USWTS Sprint Tri

Okay, very brief post as I'm certain DeeAnn will give a full summary later on. Some friends (Kay, LaJuan, Lockin, and Steven) stopped by for the weekend and DeeAnn, LJ, and Kay raced in the Sprint Tri on Sunday.

Everyone did a fantastic job with DeeAnn and Kay placing first in their Age Groups and LJ almost chasing down DeeAnn and picking up 5th! Yay all!! :)The weekend overall was great with the girls doing their pre-race thing Saturday while Steven and I did a quick ride (an easy 60 miler days after Steven messed up his leg - apparently he forgot to mention that until after the ride - crazy mountain bikers.) Sunday was of course the race followed by the obligatory breakfast at Don's. Alas, now everyone's back home and back to the grind.

DeeAnn and I did go to the Orthopaedic doc yesterday afternoon to get a second opinion - it was all medical mumbo-jumbo to me, so I'll let DeeAnn relay that info. The exciting part though was DeeAnn repeatedly screaming as the guy manipulated my shoulder. (yes, you read that correctly - DeeAnn screaming as MY shoulder was being messed with, despite many indications to the contrary she is very empathetic.)

That's all for now, I'm off to make toys for grown ups. Be good.

Birthday Pictures

Okay, I'll let DeeAnn fill any details she deems necessary, but here are some pictures (you can click on them to get a larger view) from her Birthday

(short version - there was a surprise trip to DisneyLand )














We went on the Screaming Eagle at California Adventures (DisneyLand sister park right next door)

















DeeAnn didn't feel very well afterwards. Apparently in her old age she can't handle roller coasters very well anymore ;)











We went on Space Mountain (no issues she said, although we didn't ride any other roller coasters. . . )

















Had a Birthday Party













Mickey and Minnie came ;)


















Saw Goofy in Mickey's ToonTown


















Saw Pooh in Critter Country


















Saw Tigger too (he and I were amused by DeeAnn's ears) ;)

DeeAnn's BDay Weekend (Norm's view)

Well, I reviewed DeeAnn's posts, and at least it would appear that she enjoyed dinner. (yes, for those of you who noticed, I commented on her grammatical and spelling gaffs - I'm pretty sure she does it on purpose to see me get all exasperated - as if I needed any more stress after the marathon cooking session.)

Anyway. . . my one comment is that I will be adjusting DeeAnn's workout schedule in order to (and this was probably obvious to you) make sure she does NOT have time to shop.

But. . . on to the weekend. It's been fun so far - minimal workouts, lots of time hanging out. And way too much food. For those that really care, following is what we had tonight:















- Mushroom, Bacon, and Swiss Burgers
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Almond Gremolata Stuffed Tomatoes
- and momentarily, two layer cake ;)

For those that really want the recipes, read on (they're relatively simple - and actually mostly healthy - well, except the cake )

Mushroom Bacon Swiss Burger
- Bacon's bacon - cook it
- ditto with the burger, I grilled it with miscellaneous spices (I'd specify, but it was mostly whatever I found - don't forget salt & pepper. Also Worcestershire sauce is a nice touch)
- The mushrooms (baby portobellos) I sauteed in the bacon grease (mmmm) with some sage and garlic.
- DeeAnn just reminded me that I grilled the buns - just trying to keep up with Emeril dontcha know.
If you really need instructions on assembly I'd rather you not read our blog anymore, but just in case: bun, burger, cheese, bacon, mushrooms, bun - yes, you could vary the order to your taste.

Fries
- Step one is actually getting the sweet potatoes - remember that in the states they're called YAMS!
- peel 'em, cut them into strips ~1/2" x 1/2" (the length of the potato/yam)
- toss them in some olive oil, pepper, salt, and chili powder just trying to coat them evenly
- bake them for ~30 minutes at 400F, turn them halfway through to make sure they cook evenly. Also try to leave some separation between them so they don't stick and get somewhat crisp

Tomato "thing"
- This is a bit trickier; the tomato is easy, cut off the top, scoop out the insides ("gut it" DeeAnn says)
- Take the following and chop it somewhat finely in a food processor:
- 1 cup parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 3 sprigs of rosemary (just the leaves)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- a bit of salt
- a bit of pepper
- scoop the above out of the processor and jam it into the empty tomato.
- Garnish as desired

Cake
- Yeah, we haven't eaten this yet, so I can't spoil what flavors it is, but a secret (shhhhh). . . . . they were from a box! (I feel NO guilt, DeeAnn typically uses boxed cake mixes. At least as far as I remember - been a while since there has actually been a cake day )

Okay, I'm off to eat cake. Tomorrow is DeeAnn's actual birthday, but alas, it's a school day :( But there is leftover bacon (and DeeAnn says there will be leftover cake - you think that by now she'd know me ), so I might give making bacon a second chance and make her bacon wrapped bacon for breakfast!

Birthday Weekend, Continued

DeeAnn here, posting from Norm's computer. My battery died. I'm full!!! Burgers were great, sweet potato (note no 'e') fries: great, the tomato thingie was great, spicy. I still do not know exactly what it was, but it was lemony and spicy, it was good! Norm can tell you what is was when he uploads the photos. Cake is still to come!
Dogs eating now, Joey ate up the biscuits and some bacon drippings from our dinner. Bailee had her new meal of broccoli & cottage cheese, she is on a diet and Norm is making her follow it! That is good. Norm is cleaning up the kitchen and I am entering this while watching CSI, of course, and finishing up the 2006 Felta Creek Zin...this wine we picked up on our honeymoon in Sonoma at De La Montanya Winery in Healdsburg. Their website is www.dlmwine.com if you are interested... we tried several of their wines and this was by far the best they had to offer and not too pricey considering. Anyway, Norm has been in the kitchen since we got done walking the dogs, 6:09 pm it is now 8:22! Holy cow! I am truly very spoiled this weekend AND most of the time to be honest!
He also spent a significant portion of his day writing out my training plan for the next week or so. I am now 16 weeks away from my first marathon, the kind that does not follow a 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike ride. He is helping me by setting up my training plan so that I can focus on running a 3:50 marathon in January 2009. This week came out to 11 hours 15 minutes...whoo hooo. After what felt like a year of IM training, I love the sound and feel of an 11 hour training week! I will have time to nap, shop, get a massage, get work done, get the office organized, do laundry...you get the idea! Anyway, Norm has spoiled me rotten and then to add to his tasks, 66.7% of all the gifts he (& the doggies) got me need some sort of mechanical or technical 'set- up' which of course require his brains and skill! I am a very lucky woman!!
I will finish up now and let Norm do the next posting so he can catch you up on all the photos and maybe if you are lucky he will share his recipes from dinner with you!!

