Solo Weekend

Before I get to the weekend, I have to shout out to the lovely Lauren who I had the pleasure of having lunch with on Friday.  We are horrible bloggers and didn't take any photos though!  Lauren, come back to Portland and we'll go check out local brews!


Mr. Pi left on Saturday for a week in the desert, also known as Burning Man. This means Zoey and I have the place to ourselves for the next 10 days.  So, what'd we do?  We threw a party!  And by "we" I really mean me, Zoey is cute and all but not much help in the party planning business.  After hosting the bridal shower today I've decided that I need to find a way to become a full time party planner/hostess because I really love to plan and host parties. One thing I'm not good at is taking pictures of the finished product of things.  I took lots of pictures of the setup but not of how everything actually looked all finished.  Oh well.  Here are some photos of the setup:

Early stage of planning, laying out where I want things to be

Crafts!

Party favors for guests

Cupcakes!  (Orange and green are the wedding colors so I tried to match things to their colors)

Cupcakes done!

Gift table label

In addition to hosting the bridal shower this weekend, I also was knee deep in The Hunger Games and I started watching Heros on Netflix (yes, I am always about 5 years behind on TV).  The good news is that staying off my feet has helped my foot!  I was able to walk around the house most of the day in a normal shoe with minimal pain.  I've been taking ibuprofen and icing it on and off all weekend but I think it's finally on the mend!  Yesterday morning I woke up and felt an onset of plantar fasciitis but that quickly went away with ice, rest and rolling a gold ball on my foot.  Honestly, when I felt that pain I thought to myself "SERIOUSLY, what else?!?!?!?!?!?!!" Thankfully that pain has subsided today.  I'm going to give myself one more day in the boot and then try a couple days without it.  I'm ready to be healed already!

I know all the Hood to Coast race reports are going to be up soon, can't wait to read them.  Next year, I WILL be healthy and hopefully will get on my company's team!

Sorry my posts are getting boring lately.  I just don't have much in the way of running or biking to write about.  I still have been swimming like a fish though.

Three Things Thursday

1. The boot. Yup, I still have it. Yesterday I really thought the foot was getting better but in the middle of the night I woke up to throbbing pain and this morning it’s tender and sore again—Grrrrr.



2. Sleep. Ever since my work trip to Denver where I got to meet her, I feel like I can’t get enough sleep. I’ve been setting my alarm for later and later each morning which means it’s even more of a rush to get ready in the morning. I usually find I sleep less in the summer and more in the winter, wonder what’s up with all the sleep.


3. Burning Man. Nope, I’m not going (NO WAY) but Mr. Pi is for the third year in a row. I’ll be all by my lonesome for 10ish days. I’ll be okay for the first two but then I know I’ll get LONELY. I’m considering taking on another house project but with my gimp foot and all it’ll be difficult to find something I can actually do. Suggestions on a project I could take on? Something crafty maybe?

Boots and Bloggers

I love a good boot as much as the next girl but unfortunately, I'm not talking about fashsionable boots here.  Nope, one of these:

Cute, right? NOT!  Crappy accessory for the one month we Northwesterners can usually count on for good weather. Oh well!

 

Monday I got another cortisone shot, the boot and xrays.  I'm in the boot for at least two weeks but maybe more.  My doc called me yesterday to say that he doesn't think there are any fractures in the foot but that there was a "gray" spot on the xray or something so he wanted a second opinion.  I'm supposed to hear from doc #2 today.  Blah!  At this point though I've decided that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get better.  I'm still allowed to swim, starting today but no running or cycling for the duration of the boot.  The doc basically said that running is really out of the question until my foot is completely pain-free for at least a couple of weeks.  He said when it starts to feel better I should still lay off since all running will do is bring the problem back. BOO!

Right after I got the shot and the boot, I went to the aiport for a work trip.  Normally work trips are great but I really wasn't feeling great about traveling with the boot and a new shot in my foot.  Turns out, it went just fine with only minor inconveinance.  I knew I was going to Denver a few months ago so naturally I emailed with Aimee to see if she would be around.  Meeting with bloggers while traveling is always fun!  And, lucky for me not only was she in town but willing to drive from her home outside of Denver to meet me less than 2 blocks from my hotel.  Yay!

We had a great time chatting away about training, life, food, weather.  She is just as cute in real life!  Thanks Aimee for meeting me!  I'll be continuing to virtually cheer you on throughout your ironman journey!

Denver trip was great but as with all work trips it was exhausting!  I got home on Wednesday evening super tired.  Now we have company in town, Mr. Pi's friend from college and his girlfriend.  Mr. Pi was amazing and cleaned the whole house yesterday morning so when I got home I had to do very little tidying. Mr. Pi really is the BESTEST!  It's  a huge pet peeve of mine to have a messy house when guests arrive. Today I'm working, working, working as of course, being away means I'm behind at work, even though my travel was FOR work...funny how that always happens though. 

I'm sure we'll be off doing fun things this weekend despite the boot and it's limitations!

The Weekend Where I Learn to Sand, Prime and Paint

Of course after I posted all those house projects we tackled in our first year of home ownership it made me pine for a new project.  Since I'm still on the injured list in fact, I'm going back to the doctor AGAIN on Monday for new xrays and hopefully a prescription for some meds. (Note: I really dislike taking meds of any kind however, it has come to a point where walking, especially first thing in the morning is EXCRUCIATING.  It's time for the meds.) I decided Saturday that riding any part of the Covered Bridge Ride just wasn't the smartest idea.  Sure I could have ridden the family 40 mile or probably even done the metric century BUT at this point I want to do whatever I can to help my foot heal and while riding doesn't seem to make it worse I decided why torture myself with a few hours of painful riding.  (This is the first FAIL on the list of August goals, oh well.)


