New Recipe

I know, I know... I'm a slacker. Maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution for 2010 - keep this updated a bit more. Speaking of resolutions... Only 6.5 miles left for me to run! And thanks to our "Eating like it's 1899" kick (more on that later) I have made a lot of new recipes. Like this one: Upside-Down Pineapple Pancakes. Ben took 1 bite and said, "This is a keeper!"

Merry Christmas everyone!

Times Fun When You're Having Flies

(That is a stamp that I saw once).

It has been a super long time since I have updated this. Yikes! In short, here is what has happened:

India: The rest of my time flew by while I was there. Sunday a few of us went to Elephanta Island. It was pretty cool. On Tuesday I started to feel a little crummy (swollen glands) so I tried to sleep as much as I could. Thursday I was showered with gifts from my friends and teams. And then I came home. Getting back to my time zone was ok. I was able to stay awake until bedtime. The only problem was that if I woke up for any reason (bathroom, Ben, Zoey) I wasn't able to fall back to sleep for a couple of hours. But I'm back to normal.

Sleep Out: Every year GMI hosts a sleep out at our JFB location. It's a time for families and friends to camp outside and raise money for the homeless. I was one that volunteered at the food tent. I had so much fun! We were all laughing and having a great time. And, I got to serve a hot dog to our CEO. :) I was thankful that after the food was done I was going home to sleep in my bed instead of outside in a box.

Chili: Yesterday at work we had a chili cook-off. The contestants were the senior leadership group of my division. We had a great turn out and had fun with this event. There was a lot of smack-talk from the leadership. One really funny thing (to me at least) is that one of the crockpots we put in Hormel chili and didn't tell anyone. When we tallied the votes, Hormel was 5th place out of seven. We had a good laugh about that.

Tonight: Ben comes home! He has been in CA for a week for a conference at work. I will be so happy to be home again with him. These last few weeks has been so lonely (first me in India, and now him in CA).

Saturday Fun

Today we had lunch at a buffet with the entire team (at least those that could make it). It was a lot of fun. Most of the ladies dressed up in traditional Indian dress (myself included). Tons of snaps were taken throughout the event. The kind of weird thing was that when someone got up to get more food, someone else took their seat. So, the four times that I got up I ended up in different seats. I really didn't mind that. The only real issue was keeping track of my water to make sure that I was only drinking the bottled water. But everyone is very protective of their guests, so it wasn't really an issue.

There was talk of going out after the lunch, but I think everyone was too full and sleepy to come up with a plan, so I am back at the hotel. We've been having some power surges... hopefully my computer isn't too unhappy about that.

So the outfit that I wore today... last night at work I was talking with Sunita about what we were wearing. Last visit we had similar outfit. I told her I was wearing that. For some reason, we decided that I should get a new "party" outfit for the lunch. So we rushed over to the mall. Closed. Rushed to HyperCity (kind of reminds me of Target) and quickly found a purple outfit for me. Then we went back to work. I think we were only gone for about 20 minutes. Nice work!

Today when I got back to my room, it had been cleaned. I think it must have been a different cleaner because he rearranged some of my stuff and put my laptop bag on the luggage rack instead of leaving it on the floor. He also turned the bed lamp on and pointed the beam of light onto a little rabbit-in-a-hat that I have on the night stand (reminder of Ben because he gave that to me years ago). How sweet is that?

Power just flickered again...

Surendra (from my team) and me in my new outfit.

Busy Day

Today I woke up really wanting to roll over and ignore the alarm. But I wanted to get my daily fix of Ben, so I got up to talk to him. Then it was time to start getting ready for the day. I went into Powai to meet Neetha. She was going to show us a silver shop because Debi and Bonita wanted to buy presents for their daughters. After shopping we went to the GMI offices. Debi and Bonita had a meeting with one of the groups that they work with. Neetha and I headed back out for a quick lunch. I also got to meet all of Ben's team. It was fun. Some I meet last time I was there and some were new to the team. One asked where the cookies were (last time Ben made chocolate chip cookies for me to bring them). I told them that when he comes in January, I would be sure to have him bring some. I worked for a bit and then we got a tour of the new office space. It is fantastic. And huge!

After that it was back in the car for the journey to IGS. I had a fun time with my team once again. I had dinner with them again too. I could get used to this...

Oatmeal Soup

The other night, Linda and I decided to splurge and go for the dinner buffet at the hotel. Everything was so good! It was mostly Indian food. One of their soup choices was oatmeal soup. I decided to give that a try. It was pretty good. Tasted a little like oatmeal, but thinner and with a soup taste too. That night I also went crazy at the dessert table. Yum!



Nothing terribly exciting has been going on. Sleeping, working, eating... I have managed to get to the gym another time. So far I have clocked 5.5 miles - only 13 left for my goal.

Work has been great. I have spent a good deal with my team and others. It is so nice to be with them. Saturday everyone is meeting for lunch. I am really looking forward to that. Sunday a few of us are going to Elephanta Island.

Today I am heading over to the GMI India offices. I am meeting my friend Neetha there for lunch. I'm looking forward to seeing her and to meet the rest of Ben's team there.

Monday and Tuesday

Monday Linda and I got to the office around 9 am. It was great to see the day team again. We got our computers set up and then we hit the floor to greet everyone. Debi, Bonita and Sherry came later and we passed out every one's favorites - Dove chocolates! I walked to the mall with some of the travelers and had some delicious tandoori chicken and naan.

Linda and I left the others there around 4. We got back to the hotel and I convinced myself to go for a run. I thought I ran 4 miles, but then this morning I sat and thought about it and realized that I only ran 4 km. No wonder it seemed to easy! Linda and I met for dinner. I had a tuna sandwich and fries. Not that great. Should have stuck with the Indian food. After dinner it was off to bed because we were going to the office early the next morning - 5:30 pickup.

I woke up all of a sudden due to a noise. Not sure if it was real or in a dream (don't really recall dreaming). It was about 20 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off, so I just decided to stay awake. The day really flew by! Linda and I walked to the mall for lunch. This time I had paneer tikki. It was a starter, but plenty of food for me. A bit on the spicy side, so I cooled down my mouth with some super chocolaty gelato.

Back at the hotel I spent some time by the pool. Mostly in the shade, but it felt good to be outside and warm. Now I'm checking on some emails and soon go downstairs for dinner.

National Park

October 25, 2009
I was able to get some pretty good sleep. I was up and ready to face the day in plenty of time to meet my friends at 11 am. While I was in the lobby waiting for them, I talked with Roth (or something like that) a guest service person here at the hotel. He was very nice. When Sunita, Hiren, Mithil and Bhavin got to the hotel we ran into a problem – our confirmed driver wasn’t really confirmed. We had to scramble to get one. After waiting about 30 minutes for the new driver to come, it turned out that we couldn’t all fit in the car. So, some of us went in the car and the other two went on a rickshaw.

Our first stop was the National Park in Mumbai. We saw some ants that live in trees. Well, ok, not the ants, but their home in the tree. Some amazing butterflies (unfortunately they don’t photo too well) and some wild cats. We got so close to the tigers (don’t worry, they were in cages). After visiting the animals, we went to the caves that were carved around BC by some Buddhist monks. It was pretty cool. After climbing around like the monkeys we were surrounded by we left.

We stopped through Bandra to see a few of the Catholic churches in the area. It was a lot cooler there with the ocean breeze. And I saw something that I thought was very amazing – a flock of parrots flying around! They were this beautiful green color. I saw the bright flashes of green and asked my friends what they were. They asked if I had never seen parrots before. Yes, I've seen them, but not in the wild in a flock (is flock even the right term?).

Next stop – something to eat! The team decided on McDonalds. If I weren’t so restricted in my diet, it may have been more interesting. But since I can’t (or at least shouldn’t) eat raw vegetables, there wasn’t a whole lot of “safe” foods. So I had a McChicken sandwich. McDonald's was kind of interesting… since they don’t serve beef; they converted the Big Mac into a chicken sandwich. They also had a veg menu.

After that we headed to an aquarium. That was cool, because I like fish, but it was a little depressing too. Some tanks were in desperate need of a cleaning and most tanks didn't have any rocks for the fish to swim around in and hide in. But it was still neat.

After that we headed back to the hotel. I ordered some room service and called it a night.

Getting Here

October 23, 2009
Today our flight from Minneapolis to Chicago was delayed due to weather. No biggie. We weren’t going to be that late and I was pretty sure that the plane would wait for us. When we landed we hurried off and in organized chaos, ok, really not that bad, found the next gate. We were the last to board and we all got new seat assignments. A few of us were arguing with the gate people and freaking out. I just boarded the plane. I figured I could sort out anything in Frankfurt and I didn’t want to be the cause of the plane being further delayed. My seat was the last in the section and to be honest, I wasn’t even sure the rest of the crew made it on until midway through the flight when I saw a few of them use the bathrooms.

We got to Frankfurt just fine. The ride was a little bumpy but I managed to sleep through most of it (not surprising). For dinner I chose the “Express Dinner” which is served all at once instead of course by course. This was on recommendation of the very nice flight attendant. There was a smoked gouda bisque that was very tasty. I should have asked for seconds on that. I also had a salad with shrimp, some fruit, a roll and a piece of cheesecake for dessert. After dinner, I slept until breakfast time. That was a croissant, fruit, yogurt and juice.

Now I’m in the Lufthansa lounge wasting time. I already bought some Kinder Eggs for my team there. I will buy some for Ben on my way home. I was really hoping for some Brotchen to snack but they don’t have any. Very disappointing. I did have a banana. Exciting, huh? There are some sandwiches available, but I think I might just wait until on the plane again.

