Reddit Secret Santa 2019

Last year, of all the dumb things, Pee-Wee Herman convinced me I needed to start doing Reddit Secret Santa.  I'm not kidding, this is a true story.

I had a great time coming up with gifts for my match, and even though my gift never made it to me due to issues clearing customs, I still had zero regrets participating.  So much so that I continued on to do various themed gifting events into 2019 such as:

St. Pat's
"Colors"
Pirates
Arbitrary Day (AKA Christmas in July)
Awesome Packaging (and Halloween, both exchanges in the same recap)

Of course, when Secret Santa Christmas edition 2019 rolled around, I knew I needed to sign up.  And on matching day, I was not disappointed with my match.

With a very similar background to my husband, I couldn't help but laugh at my luck.  At least I had an idea on how to start shopping!

Latching on to nautical maps, gadgets, and space info, I selected gifts as follows:

A book about one of the oldest maps known

A retro inspired tangle cube

A hand made cross stitch (by me) of Saturn V

I wanted to ensure the book could be sent back to Amazon if my partner already had it, so I sent that Amazon direct with a gift receipt.  However, for the tangle cube and the cross stitch, I wrapped those and shipped them myself ... with my standard included letter explaining my gift, of course.

Unfortunately, in my desperation to use the wax seal stamp I received in my awesome packaging exchange, I forced a stamp on this package, and the results were ... uh ...

Lesson learned, don't use such thick cording with a wax seal.  Dear giftee, I promise I don't have a cat and that's not vomit.  LOL!

With my end complete, now I sit and anxiously await feedback on my gift, and receipt of my very own presents.  I'll let you know what happens next!!!

Tie Blanket Craziness

My posts have been a tad sporadic lately, as I haven't had much to chat about.  Of course I've been busting it on cross stitch work in preparation for Christmas.  And, in addition to that, my son has been heavy into both swim AND ski lessons the last month, so my nights and weekends have been packed.

On the plus side, I can work out while my son has swim, so I've been getting more cardio in.

On the negative side, my right knee has been off ever since I started cranking up my activity levels again.  Like serious pain issues.  So ... knock on wood about that.

Aside from cross stitching, I ended up getting a bee in my bonnet that some visitors coming to my house on December 23rd needed a bunch of holiday gifts.  In addition to getting them all matching Christmas PJs, stuffed animals tailored to their individual tastes, and silly socks ... I decided I needed MORE on my plate and started cranking out fleece tie blankets, too.

Why do I do this to myself?

Short answer - I don't know.

Long answer - also includes I don't know.  Glutton for punishment or something?

Here's the work.  I think it was worth it.  Fingers crossed the kids agree.

PS - this one comes with a plush llama, 

I just screwed up and wrapped the llama before the final picture

Current Stichin' Projects - Late 2019

Since early 2019, I've been quite prolific in creating cross stitch works.  You've already seen some of what I've made in previous posts, but today I've got more to add to the collection (in rough chronological order).

Although ... technically the frog should have been in my summer collection, and somehow I missed that, so I'm adding it today.

And before I bombard you with photos - yes, I would be happy to make something via request ... pending size and subject matter.  Meaning: I don't want to take on anything too huge, and want to make sure it would be something fun for me to make as well.  

If you have something in mind, let's chat!

 These two side by side comparisons of the same work are kind of fun to look at for:

1- the difference framing can make

2 - the difference fabric can make

I repeated this design because I wanted to gift it to two different people, and also I wanted to 

"test" out my first ever piece on linen fabric (best to do on a pattern you're familiar with).

 

I shot this bookmark on two different backgrounds ...

Why?  I couldn't decide what would look better LOL!

This one is a work in progress that I finally framed as follows ... 

I posted both pics because the glass glare is pretty bad in the final pic

Of course, the above doesn't include Christmas gifts I'm madly working to complete now.  Those will come in a future post.  Ta-ta for now!

Uno Carrera de los Muertos 5K 2019 (Hydraulics)

Carrera de los Muertos 5K (3.15 miles)

Let's not talk about pace this time ...

I ran this race three years ago, on it's 10th anniversary.

Three years isn't so long ... or at least, it doesn't seem like it ... until you revisit the recap photos from that year:

OMG my baby!!  How has he gotten so big?!

Just for reference, a similarly skeleton clad photo from Halloween this year:

Ah!  I miss my cute, squishy mushy baby.  But he's sure fun to hang out with now, too, when he can tell me stories and funny jokes.  Plus there's the no diapers thing.  Trade offs ...

Anyway, this is a race recap.  Not a mom post.  Moving on ...

