We need more socialist holidays.
OK, the rest of this weekend. In the afternoon on Saturday, I went with la familia Ripley to Highland Park Reserve. My brother Scott, my sister-in-law Ali, and their daughter Kaitie have been in town from Orlando for the week, just in time to have their house blown down by the hurricane. Ok, I think it probably wasn’t blown down, but Scott (who works for the fire department doing something involving logistics and lifesaving), has been on call the whole time he’s been here. He’s evacuating neighborhoods and visiting with grandma at the very same time! He’s that kind of magic. My brother and I were never close. Even though he’s just a few years younger than me, we were so bitterly competitive that we never really communicated except to one-up each other. Now that one of us is a mature, responsible adult (I’ll give you one guess as to whom I refer), I’ve realized how great he is. We still don’t see each other often, but I love hanging out with him. And he’s such an awesome dad. Seeing him running around with this little kid clinging to his shoulders makes me wonder how he could possibly be the same person that kept me awake nights, fearing for my life. Proof that the angry youth can be reclaimed. While Kaitie and the folks played like monkeys at the park, Stephanie and I headed down to the lake to ride a paddleboat. She captained the S.S. Baleen, and I was the mutinous first mate. We pedaled that thing around so long we had trouble losing our sea legs upon return to shore. I’m a little sad that it was probably one of the last days to get sunburnt this year. Afterwards, we went to dinner (I don’t have to say where, because you know), which was like! a! reunion! We made a new friend or two. Then we went to see the director’s cut of Donnie Darko. There was only one scene I thought changed the story just a tiny bit. Otherwise, all good. Still one of the best movies ever. And why are you wearing that stupid man suit, anyway? Sunday was breakfast and um… something… and did I mention this is why I write here? So I can remember my life. For fuck’s sake, I’m senile. I seriously have to refer to my LJ to see what I did. OK, now I remember. Yesterday was the day of donations. In the morning, I had over $500 left to raise. In the afternoon, I had exactly $217. I love you guys, for real. I even went door-to-door on my block, until this incident involving a lady and the money she took 10 minutes to locate in her house while I chatted up her elderly mother in the friendliest possible manner. She finally came running at me clutching $3. It made me feel horrible, so I gave up and went home. I also did a lot of pointless running around yesterday to try to prepare for the 3day this weekend. I think I have to bring my gear out on Thursday afternoon, and I haven’t really assembled any of it yet. I’m getting a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and giant duffel from Homie, seasoned camper that she is. I have to think hard about clothing, too. Last weekend on my 20-mile walk, I learned firsthand the second lesson of endurance activities (the first being ‘hydrate or die’): cotton kills. It was a little bit chilly and humid that day, and my shirt stayed wet under the Camelbak for 6 hours. Yuck. So I’m opting for microfiber instead of regular tshirts. I went to REI, and they were pleased to sell me this clothing for something on the order of $80 an item. I got pissed and left. So instead I went to Target today, since they have a decent athletic clothing department. However! I soon found that while the men’s section has maybe 400 racks devoted to microfiber clothing, the women’s section has none. The lesson I took away from this is that as far as athletic priorities go, men require comfort and performance. Women need their tits to look good in tiny spandex tops. Also also yesterday, I spent waaaaay too long in the yarn store. I just joined this local knitting forum, and what I learned on this forum is that while I thought having two concurrent projects going was a lot, most people have 17 or 60 projects at one time. I took this as a cue to give in to my urge to work on lots of things at once. I’m making throw pillows for my bed in Berrocco Suede. No animals were killed in the making of that yarn, and it’s fabulous as hell. Today I went to the coffeeshop 3 or 4 times and walked around Calhoun and knitted and went out to lunch and went to the Mall o’ America (perhaps a mistake, but Old Navy did have some cheap shit to sell me) and went home and went to the Running Room (nobody but nobody has my puffin socks!) and walked around Calhoun again. I’m considering my training done since last weekend; I’m just walking to keep in walking shape, and doing my usual gym routine. I’ve looked forward to the end of training, because I miss being at the gym every day, and I really miss lifting, because I do it only once or twice a week now. Out of the many many different types of fitness-activities in which I’ve participated, I like lifting the most. In fact, I think it’s the best thing ever. I was going to qualify that with ‘I mean, in a feats-of-athleticism sort of way’, but then I realized I’d have to requalify that as well, and then you know… it’s all downhill. I’m all about your feats of athleticism, baby. Awwwwyeah. And on that note, I’m going to bed.Jenni