Catching up, part 1

When I changed positions at my job last summer, I also moved into a role with different busy times of the year. I’m in that busy time now (it started in October) and I’ll be there through April. When work is crazy, it takes more of my energy and I just can’t muster up the ability to write and post an update.

So I’m picking away at these updates a little at a time, mostly because I like being able to look back over the course of the year and see what I’ve done or not done and what I was thinking and feeling about stuff.

Today’s catch up is about the weather. Yes, I’m so lame and I’m turning into that old lady who talks about the weather. Last winter, I griped because we didn’t have enough deep freezes to kill the weeds and the oak mites (you might remember I got chewed up by oak mites this past fall, and that was just pure misery). Well not to worry this year. We’ve had weeks and weeks with temps below freezing, and plenty of days where we never broke into the 30s.

Since this is Kansas, we also get wind which makes things even more miserable. I’ve had two winter races postponed and/or canceled this year. The Hangover Half made sense—that day, the temps were life-threateningly cold. But yesterday’s race was moved because the city of Overland Park completely spazzed out and initiated their emergency snow protocols on Friday, and refused to support the race Saturday morning. We got nothing on Saturday, and this is what I woke up to this morning:

And here’s a photo of the roof-top pool I can see from my desk at work. If you look closely, you’ll see that the three fountains are nearly frozen. I have no idea why that pool wasn’t drained because it’s clearly not heated. At various points last month, I saw maintenance guys chipping away at the ice with pool cleaners (you know, those long poles with nets?), and pick axes. Yes, pick axes. Seems like it might easier to just drain the darn thing.

Winter running and me

I just started reading a blog called Shut Up & Run – she’s got a good perspective on running in general, and hasn’t been running for so long that she feels out of reach for me in terms of being way too experienced or what have you. Clearly she’s in a much different, more competitive category of running than I’m in or than I want to be in but that’s OK. I still enjoy the blog.

Recently she wrote about running in cold weather, and I liked reading about someone else who is maybe just a bit crazy.

I like running early in the morning, in the dark. There’s something about the dark that helps with the head-clearing part of running. Maybe it’s because I have less visual distraction?  I'm not sure, all I know is that if I've gotten a late start and it's getting light I don't enjoy my run as much.

And I really like it when it’s cold – the ideal temperature range for me is the low 30s, little to no breeze and of course no snow or ice on the ground. I’m not at all interested in slipping and breaking any of my precious bones. I generally won’t run if the temperature is below 20°F because it’s hard on my lungs. I’ve been very disciplined about getting my lungs in good shape so I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that. That’s not to say I haven’t run in lower temps but it’s been almost by accident (didn’t realize it was quite that cold).

I have some good winter running gear that helps a lot.

• Three pairs of running tights (two long pairs, one capri pair)
• Two long sleeve running shirts (one is the most obnoxious yellow you can imagine)
• Three running jackets ranging from lightweight to fairly heavy (I’ve had the lightweight one since 2007 and it even survived restoration after our first flood).
• Three pairs of running gloves – again ranging from very lightweight to quite heavy
• A beanie hat and a head band to cover my ears. If it’s really cold or – worse – windy, I wear the head band over the hat.
• Two very reflective arm bands I use with the lightweight jacket (sadly, it’s black and the reflective bits have lost a lot of their reflectivity over the years).

I also take tissue out with me. My nose runs like crazy when I run in the winter so I’ve learned how to blow my nose while still running. At first I struggled because I tended to move my arms across my body when I ran. Learning to blow my nose while running basically eliminated that cross body movement – it’s kind of funny that I improved my running form because of my snotty nose!

Getting ready for winter redux

It's cold enough now for quilts on the bed--I'm excited because I get to use the beautiful quilt my mother made for me. Because I love it so much, I've posted a picture of the whole bed plus a close up of the material and quilting. I'm so very glad that Kent isn't one of those weird men who think having pink in the bedroom somehow emasculates them. Pink doesn't emasculate men any more than black or brown make women less feminine.






Last year we hung curtains across our back door and also enclosed the stairwell leading up to the front door with insulated curtains. We found that the stairwell acted like a chimney so all our heat collected at the top of the stairs by the door, which did us no good at all.

This year, Kent did some reading about forced air electric heaters, our only heating method in the house. We can't really put in forced air or even a heat pump because the unit doesn't have any duct work so the cost would be insanely high. Anyway, Kent learned that these small wall heaters are quite good at heating small spaces quickly. One of our biggest complaints last year was that our office nook didn't stay warm, and based on what he read we finally understood why.

Take a look at the picture on the left. I've circled the office nook in red (it's called a dining room in the picture, which makes me laugh a bit); as you can see, it's rectangular, with an exterior door on the right side and an archway leading to the hall (and the stairwell) on the left side. The wall heater is on the long wall right by the exterior wall. Last year the heat just didn't stay in the space very well--it could go out into the living room or into the hall.

Yesterday we found curtains that match our living room curtains and the curtains we have across the back door. I lined them and Kent got them hung, and here's the finished product:

Am I ready?

Winter is coming.

Our days are getting quite short; it’s full dark at 6:30. That will change when Daylight Savings Time kicks in but it will still get dark very early as December approaches. It’s not dark when I run about 7:30 AM but it’s not full light either. If the snow and ice hold off, I could be running in the dark.

I didn’t pack away any of my long sleeve T-shirts this summer. We just didn’t have enough summer to make the effort worthwhile. I did get out my summer dresses, though. I wore a couple of them twice.

I’ve fired up the crock pot—it’s soup season already. And I’ve gotten out my cooler weather running gear.

The cats are ready. They'll sleep through most of winter, usually in strange poses.

Cuteness to follow the grossness of yesterday

Yesterday morning Wally was a complete love bug on my lap. I got my camera to snap a couple of pictures of him, and then he started playing with the strap. So I switched to video instead and here's what I got:



Last night Eddie was insistent on getting under the covers. As you can imagine, I was a little leery but he would not take no for an answer. I think that kitty should be in sales, he was so persistent.

Kent left for London this morning (6 AM flight). He goes to Frankfort on Tuesday and then flies back home again Friday. It's going to be a long week, especially since we are supposed to get snow today, tomorrow and Tuesday. Yuck. I am ready for winter to be over and that's a first for me.