So today I got this email from my mother-in-law. Normally I HATE forwards and I get so many of these all the time, but this one I actually really liked! I SO needed it at the time too! So I pass it on to in hopes that you too will have a day full or "ordinary miracles"!
Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles-
A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.
An unexpected phone call from an old friend.
Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.
I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in.
The fastest line at the grocery store.
A good sing along song on the radio.
Your keys right where you look.
I wish you a day of happiness and perfection-little bite-size pieces of perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Lord is smiling on you, holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare. I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
Oh, and hey, while I reread that I DID have a couple of ordinary miracles the past few days. I got my fave Mexican food for lunch yesterday which was a surprise AND a got a Christmas card from a friend I haven't talked to in a long time. Cool!
I wanted to stick with spooky, Halloweenish posts for the next few days, but I had to share this site I came across!
Would you like to play word games AND help end world hunger at the same time? If so, (or even if no!) check out this cool, but slightly addictive word game! (Click HERE for game.) For every question you get right, they will donate 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. (I donated 2000 grains in just a couple of minutes!) Pretty cool! You can test your verbose while helping to feed people on the other side of the planet! Love it! (And thanks to the Nestie on the Nest Book Board for posting this site!)
So while cruising the net, I ran across this article which lists the top 30 books that all people should read before they die. I've included the list here for your viewing ease!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Bible
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
1984 by George Orwell
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Middlemarch by George Eliot
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn
My thoughts...
Hmmm, The Bible is #2?! Okay... So anyhow, I think I should change the title of this list to, "Books I'm Ashamed to Say I've NEVER Read!" Some of those books in fact (like #13,) I've never even heard of! Yikes! Actually, I have read parts of the Bible (all of the New Testament and part of the Old,) and I've read Jane Eyre, Lord of the Flies, and Great Expectations in their entirety. The last three I read all in high school. Jane Eyre was indeed one of the best books remember reading. What's funny is that I found my old copy a couple of months ago and tried to read it again and put it back down after just 5 minutes! The story itself was still wonderful, but you have to totally change your mindset to prepare for the langauge and writing style used in books of that time. I wasn't ready to exert that much mental energy that day! Maybe I'll try again sometime. Lord of the Flies I remember quite well and agree it is a great book. Great Expectations...hmm, I'm sure it's great, but honestly, can't remember a darn thing about it! Anyhow, I guess I have a lot of other books to start reading!
There are some books I was surprised to not see on the list. How about the Adventures of Huckelberry Finn? Is that not one of the greatest works of American literature? Hmmm. Oh well. I know this next book is a pretty current book, but it's one that I think should make the list -- The Kite Runner by Khalled Hosseini. What books do you think should make the list?
My husband bought my a Nike+iPod for my birthday last year. Overall, it's pretty cool because you can just hook it up to your iPod and it tracks your distance, time, and pace while you run using a footpod you attach to your shoe. Well, as great as it is for road running and asphalt paths, I've discovered my Nike+iPod is completely inaccurate on any soft surface. On any run I've had in the snow, (which is inevitable in Ohio,) it is completely off! I've run some courses that I know are 3 miles and looked at my iPod only to have it say 4.99. Yeah right! Then once I went running on a track that had some snow on it. After 3 1/2 laps, it said I completed a mile! Uh...last time I checked, 4 laps = 1 mile. Grrrr. Well, I've had it today. I needed to run an LSD run of 7 miles and decided to try a new trail. The trail wasn't marked, but as long as there wasn't any snow on it, I figured I'd be fine. Well, after a mile or so into the run, I found the trail to be very wet and soggy, extremely soft in spots. I didn't think much of it. I decided to run until my iPod said 7.4 miles just to be safe. Well, I just got home and checked on some trail maps only to find out that I only ran 6.6 miles! WTH! That's almost a full mile off and I did NOT reach my goal today because of it! I am fighting mad. I have my 10-mile race in a few weeks -- I can not afford to be wasting my once a week LSD run on just 6.6 miles. That's not enough! (Yes -- you've probably figured it out by now -- I am insanely anal about numbers. 6.6 is NOT close enough. As far as I am concerned, 6.99999999 is not close enough! I wanted to do 7 miles!) GRRR.
