Looping the Hen

Summer 2006 – Fireworks, Gravity Test, Girlfriend

This summer looks to be one of the more interesting of my life! July 3 I will take my life in my hands and jump out of an airplane with a friend of mine. (And y’all thought I was kidding!). It’s a little scary, a lot exciting, though those emotions may reverse roles by the time I reach the plane. It’s going to be a tandem jump, meaning an instructor will actually be the one with the parachute and the jumpees don’t really have any responsibilities other than to fall, scream and land. Mom, you didn't hear this!

At the beginning of August G-Max I will be going to Vancouver for a week. It will be my first out of country trip, so it is also very exciting. They have a fireworks display contest that I am very much looking forward to, and we should be able to make it to two shows.

I’d also like to make it a point to run a road race in every country I visit, but the only one I can find on the dates I am there is 10k (6.1 miles, my normal races are half that), so I’ll make sure to bring a copy of Chariot’s of Fire to get me all the way through. Gibb and Serira, it looks like I will be coming into and leaving out of Seattle, so if y’all’d like to catch a drink or dinner on August 1, let me know!

I must also brag on my newly acquired Girlfriend, one of only two to ever not make me completely insane (yet? JK Hunny!). Yay! Although I must say, I think she makes me ditzy instead. I know G-Max has mentioned my legendary forgetfulness and lack of common sense here, but it mostly went away when I moved to TN. In the 2 months or so since Tammy and I have been dating, I feel like I have reverted to the old days.

Last weekend while trying to open a movie I stabbed myself with a steak knife and almost needed stitches. Mucho blood and unpleasantness. We were at the park (yes, that park) a few days later and I had just finished my run and was catching up to Tammy. I keep my car key in my inner pocket of my running shorts so I don’t lose it. Well, by the time I caught up with her I was thinking, crap, where is my key? So we start walking back the way I had run from, looking on the ground for my key. We got about a quarter of a mile and my brain was trying to tell me something, because I swore I remembered feeling my key on my run. Seems I got distracted as I was getting my key out and had dropped it in my shorts, where it was settled snugly. Ugg.

The absolute worst happened this past weekend. So I was taking a shower and umm, something (someone?) seemed to distract me. When we got out of the shower I noticed it wasn’t draining, and figured someone’s much longer hair than mine had clogged it. I had some Drano handy and poured it all in, and it didn’t work. Uh oh, I thought, bad clog, definitely not my fault! This was the day of the big Poker Tourney’s I mentioned last week, so I figured I would go out after them if I needed to. Figuring I didn’t want to take any chances, I went to Lowe’s and picked up both a plunger and a pipe snake. After over 2 hours of fiddling with both, still no dice. Part of me was thinking of a big man with a crack in my bathroom charging me $200 to fix my plumbing. I go out again to Walmart and pick up 3 different kinds of Drano stuff. Nothing could survive the upcoming barrage of flesh-eating base I was about to pour down my drain!

So I pour a big ole 64oz bottle of generic Drano in and go back to play some more poker while it works, hoping the fumes don't make it to my bedroom and render me unconscious. Two more hours go by and nothing. I was about to crack open a 2nd bottle while I was staring in dismay at my tub, the plunger, empty bottles, and my pipe snake. And something clicked, and ghastly I turned toward the faucet (Ode to G-Max). Sure enough, my drain thing was closed. I am the Stupidest. Person. Ever. Of course the drain opener stuff had carved little black holes into my beautiful stainless steel. Ugg. And ugg again I tell you! Tammy, I’d like my brain back any time now, thanks!

Anyhoo, this has gone way too long! Other minor things going on include a Little People Pre-release on July 1, and my first race of the summer on Independence Day, where I will try to help motivate a friend into finishing her first race. (Spy) Other than that, I was just thinking of streaking through the park.