Townies in town are awesome

I've had such an amazing day around town today (Saturday). I've done a ton of small things -- running, deck-building, gardening, erranding, wine-tasting, booze-run -- and at each one I've been overwhelmed with how genuinely nice and friendly people are. Everyone I encountered was so personable, happy to chat, and just enjoying their own day. It's kept a smile on my face the whole day.

It's hard to describe details, but some things do stick out. During deck-building we were also watering plants, and the kids had a waterfight with the hose that drenched everyone within reach; after which they made mudpies while we went back to work thankfully cooled off. It's great to see kids playing like we all used to. I swear, give a kid a stick and a bucket of water and send them outside -- there's no end to what they'll find to keep themselves occupied.

After my run I was stretching and met a woman gearing up to run. She wore a Fuel Belt (fancy-ie expensive-water bottle carrier belt), and I asked her how she liked it and expressed interest in getting one in the future. She reached in her car and handed me the top-line model to try on. It fit, and she told me to keep it. Now, it still had tags on it from the store, but she didn't want a penny for it. I'm thrilled, and definitely looking for ways to "pay it forward".

At the wine tasting I met another woman named Darcey (boy it's hard to write it like that) and really enjoyed the company during the tasting. Even the ABC employees were really friendly and helpful.

Who knows what else the evening will bring? However you look at it, today's been a great weekend day.

Tattoo Finished!

I got my autumn leaf tattoo finished last night. If you remember it had to be done in stages, and I got the initial part inked back in early April, which was the first 2 leaves and the outline of the 3rd.Shaun figured we could get it finished in one more sitting and we did, although it was a solid 4 hours of needlework with only a 10 min. break. I was at the shop for almost 5 straight hours. This was really too long of a session, and if I'd known what that last hour would feel like, I would've broken it into 2 sessions. For the most part I don't mind the coloring, it's just the outlining that hurts. And when the skin is already sensitive from hours of tattooing, it starts to really hurt. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this just never ended. A few times the skin/muscles contracted reflexively, and I had to focus on my breathing to try and relax and hold still. By the end I tried singing to myself as a distraction, but kept stumbling over the same few lines, unable to ignore the work being done. But I really believe all of this was due to the length of time it took and how sensitive (ticklish) the area was. A couple hours of work is done quick enough it doesn't really hurt much. Still, it's totally worth it. The tattoo is gorgeous, and it's exciting to have it finished.

Oh, would you like some pictures? Here's one of Shaun working on the 2nd of 4 leaves of the night. He just finished coloring in the white oak leaf and outlining the cottonwood. Now he's applying the base yellow to the cottonwood leaf.As each leaf was finished I'd get up and we'd stencil on the next one. For the final 2 leaves I was sitting on the bench hugging my knees, which is an oddly uncomfortable way to sit for hours, but gave the best canvas for Shaun to work. So here's the front view of the leaves. There's no way to get the whole tattoo in one photo. There's also no way to give a panned back view without an R rating.These are:
Sweetgum (liquidambar styraciflua)
Tulip tree (lyriodendron tulipifera)
White oak (Quercus alba)
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

The wind isn't actually red, once it heals it'll be just like the grey swirls around the first leaf. Here's the leaves on my back. They stop right at the edge of my spine, which looks really cool. Shaun did such an awesome job shading the leaves. I think the final one turning green to brown is my favorite. And there are nice details, like shadows where the leaves overlap, that don't really show in photos. He also left a small bit of the final leaf (the left point) unshaded, which I thought was fitting since I never seem to finish anything :)So after the yellow cottonwood leaf, these are:
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Each leaf is from a tree special to me in some way, I'd be happy to go into details in person if you're interested. It's hard to believe these photos are pictures of me. It almost doesn't look real. This is the end of my tattoo adventures for a long long time. I have an ultimate plan of getting a tree of life on my upper back shoulder and continuing the leaves up to it, so it looks like the leaves are blowing down off the tree. But that's far in the future.