And to top that off, my run was not fun. I tried the Towpath since so many people I know seem to like it. Well, I'm not one of them. First, the trail was so soggy, I felt like it was going to suck my shoe off in spots. Then I ran about 3/4 mile past this marsh like swamp thing. It was scary! I kept imagining some swamp like creature straight out of some Scooby Doo episode jumping out and chasing after me. Then once I got past that, the trail led under a highway overpass that they were doing some heavy construction on. I felt like I should be wearing a hard hat! After that, the trail led into some pretty open land. I thought, "I haven't seen a person or any living thing in miles. Where AM I? Wait...what are those things? OMG, there are vultures circling over me. This place must be where animals come to die!" That thought alternated with, "OMG, if someone were hiding out, just waiting for an innocent, unsuspecting little person like me, I'd be a goner. Nobody would even hear my screams!" I couldn't wait to reach the safety of my car. But now I find out that all that terror was for not! Oh, I am so mad. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try to redeem myself next weekend as I attempt 8 miles...on my normal, asphalt path! No swamp monsters for me, thank you!
Happy New Year everyone! Did you do anything fun to celebrate? I wish I could say that we did something amazingly fun to celebrate the new year, but I'd be lying. All we did was hang out at home. My husband played his new computer game that he got for Christmas and I worked on altering those mailboxes I got. (BTW, I finished one, but I'm giving that one as a gift. I'll post pics after I give it away.) We turned on the tv around 11:30, watched the ball drop, screamed and carried on, then went to bed. woo hoo. party animals. What can I say?!
Anyhow, as the new year is upon us, many of us start thinking about..."resolutions"! I don't know if I want to make any resolutions only because the word itself = failure to me. I like "goals/wishes/hopes" better. So, here goes:
Every year, I go through phases of different hobbies but never really staying consistent on any one thing. (For example, spring and summer I spend working out and reading. Fall and winter, scrapbooking and crafting.) This year, I hope to change that by setting some personal goals...
I am going to complete a half-marathon by the end of the year: I used to run all the time. I'm usually pretty good about it during spring and summer. Once school starts though, I hit a wall and don't find/make the time for it. That'll have to change if I expect to meet my goal. I've never run a half marathon though. A 5K is the most I've done. A few if my friends have done it though, so if they can, than I can!
I am going to keep up with scrapping and card making by completing at least 2 layouts and 1 set of cards a month. Some people do that much in a day. I'm a slow poke though. (One wish I have connected to this is to sell some of my stuff. I'm looking into starting an Etsy account. Anyone have tips on this? We also have a local store that sells nothing but crafted items. I'm looking into selling there.)
Now here are the things I hope to do this year...
Go on a vacation!
Get an actual job: Right now I'm a long term sub, which is fine because I still advance on the pay scale and still get benefits, but the past two springs and summers I spent wondering if I'm going to have a job the following year. I look forward to that stress being over.
Get the basement finished.
Spend more time with friends.
Hmm, that's all I can think of for now. For me, that's plenty! :-)
Well, as I said earlier, I finished reading The DavinciCode by Dan Brown. This book was easily one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read. Aside from that, it was just plain fun! Every chapter ended with a cliffhanger, begging me to continue on! I read that book any spare moment I could find. After setting it down, I knew that I wanted to read more of Dan Brown if any of his other book were anything like Davinci Code. Well, after a little research, I decided to add Brown's Angels and Demons (which I've just learned is actually the prequel to DavinciCode) to my TBR list. I have a few other books I want to get to first, but that one is a for sure future read!
Well today, my husband and I finally decide to rent The Davinci Code movie. He had wanted to see it for a long time, but I had always been against it. I remember when it first came out, the church I was going to did a whole series on how it was wrong. It said the movie was based on complete misinformation and was simply blasphemy. As a "good Christian," I wanted no part of that. After much reading, soul searching, and some deep conversations with friends, I decided to finally pick a copy of the book. As I said, I LOVED it and it really opened up my eyes to so many things.
So anyway, long story short, we put in the DVD and right before the movie starts, they show a preview for the movie Angels and Demons! I did a little research on the net and it turns out that the movie is slated for release December 19th, 2008. Ron Howard is directing this film (as he did The Davinci Code) and Tom Hanks will again play the role of Langdon. Pretty cool! Well, while December of next year is a long ways away, at least it gives me plenty of time to finish the book first!
