Raincharm’s Weblog

Just a little report.
Starting with yesterday afternoon.

Three of us played soccer. Two of the three played the entire game. Two of the three came away with injuries.
Three = Ashlan, Jay & Carl
Two = Ashlan & Carl
Two = Jay & Carl

I’ll let you figure out the two and two.
We won 3-0. SHUTOUT for Carl.

Today.
Actually slept in a bit, and then off and doing.
Coffee (at home type)
Tables arranged for 12. Chairs borrowed so al 12 can sit at a table.

• Onions diced
• Cheese grated
• Apples sliced
• Potatoes cubed
• Turkey in the oven.

Still to come

• Soup in a pumpkin prepared
• Stuffing (outside)
• Mashing and smashing
• Fruit cutting
• Cream a whipping
• Others bringing other things
• And most important, chatting and eating.

I have been reading quite a bit about the UM (GO BLUE) v MSU (GO GREEN) game over the last few days. And traffic has been the frequent topic. I remember walking around A2 before, during and after the football games, in the vicinity of the stadium. I always found it somehow exciting.

Now I live on a coast, and we have our own football team (GO PURPLE). And we live in the “University District” so are close enough to tell when there is something big happening. And today is a home game. They even put signs up around the neighborhood with the expected times of traffic impact. Tonight is a night game. Impacts expected to start late afternoon. Of course that is when we actually have somewhere to go to, that almost requires we drive past the stadium. Oh well … just leave a little more time.

That fact also had us out this morning to get some errands out of the way. On my way home from my errand, I got off at our usual exit, along with just about everybody else. I guess the tailgaters start earlier than predicted. Then things got a little weird.

Out of all the traffic exiting, I was behind only one car by the time we reached the traffic signal. But of course, she then realized she wanted the right-turn lane, not the go forward/left turn lane. Put on her signal, as the right-turn lane filled with folks. Luckily, as our light turned green, a driver let her in – no delay at all.

As I proceeded forward, a tow-truck with tow was approaching from the right, on a “free-turn” into the direction I was going, to cross my lane to the freeway entrance that is north of the main intersection. Many times people using this free turn do not consider that other people might be going straight through the intersection to get to their house. Technically we have the right-of-way, but will defer in favor of saving the car. But – the tow-truck driver stopped to let me proceed. Two for two.

Then as I was proceeding, a crow, yes, a crow, enters my vision by flying (from the back of the car) in front of the windshield, proceeding down over the hood, and then in front of the “grill” (if the car had a grill). Slowing down the entire time, as though he wanted to land on the pavement in front of the car.

Maybe the crow knows the traffic patterns, and also did not expect a car to proceed straight through into the neighborhood. I am not sure. But as he was going, slowly, from the hood to the grill, he looked back over his shoulder at me. And finally veered to the left to land on the pavement, away from the car.

Weird enough.

Wonder if the crows were planning their football game assault on the tailgaters.

I did not arrive home until after 8 PM the last two days.
Of course I did not arrive home until after 10 PM the day before that.
But the last two days have been due to staying late at work to try and make a dent in my to do pile.

So, this morning, I got up at the normal time, but did not go in to work.
This was planned.

The girl arrives today, early afternoon.
Work at home and an errand or two, and then it is family time once again.

So the weekend is starting a bit early.
And to make the most of it – I will sign off now to get some things done.

We went to a Seattle Sounders FC (soccer) game tonight.
It was not a regular season game, and it was not a playoff game.
It was the Open Cup Championship Game for the Lamar Hunt Cup.

Seattle Sounders - Open Cup Champions 2010

U.S. OPEN CUP: America’s oldest soccer trophy — first awarded in 1916 — will go to a Major League Soccer club for the 14th time in 15 years.

Last year, in their first year as an MLS team, the Seattle Sounders won the cup.

This year the Sounders played the Columbus Crew. It was a fast-paced game.
The Columbus Crew scored first on a break by an unmarked player. Seattle answered back, and then added another goal in the second half. Then it was time to hold on. Highlights

The referees really seemed to be on the Crew’s side. But isn’t that always the way it feels. Regardless, the pace of the game was frenetic and the crowd was wild. 31,311 folks in attendence. What a fun way to spend an evening.

If only I could play with such intensity, skill and energy.

Today I got to be a mascot handler, a fuzzy thing’s wrangler.
What a blast.

It was Kid’s Appreciation Day on the last game of the season.
Kids seem to appreciate mascots.
We have a mascot (actually we share a mascot with several utilities, but this gig was our idea, so it was our mascot for the day).

Introducing

Wayne Drop at Safeco Field

The mascot’s greeted fans, paraded and generally goofed around on the field before the game, greeted fans on the concourses, participated in the YMCA song in the stands, greeted fans on the concourses, sang and danced on the dugouts for the 7th inning stretch, and finally got to sit down (and cool down).

