January 2008 Archives

It's official: this day already sucks. I am soaking wet from my hips to my ankles after the rain started pouring down right when I was walking the freaking mile I have to walk from the parking lot to get to my building. (To be totally accurate, it is not a mile. But it is a solid quarter mile, and it takes a good 4-5 minutes to do the walk.)

See, the parking situation at JSC basically sucks. My building includes the control center, which means there are always tons of people coming and going. The main parking lot fills up by about 8:15 a.m. The next parking lot fills by 9:00. The other parking lot, the one where you used to be able to always find a spot no matter what, is now closed indefinitely because they are constructing a new building and using the lot as a staging area. That leaves my "last-ditch" choice of parking, which means a quarter-mile walk. Most days I don't mind it at all. But on days like today, when I get caught in a freaking downpour with horizontal rain, the ability to park closer to my building is much-desired.

Thankfully my officemate has a small portable heater that has dried out my pants quite nicely over the last 1.5 hours. Now if only I could dry my shoes...

Training for the Lonestar Half Ironman has entered its second week and it's going well so far. This week, Tuesday was impossible -- there was just no way for me to fit in a workout when I was at work until 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday are going to be continual issues thanks to class. I'm not sure if I'm going to have time for a workout today, but yesterday went like this:

4:30 - Leave my office, walk to parking lot, drive over to Gilruth
4:45 - Arrive at Gilruth, change clothes
4:55 - Start running, 4x400-400 with 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown
5:40 - Finish running
6:00 - Arrive home
6:05 - Jump in shower
6:15 - Out of shower, throw a Lean Cuisine in the microwave
6:25 - Eat Lean Cuisine, burn my tongue
6:35 - Frantically gathering notebook, textbook, computer
6:40 - Leave for UHCL
7:00 - Butt in seat just as professor walks in

It was a very rushed evening, that's for sure. And when I don't get home until after 10, it's hard to go right to bed, so I inevitably stay up too late winding down. Then I sleep in a little, and that's how I ended up walking in to work this morning in a torrential downpour.

See? Full circle.

More class tonight. Jose's check ride tomorrow!

I haven't left the country in two years and my feet are most certainly getting itchy. So yesterday I bought two tickets to Japan. Well, "bought" is perhaps not quite the right word, since what I actually did is clean out my frequent flier account. And I must say: frequent flier miles on Continental are awesome! A few clicks and 120,000 miles later, and Jose and I each have a non-stop ticket to Tokyo.

We are scheduled to go at the beginning of November. And unfortunately I have to say "scheduled" because there's a chance we'll have to cancel the trip and redeposit all those miles back into my account. I've always said that I'd never allow the space shuttle launch schedule to get in the way of my vacation plans, but that's a hard promise to keep. There may be a mission right when we want to be in Japan. If there is, it will probably be Jose's first mission as lead Rendezvous GPO. Thus we'd have to reschedule our trip again (we've already put it off twice).

But for now, I'm trying not to think about that. Because this is the first time of the many times we've talked about buying tickets that we've actually gone through with it. As of now, I'm going to Japan!

Very exciting.

Those are not my flip flops. I never did like jellies.

Yes, I hit the pool last night for the first time in a few months. Maybe more than a few months, I really can't remember. As it turns out, I may have gotten a little too complacent and/or overconfident about my swimming abilities. While I was still able to churn out 1650 yards in a decent time of 37:00 (and that includes 3 1-minute breaks), it was harder than I remember. And my arms are a little sore today.

Swimming is the only one of the triathlon sports in which I'm solidly above average. Not the best by any means, but top third. But sadly, no one ever wins a triathlon in the swim anyway -- it just doesn't take up a large enough percentage of the whole race. Because it's my best and because it matters least, I'm particularly guilty of letting my swimming slide.

No more! Swimming is back on the calendar.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of the classes I am taking this semester is 3D modeling. Though I've messed around with a lot of graphics programs, 3D modeling is one area I have never even tried. Never even opened any of the software. So I know nothing about Maya or how to use it. And yet after opening the software for the first time on Wednesday, yesterday I made this bowl of fruit.

Pretty cool, right? I think it turned out surprisingly well for my first attempt.

