A Font of Nothing

Medical Update! I went to the doctor today to get my knee x-rayed. The good news: no kneecap fracture, hairline or otherwise. The diagnosis: bone bruise. So I’ll continue my RICE regime, as that’s the only treatment. The doctor gave me the thumbs up to continue my training, so I did a nice five-miler tonight. I don’t yet know if I’ll be able to PR in Rochester, but we’ll find out… in 19 days. Yikes! (Oh, and that’s not my knee, it’s just a random knee x-ray I swiped from the interwebs.)

On Thursday, Mom, Tracy, Meghan and I headed east to the New York State Fair to see Daughtry in concert (thus continuing the recently established tradition of Going to American Idol Alumni Concerts With Meghan). The picture above is a self-portrait taken just before we left for the night.

It was a perfectly sunny, blue-sky day. We walked a ton, ate greasy food, and did a lot of people watching (one of my favorite sports). Great fun! The concert was pretty good… We had fantastic seats, but the sound was way overboosted, so everything sounded distorted and overwhelmed Chris’s voice. Alas.

I took a few pictures that day, including this one of stuffed animals at a game:

Finally got the photo site to cooperate, so I’ve uploaded pictures from the Sorensen visit as well as the rest of the State Fair shots. You can see them in the More Summer 2008 album here.

Only three weeks til the Rochester Half. I spent last week Resting, Icing, Compressing, and Elevating my knee. Hopefully it will be ready for 13.1 miles on September 14th. Of course I want to have another PR, but I think I might have to just settle for finishing, and focusing on getting back to 100% for the big race in Texas.

Finally, happy (and belated, except for one) August birthdays to Aunt Debbie, Aunt Ann, Aunt Cindy, and Bussey!

This gorgeous photo (if I do say so myself, which I do) was taken in Bussey’s garden on Saturday afternoon. Sunshine and a ripe tomato - a lovely image of summer. The title of this post is from a quote by Benjamin Disraeli:

How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.

Bob, Mabe, Howard, Grace, and Alec came for a visit, so of course we had a family picnic on Saturday. I have a bunch of pictures to post, but I’m having some connection issues with Coppermine and might migrate to a new photo application. As soon as I get the new photos up, I’ll post a link.

Meanwhile, here’s the requisite shot of Chavo, sandwiched between a pillow and comforter that I neglected to put away after Leah spent the weekend with us:

Speaking of trials and passions, training is going so-so. It’s only four Sundays until the Rochester half, and I’m having trouble adjusting back to the power walking. My knee has been acting up again, too, so that hasn’t helped. However, I did cross the 1200-mile mark on the TransAmerica trail. Here I am, 12.08 miles to Chester, Illinois:

I’m nervous not just about my finish time here in Rochester, but my chances of being able to complete the 26.2 in Houston. Can I really do it in under six hours? Some people have told me there’s no way. Others have told me to keep the faith. I’m going to keep training, barring my stupid knee issues, and see what happens. Most of the time, it feels like a mental game - if I believe I can do it, I can do it.  But then I had to go and fall on my knee. Blast! Well, as John “The Penguin” Bingham says, I’ll waddle on!

I’m home, and nearly recovered from another non-stop, action-packed, sweat-filled mini vacation. This time I flew down to DC to spend four days sight-seeing with Mandy, who is now a resident of Alexandria, Virginia. I got up at 4:30 to catch my flight, and didn’t lay my head on a pillow until 2:30 the following morning. I’m too old for this! Here’s a breakdown of the trip (or, if you prefer, you can go right to the photos - of which there are many! - by clicking here):

Day One: Arrived in Baltimore at 8:00. Took my stuff back to Mandy’s apartment, gave Pedro a quick scratch, and then headed to the District. We went to the Lincoln Memorial, and then toured the Korea, Vietnam, and World War II Memorials. We then hiked down (up?) the Mall to the Washington Monument. After plenty of picture taking, we drove over to Arlington to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, I nearly blacked out from the heat, so we cut that short and headed back to Alexandria. After some rehydration and some down time, we got gussied up and headed out to meet Allison for dinner at The Source (insert oohs and ahhs here!). Here’s a picture of the three of us at dinner:

It was, simply, the most amazing meal I’ve ever had. Rather than ordering from the menu, we were treated to selections sent to us from Chef (aka Scott), which ended up being an eight course meal with wine pairings. We had delicious things like tuna tartare, tiny dumplings, heirloom tomato salad, rack of lamb, suckling pig… I even tried goat cheese! It was just heaven. Thank you, Scott and Allison, for a unbelievable evening!

