"Laying down a law that I live by, well maybe next time."

Slacking! I am slacking. I mean, I've been running, but lord, I'm getting to that "yeah I'll do it tomorrow" feeling. I'm looking forward to my training plan kicking in because running essentially the same distance along the same route almost daily is killing my soul a little. On the bright side the weather has been looking up so I'll take that as some form of motivator...

It's been a bit quiet. I think we're in the lull before the storm of birthday activities. Last night we took a night out to do a trivia night at a local pub which was a real blast. Turns out I am pretty awesome with 2000's sitcoms, even ones I've never seen like "Curb Your Enthusiasm." We were solidly ranking in the bottom half of teams that night, which isn't too terrible for our first time! I mean, hey, we weren't last. This weekend we've got an 80's Dance Party night lined up which I'm looking forward to because I so enjoyed the Legwarmers concert we went to in VA.

I'm hardly reading right now, but that's ok, because my Coursera classes have started up. Right now I'm in love with Social Context of Mental Health and Illness. It reminds me of all the courses I took at Towson and the psychology classes I took at Montgomery College that made me fall head over heels with the subject. I have never, ever been a person who was glad to be out of school. Summer breaks? Not my favorites. I was always desperate for school to start by the middle of July. Summer reading I had in school I've revisited in hopes I'd enjoy it more now. Take for instance, As I Lay Dying. I loathed this book in Ms. Crump's class. I just didn't understand it, I thought it was incoherent and it really didn't speak to me. Cut to years later when Oprah had her book club for it and I decided to give it another chance? Amazing. I understood it, I got into it, and I wanted to talk about it. Right now I'm working through The Great Gatsby because it was never assigned to me in school and I think I may be missing out. Doesn't hurt there's a cool lookin' movie version on the horizon....

Like I said earlier, I'm ready to start getting into training more. I haven't lost any weight or gained. So... Hopefully something gives someday. It's strange to think 40lbs ago, (crimany, I used to be '40lbs ago'!), that I would not have been able to run more than a mile and even that would have been extremely labored. And now, here I am mostly running 3-4 miles on the regular, with all that extra weight. I'm torn between being happy I can be so strong, and sad that my eating is so terrible that even that giant jump in activity can't pull the weight off. :-/

On a different note, I miss hearing about people's lives. I'm not sure if my readers are like me - I check my regular blogs almost on the daily to see if people update - just because I'm looking to hear about the day to day of every one else out there. It may not be exciting, but it's nice to see how other people are managing being 'grown-ups.' Speaking of, that's my new 'get up and do stuff' phrase. When I feel like sitting around in my PJ's and delaying life, I tell myself:

"Carly. You are a grown-up. No one is going to do this for you, you have responsibilities to yourself and your husband, and your cats. Ed works incredibly hard all day, it is the least you can do to: keep a clean home, shop for groceries, cook healthy well-thought out meals, care for the animals, keep yourself healthy, plan social activities... YOU MUST BATHE AND DRESS YOURSELF AND LEAVE THE HOUSE BECAUSE YOU ARE AN ADULT."

I am a grown-up. I am a grown-up. I am a grown-up.

Still doesn't feel real... maybe it will in another 12 days. But it gets me up and doing things lately.

"Oh reckless abandon, like no one's watching you"

Such a fantastic weekend.

Lately Ed and I have been discussing our plans for leaving CA more and more, trying to work out the details, and in the process, trying to appreciate what we have out here more. We've made up a short list of things we want to experience before we go and this weekend we checked one off the list:

• Visit Tomales Bay and eat fresh oysters

I'd been there once before with Dad and Debbie and had an amazing time. Well, mostly. The ride home was pretty miserable because of a combination of eating waaaaaay too many large oysters and the curviest roads I have ever been on. Horrible. Never, ever, order large oysters. They are bigger than you can even imagine. Medium is plenty for fanatics and small is good for most. But other than getting in over my head tummy-space wise, that first visit was fantastic. The oysters were salty and delicious and it's just a beautiful area, muddy, beachy, hilly... It's hard to pinpoint what makes it so invigorating.

