putting the knit in shizknitz

Remember the crackers I fell in love with on Amtrak? They arrived - all 100 packs of them. I also receive a postcard from the Apple Farm Inn with a hand-written thank you. That was real sweet of them. In the meantime, I’m feverishly passing out crackers….

With another 5 K coming up next week and a nod toward’s the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco this fall, I decided to pick up a new running route in the area. An old coworker and neighbor is a run-aholic, she often does 17 mile jaunts in the area - when I asked how she gauges distance, she gave me her advice - drive. Huh? I asked. She said, drive where you want to run, and gauge your distance on your odometer. Oh, that’s simple.

My current run has been with Mia (yes, she seems to like the running), typically in the mornings and we have a specific route we take within our neighborhood, just up and down certain streets. There is a slight grade towards the end of the run, but not enough to really work as a “hill”. I’m not sure the distance, but I speculate it to be around 2 miles. Yesterday we went on a car ride (Oh, Mia LOVES car rides) through the Cheviot Hills neighborhood, around the golf course and came home. I wrote down the mileage for certain areas and notes about the area (1.2 miles, hills up, hills down, dirt path, etc) to give me some idea what I was looking at.

With my 10% off coupon for Sports Chalet I received from the Revlon Run, I picked up a nifty hydration pack - I was really particular about size and fit, since I’m finicky about carrying anything extra when running. This particular one by Ultimate Direction is quite nice, there’s a small pocket large enough for my cel phone and keys, as well as this nifty water canteen that is easy to wash (those who know me well know about my water issues).

This morning I was up a little late (I love running in the cool mornings, around 7 AM) but alas, at 8:30 I left not really knowing how far I would go. I felt guilty as I put my shuffle on, and Mia came running out of the bedroom to get suited up - even though we had just gone on our morning walk. I let T know that I may call him to pick me up in case I get too tired. The first mile is flat, with a huge hill at the end which leads into mile two, which is again full of hills. I just kept going. I eventually ended up around Rancho Golf Course, going around the park which was mostly cement but there was a large area of dirt as well (my running shoes traction didn’t work well with that) and with occasional water (the pack worked well - didn’t even break stride) I actually made it all the way home (5.9 miles) in an hour.

My mom is crazy. I often tell people that. I think she’s crazy because we’re exactly alike - yes, something I’ve come to accept as I’ve gotten older. We talk on the phone at least once a week, if more than that passes, she typically knows something is wrong and will call to pester me on what’s up. I usually call a little after I get home from work and after she’s home from work, around 6:15 PM ish. I’m usually starving by then, but my dinners are usually late, I eat after T comes home from work which ends up closer to 8 PM. My mom typically taunts me on the phone with “I’m eating steak… its SOOOOO GOOD” or “fresh made gyoza, wanna come over?” (mind you, I live a good 3 hour drive from home).

Tonight, she bumped this torture up a few notches (imagine this all in Japanese):
Mom: So, tonight I have Hakata Ramen and prime rib. Want some?
Me: Ohhhh that sounds soooo goood. I’m starving.
Mom: Yeah, its soooo Oishiii! Wanna come over?
Me: I wish… (interrupted by a slurping noise) what the heck is that?
Mom: Just listen! (more slurping noise)
Me: Mom, what the HECK are you doing?
Dad, in background: YOU ARE SO MEAN! STOP THAT!
Mom, speaking with her mouth full: That’s the sound of me eating ramen. Its good.
Me: You’re so messed up. I’m hanging up now.
Mom: Okay. Bye. It’s good!

Dell UltraSharp 2005FPW. I haven’t had much time to play with it yet, but its going to make it hard to work on my first gen Dell 19″ LCD back at the office. Oooh… I just accidentally pressed F11 in IE… niiiiiice.

