2017 Purity Springs Thanksgiving Trail 5K Race

I think this is my perma-face.

After L'il Rhody's beat down, I knew I had to make some decisions about my running plans for the rest of 2017. I had to face the fact that I needed a running break. I had signed up for the Tarc Winter Ultra 40-mile race on Dec 2 somewhat reluctantly, only because it was about to sell out. I figured I would be fine by Dec 2, but L'il Rhody proved otherwise. So after thinking about it all day Monday, I finally backed out. This would be the SECOND time I had backed out of the Tarc Winter Ultra after registering for it. Haha. The last time was 2013, but I don't remember why. It probably had something to do with my miserable marriage since that was my biggest running obstacle at the time. Haha. So I'm 0 for 2 with this race. Maybe one day I will actually do it, but it won't be 2017, and I don't regret it. And here it comes....

My plan HAD been to take a running break after the Tarc race, but since I was no longer doing it, I decided instead to start this week. I didn't want to miss the Thanksgiving Day race in Madison, so I made a plan to start Friday and take a week off from running. Yes, only a week...even though it might turn into more. I'll go nutty (okay, I mean MORE nutty) if I plan 2 weeks, so I'm taking it a week at a time. Although I planned no serious racing in December, I've been eyeing a few, of course. I thought about the Newport Christmas 10K since people on my new team, WTAC (hahaha. Yes. Yes, I did. I joined a RI team for RI races. Is that really surprising), were trying to talk me into it, but for some reason I just keep seeing the words, "No 10K," over and over again. :) So I probably won't do it. Instead of the 10K, I will probably jump into a 5K that same weekend. I had planned both BU Mini Meets, but since they are two weekends in a row, I'll probably just do the one on the 16th. I need to start building up my speed again since that's my first goal of 2018 before I start getting serious with marathon training. I lost so much speed from getting off the road in April of this year, so I want to work on getting that back.

I have quite a bit planned for January-
-Hilo to Volcano 50K in Hawaii, as long as I'm feeling good. I'm only doing this one for fun and not to destroy myself, so if I'm feeling off at all, I won't do it. It doesn't really fit into my training plan AT ALL, but when will I have the chance to do this one again?
-Whitaker Woods Snowshoe Scramble, one of only 3 snowshoe races I'm planning to do, so far. I might hit a Bradbury one, but I'm really backing off of snowshoe racing this winter. I feel like it led to my high hamstring issues last year. Would have loved to go to World's in Spain, but that's not in the cards.
-USATF Masters Indoor Track Meet if it's still happening. No indoor track schedule up yet.
-Possible other races, but only 5K or less.

So anyway, as far as running miles for the week, it came out to a whopping 18.1. Not bad for 2 days of running, though. The rest was all cross training stuff that has me sitting here feeling pretty sore, but a good sore...except my neck, but that happens even if I just turn it the wrong way.

Monday, November 20, 2017- Work as usual. Walked 40 minutes on the treadmill. Spent a lot of the day just thinking about my future running plans, as I already mentioned.

We did have some heated discussions that day when we found this memo attached to our paycheck stubs.

Yeah, not happening, buddy. One of the only reasons most of us work here is because of the set schedule, so there is no way those of us who paid our dues by working weekends when we started are going to go back to working weekends. I'd be at a different job right now if this job wasn't like this. And that is pretty much the consensus among the staff. I don't know of anyone yet who didn't say they would quit if this changed to a rotating schedule. Plus, this isn't actually fixing the problem! The problem is with specific staff calling out because they don't want to work weekends with no repercussions. The person writing this memo and those above him are also the problem by allowing this to happen constantly. This would only create new problem of people calling out because they can't work these random weekend days. I had to wait two days in order not to write a nasty response, but I didn't wait two minutes before I allowed my immaturity to take hold and drew an ejaculating penis next to the memo writer's name. :) I did NOT take a photo of that, but I left it out on the table and got a lot of compliments on my art work. Fire me! Please!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017- I decided to run from work today with the plan of running 10-ish. I ran down Ossipee Lake Rd with an out-and-back plan, but when I got to Pequawket Trail, I decided to turn in and do the loop. I felt ok at first, but then I could feel the legs. Really, really sore. I still ran a pretty consistent pace, but it was very slow in general for my usual. How I managed to snag two Strava CRs on this run is beyond me, though. 12.8 miles in 1:36:53. 7:41/mi avg pace. After this run, I knew for sure that I was going to be taking that week off starting Friday. I could feel it. Almost like I felt in April during my run the Tuesday after Doyle's when I knew I needed the break.

I changed clothes when I got back to the base then headed south to Mad Cow Screenprinting to pick up the shirts for the Purity Spring race. Catalina Kirsch, the RD, had emergency surgery the week before and put out a "help me!" post on FB, so I ended up in charge of shirt pick-up. It worked out anyway because I could hit Hannaford and Ocean State Job Lot while I was in Ossipee Corner. It had been awhile since I'd been in Ocean State Job Lot, and I forgot how odd some of the food is in there. Haha.

I did an upper body and abs workout when I got home. John came home after that. This time of year, I'm not as motivated to get out on Tuesdays to make John do something because he always takes a short walk with his dad in the morning and then has ninja class that night. So I let him do what he wanted while I raked more of my trail out back.

She was excited to see me

My backyard from my trail

Very leaf covered

Chill in between the blow downs that I'm not strong enough to move. Oh well. 

I cut it short after I heard back from Catalina that she needed me to drop the shirts off at her house today, so I drove over to their house and left the shirts. It was almost dark already by the time I got home so I gave up on more raking and  had a beer instead.

Great beer courtesy of Michael Crutchley

I was a little disappointed that night when we got to ninja class to find the place locked up and dark. WTF. They always have class the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but just assumed I missed a change for the holiday week since the communication is terrible and always has been. I was annoyed that John didn't do much, but I figured it was my fault. (Turns out it wasn't, but I didn't learn that until the next week.)

Wednesday, November 22, 2017- No way was I running today. I decided to bring clothes for a workout while at work instead. I planned to do the old 300 Killer Rep Workout that Zuzka Light made years ago, but when I put "300" in the search bar, I found she just started a new 300 Killer Rep Series in October!!! How did I miss that?! And what perfect timing for my running break. So I started with the first of the Series. It was a lot longer than most of the workouts she does at 25 minutes. Definitely a good ab and overall strength training workout.

