Hopeless! LOL

I give up! It seems it is impossible for me to get on here and update when I promise I will. Either the site is down, or my computer is deadly slow or ... Oh well, I am on here now so let's make the best of it!

Training is going reasonably well for Team in Training. I walked in a 10K race in Jamestown CA on Saturday. After a long down hill stretch from the school through the main street of town, it appears that every other hill only went up!! Honest, that's what it felt like. There were some short down hills paired with some very long uphills. I need to get better at hills for sure before I head off to my marathon. It took me just over one hour and forty one minutes to finish the 6.2 mile course. I was too tired to remember to look at the clock as I crossed the finish line! However, I did finish strong and could have gone on for a while yet though I definitely need to figure out what kind of nourishment I need to take out on these longer walks. Luckily I had some Sport Jelly Bellys with me (yes, there is such a thing!) and they helped a lot. I have a really hard time dealing with GU or sport gels, I just can't get past the texture, they make me gag!

Fundraising is definitely an issue at this point. I am only 25% of the way to my goal of $4901 for the Alaska marathon. I have to recommit on April 10. Once I recommit, I am responsible for the full amount, whether I fundraise it or it comes out of my own pocket! Ouch! I do have a fallback position, I can switch to the Seattle RocknRoll Marathon which requires $3100 in fundraising but ... after this past weekend, I am not looking kindly at a hilly course. Hopefully, I will be able to raise enough to go to Alaska.

This weekend, Saturday to be precise, I will be doing my first prize drawing for those who have already donated. You get one ticket for each $25 you donate and the prize this weekend, if a knitter wins, is a skein of Wollmeise sock yarn. You will have a choice of Iris Siberica (should be on its way to me now) or Koralle im Meer (Coral of the Sea). Both colors are gorgeous! The Iris has blues and yellows and I think maybe green, while the Coral is deep blue, teal, orange, ... well, you are going to have to see them to believe them. Maybe I can get a picture in the next couple of days so you can get an approximation of what they look like. I am still working on a prize for the non-knitters. A Blue Diamond Almond gift basket is in the works and we will see what else I can come up with.

Don't forget that the knitter who donates the largest amount will win a Wollmeise Sock Club shipment. I think they will have the option of choosing this current shipment (yummy!) which they can see or choosing what's behind Door Number 1, the final shipment, choosing it sight unseen! That should be fun.

I am still working on that knitting project I mentioned last post. Can't post a picture cuz it is a gift but the size is worrying me. It just doesn't seem large enough. I may end up ripping it all out after blocking if I am not happy with it but that's okay, it is an easy knit and one I enjoy. I just got some very bright fuschia colored cashmere to make a shawl or stole for my cousin who is suffering from multiple myeloma. She, like me, is usually quite warm so she doesn't need something to keep her warm, just something bright and cheerful. The yarn is gorgeous, now I just have to find the right pattern, something in laceweight, a very fine laceweight I might add. Hmm, I have got to figure out somewher to take some pictures. You just have to see this yarn!

Anyway, that's all for now. I will post the winner of the drawing here on Saturday as well as emailing them. Take care all.

My oh my, doesn't time fly?

Where the heck does the time go? Sorry I have been so bad at keeping this blog up to date. Maybe I can blame it on health issues? Oh, I know, I will blame it on menopause, after all, they did in Menopause the Musical! What a great show! I saw it at the Gallo Centre for the Arts in Modesto last week and laughed out loud over and over again. If you ever get the chance, go see it, you won't regret it.

Things have been a little slow lately. I seem to have lost my mojo for just about everything. I haven't wanted to knit, I have been skipping training walks, just nothing seems to pique my interest. I can't remember if I told you that the weight seemed to be coming off extra easy this time around... While it should have been cause for rejoicing, I worried that it was too easy this time so I headed for the doctor's office just to double check.

It turns out I have hyperthyroidism which is why the weight loss, although I am sure all the walking and working out helped too. Seems I have Graves Disease, which a couple of my aunts have. The doctor wanted to use radioactive iodine to treat it but I am not big on killing off another part of my body if not absolutely necessary so I told him I would rather use medication. He is open to working with me on that so I am supposed to be researching various programs of attack and getting back to him. Actually, I think I was supposed to be back to him a couple of days ago but ... time flies, right?

The training is going pretty good even though I have skipped a few workouts. I walked 8 miles today in about 2 hrs and 12 minutes. Not bad, considering I didn't have anyone to walk with. I did meet up with some of the Shadowchase Running folks before I started out and, amazingly, some of them were still hanging about chatting when I got back. That made me feel good.

I started a new knitting project a few days ago and this one seems to have my interest back. It's lace, my favorite, so that is probably why. I knew I was in trouble when I didn't feel like going to Stitches West. I also spent over an hour in Imagiknits in San Francisco with a gift certificate in hand and didn't buy anything! I must have been one sick puppy but hopefully that has passed.

Time for sleep, need to get up at midnight and go to work. Hopefully I will be back on here tomorrow to tell you about the prize drawing for those who donate on my fundraising page. Hopefully the darn page will be up tomorrow. It has been down for maintenance all afternoon.