A funny little nugget from the New Orleans trip.
On Friday, Steve and I were at the art museum and stopped at the museum cafe for lunch. Since it was a Lent Friday, we were looking for seafood options. It was a very small menu and Alligator Sausage & Seafood Gumbo looked good. Hey, is gator seafood or meat?
Steve posted the question on his facebook page and sparked some debate. Gator is cold blooded, not a mammal, but it has lungs. Also, it seems that sausage is meaty. Can Alligator be on the allowable list? Since my niece was in the middle of her heart surgery, I wasn't in the mood for Flexi-Lent. Finally, we got it confirmed that gator is okay.
And delicious.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Monday, March 01, 2010
Who Dat? (New Orleans Style)
Let's take care of important matters first. Who dat healthy baby?
I'm incredibly happy to tell you that the baby is doing great. We are blessed that many wonderful things happened in a difficult situation. Thankfully, we she was born in close proximity to a world class neonatal cardiac hospital. She's still in the hospital, but she's doing great. Thanks for the comments, emails, kind thoughts and prayers.
On to the trivial. Who dat half marathon finisher?
Me. And I had my most fun run in ages. More on that later.
I'm incredibly happy to tell you that the baby is doing great. We are blessed that many wonderful things happened in a difficult situation. Thankfully, we she was born in close proximity to a world class neonatal cardiac hospital. She's still in the hospital, but she's doing great. Thanks for the comments, emails, kind thoughts and prayers.
On to the trivial. Who dat half marathon finisher?
Me. And I had my most fun run in ages. More on that later.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Good Vibes. Please Send.
Two days ago my newest niece, Natalya was born. It feels as though we've been waiting forever for her to arrive. She was nearly a week past her due date. Here she is with her older sister Mya.
This morning Steve and I hopped on a plane bound for New Orleans so I could run in the inaugural Rock N Roll Mardi Gras 1/2 Marathon. When we landed in Louisianna and I received a call from my Mom. There is a problem with the baby's heart. Little Miss Natalya is having open heart surgery first thing in the morning.
It always amazes me how quickly you fall in love with a new member of the family. A few days ago she didn't even exist. I haven't even met her, but I already love her. Because there's nothing else I can do I've researched this to an almost pathologically intense degree. The baby is in an exceptional children's hospital with a specialty in cardiac care. She has an excellent prognosis. Her Mom and Dad are with her. (Little Mya is staying with her grandmother.)
Intellectually, I know this is going to be okay and I have absolute faith that she's going to be just fine. But if you have a minute send some good vibes to her and her family.
It always amazes me how quickly you fall in love with a new member of the family. A few days ago she didn't even exist. I haven't even met her, but I already love her. Because there's nothing else I can do I've researched this to an almost pathologically intense degree. The baby is in an exceptional children's hospital with a specialty in cardiac care. She has an excellent prognosis. Her Mom and Dad are with her. (Little Mya is staying with her grandmother.)
Intellectually, I know this is going to be okay and I have absolute faith that she's going to be just fine. But if you have a minute send some good vibes to her and her family.
Afraid of My Own Strength
First, let me tell you that the move is completed. Thank heavens.
We had a bit (ha!) of tidying (ha!) to do at Steve's old place last weekend. While Steve went to ride his bike on Saturday morning, I thought I'd get that cleanin' party started. Sometimes even the most mundane event can become an adventure. I was cleaning the shower and tried to turn the shower head to rinse off the shower wall. That's when the shower arm ripped off in my hand. Not the shower head, the shower arm. That thing that goes through the silver donut and into the dark recesses of the wall.
Hmm. I tried to screw it back in, but it wouldn't go. When Steve got home I asked him to help. He was stumped too and he's an engineer. The shower arm was threaded, so it should screw in, yes? But when I reached inside the wall (scary!) the inside of the pipe felt smooth and there weren't any threads.
Sunday morning I stopped by my neighborhood hardware store, North Park Hardware. This is old skool hardware, not Lowe's. At North Park Hardware, they don't have lawn furniture, rubbermaid containers, barbecue grills or a website. They have hardware - every type of wall molly and screw, tons of tools and all the obscure stuff that the old houses in this neighborhood need.
They also have very knowledgeable staff. No one says "it's not my department"; these dudes know how to fix stuff. So I was a bit ruffled when the owner glanced at the shower arm and said "You don't even know how much trouble you've got." Turns out I'd ripped the pipe in half. The reason I couldn't screw in the shower arm was the old pipe was stuck in there.
The owner walked through the store with me and tried to find a tool to clean out the pipe. He found the closest fitting tool, but it wasn't exactly right so he took out his saw and modified it for me. I went home and tried it, no luck. Back to the hardware store. He found another tool which was slightly too large, so he took it on over to his grindy wheel thing and ground it down to size. Really, does anyone at Home Depot customize tools for you? No, they don't.
