2016 By the Book

2016's list of books.  This is probably the least number of books I've accomplished in a year, but to be fair I did read my way through all of the Game of Thrones books which is no small feat.  I also fell in love with quite a few podcasts over the year.  Some of my favorites are Spartan Up, The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Stuff Mom Never Told You, and Human Race.



1. Bryan Stevenson - Just Mercy *****

2. Adriana Trigiani - All the Stars in the Heavens *****
3. Paula Hawkins - The Girl on the Train *****
4. George RR Martin - A Game of Thrones *****
5. Pope Francis - The Name of God is Mercy ****

6. Ben Goldacre - Bad Science ***
7. Suzie Favor Hamilton - Fast Girl *****

8. Augusten Burroughs - Possible Side Effects *

9. Yann Martel - The High Mountains of Portugal ***
10. George RR Martin - A Clash of Kings *****
11. George RR Martin - A Storm of Swords *****
12. Paul Kalanithi - When Breath Becomes Air *****

13. Bill Bryson - the Road to Little Dribbling ****

14. Marie Kondo - Spark Joy *****

15. Anita Renfroe - Don't Say I didn't warn you **

16. Diana Abu-Jaber - life without a recipe **
17. Christopher McDougall- Natural Born Heroes ****
18. George RR Martin - A Feast for Crows *****
19. Drema Hall Berkheimer - Running on Red Dog Road *****
20. Erik Larson - The Devil in the White City **

21. Phil Knight - Shoe dog *****

22. Annie Proulx - Brokeback Mountain ****
23. Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way *****
24. John Parker - Racing the Rain ***
25. Brigid Pasulka - A long, long time ago and essentially true *****
25. Jojo Moyes - Me Before You *****

26. Ron Fournier - Love That Boy *****
27. George RR Martin - A Dance With Dragons *****
28. Shauna Niequist - Present Over Perfect *****
29. Mary Mann Hamilton - Trials of the Earth ***
30.Hope Jahren - Lab Girl ****
31. Rich Roll - Finding Ultra *****
32. Amy Robach - Better *****
33. Jojo Moyes - After You *****
34. Anna Kendrick - Scrappy Little Nobody *****

So what have you been enjoying lately?

Last year's list: here

Catching up

It's been quiet around Zeke's Corner lately. It's been crazy busy but I think we are finally starting to settle down into our summertime plans.

I went to Canada for work.  It required a passport.  Last time I left the country was pre-2001 when the borders were not so guarded.  No passport necessary.  Did you know passports are up to $150 dollars these days?  And did you know that the girl at Canada's customs did not stamp my passport?  So now I am the proud owner of a $150 passport that has no stamps in it.  Isn't that fun?

I spent so much time at the nerd convention in Canada that there was no time for sight-seeing.  What happens at a nerd convention?  I spent the week playing the alphabet game in meetings.  Do you know that there are no smart, scientifically related J words.  None. 

It rained every single day while I was there.  Thanks but no thanks.  I'll keep my dry desert living thank you very much.

On this trip to Canada that on paper never happened.  I got to ride on this lovely Bombadier Q 400.  It's not every day that you get to walk out on the tarmac to board the plane.  With a friendly reminder to mind the back of the plane, lest you get sucked into the engine.  I also couldn't help but notice the lack of oxygen masks that usually drop from the ceiling in the event of loss of cabin pressure. 

While I was away I missed a certain girl child's kindergarten graduation.  There goes my mom of the year award.

There also has been TWO visits from the tooth fairy.  I am fairly certain that this girl is breaking her promise to me to never grow up.

The boys and I visited the cemetery over Memorial weekend and did some sprucing up of the grave markers.  It's been important to me to make sure the kids are involved and reminded of our loved ones who don't walk this world anymore.  At one point Burrito had the little pick axe in his hands....that was a wee bit scary.  And I'm glad there were no other visitors in our area, so they wouldn't have had to hear me tell Burrito to quit jumping off the headstones like superman.  Where is this child's proper fear and respect of the cemetery?  We must not be watching enough scooby doo at our house.

The Proof is in the Broomstick

This last week, my facebook friends have been posting picture after picture of a broom standing up in the middle of a room by itself.  So I had to try it myself.



