Who Am I?

Are things really back to normal now? Please say yes- I thrive on routine during the work week.

Well, everything except that I’m still yet to unpack from my trip last weekend, but we’re calling it a minor detail. Unpacking is the worst. And my theory is that if I ignore it long enough, it’ll do it itself. (TWSS)

Other than that, things are good. My refrigerator is stocked. The sleeping routine is pretty much back to normal. And I even worked out last night for the first time in a week.

Yes, an entire week. Who am I?

I’m getting the shakes just thinking about it. Yikes.

The first day back was supposed to be yesterday- a friend of mine and I were going to start running during lunch. However, all this tornadic weather has given us nothing but dark and stormy lunchtimes. Of course that would happen.

We’re going to try again today. So far, it’s looking clear but chilly. Crossing fingers.

Until then, I found other ways to get my cardio in. Like the workout room that I’ll only have access to for another 2 weeks before moving.

I’m almost going to miss the elliptical.

Shhh… let’s pretend that wasn’t said out loud. 

22 minutes on the elliptical, 10 on the stairs and some solid ab work. Even planks. And I never like doing planks. Who am I???

It was shorter than normal, but for a girl who’s being feeling a little lackluster as of late, it was a nice reintroduction of cardio that didn’t include lifting champagne bottles and shaking my rump.

Other than lack of sleep, part of the reason I was feeling so “blah” this week is my body’s reaction to everything I consumed. I wasn’t kidding when I commented that my body was rejecting all the McD’s breakfast choices. And alcohol. And greasy lunches. And large dinners.

How reckless of me. Other than guacamole, not a green thing entered my body that entire weekend. Who am I? At the airport before I left Vegas, I walked up and down the terminal until I finally decided to kick it CPK style. Mostly because I could sit and be left alone for an hour. Secondly, because it was one of the few places offering salad that hadn’t been wilting in a cooler for hours, being picked up and put back down by a million people.Yeah- not the healthiest option, but really- show me more than 2 things on the California Pizza Kitchen that are remotely healthy and you win a prize.

I’m waiting…

Anyhoo, there were four salad options. This was the most appealing. Blame the BBQ. 

I’ve since been pretty much on a salad detox. And not so much CPK style, but more “every other random vegetable Amy has in the refrigerator”. Nothing else really sounds good at the moment.

It’ll probably only last another day or so (oh hey Memorial Day weekend/kick-off of grilling season). But we’ll just take advantage of it while we can.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Tonight is one of rest and red box- I have many many plans. That include hanging out with Megan, house parties and Cubs games.

Now if only this Chicago weather would get in line and stop being so ridiculous. I’d like a tan at some point this summer. Please?

Too Legit To Quit

Wow. I didn’t realize how chipper I sounded in my post yesterday?

It most likely won’t last. 

And apparently creamer in my oatmeal is a good idea. There’s definitely an eyebrow raised. And possibly a shot glass reserved to pour some in next time I’m short on milk. Hmmm…

Moving on… I guess yesterday started and ended on a good note (huge victory for a Tuesday of all days).

On a complete other note, I’m going through a serious Diet Coke phase.Too legit to quit.

Don’t ask how it happened. I went from one every couple of weeks to an every-other-day habit. I’m starting to wonder if aspartame is as addictive as I’m acting like it is.

The Odwalla bar came about when I packed some soup for lunch that clearly was not going to cut it. While out running errands, I found them at the grocery store.

When it comes to nutrition/granola bars and all that jazz, these were my first love.

Yes, even more so than the Larabar (which I still don’t quite understand what the big deal is- it’s SO SMALL).

Anyway, my roommate at the time started leaving them around the house.

I asked “what’s the deal-io with these things?”

She says, “they’re the shiznit. Try one.” 

And I, a sucker for peer pressure, did so.

So began the summer of Odwalla.

