Merry Christmas!

Carol Crawl on the 19th

How we spent Christmas Day

Mel Tillis at Music Ranch

What a gorgeous evening! I had never been to Music Ranch and am regretting the lack. While the music may not have been to my taste and I only knew one song, it was a lovely evening with two great friends and an awesome chance to see some live music.

Some good food

a toast to the evening

View behind us

Me and the band

Groovin'

A day on the river

Today, I got to spend an awesome day on the river paddleboarding with some friends. There were supposed to be nine of us but one person got called away for a fire and one got called out in a Search and Rescue. So seven of us hit the river at noon from Emigrant and quite thoroughly enjoyed the day. We alternated paddling, hanging out on the boards, and falling into the river. The weather prediction was a high of 77 with a 40% chance of rain so we set out with some trepidation. The weather guys were once again wrong since it was beautiful all day, only getting chilly when we hit the last stretch.
The ultimate plan was to paddle right up to the shore of he Yellowstone Valley Grill. It's a swanky place but it's Montana swanky, meaning that they won't turn you away if you turn up in your waders. However, we landed two hours before our reservation, even being super leisurely an stopping for beer at Grey Owl and lounging on the unnamed beach for awhile. So Trudy, Leigh Ann and I headed back onto the river and Heidi and Stefanie did a car drop for us at Mallard's Rest. We ended up getting off the river (which was running a about 3 miles/hr) around 4:20 which gave us time to change, return the boards to Livingston, and get back to the Grill for dinner.
And it was Really, Really good food. Expensive but totally worth it. I got the Chocolate Soufflé as an appetizer (what? I like dessert!) and ordered all of the sides. The kale was okay, the asparagus fabulous, and the whipped potatoes well worth experiencing. I even enjoyed the sweet potatoes side (I keep trying them... They're growing on me).
An all-around fun day!

A night on the... well, it's not really the town, is it?

Every once in awhile I have a good idea. This time, it was to reenact our trip to Tower-Roosevelt, though, this time (hopefully) without a mudslide. It proved to be a lovely evening with friends and one I hope to do again soon.

Monday dinner

At Hapa Izakaya

SLA conference in Vancouver - Day 1

Today was the first day of the trip that I had something work-related to do. Getting to the convention center was a breeze. I am totally on board with being close to the hotel to save on transportation. It was fantastic. 

The opening session was... an opening session. Lots of awards. The keynote speaker was pretty good looking at easy data and epidemiology. It was enlightening and a little scary. 

Then Jackie and I went to the Government meeting/60 Government sites in 60 minutes. There were some good sites listed.

Park to Paradise

I've been very bad about posting lately. It's been busy. I've been subbing in for some classes (pilates, yoga, body sculpt) as well as helping to get ready for the local Park to Paradise Triathlon. A triathlon I also participated in. As a soloist. It was an interesting experience. I've been saying I would do that for almost four years now and finally bit the bullet to do it. I can't say it was fun, but I did cross something off my bucket list. And, allowing for exit time and then having to towel off and change from skin out (yes, I dumped my kayak, but I kept going!), this was one of my best runs ever. Under twelve minute miles. Woot woot!

Before the race

Can't tell it's my second time out on a kayak (ever!), can you?

Yes, that is a mixture of rain and snow, thank you for asking

One of my besties showing me the way

And then helping me change my shoes, again

Another friend helping me by opening a peanut butter pack

Eating peanut better, setting out, not realizing that 17 miles ahead are muddy, gross, and going to make me want to cry.

Rode 30 miles to Chico and then helped as sweeper after the race

Bike ride-up the hill to EMT

Today I was helping the new EMT students study for their final test. Heidi suggested a bike ride to get up to Mammoth. I hadn't done that hill before but it seemed like a good idea. I arrived hot, sweaty, ready to puke, and about 15 minutes late. It was glorious.

On the way down. I got trapped by a herd of bison that extended on both sides of the road. Luckily, some folks from the training (Angie and Nick) stopped by in their truck and were able to get me through. Only in Yellowstone...

Run to the PUb

Ran my first 10K today! And my first race not in my home town. It was pretty fun. Just over six miles in 1:16 and some change. It was a cold day that warmed up as we ran. I definitely had too many layers on but it's always easy to take those off.
I carpooled up to the big town with four of my friends. It was... a long ride. Last night around 11, we had a major snow/wind storm so the roads were covered with snow-covered ice. When we got to town, some of our other friends had already grabbed our bags and IDs so we got bibbed up and ready to go. Then, came the loading of the buses. We got on (with about 2,500 people) and went out to the start line where there were... two port-a-potties set up. TWO? For over two thousand people? Well, there were eight more further down the way but quite a few people ended up peeing against a fence or behind a tree.
I can't believe I ran almost the whole thing. I walked probably less than half a mile. And this was without any running for about a month and at the tail end of wicked cold! It's not the world's best time but I was not the last in my age group and it was fun.

S-day - Ski, Swim, Symphony

Ski, Swim, and Cribbage with a bread bowl

After Turbo

Can you see the high?

And... I ran last night as well

Two miles!

Dressed in my New Year's finery, but that was my one regret from last year, that I hadn't joined the local running group for the last outing of the year. This year, I closed it out and ran, in my boots, through a lightly falling snow from the end of town and back. Took about half an hour (I'm damn slow and we stopped to take pictures) but it was a great way to cap off the year.
My right calf/Achilles tendon were pulling a little after the first mile but I stretched it out before we started on our way back. I danced awhile and then walked home (another mile) and thought it might be wise to do some Pigeon Pose and Downward Dog when I got home. It turned out to be a good decision as I'm barely feeling it today.

New Year's Eve