The weather really cooperated, so much so that we left with a bit of a sunburn. The sun was bright, there was a cool breeze and you could smell the eucalyptus trees all over. Add the smell of all the grills and - so, so many hot pots! - and the brine, it was heavenly.

Man these guys had a ton of meats on their grill, and I don't think they ever stopped grilling the whole time.

We made it through about 50 oysters, with maybe 20 of them cooked? We were surrounded mostly by families and hipster gatherings who looked to be around our age. The young crowd came stocked: Champagne, olives, clementines, cheeses, prosciutto, fancy olive oils and balsamics. We were not quite as thoroughly packed, but our Triscuts, hummus, hot sauces, and olives were just as good! I mean, we brought organic lemons from our upstairs neighbor so... boom! We can hipster it up too ya'll. Many of the families were grilling up tons of different meats and using hot pots and piling toppings on the oysters. Everything looked and smelled delicious.

We remembered gloves! I thought so many people were going to impale themselves...

Post-grill, pre-opening...

Post-grill and pre-gullet :)

Nothing beats raw and fresh!

View of the farm

Ed testing to see how far he can get before the mud eats him whole

There isn't much more to add other than we drove up, ate, drove home on the 1 along the coast and had an incredible day. It just really framed why we love being out here so much. It's hard being away from friends and family, but living in California is such a dream when we finally get out there and enjoy it.

Pull-off on the 1 on the way home, in Marin Headlands

Looking towards S.F. and home

This past weekend was also packed with movies: Ted, Pitch Perfect and Mama. None totally disappointed, and one left me with solid nightmares to haunt my middle of the night bathroom trips. If Ed wasn't here at night, I'd be living with all the lights on... probably all the time. Although the ending of Mama was terrible, everything up until the last 5 minutes made for a fantastically scary movie. I can't get enough of Guillermo del Toro. If I haven't recommended you all read his The Strain trilogy written with Chuck Hogan, then I will say it again - it's creepy as hell. Rumor is it might be a show on FX soon so read up now!

Speaking of reading I finished two more books:
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli
I'll try to do a write up of these later, but for now I'll leave you with this: Where'd You Go Bernadette is on my top 10 favorite reads right now.

Everything else is going well. Running is... going. I'm trying to get my time down but it's really fighting me. At least I'm getting out and doing it regularly, that's all I can ask for, keeping up with my measly 11-13 miles per week. Ed's workin' away, poor guy didn't even get today off. Next weekend I have a dentist appointment and I'm getting my first crown. I am terrified. Terrified. The weekend after that brings us February! The best month ever. I'm really looking forward to my birthday this year... just feels like a big one. :) That's all for now folks!

S.F. within sight!

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

Found on Pinterest, just spoke to me today. The internet failed me when trying to verify if it was said by him or not so.... there's your disclaimer!

"I never said I'd leave the city"

I'm well aware I'm not off to a great start with making regular posts this year... but that's ok. I've been focusing on some other areas. I have to remind myself that this is a blog meant to keep you guys updated on my life, not necessarily be the most entertaining thing ever on earth or a place to make a stand and preach about things. That reminder helps me feel less guilty about not being as present here as I could be. But now, prepare yourself for a lengthy recap post!

This past weekend was incredible. There are no words that can adequately express how happy I was the whole weekend. We took the red-eye in, arriving Friday morning, making a quick turnaround to go to Mom's exercise class midday (had to get my strength training day in!). Mom and I even made a quick dash to Wheaton Plaza and did a mad run through Target. I miss shopping time with girls, and especially shopping time with my mom. We like so many of the same knickknacks.

