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Su pointed out that I had not blogged in a while so the task fell to me today.  I think that F words make a lovely theme for my first blog post in nearly two months.

Fathers! – First off Happy Fathers Day to both of our dads. Neither of us would be who we are today without the love and influence of our fathers in our lives.

Family! – We finally got Su’s work schedule settled enough to make plans for our annual July 4 trip to the midwest. Su has a customer meeting the week we were hoping to be in the midwest so we had to push it back a week.  We’ll be in Ohio/Indiana from the 3rd through the 10th. At the end of a trip I am competing in my first triathlon. With the added time constraints we will be flying this time instead of our normal driving trip. You hear that family? This means we have no trunk space to haul things back to Massachusetts!

Friends! – This was a good week for catching up with many old friends. Su was in Stanford taking some classes for the week as she did in March. While she in California she managed to see our friend Mary for some tasty German food and she also managed to have dinner with the Pitchers on Friday night before she had to head off to the airport for the redeye back to Boston.

While Su was in California cavorting and learning I was left home alone. While she was gone I saw the Hones for a trip to the local swimming pond and a cookout. On Wednesday evening I headed into Boston to have a very large serving of Redbones BBQ pork, chicken, and beef and catch up with Dan Dunn and Mike Ismert.

On Saturday morning I picked Su up after her redeye so that we could attend Carrie and Rod’s garden reception for their recent marriage. Unfortunately we were unable to get to Vegas for the pre-celebration or to Wisconsin for the wedding, so there was no way we were going to miss helping them celebrate in Newburyport. We got to catch up with friends from town while enjoying Carrie’s beautiful, blooming backyard.

Fitness! – Since running the half marathon two weeks ago Su and I have both kept up with our exercise schedules. I am currently training for my first triathlon which is now in three weeks. For the past 3 months I’ve been swimming 3x a week and taking a swim lesson every 2 weeks to work on my form. I feel so much more comfortable in the water. Last Sunday I did my first open water swim with Brian Hone playing lifeguard. Open water swimming in a cool, semi-murky pond is certainly different than in the lap pool at the Y. The biggest issue I had was the swim cap, actually. It was very disorienting to have the cap covering my ears so I mostly swam without it. Once I took it off I was very comfortable in the water and had a great swim. I think with a few more trips to the pond I’ll be ready for the race.

I’ve been somewhat neglecting my bike riding because of concentrating of running (for the half marathon) and swimming (for not drowning). This week I managed to sneak in two very nice rides. On Wednesday I put my bike in the car and headed to Kittery, Maine for a nice ride up the coast to Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine. The ride ended up being 25 miles roundtrip on rolling coastal hills. At the lighthouse I stopped for a lobster roll and root beer before heading back to the car.

I’ve managed to keep losing weight at a nice steady pace. This past week my weight loss has accelerated which I’m not complaining too much about. I’ve actually been eating more food than before I started losing weight but I’m exercising so much more the weight is coming off. As of today I’m at 205 down from a peak of 225 this winter.  I’m aiming for roughly 185 so I’m about halfway there, yay!

Su managed to keep up on her running this week in California as well. She ran several 6 to 8 mile runs up into the Los Altos Hills which certainly was different scenery and terrain than we have in New England. When she got back on Saturday we managed to work in a 12 mile run in to Plum Island and around the local farms. Depending on how the running goes this summer we may attempt to run a marathon again in October. It’s been 9 years since our last marathon so it seems like maybe it’s time to run another.

Food! – In addition to the aforementioned German food and Redbones, this week was the first week of our vegetable share from our CSA at Arrowhead Farm. We received 7 bunches of lettuce and had our choice of four additional vegetables. We picked beets, scallions, red swiss chard, and radishes. Su was happy to pass on the ‘pick-ur-own’ peas. We made a salad with our veges last night and have some ideas for what to do with most of the rest. We do need suggestions for what to do with that much lettuce. If anyone has any suggestions, we’d be glad to hear them.

Fresh salad

Fenway! – We’ll be there today (if the weather cooperates) seeing the Red Sox play the Braves.

Fun! – Everything in this post has been fun. I just wanted to use one more F word before being Finished!

The past month has marked several special events in our volunteer activities.  We were reminded why it’s so rewarding to be involved in our community and to support these non-profit organizations.

