Week 4, Day 3

Went on my 3 mile run today with my friend from last week.  Same as last week, it's a darned tootin good thing she had her son in the stroller b/c once again I don't think I would have been able to keep up with her otherwise!   It was really cold again, but we faced the weather and won!  YAY!  I have a couple of 3 mile runs around my neighborhood depending on my mood.  Today we decided to go down by Costco, around the school, and through an older neighborhood.  They say smell is the sense most connected to memory and somehow running through this old, wooded neighborhood made me a little homesick for Yorktown Heights. My house growing up backed to a little forest which was actually land owned by the Power and Gas companies.  Somehow, the smells of pine, fallen leaves, frost and dampness brought me back to being a little kid trudging through the yard near our little forest. 

Adding to the feeling of homesickness from the smells of the little forest was the brisk sunny day which reminded me of a perfect NY winter day.  Really the thing I miss the most about where I grew up is the weather.  We had 4 distinct seasons which really epitomized what the seasons were supposed to be about.   Fall was cool with beautiful leaves of red, yellow and orange.  Winter had a smattering of snow, and especially on the coldest days of the year the sun always seemed to be shining with ferocity over a piercing blue sky with hardly a cloud in sight.  In Oregon, by contrast, there's really only 2 seasons - Summer and Winter.  The rain usually starts in mid September and doesn't break until July 5th.  We have an amazing 2 1/2 months of sun, but then it's straight back to wetness for the other 9 1/2 months :(  Sometimes, I find the months of gray skies and relentlessly steady showers to be depressing and oppressive. However, the last few months have been really more of NY weather than Oregon.... which I have no complaints about :)  For whatever reason, we had a really lovely fall with lots of bright colors and now the winter has been filled with lots of cold, sunny days.  If the winter continues this way, I'll be very happy transforming into a winter runner.

Lately, I've been listening to LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (Thanks RG) pretty much non-stop.  I really love running with music and I think it's time I creating my marathon playlist.  Feel free to give me some suggestions! Some of my playlist wishlist for now(in no particular order):

American Woman (Kravitz OR Guess Who)
Anticipate (Ani D.)
BOB, So Fresh & So Clean, Ms. Jackson, Hey Yah (Outkast)
Bring Me To Life (Evanescence)
To Hard To Handle (Black Crowes)
You Don't Know Me (Ben Folds)
No Rain (Blind Melon)
Run Around & Hook (Blues Traveler)
Shut Up & Where is the Love (BEP)
Almost anything from Manu Chao
King of Spain & Spiderman (Moxy Fruvous)
Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter (Nina Simone)
Family Affair & Rainy Dayz (Mary J. Blige)
Izzo & All I Need & Empire State of Mind  & Hard Knock Life (Jay Z.)
Whatcha Say (Jason Derulo)
Rudy Can't Fail (The Clash)
A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins)
Mirror In the Bathroom (The English Beat)
My Name is Jonas & In the Garage (Weezer)
Seven Nation Army & Black Math & The Hardest Button To Button (White Stripes)
Water Falls (TLC),
Under Pressure (David Bowie & Queen)
New Slang (The Shins)
Low Rider (War)
Human, Mr. Brightside (Killers)
Allison Road (Gin Blossoms)
Two of Us (Aimee Mann & Michael Penn)
Two Step (Dave Matthews)
Jolene (Dolly Parton)
Save Tonight (Eagle Eye Cherry)
La Tortura (Shakira)
Spiderwebs, Just a Girl, Excuse Me Mr, Sunday Morning (No Doubt)
Lose Yourself (Eminem)
Ramitas De Violet (David Broza)
Daria, Perhaps, I Will Survive (Cake)
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)
Poker Face, Just Dance & Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
ET, Waking Up In Vegas (Katy Perry)
Turn Of the Lights (Nelly Furtado)
Walk Away (Kelly Clarkson)
Crazy In Love, Single Ladies (Beyonce)
Say My Name, Jumpin Jumpin (Destiny's Child)
Pumped Up Kicks (Foster the People), ANDDDDD.....
Party Rock Anthem (LMFAO)