time to build the ark

i snapped this picture today to hopefully get my "non-wimp" status reinvoked .....





and i stole one from WRAL traffic cameras..

I've not seen the animals because they are smart enough to stay inside. supposedly there has been a run on milk and bread at the local teeter as any type of weather watch here in NC tends to equate to modern day catastrophe.. and some how having dairy in the house will bring you salvation...

i went a little Gene Kelly yesterday and somewhat enjoyed my T run in this monstrosity. though 30 minutes isnt really enough to make anything miserable.. but for some strange reason the idea of being wet and cold today just wasnt so appealing... so i (**wimped out*** and) chose the treadmill. and had a great 12 mile run, a much much better run that i could have had outside so in my mind it was a win + plus i got to rock out to some good tunes. now onto "coach holding grudge" prevention plan cause i truly feared she would come down here and lock me out of my house until i did that run outside... :)

storyteller

My grandmother was big & solid. My grandfather was tall & thin. They looked an unlikely couple. I asked them once how they ended up together. My grandmother said she won him fair & square in an arm-wrestling match. My grandpa just smiled. I let you win, he said.

peeves and needs

so i'm going to say something that maybe need not be said...but i find it so irksome to have to wade thru non-dressed ladies in the locker room. i mean i know we are all made of the same parts but really must you blow dry your hair, apply make up and HOLD A CONVERSATION with me while wearing nothing? phew.. ok done.

anyway. i thought perhaps i had lost my motivation and maybe this man was the one who stole it..

that my friends is Slim Thug. my new bff rapper friend who performed in vegas last week. good times.

its been a put on your big girl panties weekend for me. I've been intent on knocking out any cobwebs that may have lingered from weeks of traveling and hotel gyms and sub par workouts. and......it feels GOOD. good to be back on my bike for a few hours. good to be in that big ring and fighting the wind and on roads that i havent been on since last fall. good to have a long, strong run, and even better when i know my form is still on track the last 30 minutes. good to get back in the pool and remember what 12 x 100 feels like. (ok that wasnt so good). but i'm slowly getting my head back on straight and focusing on what is to come. and that is Tucson. training camp with jen and spencer. and probably as close to all out suffering as i will ever come. and they say there is no happiness left in the world. hee hee. but after reading jen's post on the warm weather rides and the scenery and the mexican food... i'm ready.

now if i can just stop eating a row of girl scout cookies each time i pass the freezer perhaps some progress can be made.

oh so right.. the needs part of this...
i need to unpack from the superbowl trip.... still
i need to get a new tire, ok make that tireS, and cassette
i need to find a gift card i got for xmas that somehow has evaporated
i need to call my mom
i need to stop watching bret michaels bus of love.. but i do like a hot mess.. :)
i need to get my 5 a day and not count the 3 strawberries in my strawberry yogurt as 3.
i need to learn how to set my alarm for AM and not PM..
i need to get off the f'n computer!

one day.

well technically about 36 hours. but that was my alloted time home for the month of february. so lucky me that it falls on the 14th. i have to say that waking up in my own bed was such a comfort. alot of times i wake up in a hotel room and literally dont know where i am. or what day it is. or what im' supposed to be doing. but saturday was fantastic. i even slept in till about 10. only to be woken up with breakfast in bed. sweet! pancakes and fake sausage. a veg girls dream. ha. the rest of the day was spent taking clothes out of my suitcase , washing them, and then re-packing. (though i've found that since i've arrived at my next destination, i'm not sure i was entire conscious while packing as i seem to have forgotten to pack any shirts....plenty of lower half apparel but a shockingly low supply of tops.. ) anyway on to a 3.5 hour brick. which was just the kick in the pants i needed after a long flight the day before. i'm proud of how my t runs are coming. im feeling much stronger and taking less time to get the lead out. i regretfully say that i spent a few hours in the office as well. totally F'd up my chi for the day. that night we had grilled fish and watched the superbowl. we hadnt seen the televised version yet so i was pretty excited to see some of the great plays replayed over and over again. though not nearly as emotional as the first go round, the end still got me choked up a bit. so happy to see those guys win. or maybe i was just realizing that i was yet again about to leave all of this home life that i love so much. i do love to travel. dont get me wrong. new places and new things. the world is to big and too spectacular to sit on your couch. but at the same time. there are things at home that are just worth sticking around for.