Lunch with Mom :)

Later we had visit to Ed's brother Rob and his wife Alexis (and I met Ed's - wait, now my! - beautiful niece Ellis) which was really nice. Rob, Ed and I had coffee together, catching up on all the big doings. Afterwards we had a chance to drive around the area we used to live in and grabbed a little Korean BBQ. Some things have changed, like the Tyson's Corner beltway area but... it's really exactly as I remember it. It all felt as familiar as if I was there yesterday. And for those of you who say I haven't been gone long enough to see a difference? I was stunned by the progress made on the metro line extensions and buildings that were not even close to standing when we left.

Saturday Ed came out running with me despite our exhaustion. He runs (literally) twice as fast as I do, so it's always very generous of him to run with me at my sloooow pace. He did help me shave off .12 off my time though! We then had breakfast with some of my friends: Michelle, Austin, Joe, and Evyan, at Eggspectation in Silver Spring. It was just so nice catching up and gossiping about what all our old high school friends are up to now. It's hard to believe some people are on their second kid, or famous, or married, or on their second degree/graduate school, or divorced, or living somewhere across the globe. It's almost like we're adults or something... yikes! I wish we could have stayed hanging out a bit longer, but we all had errands. I had to run to Bethesda where Mikyla at The Shop was going to style my hair for the Jazz Band Alumni performance that evening. She made me look fantastic and I loved my 'big Texas hair.' My sister was right, I probably could have asked for a bouffant and would've been in love with it as well. :)

The bigger the better!

From there I ran over to rehearsal where, I couldn't hide it, I was very nervous to see who would be there and to see if I could still pull it out of the hat (vocally). The band.... I can't begin to tell you how amazing the band was.... the sound nailed you to the back wall as you walked in, I was stunned. Thankfully I had come in time to hear the other two vocalists (wonderful) and support them in rehearsal. It all went by so fast and before I knew it I was home getting changed and then back out for the performance.

Rehearsal

There was a pizza buffet for the band people before the concert to catch up and network. It's a strange thing seeing people again after 9 years. People you saw everyday for multiple hours, and then nothingness, and all of a sudden there they are! Looking exactly the same. That's the part that gets me. No one looks different. Sure some of us have put on weight or colored our hair but honestly? You guys all still look the same to me. Hope that comes off as a compliment because that is exactly as it's intended.

The performance... was amazing. The bands, the honors and the alumni bands, were just incredible. It was surreal sitting in that theater again. So much history passed there for me. Watching Joan Rackey on stage took me right back to high school. I was so nervous and sweaty and ill... just like high school. :) And the music.... see this is why I have little faith in my ability to be a reviewer because in my mind I can hear the songs and am blown away all over again by the clear beautiful sound, but I just can't find the words to describe it. So, let me bow out here and just post some videos to speak for themselves!

"Over the Rainbow":

"Fly Me to the Moon":

I wanted to weep I was so happy to be up there again, with that incredible band and that incredible woman directing us. I've already told you how much I believe Joan Rackey deserves all the praise and gratitude that can possibly be heaped upon a teacher. She was gracious and funny and handled the whole evening with nonchalance.

Shirts for the Alumni Band

Gathering both groups to play together at the end

Afterwards we grabbed up as many people as we could, including our elementary school and middle school band teachers Ms. Mathis and Ms. Parks, and we hopped over to Savannah's for drinks and karaoke. Some of us were quite overwhelmed by the unusual set up of drinking with teachers from so many past school years. :) We sang and danced like crazy people and just had a wonderful time celebrating a wonderful evening. And yes I stole a bunch of these pictures from other photographers in the group so... thanks for taking great pictures for me! :)

Sunday I should have been up and running 3mi... but that just was not happening. I had hit my sleep deprivation wall and was on the verge of hallucinating (seriously, later that day at the airport I came out of the bathroom looking to meet up with Ed, and although he was maybe 15 feet from me, I did not recognize him and looked around and past him maybe 10 times - he was looking at me like I was having a stroke). So we drove up and stopped in to see Omi for a short visit. I'm really glad we got to see her considering we probably won't be back in the area until August. Flying back to CA was endlessly long, and I'm sure it felt even more so just because it was such quiet downtime in comparison to the riot the rest of the weekend had been.