At the time, they were used during my phase of 5 or 6 mini-meals a day. If you’re into it, they’re good for that. If you’re like me, you’ll slim down doing that- but even when you’re getting your reasonable amount of calories for the day, you’ll spend most of your time super hungry. Which is just annoying.

That is why I can’t stand mini-meals. And don’t do it anymore.

But one way or the other, I’ve been buying Odwalla once again. They’re less sugar-y than Clif, and are good when I have poorly-planned lunches. Yay me!

The one thing I had planned to do yesterday, but didn’t, was fit in a workout. I opted to clean a little instead. Not necessarily my favorite way to spend an unplanned rest day, but whatev- at least I can take down the yellow caution tape in my kitchen…

However, I did get up this morning. Not at a crazy early time like during my royal wedding workout, but early enough to work up a healthy glow. I ellipticalled for 25 minutes next to the girl who pretends I don’t exist (even though she clearly hears me say good morning) but yet instantly moves her workout bag directly next to her machine as soon as I walk in. Maybe I look a little more like a hobo than I’d like in the early hours, but seriously- a friendly hello isn’t going to hurt anyone.

And I don’t want your ratty gym bag that is probably diseased since you insist on dragging it all over our crappy workout room.

Sigh. People are strange.

Pressed for time, I also hit the stairmill for 12 minutes, but at a higher level than usual to work on that bootay. Emails are getting fired around about the Vegas bachelorette I will be attending in a few weeks. And unlike my last trip to Vegas, its swimsuit season.

I want the rear to be just like my diet coke addiction.

Too legit to quit.

And now, it’s time to head off to work and continue another habit of mine that will not be given up any time soon:

(Source)

Crazy Town

A conversation was initiated with an 11:00 pm text Sunday night. Because I’m clearly an old woman and can’t stay up past 10:30 anymore, I didn’t respond until after I returned from my early morning trip to the gym yesterday morning.

A (from the night before): UGH…

Me (the next morning): ahahahaa… well good morning sunshine!

A: A friend and I crushed 5 lbs of wings in like 8 minutes last night while we were out.

Me: So clearly you’re hurting in more ways than one.

A: Uhhhh yeah, actually not too hungover from watching the games, just suffering from overeating

Me: Nonsense.

A: I didn’t mention the two large bowls of ice cream I took down when I got home, maybe an hour after eating those wings.

Me: So you drank too much, ate too much, took down a massive amount of sugar, smoked too much, and slept too little? Your body hates you. There’s no reason why you should feel good this morning. None at all. You should apologize. Because it’s angry. And will act out accordingly.

A: All very true.

Me: You need advil, water, coffee and salad. It’s called detox.

He didn’t respond, but I’m pretty sure he also agreed.

No need to feel bad for him. The kid has a metabolism of a hummingbird. If I know him at all, he was taking down his super-sized value meal for lunch by 11:00. Then having a second lunch by 2:00.

It’s amazing.

I was feeling rough when I woke up yesterday morning, too. From fatigue only, so it turns out the saying is true- it could always be worse.

Speaking of waking up early, crazy town has officially been entered.

My alarm was set at 4:45. AM. What have I become???

I wanted to make sure and give myself enough time to get in 5 miles during my morning workout. But my muscles were pretty tight, so I decided to warm up on the elliptical. Then just decided to stay there for no good reason other than I was totally content where I was. For 35 minutes.

The workout was finished with some free weights and a 10-minute cooldown on the treadmill. It worked. Although I completely defeated the point of getting up before 5:00 AM. Ridiculous.

What also worked out (not as planned) was my random idea for dinner.I mentioned last week my less-than-satisfactory tortilla shells. They fell apart every.single.time. So I took a chance on the last one. Split it in two and stuffed the pieces in a cupcake tin.My cupcake tin is a mess. Sorry.

They were thrown in the oven for a few minutes to get started “crisping” up. Then, I added the black beans (warmed up a little beforehand), salsa, jalapenos and 4-cheese mix.

