3 Sisters 7 Days

This past weekend was exhausting. I worked the whole holiday weekend – including two 12-hour days! My patience has been low, along with my energy. It has taken everything out of me to get in my runs with Sammy and a little bike riding (long work days aren’t going to deter me from my cross training).

Maz, on the other hand, had a three day weekend AND he gets home at 2:30 everyday! Then why am I doing everything? I just don’t know.

Conversation One:

Me: Can you go to Costco?

Maz: What do you need?

Me: Well, coffee for starters.

Maz: I think you can go a day without coffee.

Me: Yes, I can but I need you to actually run an errand – point blank. Just because I don’t have time to go to Costco today doesn’t mean I will have time tomorrow. Have some freaking confidence; I think you can do a Costco trip on your own.

Later in the day…Maz was showing off his confidence by giving me the details of his shopping trip. The last thing on my mind was how he couldn’t find the mushrooms, so he decided not to get them.

Conversation Two…following another long day for me, while Maz got home at 2:30:

Me: Maz,  when you get home early everyday, I really need you to clean up the kitchen and empty your lunch box. I don’t want to see a full lunchbox on that table again (for those of you who don’t already know, Maz takes a lunchbox the size of a carry-on suitcase with him to work everyday).

Maz: Okay, but today I fell asleep.

Me: It’s called a NAP, and I am glad one of us has time for it.

Me (while doing the dishes): Can you take the bathroom trash out & put it in the kitchen trash, then take the kitchen trash out because tomorrow is trash day?

Maz: No response.

Then I start to see movement…Bathroom trash is gone, kitchen trash is gone, BUT there’s no new bag in the kitchen trash can.

Conversation Three…about ONE hour later:

Maz: You know, I took the trash can to the curb; I didn’t just put the house trash in the can.

Me: What, do you want a gold star?

I know this weekend’s race isn’t my first marathon, but it’s stressful nonetheless. I have been thinking about it all week, but today it hit me.  I finished my shift an hour early at REI today, leaving nothing to think about but packing for my trip…and with the packing comes thinking about the race.

Did I train enough with hills and without hills? Did I push myself too much or not enough? Can I run in the hot weather?  Will I wear a skort or shorts?  Will the house we are staying at the night before have coffee for me on race morning? Remember to pack Gu’s, water bottle, shoes, tanks, visor, and running sunglasses.  What if I start off too slow and am not be able to gain time later in the race?

Okay, Breathe.

I’ll be fine as long as I do my best and listen to my body.

Now, I just need to follow my own advice.

On Tuesday nights Maz is on his own for dinner and usually it’s hot dogs or chips and salsa.  Last night he decided to give in to his cravings: Double Bacon Cheeseburger. Since he was so proud of his creation ,he thought it was a Kodak moment.  I think Carl’s Jr. better watch their back…

Yesterday was my day off for the week, and since I don’t have a traditional job, I don’t get two days off in a row, and never a whole weekend.

I started my day with a quick 30 minute run at 6:30am, then dropped a friend off at the airport; on the way home, I passed the Honda dealership, so I thought I would get an “express” oil change. One hour and a half later, I was out of the Honda dealership and on my way home. By the time I got there, it was just after 10am, so I sat at the computer to do some emailing while taking care of some calls I have been putting off.  Before I knew it, it 11am came and I needed to be across town in 30 minutes for a quick lunch with a good friend.  Okay, out of the house at 11:10 and then to lunch. Made it by 11:40, which is pretty much on time for me…After a nice and pleasant lunch I was headed to Costco and then to the store for last minute items for dinner (enchiladas).

