Stuck on you

I’m currently sitting in the Seattle airport terminal, watching pushy Delta Skymiles representatives. Calling people over..very sneaky. Anyhow, I’d just tell them I already had one and maybe they’d go away. They’d better stay away from me.

I’m on my way back to Missouri. I left the house this morning at 5:15 am and am getting home to Blue Springs at about 9:15 pm. I will have plenty of time to blog. Right before updating this, I typed up my phone list. I figured my mother’s taking up my phone plan when I leave, so I should take down that useful information and email it to myself. I’d hate for that valuable information to get lost.

Big news: Nick Coppola left two days before me and I was really sad.
Predictable: I cried four times the previous day and the water poured when he left at 4:30 am the next morning.

I also went rock climbing Thursday. I got up four walls. Correction, I scaled two easy walls and half scaled two harder walls, but on the third wall my hands got sweaty and I couldn’t grip anything, and by the fourth wall my arms and legs were exhausted. I could’ve gotten up that wall if I didn’t have T-Rex arms.

Nick did have chalk, but by the fourth wall, it was too late, I was exhausted. Being puny can be a real downer during recreational activities that take lots of muscle control. Such activities I’ve noticed this during: rock climbing, water skiing, and snowboarding. I just like reading, thereby exercising my mind.

I am finished working for the summer and just told my sister on the phone I’m pretty sure I made the same amount this summer as I have in summers past. How is it possible, Merilee? You only worked half the summer you say. Well, I think it’s a blessing for my mission preparation. It must be, because I have no other explanation for that phenomenon. Or I could be on crack and have no idea how much money I make any given season..which is also true.

Canute, my esteemed sibling and I were talking yesterday about the projects my mother has lined up for him. Then I got to thinking about where I’m headed. I’ll be at the project house tonight. We talked about how nice it would be to have free time. Specifically, free time to play golf. I mean, think about how bored you must be to hit a ball into that hole in the ground waayyyyy over there by that flag. I have some cousins that love golf. Big D, you know who I mean. Man, that’s the life.

You know what else is the life? Living as a single waif is awesome. I realized the other day, after reading some blogs and talking to some ladies I know, how terribly lucky I am to be single, unattached, and childless. Not that marriage doesn’t have huge perks such as companionship etc., but I’m not ready quite yet to be attached to the responsibility of educating a child or two.

On the flip side, I do love spooning. Therefore, I should probably get on my mission and forget the boys. Get yourself a canary, Dilmount. I do miss Mr. Coppola though. He’s a hilarious dreamboat who is currently driving through Canada, stopping to climb rocks and hike trails. Weird.

I’m trying to think of something terribly exciting I decided upon or something weird I’ve done lately. Can’t think of anything at all. Wait, have you ever seen someone so muscley they can’t put their arms down? Funny. I just saw a guy with that problem walking past me in the airport.

Other things I’ve seen in the airport while sitting here for the last three hours: a seven year old kid riding on a suitcase his mom was pulling along, lots of not as cute as Luke babies, two puppies, two Peter Pan hat wearers who ended up belonging to each other thereby disproving my theory about a Peter Pan convention in the area, some koochie cutters, Jesus sandals, lots of tattoos, and a $9 Panini sandwich I totally bought, cause I’m a sucker.

Not that I can really talk, because I’m currently wearing sweatpants over my jeans. My bag was too heavy, so I put some pants over my pants. I packed 5 jars of homemade blueberry and salmonberry jam in my luggage for presents. Heavy. Five pounds over heavy, but jam’s liquid so I had to move over other stuff. So I can’t open my carryon, since it’s way too jam packed..heh.
On the upside, it’s cold in the SLC airport and I’ve got some soft sweatpants on for cuddling..with myself.

Also, esteemed Canute just fixed my laptop connection availability. He's my hero. Yay. Today I cleaned my brother Josh's room where I'll be staying since he's in Washington staying with cousins for four months. I don't think it had been vaccumed for ten years, no joke. I'll also be visiting Deane next Wednesday for sure in Texas. Yes!

Grotesque-

The three landscapes are all Juneau pictures. The Taku Inlet, North Douglas, and Lena Point. Pretty isn't it? These were all taken on different days.

Friday I took the fast ferry with boyfriend Nick to Skagway Alaska. We floated over at about 6 pm. We met at the Skagway driver house and had a race meeting. We ate some pasta and took a two hour nap. Then we drove to the starting point of the fifth leg of the 10 leg, 24 hour, Klondike Road Run.

I was leg 5 and had 13.9 miles to run. I hadn't trained much..well. Let's just say I didn't run more than seven miles a week for the last 2 months..since the half marathon I ran last month. So I've been winding down, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. I mean I've been running, but not more than seven miles a week.

I figured I could pick up whatever they put down. They gave me the 13.9 mile leg, two days in advance, and I took the challenge. I ran 3-6:05 am. It was dark and I was nervous about bears. I had a head lamp, some reflective bands, and a fancy flickering arm band.

It was chilly outside, but I'm a hot runner. I always strip down when running. I started with the numbers pinned to a hoodie and ended up switching the numbers to my Philmont tshirt while running because I was roasting.

I did alright the first three miles. Then I told the support vehicle with the last four runners to go 4 miles ahead. I was doing ok, what the heck? They said they'd go 3. I said ok. Three miles later I told them to never leave me for that long again. It is hard to run by yourself up and down mountain passes in the middle of the night.

They met me from then on every mile for drinks and moral support. I drank from the water bottle in a stationary pose. I cannot drink while running, it must be a mental block I've put on myself. It was a nice break every mile though. At mile seven, my knees were in blinding pain and I was only halfway finished with the race.

At mile 9 I told the van to tell me I only had three miles left. They told me I had four. There was a lot of yelling about death at that point of my leg. At mile ten I prayed my legs wouldn't break off at the knee until I had finished the race and I walked up the gigantic mountain that wouldn't end. At mile 11 I pooted and thought I'd messed my pants.

After acquiring some tp from the support vehicle, I sent them on their way. I could have shaved five minutes off my running time if they had just gone on instead of waiting right there while I pooped in the forest right next to them. Then they took a picture of me looking pissed. I was angry b/c I thought they'd been taking pictures of me pooping in the forest. They hadn't been, but I have an active imagination and mischievous friends.

At mile 12 I was having serious knee problems and was trying to convince myself the pain was mental and I could get through the pain. Run through the pain Merilee, you'll thank me later. So I tried that for the last two miles and in the end, I had trouble even jogging the last kilometer to the finish line. Boo. Then I took a nap and after waking to deposit waste into the forest for the second time that day, also took 15 minutes to walk 15 paces to a protected bit of forest for this deposit. I was stiffer than a board. It was pretty sick.

Then we took turns driving for the last 4 legs. It was insane, I don't know if I could do it again, but if I did, I would train more. We ate pizza that night from Pizza Hut. It rained a lot. Wow, running up mountains is brutal.