Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon – Part 1

On October 1, 2014 By DGThomaIn Musings, Travel, Writing1 Comment

A lot of people think running marathons is absolutely crazy and some days I agree.
Other days, it keeps me sane. My husband and I normally run one or two marathons a
year. I may run or I may walk, but there is something about completing a 26.2
mile course that makes me think I can do anything.

However, my dedication to running this past year has been almost nonexistent. I was
sidelined with some health issues for a while and had difficulty regaining my motivation to restart my training.

Nevertheless, when my husband suggested we should run the Seattle Rock and Roll
Marathon in June, I decided to give it a shot. Seattle would be
marathon number 16 for me and the first for Washington State. I was hoping
registering to run 26.2 miles would motivate me and maybe it did, just a bit. We
registered for the marathon, made flight arrangements and reserved our hotel. The big “C”, (commitment) did get me out of bed on weekends. I managed to get in some runs with
my running group and even a few runs on the treadmill.

Finally marathon weekend arrived and we headed to the airport for our evening flight. The marathon was scheduled for Saturday, but we were hoping to maximize our relaxation time and minimize any last minute stress by leaving on Thursday.

Our trip started out a little rocky. When we pulled up to our regular car park, we were stopped at the gate by a very nice young man. “Reservation?” he asked. Of course we didn’t make a reservation. In response to our “No”, he replied, “Sorry, we are completely full.” Well, a bump in the road, but nothing major, right? We headed for the airport in search of terminal parking. Still on schedule, we arrived at the airport and discovered that due to construction, all parking was full except the overflow parking lot. Off we went to find a space in overflow parking which was out in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, we were able to find (uncovered) parking quickly, catch a bus back to the terminal, and finally make it through security.

Knowing we would arrive late in Seattle, we grabbed some food and made it to our gate with a little time to spare. Hoping the rest of the trip would be uneventful, we boarded on time and with the exception of the crazy lady on the plane (but that’s another story! Planes, misgivings and singing), we had a pleasant trip.

When we landed we exited the plane, made our way through the chaos of airport security and retrieved our luggage. Discovering our hotel didn’t provide a shuttle, we opted to rent a car. Dragging our bags behind us, we followed the rental car signs to reach the rental counter and negotiated a vehicle. Finally, worn out, we headed to our hotel.

Checking into our hotel turned out to be the best part of the day. It was late when we arrived, but the night manager was awesome. He was already working with a guest, so there was a small wait to check in. It was almost midnight, but the manager was upbeat, smiling and apologetic, even though the wait was only a few extra minutes. We even scored free parking!

The hotel was a suite with two bedrooms, a kitchenette and a separate living room area. Much more space than we needed, but staying there for four days was wonderful. The Space Needle was one block from our hotel and could be seen from the window. Everything we needed was within walking distance. Seattle Space Needle

After a great night’s sleep, Friday morning, we headed to the Seattle Health & Fitness Expo. The expo was a huge market where exhibitors offer free samples, showcase the latest in running gear, sports apparel, health & nutritional information and more. We walked a block to the Seattle Center Monorail station and rode the monorail to Westlake Center where we caught a bus to Century Field Event Center for packet pickup. (shirts, race bibs, timing chip, etc.).

We spent several hours wandering around the expo before leaving a few dollars lighter, juggling our packets and multiple purchases. Weary and hungry we went in search of lunch before heading back to the hotel to relax and prepare for our early morning event on Saturday. More on the Seattle trip next post……..

In search of a Piñata…..

On September 24, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Friends, Humor/Light Hearted, Musings, Writing1 Comment

Sometimes there just isn’t enough silly in the world.

When I found out my adult children were both going to be home (in my home) for their birthdays, I decided to create a party reminiscent of one of their childhood celebrations. My son and daughter were born 2 years and 5 days apart. Until the age of 11 and 13, they always shared a birthday party. One year the party was a Sesame street theme, and another year it was a skating party. No matter what the theme, we always had a great family celebration and lots of fun.

I enlisted my granddaughter, Jill and her mother to help with the planning. We set off to our local big box store to buy some party favors. As we filled our cart with bubbles, noise makers and more party favors, Jill looked up and said “We have to get a piñata!” There were several piñatas on the shelf; a traditional donkey, a Teen-aged Mutant Ninja Turtle (the new version) and a few miscellaneous others.

