For the Longest Time....

Great song by Billy Joel. I dedicate it to skiing. Man it's been too long! I don't know why I dread winter after my active summers. Because now that snow is coming I am stinking excited! Of course this is what happens every year when I watch the latest Warren Miller film but this year I'm determined to go skiing. How long has it been? 7 years? WAY too long.

This is a picture from the Warren Miller film - it featured Crystal Mountain! I have many good memories at Crystal Mountain. But after skiing at Whistler I just couldn't appreciate Crystal anymore. Crystal was no longer big enough. Good enough. And now after all these years I've come to realize that my snobbery got in the way of my appreciation for Crystal. Ok, that and the lift tickets are stinking expensive!
When I went skiing with Big Bro years back he taught me skiing meant NO breaks. No lunch. No snacks. Just ski ski ski. And that's how we got our money's worth.




This weekend I'll be frolicing in the snow with good friends and drinking my cocoa with peppermint schnapps. I'm optimistic that I'll go skiing this season and because I'm a huge fan of pleasure delay I know that it won't disappoint.

Kate told me today "I'm not an advanced skier but I'm an advanced beginner." Such a great description! In my past I've ran into not one but two trees. I have a great picture of me in the 2nd one that REALLY looks similar to the one above. Just picture that dude with brown curly hair and that's me.

The first time I blame on a boarder - yes, after all these years I blame him. Whoever he was he didn't give me any room as I was coasting down the cat track and the next thing I know I fly over the edge and land in a tree. I think that was the moment that I truly found the art of cussing and came to love it. As I looked above at the crowd watching me the ski patrol man said "You're out of ski patrol boundary, can you get up yourself?" Cheese. And. Rice. It took me forever. I've had an extremely low appreciation for boarders ever since.

The 2nd time was my own fault. Going too fast in slush, not catching an edge and I flew straight into the trees. I think my kidneys are still recovering from that blow of me slamming against the trunk of the tree. But it was a great moment.

Pleasure delay hasn't failed me yet. I'll see you soon Crystal! You and I have a lot of time to make up for!

Breakup Hike

Well, no, I didn't break up during a hike - can you imagine the ride home if that happened? And the burger and beer afterwards would be ruined which would be unacceptable. No, the breakup occured the day before the hike. After a long evening of traversing between sobbing and sitting in a catatonic state I knew what I needed to do. I needed Rainier to comfort me.

Originally I was going to do another, newer & longer hike that I've always wanted to do. I decided not to violate the sanctity of this new hike. I needed a hike that wouldn't mind me bringing along the heartbreak. Heartbreak distracts me from my surroundings and I just wouldn't be able to appreciate a new trail. The good thing about Rainier is that she's seen me at my best, my worst, my weakest, my strongest and even embarrassed. Yes embarrassed.

I decided on Tolmie Peak which has many embarrassing memories of hiking with my family after church. More specifically one day when my Mother decided to wear a watermelon-scented jazzercise shirt that the bees especially loved as their own. We could hear her scream my father's name (it echoed) through out the hike. We all played dumb "No, we don't know who that crazy woman is...not sure why she's following us..." we'd tell other hikers.

Anyway - this is Mowich Lake which is right next to the parking lot. The good thing about this hike that I needed today was that:

*it was short (I wasn't totally sure I was up for it)

*it was guaranteed to have other hikers (no bears or mountain murders please)

*It would have a great view i.e. thinking spot.

As I was walking the trail my rules were:

1. No crying.

2. No making "what I'll miss" lists.

3. No Reminising

4. No replaying lines from the breakup conversation the day before

5. No self-pity



This is me with a mile to go to the peak. See the old fire lookout? That's where I was headed. I had my head down, focused on going fast and foot in front of the other. I passed a VERY talkative gentleman that had his ten essentials in his plastic bag (weird) in his left hand.

He was still talking to my back as I passed him encouraged by my short and polite responses. I was hoping he'd get the hint that I wanted to be alone. Then I hear:

"Wow, you're really good at this. You're going up that hill fast. You must practice a lot or have youth on your side."

It was a nice compliment although I wasn't feeling strong or youthful at the moment. I just wanted to hurry up and sit so Rainier could console me.

This was a very pretty spot which I thought probably had great wildflowers in the summer. But now summer is over and cold will start to take over....

I have to add Rule #6 which is: NO sad breakup analogies on this hike!

I'm almost to the lookout tower at this point and I smell cannibus very strongly up here. This could be a fun game: which hiker is high? I just hope the driver was more pass pass then puff puff. But I digress...

There's good 'ol Tolmie! Tolmie looks good for his age. He may look weathered and tired but check this out...



