A few runs back to back to back

This morning I headed over to Trisha and Jeff's place off Stony Point for a trail jog behind their house along the 12- one of our normal routes.  For some reason I was up earlier than usual and posted a bit strip about how I didn't want to wait until 8am!  When I got there Jeff showed me the new games on his gamin console and before I knew it we were playing and Trisha snapped the picture of us gaming instead of running.  After we ran 6 miles (3 miles out, 3 back) then I ran it again playing Zombies, Run!  It was a fun morning.

First Six Miles with Trisha and Jeff
Third Three Miles S2-S10/War Is The Answer
Fourth Three Miles S2-M19/No Future

Bitstrips

I saw my friends Hannah and Chelsea posting cartoon-like images of themselves a while back and thought they were really cool.  I looked into it more and found out there's an app called "Bitstrips" that you can create your own look-a-like avatar that you can put into a customizable situation complete with speaking bubbles, facial expressions and daunting text along the bottom.  I've had fun with it for a while now posting pictures with me and Jake or an exasperation such as when the gym was closed.  It's cute.  It's fun.  Wonder how long it'll stick around?

Global Climate Change

Even though this video was made back in 2007 this was the first time I'd seen it.  For many years now I've been a strong advocate of taking action on climate change.  Primarily with focus on recycling and carbon emissions.  The way he frames the decision point helps to frame it in a way people on any side of the facts could understand.  Let's take ACTION!

Healdsburg Half Marathon

This last Thursday Jake flew to California for our third visit in as many weeks.  One of the memorable moments from this visit is that I introduced Jake to the California It's-It.  One of their flavors is a chocolate chip with mint ice cream; I knew it'd be Jake's favorite and he did in fact enjoy it very much.

Thanks for letting me take a surprise photo!  Saturday night we went over to Katelynn and Brian's house for drinks with friends.  It was a nice night, Emily Sequine introduced me and Jake to a chocolate covered caramel treat on a cookie that is made by Trader Joe's - Yum!

Sunday morning was my Healdsburg half marathon race- one of my top 5 favorite races for sure.  At the end, they serve you wine with your medal!

Jake was a sweetheart to not only wait for me while I ran for two hours but he also took pictures of me at the finish; thanks!!!  Sweet treats, drinks with friends, running a half marathon all with my boyfriend here- I'd say my weekend couldn't get any better than that!

Boise Again!?

Yes.  I was just here last weekend but this trip was a must-do because my good friend from Boise High School, Amanda Craig is getting married!  I flew in Friday this trip and was greeted by my parents.  and that evening Jake and I went to the Boise LGBTQ Democratic Caucus event at Solid.  There were a few people I knew there from years past.  It was great seeing Matthew Montoya and catching up with him.  I bid in the silent auction and even won a few things!  Then we were off to Amanda's wedding meet and greet at Beside Bardenay.  It was so nice to see Amanda again after all these years and give her a great big hug and Congratulations in person!

Saturday morning Jake and I went to Andrej's house for brunch.  We poured ourselves a drink and made a toast to our friend Ashley who was in the Caribbean getting married to Jeremy.

Then Andrej took us to BodyBuilding.com for a personal tour of their new complex!  It is quite a building and seems like a very comfortable and motivational place to work!  All their cubes were open style and grouped in work teams.  The gym was amazing and also fully stocked with all sorts of supplements.  Andrej seems very happy here.

After the tour Jake and I headed over to Valley View retirement community to congratulate my Dad's Uncle Mont on his birthday.  Most of the family who live in Boise were able to make it.  It's become a family tradition now to get together for Mont's birthday.  Hard to believe he's not far from reaching 100!

Following Mont's birthday celebration we went to Amanda's wedding which is being held at the Boise Train Depot!  Such a gorgeous afternoon for an outdoor ceremony, cocktail hour on the train depot steps and then dinner inside organized by cities and airlines.  Very creative!  It was a very enjoyable dinner, we were seated next to some friends of theirs from Virginia.  I couldn't help myself- so I asked about the politics going on there lately with Governor Ultra-sound and boy did the conversation pick up!  I was very grateful for the intelligent conversation about current politics; yes, I had FUN!

