What Can't Be Explained

I'm having a little "poltergeist" /Stephen King moment. This morning I walked into the exercise room as I do every morning. I grabbed my running clothes from the dresser. Fine. Get the clothes, get dressed, drink a cup of coffee and eat some toast. Thirty minutes later I return to the room to get my shoes. And there, lying on the carpet in front of the door, is my runner's knee band.

A little history. The runner's band is a padded black band that velcros around the knee and offers stability and support to the kneecap. I bought a band last year when my left knee was giving me trouble. The knee flared up again this spring and I spent weeks looking for my band. I keep a tidy house so there were a limited number of places where it could be. I looked in all of them. Nothing. Not in my gym bag, not in the dresser where I keep my workout clothes, not in the bin on top of the dresser where I keep my i-pod. I even searched other closets and drawers and never could find the band.

I was slightly irritated, as I'd paid $20 or something for it and it just didn't seem logical that it would disappear. But after intense searching, I figured it had droppped out of my bag or car somewhere along the way and was gone. The knee patched itself up, so no worries.

On Monday of this week, I wasn't feeling well so I did a quick indoor run on the treadmill. My knee started hurting again and has throbbed all week, making me wish I had my band.

Then this morning... ta-dah! I came back into the exercise room and the band is practically sitting in the middle of the floor! Where did it come from? How did it get there? I have retraced my steps. I was in that room yesterday stretching out, which would have put me right by the door, and nothing was there. I didn't take anything in there this morning, like my gym bag, which I KNOW it wasn't in anyway. It is the freakiest thing. Where in the world did this thing come from? There's no where it could have dropped from. Even if it somehow came from the dresser, it seems unlikely it would land by the door.

So there's my ghost story for the month of October. Weird, huh?

Co-workers cake

Yesterday was a good day. I came home from my track workout (which kicked my butt, thank you very much) and sitting on the counter wrapped in plastic wrap was... cake.

"Where did this come from?" I asked Blair.

"Bosses day," he replied.

I gasped and put a hand to my throat. "Does this mean that this is A-----'s" cake?" I asked.

"A" is a woman who works with Blair who gets my vote for best baker on the planet. I live for the holidays when she makes a baked goods goodie basket for everyone she works with.  One year she left out the peanut butter balls, which are my favorite, and I told Blair to tell  her she was going to be fired if some peanut balls didn't show up on his desk, pronto. Needless to say, he ignored me. But I later told A what I'd said and the next year she sent home this huge batch of peanut butter balls with Blair, just for me.  She's fun that way.

So last night I had a piece of pound cake that was to die for. Super-moist, hint of coconut, .... one bite probably gained me back every calorie I'd lost running but who cares? So worth it...

The problem is that I'm alone today in the house with the cake. "I'd like some cake tonight when I get home so don't eat it all, okay?" said Blair.

"I make no promises," was my reply.

I think I need to chain myself to my desk. It's only 7:15 am and I can feel my willpower breaking. Cake... coffee... YUM.

Blair better get home from work early tonight. It's his only hope.

Picture of My Running Group

 

This is my beloved Off-N-Running group. Or most of them. A few were out of town or hadn't yet signed in. This is a  group photo taken before the start of Saturday's Cannonball Run 1/2 marathon. I mentioned I ran most of the race with three people. That would be Pam on the far left (in the snazzy blue outfit), Louie standing next to her in the red jacket, and Jennifer, who is crouched below me in the black shirt.

We only have a few more weeks of formal training together. There is talk of all of us still continuing to meet and run together and I really hope we do. It's amazing how quickly I've become attached to a group of people I never laid eyes on only months before. And hurray for Amanda (crouched in the pink and white jacket) for having someone take this group photo of all of us.

I love my running partners!

Stomach Bug & Halloween

Got hit with stomach cramps, aches, and chills last night about 7 pm. Went to bed about 8 o'clock and slept through the night. Feeling much better today, if still a bit crampy.  Can't afford to be sick. Big project due on Wednesday and meetings tomorrow and Wednesday morning.

Blair and I are debating Halloween costumes. For anyone new to the blog, Halloween is a big deal in the Harris household. We've hauled in sand to create a beach for  Pirates of the Caribbean theme, built Snoopy's doghouse and created a mini Charlie Brown/Linus pumpkin patch, had a working replica of a Frankenstein monster that sat up every time a child approached it... good stuff.

Looks like we're going with a Harry Potter theme this year. Blair will be Dumbledore and I'll be Professor McGonagle. We'll create a wall of the castle and have a "Welcome to Hogwarts" sign.  Right now Blair is puzzling over the best way to string lights all across our walkway so they appear to float in the air, like the enchanted ceiling in the dining hall.

Next year we're thinking a headless horseman theme. Maybe build a wooden bridge that kids have to cross with a glowing, malevolent pumpkin head at the far end. I'm sure parents will love us.

Our entire block usually gets in the trick-or-treat mode. Last year our neighbors shamed us with this incredibly intricate vampire display. It was amazing. And terrifying. Our hats are off to them. Maybe we'll catch up next year with the Sleepy Hollow theme.