Ben, Jake and I went to Carboat Beach this morning. Ben gave Jake a choice of going to the beach for a walk or going to school. He chose the beach, so off we went.

Walking along a beach with a small person is a significantly different than walking along a beach with an adult. In particular, we move slowly. As in slowly enough to take lots of pictures. YAY!

I can say that I like walking at the small person pace.

After dropping Jake off at work, Ben and I went back to the house to work. During the work, we updated Ben and Lisa's site. We were FAR more productive sitting next to each other working on his site for two hours than we would have been working on it remotely for two months. A very satisfying afternoon.

The project I'm working on with Doyle's company was supposed to launch yesterday. When I was told this a month ago, I made arrangements to head up to Seattle to visit Ben and Lisa. That trip happened today, even though the project I'm working on didn't actually launch yesterday. Ben commented that he had some work to do tomorrow, so, even though he took tomorrow off from work to spend the day with me, he'd let me work. A little.

My flight was at an inconvenient time, so Kris dropped me off early at the airport and left. I was glad for the slow, casual pace in getting to the gate, as well as the extra time at the gate to work. In particular, I set up my system for working on the above mentioned project on the plane. Good thing, too, as I managed to complete a number of tasks.

When I arrived in Seattle, I had hoped that the shuttles would be inexpensive when compared to a taxi, to get me downtown. The cost of a taxi was estimated to be $35. The shuttle? $32.75. Yeah, taxi time.

As always, the ferry was an enjoyable experience. Boarding with the commuters, I stood out as I took pictures of the skyline, then of myself standing in front of the skyline. The ferry trip is fun, a fact that I fear most of the people on the ferry have forgotten. The ferry has no magic left for them.

Which is sad, really. I still have the magical feeling when I train up or down the Peninsula. It's a fun adventure, away from the need to concentrate on driving, away from the worry of injuring someone with a ton of metal, away from the stress of other people's annoying driving habits. Yeah, the train is fun. The ferry is fun. Too bad most people forget that.

When I arrived on the island, I called Lisa. I had forgotten to take down her work number, so called her cell phone. Unfortunately for me, but not really, she wasn't answering. I decided, eh, I think I know where I'm going, but not really, so I started walking in the direction I thought downtown was, not really knowing how far away Lisa's work was.

Less than half a mile, I'd say. With a much needed bank on the way.

When I arrived at Lisa's work and asked for Lisa, a coworker walked me to the back where Lisa was. "I have a surprise for you!" she sang to Lisa, who was standing in an office, looking puzzled. "Surprise!" I called out, and the three of us laughed. I was very happy I had walked over. Not only did I manage to exercise, if only a little bit, but the surprise on Lisa's face was wonderful.

Lisa wasn't quite done for the day, so I decided to satisfy a hot chocolate craving I'd been having since the early morning when I walked past the airport Starbucks. The Starbucks Premium Hot Chocolate is amazing, and I was craving that.

Instead, the local coffee shop mixed me an unsweetened, mild hot chocolate that didn't have the overwhelming chocolate flavor I had been seeking.

And yet, the drink was still fabulously delicious, with its unsweetened whipped cream on top.

Until the bottom of the cup. Where all the sugar was.

Two swirls near the end of the cup and it went from pleasantly unsweetened to unbearably sweetened and undrinkable.

Teach me to stir my chocolate.

I worked for a half hour or so during the chocolate drinking, then wandered back to Lisa's work. We went to pick up Jake (who had put his shoes on opposite, and was wary of me in a Stranger-Danger sort of way) from school, and went back to meet up with Ben, who had just finished his workout at the gym.

The four of us then proceeded slowly, which is to say, at Jake's pace, to a local eatery where Lisa brilliantly sat us down at the corner, low table with comfy couch seats and HEY look! a box of children's books! YAY! Jake read all about the bus and the ocean during dinner.

I asked to work for the rest of the evening after dinner, sorta tuning out from the family so that I could finish up the work I was doing on the project for Doyle's work. My chest is still incredibly sore from yesterday's workout, which is great (unless you're Kris). Hopefully tomorrow will be less work focused and more play time. We'll see.

Thought so.

This morning's workout was 20 minutes of as many rounds as we could possibly do of:

5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

To say this was the upperbody equivalent of last week's lowerbody hell would be making a valid statement. I managed only 11 rounds, with Kris managing 15. Bill managed 16 rounds, Sandie and Darlynn 14 rounds.

I was (and am!) mightly pleased with my 11 rounds, as it was one more round than the fewest done in the previous morning classes. I was particularly careful to lower myself completely on the pull ups, touch my chest to the floor on the push ups (since "touching my chin" doesn't really lower my body much, I can stick my chin out a good 8" from my body), and bend my legs into a deep (bottomed-out) sit on the squats. I also used the medium-assist band on the pullups, requiring jumping only after the first five rounds. I didn't have complete pullup failure until the 11th round, when I couldn't pull myself up at all, and had to jump all five jumps.

I had given Kris some good natured heckling about his lack of flexibility on his squats, but couldn't say much about his upper body finesse. His pushups were as close to perfect form as could be expected.

Given that I'm unable to lift my arms, I think that I'll be deliciously sore tonight.

I have this picture of my mom when she was a couple years older than I am now. My life has taken a completely different path than my mom's life did, yet that picture often reminds me how much the same we are.

In the picture, Mom is sitting on a couch. Several of us kids are sitting on the couch, too, with Chris in the front. Mom is smiling but, oh my, does she look older than she is. When the two of us look at the picture together, she always comments about how stressed she was at that time. Despite the smile, that was near one of the low points in Mom's life.

I went to play ultimate at Kris' work today. I haven't played in a good number of weeks, and haven't played pickup in years. As Kris reminded me at the end of the house, I had forgotten how to play pickup, which is to say, "with lots of breaks."

When you're on a practicing team, you usually have enough people to play, then rest a point or two. Certainly at a tournament, you run hard, then rest, run hard then rest. Unless, of course, you're playing savage, but that's a different style of play entirely.

So, I forgot how to play pickup. It happens.

At the end of the pickup game, I pulled out my camera and took a picture of Kris and I. Kris looks the same as he always does, perpetually 24.

I, on the other hand, look every bit my age. I look at this picture and think, Geez, my years have finally caught up to me. It's not a flattering picture.