Brian attended the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center Volunteer Appreciation event, and received the Ellie Crestin award for his service.  He is even quoted in the newspaper article.  He’s been going to court to provide support to clients seeking restraining orders, has been on call off-hours, and started volunteering in the office as well.

WILG held its annual meeting on Monday.  WILG students continue to need advice and support in their activities, so the Corporation Board is lucky to have such dedicated and knowledgable alumnae who give their time.  We went out for ice cream to catch up with one another after the business of the meeting – I noted what amazingly bright, talented, insightful and diverse women choose to stay involved in WILG.

The AILG held its annual meeting this week – a well-attended event that featured dinner at the Faculty Club and speaker Jim Champy.  I had the honor of sitting with Mr. Champy, Professor Rafael Reif (MIT Provost), Professor Paul Lagace, two members of the AILG board, and the student leaders of the LGC and IFC.   Of course we talked about the FSILGs at MIT, but also about shared stories about what it was like to be a freshman at MIT (a common bond across the years), why we came to the Institute, and how the Red Sox would really do this year.  It was a festive and enlightening occasion as well, making me proud to be part of the activities and heritage of the group.

We don’t volunteer for the recognition or social events, but it did give us an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and reflect on how and why we spend our time.

We ran the Covered Bridges Half Marathon this weekend in Woodstock, Vermont.  We stayed at the Lincoln Inn, with a friendly innkeeper and delicious Asian Fusion restaurant (Mangowood) for dinner.  The area was scenic and quaint, made even more enjoyable by our knowledgeable and fun friend Heather, who went to Law School nearby and joined us for the weekend.

Our goal was to break 2 hours.  The day’s weather report promised a cool sunny morning.  One hiccup – we thought the race started a bit earlier than the actual 10:15 start, so it was warmer than expected.  Despite the higher temps, we still ran a solid and enjoyable race.  As Brian commented while logging our splits, he is the “pacehorse” for my somewhat overly enthusiastic early race adrenaline.  Here’s the run-down.

mile 1: 9:01 (congested start – we suggest that the race organizers should “bin” the start instead of allowing walkers mixed in with the front of the pack.  It was hard to pass the bunched up hoardes even with a “chip time” start delay of ~ 1 min until we reached the starting line)

mile 2: 8:38 (note the beginning of the trend)

mile 3: 8:37 (steady pace as we enter Woodstock – the frontrunners were coming out of Woodstock over a mile ahead of us)

mile 4: 8:38 (loop around town – same pace)

mile 5: 8:33 (start down River Road, soft gravel surface with some shade)

mile 6: 8:31 (keep going along the river)

mile 7: 8:15 (we were inspired by the band playing “Good Lovin'” – it’s hard not to run faster when you’re doing jazz hands – and also we’d had our first electrolytes kick in)

mile 8: 9:02 (water break then steep uphill!)

mile 9: 8:30 (start the downhill slide to the finish)

mile 10: 8:38 (there it is again!)

mile 11: 8:31 (feeling good!)

mile 12: 8:48 (time to put it into cruise control!)

mile 13+ : 9:30 (considering this was 1.1 miles and we stopped for a 15 second shoelace tie, that makes it – you guessed it! – 8:38 pace)

total: 1:53:10 official “chip time” – search for Judd or Woodmansee, we’re right together in the race results.

We also want to give a shout out to our friend Sarah Sheldon who ran her first 5K race this weekend, and to my sister-in-law Sarah who won her softball tourney this weekend.  It is even more fun to know our friends are getting out during the weekend, being active and seeing the fruits of our training!

Like many who had Memorial Day off work, I made use of the holiday weekend to work in the yard.  The window boxes got a fresh coat of paint and their 2009 cargo, courtesy of the Arrowhead Farm and Tendercrop Farm.