My witch tricks



According to the interwebs, you can do this little trick anywhere / anytime, not just during the equinox. 

And that has me wondering.  If anyone can balance a broom anytime they want, how is that 9 times out of 10 when I lean the broom against the counter, so I can stoop down with the dust pan, it falls and hits me in the head?

Rafting 2.0

Last year, a group of friends and the boy and I went rafting.  It was a two day adventure down Cache Creek.  We had a great time.  I had a little too much fun the first day but doesn't that make for the best kinds of stories anyway.  I may or may not have accidentally set the husband's sandwich bread in the river instead of on the raft as I lovingly made his sandwich for him.  But don't worry, he ate it - soggy bread and all.  On day 2 of the trip, I may or may not have forgotten to take the wax paper off the cheese before I made the sandwich in an effort to make up for day 1 and soggy bread sandwiches. 
The rafting itself was a blast.  We only got dumped out of our raft 1 time and we scored a pretty nice double barrel super soaker.  It was the kind of trip where before we even got home and unpacked the truck everyone was talking about doing it again.

And so we did!  Hopefully it will become a yearly tradition.  This year, I solemnly swore that there would be rules!  Set up beforehand and followed accordingly.

Rule #1: Sunscreen, lots of it.  Applied more than once the whole trip.

Rule #2: Under no circumstances whatsoever should I drink anything handed to me by the boy's cousin.  He's the devil.

Rule #3: Do not set tent up on a ginormous rock that you will regret sleeping on the entire night.

Rule #4: No tandem puking.  For many reasons.  Some of them being: dinner, glow stick dancing, and so that I can enjoy the giant community bowl of oreos

We had an equally good time this year.  Fell out of the raft a few more times that I would have liked.  And once it happened at the top of one of the harder rapids.  A little bit of scary-ness later and it's back to all smiles and laughing.  Still a little bit sunburned and we really should have brought an air mattress to sleep on but I'm not complaining. 
I think I'll start my don't forget list for next year right now....

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

One more check mark for my bucket list this year.
In an unusual-for-me lucky streak, I won two tickets to Katy Perry from a local radio station.  Free!  And the second best part is that I didn't have to compete in anything on-air or embarrassing.

It took a little planning and a lot of driving (thanks Hubster!)  but we pulled it off in an already packed weekend.  Left work early, got to drive down with some of our favorite friends, oogled the Dutch Brothers coffee shops along the way. 

We sat behind a couple of teenage girls...it was entertaining.  Homemade outfits, ring pops, light up bracelets, dancing.  I told the boy to take good notes because soon those sorts of activities would be happening in our own house. 

The Finale...

As the husband observed while we were waiting for the show to start, it was overwhelming attended by women.  Hardly a man in sight.  Mostly Moms with daughter and friends in tow.  Someday that will be me with my girlchild....probably at Taylor Swift.  Or, maybe I'll let the Dad take her.

After the concert was over we high-tailed it back to Sacramento for the 2nd annual best-time-in-your-life-ever weekend rafting trip.

Just passing it along

Happy Mother's Day to all those who are called to that path in life.  I'll be spending the day with my two favorite kids and my better half.


~Zeke


I took this from here:
(It was too good to trust that you'd follow the link)


When you thought I wasn't looking

by Mary Rita Schilke Korzan


When you thought I wasn’t looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator
And I wanted to paint another.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You fed a stray cat
And I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me
And I knew that little things were special things.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You said a prayer
And I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You kissed me good-night
And I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
I saw tears come from your eyes
And I learned that sometimes things hurt—
But that it’s alright to cry.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You smiled
And it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn’t looking
You cared
And I wanted to be everything I could be.

When you thought I wasn’t looking—
I looked . . .
And wanted to say thanks
For all those things you did
When you thought I wasn’t looking.

Spring and things

A perfect sunrise on our sleepy street

The photo above doesn't do the sunrise justice.  It really was awe inspiring.  Inspiring enough that I absolutely needed to scoop the boy-child up (toothbrush still in his mouth) and hustle him out into the yard so we wouldn't miss it. 

