Daisy Blog

The Very Scary Ice Cream Truck

Yesterday was one of the days that make you trilled to live in Austin, TX.  It was a sunny day with a bright blue sky, calm breeze, and temperatures in the eighties.  And it was January, when my family in Minnesota are still shivering in 20 deg F temps.  Because it was such a perfect day, I decided to go home a little early to take advantage of the weather.

Then the ice cream man went by my house, with his happy music tinkling away, calling out to all the kids that the Ice Cream Man is here.  While it always amazes me to see an ice cream man in the winter, this ice cream man just creeps me out! 

When I hear the music from an ice cream truck, I expect to to see a cute little van that's white, pink, yellow, or baby blue.  I expect to see it covered with stickers, to be a clean and happy place, where kids get the joy of handing over their quarters (or dollars) to get some deliciously sweet treat that they can get all over their smiling faces and clothes, as they attempt to eat it all before it melts.

Not this truck.  If anyone is at my house when I hear it, I make them go out and look at it.  Its a rusted out bucket that really looks like it belongs in a horror movie.  One of these days, I'm going to have to be quick enough to get a picture when he goes by.  His truck is so scary looking that if I ever saw the neighbor kids running out to the truck without a parent, I would probably run and scoop them up before the scary ice cream man could stop, just to make sure they don't get sucked inside and swooped away.  Did I mention the driver, has an odd smile too?

Maybe the scary ice cream truck is just another strange "Keep Austin Weird" oddity, like the Cathedral of Junk.  But that place was lovely, and seemed like the dream fort for every 8-10 year old.  I know there is a horror movie with an Ice cream man in it.  I don't think I can see it, because I think this guy might have escaped from the movie.  And he drives his truck (always at lightening speed too, which is strange) through my neighborhood here and there on occasional warm days.  And every time I see him, I'm totally creeped out. 

Decker Half-Marathon Pictures

Kruetz Photography just uploaded pictures from my half-marathon that I completed on December 7th, 2008.  Although I probably won't buy the pictures because it wasn't a major race for me, you can see we really had a good time.  In a few of my favorites, I'm pictured with Nada and Tammy who are my Tough Cookie pace buddies. Angela is not pictured with us because she was ahead working on her pace, while we were shamelessly flirting with the hottie bike escorts. Girls need incentives.   

See race photos here: http://tinyurl.com/bq22vg

The Decker Half-Marathon was the third of six races in the Austin Distance Challenge (which consists of six races).  Its known for being a brutal course because of its giant hills, and the fact that its out in the country and the winds can be severe.  We completely lucked out and had gorgeous weather. Somehow we scaled the hills, even running up the big one to tap another Tough Cookie to surprise her, and ended the race with smiles.

Cedar Fever sucks!

Its not surprising, living in Austin that I got Cedar Fever.  I'm a huge ragweed sufferer when I'm living in Minnesota.  But since I moved, I've been pretty impervious.  But somehow it caught up to me.    

Whether you call it Ashe Juniper or Mountain Cedar, (Juniperus Asheii ) these trees are everywhere in Austin and the surrounding Hill Country and they produce enormous amounts of pollen. So much so, that the male trees appear to be smoking as they release the pollen from tiny cones. 

These trees are more like weeds, non-indigenous they suck water from the ground killing other native hardwood trees. The juniper really has no redeeming value: it is poor firewood, it is poor landscape plant, it is a poor source of food for native animals and it is poor wood for construction.

Cedar fever hits everyone here in Austin, its even on the nightly news report.  Pollen counts under 500 are considered low, and anything more than 1,000 is considered high.  We've been hovering around 800+ grains/cubic meter, this weekend they hit 1900+ grains, which means I felt miserable. According to the doc, I will now need to take a nasal steroid and an allergy pill at least through Valentines day.  Unless I want to stay inside all the time, which is not happening. 

I guess the drugs and the sniffles don't take away from the fantastic weather we have, but it sure makes it beyond inconvenient.   