window boxes 2009

Painting was more of an adventure than you might expect.  First, a minor mishap occurred when I was getting ready to paint.  I shook the can to mix the paint.  Unfortunately the lid was not well sealed.  Red paint sloshed on my shoes and the garage floor – luckily not on the rest of me nor on my car.  Brian, responding to my hollers from the garage,  grabbed a bunch of rags so I could clean up.  If you visit us, don’t worry about what died in the garage doorway – it was just my clumsiness and very messy bright paint.  Second, I decided to paint the window boxes without taking them off.  I was careful and managed to avoid splattering the house.  I had another mental lapse in painting without checking the forecast.  After I finished, I discovered thunderstorms were expected that night.  I imagined red paint streaking down the green siding at 3am when the sky opened and thunder clapped.  Again I was fortunate and the paint did not run; it had dried sufficiently well in the 12 hours before the rain began.  I asked Brian why he let me bumble through such a simple task without pointing out my imminent (and avoidable) pitfalls, and he noted that it was good for me to remember how long these “little chores” take and what can go wrong.  Point taken.  No permanent damage and fresh memories that painting is tedious.

In addition to sprucing up the front, I also got sets for the garden.  I was allowed to do whatever I wanted, which meant we have a new strawberry patch, tomatoes, eggplant and hot peppers.  I planted some snap dragons around the lilac and some cosmos and asters for the back fenceline to fill in the bare patches.  Last year I tried tomatoes there, but it didn’t get enough sun.  This year we have pink, white and purple flowers until we decide what fast-growing barrier to plant as a privacy and noise buffer to our backyard neighbors.  They aren’t loud, but we can now see one another directly each morning as we sit on our respective patios and have coffee.  Better to have a bit of colorful natural screening.

The pernnials continue to grow amazingly well.  The lilac and bleeding hearts are just now fading, the azalea has bloomed out, and the rhododendrons are going strong.  I transplanted lamb’s ear so it has room to expand in front of the lilac, and one poppy survived from last year.  I expect next week the seedum and salvia will be blooming – the buds are set and ready for a couple sunny days to open up.  The lenten rose has its first bloom, only 2 monts after expected!  As the name suggests, this plant typically is the first color in late winter, blooming about the same time that crocuses pop through the ground in March or early April.  This one took a bit longer, but I’m pleased that it is showing signs of health with one single pale pink nodding flower.  It promises to grow into a pretty ground cover in a few years.  Here is a shot of the blooming rhododendrons through our tall bee balm, bushy black-eyed Susans, purple salvia and spikey seedum.

Now you can virtually experience sitting on the swing, looking to the right side of the yard.  Have some lemonade and enjoy the warm afternoon!

Since it took 2 weeks to actually write this post, I’ll also note that we started a “pot luck” garden at church.  The new sign was installed so we could finish the planting.  Various church members dropped off plants and helped plant them.  We also spent time weeding along the driveway and the back of the church.  We pulled a whole bag of little maple trees, bamboo and various weeds encroaching through the mulch and stone.  We still need to tackle the side yard, but in the mean time we’re ready for a church picnic.  Several neighbors stopped by to complement the new sign and the fresh, neat and colorful look to the church.   It feels good to dig in the dirt and it’s satisfying to see the end result.

We’ve been making a concerted effort to improve our fitness, motivated in part by our upcoming half-marathon.  Brian decided to register for a tune-up race this weekend, and I grudgingly agreed to run too.

We arrived at the race course along with hundreds of obviously serious runners.  (The race results reflected that 90% of the finishers ahead of us were from track clubs.)  Reminding ourselves that this was a fun race for us, and not a competitive endeavor, we picked up our race packet and warmed up.  The weather was clearing with a slight breeze, a bit warmer than forecasted but still pleasant. As the gun went off to start the 12K race, the bagpipes inspired us along by playing the theme from “Chariots of Fire.”

We went out at a 8:20 pace, faster than we planned, but it felt good.  We kept it up for the second mile, crossing at 8:13, and still believing we were faster than our pack neighbors.  We settled in on a hilly 3rd mile at 8:31, which turned out to be the slowest mile of the day.  By the fifth mile, I was feeling the endorphins and having a wonderful time, and Brian was also humming along and pushing up the long ascents.  The hill training around the Artichoke Reservoir paid off as we were able to maintain an 8:24 pace, speed up for the final 300m on the track, and finish in the 1:02:27 noted in the title of the post.  We figured out afterward that this is the fastest we’ve run in at least three years.  And that’s just the start of our season!

Dan Dunn and Bailey came up to hang out and have dinner at Agave, a relaxing and enjoyable way to unwind from a racing day.  After church on Sunday, I enjoyed the Newburyport Choral Society’s concert and then we headed to Steve and Connie’s for dinner.  A wonderful weekend all around!