The weekend was nice. I still can't believe I set a new 10K PR on Saturday. Crazy. My other weekend workout plan to bike 20-25 miles yesterday morning was thwarted when I woke up at 7:00 to see a blanket of thick fog covering the area. I drove over to the high school, wondering if the fog might be thinner over there, and indeed all of the Bay Area Multisporters were there and ready to ride. But the fog was just as thick, and I did not feel comfortable. I've had enough close calls in broad daylight, and I really was not liking the idea of riding around Clear Lake in conditions that would prevent cars from seeing me until they were practically upon me. I don't even have a light on my bike (because I don't ride at night). Everyone else took off, while I climbed back into my car feeling a little bit sheepish. Oh well. I make my own decisions. I made up for it with an hour on the bike trainer instead. My first outdoor ride of the season will have to wait until next weekend.

Last night Jose and I went to the Rockets game against the Jazz. Yao was out for the evening with a respiratory infection, and his absence was obvious. The Rockets could not get in a groove, and ended up losing by almost 10 points. We still had fun.

Jose went flying yesterday afternoon after the fog had finally dissapated. He's scheduled for his check ride -- aka the final big test with an FAA examiner who, if he passes, will sign off on his private pilot's license -- on Friday afternoon. Once he gets his license he'll finally be able to take passengers (ahem, me!) with him, and I'm so excited to finally be able to go flying with him that I can barely stand it. Everyone cross your fingers for good weather! And send lots of good luck wishes Jose's way!

You know those days where you go out running and for whatever reason, you just have a good day? And out of nowhere, you surprise yourself by going farther or faster than you had before?

Today I had a good day. And out of nowhere, I set a new PR at the 10K distance! I ran the Mardi Gras 10K in Galveston this morning in 1:02:43, lowering my PR at that distance by 27 seconds

I don't even really know what to say. It was totally unexpected, and I'm pretty shocked.

The weather was crappy -- overcast and cold, and the breeze off the ocean was not helping. I was freezing as we walked over to the beach pavilion to get our chips. I knew I'd warm up once I started running, but I was so cold that I decided to start the race wearing two long sleeve tech tees in an attempt to block the breeze. (I also wore gloves and a headband that covered my ears.) The double tech tee worked, of course, but by mile 1 I was too warm. I knew it would happen. But the upside to the cold weather was that it allowed me to run my fastest. Had it been even 10 degrees warmer, I doubt I would have finished as quickly.

I ran the first two miles with Debbie in 10:02 and 10:13. I stopped for less than a minute to walk at the two-mile mark, mainly to take off one of the tech shirts, tie it around my waist, and stick my earphones in my ears. I knew I wouldn't catch Debbie again, but I was able to keep her about 30-50 feet ahead of me until the final mile, when she turned up the speed. She finished a minute or two ahead of me.

As I passed the mile 3 marker, I looked down to see a split of 11:26. That seemed pretty slow, since the only thing I'd done was walk for less than a minute and then slowed to drink some water. I was crossing my fingers that the marker actually was placed at the 5K mark. Passing mile 4 in 9:05 confirmed my suspicion.

I was starting to tire at this point, but I was hoping for a finish time around 1:04. Something respectable. I ran mile 5 in 10:13, and started really wishing that the finish line would hurry up and find me before I fell apart. I had been leapfrogging with an older guy who began to pull away from me. I couldn't tell if this meant I was slowing down or not -- because oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I neglected to change my Garmin from bike mode back to running mode. So instead of pace, it was showing my average speed. It had read 5.9 miles per hour the whole race, which I knew was just over 10:00 pace, but I didn't know exactly how much.

Now, I knew I was running hard and had been the whole race, but it wasn't until the 1 hour mark, when I looked at my wrist and noticed I had only 0.3 miles to go, that I realized I had a shot at a new PR. When I realized that, boy I turned on the jets and ran as fast as I could for the finish line. I never saw the 6 mile marker, but I ran the last 1.2 miles in 11:42. I felt nauseous and crossed the line gasping for air, but I did it.

1:02:43! Woohoo!

Somehow it's Friday. Last time I checked, it was Tuesday. How cool is that?!

