Update

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I just finished my federal and state tax returns this morning and it's the first year ever that I've made enough money to actually have the gov't keep some of the withholding. Wow!

What else has been going on:

* I ran my first 5k on Valentine's Day. It was a toughy, they had some "die-hard hills" that we had to run (read: walk huffing and puffing) up. The trail was awesome. We got to run over grass and mud and sandy track through the woods and over a field and past little secluded ponds. It wasn't very organized... they promised chocolate and champagne afterwards but nobody got any of the latter and only a few of us snagged the chocolate. The guy presiding over the run was like "everybody hurry up and take a prize because I want to get OUT of this PARK!" hahaha (it was really cold outside). I had a blast. Running with a huge group really pushes you to try your hardest and to keep going when normally you might have taken a walking break. It was fun to talk to some of the runners afterwards, many of whom had chosen this as their first 5k also. Some were there training for the Tacoma City 1/2 marathon in April, others were training for marathons later in the year. Many of us had just barely taken up running. I'm excited for the St Patrick's Day Dash in Seattle next month!

* Bend it Like Beckham is a guilty pleasure of mine and in the special features of the dvd the director of the movie walks you through how to make aloo gobi from scratch (with her Indian momma and grandmother watching carefully, hehe). It's delicious!! Char you should totally make it with Tiffany and Dave. Who knew that a dish made with a few potatoes and cauliflower and chilis and onions could be so completely filling. In trying to find a written recipe for the dish, I stumbled across http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/ . This woman is so charming, she has recipes for everything Indian vegetarian and films herself cooking so you can be sure you're doing it right.

Kj and Kelli came over for dinner last week and I made aloo gobi with puri (this fun flat bread that puffs up with air when you put it in oil) and mango lassi.

Here are the puri... congregating...

I love all the colors in this dish, not to mention the spices.


Aloo gobi eagerly awaiting your tummy

* Yesterday Mom and I finally got up to Seattle to see Lucy's bones. You know, the Lucy. They had this whole exhibit on the history and culture of Ethiopia finally leading up to the vigilant security guard and the glass-covered viewbox of Lucy's actual bones found in the 70's. She was so tiny, only 3'8" as a fully mature adult. There were five or so vertebrae, quite a few pieces of the ribs (I was a little surprised by that because, at least with dino bones, ribs are so easy to break and the pieces being as small as they are, could easily have been transported away from the site), the lower mandible, a few pieces of the skull, almost a complete ulna and radius, most of a femur, a few toe bones and other leg bones.

There was a mural depicting the succession of potential human relatives and/or ancestors through time as they must have lived in jungle and grassland. It was surreal thinking about how far removed we are as a species from our ancestors of the past. They lived with lions and coyotes and wolves and hippos, drank from the same waters as these creatures, hunted and protected themselves with pointed sticks.. lived in trees. Today you know, I see a lynx in the backyard and am stunned that there are still wild animals living all around us that we never, ever see. Anyway, it was a privilege to see her bones and the exhibit. Afterwards, we rode up to the near-top of the Space Needle. It was a beautiful blue-sky day yesterday but veeery windy so we didn't stay outside for long but I got a few pictures:

If you try, you risk failure. If you don't, you ensure it.

Nikki