Birthday Weekend!

Well, Friday afternoon a big bouquet of balloons and a cute stuffed doggie arrived at the door around 4pm to begin my B-day weekend! I have awoke each day to a sweet Hallmark card and a fabulous gift! Not to mention, a short shopping spree before our movie (Nights in Rodanthe, yah, bring the box of kleenex...my choice of movie of course, seriously bring Kleenex the ones with lotion because you will use a lot!) then Sushi, my favorite at our favorite Sushi spot! Then today after our run and spin class (I had to teach) we went to Don's!! Those of you who live here, or have visited know Don's Country Kitchen! The best breakfast ever! We had 2 orders of biscuits and gravy!!!! It MUST be my Birthday....needless to say Joey will have biscuits and gravy tonight for dinner and tomorrow am for breakfast (he does not mind!) So, after breakfast Norm wisked me off to have a foot massage and pedicure while he shopped for the extravagant dinner he is at this time preparing... when asked what I wanted a few days ago I answered, honestly, swiss & mushroom hamburger with sweet potatoe fries....not only am I getting all that but it is a bacon, swiss & mushroom burger w/sweet potatoe fries and some fancy tomato thing AND a double decker (because one layer was not stable enough to hold all the candles) Birthday cake...photos will be posted later, as Norm is still in charge of the Smith family photos...gotta go eat my burger now.

Official Friday Post!

This evening, we had a fabulous dinner of Stuffed
Bell Peppers served with Asparagus, it was paired with a lovely 2004 Malbec from Argentina. Very nice. The dinner looked like this:














(for the curious, the recipe can be found at azcoaching.com)

After we were done eating, the doggies were allowed to eat (we have to make sure they know who's in charge!) Joey had his usual yummy elderly dog food with glucosamine for his joints. Bailee had a (VERY) small portion of the elderly dog food along with broccoli, a little bit of cottage cheese (for flavor) and the glucosamine. Bailee looked something like this whilst eating her dinner (note the cottage cheese strewn about):
We're not entirely certain as to what else to type as DeeAnn (in an unprecedented move) reviewed the blog and noticed the post made earlier today. Luckily, by that time, the dogs were outside and she was unable to interrogate them as to their plans for her Birthday Weekend! Bailee did, however, deliver to her Mother a Starbucks Gift Card that she and her brother had gotten for their mocha swilling Mom.

Who knows what might be next. (After all, I do happen to know that there are milk bones left in the treat box. And since Bailee isn't allowed to have them anymore, she might be willing to give them away. )

Friday Update

Okay, so today is the 26th of September. Very exciting. No, not because it's the first Friday of Fall (although that does make for a nice alliterative touch), but because Monday is DeeAnn's Birthday. Which therefore makes this her Birthday Weekend.

So. . . we have big plans. Tomorrow we'll go for a little bike ride (yeah, not a surprise - I voted for just eating pancakes, but apparently we're not a democracy), and then.....oh, sorry, can't write about that on the off chance that DeeAnn will actually check out the blog and ruin the surprise ;)

But then Sunday, oh. Yeah. Same problem :)

Okay, well stay tuned! ;)

(just in case DeeAnn actually does read this - don't get your hopes up, any alleged surprises would be from the dogs, and they aren't very good at planning. And gift-wise, they're pretty much limited to milk bones, tennis balls, and, well, poop.)

TGiF

Indeed and TG Norm gets home tomorrow! I have been adding random doggie photos because I do not have access to the latest and greatest Smith family photos, that will be Norm's job next time he posts.
Today was my first MTB ride in nearly one year! I have to say that I really love mountain biking! Shalyn took it easy on me today and good thing! I had to keep reminding myself that I did IM less than 3 weeks ago, my legs just had no 'zip' - I would open it up and feel strong for about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes and that was it, and if I hit a hill, forget it! We rode mostly fire road and a great section of single track called "tunnel of love", which we rode twice - that was a great section for me to get 're-acquainted' with the dirt, some calm whoopdies, nice corners, some loose dirt and ruts...great! I am pretty sure Shayln was bored, but I did have her do her taper reps (she is racing tomorrow) and that was her ride protocal for today anyway, easy w/4 taper reps!!

The rest of the day was filled with errands, housework, laundry, a quick pedicure, walking the dogs and beginning to update my website. I also began packing my bag for Portland. It bothers me that I have to take off to Portland approximately 15 hours after Norm will get home from China. The only good thing about this is the doggies will not have to have foster care! They miss Norm a lot, Bailee pouts and Joey does not eat much....I am sure they won't even know I am gone!

Plans for tomorrow: 3 hr road ride, then home to eat and eagerly await the arrival of my handsome and loving husband!! (nap!)

