26 April, 2009

Time to Ride

James has been great about helping us with some of our big house projects (like building the shed - see here, here, & here for the recap). In trade for the already done projects and potential help when we get around to remodeling the kitchen, we offered up my non-working motorcycle (that we've had for several years now, and I've never had a chance to ride). Sounds like a lame deal, right? Apparently it was okay to him, as he accepted (and it was *great* for me, since I got out of the grunt work ;) ). The cycle has been in the shed (that he helped build) over the winter, but the boyos pulled it out this weekend to see what needed to happen to make it run...

Looks like it went pretty smoothly - they were able to get the garage cleaned out (at least enough to work on the bike) yesterday, and after some puttering and wrenching and whatever else happens when you work on bikes, I heard deep rumbling from the Man Domain.

Since Greg is the only one of the three of us that has recent experience riding, we made him take it out for the first spin. But then, since it's James's new toy, we figured it'd be nice if he could go for a spin too. So we found extra riding gear, got him set up, and away they went. Now Greg will have a riding buddy... =)

Saturday Stroll

Greg & I participated in the Anchorage Heart Run yesterday. Greg did the run, and finished in time to do the course again - this time walking with me. While we were waiting for the start of his race (runners started 30 minutes before the un-timed portion of the race), I noticed that people were hanging gear anywhere they could before the run. Got a picture of one of the "coat trees" around the area. =)

I tried to take a picture as he was crossing the finish line, but my camera was too slow to turn on and get the shot - so I ended up with a picture of random people and the time, which was 9 seconds after he crossed the line. He finished the 5k (3+ miles) in 29:01. It's the first "official" time he has, and he'll use it as a baseline for the rest of his marathon training. (The Mayor's Marathon is in June.) Someone else took a great shot as he crossed the finish line - it's now his Facebook profile picture.

The weather was nice. Particularly, it was NOT rainy or snowy - which was what was predicted earlier in the week. It was rather chilly so I kept my jacket on, but that just made it so I didn't overheat as the walk commenced. There were several thousand participants - it was fun to see all the people out on a nice Saturday morning, supporting healthy hearts.

As we walked the course, there were entertainment stations at various points. A school band playing music in one spot, and belly dancers at another.

Second walk of the season down. I just spent a little time online looking up dates for the other walks to get them on my calendar. There's the Anchorage Visitors Industry Graze (where you walk to different feeding stations - yay!) on May 1st; the March of Dimes walk on May 16th; the Alaska Run for Women (in support of Breast Cancer - I do this one for Aunt Carol, and this year I'll be adding Greg's mom as a survivor) on June 13th; the Walk to Whittier on June 14th; and the Light the Night walk (love you M!) on September 11th. I'm sure there are loads more walks scheduled throughout the summer, those are just the ones I've done in the past.

Let the walking commence!! =)

18 April, 2009

MS Walk = Beginning of Spring?

Jeannea is here for a few days before she heads out to Dillingham for the summer. We've done lots of visiting, and today we took her along for the annual MS Walk. I love when it gets to be "walk season" in Alaska. That means that we're heading into the Spring/Summer months - the best part of the year!

It's a chance to get some exercise that's not at the gym, which is much more enjoyable. It's also a chance to get together with people that I don't see all that often and chat as we make our way around the course. Today was a *lovely* day - considering that it's still April, there's snow on the ground, and Lake Hood was still icy on top. But the sun was shining, there wasn't much wind, and we had good company.
One of our walkers
Taking a break
Greg ran the course (twice) instead of walking - still prepping for his marathon run - so he's not in the group picture, as he wasn't quite done yet. Next weekend is the Heart Run (I'll be walking), and soon we have the March of Dimes walk and the Women's Run. There are more - just about one every weekend from now until September sometime - but those are the ones I've done & can remember. Yay walking! Yay Spring!

06 April, 2009

Anticipation

I've been griping because it's April already and we haven't even broken 40 degrees. I mean, come on already! Give a girl a bone! It's not like I'm asking for 80 and sandy beaches... I just want a little warmth. In the spirit of anticipating Spring (and keeping our sanity), we decided to get ready - or at least get our feet ready for sandal weather. Pedicures, here we come!! =)

Sara, Stacy & I started the day by going to breakfast, then headed to the salon. Had to kill a little time, since they weren't open until noon, but it was *totally* worth it!

My last pedicure was in September. All the color from my big toes had grown out, except a thin sliver at the top. The scrubbing tickles and it's hard to keep from twitching my feet. But the massaging is just *lovely* and I do feel a little more patient as I wait for Spring... Can you guess which color goes for which person? I love the little flowers - they're so... happy. =)

We spent the afternoon doing a bit of cleaning so we could have guests over for dinner & game night. Sara was super helpful, vacuuming & doing dishes. She even vacuumed the stairs, which looks like it might be a dangerous occupation...

Looks like there were a couple hats laying around... Thanks, Sara, for staying safe and helping out!! =)

04 April, 2009

Black Violin

Yesterday was a great day! Fridays are always good, since it means the end of the work week and the beginning of two whole days where I can plan my own activities. This usually means sleeping in, probably some cleaning (bleh - not fun, but necessary), some playing on the computer, maybe some shopping... you get the idea. I'm master of my own time for two whole days. Yay!

Got a little sidetracked there... anyhow - yesterday was great because it was Friday. Also good because Sara's coming to visit for a bit before she heads to Valdez for the summer. ALSO good because Greg's taking me to an Event to celebrate our anniversary. It's a day early as the anniversary is actually on Saturday. He got us tickets to Black Violin - a group of three young men that do interesting things with music. Two play violin/viola while the DJ mixes it up. It's super high energy, and just cool how they mix classical music and hip-hop beats - or hip new music is redone on strings with classical influences.

The pictures I took didn't turn out very well... but I suppose that's okay, since we weren't supposed to be taking pictures anyway. I was like a sheep... "everyone else is doing it, so why shouldn't I?!?" At least I turned the flash off, so I didn't potentially blind them. (Apparently that also helps the camera to NOT focus on the top of the head in the row in front of you - as I noticed the gal in front of us trying to take pictures, but what showed on her screen was the back of the seats/heads in the next row up...) Greg got seats up front - this is the closest I've been to the stage *ever*, and it was fantastic!! Apparently they were front-row seats when the tickets went on sale, but the venue added a couple rows later where the orchestra pit would be. Still the best seats I've had at an event, and it was *loads* of fun! More like a rock concert than a violin performance... =)

The group comes from public school education & training, and focuses on youth - letting them know that with hard work and perseverance you can do anything. A really positive message and nice that some quality entertainment is giving back to community. I checked out their web site - they're playing at Everette Community College in Seattle, WA tomorrow, and at Utah State University on Tuesday. Anybody close should really consider getting tickets - definitely two thumbs up for the show, it's worth it!!