Author Archives: Kate

Atlanta Weekend Photos

We headed to Atlanta this weekend to celebrate a friend’s birthday at the Four Seasons Hotel. Don’t I sound very busy, glamorous, and important? It’s because I am. All of those things.

Actually, I will admit to finding it all a bit fancy, but then again I also enjoy an excuse to put on a pretty dress, drink bourbons, and celebrate. A good group of people assembled and a wonderful time was had — you can tell that this is true because by the end of the night we wound up holding a silly photo shoot in the hotel room, the evidence of which is still cracking me up days later. You know how that goes.

Here’s the night out and the morning after in photographic form:

View from the top of the Four Seasons Hotel

And the rest can be found here.

Cats and Dogs

The dog and the cat are settling into the new place rather well, I must say. Flannery was notoriously cranky and ill-mannered in the old place, hating both the dog (for existing) and me (for refusing to refill her food dish every time she meowed). She mostly lurked in one place and never came out of the office.

In the new place, she has been checking out the entire apartment (although mostly sticking to one end of it), even hanging out on the windowsill occasionally. Isn’t this cute?

But as you can see, she just as often hangs out on the windowsill plotting her next evil act. Here she is darkly scheming:

Can you tell the difference? The secret is that there is no difference. She is always plotting. She was probably imagining the pain she would next inflict on my innocent aloe plant just over in the next windowsill, which she has come to dine upon when her supply of kibble has not been replenished as quickly as she would like.

Poor aloe plant. One morning, she wandered into my bedroom, and I was pleasantly awoken not by soft kitty snuggles and purrs, but rather by the torrent of furious barks unleashed by the hound, who dutifully chased her out of the bedroom before she could come close enough to eat me, which I am confident was her plan all along. So that was a fun way to start my day.

Egon, on the other hand, has been being his usual charming self (aside from the occasional anti-cat outburst). Lately he’s been hanging out with his two newest dog friends (W.’s chihuahua and his Jack Russel/Shih Tzu mix, both of whom are ridiculously cute) and has been so social that when he comes home he’s ready to crash out on the couch like so:

This is why they call him Captain Snuggles.

In other news, tomorrow is my first day of teaching, and I have four classes in a row with no break until 2:00 PM, so by that time I imagine I will look at my students and see nothing but rows of giant sandwiches sitting in desks. Mmm…sannnndwiches.

End of Summer Highlights

Good morning, friends! Or good afternoon or good evening, depending on when you are reading this post. Oh, the magic of the internet.

Anyway, today marks my return to work for the fall semester. Although classes don’t start (for me) until Thursday, I have various meetings and duties to take care of starting today. I took the advantage of having this morning to myself, however, and got a 2.5 mile tempo run in at the gym, had a lingering breakfast (oatmeal with banana and blackberries, two huge mugs of coffee), and am now sitting around watching a couple of episodes of Friends before I go into campus. I know. How do I do it all?! Working life is hard. I kid; I kid.

Anyway, I have certainly enjoyed having the last week off in between summer and fall teaching. I have managed to get in plenty of rest, a little reading, a little socializing, and so on. One night, W. and I headed out to find his favorite (and most elusive) cocktail, the Sazerac. Have you had one before? I believe it’s a New Orleans specialty, and involves rye whiskey, bitters, lemon peel, and an absinthe rinse. High maintenance but delicious.

I’ve also had several great meals lately, some out at restaurants and others cooked just for me. That always makes a little staycation feel more special, too. On the whole, I feel rested and ready to hit the books!

One of the highlights, I cannot lie, has been getting my new washer and dryer installed. I dorked out over this to an extreme degree, but like I menioned before, I have been longing to have my own laundry machines for years. I don’t have to collect and save quarters anymore, or endure the put-out glares of the grocery store cashiers when I beg to buy a roll of quarters from their cash tills. I don’t have to go gingerly brushing a strange person’s pubic hair off the top of the washer before adding my clothes. It’s the little things, you know?

Another highlight was a trip to the local farmers’ market. Can you believe that in four years I had never been before? I KNOW. In my defense, it only operates in the summer, only for a few hours once a week, and a lot of the time I’ve been getting produce from my CSA. So anyway, I finally managed to make it to the market on Thursday and it was fabulous! It turns out it’s quite the place to see and be seen – I ran into my friends S. and H. there and saw quite a few other familiar faces from around campus.