There is Wi-Fi here thanks to T-Mobile, but without creating an account, you can only go to the T-Mobile/Lufthansa site. That got boring pretty quickly. So, I thought I would write down my exciting adventures so far. It is somewhat amusing… there’s a guy a few rows away that is fast asleep. I can hear him snoring from here. I’m feeling awake at the moment. Maybe because of my nap. Maybe because it’s light outside. I’m sure I’ll be sleepy again soon. Planes, cars and couches have that effect on me.

Now Connected and in Mumbai - Funny story about security in Frankfurt - I asked the guy if I needed to take the laptop out of my bag (yes). Then I asked about taking off my shoes. He said that it depended on what type of shoes so I kicked a leg up to show him my running shoe. He said, "Well, that one is fine, but I'll have to see the other one too." We was joking and we had a little chuckle over that. Before leaving Frankfurt, I did grab a sandwich. Turns out one was a pretzel roll with herb cream cheese. Yum!

Flight to Mumbai was fine. I tried to sleep through most of it (mostly successful). An hour before we got there they passed out immigration forms and a new H1N1 form too. That was new. It was also new that they did a temperature check on all incoming travelers. I was wondering how they were going to do that. Turns out to be pretty slick - we walked in front of 3-4 cameras that sensed body heat. If yours was elevated, you were separated from the herd to have a health inspection. If you were suspected to have H1N1 you weren't allowed in. My temp was fine.

Ok, that's all for now.

Quinoa, Deer and Pants

Last night I made some quinoa for the first time. According to Wikipedia, it is a grain related to beets, spinach and tumbleweed. I liked it. So did Ben. I guess we will be adding this to our list of food we like (which is a very long list) and to the list of food we can eat (long story). If anyone has a recipe that they like with quinoa, pass it on!

This morning on our walk, all of a sudden Zoey got super excited. She started hopping on her hind legs and pulling my arms out of my sockets. It was pretty dark this morning, but I did make out the outlines of two deer and their white behinds. Zoey really wanted to chase them. Thankfully, I was able to keep her under control and on the leash.

I think today I am retiring my walking pants. This makes me sad as they have been my loyal companion for many years (along with Zoey, of course). The other day the button popped off. No biggie, I can just sew it back on. But then today the zipper broke. While it's true I can fix that too, it sounds like a lot of work for my raggy, stained and worn pair of pants.

Saturday Fun Despite the Snow

A few days back Ben decided that he was going to play in the poker tournament at Canterbury on Saturday. I decided it would be fun to arrange a girl's shopping trip. Unfortunately my usual shopping buddies were all out of town. On Friday night at dinner, Smeeta asked if I wanted to join her, Katie and Karin. Perfect! So yesterday we hit Albertville. They had some ridiculous deals at some places (buy one pair of shoes, get two free). I found a few new tops for me for work and some pants for Ben.

After that we bundled up and changed the group a bit to exclude Karin (other plans) and include James and Rob and we headed out to a corn maze. It was dark out, so armed with some flashlights (and perhaps a flask) we hit the maze. We had a lot of fun trying to get lost and unlost. We went through the maze two times. To warm up after that we headed over to Old Chicago. We were going to get a large pizza, but they were out. ??? So we had some personal sized pizzas. I guess that works. But WAY too much food. But now I have lunch for another day, I guess.

Oh, and most of our snow is gone now. (We only had about 1/4 to 1/2 inch). In shady places it is still hanging out. And we saw a few flakes while shopping. I think we're entering the next ice age here in Minnesota.

Bowlin' and Singin'

Last weekend was my end-of-the season volleyball party. Since we play in the parking lot of a bowling alley, we got free bowling. I brought my friend Levrette along. This was his second time ever bowling. He did remarkably well considering. The first game he was only behind me by 9 pins. The second game you could tell his arm was getting tired. I told him we would try out Wii bowling at some point.

Last night it snowed. Grrr. Don't get me wrong, I love snow, just not in October. I'm trying to work myself up for a run this morning. Which probably means I should get off of my computer to eat a little something. And drink some water.

But before I do that, I'll quick write about last night. We went to dinner with a group of friends. Followed by going to the VFW for some karaoke. It was hilarious. Some people were really good. Others were really drunk. Within the first hour I think "Folsome Prison" by Johnny Cash was song no fewer than 5 times. We were trying to get some from our group to sing it too. We had cash offers for "I'm too Sexy" and "Little Drummer Boy" but no takers.

Yummy Surprise

Yesterday Ben told me he was going to make us a tasty treat. He then asked if we had 2/3 cup of Baking Soda at home. ??? That much baking soda? That doesn't sound good at all. He assured me it was good. Ok. Guess we will see about that. He went to work on that while I got a chicken in the oven and went for a run. Side note - the run felt great! I haven't gone on one for too long. I got a PB! Back to the story - I finished getting some sides ready for dinner. Then Ben said he would need my help. He took some of the dough and started rolling into a snake. Any guesses? He then made a loop and a twist and folded it down. Have you figured it out yet? Then we put them in boiling water with baking soda (ah, we are not eating that much baking soda, just using it to boil). Then we brushed the tops with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkled them with some extra coarse salt. Put them in the oven. And.... homemade giant pretzels! They were so good. We almost had a dinner of pretzels instead of chicken.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was pretty busy.

Friday night we went out to dinner with the Proehl's. We went to an Irish pub near by. I wasn't that impressed. But the company was great and I had a wonderful time.

Saturday I woke up "early" for the annual Step Out for Diabetes walk. Thank you to those that sponsored me!! It was a great morning for a walk. I dragged my friend Levrette with (he's in town from Mumbai, India). After that, Ben, Levrette and I made our way to El Loro to introduce Levrette to Mexican food. Nothing like Margaritas, tacos, burritos and fajitas to make you feel good. Then Ben left us to work while Levrette and I continued to the Mill City Museum. I thought it was pretty interesting to learn how a 50 foot drop in water could produce enough energy to power multiple flour and saw mills. Incredible! We walked a ways on the Stone Arch Bridge and watched a boat go through the locks. Then we decided it was ice cream time! We tried to go to a Cold Stone, but the one we went to was closed down. Bummer. So I figured I would take him to Edina Creamery too by Ridgedale. That was closed down. Super Bummer! I couldn't think of any other places close to the mall so we ended up at Wendy's (his request) and had a frosty. Not nearly as good as ice cream, but it had to do. I dropped him off and headed home. I was supposed to go to a pub crawl that evening to benefit the Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, but I was beat. So I stayed home and watched "The Mayor of Casterbridge." Poor Elizabeth Jane!

Sunday, Ben and I headed to the dome for the Vikings game. Neither of us have ever been and we were fortunate to get free tickets. In row 5. Of our 50 yard line. Talk about awesome! It was crazy around the dome. Tons of purple. Tons of tailgating. And the game, well, that was awesome too! Two minutes left and we were down. I asked Ben if we could stay for the whole game since it was our first (we usually leave events early to try and avoid some of the crowds). Luckily, we agreed fighting through crowds were worth it... Two seconds left on the clock and we get a touchdown! Unbelievable! You should have heard the crowd! I might still be deaf...

Copper

Last week Ben and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! How time flies, goodness! One of my traditions is to get him a present that corresponds with either the traditional or modern gift for the year we are celebrating. This has proved to be require some creativity on my part. My self-inflicted rules are that it has to be for him, not us or the house, and is reasonably priced.

This year (according to some lists) the gift is copper. Hmmm. Copper. What would Ben like out of copper? A penny? :) It took some thinking and some surfing before I found what I wanted to get him - a copper piece of art. I found a guy on eBay that takes a sheet of copper and treats it with different chemicals to get different reactions on the metal. I thought it was pretty cool, so I bought one.

As for me, there isn't as much of a pattern for gifts from Ben. Sometimes he adds a piece of jewelry to my sapphire collection (sapphire is September's stone). Other times I get showered with roses. This year it was roses. He bought me 40 long-stem roses of nearly every color out there. They are so pretty! I took some pictures, so I'll try to post so you can see them.

We celebrated by going to Bacio's. It was very tasty.

Being Productive

This weekend Ben has been at a conference by the MOA. Every day starts early and ends late so I have pretty much been on my own. Yesterday after our run, Zoey and I cleaned our bedroom and bathroom from top to bottom. It had gotten way out of control. I feel so good about the room now. Almost all the clothes are put away (the ones that aren't are from today's washing) and everything is put in order. I do have a pile of things that need to find new homes. Unfortunately, that new home is probably my office/craft room downstairs. That room has seen some progress, but not there yet. Maybe I'll hide the box of stuff until that room is under control too.

Anyway, today I did some grocery shopping. Went to the dog park (as it turns out, 80 and sunny makes for a hot day for a black dog). And did some cooking for the week. I bought a full chicken and roasted it. Once it cooled down I shredded some and left the rest in pieces. That will be lunch and dinner tomorrow. (Dinner will transform it into a chicken pot pie type dish). Kitchen is all cleaned up.

Sometimes I am so productive I scare myself.

The Fox and the Hound

Last night Zoey and I were home alone. I had fallen asleep downstairs watching TV (a favorite pastime when Ben is away - no joke, I just can't explain it). All of a sudden I was jerked from my sleep by Zoey barking. She was upstairs and she came running downstairs and kept barking while looking through the sliding door. I got up to investigate. Apparently Zoey does not appreciate it when there is a fox in our yard. I could see the silhouette of it on the hill by the pond. Then I watched it cross the street. Zoey would not settle down right away.

