Today is my youngest sister Carrie’s birthday.  She’s 19, and I can’t believe it.  I remember the day she was born…I remember the day my mother told me she was expecting.  I remember how little she was when she was born, how soft her little feet were, and how firm her grip was around my fingers.  And now she’s 19, and plays the viola, and is a great success in so many things, ranging from yoghurt making to viola playing.  How fast time goes by!  Happy Birthday, Carrie!  May you have 19 more years.

It’s been a great trip to Phoenix so far—

What I’ve done:  run the P.F. Chang’s Rock and Roll Half Marathon, visited Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright School), went shopping at the Scottsdale Fashion Mall, went to many different restaurants including Postino, Wild Thaiger, Cibo, and The Main Ingredient.  We had a fondue party with a few friends, made Pasta Puttenesca, did an upper body workout at Leslie’s gym, rode the light rail, and I attended the Phoenix Symphony’s Concert over the weekend.  Possibilities for today include hanging out with some friends, going to a Mexican restaurant, and attending a Bikram yoga class.

Bikram yoga, you ask?  Well, talking with Leslie it seems that the St. Louis Bikram studio might be more strict than hers and I’m very curious to compare.  It seems that some of the aspects that turned me away from Bikram might be location – specific.  In any case, I’d love to have a more informed opinion, plus the sweaty stretching might be fantastic.  But we are also feeling quite lazy and want to relax as well.  If we don’t do Bikram, we’ll do a different fitness activity, perhaps a video workout. Today is my last vacation day before travel, and then it’ll be back to work.  The rest of January is busy, and February looks to bring some great activities as well—opera, Mark O’Connor workshop, St. Louis School of Music teaching, plus delving into the Parents as Partners Online which officially started the other day.

What I haven’t done in Phoenix:  followed my diet very well or kept up on my reading, as in I still haven’t finished War in Peace, much less started on my other books.  I’ll have to catch up on both upon my return.  My travel day will likely do wonders for my reading as well, though I certainly hope things aren’t delayed due to weather…ugh, it’s always a crap shoot, traveling in January.  I also haven’t seen as much of a few friends as I had hoped to, but I guess people are busy.  Maybe I’ll get to catch up with them today…

You can see my fists clenched…not very good form!  PIctured in yellow is my friend Sarah.  Working hard, we were!

I promise I will do a better race recap soon—I am just waiting until I get home. 

I’m still in Phoenix visiting my sister Leslie.  It’s been a pleasant few days, just relaxing and doing a bit of sightseeing.  I had hoped to hang out more with some friends, but I suppose it’s a busy time of year for people.  My sister has a few more days off work though, which is the main reason I chose to visit now. 

I think as people get older, whatever personality traits they had when they were younger become more pronounced.  I’m sure that’s true with me as well.  It’s interesting when you only see people every now and again—so often what you remember most about them, well, that seems to be even more pronounced each time you see them.  For bad or for good, really. 

I haven’t been keeping to my diet very well the past few days.  It’s always tough on vacation, between eating out more and not having as much control over one’s food choices.  I know I will need to buckle down when I get home—less carbs, more veggies, more protein.  I’ve been more lethargic the past few days, and I’m sure that’s a big reason, in addition to perhaps a few too many glasses of wine.  I also haven’t really gotten enough workouts in—even though I just ran a half-marathon race, I feel like I’m a bit out of shape! 

The weather has been great though.  It’s a nice reprieve from winter in St. Louis.  When Leslie first moved to Phoenix, I visited more often, and loved the winters.  As we’ve gotten older, I haven’t come out as much, but that aspect is still really nice.  It’ll be much easier to face the cold weather again…

Well, I will conclude this, the world’s most boring blog entry.  I blame all the carbs!