Beers with Friends

Nothing beats good German beers, good conversation, maybe some hearty German food - a little sausage among friends - reliving good times - always a beautiful thing. Thank you Bill, Michele, Colleen, John (oops Hans), Ray, Mary and Steve and Stac - yes we all would rather be in a beer garden in Rothenburg or a wine stub in Barr, France or a vineyard in Alsace or Italy - but Gustav's will do and we manage to have a great time no matter what locale we find ourselves on this particular birthday celebration - year 2007.

Here is to many more whether they be in Greece, in front of a TV in Mulhausen or here in beautiful Portland, Oregon. It's first and foremost the company and tonight's was the best!

Steve and Stac are off to California to scout colleges, Bill and Michele are journeying to Italy for a wedding, a little wine and so much more - the Burgers are eating bruschetta and drinking Sangiovese as we speak - with ouzo on the way... I will be making due in Vegas and Utah - and we all have Bench Lake to look forward to.

My present to myself - this nice picture of a couple of cold ones in Metz, France. Here's to you Hans!! Skol!

Rental Car in France

C'est ne pas grave!

Thistle Juniors

This little guy will be going to college in about 14 months! Say it isn't so!

More Greece

Oia staircase
Originally uploaded by thistleamy5

Byzantine Church Athens

Byzantine Church Athens
Originally uploaded by thistleamy5

Random picture posting

Ah...good times!

Thistles vs. Violent Femmes

It's always tough to lose but it's doubly tough to lose to opponents that you respect and on occasion play with and folks that you call friends cause ultimately you want their respect and admiration and even though someone left our team because you know we weren't good enough, well in the end we would of course beat you and you would so regret leaving our team.

Wow where did THAT come from? Anyways - it was a great match and yes hard to lose again to Kelsey's crew. But you know after a long hot shower and some time to reflect - did anyone notice that they were long gone meanwhile the Thistles stayed and talked about Europe and new shoes and our children and well quaffed a beer or two and thoroughly enjoyed the evening - it's like our little club up there at LC isn't it. FC Thistles club house - definitely worth the money we pay.

It was thrilling to have Andrea and Mary back - and I mean this in the most wholesome of ways but Mary and A - you complete us... (ahem.... think movies). And we definitely missed our out of action Thistles - can't wait to have everyone back.

Tina was again amazing - and her goal was another beauty - it's too late in the evening for me to know how many games in a row Tina has scored - let me just say Tina you amaze me every time you take the field. I consider myself lucky to play with an athlete of your caliber. (This post is not an attempt to appease Lucy - really it's not - I mean she can't read yet right?).

But everyone played great - there was some stuff there in the first half that just blows my mind - some of our best soccer of the year no doubt. Passing and connections on the field that most teams only dream about.

Claudine - you have been a great addition - not only with your skill which has been tremendous - but we love your spirit and energy and of course the fact that you brought beers to your second game! But you had some great moves tonight and I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful Thistle friendship.

Laurie - you played great - adjusting and marking and clearing as you needed to - it was not an easy game to be a sweeper and I really appreciate knowing you've got our backs so to speak.

It's late and I should post this... thanks all for another terrific evening of soccer!.... and friendship!... and fun!

New and Improved Bathroom

And my new bathroom! Circa 2007!

Vintage Bathroom

Vintage? Well that is one way to put it... vintage if all you have is Allman Brothers in your 8 track!

Me Mum in Kew, England

Happy Birthday Mom!

Sweet Nectar of the Gods

This morning my friend brought me a latte, and as she placed this steaming cup in front of me – my sleepy eyes looked up in utter gratefulness and I said “Ah the sweet nectar of the gods.” Which got me to thinking what actually is the nectar of the gods?

According to several on-line sources nectar, along with ambrosia, is the drink and food of the gods. In ancient Greece if you were lucky enough to consume either ambrosia or nectar you were then gifted with immortality (come to think of it, after one or two latte’s I DO feel immortal!).

The Greek king Tantalus tried to steal some nectar from the Gods and bring it to his people (how come George doesn’t do this for us?). Sadly he got caught and Tantalus' punishment was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. He remained eternally thirsty and hungry. This is why Tantalus started Starbucks. This is also why latte’s are often so tantalizing – get it?

So what exactly is the sweet nectar of the gods? Wine, beer, honey, maybe a 32 ounce grape Slurpee?

At 6:30 am on a Monday it is always a double non-fat latte with one Splenda thank you very much! Oh and thanks Janice!