Coronado Bridge Run

While on a business trip to Cali last week I ran in my first official Run. The 22nd annual Coronado Bridge Run happened to fall the same weekend, and it looked like a fun opportunity. 8000 entrants ran the 4 miles from the convention center, over Coronado Bay, ending on Coronado Island in the smallest National Park on record. It was fun stretching at the starting line, watching all the conference attendees in their suits weave their way amongst us with odd looks. The bridge was intimidating, especially the incline. Here's part of the bridge from a distance, it curves around another quarter of its length off to the right. The pics are worth clicking on to get the full image. It was pretty hot in the sun, and I was worried about getting over the bridge, so ran at a fairly easy pace. By the end I was glad I did, it took more effort than I'd expected, but I was glad to have made it over without stopping. Here we are heading up the on-ramp to the bridge. Once on the bridge it was clear it wasn't the angle of the incline, but the length of the overall hill that was tough. Well, tough for me at least, my triathlete friend running with me didn't seem to have a bit of trouble, and was incredibly encouraging throughout. He even took this spiffy action photo of meThose tall buildings are the beginning of the convention center area, where I spent most of my week. The race results were a little jumbled, as my friend and I crossed the exact same second yet were listed 10 places apart, but officially I was 2169/8000. Don't know how much this says, since the winner did the 4 miles in 20 min. flat and the last person was an 82 year old woman. Still, I had a great time, learned some interesting ways to stay refreshed while running, and will definitely sign up for another run soon.

Prepping for travel -- knitting, that is

As some of you know, deciding what knitting project to bring on a trip is of the utmost importance. It has to be small but long-lasting, entertaining but not attention-requiring, and easy to drop and pick up at a moment's notice. Socks fit this perfectly. These socks kept me company on a prior trip, and I'm almost done with them. I knit them both separately, then put them on the needles together so they could be exactly the same length with no wasted yarn.

Thanks to Windy for holding the needles down so I could take this picture. She didn't want her photo taken but was willing to suffer for my picture. I have to get them finished very soon so I can use the needles for the next pair.



So on to the next sock project! A fabulous sock addicted friend who travels a lot herself hooked me up with the COOLEST sock pattern I've ever seen. It looks like a tree growing up around your foot and leg. It inspired me to dye some yarn for the socks, and I'm ready and excited to get traveling so I can start knitting them.

I like to protect my yarn ball so it doesn't get all smooshed and ravely being stuffed in bags and such. But the normal "yarn bra" always ends up compressing the ball in a messy way towards the end. Well, I had an epiphany, and put the bra on sideways and threaded the yarn through a hole in the mesh. The yarn is much more secure and I think will work very well. Here's the yarn I dyed for my next socks in the sideways yarn bra.

I love the whole world

I love this new commercial from Discovery Channel, featuring all the shows they produce. It always makes me smile.
I love the whole world.

Personal Triumph

Five years ago while I was in chemo, my oncology nurse suggested I try walking the Huckleberry Trail with the dog for some exercise. She told me where the trail starts behind the mall, and cautioned me to only walk as far as the big bridge (maybe 10 minutes?) and then turn around no matter how good I felt. And she was right. At the bridge I was very tempted to go further, but heeded her advice and was literally trudging back up the mall hill and went straight home for a nap.

I just came home from my first run on the Huckleberry. I started at the base of the mall hill -- I've biked up it, no way was I including it in my run. I ran to the first bridge past Merrimac and back, 3.7 miles. I've never run hills before, it certainly adds something! I'm glad no one was around to hear, because the last hill made me start cheering myself on trying to get past it. And I did!

I saw a male & female cardinal doing a courting ritual on the path. They would hear me coming and fly about 20 feet ahead and start up their dance, again and again. They looked like they kissed at one point. Very cute.

Tattoo Part 1

Sat. night I got the first part of my new tattoo inked. It's a series of autumn leaves blowing in a gust of wind. I've wanted a hip tattoo for a while, and was trying to decide what exactly I wanted when I stumbled upon a note I'd written about 8 years ago with the idea of a blowing leaves or snowflakes tattoo. Autumn means a lot more to me than winter, so it was an easy choice.

Shaun only had time to outline 3 leaves and shade the first 2. There will be 7 total, curving around my hip towards my back. Each leaf is from a tree that is special to me in some way. So far I have:

Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip Tree)
Quercus alba (White Oak)

Yes, I'm a complete dork and know the latin botanical name for each one. I still remember the identification quirks for each one from college ecology, too.

I love the vibrant colors and shading of the leaves. I can't wait to see what the next ones look like. Here's a closeup of the shading:


The way we're designing it is fun. Shaun drew each leaf individually, and I flip it around on my skin until it's where I want. While he's working on one leaf I lay there and think about what colors to use for the next one. The tattooing isn't bad, except there was a ticklish spot he inked that made it hard to lie still. Now I know how a dog must feel when you scratch its 'giggle nerve' and it starts to pat its foot.

I'll post up more pictures once it's finished, I just had to share what I have so far.