How's the weather

April 30th
Last day of the month
Mission Accomplished

It was too nice a day to not go outside this afternoon. Can you say perfect weather? I can.

P-E-R-F-E-C-T

So I took advantage of it and added a few more miles to the heap. The month rounded out well. 

TT

Let's wait till the last minute

Well, finally! I only waited until almost the last day of the month to finish up that 50 miles for the month of April. I have another day since it's only the 29th and 30 days has April but I figured I would squirm out of the last day of the month with the idea I would get back to it the 1st of May. It's a logical thought but putting into action hasn't been my forte lately. We shall see what May may bring.

But for now, I can officially say I've done the April deed. Whew!
TT

Times a tickin'

I ran another four miles this morning and there is another four days left in April. Can I get that last mile and a half done? I should say so! But let's not get over-ambitious. The last time I got cocky about going over the miles I fizzled out and had some catching up to do. So let's just leave it and say it's a good day.
TT

Give me six

It was 3:26 am when the sky cracked open, sliced through the deepest part of the night with crackling thunder, and assaulted the ground below with rain, lightning, and hail. This wasn't a thunderstorm, this was a THUNDERSTORM!!! It was fast and hard. You could hear the hail bouncing off the roof like a million baseballs being thrown from a million pitching machines cranked to the fastest speed. Rain came down like the giant dam in the sky burst open and poured down on us. Did the house shake? It might have but who had time to notice when the outdoors were under attack.

A thought flashed through my mind. I knew I waited too long to run this week. Sure, wait for the weekend. You can go out early and have all the time you need. No rushing, no schedule to keep. I can have it run and done. And then the storm came.

I went out this morning anyway. There wasn't any rain left. It was nice, cool, and I got to see all the changes in the neighborhood because of the storm. There were leaves everywhere. There was a stop sign down across a sidewalk where it had weakened at the base and fell over. There was run off from the rain rapidly moving across small areas to drain. I ran four miles up and back to avoid any muddy trails.

Better.
TT

Still 10 more

It's been a few days and I haven't added to my running tracker! That 10 miles left to run to hit 50 miles by the end of this month is looming a little larger. I was solidly confident it would be easy and yet maybe that is what has allowed me to procrastinate the job. I've fiddled too much with the easy excuses...a little rough day at work, wow, it's really humid, and then this morning we have a full-blown, hard-driving thunderstorm. Let me find the excuses, let me count the ways to get out of a run?!

"I will get this done", says the lazy, procrastinator.
TT

10 more

It was a nice day to run after work yesterday. My plan for three miles turned into 4 and I updated my ticker above. I can see it showing another 10 miles until goal and an entire loop of days left on the calendar to finish. I'm beginning to wonder what this ticker will show when I go over the 50 mark? I will - I should, I have enough days left in April to move myself more than 10 miles.

I couldn't have said that not too long ago but today is a new day.
TT

14 to go

I just came off a three day weekend since I took a vacation day last Friday. It gave me the opportunity of running each morning. That hasn't been something I've been looking forward to doing all that much lately. It's taken a while to figure out what was going on with me and why I seemed to have lost all the spirit of the activity. It's seems to have come back around and I'm looking forward to it again after more than a year.

I never put up exceptionally big numbers in running but I've held my own and made my own personal bests. Those PRs make the sport that much better for me since they are just that - personal. They don't have to compare to anyone else and so the past two months I set up a ticker to see if I could run 50 miles during the month. I didn't even get close last month in March. I was pushing myself but wasn't feeling it. This month I know I'll get it nailed down tight and will probably go over the 50 mile mark. I will have to see how April pans out but I'm feeling full speed ahead right now.

As you can see, I've already aced March with more miles in fewer runs. You can see where I was barely hanging on to running during January and February. I guess the best part is I never gave it up completely and once the fog in my head cleared, I was still hanging in.

I'm planning another 3 miles after work today. I've got my running shoes drying by the kitchen door. Let's track down that 50 miles sooner rather than later.

TT

Let's run

I haven't said much lately about running. The past year and more has been a source of frustration when it comes to that subject. I'm not sure what happened, except that silly little thing called age crept up behind me and decided it was time to take me down. It threw it's arms around me and hoisted itself onto my back until I fell. Bam! Face to pavement. What was that? I struggled back up and tried to pull myself forward but it wasn't easy with this thing on my back, weighing me down.

I kept trying. It was ugly. I kept wondering why it got so hard so all of a sudden. I pushed, I failed, I got out there and I felt awful. There wasn't that spring, that bounce, that feeling of ever being there or getting to that place where a run takes a runner. It wasn't happening.

I lost motivation. I listened to the well-meaning voices around me that said there were just some things I couldn't do any more. My temper flared when I heard those things. I would think to myself, Why not? Then I would go out again and fail. I would try to use all the things I learned through the years to get going. Start slow, build up, breath, pace it out. It wasn't working and I began thinking the voices were right. I pretty much gave it up completely for four to five months except for an occasional run that would again prove I didn't want to go out the next time around.