...Tolmie has the best view in Pierce County.

If I had left a little later (as intended) these hills would be a prettier color reflected from the sun setting. I found out on accident before that Tolmie Peak is one of THE BEST sunset hikes ever. Rainier one side, Olympics the other. Simply breathtaking.



And finally I had found my sit and think spot. I let Rainier talk to me. I didn't talk very much. It took me forever to finish the whole luna bar I had with me.

The best thing about sitting up here was hearing the people below making their words echo. I could hear the kids laughing so hard as their jibberish played over and over again in the rocks. Then there was also some random dude that kept on shouting "Nacho Libre!" for his echo of choice.

A group of fellas next to me were looking to the left (picture above) trying to figure out the source of shadows that fell on the forest. I silently pondered with them when I couldn't keep track of all the pikas in the rocks around me.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the green and beige around me but I loved these slate and cobalt colors that was decorated inside this clear lake. I usually like to jump into lakes but not on days that I'm alone...like today.

Dangit it Krista - Rule #7: stop focusing that being alone is bad and sad right now.

Unfortunately I didn't stay at the fire tower long enough to see the sunset from up there but I did pull off the side of the road & steal this picture as I was driving back to civilization....



...and it's counterpoint. Thanks for the great hiking therapy Rainier. You are always there when I need ya. Too bad you never got to meet him...

And Hulster, you will be missed. Thank you so much for all the memories. You are one of the good ones!

Current Obsessions

The summer has been AWESOME but why oh why do I keep on forgetting my camera? Perhaps that amazing waterfall on the Nooksack was meant to stay sacred and free of anyone from the city to admire her beauty in just a picture....

So instead, and out of blog guilt, I'm documenting my current obsessions. I really am going through this crazy obsession phase right now. But not with Mariah Carey. Seriously, get over yourself. You lost me at the cheek implants.

Moving on.

SERIOUSLY - LOVE THIS SHOW NCIS. Freaking addictive. It's smart, fast-paced, funny, great one-liners, serious, violent - everything I love. I originally checked it out because Hulster has a thing for Abby and I had to scope out the competition and now I have a complete crush on her too.
And Gibbs reminds me of my Dad. I think it's the silver hair, blue eyes and impatience for those who slack on the job.

So shooting guns has been fun - sad to say that Big Bro beat me at pistols - but rifles turned out to be my forte. I got bullseye shots right away and we kept on shooting until he finally hit the bullseye himself. That's right, I'm calling him out right now!!

In classic Big Bro style he took the above bada$$ picture of me...with the porta potties in the background. Classic.

And next is my clay pigeon class that I start next week. And after that I'm going to challenge you to a duel - especially if you're a pigeon!!

The obsession has come back to me. I think it came back because I was trying to budget better and one day Popcorn called me from Aisle 11 and said to me "Krista. You could have me for dinner - I would be very filling, good and cheap!" And I was convinced. My rubber arm was twisted. Now I can't stop having popcorn for dinner. This is not good stuff. I need a popcorn intervention. If it wasn't for my multi-vitamin I think my skin would start turning yellow and corn stalk would start sprouting from my head.

......but popcorn with Johnny Seasoning is SERIOUSLY good. Just saying.



I blame Alan the Ogre and Elle. And now I'm obsessed with online poker. I justify it with "I ran an hour today, I'm OK to sit on my a$$ the rest of the night." Ironically I also turn on NCIS so I can watch the episode and when it's my turn to call/check my laptop goes "ding" so I won't be too deprived from the story line on NCIS. I'm also eating popcorn with my free hand. Horrible obsession cubed.

I tried playing "in-life poker" this past weekend and was humbled by trying to count chips "how much is big/small?" the computer always tells me. The computer also always tells me what hands I have. At 2am it was too much for my head to stare at cards and figure out my potential hands. Not good.

And then the next day I let Hulster play my online poker under my profile and he lost me $20k...I just about lost it. I almost took out his other eye. To be fair he won it back...lucky for him.

So, at least I'm not playing with real money -can't be that bad right? I still run...so they negate each other keeping me even I think.

I will no longer be ashamed of my fondness for Miley Cyrus songs. I love her on Hannah Montana and I'm not ashamed of that either. I tried to suppress this feelings of fondness and appreciation but today when I had "Party in the USA" in my head I swear it helped me keep a spring in my step.

In fact when my lovely co-worker Amanda had the case of The Grumps today I tried my best to give her a Miley Cyrus prescription: One dose of "Party in the USA" is all she needed. Not sure she was convinced.

"Noddin' my head like yeah..."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Love it. Love it. Love it.