After a few more minutes of them all getting acquainted, I pulled them out of the oven to see what would happen.Success! Sort of? Had I thought it through a little more, I would have waited to add the salsa at the end. It liquified a little in the oven and leaked out of the bottom when I pulled the tortilla shell out of the tin.

Not that it affected the taste at all. Mexican food is, after all, mexican food. Which means it was delicious.

I’m off to go enjoy my rain-soaked Tuesday.

Because really… what else do you expect? 

Climbing Over The Wall

Thanks again for letting me know that I’m never alone in the occasional workout burnout. 

I’m happy to report I was successful in getting to the gym this morning.  Friday is normally a cross training day, but a *little* running just had to happen. Because I felt like it. The run was fine- no exhaustion, no ache, no problems. 2 solid miles at an 8:15 pace. Thank goodness.

Add 25 minutes on the elliptical to that and call it a day.

This made me feel so much better on my walk back home from the gym this morning.  Even if I had to trudge through snow to get to and from. But what’s new?

I’m glad the workout happened for various reasons. A little something was needed to get me up and moving after going to happy hour last night…

Happy hour very rarely occurs.  Mostly because, as you can see from my annoyance the last few days, I’m a routine girl.  But every once in a while, when scheduled beforehand of course, I enjoy a night out mid-week.  Sometimes this cures the Tuesday blues and sometimes this cures my itch to dance.  Whatever the reason, it’s a nice mental break to the week.

So Mon and I went out to eat and have a few drinks at a local irish pub. Due to the looming storm, we decided to cut it a little short and stop by a wine bar to pick up a bottle and enjoy the rest of our “Thirsty Thursday” in the safety of our own homes.We had merlot. It was good. Obviously.

Oh and one of Mon’s cats is a real ham for the camera… say hi to Phailin in the background.

For the record, Mon would like to point out that her cat is older than the fame that crazy lady in Alaska has.

And possibly smarter.

Because it’s FRIDAY, why not enjoy a good google search term? I thought I’d help the person out who searched “rock duet with words “waking up ” or (waking me up )”.

I think you’re looking for these kids:

You are SO welcome. And if you watch the video to the end, you get to enjoy the super high tech black light usage.  Oh buddy…

Happy Friday everyone! I’m going to be spending the weekend finishing up everything I need to do before my VACATION and climb some serious stairs on Sunday.  Hopefully at some point another 9 hours of sleep will happen. fingers crossed…

Words of the Day

Let’s play, shall we?

1. Stress. It’s at work. It’s at home. It’s between work and home as I’ve been running around with all kinds of things to be taken care of (procrastinate much?). Recently, it can also be found on my face when I check out my bank statement. The weekend is coming.  If I’m not hiding out at my local watering hole, you can bet I’m still under the sheets of my bed (not sleeping, obviously, but still there).

2. Elliptical. It was a cross-training day for me last night. So I fit in 30 minutes and walked it out on the treadmill for a mile. I had no sadness that it was a rushed workout because my leg feels a little off.  To be honest, the “off” feeling helped me decide to chill out on running last week in hopes that I’d be 100% by my first day of training. Instead, I think it’s been steady at an 85%. Passable, yet not my best. It doesn’t hurt.  It just sometimes doesn’t feel “right”. If that makes any sense?

3. Lunch. Plans for another lunch outting were postponed and I had no backup food in the break room (I’m usually so good about this), so I grabbed something from the little cafeteria downstairs.This is not my standard salad fare… My eats have been a little out of the ordinary this week.  Which has been awesome (who doesn’t love buffalo chicken?), but it’s throwing me off. I need to get lunch back into check. I miss my routine. And sort of miss my boring salads.

I sound so old.

4. Football. It’s amazing to me how much hype this Bears and Packers game is getting. You really would think it’s the Super Bowl being played this weekend. Anyone watching?  Not sure where I’ll be yet, but can promise you it is on the agenda. The only thing on my agenda for Sunday, actually. Priorities.

5. Friday. I have to include this word because, well, THANK GOODNESS IT’S FINALLY HERE! I’m crashing hard tonight, but it’s a big weekend and I’m ready for it.

