Rest and rejuvenation.

{I took this picture on a hike in 2008. Pinnacles National Monument, CA.}

Taking a night off from gym, exercise, doing anything really . . . I think I've eaten some bread . . . some hummus . . . Nothing special, nothing productive, nothing I've labored on. I'm just breathing in and letting the week drain from me.

I might draw a bath, I might read a book . . . maybe. This evening, I soaked up the later sunshine on my balcony. Cozy in my big chair, I semi-sort-of dozed and idly flipped through a book and sipped some Earl Grey (my favorite). I drank in every ounce of still, quiet and serene.

Tomorrow is a mental health day . . . Maybe I'll sleep in late . . . go to yoga . . . climb some walls . . . drink tea and read.

Found a fun book called "Entre Nous" at Anthropologie. Gosh, I love that store. I would furnish my house in fun things from there . . . except my budget doesn't exactly allow for that. LOL. Maybe one day when I'm rich and famous . . .

I have gone 'round the bend.

Looking back through my blog, I searched for a post that would have talked about the marathon I ran last April. I didn't write anything. Nothin'. Zilch.

There were several posts leading up to the big day, but none detailing what happened, how it went, what the course was like . . . at all. (Note: There IS a note written on my Facebook, but I'm still shocked that I neglected to post here.)

Well, I'll give myself another shot. Two of them, actually. At some point, yes, I'll post about the marathon last year, but in the not-so-distant-future, I will also have another post about the marathon I'm running in October.

Yesterday, I signed up for Marathon #2 -- which will be prepared for more safely, thoroughly and with much greater peace of mind. On October 30, I will be running the Napa Wine Country Marathon -- 26.2 miles of Callistoga trails.

I am SO excited.

Below is a picture from after the race. Please note that the squinched up, puffy face is from when I crossed the finish line and promptly began bawling at the wave of emotions that hit me. Ha ha ha.


Annie hugging me at the finish line. She put my medal around my neck. All I could sob was, "I did it!"


Okay, NOT a hot photo, but I'm just glad you can't quite see all the tears and snot. Also glad photos don't have odors associated with them because I was smelling a little ripe, to say the least.

I don't know how I managed, but I put in two HOURS of climbing today . . .

Considering only about half of that was actual climbing (the other half I was on belay), I torched about 800 calories. (No joke.) But oooooohhhhhhhhhh am I going to be sore tomorrow . . .

Weekend recap

- Visit from Annie
- New hair (don't know what you can tell from the picture, but it's about the same color -- kind of a medium-dark brown)
- Vegan Chinese food in Mountain View
- Drinks at O'Flaherty's Irish Pub (new favorite!)
- Gallavanting around downtown San Jose with a friend from college
- Late-night veggie burgers at Peggy Sue's
- Santana Row farmer's market (1 lb each of baby bok choy, mustard greens, and Swiss chard, plus a bundle of cilantro -- $3.50. Rock on!)
- Nice long drive

The point of no return (sort of).

I have once again reached the point where one box of hair dye will simply not be sufficient. My hair is barely past my shoulders (by about 2 inches) and it's T-H-I-C-K. So thick, the bottle of hair dye I used just now was sputtering and running out just as I was finishing up the crown of my head.

Whew!!! But by the time I dye again, I'll probably need a second box . . . just so I can be totally thorough.

Dang.

Make me over . . .

There's such a buzzing, positive vibe going around today . . . and I think I caught it.

This week has been a teensy bit trying as I was trying to recharge without actually giving myself time or opportunity to do so. As much as I try to fight it, I AM an introverted person - I communicate better in writing, I can be more withdrawn in some social situations because having lots of people around physically/mentally/emotionally drains me, etc. I'm not shy, not antisocial, I just need my alone time to energize myself.

So this morning at the office, we're busybusybusy . . . but it feels GOOD, surprisingly enough. I feel like I've caught a bug - a positivity/optimism bug and I like it.

I feel more productive and engaged in my workplace. I feel like I'm growing . . . It sounds a little hokey, I'm sure, but when I'm slammed in a positive way, I enjoy feeling like they're keeping me stimulated and on-my-toes.

If I had a million dollars . . .

Just for today, I'm inclined to think on what I would do with a million dollars. There's so much I'd like to do, but what would make it special? I mean, I'd love to pay off my car, buy a house, and all those other lovely things that would set me up so I'm not shelling out several hundred dollars a month in rent and car payments, but what else . . . ?

* Traveling

Kind of a given, but I'd love to tour Morocco, Egypt, India, Australia, France, Switzerland, Germany, England, Italy, Ireland and Spain. I'd die to go to Greece, but I'm saving that as my ideal honeymoon. If the future hubs and I don't go to Greece . . . You know what, scratch that . . . I really hope to marry a man who knows how happy that would make me. (Obviously, I could change my mind, but for now, I'm just dreaming.)

* A library

What I would give to have a whole ROOM of nothing but BOOKS! To put all of my books in one area and keep adding and adding to the collection. Ah, to be supremely wealthy and have something like that! I consider myself very fortunate to have had two parents who both enjoy reading and liked reading to me when I was little. I had a babysitter who was in school to be a teacher at the time who taught me so much -- like how to count to 20 in Japanese when I was two. My first grade teacher probably impacted my love of reading the most -- she sent me home with chapter books while other kids took home little paper books their parents would sign saying Little Johnny had read this aloud to them. I've been a big reader ever since -- heck, I got my degree in reading! (English literature, folks.) To have a room all my own filled with some of the best stories ever penned? My heart races at the thought . . . :oD Maybe someday . . . For now, I'm content to have my outdoor reading space on my balcony.

So that's a short list of what I'd do with a million dollars. There's plenty more I'd like to do (like have a small amount set aside for my wedding someday, save for my kids' college funds, etc.) but those are more pragmatic, future-minded decisions. These are just for fun . . .

What would you do with a million bucks? :o)