in my crazy dreams

So I dreamt last night that Gilbert and Anne were talking to me...actual words that I could understand. No "meow meow meow" stuff...English speaking cats! Anyhoo, we were riding in a car passing by a mall when Gil asks if I can let him off at the entrance cause he wants to look around. I thought about it for a moment and just about let him leap out of the car when I realized that he's a cat and I'll never be able to find him and will lose him forever. So I tell him it's best to wait till I can go with him.

Next thing I know, I'm on a boat with Anne and something falls in the ocean. She turns and asks if she can go retrieve it. I tell her she can't cause I'd have to jump in after her and then wouldn't be able to get back into the boat.

Some other scenarios happen with the 3 of us having conversations, but these are the two that I really remember. Odd, I know, but I'm okay with that :D

Oh and the title of this entry is from my friend Morgan Alexander's song called "In My Crazy Dreams" where he sings about Donald Trump wanting to buy his eyes and then a frog leading him around ... another odd dream but it's a great song!

Time for more dreamin!

Sometimes...

I wonder

... will it ever be me?

Crazy? Perhaps, but I'm lovin it!!!

Since signing up with a running program here in Portland, I've come to really love running/walking and being outdoors.  Sorry to all that have been getting bored with all my talk of running.  I either talk of that or of work and personally, I'd rather talk about running then work...bleck!

Every week it seems our instructor brings up more opportunities for us as a group to get together throughout the week.  Our program is only scheduled on Saturdays, but these mid-week optional runs are awesome!  This past Tuesday a very small group of us (I think there were 6 total) met at a local high school and had a track session.  We learned a few warm up track drills then ran the track with recovery times.  Which means that we ran around the track once, stopped to recover (catch our breath and wait till our breathing was normal), then ran around again.  We did this about 5 times and by the 5th time my legs were definitely feeling it.  We are now going to do this every Tuesday!

We've also had one Wednesday night meet for a trail run, and scheduled for another this next week.  The park we run through is the one I spoke of in my previous post and I'm so excited to go back!  In fact, this Saturday's run will be there as well.  I'm planning on taking my camera and get some pics either before or after the run.  It's simply breathtaking and I want to share it!

Oh and another group activity our instructor is suggesting we do are several local races over the next few months.  And yes, I'm going to do them.  One is evern a half marathon!!!! I'm taking this program to prepare for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September, but this local one is on the 4th of July and the course is all flat terrain.  That's why it's called the Foot Traffic Flat :-)  Between now and July though I'm signing up for a 10k and a 5k.

And have I mentioned that I registered for the new Disneyland Half Marathon?  Well, I did!  It's called the Tinkerbell Half Marathon and it's at the end of January and I'm so excited to be a part of this race!

So many different races happen in Portland during the spring and summer, so I'm sure I'll be signing up for quite a few more before the year is over.  But this is what has been occupying my time lately.  Still working a ton, but whenever the opportunity arises, I put on my running shoes and I get outside!

RUN STRONG!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

just sayin :D

Running in God's Backyard

I knew Portland had some great hiking trails and parks, but yesterday's trail run with my running group had me visit a place I had never been before.  And it only took me about 20 minutes to get there from work as it's just on the other side of downtown.  It's been raining pretty consistently here in the Pacific NW, as is normal, and we had a break in the downpour during the time of this run.  But because of the gray cloud cover and the freshly rained on trees and paths, it made everything seem so vibrant ... as if the leaves on the trees had just been painted!  The group met at Lower MacLeay Park and a representative from Montrail was there to have us try out some of their trail shoes.  I, stupidly, had brought my brand new running shoes, so I was very thankful for the chance to try these shoes and not have to worry about if they got dirty or not ... which they did of course, cause, ummmm, well, like I said it's been raining ... a lot ... and it's a trail which means dirt and mud. 

Anyways, I got a pair of shoes on my feet and took off running.  We did the 1:1 run, walk, run time and man, this trail totally kicked my boo-tay!  I should mention that going into the park it's all uphill.  Some of it is a gradual incline, but parts were pretty steep.  As we were running, then walking, then running again, I took notice of the scenery surrounding me and was simply amazed.  The trail wound it's way alongside a creek and trees seemed to engross the area.  One tree had even taken a dive and you had to walk under it's trunk to get by.  We were only running for about 30 minutes ... 15 in, 15 out.  And when it was time to turn around to head back, we came to this little stone house just sitting off the trail covered in moss.  It was beautiful!

I read somewhere that this park is perhaps the very first park of Portland, but I'm going to have to do some more research.  And I will be going back to this place. 

Oh and after we were done with our run, we gave our opinions on the shoes to the rep.  I really liked the shoes I wore.  They are called BadRocks and they help with keeping your foot stable.  My feet felt very secure which is nice as we were running over rocks and through puddles.  AND!  we were each given 5 playing cards and whoever had the best hand got to pick from the "prize basket" (there was no basket, but you get the idea) and after one person got first pick, me and one other person had a pair of Aces, so I chose a pair of running socks! Can never have too many pairs of those!

The point of this entry is about the run and about the trail.  It's amazing how in such a crazy city of traffic, bridges, hussle and bussle, there are these very serene areas where I feel I can get lost in and feel refreshed!  If anyone wants to go with me to this trail, I would love to take you!  Oh and this place is definitely a photographers dream!  I wish I would've taken my camera as words just don't seem enough to describe the beauty that was found.

Anybody seen my smile?

My smile has disappeared, and it's not because I'm sad or in a bad mood, it's cause it physically hurts to smile right now!  Don't laugh! If you laugh I start to laugh and then my lips hurt real bad....crap! don't quote Napolean Dynamite when your lips hurt cause it just causes more pain.  At this point you are prolly wondering "how in the world did you do this to yourself?! ... crazy!".  Well, I'll tell ya...

This past Sunday I was going out in the morning and decided to put on some lipstick that I haven't used in awhile.  It's the sort of lipstick where you put on the color and then follow with a sort of clear chapsticky stuff to help the lipstick stay on all day.  Reminder! this is not my first time using this.  So I go about my business and drive into town and as I'm standing in a store talking to people I realize my upper lip starts to feel tinglely and puffy ... like I've given myself a fat lip somehow.  I stay in the store and remain talking for about an hour or so, but when I get back to my truck I look in the mirror and realize my upper lip looks like it got punched!  Nothing is helping the pain ... Burts Bees, water, ice cream, nothing.  Sigh.  I do some research and am advised by some sites that I should use Blistex at night and Vaseline during the day. 

I went to work yesterday and in looking at me, you can't tell anything is wrong, but man, I could tell.  People kept making me laugh or smile and it hurt! REAL BAD! mur

Today my lips still hurt.  Actually it's more my upper lip, but I have to take little itty bitty bites of food cause it hurts to open my mouth.  I'm drinking all my coffee and water through straws and I'm constantly applying vaseline to my lips. 

Okay, so I just thought of another way to describe this pain.  It feels like when your lips get severely chapped from being out in the cold cold icy wind all day and you forgot to put chapstick on them.  When the day is over your lips are in so much pain.  That's what it feels like.

Anybody have any home remedies or tricks to help?  If after a few more days of no relief I will go see my doctor, but for now I want to see if the blistex and vaseline will help/do the trick.