Today I was going to go for a run. Zoey watched while I was putting on my shoes and was getting so excited, that I brought her with. How could I say no to that excited little girl? So, instead of 4 miles we went 3 (her limit). Probably a good idea - didn't realize how humid it is out there. Yuck! Zoey was a very good dog. She didn't bark or pull when we passed people on the trail. Maybe she's finally figured out her manners.

Oh, and last week was Zoey's 6th birthday. I meant to go to McDonald's and get a cheeseburger for her, but I forgot to. So instead she got a rawhide.

We Are Like Grasshoppers Compared to Them

Saturday was a beautiful day. I went for a run (only 35 miles left to go). It was a lot of fun. There were grasshoppers all over the trail and as I ran they would hop or fly out of my way. A very nice distraction from my run.

After that we had a few friends over. Some friends that moved out of state were in town, so we got together to catch up. It was a lot of fun to see them again and hear how life is for them. They are doing great.

Last week I made halibut kabobs with lemon tarragon butter. They were pretty good, but it turns out that I don't like tarragon very much (slight licorice taste). Then I made some peach jalapeno jam. It turned out a little thick, but it will probably still be pretty tasty on top of some cream cheese. Tonight I made risotto Florentine. It was pretty good too.

In other news, the good news is that my friend, Levrette, from India will be coming for a visit in September for a month or so. The bad news is that he is coming to learn another of my friend's jobs because the job was off-shored. It was expected, so at least it didn't come as a complete surprise. But it sucks. It was really hard for me because I knew about it a week or so before the team here did. It was hard keeping it a secret. Then when everyone found out the news, it was hard to defend why I kept it a secret. But I am relieved that it is out. And I am excited that Levrette will be here! I started to make a list of things to do. One thing on the list is to have Root Beer Floats. If anyone wants to join us for floats, let me know!

Peach Time

It's that wonderful time of year - I have a whole crate of delicious Colorado peaches. Yum! The other night I made a salad recipe from Every Day with Rachael Ray that had grilled peaches and grilled ham. The ham and peaches were great! The salad was... a little over the top. There were too many flavors. Ben requested that we not have the leftovers for the next night's dinner.

That same night I made Peach Cobbler from BH&G cookbook. I used more peaches than it called for, but I think that only helped the recipe. So yummy served warm with ice cream.

I have about 1/3 of the crate left, so I'm sure I will be posting with some more new recipes.

Record Breaking Month

I forgot to mention that this month I am on fire for new recipes! I made homemade pecan coconut frosting the other week for Ben's German chocolate cake. Friday I made Moroccan Chicken (anyone know how to smooth out spices? The dish seemed grainy to me). Today Ben wanted teriyaki shrimp but we didn't have teriyaki sauce, so I made some. And there's still more to come! Tuesday and Wednesday I have new recipes planned too. Whew!

Oh, deer! Oh, fawn!

Yesterday we finally kicked ourselves in the butt and went to our old place to evaluate what needs to be done in order to get it rent-able. We were both pleasantly surprised at what we found - everything is still in working order, no vandalism, no animals, and not a whole lot to do. Our plan is to take part of each weekend for the next month to work on stuff. We will be doing a lot ourselves, but we hope to get someone to help with some of the projects that are time consuming. Our goal is to have it ready to go by the end of September.

After working on that, I kicked Ben's butt and convinced him to go on a bike ride with me. We took one of the Regional Trail loops for the most part. It was so pretty! The trail goes through some awesome nature areas. The trail also has a nice mix for up and down hills. It was very fun. As we passed through one area we saw a doe and her fawn. They were so close to use. It was so cool.

Then Ben fixed our garage door. In the morning, I tried to leave to go let out Andrea's dog (she was running in the Ragnar Relay) and the door would only open about 1/3 of the way. So, I used Ben's car (parked in the third stall and a different door). We looked at the door a few times and couldn't figure out what was wrong. After the bike ride, we really wanted to grill and in order to do that we needed the garage door open. So, Ben took another look. Turns out one of the pieces to allow you to lock the door was installed wrong. The bolts had worked themselves loose and the piece had turned to block the last wheel from going up. Ben removed the piece and it works again!

We finished up the day with root beer floats with my parents. Today will be doing new house stuff... mainly laundry. I'm hoping to get a run in too. We'll see.

Hungry, Hungry Puppy

I know it's probably my fault because I think I forgot to give Zoey breakfast on Sunday. I know it's probably my fault because I left a few oatmeal cream pies and a granola bar on the floor of our bedroom...

Star Gazing

The other night Ben woke me up so we could watch some shooting stars. We grabbed a blanket and a pillow and headed to our front yard to watch (our new neighbor friend, Cassie, might think we are weird since she witnessed us setting up). It was a pretty nice night out. No bugs and slightly cool. We were out there for about an hour looking at the sky and talking. We probably saw about a dozen shooting stars. Not nearly the number we were expecting, but that's ok - it was still way cool.

The other night Ben and I made Mango Chicken with Coconut Rice. So yummy! And just like that, I've made two recipes already this month. :) Anybody have other uses for fish sauce?

Last weekend, Heather and I did another triathlon. I learned a few things - 1. Training makes things easier (so I will train before I do another one) 2. Red Wing has some terrible hills. But I suppose overall it was fun. Next time in addition to actually training, I think we will pick one closer to home. On the road by 5:45 am is not that much fun.

Won't You Be My Neighbor

Last week was National Night Out. Our entire development had an ice cream social. It was nice to finally get to know some of the people that live near us. Since Zoey and I walk the circuit every morning, someone just had to give a characteristic of their house and I knew where they lived. It was kind of funny... in our development we have houses and townhouses. The house people tend to have kids. The townhouse people tend to have dogs. Some of the house people were interested in us until they found out that we didn't have any kids. But the townhouse people accepted us. :)

Saturday night we were driving home and within minutes it went from a gentle rain to a complete down pour with tornado sirens going off. Ben was concentrating on keeping us on the road, I was checking the weather on my phone and keeping an eye on the sky for funnel clouds. It was only a 10 minute drive, but it was pretty exciting. We pulled in the driveway with plans to grab Zoey and head for the basement. We noticed out townhouse neighbors outside coming towards us. Katie came running up behind us asking if they could hide out with us in the basement. They had their niece and nephew visiting and they didn't want to all cram into the tiny bathroom that is their severe weather location. We quickly got them down to the theater room. I had the niece pick out a movie and got that loaded in. We were soon joined by Katie's husband and their dog. And the other set of neighbors and their two dogs. With Rick there we had 7 adults, 2 kids and 4 dogs waiting out the storm.

The storm did turn into a non-event. It rained enough to flood our "lake" in the backyard, but other than that, nothing, thankfully. I'm so glad that our neighbors felt comfortable enough with us to come over for shelter. We're looking forward to spending more time with them.

Three Little Speckled Frogs

The other night when I let Zoey out before bed, there were three teeny, tiny frogs on the cement slab. They were so cute, I went and got Ben to see them. He wasn't nearly as impressed as I was. Oh, well. And now, every night since then, I have seen at least one little frog out there. So cute! Zoey has tried to sniff them, and that's about all.

100,000 Miles

Happy 100,000 Miles car! Here's hoping for another 100,000.

This past weekend we were up at the lake for the annual Waterama party with Ben's uncles and friends. On the way home, my car hit 100,000 miles. I noticed it when it was at 100,001. :)

This weekend was a lot of fun. The weather was great and the company was even better. Who could ask for more? Friday Ben golfed with the boys while I headed to town to see how the sale of Microwave Potato Bags was going. That didn't take nearly as long as the round of golf, so I tanned with the other girls. And tried to keep Zoey close by. Saturday was pretty darn windy. I was in jeans most of the day, but it was still nice to be outside. Sunday the weather went back to perfect. We ended up staying later than usual so we could go sailing with Ben's uncle and aunt. We haven't done that for a while and I am so glad we did. Such a nice day to be on the lake!

We didn't get home until late, so I still have to unpack, do laundry and catch up on some sleep. Not sure when that will happen...

Girl's Just Wanna

Last weekend was the 6th Annual Girl's Weekend at Lake Amelia. This year Cassie and I expanded our little adventure to include Andrea and Heather. It was so much fun!

Heather had to work late (darn 10K) so she drove herself up. She made great time - was there by 8! The rest of us left around 2. We stopped in Sauk Center to do some grocery shopping and relaxed a bit and made dinner - homemade pizza! For dessert we made a chocolate fondue. So yummy! I have no idea what happened to half a pan of brownies... Then we just talked, laughed, and giggled our way into the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday we made pancakes for breakfast then headed out to the lake. We read, talked and relaxed all while soaking up some rays (filtered by sunscreen). Heather, Andrea and I braved the water and went for a swim to the sand bar. Then we decided to call it a day and head in to clean up for dinner. We went to Lakeside and had a great meal on the patio. The weather was perfect and the scenery was awesome. We took a stroll to the beach then headed back to the house. Somehow Andrea acquired some splinters, so my father-in-law (yes, I know, he's not a girl, but since we were at his house, he was allowed) preformed minor surgery to remove them. Then we watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was ok. I wasn't nearly as disappointed as Andrea and Heather were since they had read the books.

Sunday Heather took off to get to a company picnic while the rest of us finished off the pancakes and started on lunch and packing. Cassie was able to figure out how to start the grill. All of us are so reliant on our men when it comes to grilling. :) Then we made some mighty tasty chicken kabobs.

