What did you do yesterday morning?

I was here...it was WAY cool!  

Election 2008...

Some may know that I am volunteering for the DNC this week.  What you might not know is...(click on the Channel 3)

Can a girl have...

a quiet morning? 

After arriving home a little late from the baseball game, with a few glasses of wine in me I get an invitation to video chat with a friend out of state.  I happily accept the invitation because I like to chat, am interested in what's been going on in her world, and I am not ready for bed yet.  We discuss a few things including a difficult email trail she has been a part of and our respective running.  I ended the conversation finally committing to run the Rock and Roll Marathon with her in Phoenix.  Off line with her, I have to register for the race.  So, up a I am for a little while longer...and then I find something else to do....and then I find another friend to call....what am I thinking....oh yes, I am thinking just fine. This friend is traveling internationally so I am not waking anyone from precious sleep.  

Then it occurs to me.  Precious sleep.  I need some.  It's OMG, WHAT TIME.  Then I realize that I do not care about the time because I have NOTHING, not one thing do I have to do tomorrow.  Off to slumberland I go.  Not a place I visit often enough.  Sleeps alludes me, and rarely stays longer than 3 hours at a stretch.  

I am psyched when I look at the clock and it reads 6:00 AM.  I slept for over 4 hours. Wow, let's see how much longer I can go. I still feel pretty sleepy so this might just work.  It's cool outside, the windows are open, ceiling fan spinning, noise machine set to sound like rain....ahhh.....

Then it starts.  Someone has the brilliant idea of getting extra hours of hammering in on the construction site next door and the neighbor's dog starts to bark because he is, once again, left alone.  UGH....UGH...Just when I thought that I was going to get to sleep some more!  

So, up I get...start some chores, fix my wireless network again, and catch up on some emails and phone calls. Then I listen, it seems quiet.  Perhaps I should go visit my bed again, take a little mid-morning snooze. As I start to go in there I hear a new sound.  There is a band saw buzzing across the alley.  And that damn dog is now crying.  And the group of workers at the building next door has increased.  

So I decide to get my computer out and write.  Can you here that?  Right, it's NOTHING except for the fridge and a plane flying overhead.  Maybe, just maybe I will get to close my eyes again with the hopes of taking a little nap!  

I know I should....

Ok, I will admit...I am a complete failure when it comes to taking vitamins.  I get on a kick, take them for 3 days and then stop.  Why do I stop you ask.  My first response is that I forget to take them.  Then I will say that I do not like the taste and I always feel like my vitamins are with me, in burp format, for the rest of the day. 

Solution you say...take them before bed.  Ok, I am trying that.  Last night, however, I woke up in the middle of the night with some stomach issues.  This continued until about noon today.  Was this related to the midnight vitamin ingestion?  I have to think that the answer is yes.  

So here I am tonight, ready to go to bed.  The question....do I take the vitamins?  I review the bottles. Two of the 3 suggest that they be taken with a meal. While I am not eating a meal now, I have eaten in the past 2 hours so I decide this is fine since my stomach is not technically empty.  

What will happen to me in the middle of the night....in the morning?  Am I getting the benefits I am supposed to be getting from these vitamins or are they just being disposed of in another format 12 hours later?  

Are there some other vitamin solutions out there.  Really...I want ONE...that will give me all that I need without discomfort and the sudden urge to rush to the bathroom or cover my mouth.  

Cyclists are....

....mean?

While running I always say hello to people who I see along the way. Whether they are out walking their dog, strolling with their baby, running, or riding a bike. If my path crosses them, I say hello. My running buddies have called me the ambassador of running. I like to be thought of as an ambassador, but part of my thinking behind being so friendly isn't because I am seeking new friends...part of it has to do with safety.

I have read somewhere, don't as me where, that predators are less likely to interfere with you if you look them in the eye and personalize the exchange. With this in mind, I offer a "Good morning". Ok, ok, I do also believe that the world would be a nicer place if we at least greeted one another. Who knows, perhaps that person has no one at home, is sad and lonely, and my 2 words lifted their spirits. Did it take that much energy to say hello....not really!

