penn

Twins

As in, our local baseball team ;-)

We've only been to one Twins game so far this season. Matt is a HUGE fan, but we have had other items on our plate, like finishing up the school year and prepping for the baby. We did go to Spring Training this year, which I think was the highlight of our March spring break trip to Florida for Matt.

I was 23 weeks pregnant in this photo and just starting to show a bit. I wasn't wearing any maternity clothes yet; I still fit into my "fat" shorts.

Even though the Twins lost that game to the Orioles, we still had a great time. We were in the "cheap" seats and still close to the field and right behind home plate.

And, finally, for an extra measure, here's me on Monday. At 37 weeks pregnant, I definitely show a lot. This is the only Twins shirt I can wear right now:

I'm not quite as swollen anymore as I look in the pic. This was taken right before we went swimming, and the water really helped me be less puffy. Of course, I do have a huge belly. Moment of pride for me: I still have an innie belly button. Here's to hoping it stays that way and doesn't get messed up; I rather like my belly button.

Seattle Pride

On Monday, I wore team colors to show my love for the Seahawks. I worked at games for several years and always loved the energy. Our home stadium is vibrant.  Nothing beats serving up steaming hot chocolate with whipped cream to excited fan. 

Even though the result looked inevitable to many, I didn't breathe easy until the end.  I worked for the Seahawks during the season of their last Superbowl game (and the Mariners during all their hot/cold seasons), and I know how easily Seattle sports teams can choke.

I know the game was boring for some. As a Seattle sports fan, I'm just glad my team showed up ready to play. The Broncos can't say the same, sadly. That first play resulting in a safety really seemed to rattle the whole team. Still, I don't think this detracts from Seattle. They played an A game and deserved the win. 

I may live far from home, but Seattle is still in my heart. Congrats to the superb players.

Twins!

A week ago, Matt and I took in our first game at Target Field. For those who don't watch a lot of baseball, that's the brand-new Twins stadium. I am biased, because I love Safeco Field . . . so I have to say that Target Field is the second best stadium in the country. Sure, I haven't been to all the stadiums, but both are so awesome that I don't see how they can be topped.

I've got some cool pictures to share!

Okay, so I have to admit that this sign is pretty darn nifty. Also, Target Field was made with some sweet eco-friendly bits and lots of local stone.

I brought my zoom lens and got some decent pictures despite sitting in the outfield. We like sitting out there, but it's not the best for taking pics. This is Cuddyer fouling off a pitch.

Matt diligently kept score.

We really enjoyed the game!

Oh, and a funny story. We got there way early and spent lots of time walking around the stadium. We had just gotten to our seats when Matt took off somewhere. Once I finally caught up, he was chatting with someone who turned out to be a family friend from his hometown! It turns out that the elementary school in town had bought a block of Twins tickets, so I was able to meet a lot of people that watched Matt grow up.

Waterskiing

Two weekends ago found us in the town of Matt's youth. We visited some of his friends for a day on the lake. Excellent times were had by all, and I thought I'd share some photos with you.

We visited the giant ball of twine (my "Minnesota tourist spot" from my 101 things) en route

Turns out Matt is an excellent waterskiier!

I, however, am not. I made several valiant efforts to get up . . .

But I mostly just made a lot of big splashes.

Sliding on snow

Today, I discovered that I have no real need for speed . . . but I can eventually calm down and enjoy it. For the first time ever, I went downhill skiing. Now, some might find this funny. I did grow up in Seattle, land of mountains, yet I did my first skiing in the land of the lakes.

The thing is this: I've finally got someone who helps me do all this cool outdoor stuff. Matt really loves skiing, so we decided that we'd try and go for a Valentine's Day thing instead of buying each other presents. We both work next weekend, so we did all our cool things this weekend. Also helpful was that we each received a gift card to pay for the lift pass, so it was a thrifty $24 for our two and a half hour outing.

I stuck to the bunny hill and ended up going down 6 times. Matt's a great skiier, so I gave him some time to hit some of the larger hills by himself. He came with me on the beginner slope to give me a few pointers.

