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Author: kate

tucson: dia dos

tucson: dia dos

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this morning i was sure that it was at LEAST 7:30 when I started to wake up, and when i looked at my clock, it was 6:40. ay yi yi! i hope this means that the trip home and fall back DST will be easy peasy.

nate, of course, had been awake since 4:30! talk about time zone trauma.

while i had coffee and debated going for a run in the 50º weather, nate took a nap. just as i was about to head out the door, he made some noise, so i held off on the run and we went to the university of arizona (go wildcats) to check out the art museums they had there. i was so super excited to check out the creative photography exhibit, but i was a little disappointed. i had read on the website they had ansel adams, but apparently you needed an appointment to view them? so weird. but it was something, and there was an andy warhol!

and this pretty cool polaroid piece.

after the disappointment, we headed over to the art museum to check out paintings, and that was at least a little more extensive than the photo exhibit. there was an original pollack and o’keefe, too!

this o’keefe is gorgeous.

but the winner of the exhibit was the woman-ochre, which had the WEIRDEST story. it was stolen from the UofA exhibit in the 80s – two people walked in, one of which distracted the person in charge and the other cut the painting from its setting, rolled it up, and got outta there. it’s assumed that they framed it and sold it to someone, and in 2017, someone found it at an estate sale! they did all this stuff to make sure it was in fact the real painting, and now it’s back to its home. so bizarre! there was a guard sitting in the room of this exhibit, which was all about the art heist and the piece of art, and it was hard not to crack a joke.

plus, i got in free because i happened to have my SCTCC ID with me LOL.

after the art, we went to check out architecture at the san xavier missionary, which i posit is about the only nice thing that happened with missionaries in the early americas.

it was a weird visit because there were people there to see the history, people there to see the architecture, and people there because they’re catholic and are praying. so you’re in there taking pics of the the building and there are people who are lighting candles and praying in the pews.

the church itself is actually pretty small, with solid wooden pews that are probably older than the cacti out front. this was a weird vibe, because it’s on native reservation land, so there was a gift shop that had native jewelry and clothing but also crosses and candles. the whole thing was just kind of depressing, so we headed out.

then….highlight of the day…i found a CHURRO TRUCK.

JUST CHURROS is right. i got a pack and some mexican caramel sauce. they were made right there in front of me and were delish. not as good as those churros i got in mexico, but definitely better than the taco bell churros. (not a surprise.)

Tucson! day 1

Tucson! day 1

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the two hour time difference really kicks ya in the rear when you get old.

yesterday, nate and i flew out at 12:30 and landed in phoenix, picked up our rental, and headed south to tucson. of course on the way, we had to stop at in-n-out, which was disappointing on the fry department, as always. burger’s pretty good though. to my surprise, there was a culver’s across the street! (also saw some caribou coffee in the wild!)

anyway, we got to our airbnb and were pleasantly surprised! what a solid little airbnb. the outdoor setup is pretty nice!

i was asleep by 9:30. time zones are weird.

but then i was up at 6. so i guess there’s that. did some yoga on the patio, then nate and i were on the road to the sonoran desert museum.

we spent about 3 hours there, walking through the different desert areas, which showed animal life, plant life, bug life. it was actually pretty cool and worth the entrance fee.

a rare nate sighting.

after being out in the outdoors (dry outdoors, really), it was time for lunch at a spot recommended by our rental car agent. nate had a giant beef rib and a burrito, and i had a couple tacos. after that it was definitely time for a nap, so we went back to our faux home for a bit, then i decided to visit the top of mt lemmon for the sunset. we headed out about 3:30, and it took us til a little after 5 to get to the top, about 25 miles.

there was a lot of driving on windy mountain roads! BUT i was impressed with the width of the roads, even though i was still scaredy scared of the massive drops off the edge, but i was driving and paid attention to the road instead. we stopped at some viewpoints, and then we accidentally happened upon summerhaven! that’s a little winter town if i ever saw one. just primed for skiers when the snow flies up there. (it was 42º at the top of the mountain).

