Squidtacular Sunday

So we did it. Yesterday we broke open the squid. And it was kind of a let down. I was expecting to be grossed out beyond belief, but really it was just salty, kind of fishy jerky. I think D even kind of liked it. Anyway, D is going to take it to school and leave it in the break room because there are almost certainly people in his department who will want it.

I ran 7 easy miles yesterday morning and have done no other exercise since unless you count wandering through Walmart. Today is my rest day, and I'll probably do some more errands and house cleaning stuff. I guess I'm still a little tired from the trip because I went to sleep at 8:30 last night and woke up at 6:30 this morning. What can I say? The combination of the sun setting at 4pm and the Gator game being insanely boring (sorry, Gators) knocked me out.

Also, we got hotel reservations (thanks, Dad M) and tickets to see A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater for our Thanksgiving Weekend trip to Minneapolis. I also made reservations for us to have Thanksgiving dinner at Quivey's Grove, my favorite fancy place in Madison. Yes, yes, we could make our own Thanksgiving dinner, but we're doing a Thanksgiving pot luck with our Bible study group the Monday before, and thats enough holiday cooking for me.

YAY Friday

I had a warmer but windier easy 4mi run this morning. My legs are a little dead from intervals + strength training yesterday so this short, easy workout "hit the spot".

In other news, I've been doing some cooking this week. In keeping with my goal to make 4 recipes from each of my Cooking Light issues, I made orange-soy glazed salmon and roasted Brussels sprouts with apples on Tuesday evening.



The fish was good, but I'm not sure I'll ever like Brussels sprouts. Nearly everything tastes good roasted with oil and honey, but not those guys. Palatable, but not good.

I also made spaghetti squash for the first time last night. No pictures, but it was so easy (20 min in the microwave- don't forget to poke holes), and we both liked it. Spaghetti squash FTW.

TIART

It's Take it and Run Thursday, and guess what?!? It's my week. Here's my question:

You’re on the selection Committee for the Nobel Prize for Running. Who would you nominate for the winner and why?

It could be an elite or a beginning runner....a courageous ordinary runner in your community who inspires you.... or the local running club leader, race director, or running store owner who gives tirelessly back to running. It could be the senior runner in your community who knows no age limitations.

You decide. Who do you think deserves to be recognized for enriching and advancing the experience of running for others?

Without a doubt, I'd nominate Usain Bolt. I watched him run the 200m world record race in Berlin (on TV of course- I missed the 100m but saw it on YouTube). So. incredibly. amazing. I don't have much more to say that that; although I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else writes.

As for running, I did 5.5 miles with 3x1 mile at 5k pace. The first mile was slow: 8:13, but the second two were dead on at 7:50. I'd love to run a sub-24 5k at the Berbee Derby this year. If I'm running that fast at 6am, maybe it's a possibility... I have to run 7:43 min/mile to run a 23:58. It would be tough, but it's a maybe.

Terrors from the deep

After going to bed around 7:30pm last night, I'm feeling much more awake and alert today. I know I'm not completely caught up on sleep, but it definitely helped. I was only my normal 5am groggy when I got up to go to spinning. The class was tough as always, and I'm planning to do some kind of weight training this evening. I don't have conversation partner tonight so I have more time on my hands. I actually may stop doing conversation partner- at least for the foreseeable future- because two out of the three in my group are taking the TOEFL in the next few weeks. If they pass I doubt they'll want to continue, and to be honest, I'm kind of ready for a break from it.

That may have been the most poorly written paragraph ever. Topic sentence with supporting sentences following it? Not on this blog, haha. At least I don't have too many commas (you know who you are ;) ).

On to the title of the post. Our next door neighbors are a pair of Taiwanese brothers and the older brother has always been very friendly toward us. Their mother is visiting from Taiwan and brought some food over for them and as a gift for us.

Part of it was these pineapple cookie/candy things that I liked but D didn't.



It was basically a cookie on the outside with pineapple jelly in the middle.



Like I said, I really enjoyed them so they are all gone now. What is still sitting on our counter, daring us to try it is



Squid jerky.

We are going to try it, but we haven't been brave enough yet. Maybe tonight right before dinner so we can use the pizza as a chaser if we have to. Our neighbor says it's one of his favorite things so maybe it's not too bad, but it's still kind of scary. None of my favorite things have tentacles.

I will definitely let you know how that one goes.

New York, New York

I'm back, my e-mail's been cleared out, stuff is mostly put away, my pictures have been loaded, and I'm ready to give a New York re-cap.

We left Madison on Wednesday evening at about 6pm, drove through the night, and arrived in the city in the early afternoon. After unpacking, we were let loose on the city. My group consisted of me, another leader, and about 10 kids (this fluctuated a little bit day to day). The first evening we went down to Times Square and Rockefeller Center and then took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Unfortunately none of my Statue of Liberty pictures turned out, so you'll have to settle for this one from above the ice skating rink in Rockefeller Plaza.



The next day we hit China Town for knock-off purses and had lunch in Little Italy. Then we went back uptown to Central Park and walked down 5th Ave to see FAO Schwartz and the Apple Store.

Here's a picture of our group in Central Park



And me with some toys.




That night most of the kiddos went to Phantom of the Opera. I hung out with another group that wasn't going, and we went back to Times Square.

Our last day we went to The Natural History Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and finally to Waverly Place (from a Disney Channel show?) which was right off the NYU campus. We spent the remainder of the time before we had to catch the bus watching NYU students parade by in their Halloween costumes. My favorite was Tinkerbell riding a mountain bike.

We got back on the bus at 9pm and drove through the night, arriving in Madison at 12:30pm. I was gross and exhausted, but had a great time. Will I do it again next year? Not sure. But I definitely want to go back with D. Very fun trip.

Oh yeah... and that running thing... I did 6 chilly miles this morning. The Weather Channel said it was 29. Brrrr.

I'm baaaack

Hi all,

I'm back from NYC, but I have so so so much to catch up on that I'm going to have to save my recap for another day (perhaps tomorrow?). Suffice it to say that I had wonderful time, survived the bus ride, came back with all the kids, and can't wait to go again with D.

No workouts over the trip, but I did plenty of walking around. This morning was a 60 min spinning class, and I'm planning to do some weights after work. It was hard to get up this morning, but I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. We'll see how far that lasts into the week.

Sorry for the wimpy post, but hopefully I'll make it up to you with a great one full of NYC pictures.

Leaving on a jet plane

Actually not a jet plane, but a bus, and SOON. I wanted so much to tell you more about my NYC trip, but I'm just going to have to tell you when I get back. I appreciate all thoughts/prayers/good vibes for a safe and fun trip! See you all on Monday!