I really, really wanted to add spinning into my workouts for the week, but I can't stand Cranmore and its price gouging. Plus, the spinning schedule was terrible. I could maybe make one. So I decided to do a broad Google search on spinning in the area. I don't know why I never did this before because I've been wanting to do spin classes ever since we moved back here in 2011, but other than a now defunct gym (121 Fitness) where I took 3 spin classes, there is nothing besides Cranmore. And it's just stupidly expensive. When I was a member in 2007, I couldn't pay for the whole year since I was only there while Bryan was in Iraq, so I had to pay month-to-month. With the daycare and spin classes, I was paying over $100/month! And it's not even a great gym. So I've avoided it ever since. So in my broad search, I found Olympia Gym in Wolfeboro. Spin classes every day and at normal times!! AND the cost? Only $8/class with the punch card, as opposed to Cranmore's $16 fee for a day pass. I was in!

Work was very quiet. Two calls with no transports. I did make the decision that morning to run A3 instead of A2 (A151). A3 was my truck for so long! I have spent so many hours of my life in that thing doing transfers (when we still did them). It's the best truck, and now it just sits in the back of the bay being used only as a 2nd truck occasionally. I got a text on Sunday from the "supervisor" asking me why I took A2 out of service because no one knows what's wrong with it. I guess no one in between Wednesday and Sunday changed it back....mainly because we all like A3 better. I wanted to beat my head against a wall, though. I never took A2 out of service; there wasn't anything wrong with it. It was only moved to the 2nd truck. There's a difference. Maybe if someone used his brain, he would have noticed A2 wasn't marked as being out of service. Duh.

Thursday, November 23, 2017- Purity Spring Thanksgiving 5K Trail Race-

I so hoped we didn't get a late call like last year which made me have to rush off to Purity Springs for the race, and I was in luck this time! I still didn't have a lot of time, but I wasn't in a rush. I went home to change into my running stuff and must have been brain dead when choosing to wear tights. I forgot how awful I look in them, and the race photos were a good reminder. Haha. I was not in the mood for racing at all...

It was a clear, sunny day, but really cold so I had on lots of layers for the warm up. I decided to do one full loop of the course just to remind myself of the hills and whatnot. I was surprised at how much debris was on the trail. It was crazy. Most of that is from that crazy storm that brought all of the flooding. So many pine cones and small branches. I actually moved a few of the larger branches and sticks as I ran. I was surprised at how good I felt. Not really sore or tight. I think 2 days of not running this week so far helped. I ran really slow, but it was on the trail, so I wasn't expecting speed for the warmup. 2.2 miles.

I made my way over to the start and found Terry Ballou and Suz Laughlin. The three of us lined up together. Terry said we might have competition from a high school girl who was there. Oh wtf. Haha. I had Terry point her out to me, but that would end up being unnecessary since I went ahead of all the women right off the start line. I went out hard, though, because I didn't know who some of the unknown faces were there and wanted a good lead if I could get one. I was surprised to find myself right behind Jim Boule' since he's crazy fast in the mountains. I noticed him running carefully down the first hill and right after the first climb, I passed him. I assumed he was injured because this wasn't normal, and I was definitely not my speediest. I turned out to be somewhat right. This was his first run back after being out for a knee injury. So that explained it.

I kept my pace at my max and still felt really good. Just before the mile and the first of the big hill climbs, we come out to a short out and back so I could see who was behind me. Terry was second woman behind me not super far back, but enough that I didn't feel threatened. I pushed up the hill and continued an attempt to catch the guy in front of me as we started the second loop. I got within 5 yards of him at the out and back turn around but he put on a little bit of a kick up the big hill that I didn't have and put some distance on me. I was at least happy not to be racing Turkey Suit this year since I think he would have beaten me. UGH. As we climbed up to the top of the final stretch, the guy in front of me got a little too far for me to have any chance at catching him in the final kick. I came through 1st woman, 11th overall in 22:47. 3 miles on my watch, but this seemed to vary among the runners. 243ft of elevation gain which is quite a lot over 3-ish miles. I ended up just over a minute ahead of Terry which is about the same as last year. I was happy that I felt so good the whole race, but my time, however, was horrible. 48 seconds slower than last year, and I was having major hamstring issues then, too. Plus I was only 2 weeks off the Manchester Marathon. But I was also a beat up mess this year so they're probably comparable as far as how I raced. Just an indication of how much speed I've lost in a year, and the huge endeavor I have of getting it back. It's going to be a long road (no pun intended). And now for why I shouldn't wear tights...

Photo by Joe Viger

Photo by Joe Viger

I only did a short cool down to the lodge for a bagel and coffee before heading out. I was happy to snag another free massage by Donna Cormier. Seriously the best therapeutic massage I've ever had. I can't wait for that one.

I didn't have plans until later that evening when I was lucky to have dinner with one of my favorite people. We chatted, split a bottle of Pinot Noir and a giant stuffie, and I had one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Spending Thanksgiving with this person was fitting because I'm thankful he has become a part of my life, even though it's been a very unique friendship, to say the least. Our waiter was a character which made it even better...almost giving us a Rolex watch sales pitch. Haha. Dinner went by way too quickly, but at least I didn't spend all of the day alone like I thought I was going to. When I got home, and I was no longer stuffed from dinner, I opened up a new-to-me Prairie stout. I try every one of their stouts that I can find. This one was no disappointment.

Friday, November 24, 2017- First day of my running hiatus! Yay! No stressing on when, where and how far my run was going to be. That felt good. I didn't sleep in very late because I wanted to get a hike in before John came home from Thanksgiving with his dad's family. I really needed spring water so I decided on a hike from Ferncroft that was close to the spring. I had no real goal other than walking, but I decided that I would try to make it to the summit of Wonalancet Hedgehog.

Even though my microspikes were in my car, I didn't even think to bring them. The trail was clear about halfway up, but then I hit slippery snow. It was still fine, though. I made it up to the turn onto the steep Walden Trail, and this is where I started to hit a lot of ice. Most of it was fine to go around until about a half mile from the summit, I hit a wall of smooth ice. I wouldn't have even gone up that with microspikes, so I turned around and headed back down. I didn't care, though, I just wanted to hike up and down in the woods, and I got that. 4.6 miles and 1,429ft of climbing.

 

Wall of smooth ice. Nope. I'm not hardcore.

I drove right down the spring to find it occupied so I got in line. The older lady in front of me motioned for me to move ahead after she was done filling and just loading her jugs in the car. I talked to her for about 5 minutes as I filled my bottles. She was super cool, and as she left, she said, "Rock on, young lady!" Hell, yes. I love it!!

