Monday Musings...damn people from away

We got to sit out back and enjoy our first campfire of the season last night.  It sounded like summer with children screaming, dogs barking (not mine at the moment), and boats roaring around the pond.  And then the sun went down...bring on the fireworks.  Really??  Must you come up to your summer home and make noise ALL night.  Do you even realize that some of us live and work here year round?  That some of us do not get the luxury of a three day weekend and we must be up early for our jobs.  Nope apparently not.  I think next winter I need to find out where you live and take up camp next to your home and light off fireworks all night just to get even.  And really the only nights of the week we have noise around here are the weekends when all the people from away come up here to get "away" from it all.  Maybe you need to try to remember that for those of us that live here all the time, we also like to get away from the noise you insist upon making.  That's why we chose to live here because of the quiet.  At least Monday through Thursday is peaceful and quite enjoyable.

our pond on a quieter weekend last summer

So now we are back to Monday when the fools from away have gone back to their lives and the neighborhood can go on in relative quiet.  Unfortunately it's only a four day work week for them so they will be back in a few short days.  Oh how I dread the summer months here.  The grocery store is filled with rude pushy people who look at us locals with disdain as they go by with their carts filled with beer and ice.  It makes going to the store a real treat.  And I know tourism is great for the local economy, but one should really take a crash course in acting like a decent person before crossing the border.

Guess I am being a wee bit crabby for this Monday, but if I had gotten my 8 hours undisturbed I would be a happier camper this afternoon.  Now off to grumble some more....

A day off?? What's that?

I am taking a well deserved day off while John and his hiking buddy (the small dog) are off early again.  He is working his way through the Belknaps this weekend, but I just needed a day of doing not too much.  That and the amount of ticks he pulled off the two of them left me not wanting to go play in the woods.  I have a bike ride planned and hopefully I will make it more than 5 miles before I feel the need to turn around and head home.

Had a great day of golf yesterday.  It was a bit too hot for my liking and 18 holes seemed to take forever in the 90 degree heat.  We are back to normal seasonal temps today and I wish all the runners taking part in Boston's Run to Remember a great race.  Our next race is on June 2 up in Concord and I will be running with Megan and John.  That is one is part of the Capital Area Race series.  Then I believe we may have two weeks off until the Bow Lake 5k.  I really wanted to do the 15k, but we have beach cleanup early that morning and thought better of the extra miles.

my golf team

Colleen and I have one week until we make the decision to do our sprint tri.  I definitely think it is doable at this point.  I just haven't been in the water yet this year.  The pond may still be a little cold for that.  But I did dig out my bathing suit this morning and I just need to get the nerve up to hit the water.


The bike ride turned out beautifully this morning.  There was a nice chill in the air and I did 14 miles around Barnstead before returning home.  My next plan is to go sit outside and enjoy this wonderful weather because from what I hear it's all over after today!  I am okay with a lousy holiday forecast since I will be stuck at work for the day.  So enjoy!

FO Friday

Yay!  The week is finally over.  I managed a half day, but will have to go in over the weekend to do an eval.  Any excuse to get out early on a Friday is good with me.  We managed a quick dump run and now won't have to do that over the weekend.  Bonnie and I are "playing" golf in the morning while John and Scout head out on another hike.  Really with the weather forecast for the upper 80s, I am glad to be hitting the links instead.  If only I had known that today was going to be so lousy I would've waited until this afternoon to roast the chicken I did last night.  I think a sweatshirt may be in order before I head off to Explorers down at the station.

I finished John's sweater earlier in the week and I believe I have convinced John that he should sew the buttons on it for himself.  I have begun construction of a green wrap sweater.  I had so much knitting mojo over the last few months that I think I need a bit of a recovery period.  I can knit about two rows before I feel the need to get up and move onto something else....oh look a chicken!

Also need to give a shout out to my Explorers tonight for a wonderful job with training.  It was a warm and humid night and you guys rocked with SCBA training.  And tomorrow night I will participate in a little tower training.  We will be painting the flagpole.  I got roped into training like this...Deputy Chief to Mandy "Hey you want to do some tower training tomorrow evening around 5pm?"  I say, "Sure I would love that."  Then he says "We have to paint the flagpole."  And that's how it went down.  So if you are out and about in Barnstead tomorrow evening, you can find dinner and a show at Station 2.  Ok just make sure you bring enough dinner for me too!  And pie, I would love some pie!