I decided that since I am serious about training for some races, I should have the right shoes! So I stopped at Vertical Runner in Hudson and received AWESOME customer service. They checked my feet and my walking pattern to determine which shoes were best for me. The person who helped me was able to answer any questions I had and gave me extra tips not just on shoes, but training for my 5K and half marathon in general. They were so nice and SUPER helpful! Well I couldn't just let those new babies sit in the box. I braved 5 degree temps with a -10 degree windchill and went for a 2-mile run. Just to let you know about my running so far, here is the info logged with my new Nike + iPod: First run: 2.6 miles/9:42 per mile....Second run: 3.6 miles/9:22 per mile....Today with my new awesome shoes: 2.0 miles/7:14 per mile! Can you believe that split time! And that was even running in crazy cold temps WITH 2 inches of snow on the pavement! I'm so psyched! I have a 5k (3.1 miles) in a few weeks and I was hoping to just finished it in under 30 minutes, but if I can run 2 miles in about 15 minutes, I should run well under 30! I will still keep my goal modest and shoot for around 27, but still -- 7:14 per mile? Those are some miraculous shoes! :-) Oh, in case you are wondering (I'm sure you're all dying to know! ***she says sarcastically!***) here they are! I present to you, my new Mizuno Wave Rider 11s!
I've got a combo post coming up -- so consider yourself warned. No matter what the topic though, it appears that I've reached a few milestones...
Run Report: My knees are still bothering me, but I haven't let that stop me. This week, I ran the most number of miles/week at 28.3 miles! Monday and Friday were easy days and I just ran 5.1 around my neighborhood. Wednesday was my return to speedwork. I was really worried because my last speedwork session, a 4 mile tempo run was dreadful! I did a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down and the the 4 mile tempo was supposed to be at an 8:47 to 9:10 pace (according to the McMillan Calculator.) I hit my tempo time with an average pace of 8:45 m/m but it was torturous! As soon as I hit the 4 mile mark, I had to stop and walk for the first minute of my cool down. Not cool! Anyhow, I was worried that with 2 weeks away from speedwork, I would have a repeat performance but I didn't! I didn't even look back to see what my target time was supposed to be. I figured I'd just go out and base the run on perceived effort and how erratic my breathing got! And guess what -- I did my 1 mile warm and 1 mile cool down and my 4 mile tempo run at an 8:25 m/m pace! AND, while I was glad to be done, it didn't feel nearly as bad as before! Yeah!
To finish off the week, I had my long run on Saturday. I was shooting for 11 miles, which would be a new distance PR for me. I plotted out my run via MapMyRun.com and headed out to the bike path. Miles 1-5 felt pretty good. As soon as I hit mile 5, which is where I turned around last week, I started to keep my eyes open for the 5.5 mile mark -- my turn around for this week. The trail isn't marked at all for distance -- I was just using landmarks, a big pond in this instance. Well, the trees had really grown on the path, so I couldn't see a pond at all! I just kept going until I felt I had gone past .5 miles and until I could find a different landmark so that I could least map the run once I got home. I turned at a sign on the path and hoped I had gone far enough. The remaining miles felt decent. I had some muscle strain occasionally, but nothing that lasted long. In fact, I only had pain on the downhills. Good thing this wasn't a hilly course. Oh yeah, I only had one other dilemma -- I was dying of thirst! I've been lucky so far in that I have never had to carry water with me on a run. I don't really get too thirsty, and as long as I have a good drink of water before my run, I'm generally pretty good to go. Well, not this time! Apparently, 10 miles is my limit! It didn't help that it was probably 80 degrees outside and the sun was beating down! I didn't have anything with me and I was dying the last few miles! Daydreaming about reaching my water bottle in the car is what got me to really move the last 30 minutes!
Well, anyway, once I got home, I went back on MapMyRun to see how far I had actually gone. And guess what -- I definitely had a new distance PR: 11.9 miles! Whoa! If I knew I was that close to 12, I would have totally gone .1 more! Oh well. So then I went to total my miles for the week and saw that I had a new record (but I already said that,) but then when I totaled the miles up from when I started running again back in February, I see that I am SO close to another record! I'm at 298.5! As of tomorrow, I'll be over 300 which means, time for new shoes! Thank you Mizunos for carrying me this far!
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Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD): As you may have read, I am starting a new baking adventure this week. I have joined a group of baking bloggers who choose one recipe a week from this book called, Baking: From My Home to Yours. The blog name is Tuesdays with Dorie, from now on only referred to as TWD. Anyway, as I mentioned below, this week's recipe is a double crusted blueberry pie. Okay... I have never, and I repeat never baked a pie in my life! Working with dough (and let me clarify -- dough that needs to be rolled) is NOT my forte! In fact, it is the bane of my baking existence... the constant downfall in my quest of dessert domination! Okay... you get the point. So anyhow, tonight I will start my attempt at beating my nemesis into submission. I will start with the dough tonight and try to bake this thing tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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I've Been Tagged! Well Jen from Jen's Birthday Challenge AND Kai from See Kai Run, See Kai Eat have thrown down a double team tag! They have both challenged me to list 6 random facts about myself. So... here goes:
1. I'm very particular about how I eat certain candy. Now, this only applies to candy that has different flavors in one package like Skittles or gummy bears. Here's the thing -- I can NOT mix flavors of candy in one bite. Whenever I get a bag of these candies, let's use Skittles as our example, I first sort all of the candies by color/taste. Then I will only eat one color at a time. For example, I'll eat a red Skittle with another red Skittle -- NEVER a red with a green. This becomes very challenging when trying to eat Skittles in dark places such as the movie theater, but what can I say?!
