Heaven Has A New Angel

We will forever hold our Aunt Judy in our hearts and think of her with much love and fond memories.

I am so lucky to have known her.  She was a strong woman who I admired.  She was talented with many skills including painting (pictures), gardening (beautiful plants), and knitting.  I have hand made treasures from her which are even more valuable now.  

I am so lucky to have been loved by her.

Rest In Peace Angel Judy, we will always love you.

Glad That's Over

I DID IT!  I ran my first Half Marathon.  That's 13.1 miles.  Although my run tracker said it was 13.3 miles.  It was an experience.

We had to wake up very early, so for that, I thank my adoring fans.  Todd had to awaken the pups to get up and go.  It was a dark and quiet drive there.  Often throughout the morning I thought to myself how only crazy people wake up this early to go RUN.  

It was a great, flat, well-organized race.  They had heats for runners to start in based on expected finishing time so that everyone wasn't in one huge gaggle of flailing arms and twitching legs.  That's always nice.

My first mile was not the easiest.  I kept thinking my shins kind of smart because I didn't stretch enough.  But then after the first mile, I didn't give my shins a second thought.  I had warmed up.  I actually ran fast for the first 3 or 4 miles.  I thought I had better slow down because I couldn't keep a 10.5 minute mile up for much longer.

We had great cheerleaders along the course.  I saw some hysterical signs.  People really put some thought into their messages.  Here are the most memorable signs that I saw:

• Worst Parade Ever
• Run Faster, I Farted
• If Brittany Spears Can Survive 2007, You Can Survive This Race!
• Faster Faster Faster
• That's what she said (of course this one was right next to the one above)

I took some pics along the way.

Iconic fountain at the round-about

Ran past a beautiful park.

Picturesque Loose Park

The rose garden on the other side of Loose Park, which was the way we "turned around" on the course.

I had not visited these iconic landmarks since we've been back, so I was happy to run past them.  I actually took pics, because I wanted to remember this race.  It may be the only time I run it.


I was very impressed with how well organized the race was.  There were Gatorade / water stations and port-a-potties almost every other mile, it felt like.  And around mile 6, there was a "Gu station" where they handed out opened packets of energy-gu!  I LOVED THEM FOR THAT!  I brought my own energy beans which I used, but I loved trying a new brand.  Another group of cheerleaders had bowls of gummy bears.  Another lady was handing out ropes of licorice.

Somehow I got a burst of energy at mile 11 and again at mile 12.  About a half mile before the end, I had the strangest sensation that I HAD to pee and I seriously didn't know if my muscles were going to allow me to hold it or not.  I mean, every muscle in my body was focused on finishing.  Finishing this dang thing so it could be over.

About 10 seconds before the finish line, Todd was there cheering me on and got a few pics.  I was never so happy in all my life to stop moving.

Right before I finished my first Half Marathon!

Once I crossed the finish line, I heard them announce my name because they called out the names of everyone as they crossed the finish.  I got my medal and a bottle of water, and they cut my timing chip off my shoe.  Then I headed straight for the port-a-potty to take care of my most urgent need.  Let me tell you, compression tights + running for 2.5 hours + going in a confined space = NOT a fun experience.  

My second most urgent need was to drink that blessed water.  Everything in my body was telling me that I Needed. To. Drink. That. Water!!!  But as I struggled to get myself redressed (and try to use my phone with sweaty fingers), I reached up to get that brand new bottle of unopened water only to hear it... plop.  The damn thing slid off the top of the slanted toilet paper holder and dove straight down into the blue abyss of the potty.  I looked down and I swear it was right on top, right there in all the muck mocking me.  O.M.G. Noooo!

I come out of the stall dazed and light headed and desperate for water.  Todd luckily found me. Did I mention my sweaty fingers couldn't type on my phone while I was in the john to tell him where I was?  And I had tried calling him but there was NO SOUND.  So.  Frustrating.

So I tell him I have to have water now.  We start walking towards all the food booths, and I see some friends we know.  Todd was in front of me and he didn't see them, but I did.  I was in a panic, almost in tears I was so desperate for water, I run up to them and say to my fellow runner "can I have your water?", to which he immediately gave it to me.  His wife was instantly worried and asked if I wanted to sit down or go to the ER people.  Nope, I just needed some water.  THAT was sort of a panic-stricken feeling that I never want to experience again.