Thursday 9/18

So much for collaborating. Well, Norm is in China and I have been inspired recently by one of my new clients who writes a great blog and posts quite often! So, here I am.
Norm has been away since Sunday evening and I have been intent on getting SO much done while in reality it is just not happening. I have completed some housework tasks which I had procrastinated on for quite a while and got a few tedious organizational things done but the list is still very long! I have now set the list aside for a quick blog note while I wait for my long time friend Gail to call and give me an update on her psycho ex-biz partner's latest drama and then I get to prep my mountain bike (yes MOUNTAIN BIKE!!!!) for her first ride in nearly an entire year!!! The list will wait tomorrow morning as well as I drive up to Temecula and meet my new client (same one mentioned above, the great blogger!) for the first time in person. We will ride together for about 75 minutes at Vail Lake, then grab a bite and chat! I suppose the remainder of my day will have to be filled with more of those tasks on my list....one of which is to write Norm's list. That is one of my favorite tasks is writing Norm's 'Honey Do' list. This one will be quite lengthy as I have had a few days to accumulate things for him to do!! And I need to keep him busy when I am away in Portland at the USAT conference!
Plenty to do with the dogs. Bailee had a check up at the vet yesterday and the Dr. seems to think she is on the border between 'overweight' and 'obese'. If you know Miss Bailee and if you know of one specific cat named Garfield, here is what comes to mind: "I am not overweight, I am undertall!" And Miss Bailee does have that 'big-boned' stature as well. Nevertheless, the Dr. wants her to loose 8 pounds, she now weighs 88 lbs. which is 2.4 pounds more than her brother, Joey. We will have to increase exercise AND Miss Bailee will start on a regime of 1/2 her normal kibble plus steamed broccoli/cauliflower. No table scraps and NO treats, tell that one to Norm..... Needless to say she is NOT happy about this. The vet is also checking her thyroid med dosage to see if maybe that needs to be increased. Both Joey and Miss Bailee are starting on a daily dosage of Glucosamine/Chondroitin MSM, in liquid form.
Gail is calling, all for now....

September Update

Hi.

Since the last post DeeAnn and I have decided to collaborate and do the post together so she's dictating and I'm typing as I don't have any exciting news. This way I don't have to get on DeeAnn's case about not writing in the blog [Norm's comment: I don't, FYI, just my slightly snide comments when I post.] (pause as DeeAnn chases me around the room) Since we had only 6 weeks between the Lake Placid Ironman and Ironman Kentucky, most of our time was spent recovering and trying to mentally prepare. And umm don't put that don't put that! grrrrrrr

...mentally prepare for what we knew was going to be a tough day. We had the luxury of getting there (KY) several days early and enjoyed the time eating local Louisville cuisine. The R&R was nice and the race was tough - as expected. Now we can lounge around and plan next year's race schedule.

Joey and Bailee's activity levels have increased as we are not training as much. Bailee is in near tip-top shape and Joey is still getting out there, although he needs to take more frequent rest periods. They are both enjoying full days outside as the weather has cooled off nicely [Norm's comment: the weather has "cooled off" from high 70s to low 70s vs. the 120s that are still prevalent in AZ.]

New recipes have included:
- Apricot and red pepper crusted chicken
- Stuffed bell peppers
- 3 and 4 bean salads [Norm's comment: they actually have many beans (probably ~200-300), but 3 or 4 TYPES of beans]
- heart shaped anniversary month cake
- extra large (GIANT) cupcakes
- Carmel oatmeal chocolate chip cookie cake
[Norm's comment: note all the new treats - that's all fine and good, but today is Thursday (ie - Cake Day) and there is nary a sweet to be found! ]


Okay, I've (Norm) been tasked with writing something. As stated, we're recovering and essentially taking it easy after IMKY. DeeAnn is currently a bit under the weather (potentially because I was that way 3 days ago), but the rest is good for her. She'll be better by the weekend. Next week, I'm (unfortunately) off to China - but only for a week. I get home just in time to see my lovely wife and then she's off to Portland for some Triathlon camp thing :( (Conference she says - whatever - she asks me to type and then complains when I don't get it right.) Uh oh, I had best stop lest I get into trouble. We will update this again soon. Thanks for tuning in!!!

And next time - pictures!

Wedding Update

Well, not really. I just wanted to post a link to a little movie thing from the wedding. But I suppose I could provide an update: Everything is good; DeeAnn is becoming more domesticated every day and I keep getting better looking. (hmmmm. . . maybe I should stop complaining about DeeAnn not writing these blogs. Or perhaps I should simply continue hiding her glasses .)

Anyway, other than a minor incident with someone eating all the peanut butter in the house (DeeAnn now hides it from me), I hardly get yelled at at all (well, there was also the time I ate all the ice cream in the house. . . . .)

But I digress; for those that haven't seen it - a little slideshow of the wedding can be found at:

http://www.opix.net/images/Slideshows/SmithWedding/

(be sure to press the play arrow at the bottom left)

IMUSA!

Okay, a bit late, but a couple weeks ago DeeAnn and I (yes, I know - DeeAnn is supposed to be doing the blogging, but once again it's Norm at the virtual wheel) went to New York for a few days of sun, fun, swimming, biking, and running.

Or more correctly, rain, pain, and the aforementioned swim-bike-run thing. The swim was flat and wet. The rest of the race was not so flat, but still wet. Just as I started the second lap of the swim (DeeAnn was probably almost done), I felt raindrops. (yeah - I'm not entirely certain how I did that while I was a) in the water and b) wearing a wetsuit - but suffice it to say I could tell it was raining.) It didn't stop until, well, maybe mile 20 of the run.

In short, we both did okay; I was looking at this as a tune-up for Kentucky (August 31) and DeeAnn was hoping to come in within 15 mins of 12 hours. I didn't drown, flat, or trip, and DeeAnn finished in 12:12 so it was all good. (well, except the rain - did I mentioned there was a downpour through the whole thing???) I managed to finish a bit in front of DeeAnn and so doubled back so we could run the end together - look how cute:


And the obligatory finisher shot:After the race, DeeAnn chose her favorite treat in order to refuel (Nutter Butters):

And when that wasn't quite enough, she tried to chomp her hubby's arm!

(This was as we prepared to spectate Claudia on her way to her triumphant Age Group win in a Sprint Tri the day after IMUSA. Note the pretty weather - Monday was gorgeous, apparently upstate NY saved all the rain for Sunday .)

Anyway, I'm off for now. Perhaps DeeAnn will deign to grace everyone with a blog at some point. (don't hold your digital breath .)

New Post, but (yet again) not from DeeAnn

This'll be short as I was just logging on to see what exciting things DeeAnn had posted. None it turns out. S'okay, not all that much excitement as of late.