(Source)

So there you go.  Stress, Elliptical, Lunch, Football and Friday. I feel like that pretty much covers things. What’s your top word of the day?

Oh… and I like your responses to my Regis question. I’m pretty sure I’d love to see some Neil Patrick Harris action (hey mister- you do everything else, why not a talk show?).  I would not, however, like to see Kelly’s husband Mark on there.  I’m just not a fan of the husband and wife tag team.  I feel like a little too much personal info and flirtation would be shared.  And I’m not sure if I want to be ending each show with “I’ve Got You, Babe” at such early hours.  No thanks.

A Pull-Up?

Thanks so much for all the pasta ideas!  If you’re ever lacking ideas, check out some of comments. 

It’s safe to say I’m interested in all of them.  Especially ones with cheeeeese…

How is everyone doing? I’m quite energetic at the moment, but the week has taken a toll on me. Considering I thought yesterday was Thursday. Bleh. It’s been a long and frustrating week that seems to have left me wondering where my patience went.  Some may even go so far as to refer to me as “short-tempered”.  And distracted. I could see that one happening- I do tend to ramble when my thoughts are being pulled in various directions.

Maybe it’s the weather.  A girl thing. Exhaustion. All of the above?

Yesterday I mentioned an “energy surge” later in the evenings everyday this week. This keeps me up at night. I’ve been pretty energetic when I wake up (like now), but crash later in the morning at work. Which lasts all afternoon and the whole process repeats. Vicious cycle.

Either way, moving on to better things that don’t involve complaining- like Mexican food.

Because really, who doesn’t love Mexican food? It makes people happy. Especially me. So let’s DO THIS.Black bean burrito.  Not all of the filling fit.  Woops.  Trader Joe’s wraps are a little frustrating.  One isn’t quite big enough, but two would be way too  much so I just kept the extras as a side.  This was juuuuust right.Stuffed to the brim with black beans seasoned with taco seasoning, salsa, cheese, jalapenos and sour cream.  Fab.

I really really missed having wraps in my life.  One awesome thing about the Healthy Living Summit was that they were ridiculous about handing out coupons.  I have Arnold’s/Brownberry to thank for my not having to pay for bread since August.  Why buy wraps when I can have another form of carbs for free? It is a recession, after all.

But alas, New Years came and with that the expiration date of my coupons.  Sadness.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t half of a loaf of bread chillin’ in the freezer, though. 

Chilling out on the running this week was something I am very serious about.  But I’m not giving it up completely- that’s just CRAZY talk.

After a solid day yesterday of  mostly weights, I was so ready this morning to jump back on the tread for anything but a walk. 

Hey stranger!  Long time, no run…

Sadly, the tv wasn’t working.  So there wasn’t a visual distraction.  Boo.  At least my ipod was up and running (not always the case being as how I’m horrible about charging it).

2 miles down with an 8:25 pace. It started out looking pretty bleak, but slowly I worked my way up to a solid pace of 8:00 by the end before jumping on the elliptical for 15 minutes. I even knocked it up a level higher than usual.  The reminder of half marathon in April… Hustle Up the Hancock in February… half marathon in April… Hustle Up the Hancock in February is in my head now.  I’ve got goals to accomplish. 

Here’s a question for ya today- who can do a pull-up? Christina tried one the other day and it got me thinking.  Can I do it?  Considering I haven’t made an attempt at one since at least high school, I really had no idea.

Mon was there and said I better not pull anything out of socket. Thanks for having some faith, Mon.

But she was right. I had a little “oomph” and a mini movement up, but really I just sort of hung there.

Oh well. Now I know.  The answer is “no”.

And that doesn’t bother me.

Let’s move on.  And make this Thursday go fast.

Which will require a caffeine refill… so excuse me…

Keeping My Pants On

It really is unfortunate I turn into such a wus when it comes to the cold. This is one main reason why I’m not huge on running outside unless it’s at least 45-50ish degrees.  Feel free to judge- I still don’t care and won’t do it!