I made it home from lunch and errands, and then I had to tackle the house – sweep and vacuume, then a deep cleaning in the bathroom , all while on the phone dealing with health insurance issues with the HR representative for REI.  No joke, yesterday was a day of multi-tasking to the tenth power.  Finally, the house was cleaned and I needed to shower.  By the time 3:30 rolled around, I was exhausted but clean.  I laid down for about 45 minutes without the luck of falling asleep and then Maz came home…

“Did you make the enchiladas?” were Maz’s homecoming words. I wanted to kill him! As I ran down my day, his comment was “Wow! you should have just gone to work.” My response? “I’m sorry but I don’t have 3 hours to clean a gun on my day off like you do.” He kind of went mute at that point.

On a lighter note, he did make a salad for dinner.  Too bad I couldn’t enjoy it because he insisted on adding a pepper/jalapeno – my mouth was burning by the second bite!

He ate my salad.

Today I joined the other 199,999,999 people in 190 nations who will participate in events in celebrating the 40th annual Earth Day this year. I attended a University of California, Riverside (UCR) workshop entitled "Pathways to Sustainability."

Speakers for the workshop, hosted by UCR’s College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology and Environmental Research Institute, included:

• Michael Allen, professor and chair of UCR’s Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology
• Susan M. Cischke, group vice president for sustainability, environment and safety engineering at Ford Motor Co.
• Bart Croes, chief of the Research Division of the California Air Resources Board
• Anil Deolalikar, professor of economics and associate dean of UCR’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
• Ty Schuiling, director of planning and programming for San Bernardino Associated Governments
• William A. Jury, UCR distinguished professor of soil physics and soil physicist emeritus

As you might expect, participants were treated to up to the minute scientific information on the likely impacts  of climate change on inland Southern California. Yet, despite that anticipated, and terrifying, backdrop, presenters’ collective message was, “It doesn’t matter.” It doesn’t matter whether or not scientists are entirely certain about the causes and consequences of changes in the earth’s climate. The nature and level of current human activities is not sustainable.

So then what can we do? We can reduce our “carbon footprint” by using less energy. According to the New American Dream, each one of us can:

• Buy organic and local.
• Minimize packaging.
• Ditch bottled water.
• Drastically reduce home energy use.
• Rely on native plant species.Window shop first to limit unnecessary consumption.
• Take a direct flights whenever possible.
• Switch water heaters to vacation mode.
• Unplug appliances when not in use.
• Keep your car instead of buying a hybrid, and use alternatives when possible.
• Chuck your microwave (or don’t rely on frozen, convenience foods).
• Use cold water.
• Switch to family, community get to gethers instead of going out..
• “Bundle” errands.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

If you think any of this is inconvenient, consider the alternative. According to UCR Emeritus Professor William A. Jury, if we don’t respond, the earth will…to the tune of billions of human and non-human lives lost due to scarce resources and pollution-related illnesses.

Yesterday Sammy and I went our for a run at Red Rocks Open Space, It’s a good run that would usually leave dogs and some humans exhausted (Juliann can vouch for that).  We just finished our 6.2 mile run and I mean we are doing a quick “cool down” walk back to the car and then Sammy does it.  She goes into a tunnel and comes out the other end. After calling her for several moments, I see her approaching me with her tail under and her ears back – all I see is black stuff all around her neck and she smells.  Unfortunately it is a familiar smell; we have been her before…it’s a dead animal.  That little turd found a dead animal in the underground tunnel and rubbed herself in it! No joke, it was so bad.

I had two options:

1. put her in my car for a 25 minute ride home and then straight to the tub

2. take her to a close dog park (Bear Creek Dog Park) that has a creek for her to bathe in.

I chose option number 2.  After getting her in the car I don’t think I could have handled the smell all the way home.  I mean, it was brutal!

My master plan worked for the smell and the nasty black stuff on her neck. I did run into a whole other set of problems at Bear Creek Dog Park.  I guess I had forgotten that water, dogs and dirt don’t always make  a good combination.  The picture above says it all.

Side-note:  The energy Sam demonstrated at the dog park made me feel like the 6 mile trail run was a stroll in the park.