Other than a few bruises and sore ankles (those boots are quite awkward), I'm no worse for the wear. I even managed to make it down two times without falling at all, and they never had to stop the chairlift for me. I don't think I'm going to become the next [insert the name of some professional skiier here, because the only person I can think of his Shaun White, and he snowboards], but it was a positive and completely new experience for me.

Power of positive thinking

I'm learning to cross-country ski, and it's pretty awesome. With the help of youtube videos and gentle encouragement, I've been tackling more difficult trails out at the nature center where I work. It's all pretty fabulous.

After work on Saturday, I went out for an hour with a coworker and Matt. It's been hovering around or below zero here for a few days, so it is darn cold. I typically just wear windpants and my shell for skiing, but I got totally outfitted to go. For Matt, this meant borrowing a hat; as a Minnesota native, he's full of hubris regarding the cold. My coworker lent him a little whimsy along with the headgear, and he thanked us afterward for taking care of his ears. We went down into the woods, but there was still wind around that kept us chilled.

I learned to branch out some; I even went downhill! Of course, I fell down about four times on just one hill, but I am becoming a pro at standing back up. Except for the downhills, I've started skiing without my poles to help me refine my kick-glide.

On to the title topic: the power of positive thinking. Near the end, we have to go back uphill again to get back to our office and main building. The hill is pretty steep, so you've got to herringbone to get back up. I'm a total novice at that and therefore still slip a lot. I was working my way up the hill and heavily relying on my poles to keep me from sliding backward. I started to think "man, I've got to apologize to Matt and my coworker. I'm going so slow." Then, I straightened up my abs and decided, "No, I don't have to apologize. They're both good skiiers; I'm just learning. This is perfectly natural. And I'm actually doing a good job getting up without falling down or sliding backwards." After that, I managed to make it up the hill just fine. I'm elated at the progress I'm making!

An example of how cold it was: Matt's beard froze, and the front of my jacket got covered with frost. Turns out that the balaclava (my funny hat/face thing) was really useful. All in all, a fun time!

Things that are awesome

1. Yesterday's Vikings game. Holy cow! Turnovers galore from New Orleans result in the Viks steaming ahead. Then Viks lose momentum near the end of the third, and Reggie Bush has TWO amazing kickback returns for touchdowns. Then, the Saints tie it up, but they miss their long field goal. Vikings get all the way down the field in just a matter of minutes, kick a field goal, and are victorious.

This all sounds pretty brilliant, right? But, no, I am leaving out the best part. Early on in the game, the Saints go for a field goal. And it is blocked! And tipped! Right into the hands of someone who apparently loves to run and does it well. What an amazing touchdown. The game made records galore, and it was lots of fun to watch.

2. This guide on looking good in photos is comprehensive and useful. I particularly like hint 6; this is my trick for looking better.

3. It is raining today. I love rain. It's one thing I've been missing from Michigan, as fall in Michigan means rain, lightening, and amazing torrential downpours. Apparently, I missed a 5 inches in a day doozy a few weeks ago.

4. This article on otter declines and their influence on the bald eagle (apparently positive) is so beautiful and interesting. While the otter decline is sad, the article is just so darn interesting. If you like nerdy biology stuff, go check it out. This is exactly the stuff of biology that interests me so much.

Olympic musings

I'm watching the Olympic games opening ceremony (whee!). Since China doesn't use a Western alphabet, and since the games are in China, the countries have been introduced in their order in China. This is based on the number of marks in the Chinese character for the country name.

The announcers mentioned this once, that I can tell (maybe more -- I've slept on and off during the opening ceremony because I've got an awful summer cold). Over and over, they've made comments about how "the countries aren't in alphabetical order" without bothering to mention the Chinese character issue again. This really bothers me. One thing -- it's really cool because the intro went from Australia to Zambia. What's not interesting about that?

In other Olympic news, the kid who walked in with Yao Ming is super cute. Apparently, the boy helped save some of his classmates during the recent earthquake. He helped out because he was a hall monitor, and he felt it was his roll to help others. How amazing!

As I get older, I am more and more interested in watching the Olympics. My flip answer is that I love sports, and the Olympics means that we have sports coverage available all day long on interesting sports. Going deeper, I also feel that the Olympics are really important for encouraging international cooperation. I sense that we still have many boundaries between nations even in this day of global travel. I look forward to seeing these boundaries become less important within my lifetime.

