5k Completed

It was up and at 'em this morning - race day had arrived. It was my first race in probably close to a year and half! My excuse is I haven't had a running cohort to race with. Part of my enjoyment on race day comes from having a running partner(s) I can run with. Needless to say, I was so utterly excited when L finally agreed to run a 5k with me. Enter the 5k of the IMT Des Moines Marathon.

It was a pretty cold morning and based on the snapshots that were taken of me, waking up at 6:15 to run in cold weather doesn't bode well with me (you can check out a few photos from L's camera), but it was so fun to be out there running with all the other athletes of the day.

L and I stuck together throughout the whole 3.1 miles and we finished with a strong time of around 28:00. I was so proud of L - she improved lots from the 11 minute mile she started out running!

I've got race fever again and look forward to participating in more, including for the first time, the Dam to Dam. L, I'm holding you to your agreement of doing this one too! :)

A "Perfect" Question

I pose a question to you this evening:

Do you believe that there is one perfect person out there for you?

I guess I like the idea of that one perfect person. It's certainly a romantic thought....going on life's journey and finding that one person with whom you are meant to be with. Some may be lucky and find it right away, and others *sigh* have to be a little more patient. Do you think how you find that someone is in your own control or does some force from above act as your tour guide and lead you to that person?

Although I like the idea of the one, I can't help but think that it's possible that there is more than one person out there for you. Although a romantic thought, it's also kind of depressing and scary to think that the possibility exists of only one person out there that's meant to be with you. Does the possibility exist of never finding that someone? Thinking in terms of the WCS (worst-case scenario), what if you did, indeed, find that 'perfect' person and then one day he/she dies? Does that mean there is no possibility of finding another 'perfect' person? Or, in the event that you do meet someone else, what do you consider that person? Is he/she your 'perfect' too or are you settling - you'd rather be with someone than be alone? OR - was the person you thought was your 'perfect' one really not at all?

In the case of the latter, can you justify this side of the argument by saying it's all in the timing? Isn't it possible to meet someone who could be 'your perfect', however that person is involved with someone else at the time? Or maybe it's because you just got out of a serious relationship and aren't ready to jump into another one? There are a million different scenarios that could account for you not ending up with a particular person, which doesn't necessarily mean he/she wasn't right for you.

But to this you could rebuttal and say that this argument we call "timing" is really just our 'tour guide' leading us through our journey, and all those "scenarios" are the directions we are unconsciously following, which lead us to our 'perfect' person.

I haven't quite decided what my take on this topic is...but it's certainly an interesting one to consider and discuss.

A Weekend of W's

A quick Weekend recap:

What the hell are we thinking Friday: Black Leotard - $16, tights - $6.50, attempting to pull off the look of the Single Ladies on Halloween - priceless?? I'll let you know how it goes.

Winning Saturday: I had some friends over for the Iowa game Saturday night. We cheered the Hawks on over tacos and a few cervezas. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday than being surrounded by my sister, good friends, and a Hawkeye victory!

Wicked Sunday: After indulging in Granite City's Sunday brunch, my sister, brother-in-law, L, and I headed downtown for an afternoon at the theater to see Wicked. It was fantastic! There were some powerful scenes that brought out some emotion. The music was simply delightful and the singers just blew me away. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend.

A Footing Observation

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when guys are telling a story to someone and they are really into it, they do the one-foot-on-the-chair thing? See examples below:







Pop Quiz: Why does this happen? Is it male instinct? Is there some sort of signal from the brain that tells you "it's time to put your foot on the chair"?

From my observations, it's not all guys. It actually seems to take a certain type of guy to do this...most often it's your typical Abercrombie-powdered-pink-popped-collared-pukka-shell-wearing-db.



*Let me go on record and say that it's not always the db...sometimes it's your average Joe. *

In the case of the db, usually he's talking about his game-winning basket in his 'glory days.' Just when he gets to the part about how there were 2 seconds left on the clock - BAM - one foot is so eloquently placed on a chair.

What appears to be another fitting time for the one-foot-on-the-chair thing - the office. Whether it's in a meeting or someone stops by your desk with a question or simply just to chat, it seems to happen. One minute, you're talking about the new work comp procedure and the next thing you know, you are telling stories from when you were a bat boy for the local baseball team - and on cue, one-foot-on-the-chair ensues.

Another appropriate time, you ask? Hitting on a girl. Girls, this is a great 'he's a db' detector. If it isn't the overly strong aroma of his Acqua Di Gio cologne that clues you in, just wait for the one-foot-on-the-chair maneuver.

Now, with all that said, I don't really have a problem with guys doing this. It's just strikes me as being funny. So one-foot-on-the-chair away boys! I'm always up for a good chuckle.

Turtle Cheesecake

Since my first cheesecake was a success, I thought instead of baking your run-of-the-mill angel food cake for my mom's birthday this past weekend, I would try another cheesecake recipe. I mean, if for no other reason than to put my new spring form pan to good use...gotta get my money's worth! Plus, when my family heard I made a cheesecake a couple of weeks ago, a cheesecake they were not able to sample because they were hundreds of miles away, I could almost see the guilt oozing out of the telephone. :)

I decided turtle would be the flavor of choice. Minus cooking the caramel a little too long, resulting in a hard-to-cut-through-the-crust scenario, it was another success. I received rave reviews from the fam.

What I love about trying out new things in the kitchen is you always learn something, find a better way to go about something, and/or you are led on a path of further experimentation.

Music of the Heart?

While watching TV a few nights ago, I saw a vacuum commercial, featuring Etta James' At Last playing in the background. I kind of laughed as I looked over to L and said, "How do you think Etta James feels about this song being used for a vacuum commercial?" It kind of sucks the romance right out of the song. (pun intended)

If you think about it, lots of commercials use artists' songs to help capture their audiences. Sometimes I think it can work when there is a storyline involved, like the AT&T commercial featuring Landon Pigg's Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop.

Other times, I can't help but wonder if the artists are insulted that their work is being used to advertise such mindless things like the McRib or Overstock.com.

The Color Purple

I took a Carrie Bradshaw-ish fashion risk today and wore a bright colored pair of purple tights to compliment my black skirt and gray and white button up.

The tights went over really well with some and not so much with others. I received some compliments and even had Jos betting that we will see a lot more bright colored tights next week in the office. I caught others doing the slight head tilt + squinty eyes and puzzled expressions look, which of course, is the equivalent of saying, "yeah, I'm not getting/liking your look."

Personally, I dug it. Sometimes how you accessorize the outfit is what makes what you're wearing the outfit. So watch out you head-tilters+squinty eyes and puzzled expressions people, because I plan on wearing more of colored and patterned tights this season!