the last mile and a half to the top was on a super narrow road that reminded me of the teeny tiny road that takes you up to mount coolidge. at this this road was paved?

the top of the mountain was WINDY and cold and i ran out in shorts for a few quick pics then got outta there. the city was barely visible through the dust blown up be the wind and it was surreal – it looked almost convex, coming up toward you instead of out to the horizon.

it got dark as we wound down the mountain, and it was fun seeing the lights of tucson start up.

the streets in tucson are dark. i wonder if it’s intentional that there are not many streetlights – are they trying to embrace  dark skies? i noticed a lot of parking lot lights are those that make sure to bounce the light toward the ground. so it’s weird being amidst SO much in-city traffic with dark streets. very weird.

had mexican drive-thru for supper and now it’s bedtime again at 9:15. at this rate, coming back to MN will be easy? just in time for daylight saving time to end!

MONDAY FUNDAY

MONDAY FUNDAY

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what? monday funday?

you bet! i am on vacation!

here’s a top 3 for a monday.

1. my college is hiring an actual, legit marketing director position, and i applied for it. my interview was this morning, and hoo boy was i anxious about it, but now it’s over. thank goodness because….

2. tomorrow nate and i head out for tuscon! it’s been four years since he and i went on any kind of vacation beyond an overnight in duluth, so we are going to spend four nights in tuscon. we’re flying into phoenix, renting a car, and staying at an airbnb. apart from that, i have no idea what we’re going to do or when. saguaro national part is right there, so we’ll likely go there. there is a creative photography museum in tuscon. lots of good food – apparently it’s the gastronomy capital of the world?? didn’t even know that when I got us signed up for plane tickets and all that jazz. so prepare for some travelblogging the next few days!

3. should i do kablamo?? i hadn’t even thought about it until just now!

new car, no money

new car, no money

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the tuesday after i hit that dang deer, nate and i bought a very expensive (for us) new car.

i knew i wanted a hybrid, since my planning time for an electric car was reduced to nil (thanks deer). and i knew i wanted used, since new cars were months out once your order. after some very fast research, nate wanted to check out the hyundai ionic, and i wanted to see if priuses had gotten any better since i last test drove one.

turns out we got neither.

first we headed to the toyota dealership in town to check out the situation there. i was even hoping for a hybrid camry, but the only used hybrids they had on the lot were two priuses (pri-i?) with 100k+ miles on them. i was ok with 50k, but that was a little too much.

so then we drove a block down to the hyundai dealer, and there were a couple hybrids in the lot that fit our critera, kind of.

the mileage was one criteria, the hybrid another. but here were my vanity criteria:

  1. adaptive cruise control
  2. moonroof

nate’s vanity criteria? not-beige interior.

i had seen a hybrid sonata on their website and was kind of enamored with it. it had all my criteria, but it did have half grey, half beige interior. i wasn’t sure if nate was going to let that fly.

but then we test drove it, and it won him over. there is a SUPER MOONROOF (entire roof is glass), adaptive cruise, and then a whole bunch of other doodads that do stuff. like a heated seat. a cooled seat. a heated steering wheel.

we did test drive the ionic afterward, but it did not have any of the doodads, no moonroof, and its mileage was a little higher. the only things it had going for it were it was a grey interior and it got better mileage (smaller, lighter car).

nate, of course, was all like, don’t let them know we’re interested, let’s tell them we’ll come back tomorrow, we gotta think about it.

but then the guy sat down with us and went over some numbers, then nate was all, let’s get it! i’m on board if you are! some strong will there, eh.

so we bought the car that night. the price, comparing what you got with the ionic we test drove, was pretty decent. and the way used cars are flying off lots, i wasn’t expecting it hang around much longer.

it’s a little bit bigger than the nissan, and sure a heck of a lot fancier, but dang no car payments for 10 years sure was nice. we put some money down since we got that insurance payout, but if i’d’ve been thinking i’d’ve saved each month to be able to buy outright (but that money went toward my student loans instead).

it’d better last 10+ years!