I stopped at the Dollar Tree on the way home and found another older lady who was cracking me up over the photo of Blake Shelton on the cover of People. She was enamored and couldn't stop saying how she wanted him. Haha. It was a riot.

John was home when I got there, and we didn't go back out. I'd forgotten it was Black Friday so there was no way I wanted to go anywhere near the outlets in North Conway.

I decided I would do the second in the 300 Killer Rep Series before I showered and was blind-sided at how much harder it was than the 1st workout. OMG. It totally kicked my ass!! You'd think 31 minutes isn't that long of a workout as a runner, but this fully body workout shit is tough! It's been a long time since I've done workouts like these. Probably back when I was doing Insanity in 2009. This is how I felt after the workout...

AND I actually thought it was funny enough for Instagram. Yep. I posted a photo of myself on Instagram. The original shot had my stomach in it; I cropped that out. Haha. If I hadn't, I would have been a hypocrit.

I finished off the day with beer given to me by Tony Wild. Tony's wife would give birth to their first child the next day!! Yay! Congrats to them!

Saturday, November 25, 2017- I had asked John the night before if he was good with me going to Wolfeboro for the 8am spin class. He said he was, and I figured he would just be sleeping the whole time anyway. It's just under a 45 minute drive, which sounds crazy, but this is me. Does it surprise anyone, really? Plus, it was worth it to get to a spin class.

I liked Olympia gym as soon as I got there. A small upstairs gym where I got a really good vibe from the people there. I felt comfortable immediately. This is my kind of gym!! The spin class ended up being completely full so I was glad I signed up as soon as I got in there. It only took the first 5 minutes of the hour long class to remind me of just how badly spinning hurts. Wow! I was sucking wind like crazy and pouring in sweat. That burn was a harsh reminder of how great of a workout this is. The instructor was great. My only issue is the use of "turn it up half a turn", "give it a full turn", etc. That's not really the way I was first taught spin since all of the bikes' resistance aren't equal. Some are tighter than others, and I found my bike was pretty tight. Since I have years of experience with spinning, I know how to adjust, but a new person would probably have a hard time. I learned it based on the rate of perceived exertion which allows someone to do the workout at their own level that has nothing to do with the bike. But anyway, I'm really not complaining. More of an observation since it doesn't affect me at all, and the class was awesome. Consider my ass thoroughly kicked! I literally almost passed out when I got off the bike and started to walk away. Everything started to go white, but I could feel it coming back quickly so I just kept walking in hopes no one would notice. Haha. I was so happy I found this place and decided that I'd buy a punch card to keep coming this week and hopefully once a week after that. Spinning was always good for my climbing muscles so why not keep building those up?

When I got home, I woke John up since he was still asleep as expected. He is almost 12! Eek! I had some breakfast and more coffee then got us ready for a hike to Arethusa Falls. I knew it would be crowded, but I really wanted us to see the waterfall partially frozen. I brought the dogs along which was a bit of a pain in the ass with the leashes, but we started late enough in the day that we had breaks where I could let them be free as we walked. We still ran into a lot of people, most of them sliding all around on the ice. I remembered our microspikes this time. It's only a little over 1.5 miles to the waterfall, but it's a gradual climb the whole way there so it took over an hour. The only negative was running into a group with this guy who basically made a snide comment about us wearing orange. I responded with, "Well, it IS prime deer hunting season right now." It wouldn't have bothered me as much if it hadn't sparked the memory of the last time I got made fun of for wearing orange by two bikers while John and I were walking on a trail on Fort Bragg. Two weeks later, a runner was shot and killed by a deer hunter on that very trail.

As soon as we got to the waterfall, the people there left. We had hit the window right and had the falls all to ourselves for about 15 minutes. That's unheard of here since it's one of the most popular hikes, but we totally lucked out, and I was able to let the dogs loose. The waterfall is always awesome, but this took the cake.

John

Chill with a stick. Always.

The hike in

We spotted a giant rat! Haha

Being a goofball

The hike back seemed to take forever, even though it was easier. Probably because I was cold the whole time. The air was super cold by the waterfall, and it chilled me to the bone. I didn't get warm for hours. I was going to stop at Frontside Grind for hot drinks, but North Conway was insanely packed for the tree lighting that we were skipping this year so I just drove home where we stayed for the night.

Sunday, November 26, 2017- I slept in and was woken up pretty late by the ding of a message. I couldn't believe how out cold I was so late. Haha. No big plans today other than an easy walk with John and the dogs later. I opted for the next 300 Killer Rep Workout. #3! I thought #2 kicked my ass, but oh no. This was even worse!! Wow. The workouts were so hard!!! BUT, the nice thing is that I can do almost all of it. I missed a few reps here and there just trying to figure out how that particular rep worked, but overall, I'm realizing that I'm pretty damn strong. Even though I liked the way my skinny arms looked last year better, I much prefer not being so weak. I'd rather be bigger and more muscular than a skinny waif...although I'm not sure how good that is for my running. Hmmm. Dilemma. Haha.

When I was done, I showered then went into town to get my nails done. They were way overdue! I got my prize money from Hartford on Saturday finally so I didn't have to wait until I got paid again. Yay! I came home and picked up John and the dogs for a walk at East Bear Paw where Tin Mountain allows logging, but they won't let me rake the trails of leaves for my race at their Albany location. Hmmm. The temperature had dropped, and it was freezing! It felt good to walk, though. Towards the end of the walk, John found a huge tree limb that he decided to carry.

But he got closer....

And closer....

And CLOSER....

And then attacked me with it!

Hahahaha!! The funny part is that this is technically a selfie, but it wasn't really what I was trying to take and I just happened to hit the camera button as he attacked! Damn kids! Haha.

I had ulterior motives for walking on the Maine line... Saco River Brewing was right down the street! This was the first time I've been here with it so quiet. It was kind of nice, although I miss sitting out in the sun! I got an Old Coarse Porter with coffee and filled up my bottles. They were out of the maple soda for John so that was a bummer, but he wasn't too upset about it.

While we were there we perused the menu for the new take-out place next door. It definitely gave us some good laughs, and I ended up ordering a full meal for John and an app for me that we picked up before we left.

