You can use my skin

2005-11-30 - 4:37 p.m.

Why run a marathon? I've been asked that a lot over the past few days. I didn't actually tell anybody in Seattle that I ran it besides Lolo and Kitten, but Buzz checked the website and discovered my time and now the whole pharmacy department at my hospital seems to know. The response is usually either "Wow, that's cool!" or "You're crazy!" So why did I run it? The immediate reason was because I felt good after work on Friday and it wasn't raining. But really? I don't know. In retrospect it just feels crazy and I'm almost embarrassed to tell people I ran it. Isn't that weird? I don't get me. Also, in retrospect, it didn't seem so hard. I mean, you just start going with the mindset that stopping isn't an option. You just keep going and eventually you're done. And it's fun. There's a sense of camaraderie out there on the course with people you've never met before and will likely never see again. It's a way of doing something that most people don't do. It's a bit of a thrill. Admittedly I pooped out there at the end...and now I wonder, if I had actually been training, how would I have done?

Yesterday Lolo and I went to the Puget Sound Blood Center and donated blood. We went together last time too--it was his first donation and he had a bit of a rough time of it. I'm so proud of him for going back--I mean, it takes some nerve to repeat a cruddy experience, especially when you really get nothing from it. Anyway, he was fine this time--I'm so glad. I had a bit of trouble with my hematocrit again. They did the test where they poke your finger and put a droplet of your blood in the blue solution. The droplet is supposed to sink--mine headed down, then floated back up, bobbed around for a while, then finally sank. So they took a bit more blood and stuck it in the centrifuge. Turns out my crit was 38% yesterday--just inside the acceptable range for making a donation, yay! I wonder if that cutoff is for my safety or if it's because with a lower crit my donation would be useless? I should've asked. And I wonder how I can raise my crit! At least it wasn't as low as the time I was rejected--that time it was only 35%.

After the donation he came over to my place and I cooked us dinner. I made a turkey pot pie, trying to use up some of the leftovers in my fridge. It was a little more interesting than normal because Lolo doesn't like peas. I would normally throw in some of that frozen veggie mix that has peas, corn, and carrots. But no. Can you imagine not liking peas? I was a very picky eater as a kid and peas were one of the few foods I would eat so for me it's hard to imagine not liking peas. Oh well, actually, I think it came out better than normal just because it was more interesting.

He stuck around for a few hours which were lovely. I am such an amazingly lucky girl. Lots of cuddling, lots of talking. Good talking. As he was leaving he told me again that he loves me. I was relegated to I-Love-You-too Land. We both have tomorrow off from work, but we're not getting together until the evening. I'm hoping for a sleepover. And tomorrow I'm going to say it first.

Lolo's birthday is on Friday. I wish I had some cool birthday present for him. I don't though. I wanted to buy tickets to a couple of events I thought he'd like, but for one I'm too late--it's sold out--and the other I'm too early. There's books/DVDs/music...but somehow those don't seem personal enough. And also I want to use the code word, but I don't want that to be a birthday present.