How can you not love this face?
Wow, it has been a while since I posted on here. And it’s been a while since I’ve been in the mood to be on Twitter a lot. I go in spurts. Sometimes I’m just about addicted to Twitter, other days I don’t want to really get on there, especially during lunch because 20 minutes later, there I still am, typing along with my thumb and pointer finger (I know, I’m weird, I can’t really type with two thumbs.)
Anyway, what have I been up to since the Claddagh 4-mile race? Well, I was supposed to run a 5-mile race the following week, on March 14th. Unfortunately that also fell on Day 2 of a 3 day deluge of rain, during which our area got 10 INCHES of rain. We are now in the middle of getting somewhere between 4-6 inches again. Mind you, some folks have not stopped pumping water out of their basements during that time because we’ve had a few normal rain storms in between. Lovely.
I feel like a wimp, but I just didn’t feel like running that race in a downpour, with 25-30 mph wind gusts. I hated to disappoint my friend Meg, and I really did want that 3rd medal, but I guess for me, the third time (next year) will be the charm and I’ll finally get all 3.
Let’s see – I went to a Celtics game on St. Patrick’s Day, thanks to my husband who won seats just 14 rows off of the floor. Nothing like being in Boston on a day that celebrates the Irish. 
Then I took a few personal days and took it easy.
Penny and Terri at the tweet-up - finally we met!!
During my personal time off, I traveled to NYC. I am so happy to report that I FINALLY met Penny, aka @southbaygirl on Twitter, of the PlanetYnnepRunning blog (she recently had to protect her blog so you have to request the ability to be read it). She was in NYC to run the NYC Half Marathon, and asked if I could come down from the Boston area to meet her. I figured it would likely be the closest we could ever get to each other, so I went down and stayed with my brother and met her at a tweetup, and then again on Sunday at, and after, the race. She is, quite honestly, one of the most generous and genuine people I have ever met. And I felt like I’d already known her for quite some time. Because, in a way, we have. We’ve read each other’s blogs now for almost 2 years. Amazing, huh?
While I was in NYC, I had a great run with my brother on Sunday night (in SHORTS, no less.) Oh yeah, did I neglect to say that while I was there, it was also about 70 degrees? I know Penny was aggravated/frustrated by that, but for my part, I was LOVING it. (Especially since it went back to the 30s this past weekend her in MA.)
Penny and I, with @tinyjenna, @followjocelyn, and @katiemiller at the NYC Half Marathon
What’s on my horizon? Um, a lot. Work this Sunday, April 4th (volunteered to work without realizing it was Easter. Sigh.) A big legal research teaching event on April 9th. A 5 mile race on April 10th. Packet stuffing for the Boston Marathon. Then, the Boston Athletic Association 5K on April 18th, the day before the Boston Marathon. Oh, and I’ll be meeting Lindsay, of Chasing the Kenyans, or @lindsaydecken on Twitter, the weekend of the Boston Marathon – hopefully she’ll be able to stay with me at least part of the time without having an asthma attack (the animals could do it.) Yay! (She’s another person whose blog I’ve been reading for at least 18 months now!)
Oh, and there will be more dog training classes in our future. We broke down and have taken Ruthie twice, to get her more acclimated to being around other dogs. We now realize it’s out of fear that she gets into fights. She even got into a fight at the dog school this past weekend. It was suggested we get her a muzzle – it will still allow her to breathe, of course, but sends a verbal cue to owners and other dogs that she is not one that plays well with others so much. She loves people, though, and she really wants to be friends with our calico, Callie, so things could clearly be much worse. But doesn’t she look so sad? (Bill petted her the whole 2 minutes this muzzle was on tonight and then she got a treat right after we removed it, so she wouldn’t feel like she was being punished.) We’ve been told to put it on her at random times so she doesn’t just associate it with dog school.
Ruthie and her muzzle, looking so sad
Oh, and I have also been writing a lot more lately. Thanks to @ridgeley on Twitter, who was extremely generous with her time and advice, I bought myself a Toshiba netbook a few weeks ago. I absolutely love it.
toshiba nb305-450 - picture from newegg.com
The battery power is great, the screen resolution is wonderful, it weighs almost nothing. And, I LOVE the keyboard. I feel inspired just looking at it. I’ve been taking it to work and am able to write on it almost every day at lunchtime.
And, for reasons I cannot go into, I have pulled myself out of, or begun to, anyway, pull myself out of a negative funk at work. I’ve decided to give more of the benefit of the doubt to some people and also to try to not let the stress of others affect me as much. I can try to help them and support them, but I can’t take everyone else’s problems and turn them into mine. It just weighs too much.
All of this, in addition to finishing Stephen King’s 1074 page tome, Under the Dome. And continuing to run in the early a.m. I’d like to extend a personal thank you to Turtlepower1 on Twitter for worrying about me. He got me motivated to write on here tonight!
Oh, and I have a few more products I can write about now – so stay tuned! (Nope, I didn’t forget about my cold weather running products, not at all!) Hey, if you buy them now, they’ll all be on sale.
Yep, it’s been a pretty busy three weeks.
