Schilling for the kitties

I have very little to report on my own life so I thought I would take a moment to let you know about a cause that is near and dear to my heart -- helping shelter kitties!

I follow a blog out of the Tacoma area, the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, by a woman who along with her husband and trusty grown cat Charlene Butterbean foster kittens for the Tacoma Humane Society.  Her pictures and stories are amazing and provide for some serious cuteness overload, lots of laughs, and not a few tears.

Each year in conjunction with Tacoma Humane's Dog-a-Thon, the IBKC does its own FUNdraiser for the cats.  In past years they have blown past their expectations and raised squillions and squillions of dollars for the shelter.  For me, not only have all of my pets as an adult been the product of animal rescue, but my last cat, Sammi, was fostered by and then adopted from this particular shelter when I lived in Tacoma.  I have been lucky enough to be able to donate to this cause since its inception.

If you have pets in your hearts, please check out the IBKC and if you have money in your wallet please consider making a donation.  This year's goal is $100 squillion dollars and they are more than halfway there.  Today every penny raised will not only go to the spay and neuter programs but will also be matched by a generous anonymous donor up to $3,000.

Jo as a foster for Redmond Humane.  So tiny!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

At least I think so.

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I have two crazy-busy times at work:  December and June.  As you might guess, I've been in the June crazy-busy for a while now.  Three weeks of six days in the office.  Really looking forward to this weekend when I will finally have more than one day off in a row.

On top of that, I had several client site inspections, we interviewed for and hired a new staffer to replace one that is leaving, and -- the most fun of all -- I had this weird thing going on for over a week where I was almost constantly nauseous.  I have a new appreciation for what morning sickness must be like and I didn't even have to be pregnant to get it.  That week SUCKED.  Or maybe it BLEW.  For about three days at the end of it I had to force myself to drink fluids because I got super dehydrated after even water made me sick and wasn't that a blast. 

Now we have a heat wave here in Portlandia.  It has been getting up to 92 degrees inside my apartment and not much below 80 degrees inside at night.  In the winter it's great that my apartment holds in the heat, but right now, not so much.  I think I have heat rash, which is just a grown up version of diaper rash. 

No gigantic plans for the holiday weekend, although I do have plans.  A long-time friend whom I have never actually met in person is on the west coast for vacation with her mom; we're having dinner Friday night.  I think I might use the occasion to make my own inaugural trip to Voodoo Donuts.  I know!  I've had their donuts but never actually been there.  Saturday I'm going to the Huey Lewis & the News show at the Zoo so if it's not too hot I'll do the zoo first (lesser flamingoes!) and concert second.  In between, I think I'll sleep.

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

Whodaho? Idaho!

I am back from the wilds of Idaho.

Quick trip this past weekend to visit my dad and grandparents.  My grandmother turns 82 this week, it's Father's Day this weekend, plus my grandpa has early-onset Alzheimer's (on top of Parkinson's) so a trifecta of visit reasons.  I try to get out there at least once a year, particularly since they're all pretty much house-bound these days; my grandpa can't be left alone for any length of time in case he falls and he doesn't like having people babysit him plus my dad has Periphal Vascular Disease so he can't get around much any more either. 

On the bright side -- for me, at least -- is that only one the PVD is inheritable.  My grandpa is my grandma's second marriage and not my dad's dad, and so far we don't seem to have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's on our side.  On the not so bright side, my grandma had a ventricular aneurysm and my uncle (her son, my dad's brother) also had PVD.  Long story short, my health has been on my mind this weekend.

I didn't eat much all weekend (and as a consequence was down about two pounds in our Biggest Loser weigh-in today).  They're very much the Standard American Diet.  This is an actual conversation I had with my grandma on Saturday:

Grandma:  I left out the cereal for you for breakfast, and there are bananas on the counter.

Me:  Oh thanks but I can't really eat cereal anymore.  It's the grains, particularly the gluten, they just tear up my stomach and it's already been a little upset the past day.

Grandma:  Well, there's toast if you don't want cereal. 

Me:  Hmm.  Not really all that hungry yet, thanks.

Grandma:  Or waffles, there's waffles in the freezer from when Jordan and Ryan (my cousins) were here.

Me:  I'm good, thanks.  Maybe in a bit.

Not making any of that up.  And yes, as you all know I do eat grains even though I should limit them to tiny miniscule amounts.  But I do better when it's with a lot of protein, like a burger or a sandwich, and not by itself, and definitely not for every single meal.  Consequently, didn't eat much.  Luckily I'd gotten some beef jerky on the drive down so that I wasn't starving.