PS – If this interests you there is a mixed drink called the “Nectar of the Gods” that contains vodka, coffee liquor and iced tea (????).

 

 

Hot Greek Nights and Neil

Ok don’t make fun but I love Neil Diamond and from Neil, I especially love his album Hot August Night (really Neil just one hot night?) and from Night, I especially love Song Sung Blue. Why oh why are you so afflicted you may ask? Because when I was 13 I sailed around the Mediterranean with my grandparents, my aunt and two cousins. One longish stop was on the Greek island of Mykonos. In 1976, Mykonos was just another white washed, windmill bespectacled Greek island and not the trendy hot spot it is today.

In 1976, there were two maybe three late night bars/discos in Mykonos. And at that time no other island we had been to had a late night bar or even a disco or anything remotely exotic or fun to a country girl of 13, so this was pretty much the apex of the trip.

We returned night after night (and during the day as well) to the same bar which was run by one of the few English speaking Greeks on the island. Demetri loved Americans and had been to America only a few months before our visit to Mykonos. He returned with an armful of English words and tucked under his arm – “Hot August Night – Neil Diamond Live at the Greek Theater.”

The whole time we were in Mykonos, nothing else was allowed to be played in Demetri’s bar. Our visits there as I can best recall them were Demetri serving me endless free cokes so he could freely flirt with my 18 year old cousin L. or alternatively, my aunt buying me endless cokes so she could freely flirt with Demetri. And me, a shy 13 year old, sat in the corner and daydreamed of handsome Greek bartenders.

Demetri loved entertaining the women and tending bar, that was until Song Sung Blue would find its turn in the Hot August Night playlist. Everything in the bar came to a standstill while Demetri and Neil sang Song Sung Blue as if the very democratic independence of Greece (see the Junta Dictatorship of Greece 1968-1976) was dependent on it. And after our fourth or fifth visit we found ourselves belting “Song Sung Blue, weeping like a willow...” along with Dimitri.

So pardon me if I, in the privacy of my own home, am sometimes inclined to throw Neil on the CD player and dream of Hot Greek Nights in August. Did I mention Sweet Caroline….

December Running - better than November!

After some crazy weather and one of the rainiest Novembers on record for Portland – we had a beautiful day yesterday. What a difference December makes! (I never thought I would utter that sentence!) For the first time since September and our 21 miler – Janice and I ran Leif Erickson today. What a beautiful place and a great spot for running. Leif runs along the slopes of Forest Park and the West Hills of Portland. It’s a north south route with a gradual uphill as it runs along the eastern side of the hills. And the best part – no cars, no interruptions, just a long, long trail in the middle of this great park.

It’s a very popular place to run and bike and it’s wide enough to accommodate all without feeling crowded. On the run up to the Portland Marathon there were quite a few training groups getting their 18 and 20 milers in. It’s a perfect place for training since there are mile markers every ¼ mile. This is really nice until you are on the backside of a 20 miler and you start ticking off the ¼ miles….. 3 ½ miles to go…. 3 ¼ miles to go….and you are pretty sure you will not finish.

Last year when we started marathon training – our first run on Leif was one of the coldest days of the year. In the low 20’s when we started – every stream and waterfall was frozen over. What a sight - water suspended, frozen in time and space.

Throughout the year and in prep for the marathon we saw the seasons come and go. Winter, cold and leafless, Spring, with the fresh blooms and the varied bird calls, Summer – the shade a nice relief from the heat. But we had missed Fall. Today was our last shot and although there is just a trace of Fall left – it was really nice to be back there.

It did bring back some frightening memories of gutting out long runs. Today we just did 10 which was perfect. An Achilles tendon problem that had bothered me for a week or so was not so bad and the whole run felt good. Inspiring in fact after two weeks of struggling through runs. And after, we had a long talk with Mary about a Spring marathon. It’ll be nice to have something to shoot for again.

The Thing About a Marathon

There is a certain someone in our lives that I think has let the idea of a marathon slide from the “No way in H*$$ I’ll ever do that” to “I’m pretty darn sure I will never ever do that.” And let me just say – “Baby steps, my friend, baby steps.”

The thing about a marathon is that anyone can do one. No matter how many excuses you may have – and I am sure they are all good ones – the real truth of it is that anyone can do one. But once you commit, even ever so slightly, you do have to deal with the fact that you may not finish. And I suspect that is why so many people don’t even try. Fear of failure.

