The Teen has horseback riding lessons most Sunday afternoons. The stable is on a pretty good chunk of land and I usually take the dog with me so that she can roll in fox poop and play with the stable dog. Today, we hiked up to the creek, which is a tad dry right now. I treated it as cross training after Saturday's 5K. The dog found a nice, cold puddle and went for a wade.
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A lovely afternoon was had by all.
"Dr. MacMillan had had a hard struggle with the breech baby, and when that was safe, with the mother, who seemed obstinately set upon dying. It was nine o'clock before she was satisfied that they both intended to stay, and she could go upstairs for a bath, a cup of strong coffee and an hour's sleep before the day's work began."
-- Kerry Greenwood, Cocaine Blues, a Phryne Fisher Mystery, which aren't the most ground-breaking books or TV series around but are so blessedly comforting when the day has been long that it's impossible to give them up, nor should you have to.
And in the shameless promo dept., this week's Martini Friday is up!
Over the weekend, the Husband and I took a trip down to the big city, where we manage to haul ourselves at least once a year, if not more. Given that we live pretty far away from it all, we tend to go to it all when we have a chance. Plus, we also had a reason to go to NYC -- one of Scott's former students had a play accepted in the Fringe Fest and we figured we'd go see it.*
Her show, Princess Cut, is about child sex rings, which is exactly about as uplifting as you'd think. It's an important topic and one they explored well -- but, yeah.
Next morning, refreshed, we hit the High Line. Neither one of us had managed to visit it before now.
Requisite goofy selfie:
The High Line is where all the runners are, btw. And it looks like it would be a lovely place to get a few miles in, provided you were there at the crack of dawn like we were and the place was relatively empty. I can't even imagine trying to run it when there are more people milling around.
In the afternoon, we hit a matinee of Avenue Q, because who doesn't love hot puppet sex?** And then went out for a very nice dinner in a belated celebration of our 21st wedding anniversary (yes, we were infants when we married (thanks for noticing.))
We hit the Metropolitan Museum on Sunday morning, because there is always something wonderful to see there. Like this guy:
I'd heard great things about the China: Through the Looking Glass exhibit. My socks stayed on -- but it is thought-provoking and worth seeing.
After 48+ hours of walking through the city, eating large quantities, then walking some more, we were wiped out by the time we made it back home. Which is how it should be, so that we can appreciate being away all that much more.
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* Another one of his former students is in Hamilton, which is one of the hottest tickets in town. We wanted to catch it, too, but tickets currently require an arm, leg, and a kidney, if you can get a ticket at all. I like my kidneys.
** (and because SUNY Oneonta is doing it in the Spring and Scott wanted to know what he'd gotten himself into. At intermission, he was looking a little pale. Could be an interesting semester.)
* Let's hear it for boring marriages!
* He really was a dirtbag.
* Yum?
* For reasons involving a cross-country move, a toddler, a fragile psychological state, and sleep deprivation when it actually happened, I've realized that I have zero memory about the finer points of what happened in New Orleans after Katrina. Like this maddening story.
* I want to go there.
* After the first paragraph, I was a kid again, and not in a good way.
* Speaking of kids, taking our oldest to visit one of my ancestral homelands will be easier than anticipated.
* On being a widow .
“I had met quite a few priests in my long life, and found that they were, by and large, like anyone else — some generous, some grasping; some kind, some cruel; some humble, some self-aggrandizing. Most were all of those things, in various proportions, at various times. Like anyone else, I said. But I had learned to be wary whenever a priest suggested that her personal aims were, in fact, God’s will.”
-- Ann Leckie, Ancillary Mercy
Should you want to hear my reflection on "The Last Mile," it is now in podcast form. And, yes, I do have a really odd accent.
Should you need a guest who can talk about running, knitting, parenting, and/or writing, give me a holler! I could also (probably) officiate a wedding or two. A bar mitzvah, though, would be out of my zone.
* This show is perhaps the closest a TV show has ever come to really capturing what it's like to work in theater.
* Warren G. Harding also used the White House coat room for sexy-times.
* Your brain is a dishwasher.
* Such a tough story. Still so important. And will likely get worse before it gets better.
* The donut of despair.
* "Clandestine acts of decoration."
* My daughter has Celiac. Yes, she had it before gluten free eating was cool.
* Even obstetricians struggle with what makes a "good mother."
* To the Teenage Girls at the Swimming Pool.
* Your life in weeks.
* Now that Jon Stewart is gone, Matt Taibbi might be who keeps me off of the ledge.
* I love this.
“The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”
― John Bingham, No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running
Also some shameless self-promotion: What My Problem Is, via Martini Fridays.
Yes, I do still knit. I offer the following as proof:
(It's a challenge to take a picture of your feet in socks, btw.)
Hedgerow socks, using Sundara yarn from the 2014 Knitter's Review Retreat Stash Lounge. This is the second pair of Hedgerows I've made. It's such a great pattern -- well written and the pattern stitch is just complicated enough to be interesting but not so complicated that you have to pay a ton of attention. I suspect at least one more pair in my future.
Next up: a sweater, once I marshall my mental reserves to read the pattern and wind the balls. As one does.
Now that it's official, I'll be at the Cape Cod Zooma Race on September 25 and 26. I'll be slinging Another Mother Runner gear at the Expo and giving a talk about embracing your wicked fierce inner runner on Friday evening. Come say howdy!