And that’s when I’m fully dressed in cold weather gear.  Imagine how much whining would occur if I’d be wearing less.

Which is one reason why I contemplated and inevitably declined participating in this:

Yes.  A Pantless Subway ride. 

Chicago is one of the many cities to participate in this tradition that was started in New York by a group called Improv Everywhere. I’ve actually discussed them before- I find them highly amusing and would love to participate in one of their little stunts one day (preferably one where I wouldn’t freeze my tookus off- like synchronized fountain swimming?). 

Pham was the one to shoot the above video and also to throw a text my way about it.  I told him it was pretty ironic, because at the time I was reading the book Causing a Scene by the creator of Improv Everywhere.Has anyone ever seen or participated in a thing like this or something similar?

The closest I’ve gotten is probably running into the Free Hugs Campaign when my brother and his friends came to visit a couple of years ago.Joke was on these dudes- it was one of the hottest days in March ever and we had been walking around all day.

We were probably stank.

Either way, I guess my point is that I think it’s really cool.  And maybe I should just suck it up, put on my big girl pants, and then take them off next year during the annual ride.

Expect me to talk myself in and out of it for the next 364 days…

Oh and fun fact- Aziz Ansari is an “agent” and participated in Improv Everywhere back in the day.  Neat.

Moving on…

I’m glad you guys sort of agree with my decision to chill out a wee bit on the running front this week.  Don’t think this means I’m not working out- just switching it up.

Last night, I did another round of The Shred with 5-lb and 8-lb weights.  Level 1.  I tried mixing in the 8-lb weights with Level 2 over the weekend.  Needless to say, there’s a reason why I went back down to 1.

This morning, I trudged through the mini snowstorm we’re having to the workout room at 5:15.  There was another girl in there and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t expecting to see anyone.  Because she looked started.

Maybe it was because I looked like a bit of a hobo in snow-covered sweats and massive winter coat. Because I was well aware of my appearance, there was no need to be offended by her reaction.

It was a little slow getting started (maybe from a night of tossing and turning?), but soon I was chugging away.  25 minutes on the elliptical. 10 on the stairmill.

Wish I could have had a few more minutes on the stairmill, but time was not on my side.  Whatever, though- it was a rough 10 minutes.  As a lot of you know, the stairmill puts you up pretty high.  In a workout room at an apartment complex, expect for the ceiling to not be that far away from your head.  Expect the air/heating vents to be poorly placed in said room.  Expect to be sweating that tookus of yours off twice as quickly because the air will be blowing directly at you.

Clearly, whoever helped set up the workout room does not actually use the workout room.

I like to think this helps prepare me for enduring the elements once I start taking my workout back outside. Right?  When it’s hot- not cold.  Because I’m sort of a wus in the cold…

Be careful today, kids!  According to the news, there’s snow falling pretty much everywhere.

500 Miles

Thanks for cheering on our climbing efforts, guys!

And now that I look back on it, laying on those steps may have been the most unsanitary thing I’ve ever done. 

Guess I got caught up in the moment.

Anyhoo, I’ve gotten really good at this whole lazy Sunday thing. The only time I really ventured out of the apartment complex was to go with my friend and neighbor Bailey to pick up my car from the bar we went to the night before. We had cabbed it home after the show (safety first, kids).

We giggled a little bit about the ordeal- Bailey mentioned how sad it was that the only number we got was the cab driver’s (he was awesome and should probably be around every time we need to be taken home).

I reasoned that it was for the best that we didn’t get or give out any digits.

One thing I love about the particular bar we went to is that it attracts a huge variety of people.

One thing I dislike about the bar is that it attracts a huge variety of people.

It’s a blessing and a curse.

Last night was not a good scene for me.  I mean… unless you’re into 35-year-old men with Justin Bieber haircuts.  Seriously dude- even Justin Bieber hates his haircut.  And he’s 16. Don’t do it.