Oh wait, turns out we're married now! Great fun, lots of wonderful people there, and those that couldn't make it (due to conflicts or limited boat space) were missed.


The Honeymoon was also fun (but apparently also not Blog-worthy); a week in Sonoma riding around and drinking wine. All in all, great fun!

That's all for now. With any luck DeeAnn will at some point realize that she hasn't been so good at keeping this updated and perhaps subsequently get on it. In the meantime, the new Mrs. Smith is (literally as I type) at the Social Security office legally becoming Mrs. Smith ;)

Hong Kong

Okay, it used to belong to the British, and therefore is very Westernized. And since I was just passing through, it's low stress and relatively relaxing (for the half a day that I was here, anyway.)

So, here was my day on Sunday:

I started with a longish run (~14 miles), I didn't really mean to go quite that far, but I got lost (thank goodness for the GPS .) Surprisingly it didn't rain (a Level 3 Typhoon had come through last night.)








I followed the run up with breakfast in the hotel; mostly fruit - not so much because I'm being health conscious, just nothing else that was really appetizing. The view of Hong Kong island doesn't suck, though ;)


























I then decided I'd take some time and visit the largest, seated, bronze Buddha in the world. (Yeah, some qualifiers in that classification, but still, it's quite big - 33m tall!)


Then that afternoon, I hit my new favorite Hong Kong gym - California Fitness's Jackie Chan Sport Club ;) For those around Asia, California Fitness is a wholly owned subsidiary of 24 Fitness (ie - if you're a member of 24 Hour Fitness, you get in free.) Didn't do much there, but did attend a spin class to see if I remembered how to ride a bike. I didn't fall off, so we'll call it good ;)


Followed up spin class with a Guinness at Delaney's Pub (handily right around the corner from the gym - good planning on someone's part.) All in all a pretty decent day.

But now, back to work. Next, I'm off to Shanghai. . .

Guangdong continued

Or more correctly, completed (for now, anyway); I'm done with my stint in Southern China and passing through Hong Kong before going up North. But more on that later, for now, a quick summary of my trip through Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, etc.

It's easy, actually: wake up, run, travel (via ferry, car, cab, bus, or train, depending), meet with supplier, travel again, meet with another supplier, travel to new hotel, sleep, and then start over. Below is the route that I took starting with the ferry from Hong Kong and wrapping up taking the train back to Hong Kong.



But enough of that for now. Short version is that it wasn't really very fun - I lasted about 48 hours before I was completely sick of the whole thing. More exciting, however, is that DeeAnn is currently (literally as I type this I believe) having her Wedding Shower. Perhaps she'll see fit to share what happened. . .

Guangdong

Okay, I'm currently in a hotel in Dongguan which is in Guangdong. Bottom line, Southern China. I'll upload a map as soon as I am able to get an internet hookup which allows me to connect to Motionbased (where I plot my maps.) The Internet connection I have currently is run by carrier pigeon, I believe ;)

Anyway, it's day 4 (maybe 5 - I dunno) of my trip. So far it's been okay - the usual travel, meetings, etc. On the upside, I was able to stop by my favorite Irish pub on this side of the globe: Delaney's Pub in Kowloon. Had Corned Beef & Cabbage - breakfast of Champions ;) (I'd been up for 38 hours; at that point time has no meaning.)

But now, as I said, I'm in mainland China, and about to head off to a meeting. But before that, as DeeAnn has been remiss about posting recipes and/or food pictures as of late. . . my dinner yesterday:

Fujian style (in soup, essentially) Fried Rice and steamed wheat dumplings. And Tsing Tao beer. Mmmmmm.

Well, okay, it wasn't fantastic, but better than the alternative (Congee with Pig's Kidney & Liver or Congee with Sliced Frog or Gong Fu Soup (ie: scorpion soup) or American Cheeseburger (Please - I'm in China!))

I'm off. More later.
再見

long time....

It's been well over a month, something like 6 weeks, so to spare you every detail, I will give you some brief highlights.....
Shortly after the last post our washer quit working, absolutely my fault for not calling the repair guy much sooner - we got a new washer and dryer and since Norm has voluntarily done laundry at least twice! I am sure the novelty of the new swanky front loaders will soon wear off.....
As elected Treasurer of the SW Region (USA Triathlon), I got my first run (since college) at preparing financial statements, that was fun! NOT....
With California 70.3 fast approaching we took our training a bit more seriously in March! Kay, LJ and Lorie came out for the race and we all had a great time! Kay was awesome on the bike! There was major wind the last 20+ miles of the bike ride so all of our bike splits suffered a bit. I was able to run my goal 1/2 marathon pace which I set for this race, so I was happy......Norm and I were able to snag spots to Clearwater (Luck!) and IMUSA (Lake Placid, NY - 2008, yes coming up!) Needless to say my focus has shifted now to IMUSA (Lake Placid). Norm had to go to China for work, he left yesterday :( his training focus will shift once he returns from his long business trip....
My Dad drove out here to visit over Easter weekend! I cooked my first Easter ham! It was pretty good! We also had baked asparagus and mashed red potatoes w/garlic!!! Dessert was Lemon pie! Homemade, my Dad brought the lemons from AZ along with about 2 tons of other citrus fruits, some we juiced, some we ate......
Wedding plans are still moving along, way too much is still up in the air and making me very nervous but I can only do so much and I have never done any of this before!!! Still working on: a pastor (hello?, need to get on this!), rings (ditto) and flowers......the bridal shower is this weekend in AZ, very excited to see everyone......Thanks to Norm, the honeymoon is planned! We decided on Sonoma and to take our bicycles, 5 days - this will be great!!!
My culinary experiments have included lemon bundt cake and homemade risotto - the cake was so-so, the risotto turned out great! Norm has taken to the cuisenart and is now making his own homemade hummus! It seems to get spicier each time, I think I am going to have to hide the jalapenos and red chile peppers!!!
All for now....got other stuff on my list!! Thanks for reading.....
DeeAnn

Back Home

Sedona was awesome, restful and a ton of laughs! Being back in Scottsdale was fun, but stressful since I had to sell and/or donate/throw away everything at my house. The camp in Tucson was a HUGE success and all of you triathletes and cyclists need to be 'on it' for next spring. Some quality riding, running, swimming over 4 days, excellent coaching staff and fun local support from cyclng and tri teams!!! We plan to do a 4 day Scottsdale camp followed by the same 4 day Tucson camp - do you can do all or one or the other, you definatley need to be there next spring!! We also plan to have a cycling camp running at the same time as the Tri Camp!!!

