Happy Birthday, Lil' Attie!

   My lil' guy would have turned 13 years old today, had his life not been cut short by kidney disease. Gypsy and I still miss him and think about him every day. Her health took a turn for the worse right after we lost her friend, and I don't believe it's pure coincidence. I'm just starting to feel like I've nursed her back to a new normalcy, after nine days of attentive care.
   And the dogs? Well, dogs are dogs. They're a little clueless about everything but dinnertime.
   We miss you, buddy! Hope there's an endless supply of salmon treats and mice to chase, wherever you are!

Memorial Day Race

  I hopped out of bed at 6:00 and threw my clothes on for the Amy Thompson Run (benefitting the Brain Injury Association), made coffee, fed the dogs and let them out, and didn't waste any time heading out. Over 2,000 people registered for the race—a record, I'm told—and I didn't want to have any trouble parking. For my efforts I was rewarded with a truly spectacular sunrise: a "God sky" with beams of sunlight streaming dramatically through the clouds. Quite a nice way to greet the day.
  I arrived at Loose Park early enough to have a banana and take a stroll through the rose garden, which unfortunately was already waning. Last year's roses looked much better for the holiday.
  Larry Moore from KMBC did a great job as emcee, as always, and a young woman nailed the national anthem. The spirit of the crowd was palpable, and I reminded myself to take strength from it... Races over 5k generally aren't my thing.
  Shortly before 8:00 and the start of the 8k, busses carrying 250 soldiers from Fort Riley arrived, mostly young men and a few women. They wore different t-shirts according to their unit, but all were easily recognizable by their neon yellow belt. Most lined up at the back of the pack and intended to run in formation. (I was leading them the whole time, and didn't see them cross the finish line.) There were a few, faster soldiers that ran ahead, so I had a chance to thank a few as we were running. There were a lot of younger kids running the 8k this year. I wish I'd had that kind of determination at their age. Towards the end, a lot of them were slowing down and walking, and I made to sure tell them all "Great job!" as I ran by. Hoping that with a little encouragement they'll stick with it.
  I never saw Amie, but I ran into Fred & Ben during the race just as I had last year, said "hey" to Al Mauro at one of the water stops, and at the finish line I found Brett & Mary, and Joe Griggs. It was nice to see some familiar faces.
  It was too hot: 75 degrees and cloudy at 7 am, and close to 80 and sunny by race time. (Anything over 50 degrees is too hot in my book!) The open, unshaded areas were brutal, though the breeze helped. With less than 2 miles to go I was able to run through someone's sprinklers and that gave me the boost I needed to finish strong.
  Overall, I finished 450 of 1265, with a time of 46:12 (slower than my time of 44:26 last year). I finished 20th out of 107 in my age group, and 131 out of the field of 662 women.
   I'm still pacing slower than I was last year in general, having some trouble with shin splints and not wanting to overdo it on my hips. But given that I'm running and feeling pretty great without surgery, I'll take it! I saved just enough energy to do a long sprint to the finish line, with the crowd cheering me on.
   After the race I walked through the chute and down the line to pick up the usual post-race treats: a banana, some chocolate milk and banana milk from Shatto (yum!), and a granola bar. The next table stopped me in my tracks: heaping trays of crab rangoon, with Costco-sized bottles of Heinz Ketcup. I've seen (and avoided) post-race doughnuts before, but... crab rangoon?! Really?!!?

  So I headed over to Eggtc. for my favorite breakfast in KC. They were as busy as always, but had a seat for me at the bar, and Jay-Z was playing. Clearly they were expecting me! I chatted with the folks around me and had a great time.
  Now I'm at home, sitting outside on the deck with my coffee and the newspaper. It's shady, breezy, and perfect. If you don't hear from me soon, come over and wake me up!

  Actually, Tay already took care of that. He climbed up on my lap and started licking my ear. I'd like to think it's 'cause he loves me sooo much. But I was probably a lil' salty.

