Nickelback

I feel a bit out of character posting this. Who knows why, but I love Nickelback. I have always pretty much enjoyed all their songs, not just the hits. When I found out that my dAd really likes them as well I thought it was kind of funny. Now, I just think we both have pretty good taste!

Fusion of Art and Science

The Body Worlds exhibit is in Salt Lake City at The Leonardo Museum. Brandon and I decided to go up and see it. It was awesome! I loved it. It brought me back to my anatomy lab days of working on the cadavers. I remember teaching in the anatomy lab and always sharing Elder Russell M. Nelson's (Cardiothoracic Surgeon by Profession) speech entitled The Magnificence of Man (click the title to read or skim the speech). It is such a neat talk about the human body and magnificent creation that it is.

If you haven't seen Body Worlds or know anything about it, here is a little sneak peak at what you would get. If you don't like to look at cadavers in any way, I suggest you stop here.
This is the Archer. The forearm muscles are amazingly dissected on this cadaver. The forearm muscle unit is one of the hardest to learn because of how many muscles are actually in the forearm with long-4-word names.The vessels around this heart are so intricate. I guess they inject a dye into the bloodstream and then dissect all the tissue off, leaving only the vasculature. The entire process is called plastination. The capillary network is so tiny and amazing. Our bodies are the coolest.
This one is the Hurdler.
The soccer player isn't actually at the Salt Lake Exhibition, but I found the picture while searching for others.
The Horse Back Riders. I wonder how many hours it took to dissect this entire piece. Horses have great musculature.

Random Stupid Moment

There is something about the cold air that can make a person undergo a real large brain tweak or in other words, a stupid moment. I learned this today while eating dinner.

I was very cold this afternoon and decided that I needed a nice warm bowl of Campbell's Vegetable Soup for dinner. I checked the back label for directions in heating up this delightful meal for two. I was confident that I knew what I was doing. Brandon watched over my shoulders while I dumped the contents into the pot and heated it up. He groaned a little at this choice in meal, but decided he didn't have anything better to cook so he would just deal with it.

I was very confident the back DID NOT say to add 1 can of water. In fact, I checked the back label over to make sure I didn't need to add water because I can never remember which canned soups need water added and which ones do not. After 7 minutes or so the soup was boiling and we were good to go.

I made it through half of my bowl when I realized that something didn't taste right. I wondered if we really were supposed to add water because it tasted very thick and concentrated. I pulled the can out of the garbage and searched the back label all over once again. THERE, VERY TOP IN LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS READ: 1 CAN SOUP + 1 CAN WATER.

No wonder it tasted wrong and why didn't I see that before and why did it take me so long to realize it tasted gross. I added a little water to my bowl and nuked it for a minute. I finished it off with a much better taste.

This is what I learned besides coldness making me stupid, I deserved it because just before I had been on a rampage venting about Questar and the stupid and dishonest company they are. I won't go into details, but too bad you can't choose your gas company.

The End.

10.17.08

Yesterday was Brandon's Birthday! I asked him what he wanted and he said nothing. I couldn't think of anything that he had mentioned he wanted so I decided to fill his birthday up with things he loves. Maybe I will get him a good present down the road when I think of something great.

Once Brandon got home from school, we started his birthday cElEbrAtIOn!! We went for a fun bike ride on some trails up Provo Canyon.
Then we headed home to make his favorite dinner. Pasta Alfredo Special. This homemade meal is really the best there is!!
For Brandon's favorite dessert/birthday cake, I made little cheesecakes with raspberries and blueberries for the toppings. Everything was so good!
Lastly, we watched the Discovery Channel and it just happened to be Man vs. Wild. A crazy show of killing an alligator and then eating it. I would only watch it for Brandon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BRANDON!!!

26.2

This is the 2008 STG Marathon Poster!

It's finally finished!! That is what I was saying the last 10 miles of the race when I was being brutally hit by the non-stop pouring rain and the miserably cold head wind. I felt so good until mile 16 when my goal time (03:40) pacer passed me. I let myself get into this mental rut and started noticing the major cramping coming from my right hip. Everything just plummeted down hill from there. At mile 23 I decided my 12 minute miles were just as slow as walking so I opted for a fast walk. After only about a quarter of a mile into walking I figured I didn't come here to finish like that, so I picked my aching legs up and started a slow jog. Through the tears (which were thankfully unnoticed because of the heavy rain), I finished in under 4 hours. I would have been doubly crushed if I hadn't. My official time was 03:58:24. The worst ever out of my four marathons.

I attribute it to the poor training (or lack thereof) and the cold, wet, torturous rain. Therefore, it's only half my fault. When I finished I told Brandon to never let me do that again. I take that back. It has been only 2 full days and my sore body has quickly recovered. Running is my passion. I will be back.

Before the race. It was raining, but you can't tell.

The only picture Brandon got of me was at the finish. I guess I was too fast for the camera!
(You don't want to see me anyways. I will describe it to you: soaking wet, frowning, hurting, cold, miserable)
The first thing I did when I finished was get my wet clothes off and put on warm clothes. I was shivering (my lower lip was an uncontrolled quiver) really bad and getting muscle spasms in my quads.
Finished and cleaned up!

I didn't notice this until I was finished. I looked down the back of my shoe and it was covered in blood. My sock was covered in smeared (wet) blood. I had 4 big friction burns on my left heel.
I didn't notice this one until I got home. It wasn't just on the back of my shoe. The front mesh is covered in blood from my baby toe (friction burn there as well). This is HARD CORE!