No I’m all off track… where was I?

Oh yeah, that was the only time I left the complex…

Which was fine.  I had stuff to do.  Like make a grocery list and not actually go grocery shopping. And start laundry, but leave the folding for today instead.

It’s really a surprise that I even made it to the workout room in my complex.

That’s not true.  Considering I was only doing half of everything else I planned to do yesterday, there was some energy that needed to be burned.

An intense 40 minutes on the elliptical. Sweatin’ all those toxins out.  Throw in some resistance band work and a 30-minute walk. 

That may actually be considered as a productive Sunday afterall.

I’ve been stepping it up on the elliptical a lot as of late. My training for the St. Louis Half Marathon starts next week and I’m trying to save my excitement for running.  I love it. And it’s my favorite way to exercise.  BUT, 12 weeks are a really long time. And there are a lot of miles to be ran. I have no problems with chillin’ out on it for a week before all that happens.

Anyone else deal with training slumps?  And how do you fix it? Other than just saying to yourself, “shut up and run”? The “shut up and run” technique does work, but I’m sure it’s not the most positive reinforcement choice I could be using.

Hopefully my happy song will get me through quite a few of the runs.

Seems like an appropriate run song, yes?

I just realized that connection (running while listening to a song talking about 500 miles- in case you’re as slow as I am with catching on). Which is hilarious because it’s been a frequenter on my playlist.  As in, it’s used during almost every workout. And it’s currently on the office music playlist at work. My boss laughs because I’ll take a break and sing when it comes on.

I think he realizes it’s a necessary in order for me to keep calm and sane on some days. Like Mondays.

Oh… today is Monday, huh?  Well… let’s break out those itunes, shall we?

Sorry if this song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the week.  Actually, no I’m not. You’ll appreciate it. And you’re welcome.

A Few Green Men

I’m so glad you guys liked the samoas I made! 

They are quite fantastic.  And unbelievably easy compared to how difficult I thought they’d be to replicate.  A win in my book.

And if you hadn’t noticed already- I added a new tab at the top of my blog for all the baking adventures.  Enter only if you dare…

Anyhoo, as you can imagine, I’ve been feeling the need for a little sugar detox after such a crazy weekend of baking.

But alas, duty calls.That’s right, I spent last night icing sugar cookies!  The exclamation mark may be a little over the top- I wasn’t super excited about it if we’re being completely honest.  My baking energy levels are shot. So these cookies were baked on Saturday, but sat around naked for a few days.

The gingerbread men were feeling exposed. And I wanted to get all the cookies out to everyone they were made for. So I persevered.

It wasn’t so bad.  I didn’t make an overly big batch (as I sometimes do).Does anyone else put bread slices in the tupperware with the cookies?  It’s a trick I learned to keep them soft.  Does it work?  I like to think so.  If it doesn’t, please don’t tell me all my efforts and bread have been wasted all this time…Aren’t they cute?

I use my Grandma’s recipe.  I don’t think it’s anything too different from most recipes, but hey- gotta keep it in the family sometimes…

Do you have any recipes like that?Notice my red trees?  My brother and I sometimes help my mom ice sugar cookies.  I have no idea why she asks for our assistance.  Because she refuses to ice the trees anything but green.  Since my brother and I are the way we are (ahem… difficult), we often spend the entire time grabbing and icing as many of the trees as we can with any other color than green before she can get to them. Our defense is that we’re trying to get her to think outside of the box.  It’s become a running joke.  So I wanted to make sure she got a nice look at a couple of the RED trees I made.

You’re welcome, mom.  I also introduced a few alien gingerbread men to the Christmas cookie gathering.  I assume they’ll enjoy hanging out with Psycho Pete- in my tummy.  Maybe they’ll even change his attitude around.  Because, well, they come in peace… right?

You can groan at that one.  I did. 