the city of coke lights, peaux, and wall street english

so midway thru my week in paris, a few things to report:

i did my 1.45 run on sunday in the beautiful luxumbourg gardens, well they are beautiful when it is not raining and not 32 degrees out and you are not running thru a haze of jet lag. after sleeping 2 hours on the over night flight, i spent the first hour counting the guards, and guessing their names and ages, and the last 45 minutes trying not to get passed by old people, or at least not too many of them.

i went to the paris pool to try to swim on monday. not even 30 seconds in the building and i got yelled at by this lady about "no shoes no shoes" so when i took them off she kept yelling. then there were like 10 people per lane (2 lanes) a kid lane -where no joke the yelling lady had a long pole and when kids were drowning she would fish them out.. and then a big area of just people kind of doing laps but more in a swirly just chatting. and the speed was at best variable.. i mean some were doing back FLOAT and some were swimming and some were stopping in the middle of the pool. it was more like an obsitcle course! photos to come. it reminded me of a greek bath house for some reason with all of these little tiny changing rooms all around the pool..

today in the subway i almost killed, or at the very least, maimed a blind man with a stick (he had the stick not me). not on purpose, but i will tell you those sticks hurt when you get hit with one.

we went back to the armenian restaruant where i had my b day here last year and they remembered me! my first brush with fame..

there is a store called musee de popeux (assumingly pronounced Poo-poo) which of course is the most hilarious thing ever (after being shut in a building for 2 days straight you get giddy at just about anything).

so i went to the french gym tonight. the same place as the french pool. it was the size of my mom's basement in pittsburgh and even had the same concrete walls and cement floor. i got on a bike and saw the settings (duh!) were in french so i chose one and went on my merry way..though the top half where you hold on was quite un attached so i felt a bit as if i were riding in the pelaton.. then i get on a treadmill, and well the treadmill had a bit of a lag to it and would go fast then slow, fast then slow.. i almost fell off about 3 times till i figured out the trick..everytime it started to slow down i hit the up incline button and it seemed to jerk it back to the right speed. a good idea till i realized it was not a good idea...

tonight for dinner (10 pm dinner) i had 2 clementines, babyl cheese, yogurt, granola, this weird tuna/vegetable mix that had pickles in it and chocolate cookies. washed down with evian. see.. very french!!

apparently i am wanted by the french authorities for some unpaid custom fees from september. my first offense in a foreign country. i hope to slip out unnoticed and leave the mess to my collegue here to clean up.

i have been made aware of some very interesting photos that exist but have not seen. the word incriminating was used and it makes me nervous as i have no recollection of such a display of crazy in recent times. i reckon its a ploy but still fear the worst.

this will be the third year in a row the french have posted a sign in the tradeshow that says "no smocking". you would think that by now someone would have clued them in on the mistake.

only half way thru the trip and the fun continues. calgon take me away!!!!

i heart the stunkels

i got this email just now and it made my day. thank you!

Hi Kari :o)

Miss you like a fat kid misses cake!!

Six-burgh baby!

it was the best day ever. EVER. super game, super team, super trip! worth losing my voice for 2 days, worth selling my soul for tickets, worth using the most atrocious port-o-potty i have ever seen - ok smelled.. the stadium was electric and swarming with terrible towels. i was unable to contain my self in my seat and spilled out into the aisle too many times to count. bruce rocked that stage. i nearly stopped breathing and surely took 5 years off of my life during the latter part of the 4th quarter. the noise was deafening when they scored that last touchdown. i nearly fell down the steps i was so out of control. i dont know how they do it, but they are amazing!