one-on-one Frittatas

Published August 18, 2018

Like most bloggers, I put a lotta PERSONAL content out there. YouTube father-daughter dance, skydiving ‘bove Pikes Peak, sulphur-n-snow soak in Iceland, safari-video of Africa’s Big 5, Hobbiton/New Zealand, Moscow’s Red Square, Guinness tour in Dublin. We’re seemingly crazy extraverted. It’s the content we put out there – it’s our ‘best’ selfie. Truth is, it’s complicated.

Heck yeah, I wanna see the world. But on the inside takes a whole lotta high mountain hikes & long run days – to mentally get there. Classic introvert. Panic before big city races (too many people), stress boarding flights outside US/Canada, never EVER invite strangers inside the house one-on-one (talk to folks on my porch). The anxiety/mental fear can be debilitating.

Over time I’ve self-taught myself tricks to ‘get on the roller coaster’. From there, I’m already on & can enjoy the ride. LOVE of life – it’s true, it’s real. Goal: avoid a solitary one-room mountain hermit life, with my best pal Ro. LOL> Life is meant to be lived, not observed from inside a cave.

Best mate Stephen Christmas-gifted today’s one-on-one in-your-own-kitchen cooking lesson. For a guy who LOVES food & consumes so many pre & post marathon calories – mighty cool gift, huh.

Unfortunately gift card & letter sat on my kitchen counter sooooo long that my Gifter had to take control, reach out & schedule the lesson. Ugh, super sorry. Not procrastination, fear. Not of failing, that’s fairly normal. Epic ‘FAILS’ can be the source of great laughter/good time. My fear? Allowing the vampire to cross your front-door threshold/come inside. CRAZY I know. Fear is still real. No life nightmare to draw upon/overcome, no trauma relived – just made-up, solely in-my-own-head anxiety.

Fast forward 2 hours. Kale quesadillas & breakfast frittatas – FLAWLESS. Mike: trainer/nutritionist, schooled at CSU, young family/new baby – GREAT guy. Easy to understand. Focused his efforts on menu items I could add to my weekly planner – foods I already eat, add diet variety. Came with all needed ingredients AND a muffin tin. Thanks man.

Point to today’s post – we all have fears. Real or imagined. Own them, talk about them, you’re not alone.

In the end, you might even graduate & master breakfast frittatas – which you’ll probably only share with family & your best Pup, since you’re super shy, introverted & a freak in one-on-one situations. Baby steps, folks. Baby steps 😊

: LOVE of food, fear in the kitchen

: truth: have NEVER used the left burner (8 year anniversary)

: focused efforts on menu items I could add to my weekly diet

: breakfast frittatas

: bachelor UPDATE (following week): Kale SUCCESS!

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birthday RHUBARB

Published August 17, 2018

No matter the poison – sweet, savory, fruit, meringue. Cake or pie? It’s pie EVERY time.

Better than pie? Hmm. Pie WEEK! With Stephen local thru Saturday, Ash upped the ante with TWO birthday celebrations. But she’s cookin’ dinner just once. HAHA – deal! 👍

Birthday Pie #1: HOMEMADE Strawberry Rhubarb. Boiled/prepped raw rhubarb, crust from scratch, lattice top. Deee-lish!

Birthday Dinner? Shrimp kebob, corn on-the-cob, lamb & fresh veggies. Outside grilled, the BEST! Hey did I mention this was Ash’s FIRST EVER homemade PIE? Perrrfect.

Friday nite treat: Dinner theatre for 4. Yep, ’tis the season – SUMMER – ’cause we theatre EVERY season. LOL> Back in Johnstown this quarter, that’s 3 in a row at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Learned all ’bout the rough/seedy side of newspaper delivery in 1900’s Brooklyn – NEWSIES! Dig our Colorado family tradition ❤️

: birthday RHUBARB

: outside grilled – the BEST!

: NEWSIES’ Cub Reporter

: quarterly theatre tradition

: L👀K who’s running?

Posted in Life | Tagged birthdays, theatre | Leave a comment

Mt Sneffels Marathon

Published August 11, 2018

Bib pickup, quick swing thru Downtown, pricey fish dish at Ouray’s Bon Ton. Marathon ready.

Welcomed the cool high-altitude temps at Saturday’s Start – that’d save me the first 2 hours. Ridgway to Ouray ‘n back. Wide-open dirt road course, evergreen-lush first couple miles, sun-exposed as elevation climbed. Topped out near 8000ft.

If one can manage the constant steady UP, some of Colorado’s finest alpine scenes. Little Switzerland.

Trail road peaked 9 miles in, big valley descent next 4 miles into Ouray Hot Springs Park (marathon return). Day’s race elites ran the Half. African men & women pushed fast on-the-left, closely followed by the area’s best college runners.

Took electrolytes early & often but stomach-emptied at mile 10. Tough GI day. Negotiated the course turnaround, headed back UP to Ridgway, dropped to a walk after 15 miles. Disheartening for the entire field to pass one-by-one on the return trek back.

Sun, altitude. Dizzy-staggered next hour. Drop, notta option ‘til mile 21 – dirt trail void, people AND vehicles.

Aid at 21 doused [me] with ice, refilled my hydration pak. Sucky day – only 5 miles more. These are the days I question why? How? Courage stripped, frustrated. Nerves raw, stomach pulsing/throbbing, throat dry from vomit charades. Push thru the pain. Anything is POSSIBLE. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Infommercial mantras no longer working. Physical struggle.

Ultimately I’d finish; new PW end time [Personal Worst].

Dehydrated, chilled, body shaky. Paralysis right side of my face. TIA, medic says. Don’t know the term. IV bag, long drive home tomorrow. Virtually INSTA-BETTER Sunday – 80%. Full motion before work Monday. Unexpected, crazy scary.

When blood flow to part of the brain stops for a short period of time, also called transient ischemic attack (TIA), it can mimic stroke-like symptoms. These symptoms appear and last less than 24 hours before disappearing.

Ok. Breathe, exhale – one step at a time. Doc visit, blood work, endoscopy in 2 weeks. Relapse? STOP, let it go.

Airport pickup at 5pm; Stephen’s local thru Saturday. It’s Birthday Week – MY birthday 😊