But, hanging from a wire overhead, there were a dozen or more colorful piñatas. Right in the center was a brightly colored bull piñata. It was perfect and exactly what we wanted. My daughter, Kat, went to find a sales associate to assist us in retrieving the piñata.

Kat returned with an associate who informed us Martha was on the way. Ten minutes later we were debating how to make a human pyramid so we could get the piñata ourselves. We couldn’t agree who should be the base of the pyramid or we might have attempted it. My vote was to stand in the cart and try to reach for it. I was vetoed for safety reasons.

About this time Martha showed up and started rummaging around at the ends of the aisles. Grumbling and frowning, she mumbled something about a piñata stick. She continued to pace back and forth, up and down the aisle as if the infamous piñata stick might appear by osmosis. We on the other hand were still planning a pyramid strategy when she left the aisle.

Suddenly, over the loud speaker we heard “Who has taken the piñata stick? Someone please return the piñata stick immediately”. By now, I had started to bounce on my feet a bit wondering if I could jump up and knock the piñata down. A manager wandered by and I launched into the quandary of the missing piñata stick and explained that I was thinking I could almost reach it if I jumped up. Now the manager looked up and I could tell he was wondering if he could jump up and grab the piñata, but instead he said he would go find Penny, because she could fix anything.

Now another 10 minutes went by before the manager and Penny returned. The manager smiled and told us we were in good hands as he wandered away. Martha returned and continued walking aimlessly up and down while Penny searched secret hideaways behind the end-caps. Still no one had recovered the elusive piñata stick. Penny left and I’m thinking “Who needs a piñata anyway”, when suddenly she returned triumphantly holding the piñata stick. The entire aisle broke into cheers, (even though it was only the three of us and the returning manager), it was still awesome.

One manager, and three associates later, we had a Piñata in hand and were off to plan a birthday party!

Labor Day Celebration

On September 10, 2014 By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Writing1 Comment

Labor Day falls on the first Monday in September. It is intended to be a celebration of social and economic successes for American workers. What it has become is a celebration of eating food and family gatherings. (Made possible by the economic successes of American workers)

My Labor Day plans this year were to relax at home, foot elevated. I was sidelined with a broken toe, my husband Ron was out-of-town and the rest of my extended family had made other plans.

My plans were very non-specific . I anticipated a quiet day at home catching up on some reading, writing and sewing. Happily, my plans changed.

On Saturday I found out my son was coming on Monday to spend the day and my husband was planning on returning early in the afternoon on Monday. I love company and I love celebrations! I was excited I would have enough people for a quasi-celebration, but suddenly I needed to plan a meal for Monday evening.

I wanted to serve something non-traditional. Normally, we would just grill burgers and hot dogs for the guys and maybe tuna steaks or shrimp for me. That just didn’t sound appealing this time.

So stepping out from the norm, we came up with something a bit different. Our menu consisted of Jalapeño chicken and venison sausage for the meat lovers. For me, it was Lentil Hyderabad (lentils with spices and chilies) and a curry wild rice mix. We bought some freshly baked Naan bread and grilled fresh sweet potato and Irish potato spears, lightly salted. It was a wonderful meal, but even as wonderful as it was, my favorite part was the dessert. (Of Course!)

We sliced peaches, topped them with fresh blueberries, then sprinkled them lightly with a small amount of brown sugar and nutmeg.

We served the warm fruit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was absolutely delicious and completely different from our normal holiday meal. Considering it was last minute, I think it just may be one of my favorite holiday meals.

Stepping into the Past

On July 9, 2014 By DGThomaIn WritingLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of Barclay Gibson Photography

When I was a child, my mother would pick us up from school every Thursday and we would drive into Wichita Falls, TX to pick up my father’s paycheck. There were five of us children, four of us lined up across the backseat while my oldest sister got to ride in the front. Back then, we weren’t aware that seat belts would save our lives and probably save my mother’s sanity.

Occasionally, my mother would surprise us and pull into the Gibson’s Discount Center parking lot in downtown Wichita Falls. What a treat it was to walk the aisles and discover what wonderful new things had found their way to the shelves since we last visited. We never made many purchases, but the pure enjoyment of just wandering the aisles was more than enough entertainment.

