Tag Archives: blog

Long Time No See!

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Hmmmm…. I wonder whatever happened to that weird chick from NADB?

Well… THIS!

Corduroy and Buttons

Need I say more?! Meet Corduroy (Cordy) and Buttons. Yes, they’re litter mates – true-blue brothers bound by blood. They came from Texas and were rescued from a kill shelter after mom and siblings were dropped off. All of them found homes in either Colorado or the Pacific Northwest, so everyone had a happy outcome. And now those adorable, time-consuming pups are 3-1/2 years old.

Let’s see… what else…

The child (AJ) just turned 17. He’s in 11th grade and finally got to attend high school for the first time ever this fall. He let his hair grow nearly as long as mine during the pandemic, but then we had a chat. So we compromised.

Other notes of (possible) interest:

  • I got a new job working in the finance department of a health insurance company.
  • While I resigned from working at the wildlife rescue and rehab hospital, I am now a member of the Board of Directors as Treasurer.
  • I have returned to school to obtain my CPA.
  • I haven’t run a race since Marine Corps Marathon 2018, which I was a DNF as I got sick on the trip and, quite honestly, wasn’t trained properly… I was pulled after 10 miles.
  • Thanks to the pandemic, James now has a permanent remote position and works at home. More time to spend with the pups, ha!
  • We lost Meeps in September to liver failure. He was 10.

Holy crap… short and sweet and to the point, I guess. Lots of other things have happened, but I think that’ll suffice for now.

I am thankful to have been able to keep in touch with a lot of you on Instagram while I took this long break and am looking forward to catching up with you here. Also I’m thankful for the friends I made and kept through Strava and SquadRunner. It’s been a blast.

But for now, Cordial’s and I bid you adieu. Ja ne! (Anyone? Anyone?)

(Perhaps I should rename this blog to”How Paula Got Her Groove Back.” 😉 )

And The Winner Is…

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We have returned from warm San Antonio back to the freezing cold of the Pacific Northwest!  I kid you not… 85 degrees in San Antonio the day we left and 39 degrees in Seattle when we landed!  But I’ll write more on that later…

In the meantime… we have a winner from the #GivingTuesday drawing!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and to everyone who entered.  I wish all of you could win… but unfortunately… there can be only one! (Wildlife calendar goes to anyone who knows what movie that is from, but please email me at neveradullbling(at)gmail, don’t answer it below.  You have until December 12th.)

And now for the results…

He’s grown since last year, hasn’t he!

There you have it!  Again, thank you all for your support and encouragement!  Stay tuned as Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio adventures will be posted soon!!

Busy Much?

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The last couple of weeks have been an absolute blur and I think my brain is fried.  It’s only been 3 weeks since I ran my last race, 2 weeks since my mother-in-law Janet went back to the UK, 1 week since AJ began summer break, and yet all events seem like forever ago.  In that time, I’ve had a huge fundraiser gala to contend with, a hubby with a hurt back (who is thankfully on the mend… see here), and I’m trying really hard to wrap my head around marathon training 6 days a week.  This will now be my life for the next 4 months… work and training.  I’ve come to the conclusion that something has to give, so I won’t be doing the cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, etc., anymore.  Besides, I’d much rather keep in touch with my blogging friends than do all that other mindless nonsense… and now that James is healing, he can clean and do laundry and…  lol, sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up…

Fundraiser Gala:  One week after Janet left, the rescue and rehab center where I work held a huge fundraiser gala with dinner, entertainment, and a silent auction.  The director and I were working like mad the week before to get everything together for the event, and now I’m still quite busy tracking donors and silent auction winners and all the stuff that follows an event such as this.  No matter… we had a great time, and I’m happy to say it was a great success.

This was actually supposed to be an adults-only evening, but I was able to sneak AJ in to watch the raptor presentation.  He hung out in our room afterwards for the rest of the night.

All the tables were decorated with cute little stuffed animals that anyone could adopt (raccoons, opossums, coyotes, owls, eagles, squirrels, etc.).  They even came with their own adoption certificates.  Below are the two we adopted.  All of them were dressed up with little tulle “bow ties” for their gala evening.

Below is a video that was made in 2015.  Back then, we needed help with refurbishing the hospital area.  We were able to raise all the funds for that; however we are now in need of new eagle flights.  While the video that was shown last Saturday night is not available publicly yet, I thought you might enjoy seeing where I spend a lot of my days.  When the other video becomes available, I’ll show that one to you as well, then you can see the difference in the hospital… a little inside look of a rescue center, so to speak.  (By the way… the raccoons at the beginning really are just hanging upside down.  They were babies when they came to us and learned how to climb the chain links… all were happily released back into the wild).