All the while, I kept thinking I did want to go out again. Then I went out the other day and something clicked into place. I finished the run and felt, well, I felt good. I tried to throw out most of the history I've had with running. I put aside all the things I learned because I realized with this silly little thing called age dragging at my heels, I would need to learn this all over again. I'm slower. I have to build up my endurance and it will take longer. I have to adjust some things and learn it all over again and stop expecting everything to be the way it was before. It isn't, but that can be okay. I have to act the way I did when I didn't know any better - like before at the beginning. I need to stop expecting history to repeat itself and get out there and start running the way I did way back when. I didn't expect myself to be able to run fast or far at the beginning and it was a joy to find out I could and did. Instead of having this failed outlook, I have the opportunity of experiencing those feeling again with each new distance the way I did the first time.

So I'm back at it and it's feeling so much better. I'm beginning to think this older age thing is just another opportunity to figure out stuff the way I did a long time ago. I need to stop feeling as if I am entitled, or paid my dues, or should be at another level because of all I've done to get here. I am at another level only it isn't the one I thought it would be. It's the chance to go back and act like I didn't do any of these things in the past. I get a fresh page to restart and rediscover. What could be better motivation? I am in a position to know I will be working toward some of the things I could actually achieve again...at my age.
TT

Slow

My laptop seems to be moving slower and slower. I tried to implement all the suggestions I found on speeding it up and it seems I might have taken it one step too far. It is now dragging even slower than before. There is a noticeable pause when I request a page, even if it is one that it should remember from many prior openings of that same page. It can get a little frustrating. We all want speed to get to our bad habits of using up our time in front of a computer screen!

I'll figure it out. I might even take it over to the computer store and let the experts click a couple of the (correct) buttons and get it cleaned up, de-fragmented, system restored, whatever needs to be done to get this baby back up and running at a tolerable level. Poor laptop, it's getting old and isn't keeping up like it used to do.

I know how it feels.

TT

April Showers

I opened the house up this morning to invite the cool, damp air inside. It's so much better than using one of the products from those commercials with the very best air freshener. You know the ones, that cover-up the most horrendous odors that no one would or should ever replicate in any living environment. The one's where they blindfold people and ask them to describe what they smell and than take off the blindfold and reveal a hoarders mess. Well, strike that image from your brain.

My kitchen is clean, the clothes are neat and folded. I went out to deposit a small amount of trash in the receptacle outside and realized there was a light, misting rain. That's when I went back indoors and opened up the house. Who needs an air freshener that smells like April Showers when you have the real thing by just opening things up to let it all in.
TT

Easter and Strawberry cake

I'm not sure how it went so quickly but Easter has come and gone. I have even swept away the last remnants of the party. It looked like the Fiesta parade had tromped through the house and back deck but it's all spic and span now. And even though we aren't much on dessert, there isn't a single bite of cake left and it was pretty hefty.

I was really impressed with the cream cheese frosting. It was as simple as can be and not overly sweet. It could be used to dip fresh fruit. There are not a lot of ingredients and it's all whipped up in one bowl.
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
16 oz whipping cream
It's sturdy enough to hold up to the fruit (not like whipped cream) and tastes great. It's a keeper and will be used again.

It was fun. Food was abundant with a Steak dinner, baked potato, creamed spinach, and grilled asparagus. Appetizers were Oysters Rockefeller, Fried artichoke hearts and crostini's with pesto compound butter. There were lot's of cascarones, chocolates, and Selma even made a pinata!

Fun!
TT

Food prepping

I've done some work on my Easter menu. It also fell close to Jay's birthday (which is today 4/4) but we will all get together and celebrate it tomorrow on Sunday. Since they wanted the basic meat and potatoes we will honor that request and keep it simple.  Not that simple but we will be pulling out favorites that we've tried before and I get to do some prep today that will keep tomorrow free.

I'm going for appetizers of Oysters Rockefeller (again). I can still get some fresh and everybody scarfs them up. We'll add to that some fried artichoke hearts and I wanted to make some compound butters. I think I'll do a blue cheese and chives and another (where do I get these ideas) a pesto butter. I thought I'd add roasted pine nuts, garlic, cheese, basil to the butter (instead of olive oil). I'll give it a shot and see how that goes. Some nice little crustini's to go with it.

Main course is steak. A big, hockin' two-inch thick, cut by the butcher. Marinade it in a little garlic and red wine, grill it. Baked potato - all the stuffings on the side, sour cream, bacon, chives, cheese and then there will be that compound butter to add if you like. Some creamed spinach, and grilled asparagus to add some color and texture. I'm full already!

I'm making a strawberry cake for Jay. That was his request for his birthday. A white layer cake filled with strawberries and cream cheese frosting. I also thought since it's Easter to make some rice krispie treats (the kiddie are coming) with M&Ms, chocolate chips, pretzel pieces and those flat sprinkles mixed in. I saw it on Unique Sweets on the cooking channel.

I get to start prepping today! Cake baking first to let it cool and then I can figure out where to go from there. This is always so much fun!
TT