Non-stop weekend with Brad and buddies

Brad came to visit this weekend from Minnesota, escaping the -19 degree temps. Since he had been to Austin before, I tried to come up with some new places for him to explore.  Click here for pictures.

Before Brad arrived on Friday, Gail and I stole away for a quick happy hour that ended up going into the night.  I saw a bunch of friends I hadn't seen for ages, ensuring that I got giant bear-hugs all night.  When Brad arrived that evening we ended making a night of it there.

Saturday, I had to train for my marathon which meant a 10 mile run.  Since I had drank the night before, it was a bit of slow start, but somehow I got it done, and was rewarded with the sun coming out. Brad and I then had lunch on South Congress, before heading to the Cathedral of Junk (on a tip from some friends at work).  Located in a cute neighborhood, you can actually climb and explore this towering "cathedral" of junk. Pure nirvana for little boys, as witnessed by four of them running through it with more eagerness than I've ever seen on a jungle gym.  We were at the Cathedral as the lights turned on, not that it was that spectacular of a change, I was just surprised that it was both a day and night sculpture.  Not sure what the fascination is with Texas and junk, but this is about the fourth major junk collection I've witnessed between Austin and Houston.  Although, I would have to say its definitely my favorite of the four.

Long story short, the next event was Jodi's (who has a fabulous new haircut) birthday dinner. It was fun catching up, but once we fueled up, it was off to introduce Brad to the Broken Spoke for a bit of dancing.

The Spoke was unbelievably packed, making it hard to teach Brad the two-step, but he persevered and figured it out.  The Spoke cleared out after the break, which did nothing but increase the intensity for those left dancing. Instead of joining everyone for breakfast after the dance, Brad I escaped back to north Austin. 

Sunday, Brad and I had brunch and then went hiking in the Balcones Canyonland Preserve.  It was a great way to stretch my overtired legs and enjoy the fantastic weather.  We finished with delicious treats at Hey Cupcake before meeting Lisa at Ginny's Longhorn Saloon.  Like the Spoke, Ginny's was packed more than I've ever experienced, but just as fun as always.

Later that night,  I repurposed a salsa recipe into a porkchop topping, and Wa-La, despite empty cupboards, had dinner.  It was actually a hit.  This week is going to seem quiet compared to the non-stop action this weekend. 

Serious wardrobe malfunction today.

I'm a tall girl, and today due to my height and some faulty clothing, I had the experience of a complete wardrobe malfunction.  Thankfully, I was the only one who knew, but it felt awkward none the less. 

I have a great outfit on today, that consists of a fun new skirt that I got on a killer sale.  To show off my new skirt, I wore my boots and some black pantyhose (which also have the added effect of helping to keep me warm in the colder temps).  Because its almost impossible to find pantyhose that fit someone my height, I usually pull them up as high as I can get them, hoping to get the crotch of the pantyhose to fit like underwear, instead of hanging mid-thigh,which feels absolutely hideous.  

I must have stretched the pantyhose one too many times today.  Because by mid-afternoon, they just kept sliding down.  Literally sliding off my bum while I stood there.  Completely.  The kept sliding trying to puddle themselves down around my knees.  And its not like you can fix that kind of sinkage anywhere in public. Nope, you have to stay sitting until everyone leaves, and then find some way to get to a bathroom to rehike them up, without them puddling on the ankles and tripping you.  Thankfully the skirt goes to my knees, so no one could tell, but it was bizarre to sit and talk to coworkers while my hose continued their downward scoot.  I'm sure they wondered more than once why I had a strange look on my face or why I was so distracted. 

Since it was close to the end of the day, I decided to wait.  Nothing felt better than getting home and sliding them off (at which point, they more or less fell off anyway) and throwing them in the trash.  Which is a pain, because they didn't even have a run in them yet.  If I could have duck-taped them on, I could have used them again.  But, I was never going to do that, so Adios!

The end of a relationship...

