General Update

I don't want this blog to be about nothing but my dog, but I find it hard not to talk about her. It seems my solution so far has been to avoid posting. That seems like a poor choice. So here I am with an update.

Krista is doing well. We are getting free training (as a service for someone seeking trainer certification and a MS in animal behavior), and she's responding really well so far. Krista's running focus and endurance seems to be improving. I took her on a 5-mile run yesterday, and she did very well over all.

Judson and I have been playing a lot of bridge. I've now been to the Bridge Club of Ithaca three times, and I officially became a member this week. I also joined the ACBL. I really enjoy bridge because it's a tactical, strategic game. There's an entire complicated bidding system to figure out. I can't help it...I'm a nerd.

This week, I got my very first raise. That was exciting.

I also got a really cool certificate for fixing a filing cabinet in Amy's office. Thanks, Amy! I'm glad I was able to put my skillz to good use.

My running is coming along very well. This week has been the hardest running week I've had in years. You know you're getting serious when your recovery runs are five miles. Today, I did 4x mile repeats, and I'm exhausted. I did very well pace-wise though. I was shooting for anything from 8:30/mi to 9:30/mi (I'm slow, and I'm training for a half marathon). I did my repeats in 8:21, 8:23, 8:24, and 8:17. Not too shabby! At the end of this week, I will have run something like 233 miles so far in 2009. That's enough mileage to take me from Ithaca to NYC.

I inadvertently created a sourdough-starter volcano last night. Somehow, I didn't realize how much starters expand. I had my starter in a mason jar that had about 0.75-in of head space. I had put the lid on the jar very loosely, only giving the ring a quarter turn or so. This morning, the lid and ring were next to the jar, and there was rapidly hardening starter everywhere. Oops! I started again in a much bigger container. I should be able to bake my first batch of sourdough in a few days.

Judson made crackers, and they were delicious. I think maybe it was Darrell's in Knoxville that served house-made crackers? I forget, but Judson's definitely made me nostalgic.

Work has been crazy for me (and for everyone else who works at Ithaco, I think). This is part of the reason I've been delinquent with blogging and with writing to people. Sorry! But I really enjoy what I do, so no complaints there either.

And now I think we're up to date. Phew!