Yesterday I had a late rendezvous sim at work. Because sims have been so scarce, and because I need to be certified by March in order to work the flight I'm assigned to in April, basically every sim I've had in the past two months has been like an evaluation. People watching me to see how I'm progressing. To see if I'm ready for the next official evaluation. To see if I'm ready to be certified. Just watching, watching, watching. No pressure at all, right?

But I'm happy to report that last night's sim went well. The biggest thing they've been harping on me for is that I haven't been talking enough on console. Me. Not talking enough. That's not something I hear very often.

So last night I talked and talked. If I thought it, I said it. And that was enough! I was declared ready for my cert qual (sort of like a pre-final, and probably the hardest sim I'll see) which is both exciting and scary. Exciting because I've been looking forward to this; scary because oh my god, my next sim is going to be seriously hard!!

And that's that.

Three days. I've decided that three days is the perfect length of time for a weekend. Four days at work, three days at home. Why hasn't anyone else figured this out? I'm allowed to work 9-80s if I want, and take every other Friday off. In practice, however, this doesn't really work out so well. It's nice to know the offer is there, but when no one else in your office takes advantage of the schedule, it makes it hard for me to do so without missing meetings, sims, and other actions. Next week it will be back to five days at work and only two at home, and Monday morning will always come too soon.

On Saturday night, Jose and I went to the Rockets game using the tickets I got him as a Christmas present. I hadn't been to a Rockets game since they moved to the Toyota Center, so it was fun to see them in the not-so-new-anymore arena. We had a great time, and it turns out that I like basketball more than I thought. It probably helped that they were playing the defending-champion San Antonio Spurs, so the arena was sold out and the atmosphere -- especially in the 4th quarter -- was like that of a playoff game. The Rockets won by two points, so we went home happy and immediately bought tickets for another game this weekend. If they were cheaper, we'd have bought one of the 6-game packages but dang, basketball tickets are way more expensive than baseball tickets. A single 6-game Rockets package with upper deck seats along the sideline costs almost as much as my 27-game Astros season ticket package cost last year. And our Astros seats, though in the upper deck, were behind the plate and thus not crappy.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. Jen and Gavin had us over for dinner and board games on Sunday night, and yesterday I had a girls day with Jen and Becca -- we got pedicures and went to see 27 Dresses, which was was suitably cheesy and romantic. I also rode my bike for the first time since September. I know this because it still had the flat tire that I got while riding in Austin with Leila when we went up for Austin City Limits. Ha! It took me forever to change the tube, but finally I got everything set up inside on my trainer (I was just not loving the idea of riding outside in the wind and cold) and rode for almost an hour. My butt hurts because of it. This is what I get for taking such a long break from cycling!

I've been looking over the list of upcoming races, and there are so many that I'd like to do. Then I realize that I cannot possibly do them all and still 1) get enough sleep, 2) be a good girlfriend, and 3) maintain a sense of sanity.

I have promised myself that I will think long and hard before signing up for anything else. With three space shuttle missions in three months, taking two classes this semester, working with the new Bay Area Multisport group -- and oh yeah, trying to retain some form of calmness in my life! -- I don't want to attempt anything more. What I've already signed up for is probably too much in the first place!

That said, here is my schedule for the next few months:

January 26 - Mardi Gras Beach Run 10K (with Debbie)
February 9 - Surfside Half Marathon
March 1 & 2 - Texas Independence Relay
March 15 & 16 - Seabrook Pelican Challenge (a half marathon both days, like last year)
March 30 - Lonestar Half Ironman

I hope to see many of you at one or more of these events!

Combine those with my non-athletics schedule:

February 7 - STS-122 launch
March 13 - STS-123 launch
March 26 - my 30th birthday!
April 12 - Karen's wedding in Atlanta
April 24 - STS-124 launch

It's gonna be a busy spring!

I added an icon file to my site so that if you turn my blog into a webclip on an iPhone, you'll see a customized icon instead of just a mini-screenshot of my page. This is pretty pointless, since I highly doubt that anyone will turn my blog into a webclip except me, but it was fun (and easy) to do.

Classes started for me at UHCL last night. For the first time, I am taking two classes in one semester, and I'm both excited and a little nervous about how that will work out.