Day Two: After sleeping in (a bit), we headed back to the District and spent the day museum hopping. We hit the Jim Henson/Muppet exhibit, wandered through the National Gallery (where we studied “River of Light” per Jamie’s orders), and saw dinosaurs, the Hope Diamond, and crazy sea monsters (in 3D!) at the Natural History Museum. We then wandered up the mall to the Capitol for a bit. A quick Metro ride and we were at the Washington Nationals game, where the Nats rallied to beat the Reds. Here’s a picture of me and Mandy at the game (pardon the watermark):

Day Three: It was a beautiful day, and the perfect weather to get away from the city. We drove down to the Southern Maryland shore and wandered around North Beach, Chesapeake Beach, and Breezy Point. Here’s a picture of me in the beautifully warm water at Breezy Point:

After lunch, we lounged away the afternoon by the pool at Mandy’s apartment. In the evening, we noshed on some Thai food and then caught a showing of The X-Files: I Want to Believe.

Day Four: A tour of Old Town in Alexandria, shopping, lunch and sailboat watching at National Harbor, and then it was time to head back to Baltimore for the return flight to Rochester. The picture below is from a fascinating and slightly disturbing piece of art installed at National Harbor called The Awakening.

Again, pictures are all here. (There are two pages of photos, so be sure to check them all out.) Thank you, Mandy Lou, for a fantastic trip! Where to next?

Tomorrow morning (every early) I’m off on another adventure - this time to visit Mandy in Washington, DC. Besides the requisite monument/memorial tourist stuff, we’re going to The Source with Allison to sample the fine cuisine of Mr. Drewno, and we’re going to catch a Washington Nationals game. Yay!

This picture has nothing to do with my trip, in case you hadn’t already figured that out. It was taken yesterday at work, when one of the boys needed a shot of a Field Engineer (which I’m not, but I play one very convincingly). Don’t I look all scientisty with my eye protection and my fancy blue coat? It totally cracks me up!

Last night Lindsay, Diane, and I got together for some dinner and Wii action. It’s the last time we’ll see DH for awhile… She’s off for an extended (and much deserved) vacation with family, and then heads south to begin her new adventure building houses in the bayous of Louisiana. Have a great trip, Snoopy Huhn. We’ll see you in New Orleans!

This morning brought a bit of adventure, as you can see from the picture above (notice Chavo having a little post-dinner bath in the background). Gilda’s Gang was doing a 6.5-mile walk through the streets of Roch, and around mile six, I tripped over a pipe that was jutting out of the ground and took a header right onto the pavement on Monroe Avenue. Nice! I have a bruised and swollen left knee, bruised palms, and a bump on my right cheek. I’m happy to report, however, that I hopped right up and finished that last half mile, bleeding knee and all. As Paul said when we hit the finish line: that’s a badge of honor. (He also said, “You’ll live.”) I guess this is what they mean when they call us “road warriors”!

Spent last weekend in Philadelphia with Sarah S - and have been spending this week recovering! I drove down on Friday morning, and Friday night we had a delicious seafood dinner at Devon’s. Then we hiked (in the sweltering heat) to the Walnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Hugh Panaro as Jean Valjean in Les Mis. The show was fantastic, and Hugh spent a good deal of time standing directly in front of us on stage. After the show we hung around outside until everyone had gone… and out came Hugh! I’d sent a note and a copy of a picture of the two of us (from 1993, mind you) backstage before the show, never expecting he’d actually get it, or read it. But he did. When I walked up to him, he smiled, said, “Oh, Bethany!” and gave me a huge hug. We chatted for awhile and took some pictures. Here’s one!

