What I learned in ... January

Some of the things I learned in January:

it takes me longer than a month to knit two twelve-foot scarves (one is finished)
I still remember how to knit!
January is a long month
how to build a Lego T.A.R.D.I.S.
it gets harder each time I do the couch to 5K
the strainer on the cocktail mixer works really well
I really like non-fiction (the light fluffy kind)
people are important

Gallifrey One : Station 27

So I went to my second "con" - Gallifrey One : Station 27, the largest Doctor Who convention in the U.S.  Nevada, my husband and I left on February 11th from San Jose to LAX.  Here we are on the plane.

 

Someone doesn't look too excited ...

The first night we registered and then walked to In-n-Out with about 150 of our closest friends.  The wait in line was about an hour, but well worth it. Note the red ribbon below ....

The next morning we sat in line to see attend the Welcome panel ...

 Sitting on the floor in my "stealth" cosplay (not quite Osgood - just glasses and a Tom Baker scarf).

 A Dalek and an Ood ...

 

 

the Dalek in motion .. actually, people kept walking in front of me ...

 

 And here is the 5th doctor, Peter Davison.  He was very entertaining.

We spent the day in this room, watching and listening to various Doctor Who actors.  It was wonderful.

 Me and Nevada at the end of the day ...

The next day, Saturday, is the big cosplay day.  I'd say 60-70 percent of the attendees dress up, one way or another.  Nevada and I also participated.  We dressed as two companions from Classic Who -- Tegan and Nyssa. 

... getting ready at the hotel...

posing in front of the interior of the TARDIS 

and with the TARDIS

 

No pictures of the three of us together ... dunno why not.

The last day, Feb. 14, we went to two interviews: Sir John Hurt (the War Doctor among his many accomplishments) and Samuel Anderson.  They were both great interviews.  What an awesome weekend! Then the flight home and crashing .. 

New Hike #1 - Sanborn County Park

So, one of my goals this year is to take six new hikes (see #22 on the list).  This is the first of those six.

Nevada and I drove up Skyline Drive (Rt. 9) to Castle Rock -- which we've done before so we went across the street to Sanborn County Park.

The weather was perfect and we got there early so there weren't many people and parking (along the road) was easy.  The only negative was that we walked to the right instead of to the left and we weren't actually walking a loop -- or the loop was more miles than we cared to walk, so after we'd walked about 2 miles, we turned around and walked back. 

Apparently the park is huge and if you go to the main park entrance there are several other trails, some paved, to walk.  They allow dogs as well; so if we go again, perhaps Holly will join us.

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels made an appearance at the Super Bowl last week and since we are so close to the stadium, we were able to get a great view/shot of them on their way to do their fly by ...

Cocktail Wednesday - Lime Gin Fizz and Gin Hound

So we've had two more weeks of cocktails.  The first was a Lime Gin Fizz.

Ingredients:

• gin (2 parts)
• lime juice (1 part)
• soda water (4 parts)

I ended up making it with tonic water instead of soda water, so I think it was just a gin & tonic with lime juice.  I was going to try it wiht the soda water, but didn't want to open a bottle and end up tossing it.

The drink was good -- but not great. I didn't even take any pictures :(.

The next one was a Gin Hound.  Apparently a gin version of a Grey Hound. It just so happened that I had bought a bag of grapefruit at the store the week we made these so that worked out really well.  Fresh grapefruit juice and all.  Recipe from here.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon Juice
• 4 ounces gin 
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth

 basically you put it all in a shaker, shake, pour over ice and drink.

I'm a big grapefruit fan so I liked this one very much.  I ended up adding extra grapefruit juice to tone the alcohol down a little.

Definitely one to do over.  I probably should keep track of the ones I like ...

5K "Training"

Just to update those who are wondering how my 5K "training" is going ....  I just finished week 4, day 1.  This day's regimen lasted for 34 minutes, with 14 minutes running, 5 minutes warm up and 5 minutes cool down, and 10 minutes just walking.  I'm almost halfway there! The program takes 8 weeks, after which I should be able to run a 5k.

I need to look into a 5K run maybe in April?  My YD agreed to run one with  me.

I walked 102 fitbit miles in January.  Well on my way to the 1000 for the year.

The Super Bowl is this weekend and we live about 2 miles from the stadium.  Not sure if we'll hang around the house that day or if we'll go somewhere else. We attempted to rent our house out for the big day but I think we over priced it.  I imagine traffic will be a nightmare on Sunday.