Monday, October 22, 2007

So There!

Ack; apparently it's been over a week since my last confession. Some weekend highlights:

I volunteered my services at a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in a very cold Golden Gate Park, way too early on Saturday morning. And by the time they told me where the coffee was (the organizers don't drink coffee, and hadn't noticed!), it was gone. There was no real creamer anyway, just the scary powdered stuff. So I was cranky until they handed me The Keys. To the white Ford F150 4x4 pickup truck. That I was to drive the paparazzi around in, so that they could capture the event.

While I was dating Rod The Carpenter, he bought a white Ford F150 4x4 pickup truck. He would not let me near the driver's side, because, he insisted, I would not know how to drive it. I hate to drive, so I didn't mind not being allowed to, but I found his presumption
tres annoying. Especially when he almost ran us off the road and into a ditch that one time. But whatever.

So when they handed me the keys on Saturday, and they just
assumed I'd be able to carry 4 people around in the back of it and not hit any of the people walking the very crowded route, I was a little surprised. And then when I was forced to parallel park it into a tiny spot, twice, I was more surprised at their faith in me (so what if it was a rental!). And then when I was able to parallel park it, with lightning speed*, maybe an inch of clearance in front and 2 in back, I was, well, pretty impressed with myself.

So there, Ruprecht!

*It had to happen fast. The thing was wired to make that horrible beeping noise when in reverse, and I didn't want to draw attention to myself as I backed over
someone's BMW.

Then I went to watch Wendy. She was doing a 24-hour run, which she'd started at 9 am. By the time I arrived (a little before 1pm), she'd run about a marathon, and she looked totally fresh. Amazing (but we were still planning on tripping the competition, because it was fun to contemplate). Then, after I left, spent like 2 hours and over $100 at Sports Basement, and came back, she
still looked great. Then, after I left, attended another party at Marlic's, had a couple beers, ate some Zachary's pizza, met my husband's new girlfriend, bowled a spare at the bowling alley (where the party had migrated), couldn't convince anyone to do karaoke with me, which was going on in the bowling alley lounge, and came back (I was soooooo tired, because I'd been up since 5, and she seemed soooooo far away, over that Bay Bridge, but given what Wendy was doing, "tired", coming from me, was just laughable), she'd done about 70-some miles, and still looked fantastic! I ran with her for a spell, in my evening attire, at 2 am. It was supposed to be a walking lap, but when we were a little more than halfway around, another woman passed us, and she was close in terms of lap counts, and there was some discrepancy being ironed out regarding said lap counts, so we couldn't chance it. Off we went, and we passed her right back. Merell clogs are fairly supportive for impromptu runs in the dead of night without a headlamp, FYI. Anyway, I think Wendy was directing her head for both of us.

OK, so my big milestone: driving some dumb truck from Hertz. Wendy's big milestone: running 105.8 miles over a 24-hour period, making her the first place female finisher, and the 7th place finisher overall.

She stole my thunder. Dammit!

I went to my co-worker's daughter's birthday party the next morning at MOCHA (Museum of Children's Art), and my co-worker is quite a foodie, so the gourmet birthday cake was phenomenal. Tallulah informed me that being 5 is a lot like being 4, and she instructed me to make her a baby jellyfish for her "CD
jewelcase aquarium" at one of the art tables (the party was Octopus-themed), and would not leave for the whole happy-birthday-cake-time ceremony, even though everyone was calling for her, until I finished it. It was a pressure-filled weekend, full of parallel-parked trucks and baby jellyfish cutouts. I think I handled it all quite well. And I'm ulcer-free! My only faux pas was when I asked one of the other guest's dads about his costume (apparently, the guy dresses eclectically in general, and this was no costume).

Then I went for a run (it's so easy to run 6.5 miles after watching someone top 80!) and didn't have time to stretch because I had to leave for my massage. When I got there, Becky said, "oh I'll stretch you." It sounded almost sinister, and I was a little scared. But I stifled several urges to scream, and I really felt like I was floating afterwards. Then I had the yummiest nap. Then I did my laundry, with no drama. And I lived happily ever after. The end.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brava, Laura!!

Sammyl69 said...

Tallulah is a sully goose name.

Laura said...

I know! Great name. You definitely wouldn't mistake a "Tallulah" for a beefcake.

Courtenay Morgan Redis said...

I think you're tres spectacular for getting so much fun packed into one day including running in clogs with a bobble-headed bubba. You rock, don't forget it!

Laura said...

It was a superterrific day. (c: