Fun

Last weekend, Bethany and I donned our snowshoes and took Neah out in the snow. I totally forgot how hard it is! We were hiking up the trail, and I was breathing hard after 15 minutes of climbing. Just the act of lifting my legs up higher made the adventure more challenging. It was so fun and so beautiful that day. We actually soaked in 2 hours of sun while we were on the trail and Neah got to play.

I left Dixon at home since I really didn't want to struggle with trying to have him "walk nicely" while there were other dogs around. He has a new toy fox that he sleeps with.

Yes, it was a landmark birthday for Heidi...30!  I had visions of grandeur.  My 30th was fairly low key, so I was going to make up for it by throwing a party for Heidi.  The theme was 70's and we were going to bring back our childhood and do a scavenger hunt.  Well, I was overly optimistic with what I could accomplish that week.  Between work, spending quality time with friends, and exercise, I didn't leave much time to dream up a fun scavenger hunt.  I was already living off of borrowed sleep time.  So, Lily and I were the only ones dressed in 70's garb.  Oh, and the scavenger hunt was ditched.  It just didn't seem like fun in the heavy rain.

I must say that hosting this party was a breeze.  I am blessed with such wonderful friends and they all helped so much to make this an excellent birthday party.  Mel & Richard brought in all the equipment and supplies for the bar.  And everyone helped out.  The strange part of the evening was when we decided to make an appearance at The Parlor.  The place was packed!  There was even a waiting list to get into another local bar.  I have never seen that happen in Bellevue.  So we ended the evening back at my place, watching figure skating before going to bed.  Since Heidi skated competitively, it seemed like an appropriate end to the evening.

Don't worry, the scavenger hunt idea will be used again.  You haven't heard the last of this one!

This year's Valentine's Day was spent with friends: Tia, Heidi, Bill, Kim, and Dwight.  All the girls received roses and we celebrated and laughed the entire time at El Gaucho.

Last Saturday, a few of us went to the Olympus Spa in Lynnwood.  This is a women's only spa that has whirpools at various temperatures, warm-hot saunas with different benefits, a Korean restaurant, and a tea ceremony room.  The Spa is modelled after Korean women's bath houses.  We walked in and the first thing I noticed was the cleanliness of the place.  Shoes and socks are not permitted past the lobby.  The only clothing allowed past the locker rooms are the robes and pink & white striped shower caps provided by the facility.  I wish you could have seen the sea of women going in and out of the therapeutical pools, with only their shower caps on.  Of course, I don't have any photos from the day.  They are known for their exfoliating scrubs, which some of the girls had and loved.  Be warned, that you can't be shy about your body if you plan on going.

I personally loved the energy rooms.  We went after our long run, then stayed for hours.  One room was the "Sand Room."  The Sand Room had sand covered in canvas tarp, small pillows, dark lighting, and ocean background noise.  The room was 150 degrees and you would lay down and meditate.  It felt like being at the beach, lying in the sand, without the grit between your toes.  The Salt room was simliar, but it was at 140 degrees...the salt conducts heat, so I had to turn occassionally since I felt like my skin was on fire!  There were also Charcol, Mud & Jade, Elvan Stone, Cabin and a 60 degree Chill room.  All the wet facilities, whirpools, steam rooms, scrubs and mugwort baths were in a different area.

The restaurant had good Korean food, but they were very understaffed and the service was extremely slow.  Other than that, I would highly recommend going.  They have a sister spa in Tacoma, but the Lynnwood one is their larger facility.  I felt so relaxed and exhausted that I barely stayed awake when I got home and I had my best night's sleep of the year!

Now that I'm recovering from my marathon, I have a short break in training.  I conveniently forget how fatigued I get the week after the race.  I'm not sore (except for my knee injury), but I am sleepy when late afternoon arrives.  My short recovery runs are also a little more labored than usual.  It's pretty funny when 3-5 mile runs seem exhausting. From past races, I've noticed that moving around and walking really helps quicken the recovery time. 

One of the benefits of this dip in training is my new found free time.  Mel is tapering for NY and I am recovering from Chicago, so our runs were really short yesterday.  We had time to have breakfast with friends and do errands in the morning, which is normally impossible when we're in the thick of training.  We also had time to make care packages for our sick friends.  We gathered fresh fruit, juice, cold medicine, soup and soft tissues for our home-bound friends.  I have to admit that Mel did most of the work and I was just there to visit and add distraction.  It's so nice to be able to slow down every once in a while and just sit with your friends.

So, Heidi & Richard, I hope you're getting a lot of rest and drinking your fluids.  And please don't even think about exercising right now.  I can't believe you even thought about running yesterday!