We hit the road around 2:30. Guess what time I walked in the door of my house? (Usually it takes 1:40 to get home). You probably have figured out that it wasn't a typical drive. Nope. Some idiot decided to cut lanes to make an illegal U-turn causing a tanker with gasoline to roll. The freeway was shut down. Of course we didn't know this until we had no other legal option than to sit and wait to get off on the detour exit. It took us about 3 hours to go 10 miles. We all agreed that it was a good thing that it was girl's weekend and not couple's weekend because we are pretty sure that the guys would have lost it. But we kept our cool while singing old girl scout songs and Disney songs.

It was a super fun weekend and I can't wait until next year to do it again!

Whooah, we're half way there

Last Friday night we threw Andrea a surprise half birthday party. Her real birthday is close to Christmas and a few months back she commented to me that she doesn't like when her birthday is because people forget about it since they're so busy with the holidays. So, I thought it would be fun to throw a surprise half birthday party. The beauty was that she had no clue whatsoever. It was so much fun! We ate, played Catch Phrase (still not a fan of the scoring) and Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I was the party pooper and kicked everyone out. But it was 2 am, so I think that it was ok (especially considering I had been up since 5 am).

On Monday, I ran 4 miles. It's only note worthy because it put me over half way to my goal of running 100 miles this year. Only 48 to go!

And, I'm also half way through my recipe resolution. For June I made Spicy Halibut thanks to my wonderful husband who caught it in Alaska. The fish was fantastic! The spice combination was only ok. We used some of the leftovers to make fish quesadillas. That was pretty good. The second recipe was for the half birthday party. Andrea loves baked brie, so I decided to make it. It was super easy, and I thought pretty good. It was just a round of brie "frosted" with sour cream and then brown sugar, pecans and butter on top. Yum!

Tour de Minnesota

The weekend before last I went on a little tour of Minnesota. Friday I went down to New Ulm with my mom to hang out with her Auntie Hazie. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we had a great visit with Auntie. She is doing very well. She was telling us about her newest grandson. His name is August. She kind of made a face when she told us his name. August is a family name, so I said that was nice that they are carrying on a family name. She said, "Yeah, well, I don't like that name." I thought it was pretty funny.

From there my mom and I headed to Inver Grove Heights to celebrate my uncle's 60 birthday. Age is a strange thing. When I was young, 60 seemed so old. But when I look at my uncle he doesn't look like he should be 60. The party was starting to wind down a little bit when it decided to rain on us. So we helped my aunt bring everything inside. By the time we were finished, so was the rain.

Saturday morning Ben left for Alaska to go fishing with his dad. I headed to Glenwood. Zoey and I got there just in time to go to the other side of the lake for a surprise birthday party for Ben's Aunt Janice (it was her 60th too). It was fun to visit with the aunts and uncles. Later that afternoon Jerry traded the mustang convertible for the pontoon boat. So my mother-in-law and I went for a spin through town and around the lake. It was fun! Although, it would have been more fun if it was a manual transmission. Oh, well. At one point I got Mickey to put her hands in the air and yell (I did too). It was great!

Sunday after church I headed back to the cities and made my way to St. Louis Park for Father's Day. We had a BBQ and my brother-in-law's parents from India were there too. This was the first time that I have met them. They were very nice and we had a fun time.

It was a great weekend, but I was almost glad that it was Monday the next day so I could slow down a bit. :)

Vegas

June 4 Ben and I headed out to Vegas. This trip it was just the two of us. It was nice to be able to do whatever. We got there late at night and checked into the Monte Carlo. Our first room... a smoking room. Grr. Our reservation was for a non-smoking room. Sometimes smoking rooms aren't too bad, but this on was. Ben called down and they switched our room. So we had to go back down to the lobby to get new keys. Then back up. The new room wasn't a king, so the next day we switched again.

After we got the room figured out, we went down to the casino floor. Ben played craps and was doing pretty well. It was fun to watch. Then we ate some sort of meal... what do you call it when it's 4 am? The next few days were filled with pool, eating, gambling and relaxing.

Friday night we went to Sea Blue restaurant at the MGM. We both got the tasting menus there. It was fabulous! Everything was very tasty. From there, we went to Tao which is a restaurant by day and a club by night. We somehow got onto a list so we were able to get into a short line. We figured that I would get in for free (I'm a girl) but Ben was able to get in free too! Score. :) It was really packed in there. The dance floor was pretty non-existent. And what was there was filled with people coming and going. It was cool to be there, but I was happy to leave.

Saturday night we attended a "Tweet Up" hosted by some guy that Ben follows (and now I do) on Twitter. It was pretty fun. It was on the upper level patio of Diablo's at the Monte Carlo. $5 Margaritas! :) The people that we met were all very nice and fun to talk to. After a few hours of socializing, a bunch of us decided we wanted to go out. A lady at the Tweet Up works for the company that owns a bunch of the clubs on the strip. She arranged for a huge, stretch limo to come and pick us up and bring us to the Bellagio. Once there we got escorted to the lounge there and got 2-for-1 drink coupons. After chilling there a bit, some guy came and walked us right to a super special line and we walked right into the club. No cover. No waiting. It was awesome. I totally felt like a someone important. This club was pretty crowded too. That with the fact that there were 8 or so of us that were trying to stick together made it difficult to get a good dance spot. After a while we all gave up and headed back to the Monte Carlo and the food court there.

Sunday night we went out to Michael Mina's for nice dinner number 2. This meal was also great. Less flavors competing for my attention. And the wine sommeliers were very knowledgeable. After dinner we were walking around and we ended up in line to pick up tickets for O! I was so excited! We have wanted to see this show, but it either didn't work out with our schedules in the past, or it was closed for a break. And the seats were amazing! We were in row 5 - close enough to see everything, but far enough that the water didn't get us. It was so amazing.

Oh, and the Sea Monkeys didn't love me this time. I visited them several times and they just kept taking my money. :(

I'm Still Alive!

Yesterday I successfully completed my first sprint triathlon (1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 5 mile run). I was very scared about this for a number of reasons: 1. My first time. 2. I haven't really trained for the last two weeks with Vegas and family visiting. 3. It was my first time on a bike in a very long time (trained on a stationary bike and picked up a rental the day before my event). 4. Hadn't made it up to running 5 miles in training.... So, yeah. I was nervous. Honestly my goal was to finish. I wasn't worried about the time. I had figured that I wanted to complete it in 2 hours and 32 minutes + transitions since that would be the pace that I have had while training. My end time - 2 hours and 38 minutes (including transitions)! And this does include Andrea and I not finding the bike trail and biking an extra mile on streets (re: stop lights). I am very happy with my time!

The swim was harder than I thought it would be. I think this was partly because I haven't been swimming in weeks. I will definitely be better about swimming in the future especially since next time the swim probably won't be in a pool that I can use the ends to push off from. But, when I finished the swimming portion, my time was 3 minutes faster than the last time I trained for it, so that might explain why it was killing me.

The bike was great! Aside from not being able to figure out the map, the biking went very well. I felt pretty good. Towards the end my wrists were unhappy and my butt was sore, but it went well. Next time I will make sure I know the course. Although, since this was so small of an event (41 people) there weren't any signs. I'm assuming an official Tri would have some sort of markings.

The run went better than expected. I figured that since it was last I would be dying. But Andrea and I had a good pace and were able to keep it up despite hills at mile 3. Midway through the run I started to get blisters on my arches. I had put some body glide on after my swim, but it didn't help much. My theories are that my body absorbed it since my skin was wet, my socks absorbed it since it was so long between application and when I needed it or that it plain just wore off. Next time I think I will go back to Vaseline.

When we were nearing the last bit, we started to here bagpipes. Turns out they were for us! Every finisher had bagpipes (live) to bring them in. It was so cool! There was a lady that asked if Andrea and I were doing the "with a kick" version. When we said yes, she told us to kick it in. So Andrea and I took off sprinting for the last bit. It was awesome. It was a bit tricky stopping and not running into the people and bikes. Also at the finish line were Ben, David, Heather (who finished her shorter course before us) and Wanda (who also did the shorter course). It was so nice to have some fans at the finish line.

For me, this will not have been my first and last tri. I really did enjoy it, and hopefully will be doing it again sometime soon. Andrea and Heather and I are thinking about doing another one in August up in Glenwood. I think it would be fun to do a lake weekend with a Tri thrown in.

(Heather - Sorry that I didn't write much about you! But you did awesome! I am so proud of you!!).

Summoned

The other day in the mail I got a letter from the 4th District Court... I have been summoned for jury duty! I have to say I'm a little excited. I kind of hope that I get picked so I can have an inside look at our judicial system. My two weeks start on June 29. There is a call-in option that I will do. That way, I just call twice a day to see if they need me to show up. If so, off to the courthouse. If not, it's just work as usual.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. It started off with a nice little run (4 miles!!!) - well, really it started with bringing our house guest to the airport at 5 am, then going back to bed. But anyway. Then we went on Grant's boat. It was really windy and a little cool, but we ended up in a little bay that was sheltered. Great fun! Then it was off to David's MBA grad party. So excited for David to have more free time. After that we met up with Grant for a little downtown action.

And now I'm trying to figure out what to feed 6 people for lunch... :)

What a Weekend

This past weekend was a lot of fun and relaxation. Friday was our first 1/2 Friday of the summer, so Ben and I took advantage and went out to eat and then to the dog park (after picking up the little Zoey girl). Ben went swimming while I ran to Costco for some brats and buns and then we grilled and watched a movie with my bro (12 Monkeys).