Planning
As always, I had a difficult time coming up with the right surprise for T. This year, my random google searches turned into something a little more interesting. We’ve talked about traveling by Amtrak before, but had never seriously looked into it. Being a novice rail traveler, it was a little unnerving (not knowing the routine of checking in, train etiquette, not having a car, scheduling etc) but the process of experiencing it all was tons of fun. The whole weekend was a surprise, and T kept thinking that we were taking a boat ride to Catalina.

A colleague suggested a book called Riding the Bus with My Sister based on some of our discussions about life and family. It is written from the author’s point of view, as she travels the buses with her mentally retarded sister, with frequent flashbacks to her childhood. Although I’m still only halfway through, I can understand why he recommended it - there is much truth to be said in the underlining words, whether it be my own interpretation or the story of the author. There was a point at which she mentions that she’s worked so hard all her life for “the BIG job, the BIG house, the BIG…” and in the midst of it all, has lost sight of all else that means so much in her life. She found herself single, workaholic, and lonely. This was a fitting story to read on our weekend journey. Traveling by train forces one to give up control - of schedule, of company and of even room temperature. It also gave us both some time to do the things we normally don’t have the time to do - read and knit. But I digress…

Sat 5/14
Nancy picked us up at 9 AM. Amtrak suggests you be at your station 30 min prior to your departure time. We had enough time for a Starbucks stop - and I knew we were in for a great day when the latte tasted so damn good. The Alvarado exit for Union Station was closed, so thankfully she knew where we were going. She dropped us off for our 10:15 AM departure, and we ventured into the mass exodus in the station. Apparently, the Oxnard Strawberry Festival has brought in hundreds of other train riders going in the same direction we were headed. Union Station really is gorgeous, with tall ceilings and this old 1920’s feel architecture. There were gardens and fountains outside for smokers and photo opportunists alike. Since I had already made reservations online, we were told by Amtrak Information to stand in line for the Amtrak Quik Trak ticketing machine - there must have been a dozen people in line for each machine. Once it was our turn, it was fast - pop in the credit card you made reservations with, check your info, and out comes your tickets. We then learned that we needed to get a boarding pass (this actually is not typical at the other stations), which turned out to be another very long line. The train was then delayed by 1 hr 30 min, very typical of the Coast Starlight Express. There was a line for the sleeper cars, and a line for the regular coach seats. The “boarding pass” consisted of a little strip of colored paper with the location you were heading and the number of persons in your party. They also indicated which number train car to get on. We then continued to wait until they called us to board closer to noon.

Upon entering the train car, the conductor (?) told us which seats to actually occupy. The seats were surprisingly roomy, even in coach and I was relieved to get an ocean view seat. The seat reclines, a thing pops up to support your legs and other than being a little cold, it wasn’t that bad. Soon after departure, they announced the opening of the dining cart, snack bar, and the movies they will be showing in the kid’s play area… it was like being in a plane with more mobility. However, unlike the plane, we were riding with some Amish people. I don’t know if I’ve ever really seen Amish before, and I would have taken pictures of them if it weren’t so obvious….they were cute, with their aprons and bonnets and head thingys. We made our way to the dining car closer to closing, and was seated with another lady on her way to Oakland. They had a pretty good sized menu .. T had a chicken sandwich and I had a salad. We arrived in San Luis Obispo around 5 PM and our hotel sent a taxi to pick us up.

The Hotel
We were a short distance away, and we learned from the taxi driver that SLO has a little trolly that drives around town and only costs .25 cents. We checked in and were greeted by another cute room. I’m really starting to like these cute rooms, similar to the one we stayed at for Valentines Day. However, I don’t know if it was because we had such a great experience then, or because this was *my* surprise, but I started to find little details that were amiss. Take towels for example - there was only one big one. Also, there was a little gift and card sitting on the table at the entrance of the suite, but it turned out to be addressed for another couple’s anniversary. The main windows also looked into their parking lot. Let me stop there, because I’m starting to sound negative, and the place really was cute. They have all sorts of gift shops on the premises and great apple dumplings.

