I am so way behind in the blogging department…so, here’s a bit of a catch up/catch all blog.
First of all, for anyone that read my last blog, I said I would post pictures of my newly installed kitchen faucet…and, well…I lied. I did install my faucet, with the help of a friend that did most of the actual work (thanks, Jake!) and I never posted a picture. But at this point, do you even care? The answer is no…no you don’t care. And I’m fine with that. Now let’s move on.
The OTR 5K was great…although I really do more walking than running when I do these things. It’s okay. I’m totally okay with it. I’m not a very good runner. I’m not even a reliable casual jogger. I would make a horrible Olympian or professional athlete. You know when you get to that point during an activity when you are not enjoying it and it’s a struggle and you have to dig down deep inside of yourself and find your fortitude and your will to fight? Well, that’s when good athletes…even mediocre athletes…push themselves harder. But not me. No, that’s when I decide to walk…or sometimes stop altogether. That’s when I give up. That’s when I quit. And, once again, I’m totally okay with it.
You see, it doesn’t matter to me about how well I perform in these 5K’s that I “run”. I’m never going to win an award or a medal. There are three reasons I do these 5K’s:
- Because it sounds good to say I do 5K’s. It would sound better to say I do marathons, but I have to be realistic. I can’t walk a marathon in any reasonable amount of time. That’s just stupid. You’ll never see a “26.2” sticker on my car.
- Because it’s an opportunity to get out and do something. For example, I really did enjoy the OTR 5K course. It wasn’t hard, the weather was great and it was nice to see all the things going on in the area. Plus, I walked around two thirds of Washington Park, which is something to brag about these days!
- Because I earn a cheeseburger and french fries. Any time I work up a sweat, I earn some yummy food. It’s a deal I’ve made with myself and it works. After the OTR 5K, I went to Zip’s in Mt. Lookout and had my usual…Zips burger, french fries and a side of macaroni & cheese. And I had beer, too. And I earned every bite.
So, the next big race? Still debating about the Redlegs 5K this Saturday. But then there’s the Fox & Hound 5K on August 19th; the Cheetah Run 5K at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept. 5th; The Reggae Run at Ault Park on October 2nd; and there’s the one downtown on Thanksgiving Day…that’s a 10K, which means I will eat two servings of my World Famous Lasagna that I make on Thanksgiving Day. No, you can’t have the recipe…
Now, let’s talk about art. I love it. While I may not be an athlete, I am an artist. Luckily for me, being an artist doesn’t mean you have to be a Picasso. I paint…acrylics on canvas, mostly, but I’ve made a promise to myself to play around with oils in the near future. So, being an artist, it’s absolutely sad that it’s taken me nearly three years of living in Cincinnati and driving by the place four times a day (go ahead and do the math…) before finally getting my butt through the doors of Essex St. Studios. And it’s awesome.
Check out the website…www.essexstudios.com…and make plans to visit one of their open houses. They have them quarterly and they are free and open to the public. The building is huge and I could spend hours upon hours in there wandering around and looking at all the delightful works of art! Plus, in addition to looking, you can talk to the artists about their work…which to me is always fascinating. I had the pleasure of meeting Maggie Barnes (
www.artworkbymaggie.com) just before the gallery closed for the night…seriously…if you haven’t checked out this amazing local studio, you are missing out. And check out the history of Hamilton Fine Tailoring, too. Pretty cool.
And on a final note for todays ever so enlightening blog, why is everyone so amused (and by “amused” I mean, make fun of me…) that I call my bag a pocketbook? Am I the only girl on the planet that calls it a pocketbook? Is it really that odd?