Then he did something extra awesome. He pulled another tool off the shelf and loaned it to me. He said it was expensive and I was only ever going to use it once. How many times was I going to rip the shower arm in half? The tool was also pretty much indestructible so he said I could use it and bring it back the next day. Not that I could buy it and return it. Or even leave your name and address. He just pulled it off the shelf and handed it to me. How friggin' fantastic is that?
Went back to the apartment and spent the next few hours engaged in the knuckle scraping work of removing the snapped off piece of pipe. It was a strenuous, frustrating job. And frankly Steve had his doubts that I could do it. (He was busy sorting and packing stuff so the plumbing repair job fell to me.) In the end I got the old pipe out and installed the new shower arm.
I'm proud to report that:
We had a bit (ha!) of tidying (ha!) to do at Steve's old place last weekend. While Steve went to ride his bike on Saturday morning, I thought I'd get that cleanin' party started. Sometimes even the most mundane event can become an adventure. I was cleaning the shower and tried to turn the shower head to rinse off the shower wall. That's when the shower arm ripped off in my hand. Not the shower head, the shower arm. That thing that goes through the silver donut and into the dark recesses of the wall.
Hmm. I tried to screw it back in, but it wouldn't go. When Steve got home I asked him to help. He was stumped too and he's an engineer. The shower arm was threaded, so it should screw in, yes? But when I reached inside the wall (scary!) the inside of the pipe felt smooth and there weren't any threads.
Sunday morning I stopped by my neighborhood hardware store, North Park Hardware. This is old skool hardware, not Lowe's. At North Park Hardware, they don't have lawn furniture, rubbermaid containers, barbecue grills or a website. They have hardware - every type of wall molly and screw, tons of tools and all the obscure stuff that the old houses in this neighborhood need.
They also have very knowledgeable staff. No one says "it's not my department"; these dudes know how to fix stuff. So I was a bit ruffled when the owner glanced at the shower arm and said "You don't even know how much trouble you've got." Turns out I'd ripped the pipe in half. The reason I couldn't screw in the shower arm was the old pipe was stuck in there.
The owner walked through the store with me and tried to find a tool to clean out the pipe. He found the closest fitting tool, but it wasn't exactly right so he took out his saw and modified it for me. I went home and tried it, no luck. Back to the hardware store. He found another tool which was slightly too large, so he took it on over to his grindy wheel thing and ground it down to size. Really, does anyone at Home Depot customize tools for you? No, they don't.
Then he did something extra awesome. He pulled another tool off the shelf and loaned it to me. He said it was expensive and I was only ever going to use it once. How many times was I going to rip the shower arm in half? The tool was also pretty much indestructible so he said I could use it and bring it back the next day. Not that I could buy it and return it. Or even leave your name and address. He just pulled it off the shelf and handed it to me. How friggin' fantastic is that?
Went back to the apartment and spent the next few hours engaged in the knuckle scraping work of removing the snapped off piece of pipe. It was a strenuous, frustrating job. And frankly Steve had his doubts that I could do it. (He was busy sorting and packing stuff so the plumbing repair job fell to me.) In the end I got the old pipe out and installed the new shower arm.
I'm proud to report that:
- I'm strong enough to rip pipe in half.
- I'm tenacious enough to spend hours making the repair.
- I returned the perfect tool to the world most awesome hardware store.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Whee! Fun is back.
What a perfect day to run. I didn't get out until nearly 11:30, but it wasn't at all hot. It was typical San Diego - 60 degrees with a breeze coming off the ocean.
I was little worried since I haven't been running and my ankle isn't quite 100%. I haven't done any serious distance in a month. With the New Orleans race looming large in 2 weeks I decided that it's now or never to get some miles.
Running was surprisingly easy today; I wasn't rusty at all. Cranked out 9 miles along the bay and then lapped around to the ocean and ran along the beach. I felt nice and strong. Normally I run early in the day starting at 8 A.M. at the latest. Running at the beach at noon is completely different. The boardwalk was jammed with cyclists, families milling around and an array of motorcycle gang dudes. It was a slow process for those last 2 miles weaving though people.
Great run, but I'll be happy to go back to an early start.
I was little worried since I haven't been running and my ankle isn't quite 100%. I haven't done any serious distance in a month. With the New Orleans race looming large in 2 weeks I decided that it's now or never to get some miles.
Running was surprisingly easy today; I wasn't rusty at all. Cranked out 9 miles along the bay and then lapped around to the ocean and ran along the beach. I felt nice and strong. Normally I run early in the day starting at 8 A.M. at the latest. Running at the beach at noon is completely different. The boardwalk was jammed with cyclists, families milling around and an array of motorcycle gang dudes. It was a slow process for those last 2 miles weaving though people.
Great run, but I'll be happy to go back to an early start.
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