Waaaay better than the one from 15 years ago, which I refuse to post. Ha! After that fantastic adventure, Sarah and I spent Saturday sweating, getting pedicures, sweating, eating lunch in Rittenhouse Square, sweating, shopping in KOP, sweating, and seeing a movie (Mamma Mia). A fabulous (albeit sweaty) weekend! There are a bunch of photos here.

Last week also brought some terribly sad news: Mike Feiock, a friend since Day Care and a fellow member of PYA’s Class of 1992, died unexpectedly. I went to PY for the calling hours, and although it was very sad, it was also like a mini class reunion. Several us spent the evening at the Keuka, raising a glass in Mike’s name. There are some pictures from the evening here. And here’s a picture from the last time I saw Mike, which was at our 10th reunion in 2002:

Finally, some training news. I’ve decided to forgo the attempt to run a long race, and focus instead on my power walking again. I’ve signed up for the Fleet Feet Summer Fest, a 12K at the end of August that Gilda’s Gang is using as part of their training. So there’s that to look forward to, plus the Rochester Half on September 14th, and finally the big one: Houston 2009. On a final athletic note: Congratulations to Alex, who became an Ironman on Sunday!

It’s mid-July already? The summer is flying by. Here’s a quick update of what’s been going on… The picture above is from my new digital camera (my old one bit the dust) - a close-up from Janet and Lil’s backyard garden here at Briar Manor.

Cindy and Chris drove up from Tennessee for a quick visit, so I added a few more pictures to the family Fourth of July album (even though, technically, it was the Eighth of July when I took them), which you can see here. Here’s a picture of the Arizona/Florida/North Carolina Richmonds:

On Friday night, the girls came over for pizza, wings, and Wii fun. I rented Mario Kart Wii for Jena - what a riot! Not only did I capture some great Wii moments, like the picture of Diane and Linds below, but we also used the Photo Booth application on my computer to take the most ridiculous pictures ever. We laughed so hard and so long, I still don’t think my poor stomach has recovered!

You can see a few more flower pictures taken with the new camera, as well as more Wii bowling and Mario Kart shots, in the Summer 08 album, here. And if you’re brave, you can look at the Photo Booth ridiculousness here. Here’s a sneak peek:

The title of this post is from a quote by William Carlos Williams:

In summer, the song sings itself.

It was a family-filled weekend in the 315! Ann and Steve were here from Tuscon, Matt and Buffy were up from Florida, and Arlene and Olivia (that’s her in the pool above) were in from Charlotte. Of course, all of the usual suspects were in attendance, too. We ate too much (repeatedly), swam, sunned, and laughed. A perfect holiday weekend! Here’s a picture of some red, white, and blue (sort of) slurpees at the Windmill. Very patriotic, don’t you think?

When our forefathers were founding this great nation, I doubt that they envisioned a celebration that would involve a Jeff Gordon propane tank cover (who knew?) worn as a tube top. And yet:

As Steve pointed out, that pays pretty well on an hourly basis! There are a ton more pictures from the weekend here. And a cute video of Miss Olivia having a bowl of ice cream here. Happy Independence Day!

I’m Jean Valjean!

Actually, Hugh Panaro is Jean Valjean. He’s currently starring  in the Walnut Street Theatre summer production of Les Miserables in Philadelphia. I’m heading down to stay with Sarah S and see the show on July 18th. Bought the tickets this morning!

The very first show I saw on Broadway (back in 1990) was Les Mis, and Hugh was then starring as Marius. Now he’s all growed up and playing the lead! Sarah W-M, Mon Pion, and I sat in the fifth row and fell madly in love with Hugh (well, I won’t speak for Mon, anyway). I saw Hugh again in Showboat up in Toronto in 1995, and Sarah W-M and I had some near-misses with The Red Shoes and Sideshow. Alas!

Sarah S and I will be sitting in the fourth row for this production. Can’t wait!