We stopped at the grocery store since we were in dire need of food and pretty much laughed the whole time. Haha. Then it was home for the night. I struggled to stay awake and actually fell asleep for 30 minutes before waking up to watch The Walking Dead. Chill attempted to come in the living room at some point, and Phoenix wasn't having it so she scared him out. He then proceeded to the kitchen where he immediately devoured the rest of her food. Haha. Dogs are funny.

Phoenix growling at Chill to scare him out of the room just before he gave her the paw.

Not a super exciting week, but I suppose not EVERY week can be exciting. Haha. It had its awesome moments.

So many songs to choose from this week since I all of a sudden have a lot of favorites. So I'm putting TWO by Sia. Love her music. I just do. I think it's awesome. Unstoppable is my current anthem. Haha. Ok not really, but sometimes I feel this way.

And this one. No words. Love this video of the song with the dancers.

2017 L'il Rhody Runaround

My 2017 Hartford poster came so I hung the two side-by-side and then looked like an idiot. 

Since I just had one race in this two week period, I'm once again going to combine the two weeks to end it with the L'il Rhody Runaround. I'll also attempt to skip the tangents in this one. Haha. Easier said than done, but I'll try!! :) The week starting Nov 6 (my week starts on Mondays!), I got back up to over 50 miles...right at 50.4. I had to work for that one, though. I'm not recovered enough to do any runs over 13 miles, and even that is a stretch. Plus, I took the Monday zero day that I normally take. AND to top it off, I ended up working a 67-hour work week! So that fact that I got in over 50 miles without racing was pretty fucking phenomenal. What I learned, however, was that 50 was too much, and I had to back it off the following week. I felt like I was recovering properly prior to this, but I kind of gave myself a step back with the XC race followed by this week of long hours and more miles.

I backed off the following week (Nov 13) only a tad at 44.4 miles. I actually felt pretty good until L'il Rhody. I was hurting badly by mile 5, and my legs felt exactly like they did at Baystate just to a slightly lesser degree. Legs in pain and quads nearly locking up. I think I see a week off in my near future. And if that doesn't do it...then I'll take another week. December is a good time to do it since I don't have much on my schedule except maybe a BU Mini Meet or two. I also don't particularly love running around here in December. The trails suck...oh, and so do the roads! Haha.

Monday, November 6, 2017- This is the quiet season at work, so we haven't been super busy. This was the day we had that one fatal accident I mentioned in my last blog post. It was mostly just us standing out in the pouring rain for two hours. We had one other serious call earlier in the day, but that was it. I did get in 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill. The mileage and time screen no longer works (yes, I tried new batteries), so I don't know how far. I can only know the mileage for running because I always run at the same speed so I just go off my old times to know how far I went. No biggie. It's just walking.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017- Out of work on time and decided to do a Silver Lake loop from work. I've actually never done the "official" loop before. The only time I did a loop around the lake was when I ran in mushy, horrible snow on the snowmobile trail once from 113 to Lead Mine Rd. There was no way I was running back on that stuff so I completed the road loop via 41 back to my car. I remember my feet were soaked, and I was wearing trail shoes. And I had to carry my microspikes the entire 5 miles back. I think that incident thwarted my desire to ever do this loop again until now. From work it adds on over two extra 2 miles to the run which made it 12.8 miles total. I ran a counter-clockwise loop starting with East Shore Dr and Lead Mine out to East Madison Rd. I actually ran the section of East Madison Rd that I've never run before so it was actually kind of nice to do something new. I was slightly sore from the XC race but still felt pretty good. The Lead Mine hills are brutal whether you're feeling good or not, so they brought my average pace up. Still super happy with this run. 12.8 in 1:35:29. 7:27/mi avg pace. 637ft of elevation gain.

No idea why I skipped my upper body workout, but I did. Looking to change that up soon to some new-to-me Zuzka Light workouts to renew my motivation.

I was super excited when the FedEx guy showed up with my new phone!! After two years, I finally paid off my awful Motorola phone. It was to the point of dying at 67% and making me flip my lid. Grr!! So psyched to have a new phone that would hold a charge. Yay!

I didn't do much else today besides attempt to rake the leaves on my trail, but they were so heavy from the rain, it was just wasted effort so I didn't get very far. John had his usual ninja class that night. Typical Tuesday of not getting out of the house much. Haha.

They followed me as I raked. 

Wednesday, November 8, 2017- I actually got myself up for FIVE mile run on the treadmill! For the first time (and probably last) I actually kept track of my splits. It was a usual progression run with 1% for the first half mile and 3% for the second, and I just repeat that until the end.
Mile splits: 752
                   731
                   720
                   710
                   657
Pretty cool to see them for once. My treadmill doesn't keep track so I had to do it manually that's why I'll probably never do it again. 36:50 total time.

We were actually pretty busy today at work so it was steady with calls. It makes the time go by faster, and we still slept all night so easy enough. Upon starting the truck check, I happened to notice a stick under the back of the bumper and laughed since it meant someone backed into something. Haha.

The scratches are from when Fryeburg Rescue backed into us a few weeks ago. 

Speaking of the truck checks, this is supposed to be a daily thing with a sheet filled out documenting you did it. When I went to the drawer to put our sheet away, I noticed the stack of truck checks was a mess and very large. No one ever checks them or goes through them, and I guess that's why no one does them anymore. I figured it was time to organize them and put them in my supervisor's (and I use the term "supervisor" loosely) box. Going through them, I realized that since early March, my partner and I are the only ones who have actually filled out the sheet every week. This is why when someone says, "The truck should be all set," I never believe them. And there's always something missing. ALWAYS. So I still do the check every day. This place is just so poorly run it's unbelievable. So this went on my "supervisor's" desk...

He's on this list, too, and the only reason he's done any of them is because of the partner he happened to be with that day. Jared is actually one of the good ones and only worked up here at the North Conway base temporarily, but he did a truck check for every shift he worked. Really pisses me off, but I have no control over it. I'll just keep doing my job like I'm supposed to since I grew up with a good work ethic. Apparently that doesn't exist here in the Valley.

When we weren't on calls, I did my usual billing stuff and wrote my blog post. That took FOREVER with all of the interruptions. Haha. A former co-worker stopped by and brought us donuts!! Just what I don't need, but I'll never refuse a donut so I had two. Eek.

DHART was there picking up some other service's patient as we were bringing one of ours in.

We were lucky this week not to have our worst frequent flier patient call 911. Every time that call comes in, the first words out of my mouth, "Motherfucker!!" Haha. It's become so bad that the hospital has gotten involved in putting an end to it. The previous Wednesday was the 24th ER visit of 2017. My partner and I have done over half of those transports. Always on a Wednesday!! Argh. You try to be nice, but this one is really wearing on my patience big time.