See, I started taking classes in fall 2005 with a graphic design course. I did it because I was interested, and because I wanted to feel like I was working towards something totally different if I eventually chose to leave engineering behind. Technically, I was a graduate student working towards a master's degree in Humanities with a concentration in graphic design. But a humanities degree required three core English/literature classes, and those did not interest me at all. I doubted I would ever take them, and thus doubted I would ever get a degree.

But last fall it all changed. UHCL introduced a graduate program in Digital Media Studies. Core classes are no longer basic humanities classes, but are actually communication and technology subjects. Graphic design is a core class, foundations of information technology is a core class, and the most "English-y" of the bunch still deals with new media. It's much, much closer to what I'm interested in, and suddenly the idea of getting the degree was something I definitely wanted to do.

At the rate of one class a semester, I've accumulated 15 credit hours. I've tried to take classes in the summer but haven't had luck with the scheduling. Still, 15 hours is almost halfway to a master's degree, which is something I'm interested in getting because I like the material I'm learning and because I feel that having a degree would "legitimize" me if I choose to take the leap into a totally different career once the space shuttle stops flying. But at this rate, it will be May 2011 before I finish.

That's 6 years to get a single master's degree.

So this semester I'm trying two classes a semester. I'm actually pretty nervous about how things will go, because I keep a busy schedule and giving up both Wednesday and Thursday night for class, plus the many hours required outside of class for projects and homework, is a big deal. But by May I'll have 21 hours. Then 27, then 33, and all of a sudden I'm looking at finishing the master's degree in December 2009 -- or even by May 2009 if I can find something to take this summer.

We'll see how my two-class test run goes. I'm crossing my fingers that I can handle it while still thinking it's fun. Last night was a good start. Wednesday night is 3D modeling -- something I've never even attempted before. I don't know anything about the software, and my impression has always been that 3D modeling is 1) hard and 2) takes loads of time. But it's definitely a new challenge, and I like the professor a lot. I definitely came home excited.

I really, really do not understand people who do not check who their email is being sent to. Case in point: I am on a distribution list for a project I do not work on anymore. I get a few emails per day. Today, someone replied asking to be removed from the list. Then another. And another. And another. Obviously the list has not been cleaned up in quite some time. All of these emails are being sent to the entire list, because when you click "reply," the reply-to address has been configured (in some misguided attempt at communication, I'm sure) such that the list address appears in the "To" field. To reply to a single person, you must remove the list address and then type in the address of the person you wish to email.

Now, this is horribly designed. It makes it far too easy for lazy people who do not check the "To" field of their email before hitting "Send" to accidentally reply to the whole list. So today, this is what I've gotten to read:

"Please remove me from this list."
"Ok, I will remove you when I get back to my office."
"Please remove me as well."
"And me."
"Yes, remove me."
"Stop replying to all!"
"Remove me from the list also."
"PLEASE STOP REPLYING TO ALL!"
"Take me off the list."
"I don't want to be on the list anymore."
"Remove me please."
"To be removed, you must email so-and-so. Stop replying to the whole list."
"Remove me from the list please."

And on. And on. AND ON.

At least there was this response to make me laugh:

"I like being on this list. I've never gotten so many great emails! Are there any more lists like this you can put me on?"

For a bunch of rocket scientists, we sure can be stupid sometimes.

I'm feeling pretty good in the aftermath of yesterday's half marathon. Every time I stand up from my desk after sitting for a while, my hips creak and my first couple steps are stiff, but after that I'm fine.

Did anyone else have problems with the runner update system yesterday? I've talked to at least three other people that never got any updates on the runners they were tracking. Jose never got a single update on me during the race, and finally got an update that I'd finished -- at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. I'd signed up my own cell phone as well, and got my finisher's update -- at 7:00 last night. Obviously the updates were beyond useless at that point. The system has always worked in the past (though I remember it being pretty sluggish last year), but to not work at all? Not cool.

I didn't have my Garmin handy when I wrote the last entry, so here are my splits. Which obviously means that I wore my watch, despite pondering (quite seriously) the idea of ditching it entirely. It was a race morning decision to wear it after all. I'm too much of a wuss to do a major race and get no data on it, apparently.

