a (quick!) list

1. I wanted to go to the gym. I haven’t worked out since Wednesday (unless you count packing, loading and unloading a car a million times).

2. Some people use a workout to de-stress. Sometimes I do, too. Unfortunately, the biggest cause of my stress is my looming Chemistry quiz.

3. While I’d love to hit the gym and study my chem notes on the elliptical (yay for killing two birds with one stone!), the actual trip/time involved at the gym would stress me out MORE. So, I’m about to take my Chemistry quiz (relatively) unprepared to get it over with.

4. I made my first cup of coffee in the house this morning. It was somewhat anticlimactic; the only Keurig pods we have are a coffee variety I’m not a huge fan of and I haven’t found the mugs I wanted to use yet. But nothing beats staying in one’s pj’s!

5. Hadrian is sleeping on his bed next to me and his tummy is making the LOUDEST noises.

6. We got A LOT of the kitchen done last night, but there is still more to go. I ended up unpacking our white dishes and some of my oldest green ones, but left all my “favorites” (some colorful Goodwill finds and all my fun mugs) packed away. I think I’m one of those “delay gratification” people… I’d rather get by with the minimum/boring stuff and have something to look forward to when we find our “real” house. Note: We haven’t found A SINGLE THING broken (ok, I did find one decorative plate broken, but it was one I packed in a Rubbermaid bin that they didn’t repack and it’s so not a big deal)! Go Moog for hiring awesome movers!

7. That, and I intend to get rid of some of the “boring” stuff (hello white baking dishes we got for our wedding that I barely use because I have a gazillion other ones…) before the next move.

8. I made room for the most important stuff (bakeware) and have set up shelving in the basement with all my appliances, but have almost NO. ROOM. FOR. ACTUAL. FOOD. Seriously. And I didn’t realize how much food (just to clarify, when I say “food,” I don’t mean boxes of mac n’ cheese and cans and the like. I mean all my Tupperware Modular Mates with different grains and flours and granolas and cereals….) I USED TO KEEP in my pantry in Ohio. I mean, I used to have three kinds of oatmeal alone! I emptied out what I could before we moved, cleaned the containers and had the movers pack them up. Now, I have THREE giant boxes of empty Tupperware, and I don’t even have room for what little Tupperware I brought to the hotel! Ack! What is a girl to do?

9. My first thought was to set up shelving in the basement and put all my Tupperware things there. And then I realized I’d have to walk down to the basement and truck all the ingredients for EVERY meal up EVERY time. Not practical. Next plan?

10. This list was not short or quick. The sun is up. I got sucked into blogging and haven’t started the dreaded Chemistry quiz. Story of my life.

Wish me luck! I’m hoping to reward myself with a mid-morning run/trip to the gym and a Target-date (um, we need EVERYTHING) with the hubby 🙂

a (giant) list

WHEW! What a day…

1. Tried to have a relaxing morning. Sort-of did. Until it turned into a whirlwind day of studying while on the elliptical, rushing out the door to breakfast with Andrew, a 2+ hour hair appt then running an errand with Mom Layer. At least I slept-in this morning until 7.

2. Didn’t breakfast look yummy? It so was. And filling! Holy cow! I’m STILL full and we ate 5.5 hours ago–that’s got to be a record for me. I’ll probably have something uber-healthy before my night class tonight so my tummy doesn’t start grumbling. (And I totally blogged on my iPhone from the salon–how cool is that?!?!)

3. LOVE. MY. HAIR.

It’s not too drastic; Megan chose one shade darker for a base color, then even darker low-lights and added in some highlights, too. If I’m really going to try to grow my hair out, I NEEDED a change, and a trim, badly. Two hours and a small fortune later, I love my hair and think it feels so much healthier. While there, I invested (pun intended) in color-treated hair shampoo and conditioner, a purifying conditioner for days I swim, and that volumizing root spray/mousse she used. I figure if I’m going to pay this much for professionally colored hair, I might as well take care of it. And I just told Andrew that if he wants me to grow it long, he’s going to pay the price 😉 He’s a good sport; he said I’ve never really given growing it out a fair shot, and if this is what it takes, so be it. The man must really like long hair!

4. Speaking of my man–he’s amazing. (And I’m not just saying that to butter him up about the price tag of my new look!) Not only did he surprise me with Sweetest Day candy and a super thoughtful card; he surprised me AGAIN last night with flowers and another card, this time to let him know how much he missed me after his 85-hour workweek and business trip this past week. Awww.

5. Reason number 9,673,268 that Andrew is awesome: souvenirs from his business trip!

He went to Orrville, OH and it is the home of the J.M. Smucker’s store! He called me and let me request some goodies: cherry and blueberry ‘simply fruit’ jams, cider apple butter, honey-flavored natural peanut butter and a gadget for stirring the separated peanut butter before refrigerating. (Surprisingly enough, I’d seen it in a magazine forever ago and have been on the lookout ever since! It’s no easy to task to get natural peanut butter mixed up really well without creating a huge mess…) Thankfully, Andrew goes to Orrville somewhat regularly, so I’ll always be able to get more of the flavors the regular grocery stores don’t carry! BTW: Real Simple did a natural peanut-butter taste-test awhile ago and Smucker’s won for chunky and got #2 for creamy. I’ve been buying it for awhile now, mostly because it’s widely available and reasonably priced. I LOVE peanut butter!