After all the festivities we got to go up the tower of the depot and look out over the city.  It was a beautiful night and so glad I spent it with Jake!  We couldn't stay for the evening, we headed out to meet up with Chuck and Emily at their house.  We played board games and hung out it was a very nice Saturday evening in Boise.

Sunday we met at my parent's house for lunch and played cards.  Before I knew it the weekend had come and gone again and I was off to California once more.  No tears though, Jake is visiting me next weekend!

A Boise Visit

This October is full of travel!  Between me and Jake we have FOUR round trip flights scheduled.  Phew.  Blogging fingers get ready; it's going to be a busy typing month!  The first Thursday in October I flew to Boise for the weekend.  I enjoyed all the time I got to spend with Jake, Chuck, Emily and my family.

Friday I got up and ran - always glad when I can get a jog in on my vacation trips.  Today's mission was S2-M17/Toxic.  Jake surprised me with a lunch at Shangri-La Tea Room and Vegetarian Cafe!  My wrap was delicious and neither of us left a spot on our plates.  We split a ginger drink that had a nice kick to it.  That night we went to a place called 10 Barrel.  Jake and Damian enjoy going whenever they can.  I was really impressed with the place and look forward to coming back again next weekend!

Saturday we got up after a lazy morning and went to one of the Boise Farmer's Markets downtown.  We took several pictures and Jake said that the rustic Idaho images on the old boards gave him some crafting ideas.

After the market Jake and I headed out to 3 Horse Ranch with Emily where she took this picture of me and Jake.

That evening Casey and Kari came over to Chuck and Emily's place and we got to see little Cooper!  Such an adorable little baby.  What lucky parents!

That evening Damian picked me and Jake up at his house and we went out to 10 Barrel.  I had a large salad with ranch and Jake had the same salad but with a vinaigrette.  We all split the nachos and enjoyed some beers.  Then we went out to the balcony for dancing and drinks.  The last thing I remembered was Andrew the bar tender handing me a drink and saying "I love ya Man".  I woke up in Jake's house around 2 am and every half hour after that I was throwing up.  Until finally around 9 am I told Jake I had to get to the Emergency room.  What an awful morning!  I couldn't stop throwing up; even after my stomach was emptied my body just wouldn't stop!  Fortunately I got an iv in and was replenished with fluids and they gave me something to stop the nausea.  What a rough Sunday.  I moved my flight home to Monday morning (thanks Southwest!) and used the rest of Sunday to rest up.  Thanks Jake and my parents for being there for me.  It's going to be some time before I can eat at 10 Barrel again or have wine, then beer, then hard alcohol.  I'm not in my twenties anymore!

Government Down

Well they've done it again.  Republican's have shut down the government.  The politics of this year seem to be so extreme, and there's nothing like a physical shut down of the government like this to bring the point home.  My favorite quote was shared on twitter by Chris Hall "America was not shut down properly.  Would you like to start America in safe mode with free health care and without the guns?  (Recommended)"
Here's an article from my friend Justin Sesek who posted this on Facebook this week.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN AND YOU!

Well it happened...an agreement was not reached and the federal government has been shut down. What does this mean? Oh just these things below. But don't worry, it's no big deal really...

1. The Centers for Disease Control is stopping its flu vaccination program. And monitoring the country for infectious outbreaks the way they do now when they discover random eruptions of a staph infection in New Hampshire or a strain of E.Coli traced to a Chili's in Tacoma. Nothing huge there; the only thing that those worthless bureaucrats at the CDC ever did was discover AIDS.

2. Benefits to spouses of deceased military members are stopping. Did your grandpa liberate Paris and Antwerp from the Nazis and die five years ago? Good thing Social Security is paid from a separate fund and thus unaffected so your widowed grandmother isn't eating Purina.

3. National Parks are closed. You have 48 hours to leave if you're in one. So is the Smithsonian. And the White House. And Alcatraz. And the Statue of Liberty. Good thing summer vacation is over.