Thursday, November 9, 2017- Got up early to shower before I had to go to Tamworth for another 10 hours of work. But this wouldn't be it for the day. I was leaving at 5pm and coming back into Tamworth at 10pm to work until 7am Friday. It technically could have been a 48 hour shift since I could have told the guy filling in from 5p-10p that I could do it, but there was no way. I needed the 5-hour break, and 43 hours over 2 days plus Monday's 24 was enough. We actually weren't busy, and I ended up almost finishing my Hartford blog. My coworkers are fun on Thursdays and two of them read my blog. (Hi, Jeff! Hi, John!), so they knew the goings-on with my drama so I had fun filling them in on that. Haha. In this job, your coworkers often know TMI. Haha. Just the nature of the job. It made the 10 hours pass quickly. 

More donuts when I walked in!!! Ughhh!

Me at the desk working on my Hartford blog post

The LONG 34 hours of work made my body super, super stiff so the run I had planned at 5p ended up shorter. Plus, I was so unprepared for running in the dark. I rarely have to do it anymore. Plus, I packed the weirdest clothes ever! Nothing matched and hardly any of it was reflective. My arm light's batteries wear dead. Haha. I only scored a point by remembering the headlamp. I knew right away this was going to be just a short, fast run. I wasn't feeling anything more than one 4.5 mile loop through Windsock Village. I used to do this run SO much faster, but tonight it was a huge struggle. Pretty consistent, though, with the splits, but that's easy when it's flat. 31:56. 7:02/mi avg pace.

I was so excited to go home for a little while. Since I wouldn't be there for the overnight, I let John come home (and his dad camp in the driveway) for the night. I was actually looking forward to talking to John to hear his side of the story of why he got kicked out of the Tin Mountain Homeschool Program the day before. Haha. Yep. My kid actually got KICKED OUT. According to the instructor, who had attempted to confront John's grandmother when she picked him up, John had been a problem for the last 1.5 years (since this new instructor started). Well, this was the very first time any of us had heard about it. Seriously, the instructor never said anything to us about problems with John. Not once!! I was a bit perturbed over this since the ability to correct the situation was never given us, but whatever. John hasn't liked this instructor since he started, so I guess it was inevitable to come to this. I got the official e-mail the next day stating John was no longer welcome in the program. I'll admit it. I gave him a high-five for getting kicked out of the program because who manages to get kick out of a nature program?! Haha. I would end up having a conversation with the instructor over the phone. I listened. I was nice (if you can believe it). I understood where he was coming from. Basically, he and John just clashed from the get-go, and John's immaturity caused him to lash out at the instructor constantly. So got it. And John also got it that it was time for him to leave the program after 3.5 years. He had no qualms about it whatsoever. It still irks me, though, that we never once heard that there was an issue over 1.5 years. I just don't understand that. But whatever.

When 9:30 rolled around, I went back to work and right to bed...where I stayed all night. Yay!

Friday, November 10, 2017- I was so happy to get out of there on Friday morning. When I got home, I found John sound asleep and had to rush him out with his dad to school. They thought it was a teacher workshop day. I guess I'm the only one who knows how to keep track of things. Haha.

I needed to be in the woods today for a long run so I decided to run a Green Hills loop in North Conway. My original plan was a LONG run. Like 17 miles, but my body rebelled on that idea. I didn't actually feel bad. In fact, I felt decent, but I knew about 5 miles in that 17 would be too much for legs so after Peaked Mt, I ran back to the trailhead instead of back up to Black Cap and Cranmore. It was still 11 miles of mountain running that kicked my ass, that's for sure. 2:17:35 of moving time. 2,391ft of elevation gain. I stopped briefly on the summit of Peaked, but it was FREEZING. You can see the snow falling on the mountains across the Valley.

Even though I shouldn't have, I really needed a beer after this run and stopped into Barley & Salt. The beers are way overpriced, but it was nice to sit at the bar. Without fail, the empty seat was taken by someone who talked my ear off, but for once, I didn't mind! He was a much older man who's also a local and also a tennis coach at Fryeburg Academy, so the conversation had substance. Not just some guy trying to hit on me which I really hate. I ordered the brussel sprouts since I was starving and just had the one beer.

I went home to shower and then headed to Tamworth to pick John up at school. I got there early enough to take the dogs for a short walk to Jackman Pond before John was done. 

The drive to The Community School via Bunker Hill Rd

Jackman Pond. Looks nice, but it was blistery. Brr.

I got snagged by another parent for my first interaction as a school mom. I don't know how to do that. Haha. It was basically about their annual wreath sale fundraiser. I'm thinking I know no one who has money to spend on wreaths, but I told her I would push John to sell them (he's sold one so far). I was about to back away, but then I was told my help making the wreaths would be great. 

That was not easy to get out of, but they seriously don't want me making wreaths. Like, you all saw my sign for Spot. You can vouch for me. Haha. Now, all of these emails are coming in about helping with the Holiday Bazaar on Dec 2. I have no idea what's going on, and I'm hoping that's ok since John only goes there once a week. I'm just not used to being involved in this sort of thing. I don't really consider myself one of those moms, but maybe I need to be?? Eek! This out-of-the-box mom might just have to pull herself together eventually and get involved, but I really don't know how to be that. Haha.

When we got home, I procrastinated a good hour before I got myself to do my upper body workout. I'll just blame someone else for chatting my ear off. :) By the time I was done, I was beat and sat like a lump on the couch for pretty much the rest of the night.

Saturday, November 11, 2017- Since I really wanted to hit 50 miles this week, I had to get in a semi-long run today. I had coffee and finished by Hartford post finally, then ran from home. I did not feel good on this run and even cut it a mile short. The run up Tasker/Allard Hill and back is very boring to me now so it's difficult mentally if you aren't feeling 100%. I definitely was not. My hamstrings were really sore. I just struggled through this one. 11 miles in 1:25:59. 7:48/mi avg pace. 855ft of elevation gain. I was so beat when I was done that I bagged an upper body workout for the day. The signs were all there that I am NOT recovered, but I'm slow-to-learn, stubborn runner.

I had errands to run that afternoon so John and I walked the dogs after that on the trails behind Walmart. I was really tired.

I even look tired.