Also not starving?  My dad's dog Otis, who is part puggle and part I-beam. 

It's tough to really tell from these pictures but Otis is a wide-body.  Like two feet around.  He's not really fat though, he's solid, and he can move.  But he looks like Violet Beauregard's dog.

In other news, I got my first StrideBox today and it is awesome!  (like a hot dog!)  Here's what I got:

• Two packets of Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix, lemons/limes flavor.
• A packet of Pocket Fuel, Banana Blueberry flavor.  I bought a couple of these in a different flavor about a year ago for long long run fuel but never got around to trying them.  Still think it's a cool concept though.
• An Electro Delytes Energy and Electrolyte Citrus Bar.  Sounds good.
• A PowerICE Frozen, Refreshing Ice Bar with Electrolytes.  This sounds really good. 
• Blue Steel Sports Anti-Chafe Cream with Tea Tree Oil. 
• A packet of Lock Laces.  I've always wanted to try these.
• A Due North Foot Rubz Massage Ball.  The trick will be not letting the cats hide it.

Really glad I signed up with StrideBox.  I love that their motto is Just Keep Running.  Which is similar to mine, Just Keep Swimming.  And of course, Polka Will Never Die.  I still have Kona Kase and Bulu Box coming soon. 

So, now that I'm home I will be cleaning up my diet.  The cupboard is fairly clean at home, I got rid of a lot of things with the last postal carrier's food drive (including two boxes of brownie mix that I didn't need to eyeball any longer).  After my bout with making chicken stock, I really want to make some bone broth.  I've been doing research into what kind of bones, how do it, etc.  You'd think it would be easy but not necessarily.  It's funny, most of the recipes almost skip the first few steps, like they assume you already know how to get to step 4.  But from my first experience trying to make bone broth, where I just threw some raw marrow bones in a pot and cooked the shit out of them, clearly I need those first few steps.  I'm thinking I need to have a chat with the butcher too to get the "right" bones.  If anyone has bone broth recipes/suggestions/links, please please please leave them in the comments.  My tummy thanks you!

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

An Unexpected Visitor; A Tough Decision Is Made

Hello everyone!

It's been a weird week.  I felt like I made a big dent in my sleep deficit last weekend with the holiday and all, then slept poorly all week.  Some of it was from a couple of late nights but most were from hitting that point of exhaustion where you end up too wired to sleep.

One of the late nights was from the latest in the Broadway Across Portland series:  Rock of Ages!  What a blast.  If you get the chance to see it, do.  Particularly if you are like me and was in high school in the '80s.  Extremely cheesy and fairly raunchy, it was a fabulous show.  Even though it seems like I'm always feeling off physically whenever a show rolls around, I am so glad I became a season subscriber.  For the upcoming arts season my calendar is pretty full between season tickets for the opera, ballet, and the Broadway series.  Plus there are a few other theatre companies in town that have shows I'd like to catch. 

Friday started early because of a work thing and I was already running on fumes since despite going to bed by around nine the prior evening I could not sleep.  I had some time to burn off at the office so I left a little before four and that night took an extra hit of sleep meds.  Finally got a good night's sleep and even woke up by nine -- very early for me on a weekend.  Part of why I was up so early was the Kitty Crazies; after an hour of being the launching pad and/or wrestling arena as I tried to sleep I gave up and got up and let them go out on the deck to get the rest of their ya yas out.  Was surfing the net and just generally lounging around when girl kitty came in, all spooked.  Like, I couldn't even get her to make eye contact spooked.  It was clear it was something from outside. 

I followed her into the den and picked her up to soothe her, just generally humoring her because what could be so scary from the wetlands?  A really big duck?  I'm cuddling her as I head towards the window and saying just that, "What's the matter kitty, did the big bad birds -- holy crap!"

We had a visitor.

This?  Is a big fucking turtle.

I knew of course that there were lots of birds and frogs in the wetlands and I've even seen one of the resident beavers, but it never occurred to me that there were turtles.  Particularly big ass turtles. 

It's a big fucking turtle mommy!

Pretty sure it's a snapping turtle, which are not native to Oregon.  I've posted my sighting to the Oregon Turtles website.  I think it may have laid eggs down there. 

This looks like a good spot to deposit a family...

It'd be cool if they contacted me.

What is everybody looking at?

So, in other news, I've made a tough decision.  I've decided not to run MCM this year.  There is just no way I could go from zero to under a 14 minute mile marathon in five months, even if I was motivated to try.  And that's the crux of it, the lack of motivation.  I feel like I'm making my way back to it, very very slowly, definitely not fast enough to not get swept even if I did decide to just go for broke and try it. 

