A post of random things I am looking forward to

I'm home!  A week of work, a stressful trip to the east coast, another week of work (this one crazy busy at times) . . . I've been on the road for three weeks, and I'm SO HAPPY to be home!  Yay!  While I've been gone, I've suffered, my yoga has suffered, my running has suffered, my blogging/commenting has suffered.  I am looking forward to getting back on track with all/most of the above.  

Coming home to Truckee has been a bit of a shock . . . the weather is pretty extreme for April.  Today it's snowing (for real) and right now the temp outside is 27.  More of the same for tomorrow.  Apparently we have 1.7 meters of snow in our front yard -- Tom measured it with his avalanche probe.  He's started shoveling the yard, just to hasten the melting.  Yes, this is what we do.  I am looking forward to spring (::broken record, no?::)

Tom made me close my eyes, then led me into the garage to show me what he billed as his "new Girlfriend" :

He picked up this tandem mt. bike on Craigslist for a sweet $250 . . . it has a few mechanical problems but apparently nothing major.  We've been wanting a tandem for awhile, but they are prohibitively expensive.  This is a purple Burley Samba, and we've already got high, high hopes for it.  Road touring, mt biking with the mt bike group, who knows what? One of the reasons we've been interested in a tandem is that I have a HUGE bike phobia, which I don't know if I've talked about here before.  I had a couple of serious bike crashes as a kid/teenager, and these have left me with an unnatural phobia of riding.  I do OK on the road, but take me off road and put me on a trail and I get very anxious, even more klutzy, and generally terrified of any kind of speed.  I've been known to throw myself off the bike (with my feet still attached to the pedals!) just out of frustration and fear.  Though I have a VERY nice mt bike and a hugely talented -- and very patient -- man to teach me how, my mt biking career has barely left the garage.  This is why I frequently run with the mt bikers, because I'm too afraid to ride with them. On the tandem it seems a little less scary since I am not in control, alls I have to do is pedal and hang on, and if we crash I've got something to land on (the person driving the bike, ie Tom).  At least in theory.  I am looking forward to the adventures of the Purple People Eater (working name for this colorful bike.  We're thinking of adding orange polkadots . . . )

I previously mentioned a new "recipe" for pie crust, and Formulaic has expressed repeated interest in said recipe.  So it's not so much of a recipe as more an ingredient list, and more of a figure-out-the-recipe-yourself kinda thing.  That's how we roll in my family.  So, kudos to Aunt Lois, her blueberry pie was DELICIOUS and this is what she told me about the crust:  1. Use butter, not Crisco.   2. 1 tsp salt.  3.  Few tsp/TBSs of sugar, for a fruit pie.  4. Cut the right amount of the butter into some flour (this is where the "recipe" falters . . . I don't have exact amounts for ingredients, but I suppose all of this can be applied to a standard pie crust recipe, and isn't that something like 2 c flour for a 2 crust pie? something like that.  So cut the right amount of butter -- prolly like 2 sticks -- into the right amount of flour, until it's formed into little pea-sized bits).  4. Fork in Ice Water (must be iced!) maybe 4 TBS, and then (here's the secret!ingredient!) fork in some VODKA (apparently, the vodka adds the moisture one would like for a flaky crust, then evaporates during the cooking process!), maybe another 4 TBSs or so.  Until it forms a ball.  Split that, chill it for at least a half an hour, then roll it out using lots of flour and carry on with your pie.  So, the important things here:  Touch and work the crust dough as little as possible.  Use ICED WATER and COLD (maybe iced, too?) vodka -- you want to keep the dough both cold and unworked for a tender crust.  Refrigerate before rolling out.  Sorry the recipe is so vague, but.  I am looking forward to seeing what difference the vodka and the butter make.

I am looking forward to yoga class tonite, it's been sooooo long!

Yes, and then there's running.  Oboy.  I've got My First Marathon on Sunday, and lordy lordy I feel very unprepared.  Another broken record statement on this here blog, but there it is.  I've hit all/most of my long runs, but a lot of the shorter runs and all/most of the speedwork (ha!) has fallen by the wayside.  My "taper" has lasted about 3 weeks.  I have not run in over 5 days (hopefully that changes today, if the damn weather cooperates).  26.2 looms LARGE!  I'm hoping that my slowness, my lack of caring about finish times, the fact that I have run the route in its entirety plus my ability to slog through no matter what (which is an ability that is sometimes present, sometimes not) will carry me through this race.  I don't know what else will . . . certainly not my high level of fitness, nor my status as a highly talented runner.  As if.  On this one, I guess I am looking forward to finding out if I can, indeed, run 26.2.

Oboy.