Saturday we went to Albertville to do some furniture shopping. We found 4 bedroom sets that we liked, but we forgot to measure the room beforehand, so we didn't buy anything. The sales lady, Darlene was hilarious. That night Rick, Mickey and Malachi came back to town, so we hung out with them.

Sunday was my mom's birthday so the family got together to celebrate. After that we went to the Gale's for the annual Memorial Day party. I was relatively good this year. We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect!

Monday we slept in and went back to Albertville to buy our furniture set. The bad news is that it is all over the country, so we won't get it until the end of June. Which really isn't all that bad, but we wanted two beds set up for this Friday because we have multiple house guests. Oh, well.

I've also caught up with my recipe resolution. Ben and I made an Italian Pasta Salad from our pasta cookbook the other night. It was easy and good. And then tonight I made Corn and Beef Creole with Olive Biscuits. Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it was pretty yummy. I am a little worried about how well the biscuits will hold up as leftovers.

Swimming Lessons

The other night (last week) I looked out into the pond and saw 3 Canada Geese families out for a swim. This was the first time that I saw the little goslings. So cute! Since then we have seen them out several times. Boy, do they grow up fast!

Ben and I have been going swimming a few times a week. It is mildly frustrating. The schedule only has lap swim time from 6-7 pm and 9-9:45 pm. Prior to the 6 time slot is swimming lessons. After the slot is water aerobics. (Meaning no lanes open. Other times are just reduced number of lanes). The last time we were there there was a private swimming lesson taking up one lane, kids swimming in another lane, leaving only 3 lanes open for the 7-9 people wanting to swim laps. When we got out of the pool there were about 5 people standing around waiting for their turn to swim. Super annoying! I am seriously thinking about switching to the 9 pm swim time.

HOA

Last night Ben and I attended the first annual meeting of our home owners association. It was an interesting time... One guy wants a special assessment for dog owners because some of his grass is dying... One guy was over analyzing the financial statements... Since our development is still in progress at the moment the builders run the association. Everyone had a bunch of questions for the guy that came to represent the builders. I felt bad for him. But he seemed very nice and had a great sense of humor. After the meeting we talked to him about trees and our "lake" in our back yard. He's going to swing by and look at the lake. It will be nice to get that taken care of.

The Lake - The backyards on our street slope down towards the pond (good plan). The problem is we don't think the slope is right. There are two spots in our yard that water will pool in. Last summer it was always so wet there, we couldn't really mow.

If the Swim Doesn't Kill Me

I just might finish the triathlon. Tonight was my first swim training session. Yikes! I need some work! Heather totally kicked my butt. She's very efficient at that whole front crawl thing. I can do it lifeguard style (head out of water) but not the "real" way. I tried it several times tonight. I think I might need to ask some swimmers some pointers on how to breathe. My legs were fine, my arms were OK, but my breathing was my issue. But, since this was my first swim in a long time, I'm not upset. I just hope that Saturday's swim is a little better. I did manage to swim 26 laps (Heather did 35 in the same time).

April Update

For Easter I made a Key Lime Pie Poke Cake from Betty Crocker. It was pretty tasty. I count this as my second recipe of the month. Ben said that I should only count main dish recipes. What do you think? Just in case he's right, in May I will do three recipes. So, to kick things off right, the other night we grilled some salmon. We made a rub of brown sugar, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It was great! We used the leftovers for a salad.

On the weight loss progress... India kind of threw me for a loop. I didn't exercise at all while I was there (one day I swam 3 laps, but I don't think that really counts). But I am down 3 pounds from where I started. I think this next little bit will be a challenge. Since I'm training for the tri I am a lot more active. But I don't want to sacrifice muscle so I am trying to eat enough to keep my body in good shape. We'll see what happens.

5k Fun

Last Saturday was the annual Run of the Mills (ROTM). It's a 5k race for families and friends of GMI. Team Tortoise was once again a part of the fun. This year we were going to dress up as the four elements, but none of us were really feeling it. So we came up with a better plan - Ninjas vs. Pirates! Katie and I were the dashing pirates and Dawn and Andrea were the stealthy ninjas.

We had joked about having little battles during the race. Turns out we did exactly that. Andrea was having some wardrobe malfunctions (shoe kept untying). So while she was fixing her issue, the rest of us had little fights (because of course we were running with weapons!). Mile 2 Dawn and Katie had to start walking. Both have bum knees. Andrea and I decided to keep running since really the 5k was our workout for the day for our triathlon training. As we neared the finish we kicked it into high gear and sprinted. It was so fun because all of our friends were cheering/heckling us. We went back to run through the finish with the rest of the team. When Dawn and Katie started to sprint, we stopped and just cheered.

Our official results? Andrea and I tied. Katie and Dawn tied. So the question remains: In battle, who will triumph - Ninjas or Pirates?

Blur

As I eluded to in my last post, my India trip was very fast. I was surprised how little time I had to do "important" things like updating my blog. Here is a recap...
Monday: Worked the day shift. I learned that my team of 5 processors has been "reduced" to one. The workload has shifted in such a way that one processor can keep up with the work. The other processors have been trained in other areas and helps out in mine if the workload becomes too much. It was so fun to see everyone again. The day went be very quickly. After work I went to the mall with Levrette, Darshana and Sunita for some ice cream.
Tuesday: Adjusted day shift - mostly day hours but we came in late so we could get some time with the night shift when they came in. Got to see the night shift. This is the team that I work mostly with. I got to meet the new additions to my team as well as rekindle friendships with people that I met last trip. Not much other than work this day.
Wednesday: Night shift. I was invited to go down to the cafeteria with my team for dinner. It was fun! I learned that a lot of veg people (vegetarians) "can" eat meat on Wednesdays. This is because the rest of the week they are required to eat veg for their religion. On Wednesdays they don't have to. A couple of the girls were very excited for their chicken. I also got some laughs out of them when I was explaining tanning salons to them. In India light skin is coveted. They even have skin lightening creams much like our self-tanners.
Thursday: During the day I met with Neetha and Vaishali for lunch. These are the two from Ben's team that took me out last time I was there. It was fun to see them again. And lunch was fabulous. Night crew again. But Navin, the manager there, took out the leadership team to dinner. At a Chinese restaurant. So, actual time with the team was quite reduced. I was bummed. But did enjoy the great dinner.
Friday: Split shift. We wrapped up with the day team and presented awards to them. We had a short break where I headed to the mall. I ended up with a super cute pair of shoes. Then back to the office to wrap up with evening team and to again present awards. It was such a sad day as I had to say good-bye once again to all my friends there. I was given gifts by some of the associates. They are so sweet! After work we were back at the hotel to pack up and head to the airport.
Travel: Our flight out of Mumbai was delayed by about 2 hours. This made it so we wouldn't make our connection flight in Atlanta. They changed our flights for us so we wouldn't have to worry about that. After that, everything was fine. I was able to sleep in the plane. I got home around 1 pm. It was so good to be home again. And thankfully, I didn't really experience jet lag. I think the trip in general wore me out enough that my body just wanted to sleep. And being able to have a solid chunk of time on the plane to sleep I think helped too.

Sunday, a little late

This trip is certainly flying by quickly! Here is a recap and some "snaps" of the trip so far.

Sunday: After 3 short hours of sleep, Pat and I met Koyel and our driver, Baba, for some sightseeing. We saw a lot of places. Unique to this trip was the laundry. It is a large area where the laundry is done all by hand. It was a maze of tubs and drying lines.

We stopped by Cafe Leopold for lunch. This name might seem familiar as it was one of the sites that was attacked last November. Bullet holes were still present in some of the walls and windows.

We also went by the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel. Security is much tighter than when I was here last. (Side note: our hotel is also more secure. There are more guards when you enter. They do a trace test on every vehicle that comes in. In order to use the elevators, you must use your room key. If you take the stairs, you can't get out (learned this the hard way)).

After sightseeing, I took a short nap and then went to my friend Levrette's place for dinner and to meet him and his family. Levrette and I have known each other since I joined GMI, but when I was here last, he was in Canada for training. I had a very nice time with his family. They were all very nice. And his mom is an excellent cook! It was funny, his dad was playing CCR. I told him I knew what it was. The next CD was a sort of jazz remix of music from the 50's and 60's. We talked about the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Next CD - the Beatles! I thought it was funny.

Levrette's niece, Stacy, is super cute. I guess all day long she was asking when I would be there. Once I was there, she hardly talked and was very shy. But we blow some bubbles together and played with Barbies (my favorite!!). Below is Levrette's aunt, mom, Stacy, dad, Levrette, and sister.

Flat Tire

On Friday I started my journey to Mumbai, India. There were 7 of us that were on the same plane to Atlanta. It was kind of funny to look around first class and realize that GMI employees took up more than half of the section. (Don't worry - we were from different groups so we were within GMI's travel policy about number of people on one plane). When the flight attendant took drink orders, I ordered a Mojito. Heather had to help me convince her that I was of legal age. We had a good laugh.

Upon reaching Atlanta we had some time to burn, so we went to the Delta Lounge. I ordered a beer at the bar. The guy looked at me and then said he wouldn't give it to me without ID. So, got my ID to retrieve my beer. He admitted that he thought I was 23. I pointed out that 23 is greater than 21. (I'm so smart!).