I took a break over the holidays for one month.  I didn't exercise and I know I had celebratory drinks, and lots of home cooking.  So I was a bit shocked when I returned home and got on my scale to find out I had lost almost ten pounds.  How could it be?  Maybe all that marathon training I had been doing finally kicked in? Finding it hard to believe, especially when my clothes didn't seem that much looser.  But who doesn't want to enjoy losing ten pounds.  So I didn't think much more about it, and off I went.

I've been weighing myself about once a week for the last bazillion years, I mean I think I've had this scale since college. So about a week later, I popped on the scale again.  And what would you know.  I lost another ten pounds!  Thinking if I had lost almost twenty pounds my current clothes should be hanging on me like sacks, but instead they fit just fine, I had to confront that my scale could no longer be trusted.  Even if it was telling me the sweetest things ever.  

Now if I had been smart, I would have just put the scale on eBay, as a scale that lies to you, telling you've lost substantial weight.  I'm sure I could have made thousands.  Unfortunately, since I could not trust the scale anymore, I just tossed it.  The garbage man took it away yesterday.  If he has any idea, he could dig it out and make a mint. 

Now to find a new bathroom scale, it seems that simple scales that just tell you how much you way are completely out of style.  Now they have bathroom scales that give complete body fat analysis and an entire host of other factoids about your body.  As if seeing your weight each day wasn't enough.  I have no idea what I'll do to replace it yet.  Maybe I'll just enjoy that its gone for awhile, and see about getting one when I'm done with all my marathon madness.  Yeah, now that seems like a great idea.

Runtex 20-miler - my teary race

One of the things I hate the most about myself is that I cry incredibly easy.  And whomever said crying makes you feel better, could not have ever cried, because if they did, they would know that 90% of the time you feel worse (stuffed up with a massive headache).  Its rare that crying for me is a good thing.

If I could ever control my crying I would, but the tears seem to have more power than I do when I'm touched, angry, overwhelmed or watching a sentimental movie.  My friends have enjoyed harassing me for years over my tears. A few months after I moved to Austin, my old roommate Laura called me.  
    "How are you doing Deanna, its been awhile?"  
    "I'm good, getting settled into my new house.  How has your move gone?"  
    "Really well, thanks. I just called because I missed you."  
    "Oh, that is sweet. I missed you to Laura."
    "Yeah, no one is crying when I watch movies anymore, I'm missing all the sentimental parts"
    "Gee thanks Laura!"
And she goes off and giggles.  Its nice to have friends isn't it?  

So I'm not exactly surprised I cried when I crossed the finish line at last Sunday's 20 mile race. It was an emotional finish and I was beyond exhausted. But I was surprised when I turned around and two of my other teammates were crying. 

We had all run 18 miles before and we had gorgeous weather for the this hilly country run, so it didn't seem that it would be such a hard race, but two of our team hit the wall during the course.

• Nada was suffering extreme pain at mile 6.  We couldn't leave her behind even though she told us to go. So we slowed it down until amazingly she came back.
• Angela hit a wall at about 12 miles, she is our fast runner and has been hit with some nerve issues that challenged her hard during this race.  
• Tammy was our pillar for this race, she just hung back and was on cruise control, always cheerful and seemingly relaxed. 
• I expected to hit the wall since I slacked off over the holidays, not running in almost a month. Both my coaches said don't run, or if you do, only run part of it, and run slower than the girls. But as our group continue to knit together on the course, I knew I would not separate from them. To finish without them would made the race incomplete, so I was in no matter what it would mean for me after the race.

When we made the decision to all run across the finish line together, I'm sure others wondered why we cried.  Our tears were dried in a matter of minutes, but realizing this journey was affecting us all similarily made our bond stronger.  In this race, we were four friends who met through running, and now we are a team. 

We have two races left in the Austin Distance Challenge (a series of six races), which will culminate on Feb 15th with the AT&T Marathon.  We've all given up our time goals, and now are just focusing on finishing together and having fun.  And trust me we are slow, 20 miles took us 4 hours and 43 minutes. 