2. Going along with #1 -- I can only eat candies in even numbers. This is to prevent a disequilibrium in my mouth -- you see, if I eat in even numbers, I can have the same number of candies on the left side of my mouth as the right. That way, each side is equally happy! Now if I have an odd number of candies -- 3 red Skittles we'll say -- I'll simply bite the third Skittle in half so that I can chew 1.5 Skittles on the right and 1.5 on the left. Odd, but true!
3. Totally off the candy subject now... I have a weird foot thing. I only like looking at pretty/cute feet -- unattractive feet totally gross me out! I'm really crazy about that too! I almost didn't go out with my DH because of his feet. When I first met him, we were at the beach. He was wearing sandals and I was thinking, "Oh no, those won't do! I know socks and sandals are a no-no, but this guy needs an exemption!"
4. The first concert I ever went to was New Kids on the Block! I was totally in love with Joey McIntyre at the time and just couldn't believe I was in the same room with him! I am slightly stoked that NKOTB has reunited and yes, I do jam out to their new song "Summertime" when I hear it on the radio.
5. My mom is from the Philippines and while she didn't make a huge effort to impart her culture onto me, I miss even the little things. I miss hearing the language, I miss the food (which I make myself sometimes), I miss having that culture in my life. Every year I feel like it fades a little more and that makes me sad.
6. When I am sad, I cheer myself up by going to super cute websites like LOLcats. Or sometimes I'll go on YouTube and watch those videos of cats doing silly stuff. Here's one now!
Okay, that's it for me! Now here are the rest of the rules to the challenge:
1. link to the person who tagged you. 2. post the rules on your blog. 3. write six random things about yourself. 4. tag six people at the end of your post. 5. let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog 6. let the tagger know when your entry is up.
Okay, I accomplished rules 1-3. Now here is where I get totally lame. Both of the people who tagged ME and the ones who I would have tagged! I really don't follow too many blogs, so I don't know who else to tag SO, if you are reading this and you have a blog, consider yourself TAGGED! Can that count for rules 4-6... pretty please? :-)
Last night, DH and I took part in an amazing experience -- we got to snorkel at night with manta rays! I wasn't sure what to expect. I imagined the rays to be pretty small, maybe 4-5 feet across. Once we got to the dock though, our guide started talking about what to expect for our experience and he said that we might likely see mantas that could be 10-14 feet across! Yikes! He told us how they like to swim in circles to eat the plankton and how since we are snorkeling with them, they may very well circle up close to us. He said, "If you see this giant mouth coming up from the depths below right at you, don't be afraid! Just when it looks like they're going to gobble you, they'll turn over and maybe even graze you, belly to belly." I told my DH, I don't care what that guy says, if a creature that big comes at me with it's mouth wide open, I am definitely going to freak out!
We took a short 5 minute boat ride out into the bay and then they turned on the lights to attract the plankton. As soon as we jumped into the water, I put my face into the water and immediately saw a gigantic manta! It was easily 14 feet across and it moved so gracefully through the water. It was magical! It seemed to just float along the water like a hawk gliding on an air current. And just like the guide said, the manta started circling over itself. It was so majestic. I thought I would be frightened, but I was more in awe of the manta's grace and beauty! I started snapping some pics and soon a few more mantas came over. They started circling up towards us and came really close to touching me! It was amazing! We ended up seeing 4 mantas that night. The guide said that's unusual -- he mostly just sees 1 or 2 so we got really lucky! Hopefully my underwater pics will come out pretty nicely and I'll be able to post them once I get them developed.
Today, we went on a hike through a rain forest to look at some waterfalls. It was another awesome experience. We started off in a valley overlooking some cliffs. Our guide Matt, told us that those cliffs formed when part of the island actually fell into the ocean after a big earthquake! He said there is proof of that in (a) the cliffs and (b) the fact that they found rock debris hundreds of miles out into the ocean from those cliffs! If you look closely at the pic below, you can see waterfalls going down the cliffs. Cool!