Seems like more than 2 weeks, but finally back to 'near' normal. Several more boxes of stuff had to come with me back from AZ. So needless to say there is much organizing and unpacking to do, but first - cleaning and catching up on work, AZ Coaching and USAT (I have been recently voted into the Treasurer position for USAT-SW!) Oh, and then there is training for California 70.3, at this point I think both of us are just going into 'survival' mode and forget about 'racing' it. The season has just started and we have had a lot going on in our lives since the co-habitation began only a few short months ago.
Hello! - from Norm
We're gonna sign off now so we can make some wedding plans while snacking on some homemade salsa.
D

Flashback

Yes, I know, DeeAnn is supposed to be doing these posts, but a lot of time has passed and alas, no updates.

It has been a very busy time; the 18 second catch-up is as follows:
- my work is still busy (status quo at this point)
- DeeAnn's work is getting busy (Springtime dontchaknow - people start training)
- The CA house is almost where it should be (80% of stuff put away, kitchen done except for backsplash, etc.)
- The AZ house is now empty and rented (as of next week, anyway)
- DeeAnn hasn't been home in two weeks (weekend in Sedona, miscellaneous training camps in AZ, etc.)
- I'm just now coming back from FL (business trip)

and that's where I'll pick up; So I had this conference in lovely Clearwater, FL. Arrived at the Tampa airport on Monday evening (from Phoenix; that's another story which I'll let DeeAnn tell if/when she expounds on her exploits of the past weeks) and walked through the baggage claim area where DeeAnn forced her card on me: "Please please take this, my number is on it - call me. Please please call me!" Or something like that (he who writes the history gets to remember it as he sees fit.)

Turns out my hotel was right next to the Start/Finish of the race (70.3 Championships), and about a block away from where I met DeeAnn and some of her friends for drinks the night of the race ("Please please come and have a drink with us!!??") And the conference itself was at the hotel where packet pick-up was. Weird. But at least I sort of knew the area - minimized the chances I'd get lost ;)

Anyway, as I was running around (literally) Tuesday AM, I ran past the following:

"huh?" you say? Well yes, I would too, except that that is the place that DeeAnn and Kim were staying for that fateful weekend oh so long ago. Again - "huh?" you say. Well yes, I would as well, except that after the aforementioned drinks post-race, I walked them back to the hotel (what a gentlemen - or maybe I just wanted to steal a bottle of water from them, whatever .)


Anyway, point of the story is that that is where DeeAnn first kissed me (previous historical references may have been tainted, this one isn't.) So spot of great historical significance. Make note ;)


That's enough rambling for today. My plane leaves shortly, I should arrive home mid-PM. DeeAnn is driving home (from AZ) and should arrive at about the same time. With any luck we'll go on a short bike ride and then have a nice dinner. I'll reminisce about when we met, she'll roll her eyes - it'll be fun ;)

it's been a while....

but since our last post Norm is back from China and it has been raining A LOT. Friday night I made a new halibut recipe and cooked swiss chard. It was quite yummy, recipe to follow soon. I think that swiss chard may be a regular dish for us as it was really yummy, way better than cooked spinach or anything similar! I also made a "crustini" appetizer (you want this recipe!) which was quite good as well. I will make that for our guest this week, Kay!
We got a later than normal start on Saturday, I will blame that on the 'jet lag'. We set our around 9am or so, headed south on the Coast to Torrey Pines, after about 3+hours I had some nutritional issues (related to the fact that I did not eat quite enough), and Norm had to come pick me up in the FJ about 4 miles from the house. Yes. I know. But the caloric deficit did not last long as we went immediately to Islands and had huge burgers, endless tortilla soup and endless chips/salsa (we had a coupon!). I am all better now and am eating cake, no it is not Thursday. Since Norm was in China Thursday, I planned to make a cake this weekend. Guess what? Norm beat me to it. YES, Norm baked a cake. And I bet LJ wishes she was still here because he baked her favorite, yellow cake with butter on top!!! Hot out of the oven with a big glass of milk!!! Yummy! It was not without some minor destruction to the kitchen of course which I have yet to assess the total damages. Bailee got to eat at least one raw egg, dropped on the floor......We went to spin class this morning cause it was raining and it was supposed to rain all day - -
Kay comes to visit us tomorrow and we are very excited! The weather is supposed to clear and we will be able to run at the coast and get in some good long bike rides. Norm says "we walked the dogs today, then I bribed DeeAnn with a Starbuck's coffee to make salsa for me. It was yummy. It was also quite hot and caused DeeAnn to sweat again." That's all for now, I will have to catch up more tomorrow as my laptop battery is LOW.....
D

Chinese Cooking. .

Well, I've actually managed to eat relatively benign things thus far on this trip, but lunch today may be a bit sketchy - we'll see. It's okay, though, because tonight I head back to Hong Kong (which is very Western), and provided I'm not too sleepy, I will mosey on over to Delaney's Pub and have myself Fish & Chips (and mushy peas, of course.)

But. . . since DeeAnn has not seen fit to post a recipe in a few days, and not wanting to leave people hanging, I thought I'd try to help out. So, for those that like Seafood: A Guangdong specialty: Almond Juice Fresh GrouperPreparation is actually quite easy:
1. Wash almonds. Put into blender. Add 1 bowl water (yeah, I dunno how much that is - sorry.) Blend for 5 minutes. Strain off residue with clean cloth.
2. Hand twist cloth to squeeze out almond juice.
3. Make a cut at the back of fish. Rub a little salt on fish body. Heat up frying pan. Add oil. Put in fish and pan-fry till both sides are fragrant.
4. Add clear stock, carrot and ginger slices (DeeAnn would leave out the ginger probably.) Cook for 3 minutes. Turn fish over (that part is important.) Add almond juice and sprig onion. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn fish over. Cook for 5 minutes. Dish up when fish is done.