So come with me along my 15 mile run last weekend. I have no friends to chat with, I left my ipod @ home. This perhaps was a bad move. I start my run rather early, when there are not a lot of people out. I pretty much am outdoors with all the senior citizens in Denver and their dogs. I offer my greeting, making certain that they see me before I speak. I do not want to be responsible for any heart attacks this morning. Much as I expect, I get many warm good mornings in return. All is good!

My run continues along a bike path. Enter people in tight shorts, brightly colored shirts, and funny little shoes. They are tooling along. I continue my greetings. I realize that the bikers are not saying anything back. In fact, I do a little survey over about 9 miles. All of the people on foot reply to me and less than 25% of the cyclists do. What's up with that?

I ponder this....and come to the conclusion, perhaps unfair, that they are just in a world of their own. They think that they do not have to say hello to the lowly runner....they are in fact a little irritated that they have to share the path with me.

Yesterday, I had my theory confirmed. After running a half marathon, I am standing along the side of the course cheering people on. The road is closed, both sides of the street. There are many people shouting "GO (insert name)", "You rock", "You're almost there". I hear something behind me. It does not register. My friend takes my arm and pulls me aside. Apparently a man and his companion are racing down the street in the opposite direction of the race on their road bikes. One is saying, "Head's up, head's up". So, I did not hear him, and he yells at me, "Get out of the way". My friends reply, "There's a race going on here." He yells something back, which I can't remember exactly.

I wondered for a moment if he is a police or rescue worker. Turns out, he is not. AND get this; his car is about a tenth of a mile down the road. I called him something I am not supposed to say around children, and then apologized to the parents around.

My friends and I offer our theories as to what was going on in his world that caused him to about run me down. We laugh and let it go....I am left thinking that these dudes are just MEAN…don’t try to tell me differently!

It's not easy.....

being green....

So, it's time to start looking for a new car....what do I do? Stick with what I have been driving, go with something more fuel efficient, or go hybrid....there is something in me that nags like the Tell-Tale Heart...go hybrid-go hybrid....

Off I go to test drive cars on a Saturday afternoon. I go into the local Toyota dealership, confess that I have driven semi gas guzzlers for the last 17 years, and ask to test drive a Prius. The sales guy laughs, calls his buddies over, and they laugh. Yes, they laugh at my request.

You see, they tell me that I can't test drive a Prius because they do not have one. They go further and state that no dealer in the Denver Metro area has one. I am still a little suspicious about that fact, but I take their word for it. My salesman hands me a shiny brochure, and begins telling me about the '09 version. Wait, I did not ask about the 09 version. Part of my strategy for looking at cars at this time of the year is that I think they may have some 08 models they want to get rid of. HA....that is not true at all.

The salesman encourages me to give him a 1,000-nonrefundable deposit. So I can order a car....a car I have not driven....oh, and by the way, we are not really sure what the final price will be or when you will really get it. He brings out the spec sheets. Really I think that this man believes I am just going to fill out his form like I am ordering Girl Scout Cookies from my colleague's daughter. That is how casual he seems....

I push to get a test drive...I receive a laugh, again, and a suggestion that I try to rent one to see if I like it. Seems ok and smart at first, but then I think....are you kidding me? You all want me to rent a car, pay for the rental, and then come back and give you 1k for a car I am not so sure that I like? "Do you have a rental agency you work with", I inquire. NOPE they say back to me...this is absurd! I leave....and go test drive another SUV @ the Honda dealership.

Still the nagging....go hybrid, go hybrid....in my head....guess what I did today? I called 4 different car rental agencies looking for a Prius to rent for the weekend. I still do not have a Prius, but I do have a reservation for a car. My instructions were to call the night before to see if they have one. If they do, they will "save" if for me.

See, why I feel like Kermit???

Can you figure out this puzzle....

This is a t-shirt that I just purchased...thought that it was fun....wore it to a party tonight...I do not think that anyone figured it out on their own....a couple guys suggested that they did not want to stare---what @ my chest....please, we are all in our late 30s-early 40s....aren't we beyond that....maybe not....perhaps that it a subject for another post...why men are men, women are women and the stupid things that men say and do....oh, I will stop....

Ok, back to this....really, no one got it....was it a post 4th of July stupor, are people just dumb as rocks (ok, that was mean), or perhaps they were expecting me to show up in a cute sundress?