The first stop along the trail was at an old taro farming field. In the pic below, you can see the taro growing on the left. The guide said that the old farmers would move some of the water from the stream into the growing field and then back into the stream. On the right, you can see some banana trees. The guide told us a cool fact about them -- Did you know that banana trees fruit only once? As soon as they are finished, they die! New banana trees are also sprouting to replace the older ones though as they die off. I never knew that!
Soon, we hit the trail again and found some amazing waterfalls.
We had to traverse some pretty crazy/interesting terrain to get to them.
While hiking though, our guide showed us some of the wild fruit growing there. We got to sample strawberry guavas and regular guavas. The strawberry ones (the small red ones in first pic) were a little tart, but still sweet. The larger, yellow regular guavas (second pic) were so yummy! I never had one before so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was awesome!
After sampling some wild eats, and checking out some raging falls, we had a light snack and headed back home. I learned so much about the island and had a lot of fun. It was an awesome experience!
I sent out my first shipment of cards for Cards for Heroes! If you are not familiar with who they are, check them out HERE. Here are the cards I sent today. It's a small batch, but I'm hoping to send more in the future now that I know about this awesome program! (BTW, all cards were made by yours truly! I can't wait to make more with the cool stamps I'll be getting!)
Edited Update: Just wanted to clarify that most of the cards I made were used using the sketches of Sheetload.
I was channel surfing last night and ran across my favorite Christmas movie -- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! It doesn't matter how many times I have seen it -- I still love to watch it every year!
Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged! It's back to school for me, so I haven't had as much time to craft and blog. I had today off (for MLK day) and decided to try a project from the SplitCoast Stampers Resource page. I decided to try their "Magic Card". It's really cool because it has this card that you slide out and when you pull it, the stamped image goes from boring black and white to color! I'm still trying to make my card slide better, but here is one of my first attempts.
What do you think? Pretty cute?! Like I said, I'm still working on making it better. Have you ever done a card like this? Ideas/tips on how to make it slide easier. Hmmmm.
And here is another one I made with a little owl stamp. He's a Studio G $1 stamp. I haven't stamped on a sentiment yet. I'll do that whenever I decide to use it.
I mainly wanted to learn how to make these cards because I thought they were super cute. I also wanted to make them though because I thought they would be cool to sell. You don't see cards like "magic cards" a lot -- at least I don't! (Do you think people would buy a card like this? How much would you be willing to pay, if anything?)
So as you may remember, I have a goal this year to start selling my crafts, so I stopped at this local store that rents space to crafters. YIKES -- It costs way more than I thought! Just to rent a space is $38-200 per month based on the size and location of the booth. Then they get a 12% commission. EEEK! I could never sell enough cards or paper crafted items to even cover my rent cost! Looks like I'll be looking into Etsy more. Anyone have tips?!
I am pretty excited about my time from yesterday's race. When I look at my 5 mile time, I ended up with 43:03 and even then, that includes that first mile where I had to walk/jog the first half mile or so just fighting through the crowd. Why is that significant for me? Well, my first 5K race was on March 15th. I entered in my finish time using the McMillan Calculator and it said that my 5 mile race equivalent time should be 43:55. My time from yesterday beat that! Yea -- that means that I am surely improving!
So when I went to enter my time and splits onto my training calendar and I noticed that I have another race coming up in just three weeks! I have my first 10K, the Jim Klett Memorial 10K. I went back the McMillan Calculator and entered in my 5 mile time to figure out what my equivalent time would be for a 10K and it gave me a 54:02. I then went to check out some of the previous years' results for the race and it turns out, if I run a 54:02, I have a chance at placing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in my age group! (That time would've place in every year I found except 2004.) That would be SO cool if I could place! SO, that is my new goal -- I want to work as hard as I can to get under 54:00 in order to have chance at placing! I wonder why the times from previous years seem to be above that though. In my past two races, my times have been blown out of the water! I wonder if the times are little slower because the 10K course is harder, or maybe it's just because there are so few people that come out for this race. (The 2006 race results I found only listed 136 participants. My 10-miler race had more participants than that in just my age group!) Oh well, no matter the reason, my goal is to work my butt off over the next three weeks to do the best I can at my first 10K! I really want to place, but to keep from getting my hopes up too much, I'll just keep my goal time-focused and shoot for a sub 54...with the secret hope of placing! I hope both are within my reach!