Will I cross the finish line this evening?

It's been a few weeks and before that it was a few weeks and I have to say I am sad that I have been out of my Tuesday evening routine.  So tonight I will take my sticks and string and head to Knit Night down in Epsom.  I miss being surrounded by women of all ages as we create with our hands.  The gentle click of metals needles as they slide past each other or the muttered curse of a dropped stitch.  Okay, really that's just me!  But thankfully there is someone there who can solve life's little knitting problems.

I plan on finishing the cuff of John's sweater and weaving in the ends once I have cast off the final stitch.  It feels like a week ago that I started on it, but in reality it's been almost two months in the making.  Then I will be onto my next project for myself...another cute sweater for me to wear this winter.  I do have plans for a summer sweater and one would think this would be the perfect time to start it since it's short sleeve and will be made from linen, but I just don't have the hankering to start that one.  I want the pretty green Merino yarn, not the conch colored linen.

And just maybe I will have a picture of the finished sweater for FO Friday.  That means I am going to have to sew on buttons and we all know how I feel about that.  Not my favorite thing to do.  Or I could just hand them to John and have him do his own....let's see how that one goes.

Monday Musings

our room with a view

I am exhausted!  Plain and simple, the weekend wore me out.  Busy week ahead with something going on just about every night this week and will wind down on Saturday with a benefit golf tournament.  Yup, I will be sharing clubs with Bonnie and we are going to rock it!

So I figured I would add more pictures from our weekend voyage.  We did have a good time even though I may pay for it during the next few days as my one million black fly bites start to heal.  I am that person who gets a bug bite and the swelling/itch lasts for almost two weeks.  It's wonderful having such a good immune system response!  But I did take the dog out this afternoon when I got home from work and I think it may be safe to that our black fly season is over.  Careful...I don't want to say that too loud because they might come back.

Mt. Washington

Scout seems to have recovered from the hike and even played a rousing game of whiffle ball with me when I first got home.  At least the sun was still shining then!  Now the clouds have taken over and it looks like more rain will be upon us.  Yet the outlook for the end of the week and the holiday weekend looks like great weather.  I am just hoping to get a couple of runs in during the chaos that is this week.  We have yet another 5k next Saturday on June 2.  My friend Megan will be joining us for that grand time.

We got out of our sleeping bags and someone decided she wanted to go back to bed!

Then it will be onto training for a sprint tri with Colleen during the first week of July.  Hopefully the pond water will warm up with the nicer weather that we have been having.  It's a small pond and it tends to warm up pretty fast, but I would love to get some serious swimming.  Got the bike already and I just need to force myself out onto that too.  But I am going to take the next two days to let my sore body re-charge.

Just a short (or 15 miles) walk in the woods

We took our little dog, Scout and went on my first overnight hike.  John had it all planned out that we were going to be doing Mt. Isolation up in Pinkham Notch.  Saturday dawned a picture perfect day in New Hampshire.  The sky was clear blue and the temps were in the low 80s.  I could have stood to have the temps a bit lower at our start time and the haze of black flies nearly drove me over the edge.  But we had bought an all natural bug repellent a few weeks ago at Clark's Grain Store.  This stuff was magic and it's called White Mountain Bug Repellent.  It specifically targets black flies and as all of us who live in New Hampshire can attest that these little flies are horrible in May.

me and the Presidential in the background

I won't deny that the first part of hike was grueling.  I was taking breaks every 20 to 30 steps and drained almost all of my water before we got to camp.  Our remote camp site was nestled into the side of a hill and you could hear the water rushing below.  The first stop after dropping our packs was the river and that cold icy water was just solution.  Scout did some serious swimming which was followed by a lot of shivering.  I got my feet in, but like the Atlantic this time of year,  it was brutal.

We had an early dinner of Santa Fe chicken in a bag.  Then it was lights out for Mandy.  I spent at least 10 hours in my sleeping bag last night and was quite sad that John was reading a book by his Android, but I had left my Kindle behind at home.   And that hillside campsite, well I kept sliding off of my sleeping pad and down the hill during the night.  But I had the little dog to keep me warm and she spent the entire night in my sleeping bag at the foot of it.