:( farewell nissan

:( farewell nissan

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i have never been in a car accident that involved going more than 20 mph. sure, sliding into a snowdrift. yep, someone backed into me at 10 mph. getting stuck in some mud. hitting a quail and having to replace the front bumper (i still say that was nate). not big deals.

but when you live in the sticks and it’s seasonal change and it’s minnesota, i guess it’s no big surprise when you run into a deer going 60mph.

–i’m not hurt.—

i was cruising along on a road i’ve driven on hundreds of times before, just northwest of st. joe, on my way home. it was dusk – that weird time of day when you for sure need your headlights but they don’t do a lot quite yet.

then suddenly a big noise, i was pushed back and everything went dark, and i saw a flash of deer. it was so disorienting – i thought maybe i had gone blind or something had taken over my body, and it was super smelly. it was super duper weird, let me tell you, for about 2-3 seconds. then i realized i was still in my car and still in control of my car, but obvs something was wrong, and there was that deer hide i saw, so i started braking and pulled over. (someone was actually driving toward me at this time and saw what happened and did not stop. not cool. the next car that came up behind me did stop though.)

first, airbags are genius. my chest felt a little like the wind taken out of me, but not bad. and it clipped me on my lip so that was sting-y for about 10 minutes. but no neck stuff, no whiplash, no seatbelt marks. just a gross smell.

second, i think that “blackout” saved me from a lot more injury. after i put on my hazards, i realized that the hood of my car had flipped up. i tried kicking open the drivers door but it only opened about 10 inches. so i crawled out the passenger side, and hoo boy that hood was dented. flipped it down and the windshield was busted up right over where i was sitting. (all those years paying for windshield replacement insurance and never using it – my first thought was well, that’s covered?) the deer hit the front center and drivers front and then rolled up and over the drivers side windshield, even onto the roof a bit. imagine if that hadn’t flipped up! i don’t want to.

deer’s dead. good riddance.

but oh, my poor little nissan.

11 years of driving all over the state, around the midwest. 2 long periods of long commutes between rochester and st. cloud. hauling people and junk around. christmas trees stuffed in its trunk. camping gear shoved in the backseat for a summer. getting the chicakdee plates in 2012 to make it pretty. paddleboard sticking out its rear. driving down bumpy roads it shouldn’t be driving down. car towel to make sure the seat didn’t get too sweaty after driving to the trail for a run. moonroof cracked as the harbinger of spring. barely making it through snow. minimal maintenance needed on it (beyond regular maintenance). i am legitimately sad about my car’s current situation.

278,000 miles on it and we were waiting for it to hit 300k to give it a proper sendoff, all to be done in by a deer 🙁 🙁

race report: ragnar 2022

race report: ragnar 2022

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first report: i am home and injury free! had a minor scuffle in the dark on the green with my right ankle flipping toward a sprain/roll, but my ligaments and tendons were like, NOT TODAY, SPRAIN. so i flexed my ankle a few times after that near miss and was on my merry way.

second report: HUZZAH FOR OUR CAMPSITE. we killed it this year on the tent setup.

after how many years, we figured out how to get the tents configured so that you can just walk into a main living space. and quinn’s pop-up gazebo was the bomb – it kept heat in and was a fantastic lounging area, especially with the rug in there (it tied it together).

note the heater in the middle of the pic – even with more reasonable temps, it was the big winner of the race. which brings us to…

race report three: the weather was not great but it wasn’t bad, either. thursday night, which was non-running and just setup night, it got down to below 40 and with the risk of patchy frost, but we were prepared with the heater, a giant box of hot hands, and all the clothes. i never felt miserable in my sleeping bag this year as i have in years past, so i’ll take that as a win.

friday started off chilly for liz at 8:40, but it warmed up close to 60, which isn’t bad for running at all. the wind stayed calm and it was overcast, but you don’t get much sun running through the trees anyway.