Amy Thompson Run

   I'm all signed up to take on the 8k Amy Thompson Run again this year, bright and early on Memorial Day. Just learned that this year there will be 245 soldiers from Fort Riley running in formation in the 8K. (According to the race director, they will be lined up at the back of the pack for the start, so not to interfere with those running competitively. Which begs the question: can I actually beat them??) What a cool idea for a Memorial Day event!

Dave in KC: the whirlwind tour!

   My ol' college buddy, Dave, drove all the way from Los Angeles just to see me... JUST KIDDING! He's actually moving from SoCal back to Ohio to go to grad school and figured he's stop for a night 'cause I'm right on the way. But it turned out he liked Kansas City so much that he decided to hang out for a bit. As in a week. Yay! I don't get too many visitors out here, and I love to show people why I love it here so much.
   I started the whirlwind tour with a trip to beautiful Loose Park, which was alive with budding magnolias, redbuds and more. I enjoy it every time I visit. (However, the grass was getting tall and proved to be treacherous... more on that in another post!) We walked Aki and Taylor all around, and when we got hungry we headed to...

   Blanc Burger on the Plaza! It's one of my favorites, and everyone I've taken there has loved it too. We drove around the Plaza, the Nelson, and Hyde Park. And when we were finally a little hungry again we stopped at...

   Glace´ artisan ice cream! I had salted pretzel, with goat cheese with honey. Dave had salted pretzel, with root beer.

   Dave met me at Hallmark for lunch on Tuesday and I showed him the Crown Room (that's him, posing as a column):

   We started the tour on the 9th floor with the Creative Library and the Art Materials Center. Then we worked our way from 9 back down to the lobby, stopping to see all the noteworthy pieces of artwork along the way, including my favorite Mucha poster on the 8th floor. Sometimes we take for granted that we basically work inside a giant art museum, with great works everywhere. Having someone visit for the first time gives you great perspective!

On Wednesday I took the day off and we spent it hiking in Weston:

   Then had drinks and black-and-tan beer-battered onion rings for a snack at O'Malley's:

   Then we visited the home of Jill, a coworker, to evaluate her home as a potential Shiba adopter. She and her husband have a big, beautiful three-year-old German Shepherd who needs a buddy. And then, since we just so happened to be in the Northland anyway, we had a fantastic dinner at Kato. Check out this palette of unearthly delights:

   I had to work on Thursday, so Dave was on his own. (I also had come down with laryngitis, so everyone I worked with got a little peace & quiet for a change!) Dave spent the day at the Thomas Hart Benton house/museum. That night we met up at Crown Center and went to eat at Oklahoma Joe's (hey, if Anthony Bourdain considers it one of the 13 places to eat before you die, how could I let Dave miss it?!) We went to the original location in the gas station on 47th & Mission, and it was packed as always:

But the full slab of ribs was worth waiting for!

Well, they WERE, until Dave hogged them all:

   So then we went & walked off the BBQ in downtown KC. The Liberty Memorial looks really cool at night, and offers a great view of the whole cityscape.

   I took another day off on Friday, and we spent hours and hours enjoying the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I think it's the jewel of Kansas City, and it's always fun to experience it with first-timers. (More photos in an upcoming post!) We ate lunch in Rozzelle Court (I am still dreaming of the Kalamata olives in my grilled Canadian salmon salad!)
   After an extensive day at the museum, we headed downtown to Extra Virgin to indulge in drinks and some of the best tapas in KC. Michael Smith himself was in the kitchen, so the Lebanese hummus, plum-glazed pork belly, grilled tiger shrimp in tomatillo sauce, and wood-fired hanger steak tasted especially good!
   And to make the day totally off the hook, we walked down to Manifesto for some fancy cocktails in the hippest place in town. It was a great toast to a whirlwind week in Kansas City, in which Dave was the tourist and I got to feel like one again.

   Here's hoping that Dave comes out to visit again soon. We hadn't seen each other in probably eight years, but it was just like old times again. And besides, Aki and Taylor are lonely sleeping on the couch without him!