Mile 1 - 10:10 (note to self: don't start in the front)
Mile 2 - 10:48
Mile 3 - 10:42
Mile 4 - 10:58
Mile 5 - 10:37
Mile 6 - 10:58 (took a gu at the water station)
Mile 7 - 11:03 (stupid mini-hills)
Mile 8 - 10:34
Mile 9 - 11:15 (took another gu at the water station)
Mile 10 - 11:37 (saw Cassie & Manny, but getting really tired)
Mile 11 - 11:06 (maybe I can push through?)
Mile 12 - 12:09 (ok, no, I am really freaking tired)
Mile 13 - 11:47
Last 0.1 - 1:02 (can see the clock, gotta finish under 2:25!)

A lot of people mentioned they had Garmin issues during the race, measuring the wrong time and/or wrong distance. I can't explain it, since my Garmin functioned perfectly. It did lose signal as I expected it would once I got downtown and the line of sight to the satellites gets reflected off multiple buildings, so it read long and my average pace took a false dive in the last mile. But until then the distance was almost dead on. And even once it lost satellites, the timer still functioned just fine.

I also forgot to mention that I saw Matt, an old friend from my co-op days, in the lobby of the hotel on Saturday night. He doesn't work at JSC anymore, but he's still in the area and runs for the On The Run team. I think he's in med school, or was at some point? Anyway, it was cool to run into him. This year he'd qualified as an elite and was telling me about the private port-o-potties for the elites at the start line. What a perk! :) Anyway, he told me his goal was sub-2:30, but he didn't quite make it. In fact, he crossed the finish line at exactly the same time that I did! I saw him to my left as I passed under the finish banner, but didn't get a chance to say anything as he was ushered away by the elite volunteers. I did 2:24:49, which means he (with his elite wave start) ran a 2:34:xx marathon. Not his goal, but not too shabby, eh?

I signed up for next year's half marathon today. What the hell, right? I can't imagine why I wouldn't be in town and/or want to run the race, but worst case I can transfer the bib.

It was a fine day for running, this much is certain. Starting temperatures were in the chilly mid-40s, and the wind was strong enough that it chased me back upstairs to my hotel room at the Hilton to change from a short sleeve shirt into a long sleeve top. I regretted that towards the end of the race when the sun was up in the gorgeous blue sky and the temperature had risen into the 50s, but I never got too hot, so it was ok. We couldn't have asked for much better weather.

I couldn't have asked for a much better time either. Final chip time was 2:24:49, which was within 2 seconds of my Garmin (though the GPS went wacko once I got downtown amidst the skyscrapers and though it had been accurate much of the way, the final reading was 13.7 miles). That's 11:02/mile pace which I'm pleased with. On my best day I thought I could average a flat 11:00 per mile, so I came pretty dang close. I was actually looking to finish at more like 10:50/mile until around mile 10 where I really slowed down. Basically, I had a fantastic 8 mile race followed by a sluggish 5 mile press to the finish. And after my inconsistent training, I couldn't have expected anything more.

It was one of the calmer marathon/half marathon mornings I've had. Since I'd already made a reservation at the Hilton back when I was planning to do the marathon, I decided to keep it. It's just so nice to get to sleep in a bit more before the race and then have a room to return to afterwards. I didn't have to check out until 2:00, so I just lounged around and took a nap in the big comfy bed after I was done running.

I got up at 5:20, ate a bowl of oatmeal, and got dressed for the race. I originally put on a short sleeve tech tee and another long sleeve tech tee that I bought for $9.99 at the expo. I planned to toss it after the first few miles. I headed downstairs to the convention center to meet some of my coworkers at 6 a.m. for a photo. After that, I just went straight back to the room. No port-o-potties for me, I had my own private bathroom! Awesome! It was also then that I took off the short sleeve tech tee and put on a single long sleeve tee (the white one from the USA 10-Miler last year). I lounged around for a while longer with Jose and finally headed back downstairs at 6:45.