---

As I mentioned in my previous race recap, since I enjoyed this race in 2016, I decided to use the 2019 version as a motivator to get me back into running.  Because what better than skeletons and a post Halloween trip to Chicago to get me motivated, right?!

Beyond the excellent race swag, what I remembered liking about this race held true in 2019 as well - a festive pre race atmosphere, a unique cultural immersion, and beautiful artwork on course.

New to this year (or at least, I didn't see this in 2016), a SUPER SWEET hydraulics car display.

Note: this car drove away post race honking its horn, and yes - it played La Cucaracha.

Other items to add into the plus column for this race: an on time race start, well organized race corrals (though, plenty of people thought they could "walk" a 10 minute mile, so there's that ... but race organizers can't fix stupid), and even an on site cotton candy vendor!!!

Not going to lie, I was VERY tempted to purchase a bag to bring back to the hotel for my son.  But ... Halloween literally JUST happened a little over 24 hours prior.

I think that's plenty of candy for a three year old, no?!

In addition to other positive race attributes for this 5K, there's also the AMAZING placement awards.  While I'll never likely qualify for these skulls, I can still admire them ... right?!

Ugh - I do have to say, I'm never so jealous of fast runners as I am at this race.

Oh - and what else served as a good motivator for me to get back into running shape for this race?  Getting someone else to do this with me so we're both holding each other accountable, of course!! 

Since my sister is usually game for my shenanigans, together we committed to training for this race ... though we totally spaced and didn't take any photos together to document the experience.  And even though I held back this recap about 2 weeks to allow for race day photos to be published, still no luck.  DAMN!  Oh well.

Speaking of race down sides - though the race had plenty of positives as mentioned above, there were a few negatives as well.

The biggest negative was no packet pickup in the days most immediately prior to the race.  I was very confused by this - how is an out of town runner supposed to pick up their bib and shirt when the only dates available for pickup are the Saturday, Sunday and Monday the weekend BEFORE the race?!

Other negatives for this race were a general lack of organization and communication.  Using the above as an example - notice the address for packet pickup is the same for both pre race and race day?  Yeah ... that's very wrong.  Pre race pickup was at a local run shop, but same day pickup was at the school hosting the race.  Two totally separate addresses roughly a mile apart.  I actually messaged race organizers directly about this twice before they realized the error and fixed it.  Which means that all their social media posts for the weeks prior to the race, and the e-blasts for pickup reminder ... were all wrong.  Oops.

Another example of the lack of organization paired well (or rather, poorly) with this race day packet pickup issue.  Because if you're expecting a fair percentage of your runners to pick up their shirts just prior to running ... you'd think runners might want to know where bag drop is, right?  I mean, I myself don't particularly enjoy being a pack mule ...

When I asked at check in where the bag drop tent was, I got a deer in the headlights look and a "Uh ... I don't think we have one, sorry."

Good thing I was really motivated to not run with an extra jacket, a race shirt, and a reusable bag I brought along for bag drop ... which I discovered I didn't need to bring.  After a lot of aimless wandering, I finally found the "GEAR CHECK" tent, where they were providing clear bags for drop off.  (And yes, when I found the bag drop area, I explained to them the confusion at check-in.  I was answered with a very peppy "got it!" and a girl ran off to take care of the issue for others.)

Honestly, the minor negatives of a forced race day packet pickup and a slight feeling of disorganization from event planners isn't enough for me to take issue with this race.  So, I won't get too hung up on it.

I can get hung up on the crap weather, though.  Yuck!  I forgot how nasty a cold, pre-race morning can be.  On the plus side, I'm glad I last second panic packed a run cap, a long sleeve base later, gloves, and a bag drop fleece jacket - because I needed ALL of it, and then some.  #frozentoes #wishIpackedHotHands

Me, actual race day live stream.  

After a melting pot of excitement for the morning - both good (cotton candy, hooray!) and bad (can't find the bag drop, boo!) - it was finally time to settle into our start points.  And before we could even get too uncomfortable from standing still in the cold, it was time to take off!!

Overall, the race course felt like what I remembered from 2016.  All I noticed was a minor adjustment in start and finish points, which I thought was actually a vast improvement over 2016.


2016:





2019:

Though looking at the maps for comparison now, I see there was quite a bit of difference.  But, the "essence" for this course ... at least for me ... are the murals on 16th and 18th.  Which you can see in both courses takes up the majority of the route.

Here's some photos (from current and past years) for reference:

With everything to hear, look at, or just mentally process - the first mile cruised past.  And even stopping for walk breaks with my sister, with all the local folks offering entertainment on course (mostly DJ based, but also some traditional dancers, etc) the course just flew by.