Sunday, November 12, 2017- I purposely left a short mileage day for today since I planned a day in Portland for John and me. I had no desire to run on the roads by my house again so I got on the treadmill for another progression run. This time 6 miles. I kept on the slower than usual side since I was still feeling a bit off. 44:01. 7:20/mi avg pace.

What used to be a common day trip for us is now rare. I realized I hadn't been over there since May!! I had a get-together in Rhode Island on Thursday, so I wanted to bring some good Maine beer down with me. I also wanted John to go to the trampoline park which he hasn't done in forever. It ended up being a fun day. I definitely spent more money than I should have, but we were both STARVING by the time I finished my beer purchasing rounds and his trampoline time, but it was worth it. We haven't had a day like that in awhile. First stop was the trampoline park where we waited in line for awhile laughing our heads off at the safety video. John had a great time on the new ninja course they have set up since that's his thing. 

From the park, we went literally about a quarter mile where I stopped in at Allagash Brewing where I was lucky to get their 2017 Hibernal Fluxus to bring with me. From there, it was across the street to Austin Street Brewery in hopes of 6 Grain Milk Stout in cans. They weren't releasing them for another 2 weeks almost, but I stayed for a glass of it. This was my first visit to this brewery. It's cute, but small, and the beer is good. 

I stopped at the Bier Cellar where I grabbed another beer for Thursday and then a few others just for myself that I hadn't tried. Onto Bunker Brewing from there where I was able to get their Dark Wave Baltic Porter to bring down with me, as well.

The pull of Salvage BBQ was too great, and John and I love BBQ! This place is pretty awesome and the food is SO good. We each got chopped pork sandwiches. 

It was time for the dark ride home and the end of the week. I did get myself to do a short upper body workout when we got home. Back to work the next day, but this was going to be a normal 48 hour week again!! Woohoo! So looked forward to leaving work on Thursday morning this time. 

Oops, adding this in. Forgot to mention the mouse! When we got home, I found a baby mouse hiding in the mud room. It was so cute. I couldn't catch it, and the mud room isn't heated, so John made it a bed with some towels to keep it warm. Within minutes, we found it snuggled inside them. The next morning, it was perfectly fine. I left it some water and pieces of apple, carrot and cheese. I was so bummed I had to go to work because otherwise I would have gone to the pet store for a cage to keep it. The thing was tiny and would never make it through the winter. I just hoped it could make it another day/night as is.

Monday, November 13, 2017- Woke up with my plantar fasciitis throbbing and my legs really sore. A friend of mine and I decided to do a test on whether people actually give me kudos just because it's me or because my runs are super duper awesome. Well, after posting a "Big Fat Zero", I've learned that no one cares about my running! Wahhhh! Haha. I think Apryl Sabadosa was the only one who caught on with the kudos thing. I did end up walking on the treadmill for 40 minutes, though, I wasn't a total bum.

I did not touch up this photo. I think my new phone camera is doing it automatically somehow. I wish my skin looked that perfect. Haha.

The snow that was only predicted to a rain mix for 3 hours started around 8am, and it NEVER STOPPED. My partner and I got the very first snow-related motor vehicle accident of the season! We should get medals for that! Fortunately the car into tree wasn't a fatal this time. In fact, there was no injury and we basically just stood around until we were cleared by the fire chief. We thought for sure it would be call after call after call for accidents, but nope, it was quiet the rest of the day other than a few minor things the other two crews went on. Crazy. I guess people were being good. Haha.

Look! It's my car trying to escape this place without me! That hamster-carrying bastard!

My co-worker, Shawn, had made venison stew the day before in two crockpots and gave me the rest of it. OMG. So good. I ended up taking half of it home for another meal for John and me on Tuesday night.

It ended up snowing all day and dropped about 2 inches of snow. I had no idea what my run the next morning would be like in those conditions the next morning. Ugh.

View from the Tamworth base upstairs window

Tuesday, November 14, 2017- I decided to go home and wait about an hour for the temps to rise before running. When I got home, I was sad to find the poor mouse had died. It was in the blankets we left for it and had eaten some food and had the water, so I'm assuming it froze to death. I was SO sad. :( I know that's stupid to want to keep it, but it was a baby. My house isn't mouse-ridden so I don't even know where it came from. 

I buried it in the yard.

With yesterday's snow, I wasn't sure on road conditions and ended up changing my planned route mid-run. I made a loop through Conway Village up to Stark Rd and back 153 and Cranmore Shores instead of the Bald Hill run I planned. The roads were clear except this one dirt road stretch in mile 11 that slows me down after a snow storm. So other than that mile, I was actually really pleased with my splits. I felt great! As I was running down 153, a car slowed as it came up behind me and passed. It was Andrew Drummond (who always passes me at some point when I do this loop). He snapped a pic as I was waving. Haha. 11.3 miles in 1:23:59. 7:26/mi avg pace. 469ft of elevation gain, so not super hilly.

I was in a bit of somber mood the rest of the day. Many reasons really, but I was uplifted when the UPS guy pulled up with my 2017 Hartford poster! Yay! Haha. I took 2016's out of the box (where it's been since I took a photo of it last year) and hung both up in the only place they'll actually fit in my house. Haha. Photos were a bit of a challenge so I got a couple of goofy ones like at the top of this post. Then they both went back into their boxes to stay indefinitely. Hopefully, I can open them again in 2018 with another poster added to the collection. No idea where I'll hang them, so I'll have to get creative...yeah, that's not happening. Haha.

Ninja class for John that night. He's so fucking strong. I love seeing him in that class keeping his body strong. 

Wednesday, November 15, 2017- Woke up at 6:36. Wait. WHAT?! OMG! I had to be at work at 7!!! The new phone's alarm did not wake me up at all!! Wow!! I've only overslept I think 3 times for work in my whole life. This is the 3rd!! Good thing I packed everything the night before. The only thing I had to pack quickly was a run bag to now run at work. I threw on my uniform. No shower. Since I had already packed stuff to shower the next morning, I was all set with that, but I was still running around gathering all of my things. I needed food and quickly put that together with my right hand while make coffee with my left. Literally, I did this. Haha. I was not walking out without coffee! I managed to get out of the door with all of my stuff and dressed by 6:56 is beyond me. I had running clothes, a second uniform for showering after my run, clothes to change into after the morning shower, my food, bedding, 3 pairs of shoes!! Made into work at 7:07am. Not bad at all! A bit disheveled, but good.