Moving on...what did I decide to do with my spare time?  Took on a house project!

When we moved in last year we knew we wanted to make improvements to the deck.  The picture below shows most of the side of the deck, it's a wrap around so there is deck in the front too.  

On the list was: 

1. Re-stain the deck--CHECK

2. Hang baskets along the deck--CHECK
3. Build a gate (ooooh, I forgot to add that to the Year 1 list...maybe I'll go back and edit)--CHECK

My dad and Mr. Pi build a gate last summer

4. Scrape, sand, prime and re-paint the railing and slats


We have already tackled the first three items listed above I thought might as well give the 4th a whirl.  I had intended to just sand and re-paint the green railings and leave the slats for another day but then I started in on the project and got carried away.  At first I was going to cover just one section but then again, I thought, I have all this equipment out why not tackle the whole side of the deck.  

And begin...

Scrape!

Sand

Half sanded (left), Not sanded but peeling paint (right)

Getting ready to tack the slats

Ready, Set, Prime!

All primed by about 2:00 pm, Sunday (man hours at that point were about 11 hours between Saturday and Sunday)

Half with primer, half with fresh paint!

re-painted slats

And...several hours later (like 15ish between the two days), with a little help from Jen, everything is painted!

FINISHED! 

When Mr. Pi got home from the Century Ride, which he rocked!, I realized that 15 hours really did make a difference but this wasn't a project that really added anything to the house.  It was more or less just a fixer project.  While it's satisfying to have it finished, I'm ready to take on something that adds to the house next time. Bring on the patio and all the little projects to get the yard ready for the patio!

A year later…

So, it occurred to me a few weeks ago, actually on my birthday, that the Pi Family has lived in our house for over a year.  Crazy!?!  We got the keys a day before my birthday last year

Keys!

and officially moved in the day after my birthday last year

We proceeded to spend 3 days in our new home and then we left for California and our amazing weekend of racing (me, Barb’s race 70.3 and Mr. Pi’s first ultra).  Needless to say, it was a BUSY summer.  As I was reading through some of my favorite home improvement blogs, it occurred to me how much we’ve done to our place since we moved in one year ago.  I thought it might be fun to start a yearly re-cap of our home improvement undertakings.  Being a home owner is truly great.

Year 1 (Projects in no particular order.  I'm not going to post photos for everything but for most of the projects!)

Paint Downstairs Bathroom
Re-roof garage

Build two garden beds

Plant bulbs along side yard

Riping up the grass

Sproutling

Sunshine blooms

Trim and re-train grape vine

Trimmed

Making a comeback (it's in full growth now but I don't have any photos!)

Plant new grape vine

Plant new roses and flowers in front yard

Put up trellis over short fence

Short fence that my tiny Beagle could jump over to visit the neighbors new dog

Staining in freezing weather in December makes for an unhappy Alisa

No more jumping Zoey!

Plant jasmine and put up climbing trellis

Install hanging baskets along deck

Just one of four we put up

Re-stain deck

Add molding to guest room closet

Hang artwork and mirror in guest room

Build pegola-like thing for grape vine to climb

Construction!

pergola/trelis and compost bins

Plant garden

Build compost bins

Cut down tree

Probably our "biggest" project--now you see it

It's down!

And gone!

Take out bush and plant new tree

Plant hops and strawberries in wine barrels

Hop vines!

Paint a magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen

Whew, I knew we’d tackled a lot of projects but seeing them all written down in one spot makes me realize just HOW much we have accomplished in the past year.  One of the best parts about making this list was thinking back about how much fun these projects were to do together and with our families.  Both sets of parents, Mr. Pi’s and mine have helped spruce up the house.  Each project contains fun memories.  Our house has created so many wonderful memories.

My Friends are Amazing

Yup, they are!  Since I haven't been able to run with any of them for quite some time (stupid foot) I thought the least I could do was help support them with all of their running awesomeness.  So, on Sunday, I hosted the 2nd annual Wildwood Supported Trail Run.  Last summer when Mr. Pi was training for his first ultra I supported him on a 24.75 mile journey through Forest Park and decided this year, I would open it up to all my awesome runner friends and they could go whatever distance they wanted.  I recruited another friend to help me run the "crew vans" to shuffle runners from their various stopping points back to their cars at the "start line."  It was an amazing way to spend the morning!  (Two of my favorite runners were out of town off on their own running adventure, I decided that I may need to do this again this summer and not wait until next year.)

Best way to recap the fun is through photos of course.  Sadly, I didn't get pics of everyone at their various stops but I did snap a few.

Runners--aka my awesome friends

They're off!

Mr. Pi into aid station #1

Our friend Andrew coming into aid station #1 (his wife was my crew buddy)

The ladies heading out of aid station #1 (Amy and Sarah)

Andrew heading into aid station #2

Mr. Pi about 21 miles in!

Mr. Pi coming in for the finish! 24.75 miles!  He did this awesome little jig/jump but I missed it =(

Second almost trail marathon for my stud of a hubby.

And my favorite...

Just kidding!  Here were my trail companions, saw these little (BIG) guys everywhere.

In other news, I made it 60 miles on my bike Saturday and felt pretty good.  It was a mostly flat ride with some minor elevation gain.  Foot felt alright except up the hills. I also swam nearly 6 miles last week!  I think that's a swimming record for me.  Here's to an awesome week of swimming, riding and supporting my awesome friends (and hubby) in their running.