Results of Energy Fast

Last Wednesday evening I planned an energy fast. I wanted to keep all the lights off, televisions off and unplug all appliances, computers, anything that could suck energy. We began at 5pm in the dining room with our soup from Albertsons watching the sunset with everything completely off except for the furnace and refridgerator. At 6:30 we went to the bathroom and my daughter was carrying a flashlight as she is afraid of the dark. It was difficult to see. I lit several candles in the bathroom. Then I lit candles in the bedroom and kitchen. Within 15 minutes the fire alarms were all screaming in each room in the house. I franticly ran around blowing out the ten candles I had lit and opened the front door to let in some clean air. I had to turn on the lights and realized my plan had a flaw. Because we live in a brand new home that was built on June 29, 2010 and it is extremely energy efficient and because we have installed energy efficient light bulbs throughout the house and because we have installed dimmers to further reduce energy usage in the house, I feel that a complete energy fast may not be for our family. However, I will commit to turning out more lights, unplugging more appliances and turning down the furnace more often than I have been. I will commit to recycling even more diligently and consider a composter (seen at Costco for $800 yesterday).

Energy Fasting

Energy fasting is choosing an evening where you don’t use energy in your home. For example, not using any electricity for the entire evening by not turning on lights and burning candles instead. At first I thought it would never work because I have a four year old and a husband, 3 televisions, 2 computers with 2 monitors each and frankly I don’t know if I can go without my TiVo for one night.

After I installed recycle bins upstairs (in addition to the ones already in the kitchen) I noticed that I had cut the garbage in half. I understand that energy fasting only requires some simple planning. I need to prepare our dinner before dark, get out the candles and find a good book. I will post my findings after next week’s energy fast. I wonder if it's as simple as it seems?

5 Days Til Christmas

We will be celebrating Christmas in Bend!  Since we no longer have our suburban, we are wondering how we will get all the gifts over to Bend.  There is a 50” television included in the gifts and about 15 gifts under the tree that aren’t small.  We used to have a Suburban LTZ and the maximum cargo capacity was 137.4 cu.ft.  We now have a 2010 Tahoe LT with a maximum cargo capacity of 108.9 cu.ft.  What a difference 30 cubic feet can make. 

Inactive

I put my broker's license into "inactive" status. Ed had shoulder surgery and we have been taking care of him. He is 3 weeks in and has 3 weeks to go before he can use his arm again.

May 2010

We bought a house at Arbor Oaks on Springville. The house will be done on June 24, 2010. We are very excited.

It's August

I haven't been posting in a while. It's probably because nobody reads this blog. LOL!

We are moving into a new house this weekend and will stay in Portland another year.

Spring Classic

12. Gabrielle Johnston 245 38 F 1:56:21 12 0:29:48 222 1:21 0:52:38 173 1:52 191 0:30:42 210 Portland, OR

These are my results for the Spring Classic Duathlon today April 11, 2009. This is my second race of the season but my first duathlon. I had a good time. I enjoyed the race especially since it didn't rain but also because there was a wide range of participants. There were the usual wanna be pro triathletes with their P3 Carbons, Felt DA and Hed Wheels in addition to the middle of the age groupers like me, 60 to 79 year olds too and lots of first timers. I finished in the top 50% of my age group and headed straight to the Starbucks drive-thru across the street. All in all it is a good day! Where else can you pay $70 to race into a headwind at the airport while airplanes are taking off a couple hundred feet above your head?

Wife v. Husband

The dualing husband and wife will be squaring off at the "Up the Crooked River Duathlon" on May 3. Ed thinks he can beat me and I know he has forgotten how to ride a bike. The duathlon consists of a 5k run, 40k bike and a 5k run in Prineville Oregon. Good luck, Edward!

Peterson Ridge Rumble - Congratulations Ed

Congratulations Ed for running the 30k distance at the Peterson Ridge Rumble in Sisters Oregon on Sunday. He finished 30th overall at 2:48 for a 20 mile run (the race director made an error in the distance as it was supposed to be 18 miles).

