Hard Reset: Day Five (or: Keeping Busy)

It's been pretty drizzly, lately, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bike to Crossfit this morning- but it turned out to be nice, and so I did.  I'm pretty glad I did, too, because it proved to be an excellent warmup for today's WOD:

In Teams of 2
400m Barbell Carry (95lbs )
100x Box Jumps
2 Miles buddy airdyne- One person pedals while the other works the arms for one mile, then switch for another mile.

For the first time ever I ended up partnered with someone who was not a billion times my fitness level, so I didn't have to feel guilty about being the weak link.  In fact, I was pretty excited that she, like me, had to do "box steps" rather than jumps (I can do them, and it makes me feel like a rock star, but it wrecks my knees for the week following, and it's just not worth it) so I wouldn't be slowing anyone down.

(Of course the ironic this is that, as it turned out, two people doing box steps can go a hell of a lot faster than two people doing box jumps...)

We tried several methods of carrying the barbell:

See how we could both be on the box at the same time, for a quicker transition?

I personally felt that method #3 was the best (it's what the other teams opted for) but my partner felt uncomfortable with it that way, so in the end we went with option #1.  I was slightly taller than her, which meant that method #3 put more weight on me,  so perhaps it's for the best, anyway...

After Crossfit Nathan and I took Isis to the Farmer's Market (where we got the most succulent cherries, which paired excellently with bacon for lunch), and then out on a brief hike.  It was the first time we'd put her in her backpack for a hike, and she bore it like a champ.  We also learned that we need to be more careful about balancing her load, or the whole thing lists... ah well, live and learn!

Once we got back from that I headed out to the church to work the coffee shop for a gallery opening- although as it turned out I made all of five drinks across two hours (it was supposed to be three hours, but they took pity on me and let me go early).  When I got home Nathan had made me Czech meatballs, which pretty much rocked my world.  And now it's time for bed, so I can get up and be busy again tomorrow!

Starting Grounds

So we went to church this morning at a place we're considering making "our place", and somehow or another I ended up behind their bar (::cough cough Mama Fishie cough::) facing down a semi-automatic espresso machine (none of that super-automatic SBC business) the likes of which I had not been faced with since college.

It was really quite shocking how it all came back to me.  Ask me how much I remember from, say, my art history classes and I'll give you an embarrassingly short answer.  But apparently once one learns how to adjust a grind and/or tamp to compensate for short shot, one never forgets.  I actually ended up giving a mini-lecture on the subject of what a proper shot looks like.  And then another one on foam.  Lord help the very nice young woman I had cornered... the Teacher in me, it seems she has a hard time keeping quiet...  so anyway it's possible that I may take up a little volunteer barista-ing in my spare time, which suits me fine, because I always did love being a barista- just not so much trying to live on the wages it provided.  And I do so love the craft involved in turning out a truly lovely specialty beverage...  ::happy sigh::

While I was re-acquainting myself with the joys of portafilters, Nathan was busy making friends with a music ministry guy, and they have a man-date to play guitar together tomorrow night, a situation I find Entirely Pleasing.  It brings me great joy when my husband indulges in his music, and I'm hoping having someone to play with (pun only semi-intended) will encourage him in it.  It did not hurt matters that later on we went to Beacock Music and he played with an eight-string baritone that had a gorgeous, gorgeous sound.  The sales guy let us use his office so we could hear it without a bunch of Stairway to Heaven going on around us (you know exactly what I'm talking about!), so we took advantage of the privacy to sing a little... and it worked quite well with both of our vocal ranges.  I dearly wish I could just outright buy it as a gift for Nathan, but alas- it comes with a price-tag that says we must scrimp and save if we want to go beyond just staring at it longingly...

In less thrilling news, I'm a little concerned about Kink.  I noticed today that he doesn't seem to be able to urinate (yes, I know you totally come on here to read about my cat's litter-box habits), a state which Teh Interwebz declares An Emergency.  But given that he's been acting totally normal, and that he doesn't have any hardness in his abdomen (or any reluctance to me touching it) I've decided that while it may be time for a visit to the vet, it's not such an emergency that it cannot wait until morning.  So in the morning we'll take him in (heck, we may just take both of them in- they were due for their shots back in March, anyway) and see what's what.