Sunday was a spectacular day.  We got an early start out of our camp after a breakfast of oatmeal and tea.  I finally located the toothpaste I couldn't find in the dark and was able to brush my teeth.  Talk about heaven!  The bugs were not as bad early today and we made really good time without the extra weight from our packs.  Scout made multiple river crossings and kept ahead of us about 30 feet at all times.  I swear she covers each mountain at least twice as she crosses back and forth along the trail.

From the summit of Mt. Isolation which was 3.5 miles from where we spent the night, we had clear views of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range.  The old rock pile is so nice to see without it being surrounded by clouds.  No snow remains at the summit which must be some sort of record for this time of year.

Made it off the mountain by 230pm this afternoon and we were back home by 415pm.  Now if only I could have a weekend from my weekend!

And it's only Thursday.

Got back to the old running grind yesterday.  The IT bands still hurt, but had to keep running due the voracious mosquitoes that chased us home.  The humid weather felt more like July or August and I can say that I am definitely not used to running in warmer weather.  I didn't think we were going to get a run in because we were under a severe storm watch and as I was tying up my shoes I swore I heard thunder.

The storms did hold off until around 9pm last night.  We got to watch a vivid light show as the storms rolled in.  It's one of the times that I can I say I enjoying living on top of a hill.  We sat out on our porch until the rain started and then we made a quick retreat back into the house.  The first storm passed quickly without a lot of close lightning.  The second storm hit around 11pm and that rocked the house a few times.

This morning dawned with cool, clear blue sky.  Even the birds sounded happier than they did the past few mornings.  Mr. Cardinal started serenading us before 5am.  I know because I looked over at the clock.  Fortunately I had the day off and if we don't find another OT soon who knows when I will have my next day off.  Got John's sweater almost done and finished another book this afternoon.  Even managed to put away my new stash of yarn and mow the lawn.

Very thankful for the change of weather...now hopefully it will hold out in the mountains this weekend as I take in my first overnight hike.  From what I gather I could be in for a long day on Sunday!

Monday Musing...the curse of the bad running pics is no more!

I felt quite back to normal the day after my half with only a minor ache coming from my back.  The husband and I headed off early on Sunday morning to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival.  I know you can barely contain your envy, but I got some great sock yarn and we sat in on a working dog demo (my dog needs more chores).  Great morning with pretty new yarn to add to my stash upstairs.

The afternoon was spent building two new plant beds out by the shed.  We planted 6 strawberry plants, some rosemary, and some other type of perennial in those beds.  Then I added five more strawberry plants to pots and also planted a well established container tomato plant.  John got the backyard spread with loam and did some grass seeding.  That was our day of rest and relaxation in a nutshell.   And then we had a lovely dinner with Mom for Mother's Day.  Of course, we had to eat at our new table.  We would've eaten on the deck had the black flies not been so ravenous.

Our three day stretch of nice weather is over and it's back to the standard issue Monday gloom.  I am just about ready to run again, but I need to let my new chafed areas heal up before I do.  Today's shout out has to go to my dear friend, Josh Gibney, who actually took some decent running pics of me.  Ok so I was goofing off, but what else is new?!  They were great race day photos and that just doesn't happen for me.  And this shot was taken just before mile 12.  I was looking and feeling pretty good.  So I guess with this pic, there goes the curse of bad running photos.  I don't look like I am in pain or tired.  I did almost fall right after he took the picture because my legs were saying enough, but I managed to hobble on and finish the rest of the race.

2012 Big Lake Half Marathon

heading for the end!

What a beautiful day to run!  The weather started off seasonably chilling with temps in the upper 30s and it was a crystal clear day.  I'd say it was nearing 70 at the end of the race with a breeze rolling off of the lake.  As I drove off the hill that we live on, I was enveloped in fog and then just like that drove out of it as I headed past the four lakes on the way to Alton.  It was bright blue sky without a cloud to be seen.  I did eat my fair share of black flies and one almost choked me as it went down the wrong pipe.  The only downside to the half today was that I got very cold around mile 7 and the goosebumps stayed with me until the end.  I didn't feel off except that I was cold.  It took a hot shower, some food, caffeine, and a nap to get me back to feeling normal. I am sure the two Advil didn't hurt either.