Oh man there is not enough blister band-aids in the world for me. They save my feet. Blisters on my big toe, small toe, heel, arches, etc. I'm too embarrassed to get a pedicure. A combination of running, hiking and wearing heels (honorable mention to wearing summer heels on a pebbled path) and my feet seriously hate me and are eternally grateful for blister band-aids. If it wasn't for them I'd be on the sidelines man...

Is it just me....or do I model for Anne Taintor and not tell anyone about it? The other day in Hallmark I stop in my tracks staring at this picture. I ask Schmuck "Who does this look like to you?" She responds simply "It looks like you."

I want my cut man!!

I left my PR in San Francisco...

I still remember Shannon in my office saying:

"I want to be a Half-Fanatic...we could do the San Francisco Half-Marathon the weekend before the Tacoma Narrows Half-Marathon..."

I can't for sure say what my reaction was but I think it involved silence and repeated blinking of the eyes. Oh but she was serious folks...

And a few weeks later here we were at the start of the San Francisco Half-Marathon. Shannon hooked me up, like a good SugarMama, with some plane tickets and hotel and we were off! It was a quick weekend trip to San Fran and I've never been. It was a whirlwind trip with a run smack dab in the middle.

So this was literally the first picture I took in San Francisco. I know I'm not as well-versed in the bible as others but I really don't recall learning this in Sunday School...

So we knew we were close to the hotel - here's Shannon trying to figure out our San Fran map.

Hello I'm a tourist! Hello San Francisco girl - what's your name?

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So finding our hotel was an adventure. This nice retired man named Hank took us under his wing at the Information counter and walked us to our hotel. Granted he walked us through one of the REALLY bad streets in San Fran...it scared the bejesus out of me! Seriously. It was like walking in the movie 28 DAYS. One person was passed out on a hood of a Jeep Cherokee...I may of seen a needle in the arm too! Or not, it's better for my story. Anyway - And the bus stop was even worse. It went like this:

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Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Ma'am! I need a paper dollar - I'll give you four quarters and fifteen cents for a paper dollar.

Me: I don't have a paper dollar, I'm sorry. (and I truly didn't. SugarMamaShannon was gonna pay my bus fare).

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: You're LYING!!! How you gonna ride the bus with no paper dollars?

Me: Sir, I honestly don't have a paper dollar.

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: You are a LIAR!!!

SugarMamaShannon: *with sneer on face* Why do you need a paper dollar? You already have a dollar in change.

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Because I can't carry all this change!

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*At this point I space out and start staring straight ahead during the confrontation until...*

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Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Well f*ck you! You C*nt A$$ B*tch Wh*res!!

OK. That was a violent confrontation I'm on edge. We hide around the corner from the Angry Homeless Man with Cart until our bus comes to take us to the Race Expo. Once were on the stuffy hot bus, and I'm on edge still, it gets more and more crowded. Soon some man starts running around the bus closing all the windows. When someone tells him they'd like the windows open he tells them to ride the next bus.

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We got off the bus.

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Another shady neighborhood. At this point I have to ask - where is Full House? Where is The Rock even? I want Stanley Goodspeed right now! I'm full of tension, walking fast with eyes straight ahead while SugarMamaShannon is calm and focused.

We run into a runner and he confirms were close to the Expo. On the way this wonderful marcher led the way. Swinging his POA MIA flag and singing about all the different military bases in the USA. I start to lose tension...thanks Patriotic Man.

Finally at the Expo. I have fear of crowds but I welcomed this one. No one was angry, homeless or had carts. We pick up our race packets, race gel, snag free items and were off!

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Thankfully there were free shuttles that took us to the waterfront so we didn't have to ride the crazy city bus again.

Here's SugarMamaShannon being happy and carefree. It was so nice to be near the water again. This is what I envisioned San Fran to be...*sigh*

Having a moment with San Francisco....

Where in the world is Carmen San Francisco?

So all I know from San Francisco is what I saw on Full House and The Rock. And wasn't this building in The Rock? They showed it before he got a room in The Fairmont...was that the name of the hotel? Anyway, I was excited to see it.

I just liked this angle.

So we walked our way to North Beach (Italian District) for some good carbo load. Thank you Mona Lisa and all the men who called us "Bella". And really, you may not believe me but SugarMamaShannon was a witness: Dakota Fanning was a couple tables down. Loves it.

Oh, here's one thing I noticed - San Fran really isn't that friendly of a town. But ChinaTown - WAY friendly. Thanks for the tea ChinaTown!

And before we got to bed for the evening we see some San Fran Trannies - why Hello ladies!

