"Your mom's going to come by tomorrow," he said. 

"Okay," I answered, then asked jokingly, "So, were you guys talking about me?"

"No." 

"Well, why not?"

"You're like Voldemort," said Blair. "We try not to say your name aloud, lest we summon it." 

Anyone else deal with this sort of thing in their marriages? Anyone...?? 

Cheers,

Dena

Never occurred to me even though: 

• Cindy is a MUCH faster runner than me
• I have the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon the following Saturday, allowing only 5 days of recovery time
• I wrote a blog post describing my utter exhaustion the last time I ran the Massacre on a FOUR-person team
• The course is in Country Park which means hills and all my training as of late has been on flat roads

The course through Country ParkI think it comes down to the hoodie. The Massacre has the best hooded sweatshirts for participants of any race I've ever been in, hands down. I'm willing to put myself in pain for one of those. 

The race is held over a 1.6 mile loop. Runners alternate running loops, 8 apiece. I think I remember that 2-person teams were permitted to run two loops at a time before switching out. I hope so. The hardest part of this race isn't the distance. It's cooling off after each of your laps then having to go back out on the course with tight muscles. 

The best part of this race though is the down times. It's a great chance to talk and catch up with fellow runners who are between laps and people treat the event like one big tailgating party. There'll be tents and lawn chairs and plenty of food and drink.

The key word for this week is easy. Go easy on the legs. Easy on the workouts. Eat well. Drink lots and lots of lots of water. A little bit of prayer probably wouldn't hurt--especially given the team name we picked.

On Sunday, be sure to root for TEAM SOLE SISTERS: HOT FAST WOMEN.

Cheers,

Dena

However, as it's been almost 5 years since my last general physical, I decided it couldn't hurt to be checked out. Turns out an annual physical these days pretty much involves going to the doctor's office, sitting around for 25 minutes, filling out a form, confirming your answers on the form verbally with a nurse practitioner, having your weight, height and blood pressure (90/55 - yo, yo, yo, wass 'up runners?) taken, and having blood drawn. All for a total of about 15 minutes in the doctor's office. Then they shoo you away and say they'll call you when the blood work comes in. 

What's funny is that if you click on the link above, it takes you to the Barkworld home page which happens to be a big picture of me being interviewed for this very video. Who knew? (Click through the images if mine doesn't pop up right away.)

Note to self: Wear more makeup on camera and quit starting your sentences with "Um." You sound like a moron. 

Cheers,

Dena

As we leave the library, Blair is carrying the books but at some point he needed to find something in his wallet so he handed them to me to carry and I just never gave them back. After a few minutes, he looked over at me, frowning.

"What?" I asked. 

"Something doesn't seem right. Hang on." He took several quick strides so he was walking about three paces ahead of me. Or rather, I was walking three steps behind him. 

"There. That's more like it," he said over his shoulder. "And I'll expect you to get my dinner started when we get home, woman."

I'll say it again. I married a funny, funny guy. 

Cheers,

Dena

"BLAIR!" I screamed, my emergency broadcast system in full mode. "BLAIR! BLAIR! BLAIR!"

He came bursting into the bathroom, sure someone was murdering me. "WHAT?! WHAT?!"

Maybe it's the CPA in him or maybe it's just the instinctual male urge to hunt and conquer, but Blair can track down a bargain like nobody's business. He'll leave the house at 8 am on a Sunday to get to CVS when it opens so he can swoop up armfuls of Kleenex tissue or Maxwell House Coffee on sale. Going through the aisles of the grocery store, I stand and watch him perform Nobel Peace prize worthy mathematical computations to figure out whether the canned peas on sale are a deal or a dud. And always the southern gentleman, bargain hunting mode is one of the few times Blair will knock old ladies aside to get to what he wants. 

I'm always in favor of a bargain but not willing to put in the work Blair does. If it's there in front of me and it's a decent enough price, I buy it.

"BE CALM," I read aloud.

"Advised the people driving the Lexus LX Suv," added Blair, eyeing the upscale black vehicle the plate hung on. 

We had a chuckle over it, passed them (that's what you get for being calm) and continued on our way. 

Flash forward to our drive home from Wintergreen.

"Look over there," said Blair, motioning to the lane next to us. 

Guess who? That's right, BE CALM was back beside us, returning from wherever they'd been at the exact same hour that we were. 

"No way," I said. "What are the odds? Obviously the Universe wants us to BE CALM." 

"I'm calm," said Blair. "Are you calm?"

"I was calm until I saw the BE CALM plate," 'I said. "Now, honestly, I'm a little freaked out." 

Nothing else to add. Just one of those asides that makes you think a bit and wonder if life is random or are things planned. What's your take on it?

Cheers,

Dena

As you may recall, Blair decided--on a whim--to take us skiing. Our private ski lesson was this morning at 8 am. "Ralph" was replaced with "Jim," an infinitely patient and capable instructor. The lift didn't open until 9 so our timing was perfect--we got in and got our equipment and had our practice session before any real crowds showed up. 

This was a good thing as "I love skiing" does not necessarily equate to "I am good at skiing."

Why? Too often I go through life head down, so focused on getting to the next place or achieving the next goal I just blow by the people the Universe has placed in my path. What would happen if I actually stopped and paid attention to them?

Yesterday I was working in a local coffeehouse and an older gentleman came in. We exchanged hello's and he asked me if I had "one of those iPhones." I said I did and he pulled out a brand new model and asked if I knew how to check and see if he had a voicemail. 

I showed him how to access his voicemail and he explained his wife usually showed him how to work these things. I smiled, picturing a sweet gray-haired woman leaning over an instruction manual and then he said, "She used to be a programmer with the FBI." 

Uh, hello--you have my attention. It gets better. Then he says, "I used to work command missions for the CIA." 

Pull up a chair! I sat and talked with this fascinating individual for almost 40 minutes. He told stories of past missions (he and his team pushing over a downed helicopter so they could use one of the guns on it to fire at attacking enemies) and how he and his wife met and eventually how they came to settle in this area. 

The amazing part to me is that this guy was totally non-descript. Nothing about him, including the fact that he had to ask me how to access his voicemail, hinted at the rich and exciting life he'd led. But isn't that true for most people? We have no idea the fascinating ideas, dreams, or travels of so many people around us because we assume that what we observe on the surface is all that's there. 

I'm probably more guilty of this type of assuming behavior than most people. Hence the resolve to do a better job of "seeing" people for who they really are, and maybe taking just a bit of time to listen to their stories. 

It's asking a lot from someone who is not naturally a "people-person." That's why I'm using this year to focus on strangers. I can't be expected to do that AND up my game with friends and loved ones.

Being nice to them will have to wait for 2013. 

If they're lucky. ;)

Cheers,

Dena