My big purchases were some peaches (amazing), tomatoes (bring on the sandwiches!), and some local goat cheese. Yes, that’s right, goat cheese. I have been interested in finding some quality local dairy from a trustworthy farm for a while now, and the goat cheese at the farmers market is sort of famous around the area, so I decided to try some.

Here is one of my concoctions:

Peaches, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Simple and delicious.

It’s easy to see that the summer is ending, though: this morning I slept in until the late hour of 8:00 and walked to the gym and it wasn’t even 80 degrees out yet. It felt amazing! Soon enough the weather will start to cool down for real and it will be sweater, blazer, boots, and scarf season — and then it will really feel like fall semester! Fashion-wise, I can’t wait. On the other hand, I certainly wouldn’t complain if I had a few more restful summer weeks like this one before I had to go back to work. I don’t, though, so I’d better get moving. The office and my syllabi await me!

Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon – Race Report

Yesterday I competed in the triathlon I’ve been (loosely) training for all summer. This was my second overall triathlon (here’s my first one last summer)– I had hoped to maybe race two or three this summer, but with the insane way my schedule worked out, I was lucky to get one in before school starts again.

At any rate, my training was not as high-volume or high-intensity as I initially planned for it to be. I’d been hoping to do 3 runs a week, two rides, and 2-3 swimming sessions, including speed training in each sport. Getting sidelined by that hip-flexor strain forced me to take it a LOT easier, especially on the bike, which I eventually realized was causing the hip problem. (When I eventually upgrade to a road bike instead of the road-commuter hybrid I currently ride, I am going to make sure the fit of my bike doesn’t allow this to happen again. Topic for another time!)

Reconnaissance mission at the triathlon race site.

As I checked out the race site the day before, I thought about my goals. Going in, I knew I wouldn’t be making a hugely impressive showing, but I wanted to improve on last year’s triathlon experience in the following ways:

1. Don’t panic on the swim just because open-water swims are a little uncomfortable and there’s no zen-like black line to follow on the lake bottom. Don’t be last out of the water in my wave. Beat last year’s time.

2. Ride easy but fast-ish on the bike, not killing my legs but averaging over 13 mph (which I find it hard to do in training — my training paces are usually 12-13 mph with one recent ride at a whopping 14.1 mph). Don’t get a flat tire like last year! Beat last year’s time, even though this course is over a mile longer than last year’s.

3. Don’t wimp out on the run even though my legs will be sore and I’ll be tired and the heat will be up there. Keep running. Deal with discomfort. Beat last year’s time.

Did I reach these modest goals? Read on and find out!

Swim 400 Meters

This year I got in the water before the start to swim a few meters and check it out. I didn’t want to panic! I think this helped. Lots of folks were testing the water and it was a relaxed, chatty atmosphere. When it came time for my wave to start, I felt nervous for sure, but I was OK. As we ran into the water, though, I stepped on a huge, pointy rock! I was immediately worried I’d hurt my foot because it was pretty painful, but I quickly forgot it and it didn’t bother me. The first half of the swim went great – I kept up with the pack and swam with my natural rhythm. I think I went out too fast, though (keeping up with the pack should have been my first warning sign!) because I got out of breath a bit and had to start breathing more often (every two strokes instead of every four, that’s how bad!). I back-stroked it for a minute or two to catch my breath and heard a woman in one of the rescue kayaks beside me telling me I was doing a great job and was almost to the final turn buoy. I was so grateful for her words of encouragement! I turned back on my stomach and swam it in. People from the next wave were passing me, but when I saw the results I realized a beat five whole people from my age group. Success!

Time: 12:08 (three minutes faster than last year’s debacle!)

I threw on my Garmin and let it find satellites while I got my shoes on (running shoes as I don’t wear clip-in bike shoes) and put on my race belt and helmet. Uneventful.

