{we are beginning our descent}

fly away. fly, fly away. i won't stand in your way.*

good news:  i think that huge black fly that was buzzing around my apartment since last Friday must have died.  or, on a more hopeful note, maybe he finally figured out how to leave.  as i said to him several times over the last week, i do actually open the front door sometimes.

if he died, i guess i'll eventually find him, probably when i'm picking up clothes that fell behind my clothes hamper, or when i finally get around to hanging up the curtains that are stashed in a bag in my spare room.  or maybe i'll spot his huge, black, lifeless body when i'm on the floor doing a set of my 40-a-day pushups.   in any event, i'll find him when i'm not expecting it, and i'll feel a little sick my stomach.

maybe this is not good news after all.

to the huge black fly that kept me awake for the past several nights with your buzzing and your creepy size abnormality:  i sincerely hope you made it out my front door sometime in the last two days and that you're alive, bugging something or someone else.

(*points to you if you caught my Poe reference.)

happy birthday, dad!

Torrey Pines Beach, San Diego |  Christmas Day 2007

happy mother's day, mom!

at dinner last night at Nutshell in PDX.

More pics from our mother-daughter weekend to come.

there's a huge black fly buzzing around my apartment

Not a huge fan of this fly that started buzzing around a little while ago.

Fortunately, my brain is a little fuzzy from fatigue and the lovely pomegranate margarita I had with dinner tonight. Mom's in P-town after an a.m. meeting at OHSU. We shared a beet and avocado salad (yum!) and some tasty guac and chips at Fonda Rosa (which is probably why I wound up taking one of my shrimp tacos home as leftovers) - I love that restaurant, and I love that it's just a short walk from my apartment.

My apartment with the huge, annoying black fly.

Big day of mother-daughter fun tomorrow! Heading to bed now, where hopefully I will fall asleep quickly and not think about what that fly is doing while I'm in bed.

"your certificate is in the mail."

Congratulations!  We are pleased to inform you that you have passed the written portion of the Turbo Kick® Instructor Training and the practical portion as well.

Sweet.

 

oh hi guys.

(hanging with Hamlet again this weekend while his parents are in Costa Rica.)

pass/fail

It could take as long as two months to find out if I passed the certification course from Sunday - but I'm feeling fairly optimistic. The main question I've been asked since Sunday is, what next? As soon as I receive word that I'm certified, I intend to apply for an audition at my gym; I plan to make good use of the waiting time by learning the choreography and cueing for the current "round" (new rounds are issued every 8-14 weeks) so I can successfully pass the audition as soon as it's set up.

It's also my intention to audition to teach the weight-lifting classes, too - I took the training course for those classes back in Sept but I haven't gone any further with them. This is mainly because I know I need some extra work on my form. To that end, I'm coordinating with a gal I met at the kickboxing cert to start some personal training - she's a PT at a gym in the Pearl.

Meanwhile, I'm home from work today in an attempt to rest and fight off a cold that hit me hard yesterday.(At first I thought the sore throat was from the hours of yelling and shouting during the workouts on Sunday. Alas.) Chicken soup and several episodes of Buffy, season 7, in my future this afternoon.

single-minded saturday

Despite the fact that my knees are killing me from dancing for 2 hours straight in heels last night (which is dumb and no one should ever do it, ever), I did manage to get myself to a kickboxing class this morning - admittedly the 11:00 am one at the Hollywood gym and not the 10:00 one in the Pearl. Which turned out to be a good call, because that instructor said something at the beginning of class that helped me finally understand how to execute an uppercut (the cardio kickboxing move is different from the contact boxing version, and some old habits die hard). And, when I approached her after class to thank her, she offered tons of advice about tomorrow and gave me insider tips on how the day is going to go. I'm anticipating some serious hard work and an intimidating public grading - but somehow, being able to anticipate what's coming has relieved some of my anxiety.

Which is not to say I won't be spending several hours this afternoon practicing moves and studying for the practical exam. But first, I'm heading to Lucy for a new pair of workout capris. If people are going to be watching my every move for 10 hours, I figure it can't hurt to feel like I look cute, right?*

*yes, this embarasses me. But it doesn't change where I'm going as soon as I finish this falafel pita from the Pita Pit (another good call, FYI).

rainy day hike: dog mountain

a few weekends ago, Doug & I hiked Dog Mountain, a 7 mile loop in the Columbia Gorge on the southern tip of Washington.   it was a cool and rainy Saturday morning - great weather for a hike (i'll take cool and rainy over hot anytime).  we weren't really dressed for the snow that we encountered about half a mile from the top, though! 

didn't wind up taking out my camera until we were on our way down.  the fog swirling over the river was neat - and all the trees were covered in fuzzy bright green moss. 

 
 

i find these pictures very calming, and i've been using some of them as my desktop background at work.  given all that's going on in that world right now, i'll take all the bits of calm i can find.

fortunately, there will be plenty of opportunities for me to get out any work-related frustrations this weekend - heading to Lola's tonight for some dancing (it's 80's night!), and spending Sunday in a 10-hour cardio kickboxing instructor certification class.  keep your fingers crossed that i pass, and can go on to audition to be an instructor.

(p.s.:  no, doug didn't need that big pack for our hike.  actually, as part of his preparation for his climb, he'd loaded it with over 40 lbs of whatever he could find (including 64-oz juice bottles and an old laptop).  here's hoping his months of preparation paid off: as i type this, he and his group are in day one of their ascent of Mt. Whitney.)

this is fun.

               

                                               

created with spell with flickr

                                               

surprisingly addictive, and cheaper than body art.

[with thanks to lauren's friends' wedding blog]