See - easy, 4 steps!

Okay, now that I've done my part to progress folks' culinary skills, I'm off to work.
Be good.
Norm

Fun with Google Earth. . .

Well, I'm still in lovely Southern China. Had a bit of extra time on my hands this AM and decided to see if my itinerary made sense geographically. For once, it did! The proof is above (hint - click on the image to make it bigger.) Roughly, my schedule for this trip started at Hong Kong Airport, continuing to Shenzhen (by the ferry mentioned yesterday), staying at the Parkview (in Dongguan), then tomorrow on to Guangzhou, and eventually travelling back to Hong Kong (by plane) and staying in Kowloon before heading back to the states. Yeah, whatever, but if you wanted a primer on Southern China, it's a start.


And then. . . . for those that like the whole run tracking thing; my run from this AM is to the left. It felt good to get out again, although my legs were still sore from Sunday's race (and/or the lengthy trip.) If nothing else, though, there is something quite fun about the looks a 6 foot white guy gets while running in Southern China. Especially this AM as I had to leave quite early (~6am) in order to fit my run in before heading off to work. It was still dark, but some of the roads around here are well lit so it wasn't really a problem. Ended up being an easy 7 miler, with a couple pick-ups thrown in when some of the cyclists commuting to work tried to race. Not to worry - I held my own ;) (much to the glee of the locals, bunches of them yelling "Hello!", "America", "go go", etc.)

That's been the extent of the excitement today (all work stuff excluded - it's either boring or a secret anyway.) So, more tomorrow.

xie xie
Norm

China - and I don't mean fancy dishes

Well, made it to Asia without significant incident. Took a puddle jumper (aka teeny plane) from Carlsbad to LAX, a double decker 747 (aka big ol' plane) to Hong Kong, a ferry (not to be confused with a fairy - image at right to make sure - in fact, it's actually a hydrofoil) to Shenzhen (Fu Yong port if you really want details), and then a car to the supplier I was visiting today (Tuesday - 16 hrs ahead of CA time.)

All in all it was a pretty uneventful journey, I made it, the ferry was a bit delayed, but all the other transits were on time as scheduled. I'm not very fond of the 2 day redeye bit, but it was a relatively short day (4.5 hours of meetings and then out.)

And now, I'm at the hotel (in Dongguan - picture to the left), where I did hit the gym for about 20 minutes (amazing how your muscles will just completely freeze after sitting for ~20 hours after a race .) Luckily the pool (at left) is closed for maintenance so I didn't even have to come up with a good excuse for not using it ;) For those still curious about accommodations, below is the view from my room.





The last time I stayed at this hotel, the park in the picture to the right had a huge Tai Chi class (group?) going on in the AM when I ran by. We'll see if it is taking place tomorrow as well. Of course, with the way my legs feel, it may be more of a morning hobble than an AM run. In which case I may opt for the morning limp to the breakfast buffet 2 floors down ;)

With that, I'm off to rest for a bit (ie - I'm going to lay on the bed and pretend that I'll not go to sleep until a reasonable hour, but in reality I'll fall asleep before 7 and deal with the jet lag consequences later (it's a super-short trip, I'm probably better not acclimating to the time change anyway - rationalization is one of my many forte's.))

Oh, and before I forget, for those of you that have known DeeAnn for a long time - she's changed. Or perhaps someone else forged her handwriting and wrote me sweet notes and hid them in my briefcase and suitcase. Whatever happened to that self centered, uncaring, selfish person I met (oh wait, maybe that actually describes ME)

All right, I'm done.
Keep it real.
Norm

TGiO

....it's over! Honestly, it was not bad! It was a chilly morning but the race started on time and it was sunny from the start! LJ and I had a last minute port-o-potty trip got us to the back of the start line when the race began. As a result, we had to bob and weave our way thru the crowds for more than 2 miles and to our dismay it took us over 16 minutes to get to the 2 mile marker!! We slowly made our way thru, running together until about mile 9!

Norm here. . . alas, I missed seeing LJ and DeeAnn at the start (I'd left the car early in order to get into the porta potty line; it's not a real race unless I make it to the restrooms at least 3-4 times before the start.) So I had to warm up and run alone. (Well, I guess I ran with about 8K other people, but you get my drift.) Decent run, didn't do anything crazy, but at least ended up sub 1:30 (awaiting official results still, but it'll probably be 1:28.) Not great, but respectable and it sets me up to improve at Surf City in a couple weeks.

Anyway, back to DeeAnn now, I have to eat more Chips and Salsa (I already finished the Guacamole) and then finish prepping for China (6.5 hours until I leave .) With that, back to DeeAnn. . .

So at mile 9,LJ slowed a bit and I tried to hang with some girls 1/2 my age. That went well actually because they were holding a consistent pace of about 7:49 per mile. With one mile to go Norm showed up to pace me in. He had me pick up the pace just slightly and it hurt, but was manageable for the short duration I had left! So, I got in barely under 1:42 on my watch, not sure what the chip time will say, but for now it was a 1:41:57! Yeah! Legs hurt now. I made baked peanut butter french toast for our post race feast!
Here are LJ's comments on breakfast, etc:
"Wasn't so sure about the whole baking French Toast thing, but it was fabulous! Even the peanut butter French Toast....and we all know what a picky eater I am. : ) For our football game snacks DeeAnn made homemade salsa....someone needs to tell her that jalopenos are hot, though the sweat beads forming on her upper lip should have been her first clue. Her cooking has come a long way, Alison watch out!
I'm having a great time and the "Smith's" have been nothing but a riot.... I'm so glad I came out and wish I could stay longer. The weather is good, the food is great, probably could have skipped the run and the company is undescribable...I'll let you figure that one out. I love you guys, thanks for the hospitality....I'll be back soon."

Gotta go now - spend time with Norm before he's off to China....Go Chargers! Go Giants!
DeeAnn & Norm

TGiF!!!

