Summer Plans

Last summer, I pretty much just sat on my butt doing nothing but laying out, reading a book on my front porch swing, or scrapbooking. My DH didn't say anything at all -- he just let me relax. This year though, he discreetly says, "So...you didn't do too much last summer...kind of layed around a lot. Plan on doing anything this summer?" Oh GEEZ! What's with the pressure?! Get off my back already! JK! We actually have a lot of stuff around the house that definitely needs to get done and considering I have nothing but free time for the next 9-10 weeks, I convinced myself to try and knock some of it out! It's actually kind of getting on my nerves -- we've lived here for 3 years and really need to organize our stuff. So that has been my goal on my first week off. I wish I could say that I've acomplished a lot, but I'd be lying. I did get some stuff done though. I went through all of my clothes and bagged up old stuff for the Salvation Army. I cleaned out my old dresser so that we could try to sell it at our garage sale. I also went though our "random stuff" closet and attemped to organize it and gather more garage sale stuff. now I just need to get some bins or crates to help un-randomize the closet. :-) For accountability reasons, here is the rest of my summer to-do list (I know you're just on the edge of your seat for this!):

1. Organize closets and scrapbook room to prevent the panic attacks I've been getting as I stare at the chaos barely contained within them.
2. Free the pictures that are now held captive in my computer, put them in the frames I bought eons ago, and actually put them the frames up on the walls. What a concept?!
3. Buy a few more chochkies for the house to make it feel more homey.
4. Finish our wedding photoalbum which is actually nearly done except for maybe 5-6 pages. Maybe I'll actually finish it before our 3rd wedding anniversary! Ooops!
5. Organize my recipe box which now is nothing but a box full of random papers sticking out everywhere. Half the time, if I want to make a certain dish, instead of going through my recipe box, I just go to my computer and print it off again. Kind of defeats the purpose!
6. Get super buff! Okay, this one is kind of personal, but whatever!

So far, I've made good progress on the first goal and the 5th one. I actually decided to type out all of the recipes I frequently use, put them in page protectors (to keep whatever I'm cooking OFF the paper,) and put them all in one binder. I'm kind of making my own personal cookbook! I've finished typing out almost all of my recipes and it looks good so far, so I'm psyched about that. Wait, I just realized...I'm going to need a rockin title for my cookbook. Any ideas?! Oh BTW, I can tell you that the Lemon Blossoms recipe will likely not be included in my cookbook. My DH said that they were "good". He said the cupcake itself was yummy but the glaze was a little too much. I tasted one for myself and you know what they reminded me of? You know those lemon jelly-filled donuts that are glazed? That's exactly what these cupcakes tasted like -- but no jelly consistency...make sense? Anyway, they were way too sweet for me! As far as baking desserts, I'll stick to whoopie pies (I giggle a little everytime I say their name) and peanut butter cookies -- my faves!

As far as the last goal, I'm working on that one too. I've worked out pretty much every day since my summer break started. I only took 1 day off so far and that was because uh...I couldn't move my knee after running 8 miles the day before. I know, I'm a big wimp! ;-p Anyway, I've been running 4 days/week, doing my Firm videos, and I've thrown in a little yoga! I found this show called Namaste Yoga on FitTV and it's pretty good! One episode was even titled "Yoga for Distance Runners". Without the commercials, each episode is only about 20-25 minutes, so it's nice and short. Here's my workout schedule so far:

• S: Long run day
• M: Rest
• T: Easy Run (4 miles) followed by Namaste Yoga
• W: Hill Workout Run (3.5-4 miles on a hilly course) followed by Namaste Yoga
• R: Firm Video -- Total Body Time Cruch ("Is my butt supposed to feel like this? Wait...I don't feel my butt anymore!")
• F: Easy Run (4 miles) followed by Namaste Yoga
• Sa: Firm Video -- Bootcamp ("Is it normal for a person to sweat this much?)

So far I feel great! I'm trying to eat healthy too. Any great recipes you care to share? I'd love to add them to my awesome cookbook! BTW, I know it's totally not healthy, but I'm on the hunt for the recipe for Max and Erma's Chocolate Cake. It's the best I've EVER had...must have more... ***wiping drool*** Maybe later today or tomorrow I'll share a few of my fave recipes!