6. Who is this man I married? He’s been showering me with gifts 🙂 He must know me pretty well!

7. I’m teaching a Food for Thought class Monday evening. Or I MIGHT be, if enough people sign up. So, if you’re local, SIGN UP! I’ll be instructing on how to choose wisely at the grocery store and ‘smart switches’ you can make to eat healthier. The classes are sponsored by the EA Co-op and you can sign up at the Aurora Rec Center website.

8. Don’t forget about the Co-op’s Pizza Party and Membership drive Saturday night! If you’re interested in joining, or are a member and know someone who is, come on out! It’ll be a great chance to try Elm Street’s brick-oven pizza and support OUR co-op!

9. I’m running the Niagara Falls International Half-Marathon Sunday morning–so excited! The weather looks good for Sunday and the race doesn’t start until 10 a.m. (good for not having to get up at the crack of dawn, but I’m not used to running that late). If you’re local and up for spending some time in the fresh air across the border, I’d love to have a cheering section! Note to self: do not forget passport!

10. Abigail is coming home this weekend–can’t wait!!

10-miler = 10-fold reward

OK, maybe not a “10-fold” reward, exactly, but I did have a great day!

I planned on doing a long run this weekend since we were in East Aurora. I LOVE running there. I have my usual routes, and sometimes I mix it up. Today, because I was going extra long, I combined my usual 4.5 mile route down toward the high school with a new “village perimeter plus some” route.

The weather this weekend was unseasonably warm (upper 70s!) and I probably could have worn a tank top if I’d brought one. It was beautiful and sunny and there was a hint of fall in the air. Despite the perfect weather, my run started pretty crummily…I blame it on the abundance of sugar I had the night before at Pumpkinville (two donuts–they were small!–pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin soup–which was more sweet than savory, unfortunately–along with fries and popcorn and M&Ms after we got home). So yeah, between that and my elevated stress level and lack of sleep (Hadrian never sleeps well at other people’s houses), I wasn’t exactly running on all cylinders. I was tired and with the first almost two miles being uphill, I could feel it.

Must stretch! I always do, and Andrew never does. I don’t get how people can NOT stretch. Turns out I must’ve underestimated my abilities this morning; I averaged about 8:20/mile, which is awesome! After a couple miles I did perk right up definitely felt that “runner’s high.”

I forgot my Honey Stingers at the hotel, so I had to scavenge for portable, energy-packed foods to take with me. Thankfully, I found some nuts and dried cranberries in the kitchen–SCORE! Go Mom Layer for having 100-calorie packs of walnuts and almonds! I threw in some M&Ms to make it like trail mix, but I didn’t end up eating any. In fact, for some reason, I didn’t need more than a couple bits of nuts–must have been that sugar overload. I carried a partially full bottle of water, too. I hate carrying stuff with me, but I hate being thirsty even more.

I had to write my route out on paper–too many lefts and rights! Disclaimer: I totally spelled “veer” wrong, and knew it immediately. I would normally correct it, but I was in a rush to get out the door. I’m not sure now which I would prefer; having it spelled wrong (above), or having corrected it and proving to all my friends that I really AM as OCD as they think I am.

Andrew and I have been craving Charlie’s Diner, and I figured today would be the perfect day to go–the weather was phenomenal, and I’d just burned like 1,100 calories running…

I enjoyed my usual post-long run Sprite–absolute bliss! I fantasize about Sprite while running sometimes. There is just something about how it tastes and quenches my thirst after a long run when water just won’t do.

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES! They have the best, hands down. Super doughy and sweet and GIANT plump berries! Seriously, they are that good.

We didn’t get there until after 12:00, so Andrew ordered lunch: a BLT.

We were hungry!

After lunch, we went back to the Layers’. Andrew headed off to work, Carolyn was off watching the Bills game with Ben and I enjoyed a fantastically quiet and peaceful afternoon in the kitchen. BAKING! (I also threw in some cleaning–we’d made such a mess in just two days!)

Pumpkin bread! (Andrew always hates it when I pose like this… He thinks it looks silly.) Oh well.

I used my mom’s interchangeable pumpkin/zucchini bread recipe. Except that I changed it around a made it healthier. It wasn’t my intention; I didn’t have butter, so I used both oil and canned apple butter (like applesauce), decreased the sugar (who needs extra sugar, anyway?) and mixed white with whole wheat flour.

I made one loaf plain and mixed raisins, oats and pumpkin seeds into the other.

After I started cutting them up, (of course I forgot to take a picture of both loaves still whole) I made a tasting plate of two teeny slivers. I had to make sure they were good…

I assembled a plate for the Layers and a baggie of half-pieces for the ladies who work the front desk at the hotel, then bagged up the rest for me!

Side note: Perhaps the biggest “reward” of today was signing our lease! The short story is that we found a small house in Orchard Park to rent and God has provided an amazing landlord who will let us have Hadrian and be flexible on lease terms (less than a year). I’ll post more details later, but I can say with certainty that neither of us thought we would be as excited as we are about going into a rental! We celebrated with more rewards–pizza and wings! (We are terrible, I know. But really, on what other day can I splurge like this than on a day I ran so much?) We tried out John & Mary’s, a place on Main St. The verdict: Not bad, but no Pasquale’s!