How I spent my day

So I decided that you only turn 34 once so I better get all I could out of my day. So I got up early...how early? 5:52 am to be exact. Bill and I and our friend, Brian, went to run a 5K at a State Park about an hour away. So up before dawn and in the car, I was relishing the sunrise over the tall corn of the Iowa landscape on the way to Wild Cat Den State Park. Bill likes to study the race results from previous years to see if we will place in our age group. He kept telling me, 'oh you'll place for sure. last year the 3rd place gal in our age group got like 33 minutes' (I run between 28 and 30 minutes for a 5K). So I was ready to win some hardware on my birthday. This is a trail run so I thought I should add about a minute due to uneven/slippery/gravel/grass/wood chip footing. The first almost mile was all downhill and paved and I was feeling good. Then we made a right turn onto the trail and what faced us a steep railroad tie dirt steps. This was the first of too-numerous-to-count steep hills. It was ridiculous. This is why the results are so slow because it is a freakin' hard course. I had to walk/hop/skip/jog up a couple of big hills in the second mile. There was a treacherous downhill that I had to gallop down so I wouldn't fall flat on my face. I have never ran a course that hard. I ran the first mile fast in 9:06 and the second all hill in the woods mile was in 12 minutes. I haven't run a 12 minute mile since my first 5K last year with no training. I was hoping to get a medal in my age group when we started. By mile 2 I was hoping to finish in under 35 minutes. By mile 3 I was hoping to finish. Across the finish line I came in 32:17, very respectable, and 5th in my age group. I was lucky to have come out of the woods at all. With that said, the scenery was beautiful and it would be a lovely park to take a nice romantic walk in but not the place I may ever run again.

Here is Bill and I post race, post a few bananas and water so we are able to smile

Bill got 2nd in his age group and Brian got 3rd. The coolest thing is that the medals were pieces of wood with stamps on them. I was coveting a medal before the race, but died to that dream during my second hop/skip/walk up a hill.
Ok so we loaded up in the car and headed back to Iowa City. Bill took Nile to his soccer game and dropped Gabby and I off at the Hawkeye game. The boys met us before halftime. It was a rout, we beat Florida International 42-0. The team looked really good and the guy, Rick Stanzi, I think should be our stating QB started and he looked sharp, but then again it was against Florida International. However, a win's a win so we'll take it.

Bill's sister Susie and her husband Tim came to the game with us.

The Hawkeye Family Iverson
Bill and I in our new matching shirts and hats. I know I say it a lot on my blog but we are terribly cute, aren't we?
Ok so after the game, we came home. I jumped in the shower and got ready for a pampering trip to the mall with my bosom friend, Ali. She treated me to a fancy coffee drink from Panera and a pedicure. Even though my feet are kind of ticklish, it was so relaxing and nice. Ali and I got to chat and sip our fancy drinks and enjoy the massage chair. I have cute toenails to show for it.

Now I know my Grandma Scott would disapprove of my wearing white shoes after Labor Day, but I couldn't help myself. They are cute and matched my dress. While I was getting my pedicure, I was winning "Coolest Wife Ever" award by 'allowing' Bill to have the fantasy football draft in our living room on my birthday. I had to take some action shots when I got home. The boys (actual resident doctors from Bill's department) were overly impressed with my understanding/flexibility and graciously sang Happy Birthday to me as they left the house.

Here is Bill making a pick. Check out the clotheslines of player name stickers. Oh yeah, Bill bought some 'home fantasy football kit' from the Internet. Another thoughtful pick made by Dr Anderson
This is where the day went from good to terrible. Our downstairs laptop hasn't been working so well. This morning it was turned off which is odd but Nile said he was on it last night and the screen went blue. Bill had turned it back on and it started ok but was making a loud noise and not really doing anything. So I shut it down and let it rest. About 20 minutes later I turned it back on...started to boot up ok and then a black screen stating

No operating system detected.

Ok so I tried it again.

No operating system detected.

Crap. Sh*&. Does that mean what I think it means? I called my Dad, he says time to call the Geek Squad. So we take the laptop to the car and try to salvage the evening. Bill takes me and Nile out to Oyama, my favorite sushi restaurant. It was yummy but I kept thinking about

No operating system detected.

I feel the need to blame it on someone. Nile and his stupid computer games seems logical, he is right across the table after all (Gabby falls in this category too but she wasn't at dinner so she escaped the blame game). Bill and his need to think we need to download all those updates that pop up seems to be another logical choice vs. I could blame Bill for about anything at this point, that is what husband's are for, right? My dad for buying me a laptop 6 years ago that would some day break is a stretch but another candidate for my frustration.

We finish sushi which was yummy and head to Best Buy. I'm getting a headache. I hate when the Geek Squad chuckles like 'what a loser' as I bring another antique computer in for repair. Bill bails on me when I go to the service counter. I begin to explain my problem. We boot up the computer. It says

No operating system detected

One Geek Squad guy walks by and says, "Oh that's no good". The guy helping me shoots him a 'oh I agree but that is not a helpful comment' look. He says for $70 they can run a diagnostic on the hard drive to see if they can recover anything. I ask him how this happened. Could it be a virus someone downloaded? (kid's fault) Is it just a bad/old machine? (dad's fault) Just bad luck? (bill's fault just because). He says "No, not a virus. They typically don't do this. It could have overheated and just burned out the hard drive." We leave our laptop on all the time and I turn it off only a few times a month when the fan seems to be blowing extra hard. "Yeah that's probably it" says the geek squad guy. So it is actually my fault. Crap. Sh&*.

Then I start to think of all that is on this laptop. Our database for Mexico (luckily I have a back up), all our Ipod music that we will lose if we transfer to another computer without the backup discs which we don't have. I am getting a headache. My resume (maybe that job offer I just turned down could email me back the resume I emailed them?), all of our running stats, any Word document I have typed in the past 5 years... the list goes on. My headache gets worse. We leave the laptop at Best Buy and I pray they can recover our hard drive. I don't even care about dropping the cash to by another laptop (we were probably due) but I just want my memory. Is that too much to ask? It is my birthday.

We get home. "Do you want to open your presents?" Bill asks. "No" I reply. I just want to pout. So I lay on the couch and flip between some college football and Walk the Line. My life is no where near as pathetic as Johnny Cash's and that fact starts to cheer up a little bit. I don't really want to open my presents because I don't think Bill got me what I wanted. The box is not big enough. With our new tradition of no Christmas presents, I really want what I wanted for my birthday. Finally I am ready to salvage what is left of my birthday. Before the

No operating system detected.

I was having a pretty good day.

Bill did get me an ice cream cake (yummy!) and my folks sent me these beautiful flowers. I smile as I am about to make a wish.
Action shot of my wish. I hope it comes true.

So Bill did get me what I wanted. This ridiculously cool Lego Death Star; it is just has not been released yet. It will be here later this month. I cannot wait. My birthday will be over in 45 minutes and I must say looking back on it, I made the most of my 34th. Awake and on the go for all, but 5 hours and 52 minutes of it.