I've got a list of what I need to do to run MCM in 2015 and ideally I'll follow that list.  I really want to run this race. 

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

Thirteen Things Thursday: The Nipple Edition

1.  One of the phrases I never thought I'd have to say is "Get off my nipples!"  But I say it a lot at home these days.  Girl kitty practically inverted my nipple last night as she walked across me.  I swear, they have nipple radar.  It's not even the claws, it's just that they are big kitties.  I need to start wearing a cup or something, but for boobs.

2.  Been back reading a lot of woo-woo books these days.  Just finished Heather Graham's Bone Island trilogy (although haven't read the prequel with Bartholomew yet) and one of her Krewe books, plus I'm listening to one of Kay Hooper's Bishop/Special Crimes Unit books in my car.  Of the two I'd recommend the Bishop books over the Krewe books, mainly because I find the main romantic relationship in the Krewe books to be somewhat formulaic, but both series are really good.  I'm also catching up on the latest three Nightside books by Simon R. Green, which are just bizarre but a lot of fun.  Definitely read that series in order.

3.  I am sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowly moving back towards a paleo diet.  Like a turtle in peanut almond butter slow, but still.  I've put a hold in at the library for The Paleo Coach, which is written by a local man.  Has anyone read it?

4.  Do you think we would take the Pussy Riot situation a lot more seriously if they weren't, you know, named Pussy Riot?  I find it very distracting.  Maybe it's something completely different in Russian?

5.  I've been somewhat obsessively weighing myself the past several days because my weight just kept going up.  To the point where I thought I had developed some sort of medical condition.  It started going back down today.  Maybe the kittens were standing behind me putting their paws on the scale just to mess with me or something.

6.  I was thinking about going to see The Hangover III this weekend but the reviews are kinda lousy.  Maybe I should wait until it comes out on cable (or RR buys it and brings it to my house!).

7.  Any Sookie fans out there?  I just posted a note for Charlaine Harris about how much I have enjoyed the series and that in my opinion the ending was really the only possible one -- and anyone who has read the entire series should know that.  Did you like the ending?  I do have to say, I am looking forward to the wrap-up book that is coming out this fall, that is supposed to say how everything ended up for everyone in the Sookieverse.

8.  And speaking even more about books, I love that my library system lends e-books.  Hopefully I can get my book budget back under control; it's gone a little crazy with the instant gratification of Kindle.  I do still read paper books too; in fact, was thrilled to spot a new release on the library shelve this week that I've been constantly talking myself out of buying.  I try not to spend more than $7.99 for an e-book unless it's one of about five authors, and that book didn't qualify but I still really wanted to read it.  Now I can -- for free!

9.  I was also absolutely thrilled this week to pay nothing for my birth control pills.   This benefit, thanks to the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare, had kicked in for a lot of women I know but my plan had to go through its annual renewal this year before I saw it.  Saves me $180 a year.  Clearly, affordable health care is the devil -- ask your Republican congressperson to vote to repeal this actual, not-going-anywhere law, for the 38th time.  Or don't; maybe ask them instead to get off their damn asses and do some actual work for a change?  Voting 37 times to repeal the ACA.  This is your tax dollars at work, people.  Be informed!!

10.  Ah, spring time in the Pacific Northwest.  Which means weather like today -- pouring rain and grey skies.  There used to be this great series of radio commercials where a teacher asked her class to define the difference between something like a cloudburst and a gully washer.  Something that if you grew up here you know exactly what the differences are.  Kind of like partially sunny versus partially cloudy.  Also, everybody in Portland figured that it would rain right now because (a) it's almost Memorial Day weekend and (b) Rose Festival starts up soon.  Guaranteed liquid sunshine!

11.  Not sure if I would want to be climbing Mt. Everest at age 80.  I wouldn't climb it at all actually, acrophobic and all that, but even if I wasn't afraid of heights I don't think I'd try Everest at that age.  I'd love to be able, at that age, to climb Everest.  I just wouldn't do it.

12.  Hmm, a Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage is opening this summer near me.  Anyone ever been to one of these stores?  Curious about selection and prices...

13.  I may need sushi to make it all better.  Because, it does.

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

And coming in first place in the John Wayne Impression Contest, It's the CilleyGirl!

I have to say, I really do not recommend just deciding to run a half marathon after two months of nearly complete inactivity.  Because it leaves you with tight hip flexors and quads and a sore achilles and a helluva impression of John Wayne. 

"Well hey there Pilgrim..."

Yes, I lurch just a tad to the right at the moment.  I foresee a foam roller and maybe a hot tub and some tequila in my future. 

