24 July 2017 Seattle, Washington

Doing today's post today, for a change… or at least for today. Or at least so far. I still have to hit "publish" after all.

We got up early this morning (6am) so we could go running before the death ray in the sky made it too hot. Made breakfast (I am one of those people who cannot function in any way without breakfast. And I definitely can't exercise because I just end up feeling like I'm going to barf… or maybe I actually do barf… I'll keep that information to myself, just so there's still some mystery about me), got dressed, etc. and headed out to run. This morning, things felt pretty good (as good as can be expected when running anyway) when we started out. I had my mental image of the tow line pulling me towards the 3 mile marker. Breathing felt good, legs felt good (sometimes they feel heavy and/or tight, which sucks). And I was scheming in my head about going a little further today, like maybe to 3.5 miles. But… I don't like to jinx stuff, so I kept my mouth shut (not literally… I basically am a mouth breathing runner most of the time, or I feel like I'm suffocating) until we were at the "1 mile to go" marker and Husband asked "how you doin'?" And I said "great… you wanna try for 3.5?" And he agreed. And as we approached the finish line, Husband said, "I'm running until Strava says 3.5 miles, not to the mile marker sign." Sometimes the two things don't line up. So I said, "obviously." And we made it. And I felt great at the finish.

This makes it sound so easy. The run was not easy, but it was good. And fairly cool, but I do realize how much the death ray in the sky affects my performance. When we're running in the sunny bits (usually the second mile is the worst) I tend to feel hotter and more tired and I start to wonder if I'm going to make it. But then I tell myself inspirational stuff like "mind over matter" and "keep your feet moving" and "relax" and "look! shade!" and I seem to make it through. So… anyways, the run was good. Hours later, I'm still high off the endolphins and I feel like I accomplished something and am improving. Yeeessss!

During the run, I was thinking about the blog and writing and stuff like that. And honestly, life is a little bit in limbo at the moment, so there's not always much to write about that's actually interesting, so I thought maybe I'd take a step back in time and check on what we were doing 1 or 2 years ago on this day (quite frankly, I'm not sure this will be interesting either, but… my blog). So here goes:

1 year ago

A year ago, we were waiting for the sale of our house to close. It was a fairly straightforward transaction because there was no inspection and there was no contingency for financing. There were those noisy birds though. They were living in the chimney. Swifts. They are cool though. Just kind of annoying after several weeks/months of them screaming at mom for more food. Anyway, I digress… we were waiting for the house to close. And by "waiting" I mean, "getting rid of most of our stuff" and packing and storing the rest. We had pretty good luck selling stuff to our friends. The "public" garage sale was a waste of time and energy and just annoyed me.

Every once in a while, Husband and I check in with each other to see if we miss this or that thing and/or house. So far, we don't really miss anything we've sold or given up, except this one IKEA shelving unit that was in our bedroom. It's really silly. And I'm sure we can buy it again, but I kind of missed it right away and we were both thinking about it the other day, which is weird. So there's one totally replaceable thing that we both miss. I guess a trip to IKEA is in our future!

A year later and I'm glad all that purging is over and our stuff fits either on our backs or in a small storage unit. I don't miss the house at all. I feel lighter and more mobile.

A funny thing that happened on this day exactly a year ago was that I was looking to see if our credit union had safe deposit boxes because we were going to close the one we had with our mortgage lender, since that wasn't a thing anymore. Anyway, so I was pretty sure they didn't have any nearby, in fact, they only have them in three locations in Oregon. But the kicker is that one of those locations was Oakridge, Oregon. This is probably a place you've never heard of. And the only reason I've heard of it (and been there) is because they have this great English-style pub with real cask ales. It's really awesome — if you have the chance, you should go there. But this town is really tiny. It's like one road with maybe three businesses (one of which is the credit union). The first time we went there, I noticed it and I was a bit surprised to see a branch (and kind of there are two branches, but one is just an ATM or something) in this tiny place. And I was even more shocked to find out that they have safe deposit boxes at this branch in this tiny town. And not so much that they have them… of course that would be a thing… but because they don't have them in any of the bigger cities in Washington state. What gives? I think I should write a letter. I did once ask a teller at my local branch and she didn't even know where Oakridge was, so that didn't exactly go well.

2 years ago

I don't know. I don't have any pictures from this day 2 years ago. I suspect that we walked around Seattle somewhere, but I am not sure. I do know I had 17K steps that day. AhHA! After consulting another data source, I figured out what we did. We went to Seattle to have dinner with some friends at Osteria La Spiga. We parked far away and walked around Capital Hill that day. And I probably showed Husband our old house and we fantasized about being able to afford a cute little bungalow in this area.