Then we got to board the plane - a 777-200LR. Doesn't mean a whole lot to me, but the seats would go to a flat 180 degrees for sleeping. They were pretty sweet. All of us were so junior high-ish - we all took pics of us in our seats (with Champagne, of course). Then we settled in for take off. After sitting around for a while (I hadn't really noticed) the pilot came on saying they were having some issues with the little thing that pulls the plane toward the runway. Apparently they couldn't disconnect us. After trying for a bit, they were able to, but the tire was damaged. So... back to the gate. They then decided they couldn't fix it for us. We got off the plane, got a $7 food voucher (only to find nothing open - except for Ben and Jerry's!!!) and waited for about 6 hours to get a new plane and a new set of crews. Instead of getting in at 9:30 pm, we landed around 4 am. But the flight was fine.

I do have to say that the first flight crew was very nice. I was sad they couldn't make the flight. And so were they. Many of them had made travel plans and shopping plans for their layover in Mumbai. The replacement crew was fine. Very nice people.

Anyway, more to come!

April Recap

I know, I know. I'm such a slacker. It's close enough to the middle of the month that I figured I would just do a quick recap of what's been going along re: goals.

Cooking: We ended March with Grilled Taco-Barbecue Chicken from Betty Crocker. Of course, I made some changes. We wanted to try out the rotisserie attachment on our grill, so we did a whole chicken instead of just breasts. It was pretty darn tasty. Although, Ben said he could do without the cumin in his BBQ sauce.
My first recipe for April was White Chili from Recipezaar.com. I only had one can of chilies on hand, other than that, I followed the recipe! But next time I would use two cans as it wasn't quite zippy enough for us.

Weight-Loss: I have remained steady. I suppose that means I should get my butt in gear. We think Zoey is down a pound or so. Today we went to the doggie park for the first time this year. She had a blast running around and playing with other pups.

I guess that's about it. Hope you have/had a great Good Friday.

Why I Love My Job

I got this today from one of the members of my team in India:
"Hi Sarah,
Thanks a lot!!!!
we all have done the great work because of your moral support and help each and everytime help us to improve our productivity and flexiblity in our work.
we will definitely continue the same work to hit the target line every time.
Thanks for the appreication !!!!!!!!!!"

How can you not love your job when people are so nice and a simple email puts a smile on your face? Twelve days until I land in Mumbai!

Perfect Walk

This mornings walk was fabulous!
1. There were plenty of stars to look at. I love looking up to see constellations. Although, I've been thinking of expanding my list to include more than 3-4 that I recognize.
2. An owl was out. I'm not exactly sure why I like it when the owl hoots at us as we walk along, I just do.
3. As we were coming down the home stretch, I saw a large dog cross the street. I thought it was very odd until I realized that it wasn't a dog at all - it was a deer! A second one followed it. I'm pretty sure that Zoey didn't see them. Or else she just didn't care at that point. But as we got to the part where our paths crossed, I know she could smell them because she got very interested in the air. I spotted the pair by the pond in the middle of our development. They looked so graceful and peaceful! I hope I will be able to see more of them.

Strange People

On Sunday, Ben, Zoey and I decided to take a break from relaxing to go on a little walk. We walked to Lawndale (the street that runs behind our house) and looked at the one neighbor's fence and placement of it. As we were making our way to our backyard to look to see where we want to put our fence in, an SUV with a trailer drove by. As he drove by something flew out of the trailer. I tried to wave him down, but he didn't notice me. A lady in a car quickly pulled off the road and got the thing out of the road. I figured it was his wife following behind. And I was happy that it was out of the road. As Ben and I were discussing the fence (and Zoey happily sniffing everything) an SUV pulled up and an older lady got out. The car lady was still there, so I figured it was her mom or someone else helping with the move that stopped to help. Nope. SUV lady started talking loudly and waving her hands at the car lady. Car lady tried to talk, but SUV lady kept cutting her off. Ben and I stopped our discussion to try and figure out what in the world was going on. SUV lady said something about license plate numbers and stormed back to her SUV. Ben walked across the street and asked car lady what was going on. The poor lady! I could hear in her voice that she was close to tears! Apparently, the thing that fell out of her husband's trailer wouldn't fit in the back of her car, so she moved off the road by the pond. SUV lady happened by and thought that car lady was littering. So on her high horse she told car lady a thing or two and was going to report her. Ben went over to SUV lady and calmly told her that we had witnessed the whole thing. At first she didn't want to believe that car lady wasn't guilty, but finally came to her senses and drove off. I suggested that car lady move her thing to our yard in case SUV lady came by later to check on the story. She looked so relieved that we had come to her rescue!

There are some strange people out there.

Happy Happy!

Last week was a week of celebrating. I am very and truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and a great bunch of friends. I worked on my birthday, but didn't get a lot accomplished. My team and friends from India called and emailed me throughout the day. My first phone call of the day was them singing "Happy Birthday" to me. I also had friends here sending their wishes to me. It was a fun day!

Last night we had the fam over and some friends to try out our new grill. We grilled up some salsa burgers. They were so yummy!! Luckily for me we made a bunch so we had some for lunch again today. :)

Not a whole lot else to report on. Crap! I just realized that it is 3/29 and I have only made one new recipe this month. Guess I better get my bum in gear.

Weight loss results: Holding steady = good on a birthday week where I have been eating a bunch of crap.

You Know it's Been a Long Time When...

You know it's been a long time since you have been running when:
1. You can't remember how to put the harness on your dog.
2. You can't remember what your 2 mile route is, so you end up on the 1.5 mile route, which is ok because,
3. You and your dog are ready to stop after 1.5 miles.

Yesterday Zoey and I took advantage of the beautiful morning and went for our first run of the season. It was so nice to be outside! This weather is perfect - not too cold or warm to run, and comfortable to be outside without a jacket. I love it! Too bad the forecast claims it won't last. But it's Minnesota, so what do I expect?

After the run, I went on the exercise bike. Yes, I'm insane. But for a reason - my friend Andrea and I are going to be doing a mini triathlon this June. The tri is .5 mile swim, 15 mile bike ride and 5 mile run. It's called "Swim-Bike-Run Like a Girl With a Kick." Andrea did it last year and had fun. This year they are offering the "with a kick" version - longer distances - and somehow she "convinced" me to do the longer one. I figure this is a great one to get my feet wet with. It's low competition, and you swim in a pool instead of a lake (so if you get tired you can take a break), and it's fairly low cost compared to others. I'm looking forward to it.

Miles run this year: 7.9 miles. Miles to goal: 92.1.

Week 5 Results

During Week 5 I rode our exercise bike for a total of 150 minutes and 29 miles. And it's a good thing that I started exercising again: May 2 is the annual Run of the Mills 5k run and then somehow Andrea managed to talk me into doing a mini triathlon on June 13. Time to really get this butt in gear! Since the start of my diet/life change I have lost 3 pounds.

Last night I played volleyball. My mom slightly freaked out when she found out that I was playing (concern for my back). During the middle of the third game I thought to myself, "Huh, how would I get home if I threw my back out again?" Thankfully everything was fine. We lost, but I am still in one piece.

I forgot to post last week about a new recipe I tried: Barley and Vegetable Saute from Betty Crocker. It was pretty darn healthy and not bad. Ben's comments were: "I've never seen so many Lima beans in one place before." and "This looks like peasant food." But he ate it several times (it made a lot) since it was low in calories, high in protein and pretty filling.

The Smell of Grilling is in the Air

You know you're a Minnesotan when even though there is snow on the ground you are outside grilling.

The last few days have been very warm. I believe it has been 50 something. As a result most of the snow is gone. Yesterday it seems like everyone was outside at some point. Around dinner time Zoey and I headed out for a walk. There were several grills going. It really made me hungry! My favorite griller was a lady in one of the townhouses. She was outside in her driveway with a mini Weber (you know, the kind that is like 1 foot in diameter). I guess it was a tad windy out for such a little guy. She was holding a large piece of cardboard up to block the wind. Such a funny sight!

As a result of the snow melting, everything was super wet. Zoey had mud everywhere. She was going to get a bath, but Ben wasn't home and I doubt I should have been lifting her and there is no way she willingly goes into the tub. Besides, I knew the next morning she would get muddy again. So, I took a wet towel and wiped her down.

Now, the question is, is spring here to stay? The last several years I have gotten a bunch of snow for my birthday...

A Million Things

Ok, not quite. But since it has been a long time since I have posted, this might turn out to be a long one. :)
1. Today was day 1 of being drug free. Getting out of the car and bending too far forward or backward still causes some pain, but everything else is great! So glad to be back to normal. As I am able to move more I will start to add back stretches and exercises to strengthen those muscles to hopefully prevent any more outages.
2. Holding steady/down slightly on my weight. Overall I am down almost 2 pounds from when I started. My cardio has just been on the exercise bike since I haven't been able to jump in too deep with a sore back yet. Hope to get back to my videos this week.
3. The other day when I was at the kitchen sink I looked out the window and saw a very impressive sized pheasant. Moments later he flew away with his hen. How cool!
4. Zoey went to the vet yesterday. She has gained 12 pounds since last year. Yikes! It's a combo of not running 2-3 miles each morning (at our old house she got free rain of the woods for our morning walk. Now she is on the leash for a brisk 1 mile walk), and she seems to love her food. We used to just fill her bowl whenever and she would just eat what she was hungry for. Now she'll eat whatever we put out for her. So, we are back to measuring her food. When the weather improves we will start taking her to the dog park again so she can run. In a few months we will take her back for a weigh in.
5. I found out yesterday that I am for sure going to India in April for work. I am so excited to have the chance to be going back there. The hard part will be to work while there. I have such wonderful friendships with so many over there that I truly wish I could just hang out with them. But alas, as long as the General is footing the bill, I will have to be productive.
6. I'm supposed to be working on my book and sales page and stuff. But I'm feeling a little lazy, so I'm wasting time by updating my blog. Not that this is a waste of time, it's just that I'm "supposed" to be doing something else.
Ok, so I only made it to 6 things, not a million. Oh, well. I doubt you would have made it past #100. :)

Week 3 Results

Due to my back occupying most of my time, I haven't done much. I haven't even weighed myself recently, so I have no clue how I'm doing on that. I'm hoping to get back on track for Week 4.