As I left the lobby I ran into Joy from my triathlon group, so we walked the few blocks to the start line together. When we got there, I started to work my way up towards the front, not wanting to start at the very back of the second wave behind what I assumed would be a large group of walkers. I weaved to and fro through the crowd, looking for anyone else I knew. Suddenly, I found myself at the front of the black wave right as the cannon went off to start the first wave. I hadn't intended to be on the front line, but there I was, looking at empty street in front of me. Not sure what else to do, I shrugged my shoulders and went with the flow. There was an older woman next to me with a balloon tied to her shirt, so I figured any requirement for "seriousness" on the front line went out the window with the balloon. So that's why, if you see any pictures of the second wave start of the half marathon, you'll see me front and center. It's the first time I've ever been on the front line -- and it will be the last! Why?

Mile 1 - 10:10

That's why. I went out WAY too fast. Mile 1 was my fastest mile of the day. How many times do I need to go out too fast to realize it's a dumb idea? One more, apparently. On the plus side, being at the front of the wave meant that the first two miles weren't congested, a stark contrast to previous years.

I don't have the rest of my splits at the moment so I'll have to update this entry later, but as I said, it was really an 8-miler followed by a 5-miler for me. The first 8 miles were all sub-11:00 (except for one that may have been 11:02 or something). The last 5 miles were all well over 11:00, and mile 12 was 12 minutes and change. I basically just wore out towards the end. Yeah, I could have taken it easier at the start, but I think I would've died in the last few miles no matter what.

All in all, it was another fun year at the Houston Marathon and Half Marathon and I look forward to doing it again next year. I noticed while looking for results that registration has already opened for the 2009 race. I guess they're not waiting until June anymore. I'm not sure how I feel about registration opening so early -- especially since it sold out so quickly this year. I don't want to have to sign up for a January race in April.

Oh -- one more thing! While the medal was still basically the same as the past two years, I must give credit to the half marathon this year for the t-shirts and finisher's shirts. After two years of the exact same t-shirt, I expected to get a third carbon copy this year, but they changed the shirt -- for the better. And the finisher's shirt is absolutely awesome. I love the color (light blue), the design, and the sizing (women's specific size and cut). Kudos to this year's Half Marathon for that!

So there's a half marathon on Sunday. Apparently I'm running it.

I've had two absolutely fantastic runs in the past two days. Each day I ran 4 miles, and each day I resolved to take it easy. And -- this is the biggie -- I decided to make them "no look" runs. This is my equivalent of not wearing a watch. See, I love my data, and never want to forego the watch entirely. So my solution is to wear it, but just not look at it until the end. I know it's strange, but it works for me.

Anyway. Two days, two awesome runs.

I'm now considering running the half marathon with NO watch. As in, not even wearing it. As in, ignoring my splits entirely and just running on feel. As in, finding out what my time is when I cross the finish line. (And since I won't be wearing headphones either, this could possibly mean I'll do a run with no electronics whatsoever. When's the last time that happened?) After all, this is really just a training run for me.

A training run, did I say?

Yes, a training run. Although I haven't registered yet, I have decided to do the Lonestar Half Ironman again this year, and so that's become my focus. It's on March 30 in Galveston and I'm excited. I'll be training a little on my own, mainly sticking to the schedule Steeeve put together for me last year that worked so well. But I'll also be training a little with a new group I'm involved in -- Bay Area Multisport, or BAM! It's a triathlon training group, and I'm going to be a mentor as well as secretary. The group is an evolution of last year's Bay Area Fit Tri group, though it will no longer be affiliated with BAF.

The BAM season doesn't officially start until March, but many of the other mentors are training for Lonestar as well.

I'm excited for triathlon season to arrive!

A scary thing is happening. I am actually watching the news. And listening to the analysts. And reading the news stories. I am actually paying attention to politics. For once, the field of candidates is not composed entirely of old, white men. And that makes me excited.

I like Hillary Clinton. I like that she's different because she's a she. But I don't buy that she's more experienced than some of the others. I don't like how she is rarely spoken of as "Hillary" or "she" but more often referred to as "the Clintons" or "they." And I absolutely cringe at the thought of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. That's 24 years of two families. And another Clinton isn't the change that she claims to be.

I like Barack Obama. I like that he's young and different. I love listening to him speak. But I wish he had more than two years of Congress under his belt (though maybe not having been in DC for years and years is a good thing), and I don't like his already-announced intention to delay NASA's future programs to fund education programs. Education is important, and I don't believe that we should choose our next president based on what he or she thinks about the space program. Yet that is my chosen career, and decisions made in that arena hit very close to home for me.