Here is one of my first scrapbook layouts I've completed in a long time! The subject -- our cat Snoopy! I caught him covering up his eyes trying to snooze and thought it was too cute. PP: DCWV (All Dressed Up Stack), flowers: (pink) Prima and (white) Heidi Swapp, diecut letters: Cricut (Opposites Attract)
Just wanted to share a pic of some memorabilia from my first race of 2008. I'm so excited! My next race scheduled is the Tallmadge Memorial 5K in May, but hopefully I'll find another race to run before that. I haven't registered for it yet, but I'm pretty sure I'll do it. One perk -- free pancake breakfast after the race and a Memorial Day parade soon after -- how fun! In June, I'll have my first 10K race, the Jim Klett Memorial. I've heard the course is supposed to be beautiful, so I'm looking forward to that! I just sent the registration for that race out yesterday. My race season is officially underway!
So lately I have been CRAZY stressed. All I can say is, all work and no play makes tmac96...well...a little like this!
Actually, this crazy cat just makes me laugh, because it is totally me! On the outside, I am like a demure little cat -- totally mild-mannered, the picture of cool, calm and collected. I look totally innocent, but on the inside, I am far from it. I am unleashing a rage with a white-hot intensity of a thousand suns! Look out -- crazy napalm-blasting kitty on the rampage! Run for cover!
So as I was writing my cousin about college, I couldn't help but remember my first college roommate experience. I can pretty much sum up our experience in this one story...
So the first night I'm there, she offers to take my to the this party with her. She already knows a bunch of people there since half her high school went to the same college. Well I figure, that'll be a great way to meet some new people so I say sure. So after checking out some various college clubs, we hit this party around 11ish. I hang out at the party for awhile, but it's overall lame, so I leave around 1AM. I head back to the dorm and go to bed. Around 3ish, I hear the door open and my roomie is talking to some guy in the hallway. I'm thinking, "Oh come ON, it's 3AM, say goodnight already. I'm trying to sleep!" Anyhow, they keep chatting so I throw the covers over my head and I fall back to sleep.
Okay, so there I am, all in dreamland and I suddenly awaken to my bed (which is a BUNK bed) rocking in a rhythmic fashion. In a sleepy grog, I'm like, "What the heck is going on?" I throw the covers off of my head and look across the room into the huge mirror on the opposite wall only to see my roomie and some gross dude totally getting it on in the bed above me. Ugh, GROSS! Get a room...oh, and one that is NOT mine. And for that matter, get a BED...one that is not attached to MINE! OMG, I mean, how classy is that?!
And that is pretty much how that first semester went. There would be times when I would be in the common area on our floor studying and I'd have to go back to my room to get a highlighter or something. I'd walk in (door not even locked) again to see my roomie and her boy-of-the-day getting it on right on the floor. I'd just step right over them to get my highlighter, wanting to poke my eyes out with it the whole way out. They never even noticed me. ***shuddering at the memory***
She was a nice enough girl, but OMG, I felt like I was living in a brothel! I cried no tears when she left to go live in the sorority house.
After my big race, I was so looking forward to visiting with Dr. Craig. My body SO felt like it needed a good adjustment. Anyhow, when I went in today, everyone was asking me about the race. I had a lot of fun sharing. I even brought my medal. (Yes, I'm a total dork!) Afterwards, Dr. Craig spent some extra time adjusting me. He said that he needed to spend a little more time realigning my body after "sustaining the trauma of a 10 mile run". I thought that was kind of funny! If a 10-mile run is "traumatic," what's a 26.2 run like?! Anyhow, I do feel phenomenally better after my visit. He gave me additional exercises to work my knee too. Both knees felt pretty good during my race, with only periodic, marginal pain. I actually forgot all about my knees -- I was too busy concentrating on the race. It wasn't until after the race was over that things started tightening up. I could barely walk down the stairs Saturday night! While Dr. Craig said that he expected some pain for me after a 10 mile run, he said that my knee pain should really be subsiding a little quicker than it is. He's concerned about the arch support in my shoes now too. Ugh, I can't wait till my knee pain is G-O-N-E! Luckily, I have no big races coming up, so I can really take my time healing and working my up to those bigger miles again (as opposed to going from 3 miles to 10 in just a week! But hey, I got a cool medal and an awesome race experience! So worth it!)
And which dream is that? Well, that would be the dream to complete a half marathon in under 2 hours. And how did I choose that arbitrary time? Well, there is one woman that I work with who is a super crazy good runner. She told me that she ran her first at around 2 hours. So then I'm thinking that I should at least run as close to 2 hours as possible since basically, she's my running idol. The other reason I chose 2 hours is this: My one friend who is a casual runner (meaning she never really trains for anything -- just runs 3-6 miles every now and then because she likes it) spontaneously decides that she's going to sign up for the Chicago half and run it. Yeah...she signed up like a week before the race, went out and ran it in "around 2 hours". Say what?! Now yes, she does admit that she had to pray her way through the last few miles, but still, totally minimal "training" and running a half in 2 hours?! Okay, I've GOT to do better than that with all that I am doing. So anyhow, the goal is UNDER 2 hours now.