Time: 2:19

Bike 13.25 Miles

The bike part was just pure fun, like riding a bike should be! We rode around the lake, spending time on some boring city roads, but a lot more time with wooded areas and scenic lake views. My hip flexor didn’t feel too hot during the ride and only ached mildly afterward, so that was good. For some reason, though, my left calf started bothering me. That’s never happened before and I worried it would hurt to run on it afterwards, but (Spoiler!) it didn’t. The course had some rolling hills but nothing major — effort wise it felt like I was just cruising along and was able to gain speed on a lot of the descents. Right out of transition a lot of speed-demons passed me whirring away, but throughout the race I rode along with a few other women (at legal distance of course!) and we passed most everyone we came by.

The one rough spot was where the open course hit a lot of superslow traffic in a construction zone — not ideal! I found myself yelling at a car with an open window whose driver kept weaving from one side to the other to “let me pass!” The cyclist in front of the car looked back and I was all, “sorry, yelling at the CAR, not YOU!” From then on she and I and the other 5-6 women near us made it our mission to get past these cars. We rode up the yellow center line, talking back and forth and getting our group safely past the traffic to where we could spread out again and ride fast. It was a nice cooperative moment in the middle of a competition, you know? Plus, it was funny — how often do you get to pass cars on your bike?

I consciously held back at times on the bike, knowing I needed to run on these legs in a little while, but if I’d been more aggressive I know I could have ridden faster. I was actually 2 minutes slower than last year’s bike, but, again, on a longer course. Happy with my average speed!

Time: 53:22 (15 mph)

Ditched the bike and helmet, grabbed a headband and my handheld water bottle.

Time: 1:29

Run 5K

This was the toughest 5K I have ever run. I started out with a kind of high heart rate (I don’t wear an HR monitor but it was practically busting out of my chest) and the race course started with about two miles of solid uphill. While I *do* generally eat hills for breakfast, I am forbidden from running hills when my hip flexor is hurting, so I’ve done far fewer hill workouts and it showed. Coming out of transition I was easily running at an 8:30 pace, which quickly dropped to around a 10:00 pace as we climbed the first steep hill right away. I honestly couldn’t believe it as we rounded turn after turn only to see the road still sloping up. How was this possible?! Oh yeah, it was a point-to-point run and not a loop or an out-and-back. It had a net elevation gain. Even though the gain on the course isn’t THAT extreme (my old neighborhood here in Auburn had several 3-4 mile routes with double the gain) it was just hard as hell at the time. I felt like I was still running 8:00 miles but struggling to keep my pace below 10:00 (my usual “easy” training pace).

As I ran, I came up behind runner after runner, sounding like, I imagined, an entire herd of cattle as I stomped with my cement legs and did enough heavy breathing for an entire army of phone harassers. I was struggling. The thing was, I passed every single woman I saw on the course. No one passed me. A lot of women were walking or walk/running the 5K, and the few I saw straight-up running were going at slow enough paces that I easily passed them, too. As I passed, a lot of women asked me how far along we were, and I was glad to be able to give them the mileage details from my Garmin. People were hurting out there, for sure.

I was bummed to see a time over 30:00 on my watch as I neared the finish line (That’s a good time, don’t get me wrong, but it’s usually an “easy effort” time for me, and I was hoping to run somewhere between 25-27 minutes), so I kicked it as hard as I could for the last 0.1 miles to finish strong. After I crossed the line, one side stitch suddenly became 10,000 side stitches as every muscle in my trunk cramped up. It was super sharp and painful for a good five minutes, and a volunteer had to get my timing chip off my ankle for me because I couldn’t bend down myself. Ouch. Looking at the results, I saw that only 10 women in my AG broke 30:00 on the run, and I in fact placed 11th on this leg (quite an improvement from 43rd on the swim and 29th on the bike!).

Time: 30:44 (9:46 min/mile)

Over-all Time: 1:40:01 (Oh, to have been two seconds faster!) 26th of 48 in my age group

Collage of some of the morning's action.

So it’s safe to say I met my goals! I am happy with the race, even though I still think it could have gone a bit better if I’d trained the way I planned to and hadn’t let injury (and a busy life, too, honestly) get the better of me.

Plans for my next triathlon: 1) invest in a road bike before next summer and make sure the fit is great! I don’t want any more hip flexor issues; 2) spend more time swimming, possibly get into a class so I can learn how to be faster; 3) keep running like I already do!