The last few months have been quite frustrating. I have not been completely satisfied with my work and I have been looking for new ways to bring in different streams of income without committing myself to one full time job. I have this weird phobia of walking into an office/cube everyday at the same time and only given two weeks of vacation a year.

As I have been reviewing my life and trying to come to terms with where I am right now, I have realized how lucky I really am. I get to spend time with my family when they visit; I get to snowboard for free during the week, and run in  beautiful weather at 10am on a Tuesday. I get to shop with no crowds, and I can usually enjoy coffee in a real mug and drink it in peace. Let’s not forget the great deals- since starting REI last year, I have grown my wardrobe immensely. There is no way I could have paid full price for some of the items I have accumulated, or the camping equipment I have gotten- I even got a free pair of cross country ski’s!

I do have  a trade off- I find myself working on the weekends, some nights, dealing with customers in a retail environment, and not having a great paycheck.  The very worse part of the whole gig is the time clock. I don’t do well with getting to a destination at a certain time and actually punching a clock; that whole process goes against everything I believe in.  But I do get over it once I am climbing a mountain mid week and not in the office…

Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to moving on from REI. I want to branch off and do something I absolutely love! The problem is that I don’t know what that is exactly.  I can continue the way I have been for the last few months- stressed beyond belief, in denial that I actually work in retail, pissed at the low pay check (I am getting paid less than when I was in college), tired from constantly looking for new gigs, and unsatisfied with my professional life. Or, I can embrace the position I am in; enjoy the free time I have, be grateful that I can pay our health insurance, be thankful that I get great deals for myself and family, take advantage of having lots of vacation time to go back home to CA and participate in marathons…

So, until I figure out what my next move is, I think I will just think positive and enjoy where I am right now.

I have a feeling, there will be good things to come.

Sometimes I find myself wondering where I missed that fork in the rode that would have landed me on Elfin Forest Rd. in elite Rancho Santa Fe, California. Now, I’m beginning to think it may not be me at all. I think I just may have chosen the “road less traveled”; it just took a while for everyone else to catch up.

Take eating locally, for instance. Suddenly, it seems, everyone’s kitchen is sporting a box of vegetables and other farm products, thanks to a boom in CSA memberships. CSA or Community Supported Agriculture has become a popular and increasingly convenient way for ordinary consumers to buy and eat local, seasonal produce. Consumers purchase a share/membership/subscription and receive a box/bag/basket of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. In addition to supporting local agriculture and eating “better,” both in terms of nutritional content and sustainability, share-holders/members/subscribers typically gain access to local farms via tours, opportunities to work, and/or ability simply to visit.

This is great. Really. I’ve been a mostly hard core advocate of “slow food” since before it was a movement. I whole-heartedly support CSA and all the nutritional and social benefits associated with it, and even belonged to the first CSA operation available in our community. I wasn’t trendy…no, just a really healthy “kook,” as far as friends and family were concerned.

Then there are the barefoot runners. Granted, I “fell” into this one because I’m one of the lucky few who naturally run “on their toes.” The growing popularity of forefoot, if not barefoot, running in the wake of Christopher McDougall’s best-selling  Born to Run simply makes me look like a pro at what others are struggling to learn how to do.

Former war correspondent turned barefoot running guru, McDougall argues that humans evolved for long-distance running - on bare or barely protected feet, which prompts a softer, forefoot form than contemporary running shoes permit. McDougall one of among many currently teaching runners how to run “naturally” – if not barefoot, then in Vibram Five Fingers or other minimalist shoes, including my own favorites: Nike Free and Newton. Their success has prompted me to consider modifying my teaching portfolio to include forefoot running clinics…

Or maybe “baby wearing” workshops would be more lucrative. Deborah Netburnrecently reported in the LA Times that moms are giving up new shoes in favor of filling their closets with baby carriers! Baby carriers support attachment parenting, a philosophy that promotes the psychological and physiological benefits of establishing and sustaining a close parent-child bond. I carried all four of my own children for the first three years of their lives for these benefits, in part, but also because it was simply easier and more convenient than the then-popular infant-seat/hand-carrier/stroller “transformer.” (While I can understand a stroller, I still do not “get” why anyone would willingly haul around a bulky plastic seat!).