I'm indifferent to John Edwards, perhaps colored by my parents' opinion of him as a former North Carolina senator.

I even like Mike Huckabee, oddly enough. Probably because he's a likeable, friendly guy. I like that he's actually willing to diverge from the Bush path, even in the face of other candidates falling over themselves to emphasize that they'll stay the course. (Do they really think anyone wants to stay the course anymore?) But mainly I'm scared that he might turn out to be an overly religious nut-job. He doesn't believe in evolution. I don't understand people who don't believe in basic principles of science. I don't trust people who don't believe in basic principles of science.

I like McCain. I respect McCain. If we have another Republican president, I hope it is McCain.

Romney has always seemed like a user car salesman to me, and Guiliani's entire campaign revolves around 9/11. No thank you to both of them.

I haven't decided who will get my vote. I still have months to decide. But I'm watching more closely than I ever have in the past.

I bought a chair yesterday and I'm strangely excited about it. (It was on sale in the store, I guess it's not on sale online because I didn't pay $699 for it.) I found it at Macy's, which is funny because I didn't even realize that Macy's sold furniture until Jose mentioned that he'd gotten his couch there (well, at Foley's, before Foley's was bought by Macy's). We stopped by just to look, and while they had a small selection, it was the first store where I actually liked at least 50% of the furniture!

Most stores have such astonishly ugly chairs. We stopped by Star Furniture and Sussan and out of the at least 200 chairs at those two stores, I liked exactly two of them. Is it too much to ask for a wider selection of furniture with simple lines in solid colors? I don't want some hideous paisley pattern. I don't want ornate legs. I don't want huge curvy padded arms. I don't want a recliner. I don't want a chair with a "skirt." I don't want a chair that is uncomfortable. I just want a nice simple chair in a nice simple color that is comfortable to sit in.

Here's Jose modeling my chair for me. Only mine will be a dark chocolate brown color called "bittersweet." I get to pick it up on Thursday and I can't wait! Bye-bye papasan.

I'm finally getting over the cold, so I'm definitely running tonight.

I stayed home sick on Friday, so this feels like the third day of a very long weekend. I caught whatever bug Jose's brother had. See, Alex gave it to Jose's mom, who gave it to Jose, who gave it to me. Hopefully I'm on the upside of the cold and I'll be feeling 100% soon. At the moment, this cold has made my half marathon prep even worse. I'm probably looking at one of my worst half marathon times ever next Sunday, but that's all I can really expect. My training has stunk. Stunk. With a capital S.

Yesterday I was feeling decent (just congested and achy) and stir-crazy, so Jose and I went out to do some errands. First on the list: a new Tivo. My old one has been acting funny ever since getting back -- pausing in weird spots, skipping, hiccuping, and just generally behaving weird. After a search online, it seemed that 99% of the time a Tivo starts to do that, it means the hard drive is going bad. Hard drive replacement kits seemed to cost just as much as a new box, and since a new box would come with a dual tuner, it was an easy decision. So, I've got a new Tivo.

Next was a stop at the La-Z-Boy store to look at chairs. I decided to buy a nice armchair with the money my grandmother gave me for Christmas and replace the way-too-college-era papasan chair that does nothing but gather coats and clothes. Both of my brothers told me I should get a La-Z-Boy, and the ensuing conversation went like this:

Sarah: "But I don't want a La-Z-Boy, only old people have them."
David & Brian: "They're super comfortable."
Sarah: "I don't want a recliner!"

Jose informed me later that La-Z-Boy sells more than just recliners, so we stopped by yesterday afternoon and I immediately found a chair -- on sale -- that I liked a lot. I wasn't prepared to buy it right that minute, but I might go back later today. We'll see.

So I'm getting rid of my landline and going cell-phone-only. Finally! I saw a link on TechBlog about a new improved version of AT&T's "Naked DSL" and promptly called the phone company. Voila. Bill cut by 60% and I am rid of a landline that's only use was to allow telemarketers to harass me! For those who might still have my landline number lying around, be aware that the 281 area code number will no longer work after Tuesday. My cell number (the 832 area code) has not changed.

In other news, check out the new Garmin Forerunner 405!