Finding the Gibson’s Discount Center in Weatherford last weekend awakened the excitement of a childhood adventure. As I opened the door to Gibson’s in Weatherford, Texas I was instantly eager to explore. Although the Gibson’s in Weatherford is affiliated with Ace and not quite the same concept as the Gibson’s from my childhood, I still felt a delicious sense of adventure wandering up and down the aisles. I love the old metal nail bins where you buy one nail or one hundred and you pay by the pound instead of per each. Even though I didn’t need any nails, I was really tempted to pick some up. I know that you can find most anything on the internet and I often do my shopping online, but I hope we never completely lose the brick and mortar locations. It’s a wonderful sense of joy to pick up merchandise and actually hold it in your hands before purchase.

The things I actually purchased, (some tea and an elephant figurine) weren’t particularly unique or rare. What I really walked away with was a welcome remembrance of a childhood adventure. The purchases were simply a thank you to the store owners for keeping the store open and allowing me 45 minutes of pleasure, walking the aisles.

Texas Traveling – Blanco

On June 19, 2014November 17, 2014 By DGThomaIn Food, News and Reviews, WritingLeave a comment

Traveling the back roads of Central Texas to enjoy the scenery and possibly avoid some major traffic is seldom boring and often entertaining. I like to think of myself as a healthy eater, but I try not to be a fanatic. I don’t eat most meat, so I’ve been called vegetarian. However, I don’t really fit into any typical classification. The carnivores (meat eaters) don’t claim those of us who don’t eat beef in a state where raising beef for food and income is a primary means of survival. The “vegetarian” crowd disavow any connection to me because I do eat fish, and while the term Pescetarian (people who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish) is probably the closest, no one wants to be labeled anything that has ‘pesky’ in the name.

On a recent trip from Austin to San Antonio for a haircut, my husband and I stopped in the little town of Blanco for lunch. Avoiding Dairy Queen and Subway led us to the local café. The place was packed, which seemed promising. We were seated quickly and waited patiently to order. About 15 minutes later, we were still waiting to be acknowledged and I already had one foot out of the booth when our waitress finally arrived to ask for our drink choices.

Glancing at the menu, it looked like there were at least a few meatless choices, so when the waitress returned, I asked a few questions.

First I asked, “I think I might like to try the vegetable soup. That doesn’t have meat broth does it?”

“No, ma’am, I don’t think so, but I’d be glad to check on it for you. I know it has carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and ground beef.” She responded.

Frowning just a bit, I asked, “Can you tell me what the choices are for the vegetable plate?”

“Sure,” she said, “There are green beans, pinto beans, salad, or a baked potato.”

Not too bad, I’m thinking. “What about the pinto beans? Do they have ham in them?”

“Oh, yes! They’re really good!” She beamed. Not nearly as excited as she was, I tried again. “What about the green beans? “

“The greens beans don’t have ham ….. Just bacon.” She is starting to glance around, like maybe I have way too many questions.

Thinking she was about to make a break for it to let me think things over, I plunged ahead. “Okay, then forget the vegetable plate and bring me the baked potato.”

Smiling widely, she said, “Would you like bacon with that?”

News and Reviews – a spot of green

On June 3, 2014June 4, 2014 By DGThomaIn Food, News and Reviews, WritingLeave a comment

The Soup Peddler in Austin, TX, on the corner of Lamar and Machaca is a wonderful place to enjoy a pleasant and relaxing out of the ordinary meal.

The View from the Counter - Soup Peddler — The View from the Counter – Soup Peddler

The Soup Peddler has two locations in Austin, Texas. One is 501 W. Mary St and the other is 2801 S. Lamar Blvd. The Soup Peddler has been featured in Food & Wine Magazine as well as NPR’s wonderful The Splendid Table.

The Soup Peddler, David Ansel began delivering soup on his bicycle thus the name the Soup Peddler. But this article is not about the historical beginnings of the Soup Peddler. This article is simply about eating lunch on a lazy Saturday in May at a lovely location with healthy delicious food.

One of my favorite treats is to go to the Soup Peddler for a Veggie Chili-Frito Pie, made with three beans, Fritos and other yummy ingredients. But I decided to try something different last Saturday. I ordered the Busy Bee smoothie, made with orange, mango, banana, goji and local bee pollen. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich made with Muenster cheese and sliced green apples accompanied by a salad of shaved fennel, red grapes, and crumbled Gorgonzola on mixed greens topped with apricot vinaigrette and walnuts. Absolutely delicious!

I sat at the counter and watched two children play on the teeter totter. While I waited on my sandwich and smoothie I enjoyed my salad and the little bit of green on a busy South Austin intersection. Even with the construction on the street and the gentle roar of traffic in the background, it was a wonderfully relaxing experience.