Here's a video demonstrating what I mean about the stimulus overload:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=430420604341365

At some point, I don't even know when, I saw a bichon frise dog dressed as a unicorn.

Yes, it was running with its owner.

Yes ... it was beating me to the finish.  (I'm not too proud to admit this, after all ... I have been beaten to the finish by wiener dogs in the past, so ... breed upgrade at least???)

Of course, there were a lot of other amazing things to process on course as well.  But before I could even absorb them all and think about how to express them here, a woman was yelling on the side of the course ...

"Around this corner - THIS IS IT!!!  YOU CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE!!!  YOU CAN DO THIS!!!"

And then we were there, and that was it.  My sister and I logged another race for the books.

But damn it, if I didn't omit my free churro again this year.  With a line easily 100+ people deep, and already over 10+ minutes lost trying to get my dropped bag back, I just couldn't handle the cold anymore.  So, instead - I dialed up a Lyft back to the hotel and mentally prepared for a steaming hot post race shower ... that I may or may not have had to fight my sister for first dibs on LOL!

Oh well to the churro - thanks anyway Pilsen, it was fun!!

---

And that's the story of how race bib #85 joined my collection.  Here's to another race soon ... though I doubt it will be in 2019, since I'm a bit of a wilted flower after this cold race.  What can I say?!  I live in Minnesota, yes ... but I sure hate running outside when the temps get below freezing!

Minneapolis Halloween Half Marathon, 5K & 10K 2019 (Mr. T)

Minneapolis Halloween 5K (3.15 miles)

Let's not talk about pace this time ...

Good lord.  I just looked back in my blog history to try and figure out how to recap this race.  Doing so has forced me to acknowledge a sad fact: I haven't run in a timed competition since this 5K back in 2017.

Ooof.  Two years ago pretty much to the day.  No wonder why running sucks so much for me right now.  Which reminds me, I should state something before I get too far into this post: I'm not going to bother reporting my time or pace from this race.

Why?  Because I'm not running right now for speed.  I'm running for mental sanity.

In the last two years, I've dialed back my fitness routine WAAAYYY too much, and I've turned into a giant crab as a result.

No, not like the cute kind:

More like the stabby kind:

Yeah.  It hasn't been good.  And although there's other things making me generally crabby (issues at work, the stress of moving houses last year still wearing off, mom life, etc.) ... really, at the end of the day, working out less has contributed to my overall bad attitude quite a bit.

In an attempt to rectify my situation, back in August I decided to register for one of my all time favorite races with my sister.  (Side note, that's a spoiler for a future post).  While that registration did help me get back into a routine some  - I am once again holding myself accountable for 2 body pump classes a week, plus teaching my Tuesday night strength/cardio class, and have done a bit of running - I will fully admit I slacked more on the running part that I ought to have in the last two months.

Instead of faulting myself for not training enough for a casual 5K, I'm going to be positive and say: at least I got back into a fitness routine of some sort.  The rest I'll worry about improving on in the future, ok?!

In the meantime, let's talk costumes, because after all ... this IS a Halloween 5K.

Ok, yep - I skipped any kind of preamble and just spoiled it.

Let's face it.  After years of running races in pretty much any kind of costume imaginable, I've become somewhat unable to top myself.  I mean, think about it.  Here's my list (and this isn't even 100% of what I've actually done):

unicorns (yes, two different kinds as evidence here and here)
skeleton and calevera
flight attendant
mariachi
robot
Hamburgler
Statue of Liberty (with torch)
giant winged butterfly
mermaid
Wonder Woman
two different versions of a ball of flames (this and this)
ninja turtle
a rainbow with a pot of gold

Seriously!  What the hell is left BESIDES Mr. T, right?

I PITY THIS FOOL!

---


Race day.

Since I already did (a very uneventful in-store) packet pickup the Thursday prior, my only job on race day was to show up.

Oh - side note, here's what the advertised race swag was:

FYI, that the shirt is actually more of a purple/gray space died tech t.

And being a Halloween fan, I couldn't skip out on the optional (for purchase) socks:

Anyway, on race morning ... since I am woefully OUT of practice on this, I hobbled together some sort of "what's supposed to be normal?!" routine of eating a smallish breakfast and trying to poop.

Yes, I said poop.  This is a runner's recap, you shouldn't be surprised by that.

After a quick coffee and peanut butter toast (my bananas were over ripe and I was afraid to try other "untested" fruits), my partner in crime showed up and we took off.