Or sort of, anyway. Been a heck of a long week, work has been crazy busy, DeeAnn has been busy which makes her crazy ;)

Anyway, First race of the year on Sunday - the Carlsbad Half Marathon. Should be fun. DeeAnn is shooting for sub 1:45, I'm hoping to go sub 1:30. (It would be a PR for her, and a respectable finish for me.) With any luck we'll both shave a couple minutes off our respective times by the Surf City Half in a couple weeks.

On the upside, work should settle down again after this weekend (this week's work is spilling over into Saturday and Sunday.) On the downside, I leave for China on Sunday night. Bah. A relatively quick trip, though, so it shouldn't be too bad. With any luck I'll even get to run a couple days while I'm there (it's like altitude training due to the smog and pollution .)

Another positive, however, though is cookies - I believe that DeeAnn is currently making them. Peanut Butter Oatmeal. Quite yummy, although not necessarily the best pre-temp run food (yes, I base that on experience. Granted I had about a dozen of them that morning, but still - not recommended.)

Gratuitous image of my Tigger Tool Kit:

(It keeps people humble. Plus it has the advantage of making DeeAnn want to follow me - she likes Tigger dontchaknow.)

On that note, Have a great weekend :)
Norm

Happy Friday!

Yes, sleeping in is a wonderful thing!

Joey had a another good night! He seems near 100% again finally. We have discontinued all medications and things seem to be almost back to normal.

Okay, so 'cakes' is stretching it a bit, they are actually chicken patties. I will tell you why I was forced to make these to begin with a few months ago after I write the recipe:

1 large can all white meat chicken
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 green onion finely chopped
(if you are in a crunch you can used dried minced garlic and/or onion)
pinch of salt
pepper to your liking
1/3 - 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
2 eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil

Mix in a bowl: red pepper, celery, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and chicken, be sure to break up the chicken until it shreds apart. In a separate bowl mix up the two eggs. Add eggs to chicken mixture and mix well, then add bread crumbs - you want to add just enough bread crumbs so that you can make the mixture 'stick' into patties. Form the patties about 2 1/2 to 3 in. diameter and about 2/3 inch thick - this should make about 5 -6 patties. You can pat the patties on the side with flour, or I just use more bread crumbs.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, be sure the oil is hot before you place the patties in the skillet. Cook about 4 minutes per side. Set a paper towel on a plate, when you take the patties out of the skillet, let them sit on the paper towel for about 1 min each side to soak up any extra oil.
You can serve these a lot of ways: with some rice & veges, on a salad or like last night, with avocado salsa and tortilla chips!!!

Someday I will post my fantastic avocado salsa recipe! But for now you need to know why I make these "chicken patties". Well, when I moved in (and still now) there is an over abundance of certain canned foods (and certain supplements!) - which I needed to (and still need to) be creative in trying to 'get rid of'. The tuna was easy and needless to say we have green beans at least once a week! I am down to only a dozen or so cans of corn left (use that in SW Chicken Salad!), and after last night we have no more 'cans'of chicken in the house! Good riddance!! I have to thank Alison for teaching me her crab cake recipe which I used as reference to making to these! I have a photo, I will have to upload later because Norm has not emailed it to me yet.
Here's to a fun weekend and the first race of the year!
D

Cake Day Thursday

Since we are racing (Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon) this weekend, we came to a mutual decision to have our actually 'cake' this weekend, post race. But in an effort to stay with the theme of the day, I will be making "Chicken cakes" for dinner. Similar to Crab cakes or Salmon patties, only with shredded chicken! Recipe later on.....

Joey's tummy ache seems to be better and he has more energy today and actually played with Miss Bailee for a bit this morning. But he is not eating very much at all and has been following me around way more than normal. It is very obvious that he is not seeing or hearing very much at all anymore.

Much work to do today and need to ride my bike so I will post again later on.

Wednesday January 16 2008

Went swimming this morning and actually swam. This was unlike yesterday when our open water swim workout turned into a lounge on the beach! Which was actually super and well deserved, I think. Especially for Norm who has been working very hard and long hours lately. So, we lounged on the beach and did get into the water up to our thighs to get a feel for the water temp. Chilly, but bearable with a wetsuit if you had to swim (or surf!). We got home and I made my yet to be famous "Stinson Beach Salad" - a household favorite (I think, at least it is one of my favorites), I will put the recipe in at the end of this post. I got it from a restaurant that Kay and I stopped at in Stinson Beach this last summer after our trip to Vineman!
Today is another day attempting to organize the wedding. Working on the invitation list and contacting the reception venue via phone (emails only so far)!
Joey is not feeling well still and we may need to go see the vet again today - He did eat this morning, more than he did last night so hopefully that is a good sign.
More later, here is the salad recipe:

Makes 2 salads (this is a "Meal Salad", not an appetizer salad, but you could make it work for an app if you make it smaller or share it!)
Fresh spinach or your favorite mix of salad greens
1 cup chopped celery
1 med tomato, chopped
2-3 teaspoons your favorite balsamic vinegarette salad dressing
1 cup chopped granny smith apple
1/2 cup glazed or candied walnuts
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese

8 - 10 slices of prosciutto

There are many ways to put this all together, this is how I usually do it (not how I did it in this picture!) Add the chopped celery and tomatoes to the mixed greens and toss with salad dressing, put on plate. You do not need a lot of dressing for this salad so use less than you think you need and if you do not like a lot of dressing to begin with, you will want to add it very sparingly) Top salad with green apples, gorgonzola and walnuts. Roll prosciutto up and place on salad.
This is a really yummy salad! Do not turn you nose up at the apple, it makes the dish!!!

DeeAnn's first post!