Being home is already a bit of a downer just being away from all the people we love very much. Ed and I both agreed this was one of the best visits home we've ever had. Thank you to Joan for asking me to sing and for pulling such an incredible band together, it was an honor to be part of it. Thank you all for reminding us why it's so amazing to come home again and what a perfect group of friends and family we have.

P.S. Happy Birthday to my Dad today! :)

"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!"

Oy. Ya'll I've been unwell. And I'm still struggling with it. I kind of wish I had that crazy cough-flu-sickness from last year because this stuff, I can't do this. Those of you who get headaches, you have my ever lasting empathy. I never get headaches. I still don't think I've ever had a migraine... although maybe that's what this is and I just have no idea. I've been suffering from a massive headache that lasted through the past week, along with what I'm pretty sure was an ear infection for the past few days. It's just been awful, hard to look at the computer, hard to read, hard to have any lights on. And seriously, I'm a pain baby. That being said, I'm also afraid of drugs and don't like to take too much so I just end up laying on the couch moaning. It's great fun for Ed. He especially loves when my mind goes to that hypochondriac place it adores playing around in, and I rant and rave about how I'm like Hillary Clinton and the possible blood clot in my head is scaring me into telling him I love him every five minutes and how grateful I am for the life we have together. Poor Edward.

We've managed to have a pretty good week and weekend... my training for the half-marathon was seriously delayed but in the past couple days I've started running through a bit more and it feels amazing to get out there again. Using the Nike Run app is pretty cool too, when people 'like' it or comment on it on Facebook, I hear cheers during the run. Thanks Jeanne for introducing me to it! One of the days it was dreary and raining and that is perfection to me. It looks like a scene straight out of the Moors and I expect to hear Mr. Rochester calling to me! And the best part? No one on earth is out there but me. And Ed, but he runs twice as fast as I do so he's not out there for long. So I can be Jane as long as I want and I won't run into anyone to judge me. Especially when they see my crazy hat hair...

Ed and I tried a new place for lunch this week, Mongolian Hot Pot in Cupertino. I've never had fondue or anything similar to this so I thought it was highly amusing (and delicious). My favorite part? The mushrooms. So many delicious mushrooms. We'll definitely be back here.

We also made sure we stopped by the Tech Museum because it was the last weekend the MythBusters exhibit was in town. This was SO much fun. I wish we had kids to take there because they would have been ridiculously entertained. They had a ton of the props from the show and mannequins set up in the cast's outfits. One of my favorite props was the giant duct tape canoe they made and the tornado shelter. Past the props they had several stations set up to test out myths ourselves. There was the raindrop test where you could run through and walk through and then see who was wetter, the driving blind test where someone had to verbally guide you (I drove, Ed guided - I felt a LOT of curbs, heard crashing noises and he was telling me to take a lot of dramatic turns, so I think that means I did well...), the killer card throwing, the dodge a bullet test, the airplane on a conveyor belt model, and the tablecloth removal trick test.

He made it in just over a minute! You can't see it but he has shin guards on as well.

There was a little light in front of us that when it flashed you had to jump out of the way and it would time how long it took you to move. Saying I was slow is being nice. But I sure jumped with dramatic ineffective flair!

Yes, that 5 mph is my card toss. It wouldn't read most of them but Ed did pretty well as you can see below.

Oh I forgot about this one below! Too bad we didn't come here more often... this would be a great American Ninja Warrior practice area. Gotta keep up that grip strength!

The rest of the museum was also fantastic, with cool outer-space related set ups (including a jet pack simulation!) and a section related to Silicon Valley and the creation of computer chips. I can't follow most of it but hey, you learn something new every day. 

We kept a low profile the rest of the past week. I haven't even been reading thanks to this silly head problem. We met up with Ed's friend Brendan who was driving through the area and his girlfriend. It was really fantastic seeing friendly faces.