OK so I am not convincing anyone to run out and get started but here is the truth about things we think are too difficult:

“A League of Their Own”
Dottie Hinson: It just got too hard.
Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.

And that’s the thing about marathons – it may be the hardest thing you do and it could also be the greatest thing you do. You just have to take that chance.

In light of that little pep talk – I’m in the doldrums – yep no wind in my sails – I am stalled out in the middle of the ocean – no wind to move me forward, no wind to move me back. Just sitting here listening to the water lap against the side of the boat Even the seagulls mock me.

I’m chugging out my weekday runs but it’s not clicking. So it might seem odd to you that I’m thinking about doing another marathon. The thing is – I have the pictures and I vaguely remember the finish line but I am pretty sure that in fact I didn’t actually run 26.2 miles.

 

The Marathon - Part 2

Part 2

Marathon Day quickly approached. In hindsight the toughest part for me (besides miles 23-25) was the taper. 3 weeks of s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. It was really tough mentally and I was antsy and nervous. Plus in the final week or so I was eating like a Sumo wrestler so I was nervous that I was gaining too much weight.

Alas race day approached. My family was here – bless you Toni, Phil and Lorraine – we had made all our plans….kind of. I read and re-read all the material I could on race day prep. We knew what we were going to wear, we knew what we were going to eat (Clif Shot Blocks) and we knew this was not the time to try anything new.

I went over my check list:

Taper for 3 weeks – check; eat like a ton of food – check; get nervous – get really, really nervous – check; wash and iron race out fit – check; crack jokes about possibly not finishing just to prep everyone for possible failure – check; pick up packet with chip and bib – check; lose 1 safety pin so bib will be improperly pinned – check; go to bed early – check; wake up every 15 minutes and obsess about missing 4th pin – check.

I did manage to get some sleep but up and at ‘em at 4:30 am. Take a shower, have a sip of tea, eat a Clif Shot Block. My last good luck hugs from Mom and Lorraine and off I go to convene at Janice’s.

Mary had graciously offered to take us down and she planned to start and finish with us. It was so important and wonderful to have her there. I can’t say enough about her support and graciousness down the stretch in the face of her own injury. Mary’s greatest gift to Janice and I were autographed greetings from Brandi Chastain. Mine says “Dreams do come true! Good Luck in the Marathon!” Now how could we not finish when we had Brandi on our side?

Back to race day – we pinned on our bibs – tied on our chips - Janice packed up 6 or so Clif Shot Blocks in a baggie and managed to get them in her shorts pocket. And down to the race start we went. We were smart to not get there too early – we slipped in with about 10 minutes to start and waited for the start gun.

To be honest, the beginning of the race is a blur. I remember bits and pieces of the course. The start is so crowded – it really is about not wearing yourself out by dodging and weaving around the masses. Janice feared I would start too fast but we seemed ok going through mile 5 when we left our fans for a spell.

The long out and back on Front Avenue (miles 6 – 11) went quickly and was made entertaining when we met and chatted with a runner from Illinois who was in town visiting his son. Go Boilermakers! Peter, Mary and the boys gave us a fuel stop at mile 10 - more Clif Shot Blocks – yum!

Miles 11- 13 through NW Portland were uneventful and then onto Highway 30. We had heard nightmares about this long straight stretch – the highway noise, the unendingness of it all, the boredom, where is the St. John’s bridge? But Janice and I had a plan – we were to each pick someone to talk about for each mile during the tough times. And all I can say is we both have very interesting and wonderful grandparents because between all of them – the next thing I knew we were on the St. John’s Bridge!

Halfway across we stopped to stretch and what a view… absolutely great. There are a lot of things I am grateful to Janice for - many, many things, and one of them was she insisted we take the time to stretch along the course and I shutter to think of miles 23- 26 if we had not done that.

Just off the bridge was mile 18 and although I still felt good I knew it was a long 8 miles to the end. This stretch along Willamette Blvd. was where a lot of our fans were going to be so my recollection of this time is scanning the crowd for our wonderful supporters, among them Sr. Lynda; Brian & Terri; Maureen and Caroline; Colleen, John, Kate and Molly; Phil, Lorraine and Toni bearing signs – and of course Peter, Mary, Christian and Michael. All of Janice’s crew ran with us at some point along the bluff and that was a wonderful gift. Michael’s humor kept us light, Christian told Janice a family story she had never heard before, Peter kept us focused and offered wonderful words of encouragement.