Present Day

Husband wanted to visit our favorite grocery store in Woodinville (Haggen) because they have some things we can't find anywhere else. So we took the bus. Why is it that there are countless blogs shaming passengers on airplanes who take their socks off, but nothing that pops up on my Facebook with regard to riding the bus. Because every single time we ride the bus, there's something that happens that would totally pop up on one of those airplane blogs. For instance, when we were riding the bus back from Seattle the other day, this lady got on the bus and proceeded to kind of lay back on the bench of seats she was sitting on to take selfies. And today, this character got on the bus and told the driver that her smartphone didn't show the bus coming. So he was like "yeah, ok, you getting on or what?" And then several stops later, she asked the driver "where does the bus go anyway?" And then I couldn't help but wonder if she was too dumb for her smartphone. And then there was this grungy couple on the first bus today and he was snacking on sunflower seeds and spitting the shells into a plastic bottle. I suppose I should be thankful that he wasn't spitting them on the bus floor? But gross. Just gross.

And on the subject of bare feet on an airplane… Everyone thinks this is disgusting. And I'm not necessarily in disagreement. Especially if you go to the bathroom in bare feet. Because that's really gross. But just in general (maybe not on an airplane), I'm pretty sure feet are cleaner than your hands. Especially your hands that have been touching your germ ridden mobile phone, a door handle, money, holy crap the list could go on and on. It's true that you don't wash your feet after each floor they might come in contact with, but really? You think everyone is washing their hands after paying for something in cash? I don't think so. So… anyway, I tend to agree that bare feet on a plane should be avoided… and sticking them on walls or armrests or another passenger's personal space (I use the term "personal" loosely) is kind of nasty… but so is your tray table and the armrest. Gross. I probably wouldn't even want my feet touching those surfaces! Sorry, that got a little more involved than I expected.

Bread

Let's talk about bread. Yes! Neither of us has made bread for a while (first of all, it was ridiculously hot and then we didn't have ovens in several places… also did I mention the death ray? Who wants to turn on the oven?!). Husband has diligently kept the starter (Valentino) alive through our travels, including back home!

Since we've been back, we've had some sandwiches on the road (picnics, if you will) with store bought bread. The first mini baguette type thing was too crunchy, too blah basically, so the second time we got those ciabatta rolls that were actually pretty darn good. Also I think I can make them. And it would be cool to have single serving bread rolls that can turn into sandwiches.

I started making the dough a little while ago. We're into the folding portion of the process. It all starts with the starter though. That has to be fed and active (which it was earlier and is now). Then you mix together the rest of the flour and water and just let it sit for 20-30 minutes. This is called autolyse. Something about protein in the flour and rehydrating it… words words, science science, also maybe some magic, I don't really know. After that, mix in the starter and the salt (don't forget the salt… or you get the nasty Tuscan bread that I secretly like, especially with a delicious sauce and pasta or whatever. I'll eat it always). Then I do the folds (3 times). This basically means that I take a corner of the dough (it's really wet, about 70% hydration) and stretch it out as far as it will go without tearing, then fold it back over itself… do this for all 4 corners of the dough. Then flip the dough ball over and let it rest for about 30 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat a few times until it feels right. I don't really know what that means, but it's a million times better than kneading dough, so I do it 3 times and call it a day. If it doesn't hold together at all, I might do it 4 times. After the folding is done, you just cover it and let it sit (ferment) for some amount of time. I don't know yet what's right and best and all of that. There are a lot of variables like temperature, humidity, time, and whatever else. Probably the strength of the starter or the yeast. Anyway, it's supposed to triple in volume. I'll probably let this dough ferment overnight. Tomorrow morning, the plan (and the plan doesn't always work exactly as planned), I will take the dough and gently flip it onto a well floured surface and divide it into 8 pieces. I will carefully put these guys on a sheet pan and let them proof while we go running (which could very well be too long, but maybe the room will be chilly in the morning?). I will then bake them. And hopefully they won't suck and we can have delicious homemade sandwich rolls for lunch tomorrow.

Food and Activity

 

Breakfast

You know the drill. Serial breakfast monogamist. Calories: 413 (lower because I switched to 1% milk).

Lunch

Spicy chicken tender sandwich on a ciabatta roll topped with broccoli slaw. Calories: 482

OMG this was good!!! Will make again. Sorry for no pic. I forgot. Also, what if it was horrible, never to be consumed again?

Afternoon Snack

Popcorn. Calories: 100

Dinner

Pork tenderloin in the same marinade as last night (soy sauce, honey, mirin, garlic) with thai basil (we found it at the local market, go figure) and veggies. As of this writing, the veggies are mushrooms, eggplant, and broccoli. I think. Will update with more info later. Maybe even a photo! You never know. Update: delicious. And no picture. Calories: 556

Total Calories: 1551

Steps: 23101