Following the parking guidance, we ended up on the wrong side of the river for race start.  Based on the course map below, somehow the organizers though having us park near where it says 5K (in black & white) was a good idea ... ???  I don't get that at all, because there are surface lots on the proper side of the river, within 2 blocks of the start line.

Oh well, whatever.  Since the walk from the parking lot (I think it was 5th & Washington) wasn't terrible, and we had plenty of time, I didn't bother moving my car.  And actually, it was an unexpected win, because I was only charged $3 upon exit.  #NOTBAD!

My co-runner in this race had selected the option of having her bib mailed to her pre race, so that meant she needed to do shirt pickup on race morning.  After grabbing her shirt, which was a painless process, we then headed over to bag drop.  That was ... interesting, to say the least.  Leaving your bag in a giant, unmonitored pile, in a public park's race pavilion downtown Minneapolis was a ... concept ... that's for sure.  I still can't believe there was no kind of check in / check out process with the bags, and I wonder how many things got lost or stolen.  So weird.

With all our pre race needs met, we dilly-dallied around for awhile, and even managed to talk some volunteers into letting us take pictures with the official finish tape:

While we killed time waiting to run, both my friend and I remarked how boring this year's costumes seemed to be.  Less than 50% of runners were wearing anything even remotely festive - and once you factored out basic things like tutus and leggings, the amount of actual costumed runners was maybe 25%, if that.

BOO MINNEAPOLIS!  YOU CAN DO BETTER!

Eventually, it was time to line up.  Not going to lie, I had a lot of unnecessary dread building up at this point.  Knowing I was in zero shape to run, I had no idea how this run would go.  My friend and I both kept audibly telling each other that "this is just a 5K", and that it would "be just fine".

Then the announcer said go, and we were off!

Surprisingly, the first mile went better than I anticipated.  Of course, running the two (smallish) hills, didn't help my endurance much, but I was happy to know I could manage.  Even if I was at a fairly conservative pace.

Of course, people watching as we went helped.  A few of the more remarkable costumes we picked out as we plodded along included various versions of Nintendo characters (Mario Kart, Classic Mario & Luigi, Yoshi), the typical Things 1&2, various character onesies or inflatable costumes and so forth.

Being passed by the tight pants guys on the second hill was entertaining:

And somewhere in the mix was a pretty good chicken & The Colonel (he was even carrying a real KFC bucket):

Speaking of carrying accessories, I had to give this duo credit (having run as Lady Liberty more than once, I know carrying something as you run is definitely a commitment):

Around the 1.25-1.35 mile mark or so, my running partner and I slowed for a walk break.  This is where I was disappointed to discover that the 5K course had no water stop.  In fact, after a bit of consideration, I realized there was basically no course support of any kind (aside from police at intersections).  While technically a water stop on a 5K is unnecessary, since I forgot my pre-race routine of a large glass of water, I was a little desperate for a drink. 

Of course, this grated on me a bit.  I mean - I paid $35 to run this thing ... is a water stop too much to ask for?!  LOL!  #BitterOuttaShapeRunner

Trying to bury my unjustified resentment, I redirected my focus.  Time to get moving again.

Prior to the 2 mile mark, it was time to run once more.  Since I was afraid I wouldn't make another continuous mile plus stretch, and didn't want my partner to suffer because of it, I told her to not worry about my pace and just go.  Mostly, we kept up with each other, though I was a bit behind and off to her right.  However, the crowd got in between us enough that I eventually lost visual site of her until after the finish.

No matter, I had other things to look at as I carried on.

Side note - don't you hate the jerks that bid $1 more?!  I do!

The final stretch of this race followed along the Stone Arch Bridge.  Knowing the finish line couldn't be far, I decided to force commit myself to finishing strong and held my (slow) running pace.  Which means I was thrilled to hit the finish being able to say I only took one walk break. Of course, it helped that the announcer called out "And here comes Natalie ... I PITY THE FOOL!!!"

Yes!  At least one person appreciated the joke that was my costume. 

Dang millennials not knowing 80's culture.  Maybe if they got off their dang e-phones and i-kindles, they'd know a thing or two.

Despite the lack of on course amenities for the 5K, at the finish line all was redeemed.  Picking up metals, water and post race snacks was a smooth process, and in fact better than most other races I've been too.  So for that ... OK fine, maybe I'll run this race again some time.  (wink)

But ... since it was the weekend before Halloween ... we didn't stay around much longer after finishing.  With all the other Halloween events in the cities going on, how could we?!

---

And ... that's the story of how race bib #84 joined my collection.  Since it's been FAR too long since I've done this ... here's to another race soon!!