Peter was there when I hit the wall. It was around mile 22 ½ and as we started down the long hill on Greeley. You would think going downhill would be helpful but I was so tired I actually asked Janice if we could stop and stretch half way down. But we made it down to the next water stop where Peter left off and Mary joined in for the final 2 miles. I was really low at this point – I just wanted it to end but I didn’t want to stop – but I really didn’t want to go either.

Right then – at the base of the Steel Bridge – we saw Colleen, John, Molly and Kate. Their timing could not have been more perfect. It was so great to see them – especially Kate – it gave me renewed energy. At this point I could convince myself to just get over the bridge. And before you know it we were over the bridge and we had just a mile to go. I should add that Janice was chipper and seemed completely fresh this whole time. Of course I wanted to throttle her!

Once we were on Front I knew we would finish and although I was very tired I wanted to enjoy this last mile and I did. You know I felt like my legs were barely moving (and our time splits confirm that they were in fact – barely moving!) – but that mile went by pretty darn fast and then we hit the turn – Janice called out – “hey there is your family” – sure enough Mom, Phil and Lorraine (again with signs) were yelling and screaming.

And then the fat lady sang, we turned the corner, we raised our arms and we crossed the finish line of our first marathon!

The Saturday Run

Went for a 9 miler this morning with Janice. It was a drop dead gorgeous day and we ran the loop in downtown Portland (featured in Runners World as the Rave Run of the month with none other than Lance Armstrong as our guest runner). This loop takes you south of the city on a bike path that runs through a wetlands area so depending on the time of year you can see some really great stuff. An osprey couple return every year to nest right next to the path and it is wonderful to hear the baby Osprey cry for food in the spring. Really a unique and cool sound.

One day I was biking home from work on this same path and saw a bunch of folks with spotting scopes. Thanks to my mom I know this means one thing – rare bird sighting! So I stopped and asked what everyone was looking at. It was a shore bird that had gotten of course and had landed itself to eat and rest at Oaks Bottom. The birders were kind enough to let me have a look through the scope and he was a beauty of a bird.

Back to this morning’s run – there is still some color here and the trees along the shores of the Willamette were especially bright. I’m thinking they are alders but I would need a naturalists help with that identification. We had both had a busy week and had not run for most of the week so we went slow and it ended up being an enjoyable run.

The other lovely sighting this morning was the occasional crew team – cutting the glass-like waters of the Willamette with their sculls. No sound other than the creak of the oars, the slap of the water and the occasional shout from the captain of the boat. Lovely.

We continue to monitor the progress of the tram which for non-Portlanders is this very controversial idea to tram workers, doctors and patients (?) from the waterfront area (itself being developed) up to our research hospital at the crest of the west hills here.

The tram has been controversial, expensive and frankly an eye sore and most doubt it will be a success. Stay tuned to see how this turns out. Most OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) employees I talk to won’t ride it either out of inconvenience or simple fear of dangling hundreds of feet in the air (put me in that group). I’ll try and get a picture so you can get the idea.

So south on the east side and back north on the west side – we ran through another little development on the waterfront – a pleasant area where on a nice morning lots of people are wandering around sipping coffee, going for a row or just a nice stroll on a nice morning.

One woman yelled out at us “You have more motivation than I do!” at which I yelled back “Oh we are stopping for a latte any moment now!” Which was mostly true since we were about a mile from the finish.

A great morning, a great friend and the two of us on a great run.

Game Report - Thistles vs. Gresham United

Game report – Thistles 6 Gresham United 1. Ok on the face of it this doesn’t sound like the most exciting of games. And as our four or five fans can attest – it probably was not. But Gresham United turned out not to be the feared Ona and Kimi diumvirate – but a team of some of the matriarchs of NUWS league and amateur women’s soccer in Portland.

Ginger was playing – along with Mary Ellen – Elsie (Tiffany’s mom) and a few other gems whose names I have forgotten. And yes we beat them handily and the game was not our most challenging. But I do consider it an honor to take the field with these ladies. I am not well versed in the history of the NUWS league – Andrea could provide a lot more knowledge there – but it remains that these players have contributed so much to what is our league today and have kept it strong by playing for many years.

I believe the Thistles have also contributed a lot to the league – our longevity, our consistency, and our competitiveness in the upper echelon of the league. And when we are still playing 10 – 15 – even 20 years from now (hey if Ginger can do it – why can’t we?) – hopefully the Thistle Juniors will be as honored to play us.