I have to give a shoutout to Zoot Sports — I bought some tri shorts and a tri top from them for training and racing this summer and they worked out great for me! The outfit was light and easy to swim in, the shorts with their thin, quick-dry chamois were comfortable on the bike, and the whole thing stayed in place and didn’t chafe on the run. I did require a sports bra underneath in addition to the built-in support, but I am a 34C, so most built-in support is a little lacking for me. I definitely recommend the brand for anyone else looking for running or triathlon gear! And hey, Zoot, if you’re reading this, feel free to send me some gear to test out for the blog! I am more than willing to accept sponsorship!

I also want to mention that the race site was gorgeous and clean, the volunteers were AMAZING (I never saw the woman in the kayak who encouraged me on the swim but I heard her voice and I am so grateful) and the race as a whole was run very well. Women in the AL-GA area, I recommend this race!

So there you have it! Next on my athletic list: the Savannah Half Marathon on November 5th. Training has officially begun. Oh yes indeed.

New Apartment Love

Why hello there! I am ready to declare myself officially moved in. Here are some pictures of my new apartment along with a list of everything I love about it, which is A LOT. It’s grand. Also, please feel free to count the pieces of furniture I have bought from IKEA. What can I say? Those stylish, efficient Swedes win me over every time. It’s just my people are Nordic.

Here we go:

Office Workspace

Office Shelves

There’s a separate guest bedroom and bath (the bedroom is used as the office right now). They’re on one side of the living/dining/kitchen area, and the “master” bed and bath are on the other side. Much more privacy for guests, and much more separation of work/office from sleep/relaxation when I’m here by myself.

So Many Clothes

There’s a much bigger bedroom with a walk-in closet! Oh yes indeed! I have never had a walk-in closet before in my life and oh how much I was missing! Do I need to buy more clothes and shoes to fill it up? I feel like maybe I do.

There are also bigger bathrooms and (as expected) bigger bathroom counters. This may not sound so special, but until you have lived in a place where your bathroom counter is so precariously narrow that it is a true challenge to balance a toothbrush and some soap on the edge, and your clean toothbrush and fragile eyeglasses are always falling to the dirty ceramic tile floor, you simply cannot understand.

Room to Make a Mess!

Oh y’all, there is a LAUNDRY ROOM, where I will soon have a washer and dryer installed if it fucking kills me. I have three domestic dreams: 1) to have a washer and dryer of my own, 2) to have non-carpeted floors (literally ANYTHING other than carpet is better than carpet — live squid? BETTER THAN CARPET), and 3) to have a fenced-in yard for my army of dachshunds. I am about to make one of those dreams come true. Welling up over here.

I have much newer appliances now than before. My appliances in the old place never seemed so bad, but now I have much quieter air conditioning and a nearly silent dishwasher. The dishwasher seems a bit smaller and harder to load (wine glasses don’t fit on the top rack WHAT THE EVERLOVING FRAK), but it is so quiet that I ceased caring as soon as I first turned it on. In the old place, turning on the AC was like living through the end of the world; in the new place I thought I couldn’t turn it on at all because it was so quiet I did not realize it was already running. True story. Oh, and there’s a garbage disposal. I don’t necessarily care right now, but I’m sure this will turn out to be appreciated.

I also now am in the middle of a lovely landscaped setting with trees, a lake, gardens, dog clean-up stations, and so on. This makes a huge difference. I’d love to show you pictures but it seems dumb to post photos of the outside of my house, you know? Just imagine: pine, crepe myrtle, lavender.

We have an outgoing mail box for sending mail. No, I did not have that at the old place. Yes, I had to go to the post office to send mail. I know. WHISKEY. TANGO. FOXTROT. I’m pretty sure I now have the minimum postal mail service allowable by law at a residence. Congratulations to me.

Over all, it’s a quieter setting, farther away from any busy roads, and there’s much less noise in the parking lots. Egon and I both appreciate this.

Dining Area

Living Room

I have “nice” new carpet! Like I said above, though, literally anything you can think of is better than carpet. Quicksand? Better than carpet. Piles of used and discarded biohazard sharps from the ER? Better than carpet. Still, clean carpet beats filthy mystery-stained carpet any day of the week. It’s just that’s not saying much, you know?