March 29, 2010 at 10:27 pm
I’m super jealous you got to meet Penny and will get to meet Lindsay! Someday… we all just need to meet at a race in the middle of the country!
I’m glad you’ve been able to get more writing in lately. Figuring out how to make that passion work into your day-to-day life is important.
I’ve heard that ‘Under the Dome’ is good. I’ll have to get that one (of course, the waiting list is long for it!). I just finished ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ after you mentioned it and thought it was a very interesting book. A book from a dog’s perspective sounds bonkers, and even when I first started it I was questioning it… but as I got into it and all the way through, it was really quite a refreshing perspective!
March 30, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Yes, I am sure the waiting list is long, and this is not one of those books that you can just sit and read in a few days time. Just too many pages! I will warn you – his style of writing may seem a bit chatty at first, and occasionally, more toward the end, he kind of jumps into narration role, but it’s very rare that he does it. He has so many characters to develop. But I really loved it honestly, and as I said in my reply to Lisa’s comment, it is very different than his other books.
Glad you liked the other book from Enzo’s point of view. Enzo seemed human at times, didn’t he? I found myself looking at Ruthie often and wondering what she was thinking!
And yep, it was pretty cool to meet Penny in person after such a long time. And Lindsay, well, I feel like I already know her too. It’s so nice to finally have the online friend right in front of you.
March 30, 2010 at 9:41 am
So…. Now you won’t run in the rain. I think it’s time to move out her with us in Southern California. You’d fit right in!
Great move on the netbook. I got my wife one a couple months ago and she loves it. Which is saying a lot for someone who didn’t use a laptop!
March 30, 2010 at 7:08 pm
ha ha ha, Glenn. Ok, let me clarify. I didn’t want to run in the rain after it had already rained for 24 hours straight – it was super windy, 25-30 mph, with gusts over 40 mph, and oh yeah, it was in the 30s that day. So raw and miserable. It was actually the puddles I was pretty worried about. My running group even had a hosted run that day, and the hosts said that their door was open, the course was set up, but that they thought the conditions were perfect for hypothermia, so they really wanted people to think twice before running that day. Even my former coach (who is on a group email list) cautioned people to do their runs on Saturday rather than Sunday so that their bodies didn’t get completely beaten up on.
Glad your wife loves her netbook too. It’s so cool to have one of these and not have it weigh a ton. I can’t do as many things at once as I used to with a full laptop, but for someone who has occupationally-induced ADD, that’s a good thing.
March 30, 2010 at 10:06 am
Welcome back! That is great about your writing! I am coveting that netbook.
Is ‘Under the Dome’ worth the commitment? I haven’t read a Stephen King book in ages, but need to get back into reading. I got out of the habit.
I just listened to a book about K2 by Ed Viesturs. I am not sure I would recommend it. It is a bit self-indulgent and preachy. I loved Viesturs in the Everest movie, but not so much in this book. FYI.
March 30, 2010 at 7:06 pm
You are not alone in coveting my netbook. The treasurer for my local E-Board of the Friends of my library fell in love with it too (he works at the same CPA firm as my friend, Lis, and he was talking to her about it.) I love how quickly it boots up. And how I can have several chapters or scenes open at once, it makes things so easy. I’ve taken it to a few classes too, and am completely enamored of the keyboard. I got used to it within a day.
I really liked Under the Dome. It’s very different than a lot of his other books. The “monsters” are humans. However, he still shows the human side of the really despicable characters, from time to time.
What’s the name of the K2 book you just listened to? I’ve been looking for a good mountaineering book – not many have come out lately. I need my Everest fix!
March 30, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I got through spurts on Twitter too. And I only got about 100 pages into that King novel and gave up. I admire your endurance.
March 30, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Anne, I have to admit, when I was about 200 pages in, it must have been the mood I was in that night, I almost stopped reading it. Then I got moving along, and at page 500, I was so happy I had kept going. It was a good book in my opinion. But yep, pretty long!
March 30, 2010 at 8:37 pm
thanks for the shoutout! i am looking forward to “finally” meeting you in real life
glad you are doing well! that is a sad pic of ruthie, but hopefully she will “learn” to be calmer quickly so she doesn’t have to be muzzled anymore. it will pay off though when she isn’t leering at strangers/dogs out of excitement/friendliness. i always jump at dogs who are pulling on the leash towards me even though i know they are just curious. anyway hopefully she will adjust soon!
April 5, 2010 at 8:53 pm
ok, I cried! What you said about me was one of the nicest and sweetest things I’ve heard spoken or written about me in a long time! And I needed to see and hear that! Thank you! I feel alone out here sometimes! And then I had to make my blog private because all of a sudden I was being censored!!! So thank you for being my friend! Thank you for coming down from Boston to NYC to meet me! WOW!!! I cant tell you what it meant to me to finally meet so many people!!!
Thank you!!!
April 15, 2010 at 8:07 pm
MY God, i am so sorry to not have responded to your comment sooner than this, Penny. I am a bad blogger, bad blogger! I figured that it was the case with your blog, that someone at work must have come across it and censored you. I’m so sorry. And it was my pleasure to come to NY to meet you – after all that time and all that distance between us, how could I not?!