my stoner dog. gotta love it.

well.. i made it to st. louis and back in one piece. hoorah!

i arrived back in KC yesterday afternoon and had my last ride with 0% bodyfat chick, short/tall cousin, and another yet-to-be-named chick. Divorced Chick. (i feel bad naming her that but i can't come up with anything else. oh well.)

the ride was the perfect "coming full circle" ride... it was the same route i rode with 0% chick a couple years ago... back when i was very very VERY new and thought (for who knows what reason) 0% chick didn't like me. it was my first ride outside the park on "real roads" and she kept swearing the ride wasn't that tough. that, and.... "i promise, this is the last big hill...."...

mm-hmm.
she lied.

A LOT!

however unlike that first year, this year... when we got to Woodland Hill... i was prepared, and managed to make it all the way up --- ON MY BIKE!

no stopping and walking for me!!!!!

i just made my way through all... all... my gears, finally landing in the granny gear, and spun my little heart out all the way to the top.

i felt hugely victorious.

until about 3/4 of the way up when short cousin passed me on his bike like i was standing still.

dammit. i wish i were 14 again!

oh well.

it was a fun night, and the perfect last tri-training day with my best friends and favorite people.

unfortunately... with tri training out of the way... its now time to pack. AGAIN!

and i'm sure you can guess how i feel about that!

Posted by a.maria at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

i hate packing.

hate.

h.a.t.e.

i have all my dishes packed, all the bottom counters are empty, but.. the rest!?

look at it!

mother FECK.

and it has to be ready by sunday.
SUNDAY.

so i can drive it to STL to drop with my parents, turn around and drive back and pack the rest of my shit.

shit!

what the hell, how am i gunna do this?!

i've got a 60 mile SAG'd ride tomorrow morning, i'm going out tomorrow night (yessss), have Short Cousin's triathlon sunday morning and i leave right after that!

FECK!

double FECK!

what did i say about moving being such a good idea?!!!?!

.... i take it back.

i take it ALL. BACK.

Posted by a.maria at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

so today is my last day of work.

i finished everything up yesterday so after turning my keys in and going through my security briefing this morning, i've sorta been sitting here with nothing to do.

i just got back from lunch with a few friends a bit ago and its weird... i thought i'd be sad to leave, but.. i can't wipe the smile off my face!

don't get me wrong, i love (some) of my co-workers here and the smile doesn't reflect my glee in leaving THEM, i just think, like never before, i'm EXCITED about what's coming up next for me!

even with the whole don't know anybody.. don't know where anything is... don't have a job.. don't have any money issues that i'm facing..

which i am very much facing...

I JUST SORTA CAN'T WAIT!

... which is funny. on my way into work this morning and for most the night last night after i left 0%'s house, i couldn't stop wiping away tears from my eyes.

saying good bye has NEVER come easily to me. and i've done it SO OFTEN.

after moving around every four years growing up, i vowed that once i was an adult and didn't have to do whatever my parents said, i'd pick a place and stay there forever!

but..
i was wrong.

or maybe i was right, and i just haven't found the place yet!?!

either way... i'm leaving town in ten days.

its completely surreal to me, but as i've told so many people this week...

i'm sad to leave, but SO EXCITED TO ARRIVE!

Posted by a.maria at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

so i think i had my first glimpse of what it'll be like when i turn thirty.

... and from what i can tell... it ain't gunna be good.

several of my friends here in kansas city are on match.com. they're having a good time meeting random guys, flirting, and lets be honest...
making out with cute boys faces...

so i decided, HEY!... i need to get in on this!... and so i did.

(noo noo.. not the making out with boys faces part. yet! .. just the getting on match.com part.
and i know. I KNOW. online dating. stigma. uncool. yeah i know.
but if there are faces to make out with.. who am i to turn them down!!?)

so.. i got online, set my sights on austin, and away i went.

everything was going well, fine, according to plan until... a few days ago... i got a "wink" from some new guy.

but by new... i kinda mean old.

i opened my email, read his profile and thought nothing of it until i realized underneath his pic it read... 35 years of age!!!

ewwwwww. he's OLD. what the hell is he doing winking at ME!!!

and i got all skeeved out.

but then i sat there and sorted out the math..... double ewwwwww. he's not that much older than me!!! but if i thought he was old....

..... THAT MEANS I AM TOO!!!!

son. of. a. bitch.

it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks....

i'm actually to the age now where dating a guy that's 35 really isn't that big of a deal.

BUT I'M ONLY TWENTY EIGHT!!!! --- and that's when my mind started reeling.

28 years old.
TWEN.TY.EIGHT.

i'm going to be over the hill...
WHAT IN THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO!!!?!?!?

*sigh*

revelations of this order are a bit hard to take.

its sort of like in college out at the bars when, for the first time, i met some cute guy and instead of swapping numbers on a napkin... he handed me his business card.

i just remember laughing hysterically at him like... who the hell gives out business cards!? are you SERIOUS!!?!

.. he was.

i was officially at the age where people started swapping cards.

my girlfriends and i went home that night freaking out that we were getting old.
business cards. shit. he's like... an ADULT! weeeeeird!!!

i will never forget that night.

not just because of the business cards.
or the cranberry vodka i threw up in our front yard.
or the huge ass pizza we got on the way home, or the late night girl talk with my roomies...

but it was the first time i realized college would be ending soon, "real life" was just around the corner and, holy shit...

WHAT IN THE HELL AM I GUNNA DO!!?!?!

so for the past few days, i guess i've been feeling those same basic things..

except... substitute salad for taco bell... a bottle of water for a can of beer.. a self-imposed 10 o'clock curfew and, omg. shit!

i really AM getting old!!!

help!!

Posted by a.maria at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

SOOOooooo... sarah, over at junk miles just turned me onto this race nike is putting on...

the Nike Human Race 10k.

how have i not heard about this!!?!

apparently nike is celebrating runners and (our)their sport by putting on the world's largest running event... a global connection for all us athletes!

you can either sign up to run it in one of the 25 host cities (which... AUSTIN will be one of them. and can i just say how fan-fugging-tastic it is that i'll be living in a city that hosts stuff like this?! nobody ever chooses kansas city to do stuff. st. louis, or more often chicago is the closest place to participate in things like this for those of us in the midwest. its crap!)

*ahem*

anyway.. OR you can just run it wherever you are... down your street, in the park, WHATEVER!

however if you DO choose to race in a host city there will be live concerts after the race and various "elite Nike athletes" will be racing as well, but the only one of those i've ever heard of is Lance.

(of the Armstrong variety. yup.)

anyway, just thought i'd do my part to spread the news and see if anyone in the Austin area wants to run as well!!?!

:)

happy hump day people. NOW GO SIGN UP!

Posted by a.maria at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

and packing is totally kicking my ass.

dammit!

you'd think after having moved six times in the past 4 years i'd have this down by now, but.. nope.

jeez.

8 boxes down.
something like 25 more to go.

ugh.

Posted by a.maria at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

hey!!! for once they actually didn't turn out bad!!!

... notice in the bottom right, the finishers pic from one angle shows bright skies... but in the other you can see the coming storm!!

.. now all i gotta do is work on taking LARGER STEPS when i run. what's with my 3" stride!?!?

Posted by a.maria at 02:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (0)