(GOD I LOATHE CARPET. IS THAT CLEAR? ARE YOU PICKING UP WHAT I AM LAYING DOWN? GOOD.)

(WHAT I AM LAYING DOWN? IS NOT CARPET.)

Look, Egon, Just Keep the Carpet Nice, Okay?

There is higher quality paint. Yes, this matters. It is not dry, porous paint that will soak up any stain or smudge. I think it is actually washable paint! (Will have to check.) But with a dog and a bike and a clumsy nature, this is appreciated.

I have a private porch with sliding glass doors! So lovely! I would like to get some chairs and a little table for out there. On the list.

Oh, there is a window in my bedroom! My previous bedroom was an all-interior room with no windows in it at all. I have come to find out that this is against fire code in new buildings, but I guess my old, shitty apartment building got grandfathered in as a safety hazard and general craphole. Lucky them! Anyway, I grew to love the dark cave of my old bedroom, but it looks like I will still be able to sleep in late without the sun blinding me in the morning at the new place. As long as I close the blinds tightly (and maybe add some curtains?) it’s quite nice. BUT! I have the option of sun and ventilation in there if/when I want. Excellente.

Dressers

Natural Light?!

I’m “in the neighborhood”! I used to live in walking distance of campus and downtown and I don’t anymore, but I now live in walking distance of several of my good friends! This is just as good if not better.

Now of course there are some minuses to the new apartment. I am going to keep it positive though, because I think I have solved all of these potential problems, so they really are/were only temporary minuses:

This is odd, but I have almost no overhead lights. The bedrooms and living room have none. What is up with that? I have added lamps and am starting to figure out which wall outlets are connected to the lightswitches, so this should be no big deal.

Bad, Bad Chandelier.

One of the few overhead lights was a very, very bad chandelier. Oh my DOG, I hated it. This kind of thing is exactly the OPPOSITE of my style (assuming I can be said to have “a style,” but still). Moving seems like the perfect time to experiment with electrical work, does it not?

A New Light

Thanks to IKEA and the patience and expertise of my good friend B., I now have a super modern, cool pendant lamp over my dining table. I never would have attempted changing out a ceiling-wired chandelier myself, but B. had experience doing a celing fan before (MAJOR job, much more complex than just a light) and she was confident we could manage it. A couple of false starts and adjustments were necessary, but it turned out FANTASTIC! I’m so glad I considered the daunting idea and got the help I needed (something I normally wouldn’t do because I hate asking for help). Thank you, B.!

A Wine Rack Will Improve This

Tiny Kitchen

I do have a smaller kitchen here. I got used to having space to roam in my old kitchen and I was worried when I saw the little nook of a kitchen here. Luckily, this problem was mostly an illusion: I have about the same amount of counter and cabinet space; it’s just arranged in a tighter configuration. I will just have to get good and cozy with any future cooking partners. Heh.

Oh, so there is a locking doorknob — I mean in addition to the main deadbolt lock on the front door. I already locked myself out once when I was alone, and a second time when W. was inside and could let me in. I am used to having a front door I could ONLY lock from outside when I had the key. With this doorknob, it’s possible to lock the knob, leave without your keys, and be screwed! My plan is to give all my good friends a spare key, hide a spare somewhere nearby (LIKE I’M TELLING YOU WHERE, INTERNET BURGLARS!), and just drill it into my brain to check the knob when I leave on typically keyless trips like walking the dog or taking out trash. Do you have any tips on training my brain not to lock myself out?

Well, I think that wraps it! After living in my previous apartment for four years, it is a true novelty to have moved somewhere else. Back in graduate school I used to move more frequently, but now I feel quite old and staid and resistant to change, so I am pretty sure I would like to stay here forever. Even counting my childhood homes, it is the nicest place I have ever lived. I am never leaving. I’m just going to go chain myself to the water heater right now, but don’t worry: I will still be able to check comments and Twitter. So tell me: what is your favorite thing about the place you currently live?

Effing the Ineffable

kateo dot org

Author Archives: Kate

Atlanta Weekend Photos

Cats and Dogs

End of Summer Highlights

Acworth Women’s Sprint Triathlon – Race Report

New Apartment Love

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