You know you're an Ultrarunner if:

1. Your wife tries to introduce you to your three children and you reply "Three?"
2. You spend more time in the drug section than the food section of the local market.
3. You wonder why they don't make all running socks a dusty brown color.
4. You have more dirt on your shoes than in your garden.
5. You think that flagel and ibutrophin belong on the breakfast table.
6. You get more phone calls at 5:00 AM than at 5:00 PM.
7. You don't recognize your friends with their clothes on.
8. You have more buckles than belts.
9. You postpone your wedding because it will interfere with your training.
10. You keep mistaking your boss for Norm Klein.
11. 6am is sleeping in.
12. Your feet look better without toenails.
13. Your idea of a fun date is a 30-mile training run.
14. You're tempted to look for a bush when there's a long line for the public restroom.
15. You don't think twice about eating food you've picked up off the floor.
16. You can expound on the virtues of eating salt.
17. You develop an unnatural fear of mountain lions.
18. When you wake up without the alarm at 4AM, pop outa bed and think "lets hit the trails together".
19. When you can recite the protein grams by heart of each energy bar.
20. You don’t even LOOK for the porto-sans anymore.
21. Your ideal way to celebrate your birthday is to run at least your age in miles with some fellow crazies.
22. Your ideal way to celebrate the new year is to run as far as you can afford to with some fellow crazies.
23. Your ideal way to have fun is to run as far as you can afford to with some fellow crazies.
24. You know the location of every 7-11, public restroom, and water fountain within a 25-mile radius of your house.
25. You run marathons for speedwork.
26. You have more fanny packs and water bottles and flashlights than Imelda Marcos has shoes.
27. You visit a national park with your family and notice a thirty-mile trail connecting where you are with the place your family wants to visit next, which is a 100-mile drive away, and you think "Hmmmm".
28. Someone asks you how long your training run is going to be and you answer "seven or eight ... hours".
29. People at work think you're in a whole lot better shape than you think you are.
30. You actually are in a whole lot better shape than you think you are.
31. Your weekend runs are limited by how much time you have, not by how far you can run.
32. You always have at least one black toenail.
33. You buy economy-sized jars of Vaseline on a regular basis.
34. You tried hashing, but felt the trails were too short and easy.
35. You think of pavement as a necessary evil that connects trails.
36. You’re read this and relating to some of it.
37. You rotate your running shoes more often than you rotate your tires.
38. Your friends recognize you better dressed in shorts than in long pants.
39. You really envied Tom Hanks' long run as Forest Gump.
40. You carry money around in a ziplock bag because store clerks complained that your money's usually too sweaty.
41. Any time a plain old runner talks about her aches and pains, you can sympathize because you've already had that at least once.
42. You put more miles on your feet than on your rental car over the weekend.
43. You don't need to paint your toenails; they're already different colors.
44. You start planning the family vacation around races and vice-versa.
45. You say "Only a 100K to go."
46. When you start considering your next vacation on the merits of its ultras
47. You spend you entire paycheck on running gear, ultrabars, and entry fees.
48. You become a quasi-expert on different detergents so as to not "hurt" your tee shirts.
49. You leave work early to hit the trails
50. You wear t-shirts based on if you've had good work outs when you've worn them before.
51. Have a trail shoe collection that would make Imelda Marcos envious.

Run, Race, Run, Race, Run, Race

How do you know you're married to an ultra runner? There's 4 pair of muddy running shoes outside your front door and 2 clean pairs inside the front door.

A read an article today in Forbes magazine entitled Inside the Endurance Athlete's Mind. The article states that "many endurance athletes also have common personality traits......... These traits include persistence, endless curiosity, a lack of fear when it comes to failure and a sense of boldness."

Hmmm...

