congratulations to me!

I wore my sister's Halloween costume to work today while she went around the city, being a tourist.

I won "Most Original" in the company costume contest! Go me!

Here I am with my co-worker, "Flanders":

howdy, pad'ner!

greetings from austin, texas!

i'm out here for work - for the austin games conference (and the women in games "pre-conference"). we rolled into town last night, and was greeted by perfect, dry weather. not too hot, not too cold.

they have an awesome bike/running path around the river here, that reminds me a LOT of the esplanade back in boston. i went for a 4 mile loop last night before dinner, and while i was running on it, i got to watch several crews row by (mostly singles, a few eights). seeing them, as well as all the people that were out with their dogs and friends, made me really miss ol' beantown.

the esplanade was my favorite thoroughfare for running. heck, the charles river was my second home. i probably spent more time on that water than i did any where else (not including where i lived, of course).

anyways - we're off to get some breakfast now, and then it's gamesgamesgames for the next 3 days!

(ps. if anyone knows where to get cowboy boots sorta near downtown austin, speak up!)

pineapple-irific

i love my pineapple plant because it's fruit is finally turning yellow and it makes me smile when i'm sitting at my desk at work.

boss-irific

i love my boss because he let me have a long lunch with my visiting-from-out-of-town-cousin today on very short notice. which meant i got to eat a tuna burger while sitting on a bench near the water in the sun with the view of the bay bridge. in great company.

apartment-irific

i love my apartment because we set up our back room and our our kitchen-aid mixer over the weekend and it's the bomb-diggity.

un-hyatt-irific

i hate the hyatt hotel in austin texas because their website times out on you during the few measly minutes it takes to fill in your contact information, when trying to book a room.

lamont-irific

i love lamont because he gave me $10 worth of starbucks cards today.

did i really overhear that?

(girl talking on phone to someone): i don't want to go to grad school! it looks so boring. you have to be boring to go to grad school. everyone there just looks the same. idunnoidunno.

compassion

the illness i had is STILL going around my office - and beyond.
(even poor homestarrunner is sick!)

and now, there's also a drama-bug going around, too. jobs getting wonky, friends fighting, family feuds, relationship drama (thankfully not mine), you name it...

sometimes i think it's too bad we can't really take a chill pill, you know? why does it have to be just an expression?

the funny thing is, all the drama is happening around me, but i seem to be safe so far - knock on wood. it's like i'm the eye of a hurricane and everything else in close proximity is very stormy, and picking up strength.

(quite frankly, i'm sick of hurricanes.)

here's the thing. all of the above drama - and i mean ALL of it - could have been avoided/remedied/lessened if the parties involved could learn how to effectively communicate. and i don't mean via: gossip, arguing, selfishness, inappropriate emails, or sneaking behind backs - all of which were involved in at least one of the above scenarios.

i mean honesty. being open:
- talking to your boss when things aren't good.
- calling your friends or family members instead of jumping to wrong conclusions.
- stop making your ex feel guilty for getting on with their lives.
- giving more, taking less.
- helping others be happier, rather than adding to their misery.
- asking questions when you don't understand how someone feels.
- thinking before we talk (or email)
- putting our egos aside to help cheer up a friend.

because really, are we in grade school still?
i mean, the last i checked we were all adults.
please don't tell me i was mistaken...

i'd really like to see the storms pass and the illnesses fade, but i think it's going to take a serious amount of compassion. there are a lot of upset and hurt people in my life and when i look at it all from my calm little center, it seems rather trite. and that's not to belittle the scenarios - or to trivialize people's feelings. i'm only trying to express that things don't have to be so bad. closure can happen if we first open up - open communication, open minds, and open hearts.

one step back, two steps forward.

rip

my alocasia plant has been laid to rest.

poor thing - it had a good run...

a beautiful day in my neighborhood

conor and i observed today that there is at least one, but usually two, rummage sales going on on our street on any given weekend day.

today, the hippies on the corner and the old men a block and a half down were both having rummage sales. last week, it was the motorcycle dudes. who will it be next week?

anyhoo, i had my 4th race this weekend. i have been doing a ~5K/weekend since the start of september. three of the four races were with my new running team. last weekend i did one on my own (the komen race for the cure) in honor of my mother.

my results have been sorta eh, seeing as i was sick for my first two races. last week i felt better but ran slower - i didn't really care about my time that day. it was more of a personal mission to go, to pray for all the women i know who have been touched in some way by breast cancer. those races are very personal for me.

but, not the other ones... they're all about trying to kick ass. even if it means old-lady ass, since those are my closest competitors!

in today's race, i (finally) felt strong. i kept thinking of my cousin the entire time - the race had a LOT of hills. it was, well, lets just say it was more like a hike in some parts than a running race.

surprisingly, i think i did best on this course comparatively to my teammates than any of the flat ones we've run. i think i'm actually at an advantage to them when it comes to climbing hills - who knew?

no that's not to say i'm fast, btw.
they all still creamed me...

... but not by as much!

our race was in the presidio, and the course was a little over 5K - 3.5 miles. there were 6 solid climbs up and just as many down. the only flat was at the finish. it was great - i like terrain that keeps you thinking and paying attention to anything but how much you hurt. i think thats why i do well on hills - i can stay focused on not tripping over roots, which means i get a very strong, peaceful groove on. flats make me stress out because i never feel I'm going as fast as i can. and, they're boring.

i grew up running on flats. florida has no hills, and in boston i always ran around the very flat charles river. so i'm not sure where today's strength came from. but it felt good.

on a side note - conor ran his first (ever) road race with me 3 weeks ago. it was a 5K sponsored by Jamba Juice (the Bananaman Chase). There were tons of "bananas" running with us that you had to chase down (runners in full banana outfits) - so funny!

and he did awesome. he was hoping to run it in under 30 minutes - and he ran it in under 24! over 6 minutes faster than his goal, and less than a minute slower than me... and i practice with a team!

yep. apparently, i'm dating speedy gonzales.

i think he has a gift that he never knew about.
seriously.

lets put it this way - i've been running since i was 15. he's only been running since june. the day will come when he'll not only be faster than me, but he'll SMOKE me. and it's just around the corner...