So, Portland Rock 'n Roll Half! 

Saturday was the expo with my friend Fly and her newlywed hubby.  Sadly, less vendors this year and way less in the way of samples and schwag.  Remember last year when we picked that place clean?

Last year's haul.

Nothing like that this year, nothing at all, unless they handed it all out on Friday.  This year, out of what I had last year I got the lei, the Rock 'n Roll bumper 13.1 sticker, a sample of Perform, a peanut butter Gu (came with the swag bag), and a Boston bracelet.  I could've gotten the Cascadia cereal, a couple of Larabars (two please!  only two!), and a pair of sunglasses.  That's it!  The swag for this year was a lot smaller.  I got a mini Stridebox since I had just signed up a couple of days earlier, which had the best stuff out of everything else I got (which wasn't much).  In terms of gear, I got this year's official jacket plus one of the official race tech tees which I ended up wearing for the race. 

 

I like this view, gravity is much kinder to me at this angle.

 

 

As for the race, did I mention you really shouldn't wing a half marathon? 

 

I didn't have any race goals until I was standing in my corral waiting for the race to start.  I decided my A goal would be to PR, because really, go big or go home, right?  My B goal was 3:15 or better.  My C goal was just to finish without dying.

 

I made my C goal:  3:20:20.  Yes, turtles in peanut butter run faster.  Bite me.

 

I had gotten a temp tattoo pace band from Jamba Juice at the expo for a three hour finish.  Again, go big or go home.  And for the first three miles I was right on target, even including a two minute bathroom break at three tenths of a mile into the race (I went at 7:45, official race start was 8:00 but by the time my corral started I had to pee again).  But at mile 4 we started going up and, well, let me demonstrate why I slowed down so dramatically.

Sorry, Blogger hates me and won't make this any bigger :P

 

I think by the end I was well into 16 or maybe 18 minute miles.  I developed a hot spot on the ball of my left foot which really started to hurt when I was walking.  It would stop hurting when I ran, but then my left calf would start cramping.  Lady or the tiger running!  So I would walk until I couldn't stand it any more and then run until I couldn't stand it any more, lather, rinse, repeat.  I did run all the downhill no matter what though; I feel obligated to.  Almost nobody else did by that point, which was weird:  It's gravity, people!

 

But I did finish.  See?

 



Can you see my massively puffy hands and arms?  Yep, forgot to take any electrolyte tabs before the race and to carry any with me, and the Gatorade on the course was -- as always -- much too strong.  Flashbacks of the 2011 Portland Marathon, I stopped at one sip.  I was carrying 10 oz of Powerade with me, otherwise I hit every water stop and often had two cups at each.  I really missed the electrolytes; somewhere around mile eight I could barely bend my pinky and ring fingers on my left hand.  Right after this picture I plunged my hands into one of the ice tubs where they had the Gatorade (in bottles, much better!). 

In other news, today was our second weigh in for the office Biggest Loser challenge.  We all owed a dollar to the kitty today.  I was up FOUR POUNDS from last Monday.  This, the day after a half marathon, and a weekend where I ate a lot lighter than normal.  Maybe I didn't get enough calories and my body is hoarding everything?  I still feel a few quarters low on fluids.  But still, CHUBB.  Look, here is last year's finisher's photo from a 3:06:36 finish:

Probably about ten pounds lighter here at least and in a helluva lot better shape...

I haven't even posted the worst photo from yesterday's race.  I'm saving that for a later, self-flagellating post. 

Despite everything I still feel a lot better than I should, all things considered, which to me means that I was definitely not giving it my all when I am in shape.  My 5K split from last year was 43:50, this year just a few seconds slower at 44:06 (and with a two minute potty break).  At 10K, last year 1:29:01, this year 1:30:32.  A full minute's pace slower overall this year.  I've got to work on (a) getting in shape and (b) pushing myself more when I am. 

Did you race this weekend?  How did it go?

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

Because sometimes you just gotta say, "Why yes, I'll have that pink tequila that comes in a bottle shaped like a giant penis."

Isn't it beautiful?  Yes, the bottle is actually slightly lopsided.  This is Asombroso 100% agave tequila, La Rosa Respodo.  Three months Bordeaux barrel rested.  I have no idea what that means either.  Hand bottled in a limited edition bottle, no. 9,406.  It was just sitting there on a shelf by itself in the liquor store, a little dusty but I just HAD TO HAVE IT. 

My precious!

Taste testing starts around 4:30 in the conference room.  Be there or be thirsty!

Cheers,
the CilleyGirl

edited to give you a link to a MUCH better picture of the penis bottle