Instead of kudos, I got stares…

Today, women are paying up to $120 each for carriers intended to suit their own and their child’s moment-to-moment attire and mood…and taking classes to learn how to wear their babies! Instruction typically covers how to select among the wide variety of predominantly cloth baby carriers currently on the market, how to adjust the carrier with baby on-board, and how to incorporate baby wearing into mom’s daily activities.

In contrast, I had to search for my first baby “sling,” via tiny ads in parenting magazines and the telephone – not for lack of Internet access, but rather due to the paucity of manufacturer URLs. It cost $40 and was designed by Ms. Sears – yes, the famed doctor’s wife. My choice consisted of roughly six different fabrics, and, when baby arrived, I just threw it over my shoulder, popped him in, and winged it from that point.

Again, it’s all good – but please…even baby-wearing in the modern age isn’t new.

That gives me an idea. My own mother – get this – simply carried all NINE of her children by shifting us from hip to hip throughout the day, adapting over the years to working with one hand at a time. She kept us close and became ambidexstrous. In this economy, I bet could make a fortune with “no prop” baby carrying!

Elfin Forest, here I come.

My day yesterday confirme the theory of the busier you are the more you get done (because you have to), opposed to having a completely free day to “catch up.”  Those free days usually end up being spent on the couch catching up on the latest “Real Housewives of ANY CITY,” and nothing gets done.

I started the day off at 5:30 am as usual, and got Maz out the door for work at 6am. Then I got myself ready for work and off I went to drop Sammy at the groomers.  I worked until a little after 1pm, then went to Sunflower Market to get stuff for dinner- a roast- yes, a roast…I think my second roast of all time.  Then I went back to get Sammy and was off to Starbucks to meet with a friend and some much needed caffeine.  I think I ended up at home around 3:15 pm and rushed to get the roast in the oven so I could get Sammy out for a quick walk because it was starting to snow.  Got the roast, potatoes, and carrots in the oven and out the door I went.  Sammy’s 45 minute walk turned out to be wet, I didn’t beat the snow! I’m just tired by the time we returned.  I still had to clean up the kitchen and do laundry.  I think I actually sat down at 6:30 pm.

Okay, I know I may sound like a baby her,e but seriously I did so much yesterday- for me anyway.

Today’s agenda: Run, lunch with friends, and finish cleaning the house.  Okay, now I sound like a baby.

Until this past Sunday, we have had ONLY ONE couch in our living room. Because ther are only two of us, I thought one couch would be plenty…not so much.

Just to bring you up to speed, we have had a “couch problem” for the past few years. The tan couch is actually our 3rd couch in two years. We had to return a couch, love seat, and chase combo TWICE before ending up with that one.  It turns out that couches aren’t really meant to hold a 6′3″ male weighing in at 225.

Add to that, we have family visit all too often and we occasionally have visitors (usually my brother) that end up on the floor.  Most importantly, Maz does not always enjoy sharing the couch with me. See, we can’t both lay down on the couch at the same time and I win 90% of the time.  My solution was to get a big comfy chair or a chase in a matching color. His was new couch. Period. He was determined to get something that would accommodate his frame and fit in our living room – color choice wasn’t a top priority.

Guess who won?

Now we have a WHITE sleeper sofa (which the delivery guys insisted on telling us was the ONLY white sleeper sofa they have ever delivered) to go with our tan couch.  Huh? White doesn’t go with everything. I am working on getting some pillows or blankets to pull it together or I may just have to rearrange the setting.

Note to self: I should have called the shots two years ago, and insisted on the quality sectional that matched and been done with it.