Steve-O and I at the finish

I managed to avoid all the orange cones (for those who know my history with cones, this is a BIG deal) that were all over Alton as I went to park my truck and narrowly avoided rear ending an SUV at the Alton Circle first thing this morning.  The driver was pulling a scene right out of National Lampoon's European Vacation..."Hey kids, look there's Big Ben!"  Then she suddenly stopped mid circle to try to let traffic onto the circle from Rt 11 not realizing she had the right of way.  Thankfully I was awake enough to hit the brakes and my horn.

EndorFun puts on a great race at the Big Lake and if anyone wants a fun, well-organized race then give this one a try.  The proceeds of this race benefit the New Hampshire Make a Wish Foundation.  The aid stations are well done and the post race food is great.  Mmmm Jordan's ice cream!

I'd like to thank my fans (Megan, Karen, Max, and Andrik) for their support, tissues, and pictures!  I also have to thank Pat O'Brien at Alton Fire for tissues early this morning before I ran past Megan.  Damn allergies kept me coughing and sputtering most of the day!  And of course, a big shout out to Steve-O who ran with me today and then scampered up Mt. Major after.  I managed to finish in 2:22 by my Garmin.  That's only four minutes off of 2011 and given the warm temps, I think it was a darn good effort!

FO -Friday (Finished object = race day fun)

So here we are, it's Friday May 11 and I am getting ready to go pick up my number and shirt for the Big Lake Half.  The weather looks like it will be a tad on the warm side during the latter part of the run after a chilly start.  My poor chafed back is just about healed and am still not sure what to do about it on race day.  It's going to open right back up for sure, but hopefully I can lube up good in the AM and it will be kept at bay.  I have my "Steve-O Warning" shirt on to welcome him to our home for our pre-race festivities.  It's my favorite with the hare laying on the ground full of smoking holes and the tortoise has a giant missile launcher strapped to his back as he passes by.  Take heed my friend!  And I will see you at the finish line!

There's no 'R' in Thursday

I was sitting here this evening trying to come up with a topic for my blog post.  It's been a busy week, but nothing we have done has been all that exciting...unless you count the con ed on dealing with difficult patients (hello, after years of working in geriatrics I could have taught the class myself) or the first DHART landing I've been to.  Yup, just another day.  So John suggested I do something in honor of Mom for Mother's Day.  He said I should go with a favorite memory.  Well that left me giggling and with an evil look on my face.  I remembered the time when the state fire marshal had paid a visit to my grandfather's (Mup) house on Lafayette Road.   The previous night there had been a suspicious fire that destroyed a vacant barn across the street from their house.  The fire marshal was acting on a tip that had come from their neighbor who had heard yelling and loud noises from behind his house earlier that morning.  Mup just chuckled...

Mom had dragged me out bed that morning after my dad's pager had gone off for a reported structure fire across the street from my grandparent's home.  From our driveway a mile away you could see the familiar orange glow in the sky.  That old barn was rocking!   I don't think I have seen her as fired up (pardon the pun) as she was that morning.  I will spare her the most of the embarrassing details because there weren't a lot of rational thoughts going through her head.  She was acting purely on adrenaline.  She blew past a state trooper who was blocking off Route 1 screaming over her shoulder as she ran past  "I have to get the GAHDEN hose, the house is on FIRE!"   She yelled to me that I had to get inside and get my grandfather as she ran down the driveway to the back of the house repeatedly screaming "I have to get the GAHDEN hose!"  I met my grandfather at the side door of his house and he followed me back to where we could hear my mother yelling.  With wild eyes, she whipped around to him and started yelling again.  "I have to get the GAHDEN hose, the house is on FIRE!  I have to get the GAHDEN hose!"  She cranked the water on and proceeded to lift the hose off of the hose reel and in doing so tore the hose reel and the vinyl siding off the house.  I was blown away!  Two hundred feet of standard garden hose full of water is heavy and she is not a big woman!

She can be intense, but it's also a good thing she has a great sense of humor because for years after I would run into my grandparent's house yelling..."I have to get the GAHDEN hose!" much to the delight of my grandfather and her chagrin.