Thankfully, after I drank the entire bottle, I felt better.  We saw a few people we knew were there, walked around and got a little food to snack on, then left.  As we walked the eternity back to the car, I realized what really hurt on my body were my shoulders.  I had woken up that morning with a stiff neck that wouldn't turn to the left but with a warm shower I had loosened it up enough to know I was going to be OK.  I purposefully shook my hands out at least every mile and tried to keep my arms down.  I guess I didn't do that often enough.  That was unexpected.

Also unexpected was my time.  You see, I had experienced 2 sinus infections and stressed my Achilles tendon, all within the past 2 months.  I had to adjust my training plan so many times, I abandoned it.  I had no expectations to make the original time I really wanted, of 2 hrs 30 minutes.  But guess what?  I came in at 2:35:13.9!  I am AMAZED that I finished in only 5 minutes more than my original goal.  I hardly had any time to work on speed training.

So there you have it.  I did a half marathon.  I can check that one off my list.  Now, I'm ready to stick with 10K's.  I can run a blazing fast 6.2 miles now.



 

It's Been 3 Years

Happy holidays!  It's already that joyous time of the year when everyone is over extended: going to too many parties/planned events, trying to get all the gifts bought/wrapped/mailed, decorating the house, while keeping up with laundry, paying property taxes, cooking, cleaning, caring for the animals, oh yea and going to work, etc., etc., etc.  I can't believe Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Good thing I've been shopping for months.  Too bad I haven't been wrapping!

The last 2 months have just FLOWN by for me, and the first thing I gave up was blogging.  But now I'm ready to get back to it.  I'm not sure how many readers I have anymore, but whoever you are, I've missed you!  I've had a very fun fall, so I will eventually recap the highlights for you.  For now, I'll talk about this past weekend:  Thanksgiving!

Joey was tired after his Thanksgiving holiday

It's been 3 years since I started this blog!  Happy anniversary to my little cyber garden.  This Thanksgiving has been really great.  We "got my parents" this year, so they were here to help celebrate and cook (well, my mom helped with the cooking and dad dog-sat the pups).  It was a perfect meal!  

Here is Todd's beautiful fresh bird.  I don't know if it was so special because it was fresh and never frozen, or all the love Todd put into the brine.  Whatever the reason, it was magic.

I'm not that big of a turkey fan but I LOVED THIS BIRD

Here is my wonderful plate of perfect food.  It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!  And Todd's gravy was the best ever.  I could drink that stuff with a straw.

The perfect plate

And then we had pie.

I can smell the goodness just looking at this picture

You all know that my Thanksgiving breakfast tradition is to bake monkey bread.  This year was no exception.  Every year I have a dilemma because my bread grows so much that I wake up to an evil monster lurking in the kitchen.  This year, I decided to outsmart the small bundt pan, and make it like the restaurants who serve it on their buffets.  In a big pan.

Before

Finally, I woke up to what I expected!  The bread had risen without a mess!  I learned that it is more difficult to cook this way.  I need to put foil over it so that it completely bakes without over-browning.  Oh well, next year will be even better!

After
You can't see all the oozy gooey goodness on the bottom of this dish, but it's there

And this is what we got to eat!

Our breakfast:  Yummy!

Our pups had a great time being SPOILED rotten by their grandparents.  They went on walks, and took naps on the couch, and got belly rubs all day and night long.  Just LOOK AT THIS!

Jessie and Joey adore their grandpa

And look at THIS!

Keystone was exhausted from all the partying

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, however you wished to celebrate!  Thanks for reading, and I'll yap with you again soon.

#14

We enjoyed our 14th anniversary by doing what we love the most--spending the day with our furry kids.  We love finding a swimming hole/creek to go splash around in and frolic until we are worn out.

We found a great state park to go play.  We were hopeful that Jessie would finally learn to swim.

Here are the kids when we arrived at our destination:

Keystone was the only one with a clue

We were able to walk out to the water.  Jessie thought she could just run around without getting wet.