100 Runs in 100 Days - Closed Yesterday

Ed completed his 100 runs in 100 days yesterday. Out of 500 participants Ed finished top 35 in frequency, top 75 in distance and top 79 in time. Congratulations Ed... 100 runs in 100 days is a great start to the year!

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

I took the final exam on Monday for my Math 20 class. It is basically middle school math. Most of which has escaped my 38 year old mind. I got an A on the final exam and an A in the class. I guess that means I'm as smart as a fifth grader. Here is an example of a problem on the exam: Find the prime factorization of 120 using either repeated division of the Tree Method. There were several questions on finding the area of a figure, finding the volume of a figure and finding the perimeter. All in all I feel more comfortable with using math on a dialy basis and the class was well worth it. I'd like to continue the math in the fall or winter.

Biz Cards

My business cards are here. Now I can start letting people "officially" know I'm available for their real estate needs. Based on what I've read, new real estate brokers usually make their first sales to their friends and family. I don't have any friends here.. maybe two or three and my family lives in Vancouver, Washington where I am not licensed - yet. I will have my work cut out for me. I am going to work on educating myself on the buying process and becoming an expert in the contracts involved in the process. It is a buyers market and there are some fabulous opportunities for low interest mortgage rates and residential houses for sale on the market. What is really great about Vitality Home Realty is that we make a donation to a local charity on behalf of a buyer.

Snow Again in Portland???

When we moved here we were really concerned about the rain. That was a mistake, we should have been concerned about the snow. It was snowing again this morning for 3 hours. The flakes were big and fluffy. I was going to go out for a run but I'd rather not get frostbitten.

This picture is right out our front door about 45 minutes ago. It's 10:43 a.m. on Monday March 9. Where is spring?

Three Hour Cycle Marathon at Bethany Athletic Club

On Saturday I participated in a thre hour cycle marathon
at Bethany Athletic Club. Even though I don't enjoy sitting on a stationary bike for three hours, the marathon was fun. They had six different spin instructors each with their own workout and style that made it interesting and fun. Into the second hour my legs were ready to quit but I stayed for the entire three hours. http://www.bethanyathletic.com/

Tea Thyme and Lavender

I found this little second hand shop that carries mostly antiques and some gifts. The name is "Tea Thyme and Lavender." They have alot of french country antiques and the most adorable setup in her little store. Located in Beaverton Oregon on Angell Avenue and Farmington Rd. The owner makes real french pastries with lavender in them and also offers a full tea setup if you want to sit and enjoy tea time.

Gab's a Broker!

It is official! I am now licensed as a real estate broker in the State of Oregon. Because I am a new broker, I have to work under a Principal Broker for three years before I can work on my own. I will be working under Parvaneh Kalantari at Vitality Home Realty. What is really great about Vitality Home Realty is that the brokers donate 3% of their commissions to a local shelter for people who are in transition and need a place to stay. There is also a cancer nonprofit that the buyer can choose to give their donation. The buyer can write off the donation on their taxes. Vitality Home Realty is small and doing big things.

My info can be found at http://www.vitalityhomerealty.com/brokers.htm.

I finished michelle the autobiography of Michelle Obama. I enjoyed it and now I'm starting Barack's book the Audacity of Hope. He's got a couple of other books and I want to read too. I enjoy reading on the bike at the gym. I usually get 1 or 2 chapters in one workout. http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. On his website if you check out the American Recovery Act and choose your state and see how many jobs were created in your state - 44,000 in Oregon.

Peterson Ridge Rumble April 5, 2009

This photo was taken of the start of the Peterson Ridge Rumble last year - 2008. The offer 60k and 30k distances. It is held in Sister's Oregon on Sunday April 5. The course is scenic Peterson Ridge on mountain biking and hiking trails. The website states: "Mud is very likely, and snowy sections are possible." They allow dogs on the 30k. I remember the poochies looking pretty tired toward the second half of the race.

http://www.fleetfeetbend.com/rumble/index.html