What time did we get up in the morning? 5:30am? I dunno. But we had to catch the shuttle to take us to Golden Gate Park and then wait for an hour for the race to start.

Look at the lovely coastal trees guarded by the runners in waiting. I was tired but I was still enjoying this new city.

This pretty lake was next to our start. We still had the coastal fog keeping us cool. As we walked around the lake I still couldn't grasp that I was running a half-marathon very soon. I was still getting used to this new city that I'd only been in for 12 hours.

Our running feet are ready - and soon we were off! The cool thing about starting in Golden Gate Park is that I was totally disoriented. It felt like we were running in circles - up roads and around lakes all over the park.

Being so distracted by figuring out my surroundings soon we were at Mile 6 and it felt like a breeze.

That's us runners, finally leaving the park to make our way back down to the waterfront.

This is mile 7 I think. Haight Neighborhood? I dunno. It looked interesting as I was running by.

Yay for downhill!!

And then some uphill...I think this was our last one. Mile 9 or 10 I believe. Almost done! This race is flying by!

So I tried to run by one Officer singing "Ya'll can't run from Tha Poh-leece..." but got no reaction. I thought I was funny. But this Officer smiled and posed for me as I ran by - thanks lady in blue!

We have another mile at this point. And I swear this is when the miles get long. Feelings check: I haven't walked once except to drink water. I can't start walking now - not sure if I can do it!!

Is this the AT&T Field? I'm just trying to distract myself. At this point I'm telling myself "I didn't walk for 12 miles, I can't let that go to waste and walk now." Shannon is slightly ahead of me pulling me with her with an imaginary rope - just what I needed.

Now this is a pretty view. But not pretty enough to distract me. Another half-mile? At this point I tell Shannon

"I don't think I can make it." And she replies

"Just 5 more minutes of pain..."

So true. But it's a long 5 minutes.

And here's my view of almost being at the finish line. It feels so far away. At the end my Garmin Forerunner read 13.3 miles. That's .2 miles longer than it should of been dangit! But I was soooo stinking happy because I received a Personal Record (PR). I was so happy I wanted to cry...but not before I stretched. My legs hurt!!

SugarMamaShannon getting her medal - Yay Shannon!!

Thanks CNN....

Thanks Larry King....

So after our stretching, bathroom emergencies, limping and showers, Shannon and I decided to continue the quick tourism and take a Trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. Something I decided looks and sounds better than it feels. This is a picture inside of the trolley after Shannon had some words with the girl who shoved her over on the seat. People still aren't friendly here but I found a nice family to speak with.

We decided to go to Fisherman's Wharf for our hard-earned post-race Burger and Beer(s). Freaking crowded. This is one of the only pictures I took.

Well, except for this one. I was wearing my Colorado Prisons shirt, I couldn't resist taking a picture of Alcatrez with it on. Another The Rock moment. Stanley went home and f*cked the prom queen.

Not to intentionally cuss but to accurately quote the movie - you understand.....

We decided to walk from Fisherman's Wharf back to the hotel. It's far but I don't know how far. We were zombies at this point. But it really did finally give us our exercise of the day since running 13.1 miles wasn't enough.

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Like my impression of Sue Lombard Street? Mirror images!!!

Shannon's knees hurt so she kept walking down stairs backwards. I took a picture and she is saying here

"They're not going to know I'm walking backyards in a picture."

Good point. But now you know because I told you.

This is Grace Church that we passed on the way home. It was grand, creepy and beautiful. None of our pictures were turning out and then our batteries were drained (oh yeah, it's haunted I'm sure of it...). Anyway, I decided to play around with colors on this one to creep it up.

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7 days later Shannon and I ran another half-marathon to qualifiy for the Half-Fanatics. Oh, and Shannon recently found out she had already qualified - she's such a running maniac that she can't even remember how many races she does in one week.

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But anyway - Shannon did awesome at the 2nd half-marathon - she improved our San Fran time by 6 minutes. Our miss lovely TBagBrown improved her Rock 'N Roll time by 2 minutes. And me? Krista? Not so much. I hit the wall. I bottomed out. I was done for. But I finished, and I officially qualify for a Half-Fanatic title. Yay!!!

To my SugarMamaShannon - thank you soooo much for pushing me, encouraging me, inspiring me and introducing me to San Fran. It was one of the best weekend quickies I've ever had!
Experiencing a new city by running - priceless!!

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Honorable mention to Big Bro and Andrea for not once, twice, three times but four times being there for me in my 2nd race. Your commitment and encouragement means the world to me!

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And Hulster: Of course Thank you. But we've already gone over this...

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So...when is the next race Shannon???