A Race and a Remodel
This past Saturday Brian and I ran a 5K at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena-it was called the Ernie Van Leeuwen Memorial Run, and it was honoring Ernie, who apparently ran many marathons up until his death at age 94. Most of Brian’s marathon training group was there but we had an agreement that he would run with me. As a handicap, I made him push Ashok in the jogging stroller which slowed him down a bit and made it easier for me to keep up. I had my best 5K time yet-27:25-with the last mile coming in at 8:13. I was pretty happy. It was a small crowd but enough of one to make it difficult navigating with the stroller at the start. It didn’t help either that there was a triathlon going on at the same time (they were running/biking in the opposite direction), in addition to the people who are just out for a walk or run every weekend at the Rose Bowl. Still, I can’t complain-it was only 10 minutes from our house and a course I’m really used to running. I’m enjoying working on my 5K time, I think if I can find a flatter course, I could get an even better time eventually.
We have finally, finally, begun Phase 1 of the work on our house. Today, demolition began on the scary extra room attached to our garage. I’m thrilled to have this bonus space and I think it will eventually make a great studio/guest room but its pre-demo state will not be missed:
Glorious, isn’t it? It really has everything you could ever dream of in a scary back room-wood paneling, disgusting stained carpet, nasty ceiling tiles and even more that couldn’t fit in the frame of this picture. Add to that the lingering smell of cigarettes left behind by the previous owner (a chain smoker) and you have a little slice of paradise. We’re hoping to have this project done in a couple of weeks and then on to the rest of Phase 1-the kitchen which is when the true remodel hell will begin, I’m sure. Yeah, I can’t wait to not have a kitchen for 3-4 months-that’ll be loads of fun.
4 comments September 18th, 2007