Well, I just entered in my unofficial 10K time of 54:20 in the Running Times Calculator and it projects a half mary time for me of...1 hour, 59 minutes, 59 seconds! Woo hoo -- I'll take it! (As a side note, I also check my projected time using the McMillan Calculator. Yeah, it said my half mary time would be 2 hours, 0 minutes, 54 seconds. Clearly WRONG!) And I still have 12 weeks to train too so hopefully I'll have a sub 2 hour half mary in the bag! I'd do a happy dance, but I'd probably jinx myself, and fall and break my ankle. :-)
I found a bag of cranberries at my local grocery store and knew I had to make something with them. Cranberries are my favorite fall food and in my opinion, way too underused. I have to admit though, I am guilty of not using them as much as maybe as I could. They are surely a staple side at the table on Thanksgiving Day, but I don't use them much otherwise. I challenged myself to find many more recipes with them.
As I was searching Epicurious for some cranberry-orange muffin recipes, I ran across a recipe for cranberry-orange cheesecake! I have never made a cheesecake before and have been dying to give one a try. I clicked on the recipe and was glad to see that I had pretty much all the ingredients I needed, some of which (chocolate wafer cookies) I've actually had in my pantry and have been trying to get rid of! I love when that happens. Next, I looked at the ratings and saw that it got awesome reviews! SCORE! Decision made -- cranberry-orange cheesecake it is! Here is the recipe, written as is from Epicurious:
Ingredients:
Crust
1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies, broken
2 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
Directions:
For crust: Preheat oven to 325°F. Finely grind cookies and chocolate in processor. Add butter; blend until moist clumps form. Using plastic wrap as aid, press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 1/4 inches up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until set, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
For filling: Increase oven temperature to 350°F. Wrap 2 layers of heavy-duty foil around bottom and up sides of springform pan. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light. Beat in flour. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, just until blended. Beat in orange peel and vanilla.
Pour filling into crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until filling is just set in center but still moves slightly, about 55 minutes. Remove cake from water bath; transfer to rack and cool completely, about 4 hours. Cover and chill overnight.
For topping: Stir sugar and water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; add cornstarch mixture and bring to simmer. Add cranberries; cook until beginning to pop, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in orange peel. Cool completely. Cover and chill overnight. (Cheesecake and cranberry mixture can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
Run knife around top edge of cheesecake to loosen. Release pan sides. Top cheesecake with cranberry mixture. Chill until set, about 1 hour.
I followed the recipe pretty much as directed. I had NO clue what I was doing or looking for in terms of whether or not the crust was done or when the cheesecake itself was done. I mean, it says that it's supposed to look "set" (whatever that looks like) but still wobbly in the middle. Uhhh, how wobbly? I chalked this up to an experimental baking adventure and crossed my fingers.
Well, it appears luck was on my side. My first ever cheesecake was a wonderful success! I was worried about the cheesecake sticking to the springform pan but that wasn't a problem at all. I was also worried about the cheesecake being not as smooth as I wanted since the cream cheese wasn't quite room temperature when I mixed it initially, but the texture was silky smooth and luxurious! And how did it taste? I was worried that using just orange zest wouldn't give it enough orange flavor, but I think it was just right. There was just a hint or orange, but enough to know it was there. The tart/sweet cranberry topping was a great compliment. It was very yum and is something I will likely make again! I can't wait to try different combinations of cheesecake flavor and fruit toppings.
So here's what's been going on with me, other than running, (which seems to be all I blog about anymore!)
Update 1 -- My New Workout DVDs: Okay, this is somewhat running related, but whatever...I have to ease into this! So I tried out my new DVD, Total Body Time Crunch by The Firm. It was definitely hard for me to keep up seeing as how I've done practically NO aerobics! Just as soon as I'd figure out how to do one move, she was already on to the next! That's okay though. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after doing it a few more times. Anyhow, I thought it was pretty good. It started with a warm up with then went into a cardio segment. After about 7-10 minutes, there was a toning segment, but she still had me doing like 7 different things at once which really kept my heart rate going...okay maybe not 7, but still, you get the point! That followed with more cardio, then more toning, and so on. The last segment or so of cardio had a little bit of plyometrics (AKA jumping around a lot) which I like. Alltogether, the video was about 45 minutes long and I was sweating by the end! I told my DH that while I was doing it, I really felt my heart going and my legs burning, but afterwards, I felt totally fine -- not tired at all like I am after my runs, so I'm not sure how much of a workout it really was. My husbands bets I'll be pretty sore tomorrow. We'll see.
