lonely days, tidepooling, & running

1. the past few weekends (& the next couple), andrew has been off on business (& ski) trips -- which means that i'm entertaining jack & myself.  in that order.

so, we spent a lot of the weekend doing chores, going to the dog parks, rearranging the living room, going for walks/runs, & decorating for easter.  evidence:

goodbye awesome talking valentines day gift.  no more will you haunt the dreams of my dog.

hello wonderful white shoes.  haven't seen you since you were disgusting at the dog park.  finally you have been pulled from the pile in my backseat.

strings of easter colored puff-balls are strung along our ceilings -- layered over valentines day hearts that have been ignored.

2.  tidepooling.  this is when there is a low tide & critters that would normally be in 10 feet plus of water, are in about 1-2 feet & easy to collect.  we do this about once a month for the museum & zoo, but it was my first experience.  boy was it interesting!  however, it was 45 degrees, 20 mph winds + gusts, & pouring rain.  i was into it for about 30 minutes, then it was more of a chore.  at least i got paid!

white caps were on the scene as i drove away.  i didn't even bother whipping out the camera while we were in the action.  not worth the risk!

needless to say, i had to change my outfit completely & my rain jacket.  luckily i predicted this much!

we collected crabs, mussels, lichen, snails, sea urchin, hermit crabs, anemone, etc.  the only significant thing that i picked up was a dead crab.  hard to say if it wasn't just sick (it still had all its weight), but i scooped it in the bucket all the same.  call peta.  i dare you.

3.  i ran my 1/2 marathon today.  it was great weather for the occasion, everyone was friendly, & the run went by really fast.  i had 2:15 as my goal (5 minutes slower than my personal best) -- but ended up going around a 2:17.  i'm extremely happy with the results!  the only downside is that my knee is now in a knee brace, which will hopefully get the job done. 

no pictures to accompany this event.  andrew was apparently too tired to lug around our huge camera.  :)

ps: warrior dash at the end of april will be lame if i have to strap on a knee brace.  just sayin'.