This weekend however, is a big, big weekend! There will be a concert at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, MD to celebrate and honor Joan Rackey and her incomparable contribution to the community and the lives of so many people - including my own. The current honors jazz band will play and then a group of alumni will come on stage to play. I'll be singing with the group and I am beyond excited. Joan is an incredible person who has always been there for me and for anyone that is struggling. She has helped my family, many of my friends... It is what we as a community should do, to show up and tell her how much better our lives are for having her in it. My fondest memories of high school are my experiences with jazz band. I'm sure I've mentioned it on here before but Joan is one of the most important people in my life, (hell, she provided my wedding cake!), and we all know how many lives she has touched and improved. For those of you from jazz band or band or theater, please come out and celebrate with us. Here is all the info from the flyer:

EINSTEIN ALUMNI JAZZ CONCERT

For the benefit of AEHS’ Instrumental Music Program

Saturday, January 12^th at Albert Einstein High School at 7pm

  Featuring musicians from Einstein’s award-winning jazz program—

—many of them graduates of your school as well—

Under the direction of the great Joan Rackey,

AEHS Band Director for 38 years—and counting!

The Einstein All-Star Alumni Band is likely to include:

Bass: Adam Neely, ’06, Elliott Seppa, ’09, Milo Johnson, ‘11

Piano: Jeb Patton, ’92, Jon Lieder, ‘12

Trombone: Dave Cannon ’78, Daniel Toresky, ‘11

Vocalists: Carly Neely,’04, Tina Termini, ’07;  Guitar: Gavin Fallow, ‘99

Saxophone: Simon Lahn, Joe Williams, Jacob Teichroew,’01,

Adam Kinner, ’02, Elijah Balbed, ’08; Percussion: Justin Wolf, ‘01

Trumpet: Andy Leach, ’64, Rick Gordon, ’78,

Richard Kessler, ’79, Max Kuzymak, ‘08

With guest artists Doug Elliot, Rick Penix, and Paul Carr!

Tickets: $10 adults, $5 students. Available at the door.

Sponsored by PACE, the Performing Arts Coalition of Einstein

I've got a couple videos on my youtube page if you want to check out the band... it's not the most recent, and the recordings are shaky but it's something if you want to listen. She's an incredible woman and we should all turn out to show our appreciation for all those times she helped us in music, sports or our personal lives. I know so many people who struggled with a song or with school and she was right there trying to walk them through it slowly and surely. This is the very least we can do to say thank you. :)

2013?!

Holy cow, that year disappeared quick! But I'm glad to be moving on to this year.... I think it'll be even better than 2012... We're looking at:

1. Ck's wedding!!! (So excited for this)
2. My first half-marathon (!/? I've just started training so we'll see how it goes)
3. Another reading challenge (I cannot believe I actually finished last year's challenge of 60 books. I'm aiming for at least another 60 this year as well. Gotta enjoy my reading time before work or kids come along and steal it from me. I'll write up a post reviewing some of my favorite books from the challenge soon!)
4. My 27th birthday (I know it's not a typical marker of anything, but it's the age my mom had me at so it's a little shocking to me)
5. A trip to Seattle!
6. Another Yosemite visit
7. A Virginia Beach trip
8. Another cross-country move? :)
9. And most importantly Downton Abbey Season 3

It'll be another big year for sure. I'm feeling really good about it.

I know last year I wrote about how much I hate resolutions but I thought I'd at least start this year off with some intentions. To make a habit of exercise (regardless of whatever happens with my weight). To work harder at homesteading - canning, making my own cleaning products, making bread, making yogurt, using less plastic and disposable goods, etc. To embrace life more - mentally and physically - with the aforementioned habit of exercising and with a more mindful, balanced and optimistic approach to life through meditation and yoga.

I have a ton of other thoughts, hopes and dreams for the year, but you all will just have to wait it out for those to be revealed along the way! All good things, I promise.

Now, to address this past holiday season that I have thoughtlessly ignored.