On a funny side note, I was talking to my husband about maybe getting a couple more workout DVDs like the one I tried today so that I could alternate them. I asked for his opinion and all he said was, "Would it make you look even hotter?" "Ummm, I don't know...I guess?" "Then you should definitely get it!" Ugh, why did I even bother asking him!
Update 2 -- My Crazy Cat: I just had to share this pic. My cat Snoopy gets SO MAD when any other cat comes into HIS territory. He was practically foaming at the mouth this afternoon when a neighborhood kitty came to say hello!
Snoopy's tail got all puffy, he started growling and hissing and was ready to jump through the glass! You can see how frightened the other cat is! My cat is such a goof!
Update 3 -- Crafting: I haven't been scrapbooking or cardmaking like I used to, but I did make a few cards today using March's Sheetload Sketch. For this first card, I used paper from the "Garden Party" pack by Making Memories. Everything else I had laying around. Stamps are Studio G $1 stamps. The second card was made using the same sketch but with paper I bought at Target awhile back -- forgot the name of the line. I used my Cuttlebug to cut the cupcake stamp out and to emboss it. Then I used Stickles to add glitter to the cupcake and candle (which is hard to see in the pic.)
I actually made 6-12 of each card. Most of them I'll be donating to Cards for Heroes. I've written about that wonderful program before, but if you're not familiar with them, click on the link to learn more! It was fun getting back into all of my papers and ribbons. I want to do a scrapbook layout next of my last race.
I've always said that summer is my favorite season. I think that has something to do with the fact that my birthday is in it, but whatever! I'm turning the big 3-0 though so I don't know how enthused I am this year! Oh well. Anyway, I usually love those hot, sunny days when I can just lay in the sand on the beach or take a dip in the swimming pool. I'm realizing today though that summer's appeal is a little lost on a day like today, in the 90s with high humidity and I have NO beach or NO pool! UGH -- what's up with that?! I am melting! I tried to get up early today to run before it got too hot. "Early" for me during my summer break is around 7AM So I peel out of bed at 7:30 this morning, get dressed and ran out the door. I think by the time I made it to the end of my driveway, I was already sweating! The only saving grace to my run this morning is that I got to wear my cute pink Target (Tar-jay!) running skirt and my awesome new sporty sun glasses. I looked totally "Runner Grrrl!" Can I just say too that I bought my running skirt probably back in April and when I tried it on then, it was a little snug, but the next size up was almost falling off, so I went with the smaller size. Well, when I put it on today, no snugness! Just fit perfection! Woo hoo! Then after my workout, I got cleaned up and attempted to try on a pair of last year's skorts that were a little snug last year too. Yeah, check it...they slid right on, no problem! This running thing is really working out! So anyway...back to complaining about summer!
So anyhow, as Runner Grrrl as I may have looked, I was SOOOOO hot! I felt like I was on fire! Luckily, tomorrow is cross training day, so I should be good, but then I checked out Sunday's forecast. It's supposed to be even hotter and Sunday is my LONG run day! I thought, "Well, I'll just have to get up extra early to avoid the heat." So I check out the hourly forecast complements of Accuweather and the coolest part of the morning is 4AM at an ever-so-chilly 70 degrees F! Well I can promise you that I WON'T be getting up at 4, so this Sunday should be interesting! Any tips for staying cool?
Okay, so I've run two races so far on my "Getting Back in Shape" Tour, and with both races, I got a medal. Don't be too impressed. For the first race, I won 1st place in my age group. What I hesitate to tell others is that, there was only one other person in my age group! But hey, it does NOT say that on the medal! And as far as the second medal, well that's a finisher's medal. You could walk the darn thing and still get one. Well, unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten those little details. I was looking at signing up for a few races and as I was checking out their websites, I decided to check out the results from the previous years to see where my recent times would compare, hoping of course that my times would be medal-worthy. Ummm yeah...THEY'RE NOT! Man, if I ran those races, I would have been totally smoked! Forget about getting a medal -- I'd be choking on the dust kicked up by 70 year old ladies! (No offense to 70 year old ladies -- you are fabulous!) So, just as I was gazing upon my medals thinking about what a great runner I'm turning out to be, I got a little wakeup call: (1) I am SO NOT all that! and (2) I've got a long way to go!
Snoopy's tail got all puffy, he started growling and hissing and was ready to jump through the glass! You can see how frightened the other cat is! My cat is such a goof!
I actually made 6-12 of each card. Most of them I'll be donating to 