Many thanks to Michele and Susan for offering to play with Gresham United and allowing us to have a competitive match. It often took 2 or 3 Thistles to slow Michele down – she was a tiger out there. Michele was all fired up after a rough playoff loss on Saturday as Wilson fell victim to some bad refereeing down in Spragueville. Sorry Michele.

Other news in Thistle related High School sports – Alex Annand was named first team all PIL! As a junior! What great news – congrats to Laurie, John and of course Alex! It probably all stems from that Luca Juniors game we played along the Canal du Midi back in ’98!

He has a playoff game tomorrow (Nov. 7 – vote and then watch!) at 4:15 at Cleveland HS. Catch the All-Star in action!

Vote Yes on Bond Measure 26-80!

Here is a fun link that maps all the states you have been to or all the countries you have visited. It’s kind of fun. Hey Andrea – play this game with Jerry! Hah!

http://www.world66.com/myworld66

The Marathon - Part 1

Recently, my good friend and fellow Thistle, Janice and I just completed our first marathon.

The little seed of an idea of actually running a marathon planted itself in my brain when I read a really nice profile of Janice in the Portland Business Journal in the Fall of 2005 (way to go Janice – she is such a stud!). Under the “Goals” part of the profile Janice said something to the effect of “my professional goals are always changing as I think it is important to always be improving” (she of course put it much more eloquently than I have). “Oh and I sure would like to do a marathon someday.”

WHAT!?!!! A MARATHON?!!! Actually I already knew this because at one time, when I lived closer to Janice, we often ran together and I will admit she had mentioned the marathon thing one or two times before. But I had always resisted, absolutely sure in my mind that I would never want to do such a crazy thing.

But there I was many years later – more mature and maybe a little wiser or maybe not that wise at all - and that marathon idea brewed.

Brew, brew, brew it did - it brewed while I went on holiday with my mom to Ireland – it brewed when I returned and started a new job – and it especially brewed when that new job entailed seeing Janice every day. Every day I was reminded that the idea, the thought, was just……out…….there.

And then one fateful day I did it – the words just slipped out of my mouth…..

“So Janice are you serious about this marathon thing – cause I think we should do it.”

And not one week later we were registered for the 2006 Portland Marathon.

The training was awesome. I should add we were quickly joined in the marathon quest by Janice’s running partner Mary. (When I say quickly – I don’t think Janice had finished this sentence, “Say Mary have you ever thought about doing a …” and Mary had already registered!)

We did our own thing on the weekdays and then one long run together on Saturday morning. We started January 21 with a slow 7 miler. The idea was to add a mile to the long run every other week until we got up to 20 miles. We would do a 20 once maybe twice and then we hoped, we prayed, that we would be ready for 26.2 long agonizing miles.

Mary and I absolutely embraced it all – we bought books, we read magazines, we consulted web sites, we talked to other runners – we got intense all over this stuff. I won’t say Janice didn’t do a little of this – but I am not sure she embraced the anxiety of this marathon thing as fully as Mary and I did.

But the once a week long run ritual was really incredible. Between the three of us we always had something to talk about. Kids, work, life, vacations, anxiety, books, friends, old friends, new friends, family trouble and family good times….it was a great joy to find out more about these two incredible people. And along the way whether we ran along the waterfront or up in the woods, we watched the seasons slowly change. From freezing waterfalls to the first day that we saw the blooming trilliums. From the starkness of bare leafless trees to the sounds of the young Osprey calling for food.

Sadly in August, Mary developed a nagging pain in her knee after a tough Leif Erickson run. After rest, therapy and many attempts to get back on the road, it became apparent that Mary would not be able to do the marathon in the fall. A sad day for the three marathon amigas.

Janice and I carried forth and as the runs got longer the stories got better. It is hard for me to describe the camaraderie that developed during this training time. These were long runs – at least for me – at distances I had never gone before. Your body is – for lack of better words – freaked out!! But what was great – was that whenever one of us hit a particularly tough moment, there was someone there to tell a story, pass along a little encouragement, offer some water or even tell a joke – and when there was silence – it was an acknowledgement that we were both very tired, weak and sore and unsure if we could get to the run’s end. But it was also an acknowledgement that we were in this together. And when we did finish (and we always did) we could gleefully say “hey that is the longest we have ever run.” I can’t say it enough – this was a really great time for me.

Our worst day though was a 21 miler – which ended up being our longest training run. We had both not eaten well the night before and when we finished we hit the wall – well maybe not the wall – but a wall. It was painful and uncomfortable and in a way that sports had never been like for me before.

To be continued....