Racing through the week

Had my second race meeting tonight and we are well on our way to putting on a great 5k on August 25th.  I will be getting the sponsor letters out later this week and we are working on getting race posted on Cool Running.  This is my favorite website to check out potential races and register.  If I can't register online then chances are I won't run the race.  In all the years I have been running I have only done three races that I hadn't registered for online.  That being said, I want to make our 5k super simple to register and be a part of.

Due to my race meeting, I was not able to get to knit night this evening.  Unfortunately I have too many distractions at home so I can never get in two hours of uninterrupted time with my sticks and string.  Tonight it was stopping to check out Ravelry and then to work on my blog instead of knitting.  My right wrist has been a little sore from the crazy hours I spent on Sunday resting my legs and doing some serious work on my current project.  I have one sleeve almost completed and only one to go.  I already have my next two projects lined up and am waiting patiently for Knitpicks order to arrive.  I will be putting together short sleeved Henley for myself and then a wrap cardigan to wear this fall.  Finally sweaters that I can customize to my short stature.  

Well I guess it's back to the knitting grind cause my bed will be calling my name before long.  Hopefully the low battery light on the Kindle will stay off until just before it's time for lights out.  And the countdown is on for the Big Lake.  Looking forward to my post races dinner that I made a special request for with Mandy and Hunter. So excited for the savory crepes!

Monday Musings

I do a lot in my every day life to express my creative side.  The obvious being is my knitting, but I have also developed a love of baking.  Thank goodness for the internet because thousands of recipes and ideas are right at my fingertips.  I recently came upon the Brown Eyed Baker when I was looking for new and interesting recipes.  I will definitely be venturing back there when I need some inspiration for future creations.  For cinco de mayo I made the margarita cupcakes.  These adult only tasty looking little treats were  something I could handle and I was not to be disappointed.  For a less mature audience the tequila can be left out of the frosting and you could skip brushing the warm cupcakes with tequila.  Seriously it's only two tablespoons used in the frosting for all 12.  But I can proudly say I finished off a bottle while putting these together.  Thanks to a few friends who have a serious love for margaritas I had two additional bottles waiting in the wings.  However, John doctored them a little and added a rim of salt like you would to a margarita glass...next time we will skip the salt and use sugar instead.

My favorite kitchen appliance is my Kitchen Aid mixer.  This is hands down the best kitchen gift I have ever received.  The only other appliance that gets more use is my food processor.  Now that I have had my mixer for a few years I want some of the attachments like the pasta maker.  The whisk and the dough hook came with it and those are great additions.  But who wouldn't want the taste of homemade pastas?!  Ahh the night before the Big Lake would really become an event!

Got up and early on my Sunday morning thanks to my pager activating as John's alarm clock started to ring.  He was heading with his little dog to do the Hancocks and I was going to sleep in just a bit.  Then the pager went off a second time and I was up for good.  It was a beautiful morning along the Suncook River with the fog hanging down in the valley and the sky a mix of high clouds and blue sky.  Finally a return to nicer weather even if it is only for a few days.  Overall it was a wonderful morning to get in my last long run.  I took a very scenic route that had nice views of the Belknaps and then I followed a small river through the woods on my way back home.

Another Saturday...another race (think there is a theme to our weekends)

love my new table!

Welcome to another weekend at chez Savage.  We started off on Friday evening with a wonderful first dinner at our brand new table.  We had homemade carbonara with fresh Italian bread served with Sicilian olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Got the grocery shopping out of the way on Friday afternoon and this allows us to spend more time doing the things we want to do over the weekend.  Saturday morning was another gray overcast start to the day.  Seems to be the theme of the last week around these parts.  We got an early start out the door as we met up with Megan and Karen to run the Peeper 5k down in Barrington.  Another PR this am for me as I came in under 29 minutes at around 28:35 or so.  It was a nice out and back through a quiet neighborhood and even the black flies seemed to be enjoying the quiet morning as they pretty much left us alone as we ran along.

The ladies pre-race

I am finally feeling better after being sick and dealing with the heavy pollen load the past two weeks.  My ear infection cleared up without the use of antibiotics.  But the heavy doses of antihistamines and Sudafed have left me in a haze and it takes me until mid morning before the haze lifts.  Now if the clouds would just lift and bring some sunshine back to the Lakes region that would make for a very happy Mandy.

