I have three lonely snapdragon flowers that didn't make it into my hanging flower baskets and nowhere else I really want to plant them. Three isn't many, but if you want them, e-mail me.

I'm hooked.

I've only run three 5ks.

I'm not exceptional at it.

But I can't wait for the next run.

There's an internal drive to do the next race to get the faster time or to run a longer race and to keep physically pushing myself.

Somehow, improving my race times or running longer routes by myself isn't a legitimate feat unless I do it with a mass of sweaty people on a Saturday morning.

The free meal and beer is a motivating factor, too, I suppose.


Props to (e:James) who ran a spectacular 23 minute 5k today in the race!

I've had some minimal exposure to the Buffalo public schools and those exposures have caused me concern.

I've been wondering how to get more involved or follow more closely the situation of schools in Buffalo. An opportunity became apparent when (e:Drew) and I found out that someone we know, Rebekah Williams, is running for school board. She told us that generally only 5% of eligible voters vote in the school board election!!

So I'm going to take the first steps in getting involved by 1) educating myself on the candidates and 2) voting in the election.

The election is Tuesday May 5th. And at the bottom of this article



is some information on upcoming debates so you can meet the candidates.

I'm probably going to the debate on the 27th. If anyone wants to come along, give me a holler!

My sensitivity to smoke has drastically increased over the past year. It only takes small exposures to smoke now to convince my sinuses to produce gallons of mucus to stuff up my nose and drip down the back of my throat producing that lovely scratchy, throat clearing, coughing sensation known as post nasal drip. When my sinuses are stuffed and my head full of pressure, I walk through my days in a sort of fugue. It will take a solid week before I clean it out of my system through cup after cup of hot tea, hot showers, and lots of nasal irrigation.

The only real life from the condition, I discovered, is running. The 20 minutes I ran yesterday, my body was so absorbed by the good pains of running that the bad pains of post nasal drip faded away.

If only I can run 24-7 through the next week until it clears out.

Yesterday was a rainy cold day so it seemed like a perfect time to finally attempt chicken pho soup.

I spent yesterday afternoon buying the ingredients. And in the evening I put together the broth for the basis of the soup.

I couldn't find chicken necks/backs/etc... so I bought 2 chickens. One I chopped up to make the stock and one was cooked to make the chicken meat for the soup. The one that made the stock was falling apart tender at the end, and it's waiting in the freezer to be transformed into chicken noodle soup or egg noodles and chicken.

Today I finished off the broth by skimming the fat and pouring it through a sieve to strain off all the spices and what nots added for seasoning.

Then I put together the bowls of soup. Rice noodles in the bowl. Top with chicken, cilantro, diced scallions, and pepper. Pour 2 cups of broth in the bowl. Basil, mint, limes, diced chili peppers, fish sauce, and chili garlic sauce on the side to add as desired. Yum.