Training:  Yeah, I’ve been doing that too.  I’ve had to start getting up before the sun to avoid the heat and mugginess of the season, but we all do what we gotta do.  I’m just thankful I don’t have mom duties first thing anymore (you know… making lunches, giving rides, and the biggie of waking up a child).  I won’t go much into detail about the runs right now (only because this post is getting too long), but I am hitting them as scheduled… not so much on the cross training yet… but the runs are extremely important. You can’t fake your way through a marathon if you want to beat the sweeper, haha.

Up next:  Queen with Adam Lambert!  This Saturday!  I cannot wait!

Have a great week, my friends!

And The Winner Is…

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Thank you so much to everyone for reading and commenting on my post about beavers and entering my little giveaway!  I received such a great response!  My hope is one day we can all understand how important beavers are to our ecosystem (not to mention they’re cute as all get out)!

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So on to the important stuff… the winner!  I truly wish I could send everyone a beaver ornament, but unfortunately, there can be only one (I’ll send a wildlife calendar to the first one who can tell me what movie that line is from… no googling)!  The Child did the drawing, see the video below (which is only about a minute).  It’s amazing how much he’s grown up from last year (you can see that video here).

So if the winner could kindly contact me, I’ll get the package off to you posthaste.

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Just to prove the drawing was legit, haha!

As well, a big thank you to my readers/my friends for following my blog, my running, and my life!  You are much appreciated!  (And yes, this song is on one of my running playlists, ;D)

By the way, James has posted his race recap on Tulsa… he did a great job!  You can read about that here.

La Conner

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My mother-in-law, Janet, arrived from the UK last Wednesday for her annual visit.  I foresee a few fun day trips in my near future!  Today we went to La Conner, had a walk around and had a fabulous lunch.  Even the child joined us for the outing (like he had a choice, hehe)!

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Janet doing the “wiggle,” because the art statue behind her was called “The Big Red Wiggle.”

La Conner is about 45 minutes from where I live and a very small town.  Very artistic. Great culture.  Great scenery.  The Swinomish Channel runs right along side of the town, so it has some great waterfront views.

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Rainbow Bridge:

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Neighborhood house in the shape of a boat (in blue), although you can’t really tell from this view.

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Artsy stuff:

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Loved this frog:

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I stepped out in the middle of the road for this one because, hey, why not:

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Old, old, old cabin (La Conner was settled in 1867):

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A little farmer’s market:

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A lovely little tea shop:

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And, finally, lunch at La Conner Brewery (we find the best food at breweries):

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Tomorrow is the city of Bellevue… with Judy from New York’s own Chocolate Runs Judy!!  I can’t wait to meet her!!

Happy Friday!

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A policeman knocked on my door this morning, but I just locked it and sat in complete silence. After 20 seconds he knocked again, but I continued to ignore it.  The knocks got louder and more frequent, but I was determined not to move in the hope that he would go away.

Then he decided to look through the window.  He shouted, “Do you think I’m stupid?  I can see you in there, ma’am.  Open the door.”  I said, “You’re not coming in!”

He said, “I don’t want to come in, I just want you to step out of the car.”

*****

Last night, I sent James a text.  Keep in mind, I’m sitting near/next to him the whole time, and he was totally engrossed in the NFL draft pick thing that was going on, so I’m not sure anything other than football was resonating with him.  He fell for it and I had tears coming out of my eyes by the time he caught on.

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(I’m super good at entertaining myself.)  I tried it next on AJ, and he yelled from across the house, “No it doesn’t!!”  Didn’t even send me a text.  No sense of humor.

It’s Friday, and I’m in the mood to smile and laugh.  If either of these little sillies didn’t make you giggle, go visit Tasha at Hit Below The Belt Hard.  She’s an expert at Funny Fridays!

Have a fabulous weekend!!  And don’t forget to…

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Vibrant: My new PR running shoes!

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My new running shoes arrived on my doorstep this afternoon… Brooks Glycerin 13!  I ordered them at the beginning of the week so I would have them in time for my long run this weekend! After melting my feet in Maui, I learned a huge lesson not to stray from the tried and true, and because of that, I believe these are going to give me a new PR at each and every race I run in 2016!  They shall now and forevermore be known as my 2016 PR Shoes!  Woo hoo!  They are, indeed, vibrant!!

Small Town Charm

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I live in a beautiful little town that surrounds a lake.  We’re very rural here and don’t have much of a downtown, but this little clock tower is a great landmark.  It’s sits in the town center.