Aren't you going to get in, Jessie?!?

Keystone LOVES to swim!

Joey loves to swim too!

Jessie sort of...

... skips along ...

      ... the surface!

 

Eventually, we found a spot deep enough, where we all waded/swam across to the other side, leaving Jessie all alone.  Would she do it?  Would she swim?

Come on, Jessie!  You can do it!

The answer is YES!  She DOES swim across!  She was very hesitant about it, but she figured it out.  Finally, all of our dogs are water dogs!

This part was deep for a few paddles

It was so fun walking up the very shallow "shelves" of water

Here are more of my very favorite random pictures from our day.  It was the best anniversary day ever.

 

Jessie "the bullet" takes the lead

Having fun running up the shore

My Keystone

My goofy puppies

We went to our favorite local Italian restaurant for dinner.  Had an amazing meal.  I'll have to share pictures of what we had soon.  We had a very adventurous day!

Omaha: The Food Edition

A few weeks ago I told you how we had so much fun in Omaha.  I also told you about the best thing I ever ate in Omaha:  fantastic out-of-this-world ice cream.  Here's the rest of that trip, along with a wild and crazy unexpected find for the front porch.

Our hotel offered complimentary shuttle service within 3 miles.  Well, sign us up!  There are a boatload of restaurants and stores within 3 miles!  So we get on the shuttle, and unbeknownst to us, there was a bachelorette party going to a Mexican restaurant for a few rounds of tequila who just boarded the shuttle before us.  We got on and made our way to the back, and Todd said "Don't I feel out of place?" to which all the girls laughed.  It was pretty funny.  They were all 20- or 30-somethings dressed up in heels and short skirts.  You know they were hurting the next day.

The bachelorette party on their way to "eat the worm"

We decided to hit a dive of a little seafood restaurant which got really great reviews.  Sounds fun, why not?!  We can have a steak when we get back home (at a fraction of the cost, and cooked to perfection with no worry of disappointment).

My blackened scallops with pineapple relish atop a bed of mushroom risotto.  Very tasty!

Not sure what my possessed look was about.

Todd's blackened tilapia:  spicy!

We had a fun evening sampling crab cakes, clam chowder, and lobster bisque.  Then we had our main courses shown above.  We were stuffed, so we ended up walking back.  Note: there is a prison not far from the Old Market area.  Just sayin' in case you weren't expecting it.  It put a giddy up in my step.  I felt better once we made it to the police station just a few blocks away.

The next morning, we went to WheatFields for breakfast.  I highly recommend this place for dining or shopping for baked goods.

Their "Roll sampler" was mini portions of 5 different delectable sweet rolls.  All for $3.99!

I had egg scramble with sausage, red peppers, onion, and monterey jack cheese

Todd had their "bruleed potatoes" (almost like mashed taters with broiled muenster cheese) and poached eggs

After a pants stretching breakfast, we discovered a gem of a store called Hollywood Candy which was open on a late Sunday morning!  It was a "candy" store FILLED with nostalgia.  And every single kind of candy you could possibly ever want from current times or your childhood.

The Reese's candy machine that looks like a soda pop machine caught my eye.

I cannot imagine how they visualized displaying ALL THIS STUFF before they did it.

Old time working soda fountain counter.

One wall was adorned with click pens.  CLICK PENS!

Every candy imaginable.  And tons of different soda pops in coolers.

This was a true museum documenting our candy heritage.

Their company vehicle.

I decided to purchase 2 strings of Zotz candies (blue raspberry and cherry), a Black Cow, and my favorite candy bar I loved growing up: the Curly Wurly which used to be known as the Marathon Bar.  The Marathon Bar was a braid of chocolate covered caramel with a ruler on the back.  It was the longest candy bar on the shelf.  So I thought I was getting more for the money.  I never understood why everyone didn't choose that candy bar compared to all the others--it was BIGGER!  Of course, I didn't understand net weight at the time...

