More on the race

I was feeling ok about the race. I just wanna finish. It's kind of my own "marathon" the reward is the finish not the time. Then I read this. Apparently this is a serious business race. While that is commendable and awesome on one level, it scares the bahgeezers out of me. Just finishing is going to be lame, but I took a look at last years results and I think there will be plenty of people to join me in the lameness. Maybe I can be the Lanterne Rouge of the BAA 5k.
Of course my dad and husband just think it is the bee's knees to run in the same race as these famous runners. Dad suggested taking pictures, Jim set his goal based on the "famous runner's" time. I think it is scary and boys are weird. Less than 3.5 weeks.

Traditions aren't always pain free

Tradition: Running
Story: My family is full of runners. These are the kind of people who do crazy 26.2 Mile races and super long relays that start in mountains and end at beaches. These are people related to me and I think they hogged the running genes. I hate running. It is not fun, I don't enjoy it and I find it pointless. So I run for other reasons. It is a super cheap form of exercise that takes no setup and almost no specialized equipment. It is something my husband seems to enjoy and exercising with a partner is a great motivational tool. So we run. We have been working our way through the Couch to 5K program. It is a great way to get yourself into shape and work up to a "real" race. It is an easily attainable goal if you train in the right way and for the right amount of time. Our program has taken longer than 10 weeks, but we take more than one rest day between runs.

Awhile back Michelle posted about a  great 5K race and I immediately purchased a spot for me and one for Jim. All the while we have been running and I have been fighting through some odd shin pain. I have my ideas as to what the exact problem is, but suffice it to say that running requires stretching, wrapping and more stretching just to make it through the 30+ minutes we do. After our run this is what I look like

Before you become alarmed I took this pic quickly before I had really "settled in" with my ice packs wrapped nicely, they are just laid on for the picture. Shortly after icing I put some heat on it and usually a half hour or an hour later I am able to walk without pain. I will be talking to a doctor about some of my other options but for now I am keeping my eye on the race and doing everything I can to baby my legs. 

Sprouting my version

Tradition: Tulips and the Tulip festival
Story: Tulips are my favorite flower. I have traced this extreme love back to the Wooden Shoe Tulip festival in Woodburn, OR. I remember going as a little kid and my parents would take pictures of us in and amongst the tulips and daffodils. As a teenager my dad and I went and took pictures and I made a scrapbook page. I love that place. In fact, if I was getting married again I would have the wedding ceremony there during peak blooming. It should come as no surprise that I had tulips as my wedding flower.

When Jim and I found packages of tulip and crocus bulbs at a discount store last fall I made sure that we picked up a couple packages. We placed them around the newly laid patio. I haven't bothered cleaning/weeding or otherwise preparing the bed this year, and yet things are growing. Just look!

Someday I will have an entire bed full of Queen of the Night tulips until then I wait for these beauties to bloom!

Highlighting our way

While at Rhinebeck my friend had the greatest little clip lights for knitting in the dark. Here is an image from the mighty bright clip light website (I'm a rhyming fool today)

Simple, one button, one clip light that is plenty bright and it's only 1.25"x1"x.5". I found mine at The Woolpack in Littleton, MA, but a quick google search shows that radioshack stocks them for a couple bucks cheaper.

These are perfect for knitting in the dark, but I found another great use for them - running. Both Jim and I have been clipping a couple onto our clothes when we go out for a run in the evening. I don't think they are quite big enough to light a running trail or anything, but they are perfect for running in the neighborhood where we just need catch the attention of passing cars.

Replacing the withering plant with a new seed

I just couldn’t continue. My blog was bogging me down so I stopped talking, typing, expressing. The reasons for this stop range from deep, psychological who-knows-what to laziness and everything in between. Seven months later I am finally ready to reinvent my own personal wheel.

This blog has a new name, but it will contain will be much of the same. Hopefully this time there are more pictures, recipes and completed items. The new title is part of my philosophy. I don’t like goals, or the emphasis we put on them, but have never been able to fully explain the reasons for that. I instead focus on traditions. Traditions are created, developed, passed on until they become an essential element in the life of an individual, family, religion or group. So, when asked what I do with my life I can honestly answer “I grow traditions”

All of the posts from my retired blog can probably be found using the wayback machine, but only a couple will remain. This includes my scarf “pattern”. It is really just a pretend hounds tooth stitch pattern.

To begin, let me introduce Matilda. She is a Montgomery Ward sewing machine made in Japan well before I was born (possibly before my parents were born as well). She is tough, heavy, black and she creates beautiful stitches. For now she does not have a permanent home, but if I run across a sewing machine table I will snatch it up and stick her in the corner of the living room so that she is available to entertain my sewing whims