Mascots everywhere (there's a clam, and a geoduck (gooey duck))

It was a long day, but fun.
So many little kids are not sure about meeting a larger than life mascot.
Wayne (aka Chic) was great. He got down on his knees for the little ones.
And mugged for pictures with the older ones.  He has the mascot knack.

Well there is old, and there is mature.
Hmmm.

If you read this occasionally, you will know that I like to take long walks.
Really long walks.

After my latest long walk I had a small blister on the the side of one heel, and a very sore spot on the lower front of one shin. Really the top of the ankle, but I was thinking shin splints when I first felt a twinge. It was sore enough to make me limp on the downhills, or at least feel like I was limping at the end.

After almost a week, and still having a sore spot, and slightly swollen ankle, I decided to have it checked out.
Something interesting like a stress fracture?
A sprain when I didn’t remember twisting my ankle, and I have had my fair share of sprains.

No.

Arthritis.

Well. Didn’t like to hear that! Even said I had done these long walks before, which really made no sense, but I was in instant denial. The medical person kindly indicated that I was getting a bit older. Harrumph! I was directed to ice and rest the ankle, and it would get better. I was to use my judgement and not do anything that hurt.

So – yesterday I probably walked 5-6 miles. (Mature?) It was not all at once, just going here and there from a bus to a soccer stadium, around the stadium at halftime, back up the waterfront. Where we rested for lunch. Back down the waterfront to the baseball stadium, around the stadium, then sitting still in the stadium for 2-1/2 hours. Then back to the bus and bus to home. Really, not too much other than the waterfront to be avoided. Unless we drove. …

The ankle was a bit sore this morning when I first stood up. But I hope that is short lived as today I am off on another adventure at the ballpark. But this time I don’t get to sit through the game.

Old is a state of mind, and I am not ready. So I guess I will have to work on the mature part.

Oh, and several people have pointed out to me that the many sprained ankles of my young adulthood are most likely the cause of my arthritis. What goes around comes around?

Seattle 2010 Breast Cancer Survivors

This is my THANK YOU post, for all those that supported me on my latest adventure – the 2010 Seattle Susan G. Komen 3-Day (60 Mile) Walk For The CURE. Most that I am thanking do not even know I have a blog, much less how to get to it. But I feel I should put out a public acknowledgement. So, here goes.

Thank you to all that walked with me, and talked with me on the many miles and hours spent in training. The Hotties, Babes for Boobs, and the Flamingo Road walk leaders, and all those that walked along. Nancy, Cindy, Susan, Tath, and the dozen or so others along for the strolls. Your stories are compelling, funny, touching and even tragic. But they all keep us moving forward. I find that I realize what a blessed life I lead. And a special nod to Carl, who is becoming quite the walker himself. [We have some baseball and soccer games this weekend, and in my head it is now natural that we should walk down to the stadium at least one of the days.]

Thank you to Dana for being my tent buddy and to Amy and Sally for allowing me to join your intrepid team on the walk itself. I hope all of the blisters are fading into a memory. Thanks to Mary Lou, Sheila and Spence for remembering me from Michigan, and for braving the Seattle rains. You are indeed Kindred Spirits.

Special Thank yous to Asea for the pie idea, Asea and Paddy for the pies, Paddy for the ponchos (bought 4 years ago, and finally put into official use), Shelley for a bed and a very early morning ride, and Ed for orange slices (not the fruit).

And to
John, Laurie, Brian & Leslie, Steve, Joyce, Fran, Shelley & Sam, Jeff & Kim, Sandy, Nancy, Bob & Doris, Mark & Dottie & Irene, Tom, Peter & Karolina, Patricia, Joe, Scott, Stu, Mike, Kristine & Dennis, Harry & Gene, Louis & Pearl, Pooh & Mark, Lisa, John Boy, Jerry, Doug, Janet, Rick & Chris, Cheryl & John and all those pie eaters,
for contributing to the goal of finding the cure, in our lifetime.

Because, everyone deserves a lifetime.

Rice.
I like rice.
Rice is nice. (with chicken soup that is)

There were stories about rice pudding that I remember from my youth, vaguely.
I loved riced with butter and salt, when I was young.
Now I love rice with garlic and onions.
I like arroz con pollo just about any time.

And now I have a new love for rice.
As a drying agent.

The last night of the 3-Day I was in a tent.
It rained.
I had my cell phone and glasses in little pocket on the side of the tent.
The pocket got wet.
So did my cell phone. (My glasses, they did not care, they just got cleaner.)

My cell phone did not work any longer.
Not as an alarm clock.
Not as any kind of clock.
And certainly not as a phone.

I have a 5-6 year old phone. It’s a flip LG phone.
Ashlan says it is impossible to break them.
She would like a new phone, but Mom’s not buying if the old phone still works.
Mom has not bought a new American phone for Ashlan.