SLO
We did lots of walking - it was about a 45 minute walk to the downtown area full of shops, and so we made this round trip Sat evening and Sun morning. San Luis is a cute coastal town - Santa Barbara-ish, but even SLOwer… there was an animal adoption fair going on near the Mission where I saw where my Alpaca yarn comes from (please don’t ask why I thought Alpaca were another type of Sheep) as well as the nastiest gum wall!

Sun 5/15
Taxi to the SLO Amtrak at 2:30 PM (same driver!) for our 3:15 PM departure. Although we already had our tickets, we consulted the people at the counter for any pre-board info. Well, turns out the Coastal Starlight is running 2.5 hrs behind. At a 9:05 arrival in LA, that means we’re looking at closer to midnight. Our other option? A 3 hour bus ride to Santa Barbara, and then a free upgrade to Business Class travel back to LA onboard the Pacific Surfliner. In fact, it was so much cheaper to take the bus route that they refunded one of my tickets. We had picked up some boxed lunches from the Apple Farm Restaurant (again, we were missing cookies!) that we had something yummy to eat before boarding the buses around 3:15 PM. I obviously hadn’t been on a bus in a long time, or I’ve gotten larger - the seats were smaller than I remembered, even knitting was hard. We stopped at all the smaller cities in between SLO and SB - Solano Beach, Solvang, one stop was at the local IHOP Restaurant parking lot. Getting off the bus was certainly a relief, around 6:30 PM.

We had a short stop in Santa Barbara before we boarded. The train was pretty packed, and the story was that it would be absolutely full at Oxnard as all the people were returning to LA from the Strawberry Festival. We boarded Business Class, except this time there was no assigned seating. We went upstairs to find rows of even roomier seats going in both directions, some with a table so 4 can face each other. There were TV’s on the back of the seats as well as free drinks (water, soda, wine) and snacks (pre-packaged). The ride home was fan-tastic - wine, crackers and cheese with beautiful sunset ocean views as we sped by the 101 freeway traffic back to LA. We arrived home around 9:35 PM, just in time to crash for another busy week ahead of us. It was a wonderful quickie weekend getaway, and would recommend this to anyone. Next time, perhaps we’ll try Seattle?

P.S. I fell in love with the Rosemary Crackers and a little searching on their website found me a box of 100 cracker packs for $13.50. Can’t wait!

It’s T’s Bday today! I baked (yes, I said baked) him some cupcakes (”popcakes” as one friend described them) for work - and have a wonderful apple-pie filled weekend planned

I’ve been out-shizzed. However, we are obviously nothing alike, considering she has a photo of her bathroom floor which is made of small tiles….. just looking at the photo gives me the heebie geebies!

I’m so excited, I’ve created a new category. It’s called Run. In fact, I’ve signed myself up for the Saddleback Memorial 5 K coming up this Memorial Day Weekend. Perhaps T will join me this time!

This week I finally finished my long-term project. I finally set the stone (making grooves on the inside of each post) and re-polishing. Of course, I can’t be without my next project - a quick trip to the jewelry store resulted in a 5.10 ct emerald cut amethyst. This stone is so beautiful, so light in color that under certain conditions looks similar to a pink diamond. My plans are to do a very simple setting on a thin band, so the stone is the highlight of the ring rather than the setting, as was my most recent project.

The Rock is fuah-ene! Wait, that part comes later. I was up at 6 AM this morning for the 12th Annual Revlon Run/Walk. The map said to arrive no later than 7 AM - but who gets there that early? We set out 6:50 AM - and shoot, we were in the middle of the madness getting off the Vermont exit on the 10 fwy. Then the pain started. In the traffic. My stomach was about twist itself into a major tizzy. Perhaps it was the Korean BBQ we ate last night, but on this fateful morning, my stomach decided to turn on me. An hour and a half and 2 bathroom stops later, I was feeling much better. Pre-run, there were tons of booths and freebies as well as opening ceremonies featuring Marcia Cross, Halle Berry and The Rock.

