming afterwards but due to budget closures the pool was closed. This totally bummed me out until I remembered that I could go home and knit. I'm about half-way done on the second half of a pair of mittens for J. I'm thinking about a scarf but I may pass on it since I need to get started on other Christmas presents.

Tonight is my last night working at the Chateau. It's the Julio Ingelias concert which will be fun. Maybe he'll do a bit of singing about all the girls he's loved before.

Only 2 more days until the Olympic Tri! Dear LORD!

Why can't every weekend be a 3-day weekend?

I had a wonderful weekend away from work. Saturday brought a 5 mile run (which was fantastic) and then a trip to Vancouver, Canada with S, K and M. Unfortunately M and I both forgot our passports so we had to visit the Immigration office and prove we were American. She decided to believe us and off we went. I visited Lush and only purchased one bar of soap. An amazing thing! We had Sushi, visited Shoe stores and basically had fun.

On Sunday, M and I went shopping and I got a great pair of pants at The Gap. Can't wait to wear them! Then I worked at the Chateau where Big Blue Sea played. People were awfully fun to watch.

Monday was hiking day and we went to Wallace Falls which is v. pretty. It was a fun morning. Then I spent the evening relaxing and watching stupid television shows between cleaning my apartment.

Now it's back to a four day work week with an Olympic Tri on Sunday. I'm getting nervous! Eeeeek!

I did finish J's cap though and started on a matching pair of mittens. I don't think I'll have enough yarn for a scarf but I might go back to the store and get more in order to make one. She'll love this present!

OK off to work like a fiend!