At the day camp I work at, we have lots of foreign children -- this week, we had 10 Korea children, 4 Japanese ones, 1 Chinese boy, 2 Jewish children, 1 Russian girl, 5 American kids. A few of the Korean kids barely spoke any English. And you know what? Two of the Korean kids who didn't speak English were my favorite kids. They behaved well, and they let me know when other kids needed a little discipline. They learned how to paddle just by watching me. They couldn't say my name, so they called me "teacher." The language very rarely served as a barrier; we found ways to communicate with just a few words, smiles, and gestures. I wish I could deliver a similar experience to everyone in the US so that our nation could learn that immigrants are nothing to fear; citizens of other nations have much to offer us, just as we have much to offer them. In the Olympic games, I see the seeds of possibility.

"Improving" the body

One place where I have gotten good about spending money on myself is therapy, both physical and mental. This was a process too, and I initially had a hard time parting with copays. But I've come to see that improving myself is well worth the $200 and (gulp) almost $900 that I will have respectively spent in therapy offices by the end of the summer (that money represents the 6 weeks of physical therapy I foresee doing and the mental therapy I've been going to since last May).

Speaking of improving myself, I've found that it's a really good thing that I'm going to physical therapy. I initially started up because of shin splint issues; I was having a hard time running, and I wanted to learn some stretches to help me out. After being evaluated, I found out that I have some back misalignment issues that are tilting my pelvis and may very well be the cause of these shin issues. So now they're adjusting my back, and I'm starting to wish that a crampy shin was my only problem. The back adjustment is definitely painful.

Of course, I don't help out too much in the body department. I'm a bit of a klutz, and yesterday I managed to bruise my foot (dropped some paddles on it) and my cheekbone (watch that frisbee!). So the current tally is this:

- minorly sore calf
- bruised right foot
- bruised right cheekbone (tho I'm pretty sure you can't see it in the mirror, but I can feel it)
- really sore back

The worst part is that the back is limiting me from doing the stuff I love. I have been kayaking at work, but I can't give it my all because the twisting kills. Worse yet, I could only play a few points of frisbee last night. The bouncing of running up and down field became killer. I also felt wussy for spending so much time on the sideline.

In the long-run, I know this is worth it. I can't imagine getting older and having permanent back problems and pain that keep me from ever doing sports of outdoor activities. The hope is to fix this now and learn exercises and stretches that keep me strong and healthy. Of course, then, I have to do those stretches and exercises. I'm a bit lazy with stretching, so I've decided to come up with some personal motivation, and I'm mentioning it here so that I don't dilly-dally on this too much. I'm going to mark my stretching sessions on my calendar. After a month of stretching at least twice a day, I will allow myself to go buy a refurbished ipod nano. Then, I'll buy a nike+ chip so that I can start tracking my runs. I've wanted to do this for a long time, and this is just the motivation I need to keep me stretching and healthy.

Little Bits

1. Working with small children is tiring. Working 10 hours with small children is even more tiring. Despite this, I still love my job. I get to paddle every day, and the kids are so darn cute.

2. Driving is also tiring. I'm still sore from my 20 hours worth of driving this weekend (6 to Louisville to visit Dr. Aaron and another 4 to Knoxville to visit Jenn and some other friends. Then back to Louisville and back up to Ann Arbor).

3. Because I am so sore and tired, I tried taking a cold bath tonight. This was recommended by friend when I quipped that I didn't have enough ice packs to cover my whole body. The bath felt good when I was in it (after I got over the shock of sitting in really cold water), but my body is still sore. Time to hit more ibuprofen and look forward to sleeping most of the day on Saturday.

4. Totally unrelated: I am annoyed by the recent Dixie disposable plate ads. Let's all use disposable plates every day so that we can enjoy more time with our kids! Whee! I love destroying the earth! (okay, it's not that simple. There's a lot of lifecycle analysis that needs to go on because it takes more energy to produce and clean real plates.) But lots of plates are durable and reusable and end up being nicer for the environment in the long run.

5. I'm going to sleep. It's 11 pm, but that is early for me. Maybe issue #3 is also related to lack of sleep and lots of exercise. I have been working out a lot recently and not sleeping too much.