As a side note, this is my 100th post.

One of Many

I believe that there are thousands of idiots in the world. On Friday, I joined that number.

For those that read this regularly, you will know that I have had some back issues for the past few weeks. Slowly I have been getting better. Thursday night we got some snow (about 5 inches). After my walk on Friday morning, I decided to be the thoughtful little wife and clear away the snow at the end of our driveway from the snow plow. Not a good idea. At all.

I hadn't done too much when I felt and heard a pop in my lower back. I seriously just wanted to collapse in the snow. But since Ben was still asleep and the neighborhood is pretty quiet until 7, I figured I might be in the snow for a long time. I didn't want to add hypothermia to my list of ailments. So I made goals: Make it to the garage. Get in the house. Get my boots off. Make it to the couch. Wake up Ben.

I have never fainted, but I think I might have been close to that. Several times the room went black. I was nauseous and hot. I finally made it to the couch. Laying down helped, but my muscles kept seizing up. I have never been in so much paid before.

With Zoey's help we woke up Ben (so glad we taught her how to speak). He got me an ice pack and some ibuprofen. He checked to see when urgent care opened. Then we got to go to the clinic. That was a very painful process. Getting in and out of the car brought me to tears. The doctor was very nice. He ordered up x-rays to make sure nothing more serious than a muscle thing was going on. For x-rays I needed to get undressed. Not fun. But thankfully, the x-rays looked good and I was sent on my way with a couple of prescriptions.

I am feeling a ton better. My muscles have stopped spasming randomly. And the pain has diminished greatly. I still have trouble sitting down and standing up.

Through this whole ordeal, Ben has been awesome. I am so incredibly thankful for him. He has been sure to get me everything that I need. He has made sure I am taking my medications on time. He has helped me get to couches. And he has even helped me to get on and off the toilet (that has to be the worse piece of "furniture" to get on and off of with a sore back - it's so low!). He has also been extremely thoughtful on things I hadn't even thought of: he moved my towel to the top rack so I don't have to bend to get it; he moved my shampoo, conditioner and body wash so I can get to them without too much hassle. And the entire time he hasn't complained or even given me a hard time (since it was my fault that I am in this situation in the first place). I honestly don't know what I would have done without him.

Week 2 Results

I know I'm a few days behind on reporting this, but better late than never, right? Week 2 I started to add more cardio to my life. I have been starting off slowly as my back still isn't 100% (maybe slipping on ice every couple of days has something to do with it). Anyway, twice I biked for 20 minutes followed by a 20 minute ab workout. This is in addition to weekly volleyball and M-F walks. I have also kept up with my small changes that I made in week 1.

For my weight tracking, I have been using an average for the week. It probably makes more sense to do a moving average, but for now, this is how I am tracking my progress.

Results: I am down about a pound. :)

Zoey and the Owl

On this morning's walk, we heard an owl. This wasn't too surprising since we walk along a nature preserve on the east end of our development. In a way I was kind of surprised that I hadn't heard one before. Zoey is not a huge fan of hooting owls. She picked up her pace and wasn't doing her usual stop every 5 seconds to sniff. She really didn't like it when we turned up the street and the hoots started to echo off the houses. Such a brave doggie.

Recipes

This weekend has gone by way too quickly. We didn't have any particularly exciting plans, but here we are on Sunday night and I wonder where the time went.

Tonight we had my parents over for dinner. We were supposed to do some Wii bowling too, but we ran out of time. We haven't been with my parents for a long time, so there were a lot of things to catch up on. For dinner I made "Sizzling Hot Fajita Salad." I got the recipe from Karen. I thought it was pretty good. And aside from all the slicing I did beforehand, it was on the table in about 10 minutes.

The other day I was thinking about my new recipe resolution. Would anyone like to see me post my recipes that I have been trying online? I know there are a few sites out there where I can create and share a recipe box. But I'm not sure if anyone cares. I mark up my recipe books, so I don't need an online version, but thought I would see if anyone else wants my recipes. Thoughts?

Week 1 Results

It has been over a week since I have decided to be proactive about my health. And it's a good thing too. I got my lab results back and my cholesterol is high. I'm not too surprised since last year it was high too, but I am surprised because it doesn't make sense to me: no family history, I'm at a healthy weight, I don't smoke, I am somewhat active. But my HDL (the good stuff) is at a great level, so for now my doctor isn't worried about it and we will continue to monitor it.

This past week my back has been not happy, so I haven't hit the cardio like I planned. It is feeling a lot better, so today I will start with the exercise. Since I was somewhat immobile, this week I started making small changes to my life. For example, it is pretty much guaranteed that by 10 am I am hungry. Usually I grab a few small candies from the candy dish at work. This week I brought a container of dried apricots to munch on instead. I know that I'm not "saving" calories by doing this, but apricots provide better nutrition than refined sugar (shocking!). At night I have been known to have a bowl of ice cream. This week I have been having pudding instead. This is saving some calories and it is also a better source of calcium. And the final change is that I have gotten into the habit of having pop with dinner. This week I have been purposefully choosing water some of the time instead.

Results: No weight loss yet. No inches lost yet. But that is what I expected.

The Greatest Thing

We tried to get creative with Valentine's Day, but didn't really succeed. But we did have a wonderful day. Ben slept in (he didn't get home until 2:30 from poker). We had lunch (leftover Cheese and Bean Burritos - new recipe from Rachael Ray). We took a nap. Then we decided to get off our lazy bums and go to the grocery store. We had decided that instead of going out for dinner, we would make dinner. We actually have done this for the past several V Day's. It's a nice tradition. We didn't do anything that required too much work. We went to Byerly's and picked up some pre-made crab cakes and beef kabobs. While the crab cakes were baking, I dipped some strawberries in chocolate. Yum!

After dinner it was movie of my choice. I picked Moulin Rouge. Ben thought it was interesting that I picked a tragedy, but I love the movie and haven't watched it in ages.

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

One Pound at a Time

Shortly after starting at GMI I ran into a friend, Mike, in the cafeteria. He was giving me a hard time about my burger and fries, and I was giving him a hard time about his salad. He then told me of a friend of his that is extremely overweight. When Mike asked how it had happened, the friend replied, "One pound at a time." So while I don't need to lose any weight (I'm in the healthy range and my clothes still fit) I do want to stop the upward trend. I know that I have been blessed with a great metabolism. I also know that as I get older that will slow down. I want to establish a healthy eating and exercise routine now before instead of losing 7 pounds I need to lose 70.

Global Warming in MN

Minnesota has finally caught up with the rest of the world with this whole "Global Warming" thing - It is currently 38 degrees ABOVE zero. That's right. After what I think has got to be a record-breaking cold winter, we are above freezing. Yesterday it even rained. Yippee!

Yesterday I "got" to meet my new doctor. She was very nice. I'm hoping she stays around awhile. I hate changing doctors. If mine would just stop leaving... Anyway, while I was there I "got" to go on the scale. Turns out my home scale is pretty accurate. That sucks. (Although, as Ben has pointed out, the numbers may not have been right, but the fact that the number has been increasing means that I have been gaining weight). As a result, I decided to get out of denial and do something about it. I'll keep you posted as to what I'm doing and the results.

Not What I Expected

Well, all-in-all this weekend wasn't anything like I expected it would be. Friday I was supposed to go to a party at a friend's house who is joining the FBI. Mid-way through my volunteer thing on Friday afternoon, I started to get a migraine. And it came on fast. And hard. I took some Advil on the way home. Got home took some more and went to bed. Ben woke me up when it was time to leave. I felt OK so figured I would go. By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, my head was pounding. So I sent Ben off alone. He had a good time though. I slept and watched some TV.

Saturday I was supposed to go to another friend's house for a game decathlon. But I still had a lingering headache, so I didn't really feel like socializing for 10 hours. So I stayed home.

I did make dinner last night. I tried a new recipe: Beef Stuffed Bread from the 2001 Taste of Home Cookbook. It was OK. It wasn't bad, but it was kind of blah. If I were to make it again, I would use Pepper jack Cheese Soup instead of plain Cheddar. (Maybe it was blah because I actually followed the recipe??!! I'm going to use that as an excuse to always play with the recipe).

Today is the only day that has gone as expected.

Dependent

Last week our flight to Texas was early in the morning (7 am). So Ben dropped Zoey off at my parent's house the night before. While they were gone I was home alone. I kept expecting to see Zoey, but of course she wasn't there. It didn't take too long for me to realize how dependent I had gotten to her being my "guard" dog while I was home alone. (Guard in quotes since usually I'm the one telling her it's ok). Suddenly house noises were making me jump and I was a little paranoid. I have to admit, I was happy when Ben got home.