Yesterday was fantastic, easy 50+ mile(60+ for Norm, I forgot my helmet and had to drive back home!) 'recovery ride' up the coast to San Clemente. We enjoy this route very much as our turnaround point is The Bagel Shack (which we have re-named 'The Bagel Shark' because I sometimes do not read very well!). This time I tried a toasted French Toast bagel, need I say any more? With a hot chocolate, it was fabulous! We finished up our ride at the OS Harbor and walked over to Ruby's for some burgers and a malt!!!! We are real good at replenishing glycogen stores! We came home to plenty to do around the house, but managed to relax most of the evening (except for the 'cleaning up after Joey' part, read on).
This week we prepare for the arrival of two houseguests, LJ and Claudia. They are coming by to do the Carlsbad Half Marathon this coming Sunday. LJ, one of my best friends is driving over from AZ on Friday eve. Claudia is Norm's cousin who lives in 'the city'. She will spend Sat evening with us to be closer to the race!
Other important matters to deal with include the wedding preparations and hopefully the final bit of our kitchen remodel. Wedding Plans: Still have not found 'the place'. We have about 3 options which I would secure if I could get anyone to return my phone calls or emails. So in the meantime, I have contacted a local wedding planner who is helping me a bit, stay tuned. Kitchen Remodel: Still waiting on the one cabinet that was not ordered, once we get that in the final 5 cabinets and microwave can go up, the pulls can be put on the cabinets and drawers and we can begin the final 3 day process of installing the backsplash!!! Still thinking that Feb 1 is an optimistic 'finish' date for this project.
Joey is not responding well to the prescription cocktail of Prozac + Phenobarbitol. He seems to be more anxious and dopey (uncoordinated big time!) than usual. This is very bothersome to us as we do not want him to be suffering in any way and most the time he seems either 'upset' or 'confused'. We can tell that his hearing and eyesight seem to get worse each day. The other prescription was meant to help with his 'potty' dysfunction which, as of last night anyway, is not working!! Very glad we now have tile floors. Bailee is fine, she is often annoyed with Joey for some reason but she gets over it quickly, or falls asleep in the sun. That's all for now.......gotta run. D

Palomar Mountain

So, we woke up this AM, I ran off to get the bikes ready (which didn't involve as much cleaning and tune-up activities as planned, but I did fill the tires and raise my seat a bit (~7mm should you need to keep track.)) Then, off to Escondido.

The short version (I think I said last time that I was going to let DeeAnn actually write this blog that she wanted), is that we started at Kit Carson Park and headed to the mountain. One flat on the way up , but DeeAnn got to the top without issue. I headed to the observatory:





DeeAnn headed right back down E. Grade (her first time), and I tried to catch her, but never made it. My original plan had been to ride home, but when I was ~5 miles from Kit Carson, DeeAnn called and had just gotten there, so I decided that expedience was the best part of valor (or whatever), and simply met her at the car. Overall a decent ride, 90 miles on the dot for me, probably ~77 for DeeAnn (although I haven't yet reviewed her data.)

Then, after getting everything put away, we headed home - via the pizza place of course. It's very important to refuel within 30 minutes of a ride. Case in point - note the concentration on DeeAnn's face as she replenishes her glycogen stores:


Then we headed home, and pretty much called it a day. DeeAnn made fabulous salsa, guacamole, and enchiladas (3 separate dishes, not all one big mess.) Yummy. Oh! and mole' sauce. It has chocolate in it :)

Tomorrow. . . an easy ride, not sure what else is in store. Although DeeAnn may and she is making noise about wanting to write a post (and post silly pictures of me), so perhaps she will actually follow through, use this blog thing and then fill us all in on what tomorrow's plans are.

Norm out.

Thursday!

Well. . . . Finally, Thursday is here! And Thursday, as everyone knows, is cake day!!! (also occasionally "pie day", "brownie day", and I believe today is actually "bread day.")

And, tonight (in 15 minutes actually), we get to go to dance class. Yay. Well, sort of - after all, if I go to the class I get some of the cake (or bread - still not sure what the treat is) that DeeAnn made.

Anyway, more on that after it actually happens. . . . today, well, lets see what happened today - I gather that DeeAnn still hasn't posted to this blog that she wanted. Handy, huh - if you're reading this you're stuck with my monologues. Sorry. But this AM went for a nifty ride, DeeAnn slept in. I'm hoping to use that tomorrow when it is time to go swimming (ie - she can swim, I'll sleep in .) Then I went to work, I'll just pretend all of that is classified and save myself the typing and you the boredom of reading it.

I'm not entirely certain what DeeAnn did, although at some point she was going to take the dogs into the Vet for Joey's follow-up visit. I gather the blood tests all came back good (negative?), so presumably he (the dog, not the vet) now has a variety of pharmaceuticals to take care of his many issues. I'll let DeeAnn fill you in on that when she decides to take over her blog ;)

And now I'm off to meet DeeAnn and learn how to dance. (or at least amuse everyone who gets to watch.)

Wednesday Post - just 'cause

Okay, well, it's Wednesday, and we skipped track this AM. I justified it to myself by rationalizing that there was a good chance that the track was still muddy. (Carlsbad High School track is dirt - doesn't take to rain well - and we had a lot over the last few days.) I think DeeAnn justified it to herself by simply falling back asleep. (her exact words were "if we don't go, I'll be asleep in 5 seconds" followed by "just let me knozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz")

So, on the upside, I got a few extra hours of sleep. On the downside, we had to do intervals on the treadmill. Which isn't all bad because I'm not so good at the whole "pacing" thing (it's related to "moderation" - enough said.)

Nothing else too exciting planned, well, except for a wine tasting this evening in lovely Carlsbad. Then a ride in the cold early AM. The real downer will be dance lessons which start tomorrow (Thursday) PM. . Oh, DeeAnn can see this, right; . . . . . what I meant was YAY! Dancing! ;)

First Post!!!!

Okay, happy 2008. DeeAnn has told me that "we need a blog!!!!" and so here is a blog .

It is Tuesday, 1-8-08 (exactly 2 months since we were engaged, for those that are counting - Deeann isn't one of those, for the record), and we've had dinner, I've fixed the fence (Joey - the big white dog, tried to eat it a couple days ago), and now we're about to have cookies. mmmmmm.

Okay, I'm done "blogging", it's up to DeeAnn from now on (but not right now, her hands are full of cookies and milk.)