Anyway, so I didn’t get away from the cookies completely, but I did make an effort to at least keep the rest of the day on the lighter side.  And I’ve been keeping up my usual gym routine.  Trying hard not to overdo it (burnout would be a disaster!), but definitely making sure it happens as normal.

This week, because work is a little later (9:00 versus 7:30), my goal is to pull early morning sessions of The Shred by Jillian or resistance bands all this week.  Wish me luck.  I’m currently 2 for 2 (yesterday and this morning), so I’m feeling pretty cocky at the moment.

For a little more cardio, last night I did abs and hit the elliptical for 30 minutes as well. 30 minutes! On the elliptical!  Who am I?!?!

Oh yeah, How I Met Your Mother was on.  That helped…

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

I’m glad you all enjoyed the story of Psycho Pete!

Jaime was kind enough to bring in another one for me yesterday.  It was a tree.  Not nearly as entertaining as Psycho Pete, but just as tasty.

In typical Tuesday fashion, the day sort of dragged.  Nothing bad. Nothing exciting.  Just “eh”.

The lunch outting a couple of us girls took to Panera didn’t help.  I did their 1/2 and 1/2 deal with their new steak chili and turkey artichoke sandwich. (a.k.a. Amy wants to take a nap at her desk for the rest of the day)

So by the time I got home, I was in a funk.  And wasn’t about to subject myself to the crazy crowds (i.e. 6 to 8 people) at my apartment’s workout room.

I broke out The Shred again instead. After Level 1 was finished, there was a decision to make.  Should I just keep going and do Level 2 and make it a crazy (for me) strength training day?  Or should I head out to the gym at this point?

The gym.  Like I’ve said before, not a huge weight training fan.  Cardio is where my heart is. 

Get it?  I tried to make a funny.  Not funny?  Don’t blame me, I wrote that last night.  When it was still Tuesday.  Meh.

Plus the gym was more exciting than the thought of another session in front of my tv.  Sometimes I dig it, sometimes I don’t.  I was feeling social, so off to the gym I went.

During the 25 minutes on the elliptical (still haven’t fallen off by not holding on to the handle bars!) and 15 minutes on the stair mill, I talked to Mon and another chick I haven’t seen in the gym before.  Mon was chatting with her at some point and then this girl walked over to me.  In her Boston Marathon 2009 jacket. Um… intimidated much?

Apparently Mon threw me under the bus (just kidding, Mon!) and told her I prefer outdoor running to the treadmill.  Which is true.  But when the average temps aren’t getting over 20 degrees, I keep my whiny self inside.

Let’s not kid ourselves.  I keep myself inside when it’s 40 degrees.  But you can bet your bottom dollar, if I lived in Florida and all of its glorious weather, I’d have been a marathoner by now.

That’s a lie. Seriously. A lie.

Anyhoo, we chatted a bit and she discussed a runner’s group that I know about from other members in it. Maybe that’s something to look into when the weather turns and my appendages decide it’s acceptable to go outside again.

So there’s something to look forward to.  But out of curiousity, how many of you runners are still heading outdoors?  I tip my hat to you.

Anyway, I got back home just in time to make dinner and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas!  After missing Halloween and Thanksgiving, I finally got to see my beloved Charlie in a holiday special! My personnal opinion is that they need to do a better job of advertising when it’s going to be on.  Or maybe I’m just not paying attention…And this is the last of my zucchini sandwiches. Promise!  I’m a little burnt out on them.  And officially out of zucchini (with the exception of the leftover I had from roasting it last night).  It decided to go out with a bang because this was my favorite one to date.  I used a little marinara sauce to top the standard roasted zucchini and onion combo.  Add some mozzarella for fun.  Just like chicken parmesan. But with zucchini, not chicken.  And mozz instead of parm.  The poor girl’s chicken parm? 

Oh geez… let’s just call it a sandwich.

My excitement of the day?  I got a free poster from my cable company.  What?Are you kidding me? 

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a creepy Twilight poster.

I do not approve.  It actually scares me a little.  Meh.