(no subject)

Yesterday was the first anniversary of my marriage to McKenzie.  We really did get married on April Fool's Day 2008 -- I considered telling everyone this year that we hadn't really gotten married; that it really was the greatest prank ever, but I actually didn't bother with any jokes this year.  And to the best of my knowledge, no one pranked me, either.  Good deal.

Neither one of us takes anniversaries very seriously.  I mean it's neat to mark off a whole year, and I guess it gives it some sort of legitimacy, but at the same time, we both realize how arbitrary these things are.  I asked McKenzie if it meant anything special to him, and his answer was "Well, yeah, but if the earth was just a little farther from the sun, it wouldn't mean a damn thing."  

We celebrated by taking my brother out for a birthday dinner at Guadalajara.  His birthday is today, but he already had big plans for tonight, so he let us take him out a day early.  Today is also baby Frankenstein's first birthday, and there will be a party at her house on Saturday.  Adrian and I are taking off tomorrow around noon and driving up to Brooklyn for the weekend.  William got us a hotel, and I think we're on Lucy duty for the weekend, too -- the hotel has a swimming pool, so Lucy will stay with us to make use of it.  I'm also going to take her to a Streb show after Frankie's party.  Yay for bonding experiences with my mini-me.  I'm really looking forward to being up there with them -- I only wish I had more time.  I always feel that way about New York.  I don't ever really want to live there, but I'm always really bummed to leave.  There's always so much I know I missed out on.

I have exciting plans today -- my buddy Rick is taking me for a run through UVA's campus.  Rick is pretty much the reason I became a runner in the first place.  Lots of people encouraged me and offered advice, but Rick really hounded me (in a friendly way) about it, and was there to help every step of the way, from buying my first running shoes to my first treadmill run at the gym, and now my first real outdoor run.  Thanks, Rick!  Maybe next year I'll do the 10-miler with him -- he's doing his first one this weekend.  But I hear that course is a bitch.  And 10 miles still seems very daunting.  But we'll see.  Whether I run the C10M or not, I think a good 12-month goal would be to get to the point in my running where 10 miles is not daunting.  Maybe that should be a 24-month goal...

Because I hear it's good for fitness, and because I know it's good for the psyche, here's a long-overdue list of happy things:
1.  A really great year of marriage.
2.  A really great year of having nieces.
3.  Brooklyn this weekend, and all the family and fun included therein.
4.  Being back at Body Flow -- I love this class so much, and now I have DVDs so I can do it on the road, too.
5.  Running with Rick!  I'm scared, but I know it will be good for me and that makes me happy.
6.  Planning bridge trips with Theri.
7.  Planning a XC drive with Jess.
8.  MerleFest and Falcon Ridge and more great music all the time...
9.  The new Indigo Girls CD, and the IG concert next week!
10.  King's Dominion next week, I'm hoping...
11.  Taxes are done!

Any further gushing would just be procrastination -- I have work to do...

Peace.

(no subject)

I've got to get up and get out of the house soon, but first I wanted to blog about my superawesome early afternoon.  I met Rick at his house at 11:30.  It was wet but not rainy and cool but not cold.  We set out on our run toward UVA and it started drizzling.  Rick had me run a lot slower than I started out -- I have no sense of speed, but I figure I'll develop that the more I run outdoors.  Slowing down was great, though -- I felt like I could've run another mile when we were done.  It was a fairly hilly run, and when we got to The Corner, the rain started to really pick up.  By the time we got back to Rick's house, we'd gone 3 miles in about 30 minutes, and we were SOAKED.  But I didn't care.  I was so stoked that I made it the whole way and felt so capable.  By far my best runner's high.  It was great running with Rick and chatting with him the whole way.  It took my mind off the pain.

I quite enjoyed the run and I can't wait to get out there again.  Maybe my brother will have time to run with me in Brooklyn this weekend.  That'd be cool.

Anyway, I'm headed out now to do some shopping.  I need a sleeping bag, and I found a good one on Overstock.com, but before I order it, I want to see what they've got at some stores around here.  I like the big mummy sleeping bags, but I think they're best suited for winter, and I'm going to be mostly using it in the summer, so maybe all I need is a lightweight, cheap bag.  We'll see what I find today.  I don't really have much of an agenda, but I feel like getting out anyway.  Weight Watchers at 5:30, then I guess I should come home and pack for my weekend.  Yay:)

Peace.

I can't stop laughing at this...

More here.