The run was supposed to begin at 8:45 AM, with the walk following up at 9 AM. We decided to leave the opening ceremonies a tad early, considering the distance to the starting line. There was a crowd heading in that direction, so we followed along… to find out that we ended up at the other side of the start line! You could see all of the hard core runners warming up - they were buzzing around like gnats on a warm summer morning. Now with thousands of people milling around, I was trying to find how in the world to get behind the start line. I parted with T, grabbing my Shuffle armband and started to go into the crowd. There seemed to be these metal fences keeping the run/walkers from the crowd, but hundreds of us were on the wrong side of the fence. It was complete chaos. People were climbing over the fence - altho the other side had people squished in, then this other lady decided to open up the fence which then made a surge of people start to try to get in this way. We could hear them starting to count down for the start but the girl next to me turned out to be clausterphobic and tripped out. Thankfully the race had started and we began to surge forward slowly. It took about 10 minutes to get to my usual pace, as some of the walkers decided to walk with the runners, so dodging people took some time. The weather was perfect, and there’s nothing more enticing than running through the streets of LA - something you ordinarily don’t get to do.

This was my first official run in a marathon of sorts, 5K - 3.1 miles, and so I wasn’t used to the water stops (they had these adorable girl scouts handing out cups), the cheering and TV crews. By mile 3 I was tired and HOT (this is why runners wear short shorts) but it was fantastic - they had Japanese Taiko drummers at the opening of the LA Coliseum as we ran downhill through the tunnel and onto the field. There were about 15 rows heading to the finish line - where they sign you out, get a medal from a LAFD member (woo hoo) and grabbed a snackbox. I had a very respectable run time of 30:30.

It was a fantastic event - they approximated 60,000 run/walkers - all in the name of fighting women’s cancers. It was a poignant time, seeing all those with tribute signs on their backs with names of their moms, aunts, sisters, and of themselves… it made me feel very fortunate, as noone in my family has had to battle cancer. I’m definitely planning on running again next year (but next time, I’ll eat KBBQ AFTER the run)!

Post-Run food? Tacos of course!

A big THANK YOU to all those who sponsored me for this year’s run.

I can’t believe its been 2 weeks since Nancy and I picked up BJ in Stockton. T and I were lucky enough to have an opportunity to pet-sit for her this afternoon. I think she’s gotten bigger - she’s approx 12 weeks old now. She pounces like a cat, likes to eat bird crap, and run around the couch. She’s been doing really well with her pee-pad training, her mommy and auntie are quite proud! It was so different taking BJ “out” from our Mia, she doesn’t necessarily want to go out, and most of the time she lounges around and stretches and enjoys the sunshine than sniff around. Post-walk, she decided to cram herself into a little nook on the couch - we were cracking up!

This is what I got after typing in my name (which *IS* Japanese) into the Japanese Name Generator.

“A hundred objective measures didn’t sum up the worth of a garden; only the delight of its users made it mean something.”

Currently Listening to: Keane, a band whose wounds remind me of a hip, newer version of the Beatles.

First, a follow-up to my booger ring. The last photo was of the band without the stone being punched. Voila.

Next up is the project I’ve been planning and working on for quite some time. My goal was to have something similar to Tiffany’s Lucida, but alas, it didn’t turn out quite the same. I pose it as being my interpretation of the Lucida. What you see above is everything soldered together, right out of the pickling. The color is a pasty white, because it has not been filed yet. Note that the prongs are still freshly sawed and the edges are quite rough. The bar of silver under the right photo is slowly becoming my newest project, a bracelet (see below).

After a LOT of filing and smoothing and polishing, I’m ready to set the stone this coming up week. Polishing is probably my most favorite activity of them all… to see your work become so… real. I’ve started on this simple bracelet - the technique used is quite interesting. On first thought, I was imagining cutting 4 lengths and soldering on the corner, but it is quite different. You saw a little where you want to be a corner, then bend. Saw a little more, bend a little more - until you reach 90 degrees. Solder.

It’s really too bad this class is only 3 hours, once a week. I could do this everyday.