Misty Monday Morning

This isn't the Spring Break weather the Chamber of Commerce ordered. It's better. Out early this morning, running with a cool mist on my face, a halo of moisture in my hair, I traversed the clouds. Warming up with a cup of coffee and a good laugh, my runnning partner, my life partner and I settle into the relaxed vacation mode. Back home to linger in the kitchen slicing fruit. I'm in no particular hurry. The clouds don't worry me. My husband's smile brightens my entire world.

Forgot to write post.
In bed, typing on iPod.
Does this Haiku count?

Six Word Autobiography

Making it up as I go.

Are you satisfied
Former guest of suite 132?
Your prank worked.
Clever thing, setting the alarm
for midnight.
After early to bed
Two hours of toss and turn
I finally hit my REM.
The clang! A fire? Tornado?
The clock.
Reaching in the dark for silence
Nine minutes later settling in.
Focus on the sheep
Their graceful leaps, their tufts
billowing ... Clang!
In the lamplight I locate the plug
cut off the supply source.
In the lamplight, I'm fully awake.
In the lamplight, I'm fully aware
The Tex-Mex blazes through my gut.
Congratulations!What a prank!
Former guest of suite 132.

Proud to Be a Native New Yorker

Blind

Black

Adulterer

Toker

Snorter

Marathoner

Governor

Pet Names

EJG's been Bonehead in our family for as long as I can remember. Maybe it started the time he locked the keys in his parents' running car when picking me up at the Long Island Railroad Station. That nickname is more than 20 years old. Sometimes we shorten it to the nickname for the nickname and we just call him Bone.

IMG has had a few different names. It was pumpkin (pronounced punkin') and sunshine when she was smaller and sunnier. Princess fell out of fashion because she took that one a bit too much to heart. Lately she's My Monkey based on her uncanny ability to simulate a primate's face and behaviors.

Even the pets have pet names in this house. Gretel is her legal name, but calling for Grets will get the job done, especially when standing near the pantry with the cat treats. Hansel isn't smart enough answer to any name, so why not mix it up a little? Sometimes he's Hansile or Hansicle. In a rush it's simply H.

Growing up we were all about the nicknames: Judith to Judy to Jude, Deborah to Deb to D (but never Debbie), Natalie to Nat…you get the idea. We all use these nicknames still. Having dinner with my mom a couple of years ago, her cell phone rang in her purse, and I grabbed it to answer for her. The caller I.D. read "N." We laugh about that still, but I wonder, was it the comfort of familiarity or her difficulty in programming her phone that led to the abbreviation ?

Simply Can't Wait for the Gate

I feel like a kid counting down the days to Christmas, I'm so excited for this big race on Saturday. It was the last thought I had before I fell asleep and the first when I woke this morning. In spite of all my excitement, weather and airlines may prevent me from taking part in this awesome event.

Yesterday I had my last pre-race run. After an hour on the treadmill at a moderate to quick (for me) pace, I was sweaty and shower-ready. Back in my room, I had stripped down to the socks when my phone rang. It was the automated line from Delta airlines with a courtesy call informing me that my connecting flight from Cincinnati to JAX, some 26 hours away, had already been cancelled. The recording reassured me that they had a new itinerary for me departing from Harrisburg, PA on Saturday morning. Oh, no they didn't!

I called the medallion desk, hoping that my credentials as a frequent flier could undo this mess. Surely, when they discovered it was moi being inconvenienced they'd do whatever necessary to make the flight happen, even if it required moving the front that was causing the storm. To no avail. My trusty airline representative repeatedly thanked me for my business and my loyalty but told me there would be no Gate River Run 2008.

In a desperate search for options I called the travel agency that books the SDE flights. God bless Mary Ellen. While she confirmed that there wasn't another way out of Harrisburg, she did notice that Baltimore airport is within 100 miles. She nabbed me a seat on a Southwest flight direct from BWI to JAX, and reserved me a car at the nearby Harrisburg airport.

My fingers are crossed. If Mary Ellen's plan works and I zip out at the end of my seminar I can fly(in my rented car) through the winter weather and arrive in Baltimore to grab that flight home. Take a couple of winks and then wake early to line up for the most fun I can possibly have while exercising on a Saturday morning. It's a lot of trouble and expense to make sure I'm there to run this race.

I can't quite articulate why I do this - go to so much trouble to run in a race when I'm likely to place dead last. Maybe all this running has done something to my brain!