Christmas was wonderful. We drove out to Dad and Debbie's in Nevada, just outside of Lake Tahoe. Whatever desires we had to have some winter weather were more than sated. Our drive to them was postponed a day thanks to some scary sounding winter storms in the Sierras. Thank God we delayed a day because from the stories we heard later, it was a huge mess. We got to see the beautiful after shots.

A wall of fog we both believed was possibly stormy weather. But no, that would wait for us on the trip home...

First view of Lake Tahoe coming around the bend. The drop off to the right of us is pretty severe, but hey, that wall of compacted snow made it much less terrifying. 

All in all it was a great easy drive there. The most beautiful snow laden trees I've seen in my life. Unfortunately, I don't have many of my own pictures from our visit with D&D, the ones I did take were at night and didn't come out well at all. So I'll steal a couple of Debbie's to show you all! 

We had a good time hanging around the house, even made a steak tartare that Ed and I make every New Years Eve. For the big day we went over to these hot springs, just around the corner from their house. It was the most beautiful view and very hot pools, just like I like 'em. 104-107, that's my kind of range. They had steam rooms and saunas too, and these showers... oh man these shower stalls. Huge sunflower shower heads, pebbled floors and stone walls. So lovely. I'm a sucker for great showers.

Before going in:

 Hanging in the 'cool pool' - still probably 85+, I noted that I think that's about the temperature my former Arthritis students would've loved.

 The lovely tree in the living room. We opened presents here and watched A Christmas Story. I know, it's shocking, but none of us had ever seen it. We did it post hot springs so we may or may not have all caught a quick cat nap during the movie... but what we saw seemed good! 

After the hot springs trip we were driving home and ran across this guy hanging in the middle of the road:

Turns out it was this girl, Addie, and that she had made her great escape from her house only to jump in the nearest friendly strangers' car. Good think she had her collar on so we could track down her home. She was quiet and sweet and very confused. 

View from Addie's house... amazing. The cows down there were surprisingly loud, but the view was just incredible. All that cloudy dark stuff? That's the snow falling on the valley. It was falling up on the mountain as I was taking this picture as well. Good signs for the drive home right? Especially when it stated blanketing the Sierras to the point of them vanishing. All good signs. :-P

So we departed after a wonderful, very comfortable and perfectly wintry Christmas visit. 

Back into the mountains we go!

Oh hey remember that drop off and view of the lake and mountains from before?

None of that anymore! But hey that awesomely large compacted snow barrier is still standing and giving us comfort. Here's some perspective from the car.

We passed a ton of homes just completely covered and boxed in from all the snow.

All in all, it really wasn't bad. Just very tense and very slow. We thankfully did not have to put on chains but we saw tons and tons of those people who did. At 3000 or 4000ft on 50 there were cars backed up the wazoo all pulled over putting on chains. It was gross and miserable and that must have been an awful experience.

When we finally made it down out of the snow we immediately pulled over at the first In & Out burger to soothe our harried souls. Truly, there's little else as comforting. Apparently every other driver thought the same thing because it was the most packed In & Out we've ever been to. They went from order 40 to 100 and back to 1 again during the short time we were there for lunch. Back on the road, it was a really easy drive. We hit some homecoming traffic but honestly, without a sheer drop next to you and super slick roads, it was all a breeze.

We opened our presents at home and can I just say, I think I'm the big winner? This Christmas was one of my favorites. I won't list everything because that's silly and also I'm sure you'll hear about it all over time. I think you're officially a grown-up or something when your gifts are mostly cookware/home goods: A super sweet set of glass tupperwear (I know, I'm getting paranoid about plastic), coffee from Dublin Roasters, a dual shower head (funny, because I had just been raving about D&D's awesome guest shower head and the wonderful sunflower shower heads at the hot springs) and an amazing roaster from D&D. Ed made out like a bandit with bike gear and survival books. It was a pretty perfect holiday season I think. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready for the day with my incredible new shower. :)