Power Up the Tower

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Five minutes, two seconds. That's how long it took me to run 30 flights of stairs (618 steps) Saturday morning for the 2013 Climb Ms: Power Up the Tower race at Winston Tower in downtown Winston-Salem. 

Let me say this about the race: "Ow." 

Team Erica captain Ron BookerFive minutes isn't very long, unless your thighs are screaming at you, your calf muscles hate you and by level 11 you feel like you've been hit with a lifelong smoker's cough. (The dreaded "dry lung" that occurs when running in a low-humidity environment like a stairwell.)

For all that, this was a FUN race. Climbers started in the basement level of the parking garage of the tower and then charged up the stairs to the finish line on the 26th floor.

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The Taiwanese Love Me

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It's like Christmas all over again.

Yesterday I arrived home to find a box full of books from my publisher (Ten Speed Press/Random House). The cool part? The books were all the foreign editions of Who Moved My Mouse? A Self-Help Book For Cats (Who Don't Need Any Help). Just for the record, seeing what the words you wrote look like translated into another lanugage is a hoot. I'm loving the look of my author profile in what I think is Chinese? The only big one still missing is Russia. Must track down the Russian version of my book! 

I'm going to go curl up with a Taiwanese dictionary and work my way through some cat humor.

Cheers,

Dena

Reprimanded

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You're never too old to feel like a five-year-old busted for writing in crayon on the walls. 

Yesterday I had an annual physical. Everything checked out fine. My doctor flipped through my chart and looked up. 

"You're still taking Vitamin D supplements since we got you back on track from your deficiency?" 

"Oh. Those. Right. Ah, no. I'm not actually taking those." 

He removed his glasses to stare at me. "And why is that?"

I shrugged. "I'm just not good about taking pills." I smiled my best "I'm going-to-charm-my-way-out-of-this" smile.

He was having none of it. His pen made an angry tapping sound on the chart. "And the calcium supplement?"

"Um... no. I'm not taking that either."

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Dena As Swedish Chef

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Driving in to look at homes today, Blair and I discussed what's essential and what's not. 

"You know," I said. "I need to get over this fetish I have for huge, gourmet kitchens. It's not like I'm that great a cook."

"You're a passionate cook," said Blair.

"Define passionate," I challenged.

"Messy," said Blair. "Remember the Swedish Chef from the muppets? Your style of cooking bears more then a passing resemblance to his."

"Rude!" I said, laughing. 

Rude, yes. But sadly, true. Enjoy.