Five Things I’m Thankful For

Busy busy day today. One of our closest couple-friends is getting married TOMORROW!! So I got to sleep in for a little bit, then got up and showered and went to their house to get stuff going with that. It was a great morning, we were laughing and singing to cheesy rap music and grumbling about how hungry we were and how far behind schedule.

And then everything changed. They happen so suddenly, bombs like those, don’t they? Everything’s okay now, the wedding will go on, but it was a scary couple hours when we just didn’t know. All we could do was pray. And drive really fast.

So, in honor of that, FTF: gratitude

1. My husband would drop the world for me if I needed him.
2. I have this amazing, extended, adopted, loving family that would drop the world if I needed them.
3. I have enough to survive any crisis. Money, faith, strength, whatever I need, I find a way to make what I have be enough.
4. There are brilliant minds all around me.
5. My running family is so incredible. So so blessed with them.

Ogres are Like Onions

Have I mentioned how much I love the movie Shrek?

“Ohhhhh, layyyyerrrrrs.”

I’m catching up on the end of Seven Year Switch. It’s a reality show on FYI, which also brought me my last guilty pleasure (Married at First Sight), about four couples who switch to get new perspective on their marriages. Nothing creepy like swingers – just being physically apart for two weeks and being around a different “husband”. Love is a choice. Entirely. You decide to be happy or to be grumpy.

Running is hard for the first time in a long time. Not the breathing, I finally toughened my lungs up. I think the miles are just catching up to me. I’ve never consistently run at this level before.

Amusing moment of the week….

Monday night. The husband is going to judge me.

Tuesday morning. In the words of the Colin Powell book I’m reading, “You break it, you own it.” You made this mess, you get to clean it up. Thanks, hun.

Hasta!

Run Recap 9.8.15

Happy Labor Day!

Last night’s run was rough in the humidity, and it was still 95 degrees after we finished. Today, since I took an extra day of vacation, I wanted to run early. No sun at 8 am, but it was still crazy humid. I think it rained last night.

Goal workout: half mile warmup, then 8 sprints of 2 minutes at race pace (9:10 for me), with 5 minutes “recovery” (not defined).

True workout: the “warmup” was 9:20, so a 9:10 didn’t seem like a challenge. The first sprint felt good at 8:00, so I decided stay under 8 for the runs. When it came time to recover, I was staying around 9:30 so I picked 10 to force myself to slow down. Each recovery included about a minute real walk (which my watch says is like 16 or 18 minute pace).

The second run was at 8:06, but the other seven runs were under 8 with no issues. The sun came out at the beginning of the third sprint, but only stayed for about 15 minutes. 5.9 miles on the watch plus another half mile walk home.

No jerks on the road today (except the punk gnats that want to fly up your nose! What is that?). Pre-run was half a cinnamon roll Quest bar and 10ish oz water. Ke$ha wins “most motivational”.

Make it a great week!

Music Time Machines

So we’re leaving Short Creek (our local kid-turned-Nashville celebrity was back home playing tonight) and I can’t get over how music does things. We’ve been out of college for four years now, but freshman year still feels real. I’ve Never Been to Heaven still sounds like footballl season. Doesn’t matter where we are, doesn’t matter who’s singing…

Determination

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Happy Sunday, y’all!

My old knee tweak is back. I stopped at like mile 3 yesterday of my long run to get my knee strap, which helped some for the rest of the run, but it still swelled afterwards and by the time we left the demo derby in C-ville, it looked like a certifiable limp. I think I can, I think I can. It’s only week 2 of training! I can’t be quitting now!

Every time I Velcro this guy on, I feel a little more like a crazy runner girl…

Hi…

My name is Paula and I’m a procrastinator.

I have a “smart” (supposedly) phone with the WP app. I have a half-hour-each-way commute where I contemplate life’s surprises and inequities. I have a developed vocabulary and what I feel is a unique perspective on life. And I have lots of time since it is still summer and my husband lives at work.

And yet, I haven’t posted anything since my Oklahoma PSA in June, and the last legit post was before that. Thus, here I stand. Talking out my ass.

I can make all the excuses I want. I’m going through some soul-searching. We’ll see how the blog comes out of this.

Happy Wednesday!

Hacked at Food Hacks

Mini-rant for Tuesday, and a word of advice for you Chef Mommy bloggers…

This morning I was trying to throw together teriyaki chicken in the crock pot. I realized I had misjudged my supply of chicken stock. Okay, fairly, I sat down Sunday and planned the first couple days of meals til I could get to the grocery store. I overlooked (cough forgot) last night’s rice used my last carton. So this morning, I’m late, have chicken already in the crock, and have no chicken broth.

Being of the techno-savvy generation that I am, I click away from my recipe and Google ‘chicken broth hack’ and scroll through all the hacks that use chicken broth themselves.

(A hack is an alternative method. It might be used to make a recipe healthier or, in my case, make do with limited supplies.)

If I see one more site that says to use vegetable broth as a substitute for chicken broth, I’m going to scream! Seriously. If I am smart enough to read a recipe and navigate the internet, I have probably already considered that. Oh my geez, vegetable flavored liquid works in a crock pot like chicken flavored liquid?!? Thank you, blogger world for enlightening me!

I did find a site with better alternatives, finally. Let’s hope my husband doesn’t notice the white wine taste.

Happy Tuesday!

It’s Raining Again!

In true farmer fashion, I’m going to say ‘Thanks for the rain, but couldn’t You have waited til we got the fields done and beans in?’

We’re not really ungrateful people. Just impatient. 🙂

Work Hard (But Not Too Hard)

Anyone else have days where you’re productive at work but not at home, or the opposite? Why can’t I be productive all the time?

At home, I did dishes and laundry and now I’m out on my walk/run before I cook supper. Housework on the agenda too!

My accomplishment at work, however, besides a six block stroll to the bakery, was realizing my side project since February is immaterial and thus worthless. If you’re spinning your wheels, stop…

Monday Again!!

It just keeps coming!!

Had a ball this weekend with my sister at Stillwater’s Remember the Ten 5K (her first!) and Downtown Arts Festival. So much inspiration, from the victims’ families, fellow runners (and walkers), and artisans.

Last night we had some friends over and cooked homegrown burgers. I can’t wait to get moved into the new house and start work on it, and have people over all the time!

I feel a little lame for copying an outfit almost exactly, but what can you do? There are only so many business casual outfits a closet can ever make, and especially with four cardis, five pairs of pants, and more camis than a person really needs, you can’t help but get similar outfits every once in a while… And I don’t care! Just throw on pretty jewelry and shoes and realize that No. One. Else. Cares!

(It’s the denim shirt over the black dress from the Who I Am post, in case you’re curious. One day I’ll fully accept the brown belt with black clothes trend…)

Be happy, and have a lovely Monday!