Always find a Gas Station

Oh where to begin?  I am warning you in advance this will be a long post, but I promise it will be entertaining.

So yesterday was Kerry's 40th birthday party in Seattle.  The plan was for me to drive to Jaime and Kerry's house, ride up to the game with them in their car and then I would be the designated driver on the way home.  That way I wouldn't drink more than I wanted to and the girls could let loose and enjoy the night.  I left my house, running a little late already, got 5 minutes down the road and realized that my new insurance card was still sitting on the counter in the kitchen.  I got a ticket for that last year so I turned around and got it (thank goodness) even though that made me even later.  And for the record high heels, a clutch and stop and go traffic are a terrible combination.  I should have driven over there barefoot!  Sorry Kerry for being late!!!!

The Storm game was fun- we got to be up in a suite with our own food buffet and beverage station.  I had smuggled in (shh don't tell anyone) a couple of small bottles of rum so I could make rum and cokes.  It was fun to see some friends I hadn't seen for a while and our team won the game.  Next we all decided to head to a little pub down the street.  We hung out there for quite a while- our group managed to rack up around $250 worth of a bill.  And the food total was probably $30!!!!  I had one beer when we first arrived and then switched to water.  I also took a shot from a round of buttery nipples Gene ordered (which was delicious by the way).  I was happy to pass on the round of Washington Apple shots- no thank you!

By 12:30am everyone was pretty wasted and ready to head home.  I was driving (of course) and as we head to I-5 south at the last moment the entire freeway entrance is blocked due to construction and we are forced onto I-5 north.  SUPER!  As I merge onto I-5 North all I can see is a million headlights just sitting on the other side of the freeway- there was a ton of traffic and it wasn't moving.  So we decide to take the scenic route and head over 520, down 405 then to 167 (heading to Puyallup).  It was an amusing ride as the girls were both pretty drunk and goofy so at least I was entertained. 

We got just south of Kent and Jaime pipes up from the back seat that she has to go to the bathroom IMMEDIATELY.  The next exit I see has a sign that says there is a Texaco- it is the exit to Emerald Downs.  She says she can't wait that long, couldn't I just pull over on the off ramp and she will just go really quick.  Well, I figure guys do that all the time, plus I was tired of driving and just wanted to be home and that seemed quick.  I take the exit, get halfway up the ramp and pull over to the side.  Jaime hops out and about 10 seconds later a car morphs out of thin air, pulls up behind me and flips its lights on.  CRAP!  It was like that cop just knew somebody was about to take a pee on the side of the road at any second. 

So Jaime hops back in the car and the cop comes up and takes my license and (thankfully current) insurance card.  Kerry is so drunk she just stares at the pile of registration papers she pulls out of the glove box and I had to dig through and find the right one.  After he decides everything is legitimate he then asks the driver to step out of the car.  At that moment I am suddenly "that person" on the side of the road. 

He asks if I am willing to do some sobriety tests and I say yes.  Now, I have only seen this in movies so I had no clue what to expect.  He had me spit out my gum and then stand with my feet together.  He asked if I had had any alcohol and I told him yes but it had been several hours earlier.  Which it had.  Then he asked if I wore contacts (yes) and had me follow this blue light with my eyes, but without moving my head.  Which I am pretty sure I am terrible at stone cold sober.  And I am sure it didn't help that I was about to have a stroke and was freezing to death.  He then immediately asked if I would take the breathalyzer test.  I was confident that I was plenty sober to be driving but there was still doubt in my mind- I HAD been drinking.  Who knows what .08 really feels like?  Anyways, after I blew into the thing (which was really bizarre) he told me that he appreciated my honesty and thanked me for being the designated driver.  That was nice.  But the best part was that he didn't arrest me.  I have no idea what number I blew, I didn't want to push my luck and ask.  He said next time I should find a gas station because what we did was dangerous.  Yes sir! 

Overall, he was really nice about the whole thing and I know that it is his job to make it safe for us to be driving.  As obviously drunk as my passengers were, of course there was doubt in his mind about me as well.  Other than being traumatized by that little event, the night was a blast!  Always an adventure with my BFF.  I will just add this story to the list of memorable events that have happened in the 21 years we have known each other.  Right Jaime???  I will have to create a whole post dedicated to that someday.

Remember how bad I said the Seattle traffic was?  Even after all that, then dropping the girls off in Puyallup and driving myself home- I still beat Gene and Cynthia to Tacoma (they stayed on I-5 South).  By around 15 minutes.  Crazy!

So, today I was again scheduled to run 10 miles.  I planned to run towards the afternoon, wanting to be better prepared than last week.  So I took my daughter to a birthday party at 1pm and then headed down to the waterfront.  The plan was to run from the far end of Ruston Way clear down to Freighthouse Square and back.  I had checked on "map my run" and it appears very close to 5 miles one way.  I had to stop to adjust my armband around 3/4 of a mile down so I paused my ipod.  Then I pushed go and continued running.  When I got part way down Schuster Parkway I checked to see how far I had gone.  It still said .77 miles-it had not picked up my sensor yet the time was still going.  Dang it!

So I ended the workout and restarted a new 10 mile run.  I immediately turned around and ran straight back to where I knew it had stopped tracking my steps so I would know my distance.  It was pretty close to 1 mile.  So I had already ran 1.75 miles that were not tracked properly.  At that point I decide I will just run up and down the waterfront a couple of times until I am close to 10 miles.  I had just checked my distance (6.25- really 8) when my ipod died.  Great.  I had no idea what time it was, how long I had been running for or anything.  Only that I had ran about 8 miles.  When I ran past my car I stopped and threw my ipod, armband and headphones in my trunk and kept on running- free as a bird.  Which was quite strange.  No music, no Nike+, no idea about anything except that I was going to just keep running until I couldn't anymore.  Then I turned around and ran back to my car.  At that point some guy, being super helpful, pointed out that I still had a little ways to go before the end.  Um yes, thank you I have already been down there one time and I am somewhere in my 9th mile of running.  His reply -  "oh, you go girl".  Yes, I planned on it thank you very much!

Overall the run was great.  The weather was perfect and my energy level was really good.  Maybe next weekend I can manage to have a good long run that is actually recorded.  Even the other 6.25 miles I ran did not record permanently, probably because my ipod died before I could officially "end workout".  So on my Nike+ program my run today is recorded as .80 miles in 17:33- such an overachiever!

Total distance:  10ish miles   Total time:  long enough

***Happy Birthday to my mom***Here are some of my favorite things about her***

1.  She is always supportive of my decisions and allows me to be myself without judgement
2.  She cares about everyone and will do anything for you
3.  She is a great cook
4.  She can make a new friend anywhere, and usually does
5.  She gave me her love of reading and her excellent math skills
6.  And she gave me her beautiful blue eyes

I love you mom!  I could make a much bigger list but my post is already long enough :)