After hearing a few different people say that putting a wet phone in dry rice for a day or so could resurrect wet phones, I decided it could not hurt to try.

And after a day plus a little sitting in a bowl of rice, the phone is working. All seems to be well.

Rice – the miracle grain. Food and electronic repairs.

Just a short post – due to post event tiredness, but still related.

I met a woman while walking during training. Let’s call her Cindy.
(That’s her name)

She is from Sault Ste. Marie!
So are her parents.
We are probably not too far apart in age.
So she is probably close in age to some of my cousins.

In any event, her parents are about the same age as my parents, one of whom also grew up in Sault Ste Marie.
And – my mother went to school with both of her parents.

So – Mom – if you read this, I was walking with the daughter of Evelyn S. and Bob (Bun) G., in your class. And they told her about the annual gatherings, so I am betting you can figure out the last names. Small world indeed!

1st of all – thanks to Ashlan for covering for me while I was away.
And I have always known she is a better writer.

The 2010 Seattle 3-Day Walk for the Cure is now in the books. Over $6 Million raised.

Seattle 2010 Closing - over 2000 Walkers, plus the Crew

My fourth walk, plus one crew experience. Each one has been quite different. This walk was different for two main reasons. 1) I was not on a team (solo walker). 2) It rained.

1) I was not technically on a team. I had signed up intending to walk with a woman I had walked with twice previously in Seattle. But then she could not make it, so I became a team of one. But I found that another woman I had walked with previously was in need of a tent-mate, and bingo – I was affiliated with a team of 3. Two of the three developed blisters, which slowed the pace. And my mate was a speedy walker. I can keep up with speed, generally, but also like to smell the roses. We did keep meeting up at pit stops and lunch stops along the way.

The Flamingoes Sally, Dana, and Amy, and Me,

But, I also found that I was running into a lot of people who I knew from training and previous walks, both in Seattle and Michigan. So occasionally I would break off and walk with them for a bit. On the 3rd day, especially, I kept running into people I knew. It was great fun and although I bounced around a bit, I ended up finishing the walk with the Hotties, a team I trained with many times. But I also found the Flamingo Road folks, and the Kindred Spirits Michigan folks I walked with last year (in Michigan), and crew folks I worked with in Seattle last year.

2) It rained.
Two of the three days. Different rain, but both were wet.
On day 1 it drizzled, rained for a bit, then drizzled and finally stopped.
When we arrived, after 22.5 miles, Camp was damp in the grassy areas but dry elsewhere. One remanent of the rain was that they were unable to erect the big tent over the dining area. So we dined under the stars. Or where the stars would have been if there were no clouds. The walk was good, but I was TIRED, and went to bed after dinner, shower, foot massage (one of those automatic – stick your foot in a half boot like things). I slept well.

Day 2 was GORGEOUS. Sunny, in the 70’s, and clear the entire walking day. The 21.7 mile walk was in Everett – which put on a wonderful welcome. Dinner, shower and massage was followed by a dance party. Yes, we moved some more. It is really stretching by another name, and uses different muscles.

Day 3: Well the rain started as Day 2 was officially ending. We were fairly dry in the tent, but the side pocket holding my glasses and phone got wet. We are trying to dry out the phone. The rain also influenced our decision to get up when we woke up (wet cell phones do not make good alarm clocks). Then we proceeded to pack up, stowed our luggage on the trucks, took down the tent, and got in line for the busses. [To finish in Seattle, the walkers are bussed to North Seattle, and then walk around the city.] What we did not do was visit the dining area where breakfast was being served, but with no roof. Instead we dined on energy bars and raisins and nuts. The rain continued into the morning. Many different styles of ponchos and I think more people had blister issues.  By lunch break the rain had pretty much quit. There was even one brief sun-break. But it did dry out and only misted on us near the finish.

My personal physical experience was one with tired and hot feet on day 1. Day 2 mirrored day 1, but a callused area on  my heel started to make itself known, and a pain started on the lower shin of my right leg. Day 3 continued on the end of day 2. The lower leg pain would come and go as my stride and speed changed. At lunch I discovered there was a blister in the callus on my heel. But as blisters go it was not bad. I put a bandaid on for padding, and walked on. I was limping on any downhill by the end.

Reasons

And now, if I sit for a bit and then stand up, it can be amusing to watch. But I have a great in-house foot rubbing partner, so I have hope to not be too gimpy tomorrow.

There is much I have not mentioned, and I did not take too many pictures. I tended to try to enjoy it as it was happening, without stopping to find the camera. I may go back over the 3 days in the next few, as I think of all of the things that I saw. Like the pair tree. Or the woman gardening with a sign of thanks, noting that she had lost her daughter. Or all of the small world findings.

Update: Or like taking your shower, getting out, and then realizing you only got your hair wet but forgot to do the shampoo thing.