it did start to rain at about midnight on friday/saturday, and it continued to mist for almost the entirety of the rest of the runs. which isn’t the best for trying to stay warm, but at least it never got below 49 while we were running. i can’t imagine if it were freezing rain. what a nightmare that would be!

race report four: the ragnar experience has gone downhill. liz mentioned that they likely lost a lot of money in 2020, and they haven’t sold out in the past two years, but if they don’t up their game, they’ll likely continue to not sell out. thursday night, there was one food vendor and everyone was in line for it. i was standing in line for about 10-15 minutes and had moved four feet. so we ordered pizza from wausau instead! good on quinn for figuring that one out and making the call!

ragnar also stopped serving a meal on friday, which was always nice as an option apart from the food vendors (it was more “real food” than greasy food). and on top of that, they’re charging more for the event.

the pretty lighted-up arch was gone, but we figured it was there last year because it had been sponsored by a company. but it was so pretty in the night and a beacon of “i’m almost done” that they should bring back. i’ll sponsor it. the generators shorted out one of the TVs where you track your team, so that was also cool. it just seemed a lot less professional this year.

one good thing though on the experience is that they did bring back the cotton shirts, which fit better and which i will actually wear out and about! #thosecowsmycows

race report five: five being the number of loops that many of us has to do! we were down two team members this year, and instead of just asking to skip some loops, other members (not me or liz) wanted to pick up the extra. good on them, i guess? not my thing. after 15 miles, i’m done-zo! but, the yellow loop was pleasant as always, the green loop almost got me injured, and the red loop we can now rename evil loop because they decided to send us through a section they had just clearcut that was nothing but a muddy mess with the rain and whatever they’re trying to do. i ended up fording my own trail along the side of the mud because i didn’t need an injury from slipping and biffing it in the mud.

race report six: i sprung for the unlimited elevated legs experience, which are things that compress your legs to get the lactic acid out and blood moving. it was glorious! i definitely got my money’s worth, and i would do it again. overall, recovery was pretty good, though my quads are killing me this morning. there is so much more up and down than my training areas have, plus i’m just pounding on the downhills while i’m out there.

race report seven: we finished EARLY! since our two team members who were out were slower and the fast runners picked up the extra loops, we got done in about 24 hours. we were back in our tent and lounging in front of the heater by 10 a.m. and took some time before packing up to get out.

after we packed up and loaded up, we went to wausau for lunch before heading home.

race report eight: too little sleep (this always happens). yikes! i slept an ok amount thursday night, but with only 4ish hours on friday night and no nap, i was struggling to stay awake on the road! at the first rest stop, i pulled over and took a 30-min nap, which was exactly what i needed to get home. last night i slept 10.5 hours in my own bed with my own pillow (oh did i mention i forgot my pillow? *eye roll*).

and with that, another ragnar under the belt. until next year, maybe. stay hydrated!

wake me up when september ends*

wake me up when september ends*

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september has been a whirlwind. i kept thinking about writing something and then i didn’t – not because i didn’t want to but because i just forgot about it or was tired and lying on the couch.

i’m working from home this morning before i head out for ragnar, and my laptop decided to install updates instead of just restart, so i thought this was the perfect little break. i’ll eat my fiberlicious oatmeal and write a brief blog post.

ragnar is TODAY – i’m heading out at about 11 a.m. and driving to wausau for a horrible good time. it may be more of a horrible time; we are down two runners, one sidelined with an injury and one with covid. so the more enduranced runners want to take on extra loops instead of just saying “hey we’re down runners. can we skip those loops?” i COULD likely do some extra loops, but it wouldn’t be fun. and every year i sit in my tent with 7 layers over my sweaty body wondering why i do this. so yeah, a real horrible good time.

i’ll try to do a post-ragnar recap! but i’ve been running regularly, with a couple through the woods, so i should be good. CONSTANT VIGILANCE. hopefully my knees and a weird BALL OF FOOT PAIN that suddenly decided to crop up hold up to the task. i ran 8 miles on a sprained ankle, so i figure it’d take a lot more than ball of foot pain (i am padding it up and babying it and will take time off afterwards, no worries).

ok, computer has restarted and it’s time to do some work. RACE REPORT to come.

