Meh...

So today is the first day in about 10 days that I actually feel like I am not ready to cough up my left lung. I was sick the entire time I was on vacation, and it was pretty bad there for a couple of days. I think that flying only exacerbated the problem, and by 7PM on the evening we arrived in Arizona, I was in bed agonizing over the pressure in my head that would not go away. So, despite my good intentions (I packed 5 jogging outfits, my runners, AND my Nike + iPod), I thought better of running with a head cold.

Now that I am back to reality, I have had 2 crapola runs (Monday and Today), but I'm ok with that. I'll get back in the swing of things.

I haven't updated anything on my Nike + yet, but don't worry. It's not impressive.

Tell Me a Story...

So I promise not to bore anyone with irritating vacation stores for the next 2 years, but this one made me laugh so I have to share.

I have never claimed that The Gazelle was a worldly man. I've also never claimed to be attracted to men of that sort. I love him because he is like me...comfortably naive to some of the finer things in life, yet open-minded and willing to learn. I grew up in a very small town, and didn't move to the big city until I was 21 years old. I like to think that I've retained some of my innate Country Girl charm, despite the fact that I've now lived in the city for 10 years. The Gazelle was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. Although he didn't grow up country, his family is from North Carolina, so it's in his blood.

I regress...


While on vacation, I was lucky enough to have an old friend drive into Phoenix from Tucson to have dinner with myself and The Gazelle. He was actually my junior prom date (strictly platonic, I promise). I'll show you the picture later. It's gonna blow your mind. So, Junior Prom Date met us at our hotel bar, and after about an hour of catching up, we departed to Kinkaid's for steak and conversation.

Everything was going great. Drink orders...check! Salad orders...check!

Then came time to order dinner. Junior Prom Date and I ordered our dinners. The Gazelle, being the open-minded man that he is, inquired to the waitress "how is the duck?"

"It's ok...if you like duck."

Oh no, he wasn't deterred by this. He asked more questions about the duck.

"You should try the prime rib, it's excellent", the waitress replied.

To that, The Gazelle answered "oh no, I don't like ribs at all."

I felt my cheeks get hot, and I think I began to feel my armpits get a little sticky. Did my boyfriend, the man I love & adore with all of my heart, just tell the waitress that he doesn't want prime rib because he doesn't like ribs? Err...what do I do...what do I say?

So, true to form, I did nothing. I said nothing. I just let it unfold right before my very eyes. I was afraid to look at Junior Prom Date for fear that he would think that I was a horrible country-rooted girlfriend for not schooling my city boyfriend on the vast disparity between prime ribs and bbq ribs.

I have to give the waitress a lot of credit because she flowed right through this mishap with little more than a slight eye roll. She carried on and just let him order the duck. After she left, I very matter-of-factly brought up the story of my 20 year old assistant at work who made the very same mistake last year at our work Christmas party. I think that I effectively got my point across, without bruising his pride too awfully much...and I doubt that he'll make the same mistake again.

So, if you made it this far into my rambling post about prime rib vs. bbq ribs, then you have earned this...

See...aren't you so happy you waited? I think this picture can be the subject of several blogs to come.

And, alas...I promise to write about jogging soon. There are just so many other fun things to talk about in the meantime.

Oh Sunshine...Oh Palm Tree...Oh Blue Metal Art Thingy!

Vacation brought with it many adventures.

There were the careless nights relaxing in the hotel bar (ahem…restaurant...mom) while watching the game and laughing with The Gazelle. And the aimless walks around the streets of downtown Phoenix.

One of those walks brought us to this…




Here's a better view...just in case you missed it the first time...






That gave us a hearty belly laugh.

We did a lot of wandering for the first 2 days that we were in Phoenix. Despite the fact that I completely lack any sense of direction whatsoever, The Gazelle trusts me so fully that he still sometimes lets me lead the way. That’s love. However, after about the 5th time that I brought us full-circle around the 15 block radius of our hotel, only to find that our destination was a mere 2 blocks (insert cardinal direction here) of our hotel, he grew frustrated and took over the navigational duties. That was ok with me though. It was too much responsibility, considering I was on vacation and all.

The good part about wandering around Phoenix and getting lost is that you find things like this…






and this…





and especially this…







We found this little gem of a park behind the Hooters (go figure) in Arizona Center. Their little water pond with the rocky bottom was so relaxing that we spent 2 hours sitting on a wooden bench staring at the water and talking. We can talk for hours if we let ourselves. Sometimes life just doesn't give you time to do that though.

As we were sitting there talking on the bench under the palms (ack...gag...barf...that sounded way too romantic), I felt so thankful to have some extra time for a change. It was strange to have time to just wander around a city aimlessly and get lost.

If you have time someday, you should try it. It's a lot of fun.

I Heart Vacation

Ah, the joy of vacation.

Tomorrow, at the butt crack of dawn, The Gazelle and I will leave on a jet plane to spend 4 lovely days in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve never been to Phoenix before, but I’ve heard only good things. I am basically ready to go anywhere that the weather is not 45 degrees and windy at this point. It’s been a blustery week for us in the DC metro area, so the idea of basking in sunny, beautiful weather (if only for 4 days) seems like a little glimpse of heaven to me.

The forecast at home looks like this…



And…the forecast in Phoenix looks like this…



Phoenix?

Will you marry me?