We spent just enough time exploring the candy store, which had a movie theater and consignment shop in it, to find another store open full of outdoor art.  Iron Decor & More was a feast for the gardener eyes.  We found so many neat things there.  Garden arches, benches, metal signs, metal sculptures of every size and shape, wine bottle holders, beer pail holders, large metal flowers, small metal flowers (painted or not), holiday themed items, etc. etc. etc.  They had seen us looking through the windows before we found the candy store, and they opened just a little early, just for us.  They were happy to see us.

We were mesmerized by this unbelievable rooster.  Just look at the size of this thing!

OH LOOK, IT'S A CHICKEN!

We loved this big guy!

But alas, he was way out of our price range.  Not to mention impossible to transport.  But he was fun to look at, if only for a few minutes.  Who doesn't want their picture taken standing next to this mammoth rooster?

We looked around and found an awesome 4' wine bottle holder that goes perfectly in an empty corner that I wanted to fill.  We found a teetering rooster that swivels with a big rock, sort of on a pendulum to put by the front door.

AND GUESS WHAT ELSE WE FOUND?!?!?!!?!!!

A 4' version of that rooster--Oh YES we DID!

Meet Otto.  He's made out of recycled automobiles.  Hoods, roofs, etc.

Savory & Sweet

I wonder what the deal is with the "chicken & waffles" craze of late?

I've had the real deal twice in my life. The first time was in Vega$, June 2011 at B.B. King's Blues Club for breakfast before flying home. The last time was at M&M's Fish & Chicken Shack in Sparks and their waffles were great! I believe there was a cornmeal taste to them. Loved it, even if I had to pick the chicken wings apart. There's nothing like being one with your food. I thoroughly enjoyed both times, actually. 

B.B. King's chicken and waffles, great for the morning after you partake liberally

Todd got a bag of Lay's Chicken & Waffles flavored potato chips. OMG, they are so addictive! Generally speaking, I prefer sweet to savory, so chips are usually not my downfall, but daaaang these are goooood. It's such a strange combination that I keep wanting to eat them to make sure my mouth isn't lying to my brain. The maple flavor is subtle but distinctively there. I told him not to buy another bag, because I can't resist them.

And by the way, he bought the cheesy garlic bread flavored chips to, and my thoughts on those are:  Meh.  They are OK. Totally resistible. The person who suggested the Chicken & Waffles flavor got totally ripped off in that contest. But I understand if you don't agree.  If you don't like maple, you would probably hate them.

Next up, thanks to social media, I heavily anticipated Popeye's special promotion of their Chicken Waffle Tenders. Thank you, Popeye's. Thank you for dreaming up such a creative approach to chicken tenders.

I remember the first time I "experienced" creative chicken tenders. It had to be almost 20 years ago when Todd and I loved visiting Chicago on at least an annual basis to eat and shop. We went to Planet Hollywood and had their Captain Crunch chicken fingers. They were divine. I've had them again since then, and the magic is gone, now replaced with low-quality mass-produced sub-par frozen-fried chicken strips. I guess they got so popular that they decided to cut costs and go with a cheap version. I will prefer to keep my memories of the first time we had them.

Anyway, back to Popeye's. We went on a little adventure today to find them because Todd knew how much I wanted to try them, and after all, they are only here for a limited time.

The crust is light, crunchy, crispy, slightly sweet and tasty. We waited two minutes, happily, for fresh waffle tenders to be up in the window. I did not care for the maple dipping sauce at all. It was thick and chemically smelling with a sweet taste of nothingness so I skipped the sauce. Our tenders were accompanied by steaming hot mashed potatoes with Cajun gravy. I do not want to know what's in that gravy. It's SO ugly with unidentifiable components. But that's OK because I wanted to eat it and taste it, not look at it.

Popeye's Chick Waffle Tenders, MMMmmmmm!

It was worth driving an hour for lunch to try these. I don't think I will do it again, but now that I've had them, my curiosity is satisfied. And so is my tummy.

The Queen

It's rather comical how we take up a Queen size bed and there's no room for our King...

A Queen size bed does NOT sleep 5

This took place last weekend.  I was under my blanket/pillow fort trying to sleep before the lights went out.  I was so tired, I don't even know when Todd got into bed.  Huh huh, or IF he got into bed...