Other news around the yard: 

There are fresh cut daffodils on my mother's table

The hyacinths are nearly blooming

The entire backyard is a slippery, slimy mud puddle....don't even think about going out there

Group runs have begun to gear up for the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey (did I mention this run was on my bucket list)

I started knitting a pair of fingerless gloves, judging by my current pace they'll be ready just in time for next winter

I've been reading some pretty good books

Swim lessons are in full swing

My own personal coach

I can't tell if Shasta is cheering me on or mocking me.

I must say that staring into these reflective eyes is starting to freak me out.  And more than once the cat has tried to walk across the top of the treadmill, lost her footing, and got tangled up in my feet as I ran.

 























That shelf was NOT built just for Shasta.  It was special requested for a little fan to keep me cool and to hold my amazing 3rd place running trophy from Lake Tahoe last year.

I am trying out a new training schedule this year.  It has me running three times a week.  I'm hoping to get a consistent number of weekly miles under my belt and speed up my pace a little.

I've got a couple of good, organized runs in my future that I'm pretty excited about.

Reflections

This is the one where I tell you how I did on my 2010 resolutions.....


1. Take better care of myself....Umm, who let me start with this one, I say yes so yes!

2. Become a creme brulee master....Let's see:  I ate creme brulee at every restaurant opportunity I got, Lawrence made creme brulee in my kitchen while I sat at the counter and took notes, but I still don't technically have my own ramekins or torch yet....

3. Run 100 miles total this year.....drum roll please.....and the number is....182 miles.

I Took a Little Run in the Woods

I have officially competed in my first post high school 5k race.  I didn't die.  I made it in under 30 minutes.  And those were really the only goals I had.  Oh, and one I added mid-race....to finish in front of the guy with the beer belly and the crazy tattoos.   Which I did.  By, all of 5 seconds or so.

Finish Line

I brought two of my favorite boys to cheer for me.  Can you tell how excited Burrito is to be up at the crack of dawn NOT watching cartoons in our comfy, old living room.

Apparently, I was such a blur at the finish line that they forgot to record my time.  I missed out on getting to stand up on the awards block and accept my cut little 3rd place age division trophy;  but I do currently have it in my possession.  Minus the $3 in my pocket I had to pay for shipping.  My official (caught on camera by the hired photogs) yet unofficial time (not recorded by the organization) was 28:22



 I'd like to get a few more 5ks under my running shoes and then it will be off to bigger and better longer races.  I poked around on the 10k time records and I would have finished 113th or so with my pace.  Little fish in a big pond I suppose.

Note: Fashion takes backseat to warmth on cold, running mornings...

And then there was beer and Lake Tahoe.  Of which I participated in drinking the first and not swimming in the second.  Because after all, I'm crazy - but not that crazy.....at 9am in the morning when it's 38 degrees outside.



The Joys of Potty Training

Little bits of comic relief such as pants on backward almost make up for all the extra loads of laundry.

Almost....

A Week in the Environment

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.

~ Winnie the Pooh

This year, the Fall family vacation was camping in California.  We woke up to this lovely sight every morning.  It was a nice break from work and chores and time lines.

The Boy and the monsters were SO SO SO excited to get the camping fun started that they left without me.  This is what two children who have been camping alone with their papa for three whole days look like.

Burrito will truthfully admit that he's only into fishing for the sunflower seeds.  Oh, and the buzz lightyear fishing pole of course.  He needed his big sister to put the worm on his hook, take the fish off his hook, and liberate the ones who were too small for eating.

He did however eat an entire bag of jalapeno salsa sunflower seeds (shells and all)....

A big thank you to Annabell who willingly let Burrito use her tail as a tow rope when he was too tired to continue on our hiking adventure.

Grandma volunteered to tow thing 1 and thing 2 in the bike trailer the 10 miles we road up the Bizz Johnson Trail.  I'm pretty sure we'd still be out there if the task was assigned to me...

My favorite part of the bike ride is going through the train tunnels!

A completely unscripted act of sibling love

No one was eaten by bears, we had delicious campfire dinners every night, and the children are more or less cleaned up now.

Off to do some laundry now.