As soon as we were done with the truck check, I decided to go ahead and get my trail run in. That way I could shower, eat breakfast and then feel ready for the day. Haha. The trail out back was a bit of a mess with debris and some snow, but for some reason, I ran the fastest I've ever run back there. Once again, feeling great! Only for that to come to a halt on Sunday. 4.2 miles in 31:48. 7:31/mi avg pace. That's fast on that trail.

We didn't have any calls other than a fire alarm until the evening when the tone dropped for the goddamn FREQUENT FLIER!! WTF. Seriously. Fortunately this ended up not being a transport for the FIRST TIME EVER. And yep, when that tone dropped, "Motherfucker!" just came out without me even thinking twice. That would have been ER visit #25 if we had transported him. As soon as we got back to base, we had another 911 that was a transport, but that would be it for the night. I'm getting spoiled with all of this overnight sleep lately!

Thursday, November 16, 2017- Woke up at 6am so I could get a shower in before my shift was over. I wanted to be on the road to Rhode Island ASAP. I just had to stop by my house to drop off all of my bag lady work stuff and get my overnight bag I had thankfully packed on Tuesday night and the beers I was bringing. As I was unloading and loading, it started to snow. Of course, if I'm traveling, it's going to snow. By the time I got to Tamworth, I was coming down hard, but fortunately, it turned to rain by Ossipee. Getting out of dodge before winter trapped me! 

I was super excited for my overnight in Smithfield, RI where I had been invited for a small get-together for the day/night. I was actually the only one not staying the whole weekend since I had to get home to John the next day, but it was worth the drive down even for just a short trip, since it ended up being really fun. A lot of it was just sitting around talking and drinking beer, but it was nice. Wish I could do this more often.

I stopped at Lincoln Woods first to do a short trail run there. I thought I could beat the rain, but it was a downpour at the end. Still fun and brutal. Those trails are no joke. My legs were not happy at all with the climbing. The park is really pretty and there are trails everywhere, a lot of them cleared. I really enjoyed it even it killed me. Haha. 4.1 miles in 39:11. 701ft of elevation gain!! That's a lot over 4.1 miles. Just up and down, up and down. 

Changed clothes then met up for lunch and beer and then went back to where we were staying for more beer and hanging out. 

Cool tree at Lincoln Woods that I couldn't stop staring at.

I think I had too much beer because around 6 or 7pm, I thought I was hungry and ended up eating a huge plate of steak tacos and had another beer at Condesa Restaurante Mexicano. Ugh. I was all done and out cold as soon as I got back to where I was staying.

Ate it all but the rice. Oink oink.

Friday, November 17, 2017- I actually woke up not hungover! The headache I woke up with at 2am was a different story, but I pounded 20oz of water that seemed to do the trick. I got up before 7am feeling fine. Definitely not hungry, though, and wouldn't be the entire rest of the day. I did have a cup of coffee and drove over to the Blackstone River Bikeway to get a run in before driving home. Oh my god. This was SO beautiful. It reminded me so much of my hometown (Athens, GA) and the Cape Fear River in Fayetteville, NC where we lived on Fort Bragg. 

It was really sunny and not super cold out, but the wind!! Ugh!! It was cold. I ended up wearing a jacket and gloves the whole run, even though it was only 40 degrees. I had planned 8-10 miles, but the entire run out was into a headwind so by the time I hit mile 4, I was all done with that and turned around. The tailwind was awesome for the way back; I like it when it works out that way. With the headwind out, my pace was obviously slower than the way back. Mostly in the 7-teens for the first 4 and then sub-7s for the 4 miles back. 8.1 miles total in 57:20. 7:04/mi avg pace. Flat as a pancake mostly so that helped it be quick. I loved this bike path. So nice. Only a few people out there walking and biking. Almost all older people who were super friendly. Just so peaceful and pretty.

I parked under this.

One of two that I would pass along the way

I changed clothes back in my car and then hit the road. I only stopped for gas and was home before 1pm. I would only be seeing John for the night and a few hours the next morning before he went with his grandparents, and I went BACK to Rhode Island. The week before John told me he was invited to a birthday party. It turned out to be the same day as L'il Rhody!! Of course!! Argh. There was NO WAY he was missing that party since he doesn't get many invites, and this was a kid from school. He had to go! But we were supposed to go down to RI for the race Saturday night. I really only had two people I could ask for help...John's grandparents. That's it. I have no one here. It sucks sometimes. So I figured it was a long shot and asked if they were coming up this weekend. They weren't, but when I told them why, they immediately said of course. That they'd be happy to. Wow. Phew. It all worked out. If it hadn't, I would have skipped L'il Rhody. No way could I have made him skip his party to go to my race. I can be selfish, but not that selfish. They saved the day! John and I both would get to do our thing. I was sad to spend so little time with him, but it was fine. And he was really excited to go to breakfast with Grammy and Grampy. 

But anyway, we didn't do anything that night but stay home. I wanted to give him as much time at home as I could before he left again. 

Saturday, November 18, 2017- I got up pretty early and woke John up as he requested. He got all dressed up for breakfast with his grandparents and left with them at 10am. As soon as he left, I took the dogs for a run in the Albany Town Forest. I assumed the trails would be covered with the same icy snow on my trails since it's right down the road so I brought microspikes. I won't say that I needed them, but they definitely were useful and made it a much better run. Funny, along the way, my left ankle gave out on me and I went down in slow motion into a pile of snow-ice. Haha. It was great exercise for the dogs who were going with me to Rhode Island. 5.1 miles in 45:52. 8:24/mi avg pace which was pretty fast considering the conditions. Probably too fast and should have taken it easier. 

As soon as I got home I showered, packed up (again! This is my life!), juiced, forced down some oatmeal and hit the road. We had a girls night out planned in Providence that night. I was staying with Rachel Flaksman, and we were meeting Jodi Hall and Beth Lazor-Smith at Long Live Beerworks at 5pm. The day before Tony Wild was added to the mix and our original plans changed for a second time for a night in Providence. The whole girls night thing was shot. We ended up with Sarah Chapin, Mike Radz, Jen Graves and her husband and Meghan MacDonald at Long Live. Hahaha!

After one drink, we were all pretty cold and moved onto Bayberry Beer Hall. Jen and Meghan had another event to attend so it was the 7 of us there. This place was pretty awesome, but the food is insanely expensive. Most of us, i.e. everyone except Mike Radz, got the Finback Stout. Haha. At 11%, it hit me hard. I needed food!! 