It is so pretty! And small! And sleek! And did I mention pretty! I want it.

I am such a sucker for pretty technology.

Do other people talk about the weather as much as we do in Texas? In the summer, we complain about how incredibly hot it gets. In the winter, we complain when a cold front plunges the temperature to the freezing point. You see, 32 degrees is quite unusual here along the Gulf Coast. I've found that living in Houston narrows the range of temperatures that a person can consider comfortable. 90? Way too hot. 30? Far too cold. My comfort zone has shrunk to somewhere between 65 and 75 degrees. For running, I have the same comfort zone range, the only difference being that it drops 20 degrees to the 45-55 range. Yes, Houston has made me intolerant to large changes in temperature. It's also given me minor seasonal allergies. Hmm. Maybe I need to rethink that resolution to potentially buy a house...

I have been exposed to a bunch of sick people over the holidays, and I thought I had escaped it -- but as the day has worn on, my nose has begun to run and I'm feeling fairly achy. Not good.

I was very sad to see Corpus Christi fading in the distance behind the car as Jose and I drove back to Houston yesterday, mainly because it signalled the end of my long (but never long enough) holiday vacation. I know that many people find the holidays stressful and are glad to see them end, but not me. While it was nice to get back home, I loved every minute of vacation.

My flight from Charlotte to Houston was unexpectedly eventful when I threw up on an airplane for the first time in...ever? I can remember feeling bad on planes before, but never actually throwing up. I still don't know what happened. I spent the first hour reading. The flight was bumpier than usual thanks to a line of weather between North Carolina and Texas, but nothing too awful. Maybe it was the Starbucks I'd just finished, maybe it was the constant low-level turbulence, maybe it was just the fact that I was tired -- but all of a sudden I found myself racing to the back of the plane and barely closed the bathroom door before peppermint mocha came back up. Then I discovered that the sink in the bathroom was not working. It was not a fun flight. Thankfully my layover in Houston was long enough that my stomach calmed down and the flight to Corpus was much more enjoyable. It only took about 40 minutes and I was able to watch the coast the whole way. We even flew right over Clear Lake and I spotted my apartment from the air.

My two days in Corpus were spent relaxing with Jose and his family, doing some more shopping, and celebrating New Years standing in a back yard that was quickly growing colder by the minute thanks to the cold front that is now here. It might actually freeze tonight.

All in all, 2007 was a great year and I have no complaints. I certified as an ARD Support, started training for my new job, took some fun trips (skiing, Boston, Cleveland, Austin, Seattle) and did a lot of races. I was fairly successful on my resolutions for the year, including completing a half ironman, playing the flute, and working a launch (two, in fact) as an ARD Support Officer. Sadly, I did not lose 10 pounds, certify as Rendezvous Support, or visit a new continent, but I've got high hopes for knocking those items off the list in 2008:

+ Take more pictures. I haven't spent as much time on photography lately as I'd like. It's something that I would like to make more time for.

+ Read more. Jose buys books all the time and gets so excited about them that he rarely actually finishes one before moving to the next. While I find it hard to not finish a book and thus my methods are different, he does inspire me to read more -- instead of wasting so much time on the computer.

+ Certify as RPS.
+ Work a mission as RPS.

+ Get my finances in order. I do a pretty good job of this, so what I really mean is more specific. I'm already saving. What I don't know is what I should be doing with that savings. I need someone to teach me that thing that rich people do where they turn money into more money.

+ Visit a new continent. Japan! Japan! Japan! Now we just have to figure out when to go...

+ Do another half ironman. Lone Star in Galveston at the end of March if I'm in town; if not, maybe Longhorn in Austin in October?

+ Lose weight. (I will not repeat how much I hate this resolution, however, it remains something I need to do.)

+ Do something fun and unique for my 30th birthday. Any ideas?

My apartment complex left me a lovely letter on my door while I was away, reminding my that my lease is up at the end of February and letting me know that they will be raising my rent by either $40 or $80 per month depending on whether I renew with a 6-month or 12-month month lease. While I likely won't be making any major moving decisions before having to sign another lease, here's my final resolution:

+ Figure out whether I am likely to stay in Houston beyond 2010 and if so, buy a house. For real this time.

Happy 2008!