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Yes, it was raining today… a lot… so I walked over to the stream that runs this-way and that-way through our town.  Because of all the rain, it was flowing full force.  Believe me when I say, I will take this rain over the ice and snow we had in November and December any day.  (Looking at the picture above, the stream runs just left of the clock tower)  Just another day… 🙂

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This was also posted in response to Jackie’s challenge, Echoes of my Neighbourhood, from A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales.  Share in the fun!  I feel I get to see the whole world right here from the comfort of my living room!  Thanks Jackie!

My Week In Review

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20160121_082759.jpgOkay, really… it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m doing a weekly summary!  I just ran a half-marathon last week!  Of course I’m going to put my mileage in black and white!  😉  But actually, have you ever noticed that when you go on vacation, it’s not truly restful?  You’re on the go all the time, so much to see, so much to do!  It’s probably the most active you’ll be all year!!  Hence, I’m documenting those miles because they totally count.  I wore my Garmin watch all the time as I wanted credit for all those steps I took!

20160123_022042.jpgJanuary 16 — Our first full day in Maui, the day before the race.  This is the day I wanted to stay off my feet.  I logged 7.85 miles… but only 1 of them was actually spent running.  I’m sure the rest of them were spent lollygagging.  My biggest mistake here was not wearing my running shoes the entire day.

img_1320.jpgJanuary 17 — Race day!  17.75 miles or 34,901 steps.  Cooool!  I kinda like the way the steps log. They look way impressive.  For those who don’t race or run, there is a lot of going to and fro’ on race day, so the set mileage of the race isn’t the only mileage you get.

20160121_161124.jpgJanuary 18 — (Monday, in case you’ve lost track).  Keeping in mind this is the day after the race, so with a lot of soreness and ouchies… 4.97 miles.  One mile was dedicated to running… the rest were dedicated to visiting the pool, bar, and whatever food we could find and get to easily. We also meandered around the resort to stretch… it only hurt when we stopped. 🙂

bestphoto_20160121_144106_1.jpgJanuary 19 — 5.49 miles.  We walked to Castaway Cafe to have brunch, then hung out by the pool, just as it should be!

img_1321.jpgJanuary 20 — 5.53 miles.  Really, more of the same… blah, blah, blah, pool.  🙂

20160121_160651.jpgJanuary 21 — 3.54 miles.  Okay… this kills me.  We spent the entire day on our feet at the Maui Ocean Center.  It felt like we walked for miles and miles.  This was the least amount of mileage recorded.

20160121_142627.jpgJanuary 22 — 2.5 miles… homeward bound.  Oh how sad.  One mile was dedicated to running, and I’m guessing 1.5 miles was from traipsing around the two airports!

20160121_153608_001.jpgJanuary 23 — 2 miles.  First day at home… I don’t even know how I got 2 miles to be honest! Only 1 was actually dedicated to running.

20160121_160356.jpgJanuary 24 — 3.31.  A 2-mile streak run with the rest of it being logged as doing normal, boring, everyday tasks, such as grocery shopping.

img_1347.jpgTotal miles (for the past 8 days):  52.94.  I kinda wish every week could be this productive!!  And if you want to get super technical, if I knock last Saturday’s mileage off, then total mileage for the 7 days would be 45.09.  Proof positive we are more active on vacation than not, 😀

23120.jpegGreat eateries in Maui:

  • Slappy Cakes — Fabulous breakfast/brunch food!  Make your own pancakes on the skillet at your table or have them made.  They also serve breakfast skillets and other breakfast items. 5 stars!
  • Castaway Cafe — I had biscuits and gravy with eggs.  To die for!  Best gravy ever! They’re a cafe on the boardwalk, so they serve everything. 4 stars!  But only 4 because the service was a bit slow.  They only had 1 person at noon helping the entire restaurant.
  • Maui Brewing Company — Home made chips/crisps!  The burgers are wonderful!  Apparently so is the Brisket Dip Sandwich!  It’s a brewing company… beer is home brewed, so quite delicious as well!  5 stars!
  • Coconut Fish Cafe —  With a name like that, how can you go wrong!  A favorite amongst the locals!  5 stars!  (I don’t usually eat my fries, but these I couldn’t resist).
  • Plantation House Golf Course — Views of the ocean were killer!  Fish and chips were fantastic! 5 stars!  Go there!  This is a must if you’re ever in Maui!  (Beware of very small parking spaces).

download_20160118_182037.jpegSadly, I think that’s it for Maui for this year.  Time to get back to reality as my training plan picks up again on Tuesday!  But then again, training is half the fun, so I look forward to the challenge, especially as I’ve learned a lot from running the Maui Oceanfront Half-Marathon!

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On a side note, I turned 49 today. Pretty soon my tag line is going to have to say “trials and tribulations of a 50-something novice runner…” Good thing my mind still thinks I’m only 21… and only 21 just so I can legally drink, 😀

Do you find that you’re more active on vacation than you are any other day of the year?