I'm not sure why I ever decided to run another marathon again, but it has become a truly amazing experience.  One I will never forget, even if it makes my tears appear. These are the good tears.

Finding my inner runner

I had a great 18 mile run....about a month ago.  And then, I think I found every excuse over the holidays not to run. 

• I'm on vacation
• I'm in Minnesota and its -11 F
• It just snowed again and the roads are slushy
• The local health club wants $20 for me to play on their treadmill, that's robbery
• I have the sniffles, so I must be to sick to run

And before I knew it I was back in Austin, and its been a month.  Oh yeah, and I have a 20 mile run this Sunday!  Aaaaaaak!  Somehow I need to finish the run, without needing a month to recover after, or my goal of finishing the marathon feeling great will be in even bigger jeopardy.

Talked with the coaches, one said I shouldn't do it, one said I could do it, but must be careful.  I must go slower than slow.  But I'm going to run with Nada as far as I can, because that will make the 20 miles fun, and actually doable.  Because otherwise my brain will tell me what insanity it is to run 20 miles and I may not make it.

Shaved 16 seconds of my mile test tonight, so hopefully that means if I'm careful I'll be good for the weekend.  Hopefully!

Back to the daisy blog.......in between Facebook and Twitters

I admit it, I got sucked into Twitter, then I got sucked into Facebook.  And all the while I abandoned my blog.  I was a bad, bad blogger. 

The first month I twittered, I was confused as to what it was all about.  Why would people want to read my twitters?  I get it when its my friends, but when its people I don't even know?  Then I had fun hearing what my friends were posting.  Then I started networking with other Twitterer's, who I've never even met.  This week I'll be at a Tweet-up.  Then last fall, I made an Austin elite list of Twitterer's (is that a word?) via Twitter Grader.  All that did was make me want to figure out how they created an elite list, so I played with it more.  I love getting tweets from my friends, and seeing what they are up to during the day.  And I love to tweet! If you don't know what Twitter is (www.Twitter.com) its a social blogging site, that lets you tell in 140 characters or less "What's up?".  And I can do it from my cell phone, so I tweet whenever I can.

Tweeting with others at work who are avid social networkers, I was finally convinced to try Facebook.  And, I was able to link my Twitters to my Facebook.  For me Facebook, is Twitter Plus!  Not only tweets from friends saying what they are up too, but pictures, info, and connections to friends I haven't talked to since high school.  Then the bonus.  A bunch of my cousins and my goddaughter.  Living on the other side of the country from many of them I finally have a way to keep up on their activities and pictures.  Because when you call and talk to them and ask what's up, they say "Not Much".  And for years, I've tried convincing friends to use MSN messenger or Skype, even buying some web cams for some of them, and never getting one web call.  Incredibly frustrating.  But now I find my Facebook friends and family post more about what's going on in their life, then they will tell you in a quick phone conversations, so I don't feel so separated.  Now I try to get people on Facebook.  My best friend Sally had no choice but to sign up when I was home for Christmas.  And I also discovered another dozen Minnesota friends/family who had accounts when I was home over Christmas.  FUN!  Its also good for friends who live in town, even if they are as close as next door. 

So I didn't mean to ignore my blog, but I was totally absorbed into Facebook and Twitter, and I wasn't even sure I should keep the blog site anymore. I will no longer be traveling all over the country for work, so I'm not sure what I should write about.  But over Christmas I had a few friends and family who questioned me about my blog, and some who even remembered my old website.  They asked why I don't update the posts anymore, and why I never posted my China travelogue.  Ummmmm, I didn't know I had that many readers!

So I've decided to try to fire-up the blog up again.  See if I can merge all my social networking tools together, or consolidate down to the ones I really want to keep. Talk to my friends who both blog and Facebook and see how they do it. It should be interesting, let me know your thoughts!