Letters to Holly

Friday, May 23

The Day Before

Your Sister is sick, but she continues to work. I assume we'll go to Asheville this weekend for the restaurant, and we might pick up her car stereo too. Depends on how she feels. I handed her the bag from you and Your Parents, but she's too waterlogged to enjoy opening it. It sits next to the sick bed.

I feel a bit nervous about the race. I know my start time and where to go and when I should wake up and stretch and snack. But I worry about the crowd and preparation of the staff. This is no longer an official event for the Memorial Festival, and I hope the new organizers secured some police protection for the runners along those back roads. They're also running a 10K at the same time on the same course.

I don't feel like I've done enough to get into shape. I lost time to gardening and weather, and, while I feel lighter in some places, I worry about my legs on the hills. And the last hill looms. It fucking LOOMS. I'm determined to run until I vomit. I haven't done that yet, and I suspect I need that rite of passage.

Picture of the Day
This is the kind of ads that can boost newspaper distribution.

Thursday, May 22

I Might Be in Trouble Here

Yesterday's run was tricky. Not as windy, not as hot, but I started off with sore...

Wit, Your Mom just dropped by work, and we chatted for about 15 minutes. The highlights:
1. Sounds like you found a condo. Second floor is best for a flat are that gets hurricanes. Also, you're an hour from the beach.
2. We talked about Dad. He couldn't take chemo yesterday because a new neck growth emerged. They'll look at it today. His blood count is down, his weight is up.
3. She dropped off the stuff from you, and I haven't looked inside yet.
4. We talked about Saturday's race, which goes back to ...

The sore legs I had yesterday, and that surprised me. My legs usually don't ache like that, and I suspect the Monday hill run lingers with me. My breath was fine because I couldn't run as fast. Kathy called yesterday to say it might not be best for us to run together, because I talk too much, and she runs too slow. I can shut up for the race, and I don't want to abandon her.

I finished another script and now have one and a half to read before Tuesday. The committee chair left me a key to the warehouse rehearsal space so I can drop off and pick up scripts. I want to take Your Sister there Saturday. She never saw us rehearse there. We'll hit that before we leave town on the way to Asheville to eat at the Indian place.

We watched the last 15 minutes of the American Idol finale, and we're relieved that Napoleon Dynomutt didn't win.

There's no new Lost tonight. The two-hour finale is next Thursday.

Picture of the Day
Japan now sports walking vending machine robots. Or something.

Tuesday, May 20

I Am Beat Up

I ran a 5k route when I got home, and the weather didn't help. It was windy and much hotter than usual, and they took their toll. A recurring problem has developed where my diaphragm is tightening up later in my run. I have to stop and let it relax. I think I'm in OK shape. This hasn't happened to me before, and I don't think it's posture or bad form. It's odd. I ran the whole route after stopping for a breather, and I'm feeling it today. My legs are tight, and my feet feel a half-size larger.

I'll try the run once more before Saturday's race.

Picture of the Day
It's a real-life beer commercial.



Monday, May 19

Weekend

We hosted Kathy and Travis on Friday for a cookout. I showed them the painting --- wait, I gotta rant here.

I went to two Michael's stores on Friday and Saturday, and neither one would help me with framing. I couldn't get the frame people to even make eye contact with me as I stood at each counter with a 12 x 16 canvas in my hand. I even leaned over to look at the samples Velcroed to the wall. . Fuck them. I'll go with another store. Had their chance. Blew it.

Anyway, I told them during the meal about listening to Fight Club commentaries during the painting. This lead to me reciting the film and we cleared the table and watched the DVD. We got almost to the end before Your Sis started to nod off, and we packed it up.

Kathy asked me about running in next week's 5k, and I told her I had considered it, but didn't really plan on it. She's running, and wanted a running partner on Saturday for practice. I agreed to it, and we met at 8 a.m. to run the course. She asked me beforehand to cuss at her for motivating during the hard parts but I didn't have the nerve. When she was too pooped to run, she was gasping. We stopped often, but finished within 45 minutes. This is the first run designed around the Music Center, and the final leg is paved cruelty. It's a steep, steep hill right before the end. I felt OK when we finished. So well, in fact, that I drove home and ran another mile just to get it all out of me. I'll run twice this week before the Saturday morning race. I admit, I'm a smidgen torn on the race. I want to run it at my speed, but I don't want to abandon Kathy; I'm running to get her through it. But I know I can race up that last hill.

Your Sis and I went to Asheville to shop at a jewelry store. On the way, we spied a jet fighter buzzing the airport over and over. She got emotional over it -- nostalgia and glee mixed together. The jewelry store was a bust, unfortunately, but we found something else that might do the trick: a new car stereo. We found Best Buy's bank of samples, including a stereo with a USB jack. I happened to have mine with me, and we plugged it in and activated the speakers. Out streamed the entrance music to the Dan Savage sex-advice podcast, and we immediately yanked out the drive out. Her eyes lit up over this stereo, and I think she's locked in on it. We might get her new speakers too.

We watched Iron Man, and she loved it. She chirped like a kid more than a few times. I got your check and letter when we got back. Don't panic. I will still take her to the restaurant for a meal.

We made another friendship cake on Sunday, and I started checking the research papers. They suck. The kids aren't using basic Word options to fix grammar and spelling. Inexcusable. I read my third script and now have three more to read in eight days. I can do that.

We watched the Saturday horse race from the TiFaux, and, thankfully, no horse died this time. I also watched the Cleveland/Boston basketball game while proofing papers.

Picture of the Day
Ta-daa!