*or not. time flies. but october is spooky month!

average weekday

average weekday

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megan recently asked me what i do on the weekends, which i realize might be different than those watching small children and making sure they don’t kill themselves.

to which i responded that the last month’s worth of weekends have revolved around the whole floor project – ripping up carpet, cleaning, laying the new floor – and it’s been tough to find time to just relax on the weekend. but this made me think about my average weekday; they are simultaneously full of nothing and everything.

so i wake up, get ready for work, leave for work with a half hour commute in. spend 8 hours at work doing worky work. i drive home (half hour), and i try to get home between 5-5:30. i make some food, and this is usually something quick. no one has time for slow meals anymore. by the time i get home, i’m ravenous and i want to eat and digest a bit before i go for a run. so the food is usually something quick and easy. i try to get done eating by 5:30. (while i eat supper, i am watching a netflix or disney+ or whatever show).

then i take a nap. yep. i am so tired when i get home. work just drains me and allergies are no help, so i rest my eyes at the very least. this also is a good time to digest.

and these days the sun is just dropping too quickly into the horizon, so i try to be out on the road running by 7 p.m. running takes about 20-30 mins of prep work: the getting dressed, taking ibuprofin, putting on the shoes, getting hyped up, figuring out how long, getting the gear ready, stretching, lining up the playlist. the getting hyped is the real time suck.

then i’m out for a run, and these days i’m done by 8:15 at the latest. gotta get in by dark. sometimes it’s earlier, depending on how far i go.

stretch out when i get back and then spend maybe 10 mins on the patio with the cats. then it’s inside for a shower and cooldown.

then yoga time! now that i’m in earlier from my runs, my yoga time is a little bit extended. i’m on the mat before 9 p.m. and usually do yoga for 20-30 mins. at that point, nate is up, so i am dutiful wife and be present with him, get stuff ready for work the next day, and get ready for bed.

at 10:30, nate leaves for work, and if i’m on top of things, i’ll have brushed my teeth and gotten ready for bed by this point. after he’s gone, i hop into bed and read for a bit before i hit the hay. on a good night, i’m asleep by 11:30. if the book is riveting, it’ll be midnight.

i don’t know why my day is so packed; i feel like this should not be so regimented, but it is what it is!

floors floors floors

floors floors floors

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all that work paid off! well, hopefully moreso down the road when installation is a distant memory.

it was a lot of work.

but the floors look so much better, and my kitchen is now close to peak kitchen (though nothing will top the kitchen in the st. charles house).

all the appliances were disconnected, concrete was mopped, rinsed, swept, and swiffered. and it was still very dirty – i don’t think you can ever have sparkling-clean concrete that’s not shellacked or something.

liz arrived on friday afternoon on a muggy, 90-ish degree day and informed me that the planks needed to be inside to acclimate. UGH i wish i had known that – i would have brought them in a few days ago and had them ready to go. so we did not start laying floor til saturday.

liz in her DIY element. i let liz lay the first few rows since she knew what she was doing, and when we got to a spot where we were able to split off, i took on a section and she took on a section. unfortunately, this meant i got the kitchen – yikes! we ended up having a lot of happy accidents where the width of the plank exactly equaled the width we needed, and we were able to use up a lot of the waste pieces in different spots.

with plank vinyl, you’re able to score it with a utility knife and snap them in half, but for the little wonky cuts, we ended up using the table saw that my dad lent to me. the table saw ended up being faster 60% of the times for the long, single cuts, too, so we used that quite a bit! and little pieces of plastic are still coating my entire garage.

i may have complained about the kitchen cuts, but LOOK AT THIS GLORIOUSNESS!