While Brian was working in the yard, I was visting my family.  We planted a White Oak tree at K.C. Geiger Park on Arbor Day in memory of my Grandpa .  It was a beautiful day to spend with Grandma, Mom &Dad, Rich&Sarah and many neighbors and friends in St. Marys.   During my weekend trip I enjoyed plenty of sleeping, running, relaxing, catching up with my family, making a gooseberry pie, and attending the Philharmonic’s John Williams tribute concert.

Since then it’s mainly been back to the work whirlwind for me.  Work work work, come up for air on the weekend to sleep and run.  Brian’s been logging miles in the pool and on the road during the week.  We put in a 10.1 mile run today with temps in the upper 70s, the longest and hottest yet this season, at 9:40 minute pace.  The trees and shrubs along the way are in full bloom: dogwood, crabapple, cherry, lilac, azalea, forsythia, bleeding heart.

This was the status last weekend when I did a little weeding in our backyard. The tulips have been blooming all week:

All four roses are growing:

The bleeding hearts have done well despite their transplant, and we have volunteer violets:

The perennials have doubled in size since then, and the azalea is in full bloom, but last week the lilacs were just about to bloom:

We have honeybees enjoying all the flowers and our garden is starting to sprout.  It’s been a rainy week and the plants all enjoy the sunshine between the showers, as do we!

Temperatures in the upper 60s, plenty of sun, and more good weather expected can only mean one thing. It’s yard work time again!

Earlier this week we got our email update from Arrowhead Farm CSA reminding us that the early spring shares were going out, everyone with a share could pick up a living salad bowl this weekend, and that the weather was warm enough to plant some of the earlier vegetables.  Fortunately Su and I had already purchased some seeds so we’d be ready to plant when the ground was finally ready.

This afternoon I turned over the soil in our little 50 sq. ft patch we call our garden and mixed in the first soil we’ve made from the compost bin we started two years ago.  The two of us don’t generate much in the way of trash or food waste but I still managed to get about 5 gallons of dark, rich compost to mix into the soil.  The compost and the garden itself both looked great and had a decent quantity of earthworms, so I have high hopes for this year.  After turning over the soil I planted one row of mesclun greens and one row of broccoli rabe.  The broccoli rabe is something new to try this year.  I intended to plant the peas as well, but it turns out the seeds are in Su’s car which is parked at the airport.  I’ll plant some more green and rabe as the season goes on, but I wanted to get some in the ground now.

After that I managed to rake the yard, clean out the old, dead growth from the perennial beds, and plant some more grass seed hoping to fill in some of the dirt patches we have from our yard exploits last year.  It appears that most of the perennials we chose for our flowerbeds managed to reseed judging by the growth that is appearing around the remnants of last years plants.  

On this weekend last year we were wrestling with removing the giant holly bush, moving the azalea and rhododendron, and removing the scrubby bush/tree.

Holly bush destruction last year

After it was all done I took a shot to compare how the beds look today compared to how they looked in bloom in August.  Hard to believe what happens in only 4 months.

Perennial bed and garden today

Perennial bed and garden last August

Spring is in full force in New England and its arrival has definitely increased my motivation to be productive both indoors and outdoors.  Today I was feeling a bit unmotivated after having a great workout yesterday, but my friend Mike convinced me that it was so beautiful outside that I couldn’t possibly pass it up.  I decided to go check out one of the local Essex County Greenbelt properties that I recently learned about.

I headed to Indian Hill Farm Reservation which is a 150′ hill tucked between a nice coutry road and a pond used as a local water supply.  My walk went up the hill, down to the water, along the water, and then back up the hill before taking the path back to the car.  It was quite muddy in the flat grassy parts.

The whole walk only took about a half hour but it was nice to get some fresh air and decent pictures on a gorgeous day.  The third picture didn’t come out quite as nicely as I had hoped.  From the top of the hill there is a clear view back into Newburyport about 5 miles distant.  You can see several church steeples and the new windmill in the industrial park, but in the photo the white features blended into the bright horizon.