Our trip to Texas was very nice. Sara wrote a nice recap, saving me the trouble. But since she wasn't involved with the wedding, I'll write some on that. After lunch with the Texas Roy's, I drove to Granbury (an hour + away). When I got there Cassie was a little frazzled... her matron-of-honor, Carrie, had just gone to the doctor's and got diagnosed with pink eye, ear infection and sinus infection; her mother-in-law was driving her nuts; the church wasn't set up like it was supposed to be... So along with her mom, we left the chaos and went and got manicures and pedicures. By the time we got back to the church, all the setup was done (great timing). Cory's sister did an awesome job. The rehearsal was a rehearsal - nothing too exciting. Then it was dinner.

Cory's family was hosting the dinner. They had invited everyone that was in town for the wedding to come, so there was about 60 of us. They rented a big tent for the back yard and we had home made fajitas and all the trimmings. I can't imagine how much work everything was. The tables were all decorated with Texas things too. After dinner there was a game to see who knew the bride, groom, and couple the best. It came as no surprise that Carrie and I knew the bride and couple the best. I felt a little bad winning until I saw the prize... a Christmas tree bobble-head thing made of little cowboy boots. Seriously. (Watch out for those who will attend the next white elephant party with us). After helping with clean-up we headed out to the house that was rented for us. I was asleep in no time flat.

Next day was an early morning. Hair appointments were at 8 and were 1/2 hour away. Getting our hair was a lot of fun. We kept teasing the hairdresser and reminding her not to give us "Texas Poofs" in our hair. The end result was nice. Then Cassie and Cory were off for some formal wedding shots. We met up with her again for lunch. We were able to relax and enjoy each other's company for a while before it was time for us to get ready. Pictures, ceremony and reception went very well. I changed then Ben and I headed back to Dallas for John's birthday.

How Sad

Last night I talked with Cassie, the blushing bride-to-be. It seems like everything is set for Saturday. The only thing she has been having nightmares about is SCUBA diving. She is NOT a fan of going underwater. Cory encouraged her to get SCUBA certified so they could dive on their honeymoon (the resort has free diving). She is not excited at all. I totally understand. I just think it's funny that she is about to get married, and that is what she is worried about.

She also mentioned that her grandparents called her a week or so ago to let her know that they won't be able to make her wedding. Whaa???!!! They claim they can't afford it. I know, I know. There's a recession going on and retired people are probably not doing so well. But, they do have three houses (paid off) and three cars (also paid off) and they have known about the wedding for months. Seems to me that they could have made it work. Cassie is hurt, but we both agreed that it is their loss and that the important thing is that she and Cory will be married. I just feel so bad.

Yesterday I had a scare... I logged into NWA to check our actual flight time. It claimed that I didn't have a reservation. Uh, oh. When we got home Ben checked and thankfully we still do have a reservation. Apparently my WorldPerks number wasn't on the reservation, that's why the computer couldn't find it. The weird thing is that before our cruise, the trip was on my account, under my number. Weird...

Flannel

Why is it that flannel sheets feel so warm when you crawl into bed but regular Cotton sheets don't? This weekend I (finally) put the flannel sheets on our bed. Mmmmmm.....

Since I last posted I have made two new recipes! I am really on a roll here. :) On Wednesday night I made Meatball Soup also from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I made a few slight changes (no surprise there): instead of making my own meatballs, I used frozen ones; I didn't have mini pasta so I used regular sized (and increased to one cup); I also threw in some leftover chopped tomatoes from taco night. It was a pretty tasty soup. And easy!

Last night we had David and Heather over for dinner and Guitar Hero. I made a Vegetable Stuffed Roast (recipe from BH&G). I thought it was pretty tasty. For dessert I made chocolate molten cakes, but I've made them before, so that's not a new recipe.

I guess that brings my new recipe count up to 3. I probably won't make anything new this week. On Friday we are leaving for Texas for Cassie's wedding. So excited for her. And also excited to see John, Sara, Malachi and Val.

Free at Last!

For those of you who are following the saga of Zoey and her kennel, here is the next installment.

Before we left on vacation we bought Zoey a new kennel. This one is all metal. We were hoping this would keep our destructive little girl out of trouble. Well, she doesn't like the kennel. Ever since we got home from vacation she has been trying to escape during the day. I'm serious! Every morning we re-bend the bars so she will be secure.

I'm sure you can guess what happened today... We got home from work, opened the door and there she was with her toy and wagging her tail! Somehow she managed to squeeze through a gap she created. So for some period of time today she had free reign of the house. It doesn't look like she got into any trouble (good girl!). But Ben isn't convinced yet that she should just always roam free. We'll see...

Why I don't run in the winter

This morning Zoey and I went for our normal walk. We were rounding a pile of snow when all of a sudden I was on the ground. I somehow managed to slip. Thankfully all my skydiving training kicked in and I did what I am sure was a very graceful PLF (Parachute Landing Fall - let the soft spots absorb the shock). I am sure I will have a nice blue patch on my butt! Zoey was so cute, as soon as she saw me fall she ran over to check on me. Such a good protector. But that just goes to show you that it is unsafe to run with conditions like we have. It could have been much worse if I was moving faster. I know that you can run on treadmills, but I hate treadmills. My normal stride is too long, so I end up shortening my stride which just kind of messes me up.

Speaking of treadmills, I did (grudgingly) use one on the cruise. I decided to start on my resolution to run 100 miles. I wanted to run on deck, but the first day I tried to the running deck was closed due to the wind. So I went inside to the gym. The first day the treadmill and I took some time to get to know each other. It was somewhat broken - it wouldn't register my heart rate. Oh, well. I picked a speed and started running. I thought it was going well until I looked down and saw that in 8 minutes I had run about 1/2 mile. So I continued to increase my speed to try and find the "right" one. The second time I ran, I picked a different machine. This one worked for heart rate. Except it kept getting mad at me because my heart rate was higher than it thought it should be, so it kept decreasing the speed. So, despite my best attempts, those two days I only ran 1.7 miles each day. Third time is a charm... I went to yet a different machine and just picked a manual workout. It was great. I ran at the speed that I wanted to and finally got up to 3 miles (in the same time frame)! I was so excited! So, all in all I ran 6.4 miles on the cruise. Only 93.6 left to go!

Also on the topic of resolutions, last night I made a new recipe: Cabbage Rolls with Vegetables and Bulgar from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. I couldn't find Bulgar at the store (anyone know where to find it? I looked in the bulk section, the organic section, rice and beans section and baking section and couldn't find it) so I used white rice instead. It was pretty good. Although since I was using rice instead of Bulgar I had to change the cooking times and I think that resulted in crisper veggies than what was intended. Ben thought that it was tasty. The only problem is that it so low cal (only 173!) so we were both pretty hungry around 9.

I'm Baa-ack!

Ben and I had an awesome time on our cruise. We didn't really know what to expect from the work portion of the cruise. Turns out that we had a blast! We met some really awesome people from all over the world. In talking with people Ben got a bunch of ideas of things that he can work on. The funny thing is that I did too. I can't wait to get started on some of my ideas. It might be a little slow going as Ben will have to show me how to do a lot of the stuff and he is uber busy for a while....

It just occurred to me that most people are probably scratching their head saying, "What the crap is she talking about?!" so, I guess I'll give a brief explanation. For the past two years or so, Ben has been dabbling in Internet marketing. The basic idea (coming from someone who is not in the biz) is that you market something on the Internet and make money. The marketing is sometimes for a physical item (i.e. book) but sometimes it's for a service (i.e. coaching). It was really cool for me to hear what people are doing and what ideas they have. I had a few conversations with people about their products and am thinking of teaming up with some of them (probably just one to start off with) to create my own stuff. I'm not going to give any more details as I work to think through everything, but just be warned that I may be asking some of you for input. :)

Anyway, when we weren't networking (which to be honest was most of the time) we had a very relaxing time together. We had a lot of fun at the ports. We went to St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Tortola. We hit the beach at each of the ports, but had different adventures at each place.

I was going to type up a bunch of stuff on each beach, but decided that it would take too long.

Not Bad

Today we hosted the annual Glover/Obert Christmas. My mom's best friend from high school and her family and my family have been getting together every Christmas time since before I was born. It is always so much fun. In the old days it was 8 of us. Over the years it has grown to 16. Yikes! We alternate years hosting, and this year it was the Obert's turn. Since we have a new house, we decided to host. We decided to do a taco bar this year. After everyone said they would bring something, the only thing left for me was the meat. Easy.

Everyone came around noon. We gave tours, then had lunch. Then we played the dice game for presents. It was a lot of fun. Ben ended up with a puzzle, which I am excited about but he isn't and I got a cold/hot pack for muscle aches. Neither one of us are excited about that one. Oh, well. Maybe I will just gift it back next year.

After family pictures, everyone started heading out. I cleaned up the kitchen and was ready for our next "to-do" list item by 3:30. Not bad.

I know I'm a few days late on this, but I thought I would share my New Year's Resolutions with you. I don't usually do this, but Ben did it last year and it inspired me to do the same. So here they are:
1. Run 100 miles during 2009 - While this might not sound too impressive for those that run, (or maybe even to those that don't) last year I run about 40 miles. So this is a big increase. But last year I had a sore foot until May and a house move in July. Without those two things in my way this year, I think that this is a do-able goal.
2. Try out two new recipes a month - I was going to try one each week, but then decided with vacations and stuff, I might not get to a new recipe every week. A side goal to this one is to have better-for-you meals. I will try to post all my new recipe adventures.

Anyway, that's about it. Wednesday Ben and I leave for vacation, so it's been very busy getting ready for today and for vacation.