this was a lot of cuts, sure, but the part that just about put me over the edge was when the copper tubing behind my dishwasher bent 😩 so a trip to menards was in order, where i got a copper tubing cutter thingie, a compression fitting, and the assurance from the plumbing dude that the fitting would work. i hooked up a flexi-hose and no bending.

after i fixed the plumbing issue, which actually fixed a few more dishwasher issues we were having prior to this project, i got to do the hard-wiring in of the electrical, and let me tell you – i’d rather do plumbing than electrical any day of the week.

but the dishwasher finally got hooked up and still runs!

after a 8-hour day on saturday and probably a 10-hour day on sunday, we laid the last planks at about 11 p.m. on sunday.

throughout the past week i’ve been putting the trim back up and placing the thresholds. i was spending way too much time drilling into concrete when i realized that i could just gorilla glue the thresholds on. what a difference. so much easier! and yes, i know the trim doesn’t match, but whatever. maybe i’ll get ambitious someday and paint everything. until then, mismatched trim. oh well.

yeah, that’s still gross laminate in the bathroom, but that’s next on the DIY list. that’s a major project, so we’ll see how that pans out. yikes.

for now, i’ve just got a couple thresholds to finish up – the bedrooms and the small board by the garage door. doug is working on a big threshold for the living room to dining/weird area, which is 7″ wide. until then, there’s a rug over that so i don’t have to look at the grossness.

the majority of the furniture is back in today, which is good because it’s now canning season. another project!

home reno continues!

home reno continues!

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it’s time for home reno! when nate and i moved in, our house was still original to 1997 when it was built. since then, we’ve (well, mostly i’ve) replaced a lot of lights, painted some walls, painted the kitchen cabinets, taken out a very 90s corner kitchen computer desk, put in a couple ceiling fans, removed a clunky medicine cabinet, etc. etc.

what remained as a big to-dos? the floors. ugh. the bedrooms have maroon and hunter green carpet. the weird dining room a beige low-pile carpet, and the kitchen vinyl linoleum. all of which were definitely end of life.

check out the very 90s gold threshold connector. that was satisfying to pull up!

but oof it’s a lot of work to replace floors. over the past week, i worked on clearing out the furniture, taking off all the floor trim, and then pulling up the carpet and padding.

nate had the last few days off, and we spent hours getting the vinyl off the floor and cleaning the concrete underneath.

on friday, nate loaded up the old carpet and we headed to cold spring to drop it off at the dump. $45 to drop off 200 lbs of gross 25-year-old carpet, which is a steal. unfortunately, something in the carpet got stuck in my arm, and i’ve had a swollen allergic reaction in my wrist and upper arm for the past couple days.

small price to pay. it’s getting better.

other mishaps?

  • nate slipped on the wet concrete and biffed it.
  • also realized after doing 80% of the vinyl removal that he hadn’t actually put in the blade of the floor scraper we bought (he was using the part that holds it in place). (the scraper above is actually our winter ice scraper. we bought an actual floor scraper, not pictured, with a very sharp blade. that he didn’t realize wasn’t in. this is why you read the directions.)
  • the house is a mess. stuff is in the shed, the garage, the bedroom, the living room. the cats are confused and looking for a non-concrete place to place their butts.

what’s left at this point: there is one corner of carpet that goes into a closet, the linoleum under the dishwasher (waiting til the last moment to unhook the dishwasher’s very non-code electrical), and then a final cleaning of the concrete. but almost all of the concrete is smooth and ready for some floor!

i’m also going to paint the walls in the weird dining room, at least the wall on your right as you’re looking at it. it’ll be the same color as the kitchen (NOT what’s behind the stove). haven’t decided if i’ll go all the way around yet.

then it will be time to lay the new floor! liz is coming up the first weekend in august to help with her expertise and i think she’ll be here for the easy part. i have 23 boxes of flooring. i hope it’s enough.

update to come after that!