Carbonara-recipe upon request!

Got one week until the Big Lake so my final long run will be early tomorrow morning.  I'd love to get 10 miles in first thing.  Then I can enjoy a few short trots during the week.  Steve-O will be arriving Friday afternoon for our traditional pasta dinner and pre-race fun.  Now I just need to decide what I am going to wear!  I swear the Big Lake starts earlier each year and hopefully we will have decent weather.  Please no rain!

Springtime

My Smokey Bear tulips

So spring decided to be sprung here in Barnstead.  I left for my conference and most of my daffs weren't even open. The little tulips to the left were only purchased because of their name.  Yup, the fire service even invades my gardens!   I came home to my tulips up and my lilies well on their way.  My lilies are all transplants from the lovely Carol Troy and from Malcolm.  Carol dropped hers off in some fly by night operation only to have to come back when she thought she lost her pager in the piles of dirt she left in my yard.  The trees have really started to leaf out and we even saw flowers on our wild blueberry bushes tonight.  I have been wondering what happened to my really big red tulips whose heads were laying on the lawn next to the stems, but I think a small little white dog and the husband had something to do with that.  There has been a lot of whiffle ball being played at my house.  It's our version of "Calvin Ball" and Scout happens to be our catcher and outfielder all at the same time.  She seems to enjoy her multiple roles.

Got in another run this evening.  That's two days in a row and felt much better tonight than yesterday.  Also got our new table and four of our chairs.  Still waiting on the sideboard and the farmer's bench.  In the whole time that we have been married we have been using a table from my dear friend Mindy.  I can remember sitting at this table in late high school and early college in her parents' kitchen when they still lived in Hampton.  Some great times have been had at this table.  I do most of my blogging and craft work on it as well.  One year someone decided he should be a mummy for Halloween and managed to cover the surface in spray adhesive.  That took some serious scrubbing to get it off.  It's really well built and I am a little sad to see it go, but we need to expand our seating.  Bring on the dinner parties at chez Savage!

Guess I'll be off to get some knitting in.  Still working on the bottom ribbing for the Henley sweater.  Really 2.5 inches seems like something I could get through in a night if life didn't keep getting in the way.  I'd really like to get it done in the next week so I can start my next project.  Cause honestly once the weather warms up this girl really doesn't want to be sitting under a pile of wool!

Occupations...

I've been at the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) annual conference the past few days.  It was an amazing experience and I was surrounded by hundreds of people who all share the same visions and passions for our field.  As practioners we make it our goal to help people live their fullest lives every day.  I like to think I practice what I preach.  I have many occupations that I engage every day...wife, knitter, reader, runner, firefighter, supreme ruler of the roost etc.  I could go on and on.  Think about what you do that defines who you are.  These occupations can be further broken down in the the components of each activity.  If I really sat down and thought about it I could break it down to which muscles I use for each occupation and what parts of the brain run them.  Yup that is what my degree is folks.  In my field of geriatrics we break the down the every day skills and re-teach our clients how to engage in them despite age or disability.

The conference gave me a renewed sense of self and re-energized what I bring to work each day.  Sometimes we start to feel stagnant by our situations because of all the baggage our lives carry.  To often I feel like we are just trying to make our numbers for Medicare and we lose sight of the purpose we went to school for this to begin with.  I decided when I got back to work I would put more thought into my treatment selections and really try to engage my patients in occupations every day.

I also came home excited to resume my occupations that I had put off for the week.  My knitting was calling to me across the many miles and this was the first trip I had taken in a long time that didn't include a sticks and string.  I had done so much in the weeks leading up to the conference that my wrists were begging for a short break.  I only took my Kindle with me and I was very thankful I had that because I did manage to read two books while I waited in airports.  A nasty cold and an ear infection also sidelined me from the running for a week.  I did eek out a 3 mile run/walk today in the cold and rain.  I can't run too hard or I just end up in a coughing fit on the side of the road.  Not very attractive either!

Tonight I head back to knit night and have my project bagged up and ready to go.  It's been almost a month since I have been and I realized how much I miss my ladies I knit with.  And yes I am wearing a recent project.  My much loved short sleeve cardigan.  It just came out too pretty not to wear it as often as I can!