4. Applications for certain firearms are not being processed since the ATF is on skeleton crew (Oh look at that Tea Party...this shutdown you all cheered for affects things you care about too!)

5. The US Forest service has to lay off firefighters. Screw them...it's not like it's still fire season and the whole western U.S. was a giant cloud of smoke all summer so bad that it made Mexico City look like a glacier in Northern Canada. Oh wait.

6. Almost no staff at the Department of State is slowing down passport applications for Americans wanting to travel and visa applications for foreign nationals trying to enter the country. The estimated 30,000 unprocessed visas a day turn into 30,000 less airplane tickets purchased by people who now can't enter the U.S. That's cool though (some were probably Socialists or something). The Airline Industry has certainly not turned nickel-and-diming consumers into a science to the point there will soon be coin slots on the lavatory doors and a fee to exit the plane through the gate vs. jumping onto the runway. I'm sure the airlines will just eat all that lost revenue and not take the millions of dollars they lose and pass it on to their passengers ("Ladies and gentleman American Airlines welcomes you to your non-stop flight from JFK to Chicago O'Hare. In just a moment the flight staff will be coming through the aisles offering seat-belts for a one-time charge of $179.95. In the event of a loss of pressure oxygen masks are complimentary for our first class and business travelers.")

7. While we're now slowing down on people legally entering the country and getting work permits, we can just cancel that out since employers can no longer use the national E-Verify screening system to determine if a potential employee is legally in the country or not.

8. OSHA will no longer be inspecting factories and workplaces for violations aside from a rare one here and there. Same with the people from the FAA who inspect airports to make sure that nice United Airlines mechanic is not duct-taping a wing flap back on. And the FDA, half of whose staff is now not working, is not inspecting food plants as much for the Salmonella outbreak that the CDC now won't catch (see #1). You've seen what slaughterhouses look like; imagine no one checking to make sure they aren't throwing contaminated chicken parts with tumors in with the good stuff. Maybe the food poisoning you get at Chick Fil-A will get you sent home from work before the ceiling collapses or you breathe in enough asbestos to get Mesothelioma.

9. The EPA shuts down. No one monitoring the air or water. No big deal. It's such a hassle for companies to have to dispose of their waste in a method that doesn't involve dumping it in the closest river.

10. The Federal Program that provides assistance to poor people for heating their homes will stop providing help in approximately a month. You know, in November. Florida? Meh whatevs. Minnesota or Maine? Don't worry you can just disassemble rooms in your house for firewood one at at time.

11. So does the program that provides nutrition assistance to poor women with infant children (WIC). That's fine though too; small children don't need socialist liberal hippie things like calcium or Vitamin B or whole grain in their diets--that sounds way too French. Cool Ranch Doritos and Pepsi--Breakfast of Champions!

12. Student loans and pell grants are going to be delayed since the Department of Education on a federal level is pretty much non-existant. Because doing your FAFSA wasn't a huge enough pain in the ass already.

13. As soon as Washington barrels through its rainy day reserve the District of Columbia will only be allowed to provide three city services: police, firefighting, and EMS. No street cleaners. No libraries. And in addition to the estimated $200 million in economic activity the city loses each day the government is shut down, Washington will not have trash removal. Nothing like the capital of the world's most powerful country covered in overflowing dumpsters.

14. Over 800,000 Federal employees are being told to stay home unpaid until further notice. So are 400,000 civilian employees contracted to the Department of Defense. Imagine all the money they would be getting paid now not being spent in coffee shops and grocery stores and local businesses. It will ricochet outward as people cancel their vacations and stop eating out and run behind on their car payments and cancel their pay tv services and have their cell phones shut off. That's gotta be awesome for the economy.

15. VA hospitals will still provide medical care for those eligible but you can expect weeks-long delays for disability checks for veterans. It's fine though.. soldiers who volunteered to leave their families to get shipped to a desert and jumped on a grenade probably get spoiled with all that food and shelter.

But don't worry, the member of Congress who represents you in Washington is still collecting their $174,000 a year salary.

Switchboard to the U.S. Capitol is (202) 224-3121 if you'd like to chat with them about...anything.