Reservoir at Indian Hill Farm Reservation

Pumping station at reservoir

Looking toward Newburyport from hilltop

There is a lot of talk about work/life balance.  Students at WILG ask about this topic most when talking with alumni.  One very senior woman at my company told me there is no such thing – it’s all about work-life integration.   Some friends swear by outsourcing all household chores to make room for “quality time” with their family.  Women at my office, when assembled for lunch, nearly always talk about how to handle the demands of housework, raising children, relationships with spouse and family, trying to stay in shape and eat healthy foods, and maybe even finding time for oneself once in a while, in the context of progressing in their careers.

It doesn’t seem to me to be so much about a balance as it is about time management.  There are times when work will claim every waking moment – as was the case this week for me and some of my co-workers.  In those times, either you keep your fingers crossed that the rest of your life will stay under control for a few days, or you have to make tough choices about doing what it takes to pay the bills, honor commitments and rescue a troubled project in its time of need, or doing what it takes to support a child or spouse, honor other commitments, and rescue a troubled friend or family member in their time of need.  In those cases, it never seems like there is an unequivocally “right” answer, only the one you choose and how comfortable you are with the consequences you incur as a result.

It’s hard not to feel somewhat responsible when colleagues make choices that affect your friends – the blessing and curse of working with friends and spouses of friends.  That late night making the demo work isn’t just a selfless act of a co-worker giving up dinner with his family, it often also results a girlfriend having to put the kids to bed for the 4th night in a row, when she’s received bad news about her own job and hasn’t slept much herself the previous night.  I get to see both sides, which makes me human and hopefully a better boss, but also makes these choices all the more personal.

Back to time management, because that’s how I relate to the work/life balance topic.  Running on a weekday may get punted for a meeting, but skipping workouts for an entire week is unacceptable if I’m going to stay healthy and be ready to run the race in June.  Opting out of a volunteers meeting can feel irresponsible in the moment but it’s palatable if the organization is on track and I know I’ll get a chance to review the handouts.  Taking the path of higher value per time is often the driver, particularly if a specific timeslot is in contention.  Saying no is going to happen, it’s just picking when.  And again, it’s feeling comfortable with the priority I’m setting and the fact that I do have to make choices to stay sane.

What about personal relationships?  Postponing date night or catching up with a friend has its own category.  I may be tired, I may be stressed, but taking 10 minutes to catch up and receive encouragement from Brian at 2am when I fall into bed, or keeping a date for ice cream with the friend even when we’re both exhausted (hey, that’s why ice cream is magical.  The cold keeps you awake while the tasty yumminess sustains you through all the important catching up conversation) always seems to give back more than the time it takes.   And the truth is, it doesn’t take much time to show you care, in the scheme of things.  It still amazes me sometimes, but I feel it when I get a card just when I need a word of encouragement, or when someone calls me or emails just to say hi.

So, on Monday you’ll find me at Fenway Park and Friday morning I’ll be at a tree planting in Ohio.  If I prioritized getting work stuff in good shape, I’d have bowed out of at least one of these.  And sure, I’ll be working this weekend to enable me to take 2 days off in a hectic week of critical meetings and trips.  I guess it comes down to what balance means.  That tightrope-walker has to be ok tottering a bit, being comfortable with balance even when it requires a bar and a safety net and still almost falling a few times.  My comfort zone might be on a wider beam, closer to the ground, but still a path that challenges me.  Maybe that’s why yoga has been so enjoyable for me – it’s about pushing myself enough that I progress in strength and flexibility, but not so much that I cannot relax, breathe and enjoy the experience – a good analogy for life on most days.

April 5 was the Hopeful Cluster’s Lenten Cantata.  We adopted a Baptist from Amesbury and a Bass from Maine to add to our diversity of Methodists from the local area, singing Marty Parks’ “Worthy!”.  I would definitely recommend the piece for any church choir.  The arrangements were easy to learn, in good ranges for 4 parts, and worked well even with a top-heavy choir; we typically have only 4 basses and 2 tenors to try to balance 15 alto and soprano voices.  Its narration favored Revelation more than traditional Easter fare, but the music was both fun to sing and very moving.  We spanned traditional hymns, gospel choruses and Taize chants in an hour of choral music.  I had the honor of opening the piece with a short solo, echoing the song of the seraphim.  The concert went extremely well and was an appropriate kickoff to a meaningful Holy Week.