Bayberry

Although another beer at Bayberry would have been nice, I would have passed out. So we followed with our original plan to go to Ogie's Trailer Park for dinner. When we get there, we run into more people we know so we are now a group of 8. Haha! So much for girls' night. It was a pretty fun time with our new group, but I had one more beer than planned and kind of forgot to eat. And I stupidly ordered the tots with the egg on them AGAIN! Haha. I did this after the masters track meet in 2016. Photo of them off the internet....

The egg was quickly discarded, and I proceeded to take about an hour and a half to eat my grilled cheese. Hahaha. I think I was talking a lot. Ok, ok. I was definitely talking too much. Instead of eating my tots, I ended up finishing Rachel's and took mine home for my pre-race breakfast. Yeah, I know. Trust me. I know. At mile 5 the next day, I knew. Haha.

Beth and me at Ogie's

Soooo...yeah. Grilled cheese, tots and 4 beers and back at Rachel's after midnight. Hahaha. Oops!! Good thing the race started at 11am.

Sunday, November 19, 2017- L'il Rhody Runaround-

I actually woke up at 2am and hardly slept again. Off and on really. When I was sleeping, I was having crazy dreams. I've been having a lot of crazy dreams lately. But anyway, I got up around 7:30. Rachel made coffee so I had a cup and took the dogs out back. I was ready to head to Burlingame earlier than planned so I headed down. When I got there, I was probably the 5th or 6th car. I remember the lot filling fast last year. It probably filled up later this year because it was pouring rain. Just as I got there, though, the rain tapered off and only came in light drizzle until it completely cleared out to sun and blue skies about 15 minutes before the start. Perfect!

Picked up my bib then went out for my two warm ups. One mile with each dog. I didn't feel hungover at all, but the tots were heavy in my stomach. Hey, I didn't want to pay for breakfast so I went with the "free" option. Oops. I guess I partied a little too hard this week and probably did catch up with me in the race. It wasn't just the lack of recovery. I'll admit it. Haha. Do I regret it? Nope. Not a bit.

As I got ready before the race, I eyed the parking lot looking for competition and didn't see anyone who stood out. Paige Ethier said she was going to be there, but I didn't see her (she ended up doing the Mews "6.9k" instead). At the start, I caught up with Jeff Walker (RD) a bit. I had already talked to Jonny Hammett earlier. Some of the other usual guys were there like Muddy and Steve Brightman. I was bummed not to see Seth Acton because I needed him to pace me again. Haha. The wind had really picked up just before the start, but we would only feel it for a short time through the parking lot. Just as we were getting ready to start, I noticed a young woman line up near me. Hmmm. I so didn't want to go out hard, but if she did, I was going to follow. And sure enough, that's how it went. Just like with Paige last year starting off too fast. It was way too fast, and I knew this, but she was flying. I had to hang on until I could see her first few steps on the single track. This road portion told me nothing. Haha. I couldn't even keep up with her in the first mile and it ended up being 5 seconds faster than last year. Ugh!! I so hoped she was going too fast.

I was struggling up the hill into the playground so much that she got a really good gap on me. I was nervous. And my legs were already hurting. There was no way I could maintain this. And then we finally entered the single track. I had caught up right behind her and was ready to study the first turn in the single track. Sure enough the "uneasy" arms went out, and I knew I'd have this in the bag before it was even mile 2. Haha. So just like with Paige last year, I hung back. The second mile still continued with too much speed, but it was fortunately 9 seconds slower than last year, and I could feel her backing off, so I backed off with her. This first part of the single track is really fast and even footing other than a few bog bridges. But in almost the exact same place I passed Paige, maybe just a tad sooner, we came across the first "technical" part where the trail goes over some small boulders. She immediately hesitated and I moved past quickly on the left.

The trail gets slightly more rocky and here, and the bog bridges were slippery as hell. I had to slow way down on these and just hoped I could maintain a lead. I thought she was still on my heels, but when I got a glimpse, I realized it was 2 guys and she had already fallen back. Mile 3 was my second slowest mile, but I think it was mainly the bog bridges because off of those, I felt like I was still moving quickly.

With the road section in mile 4, I brought the pace back down, but then it was time for the hills. Small hills, but a lot of them. I started to look back at this point because I was starting to feel my legs so bad here and wanted to know if I had a good lead so I could slow up a bit. I couldn't see second woman at all so I cut it back a bit as we started to climb about half way through mile 5. All of a sudden just before we hit 5, I felt like I was going to barf, like really bad. I considered it even, but I didn't want to lose time so I kept going on. My watch hit 5, and I thought it was 6. I looked again. 5. Omg. I was dying. My quads were starting to seize up just like Baystate, and my glutes were in agony. I didn't know how I was going to finish this. I definitely slowed big time in mile 6 and just made it under 8 minutes by a second. There was still plenty of climbing, but I knew it wasn't long until we hit the road for the run to the finish. As I was running this last mile and a half, I kept thinking how my legs hurt just like Baystate and that I needed time off. Like really needed it. I knew I had this win the bag at least as long as I could push through it and finish. I finally saw Michael Crutchley at the road and he reminded me that this was the home stretch. Oh thank you, thank you. What I had forgotten was just how long this road section was, and it hurt, but then I saw the turn into the parking lot for the finish and knew it was almost over. 55:43. OUCH. Over 2 minutes slower than last year. I knew it would be slower, but eek. Oh well. I was still first female by over two minutes.

I chatted for a bit until I got cold so I put some clothes on and attempted a cool down. I could barely move. My hamstrings were so tight that I ran a super slow mile with Chill. I could barely run more but managed a half mile with Phoenix. Omg. I was so done. I changed clothes then stayed for awards.

Like last year, Jonny Hammett and his wife opened their awesome home to everybody for a post-race party. It was fun hanging out with everyone again this year, and I definitely appreciate the invite from Jonny for a second time. I ended up staying quite awhile, but when I saw it was 4pm, I realized I needed to hit the road.

The drive wasn't too bad. John's grandparents met up with me where our paths crossed in Massachusetts for the John exchange. I was happy to see him and hear how awesome the party was. Yay!! That made me happy.

All in all it was a pretty good week with some pretty awesome moments. I'm psyched I got another win at L'il Rhody even if it was slow, but I didn't expect much out of myself anyway. I got to hang out with a lot of friends...which makes me wonder. Why are my only good friends in Rhode Island? Haha. Makes no sense...but it does. Time to end this post so I can go to bed! Haha.

Song of the blog....