[Writer's Note: This was supposed to go up last night but my picture program wasn't working right.  So it got posted this morning instead.]

Hi gang!  Sorry for no update yesterday but time got away from me and I was busting it around the house.  It was a bit windy Wednesday morning so I stayed inside and did 2 levels of shred and then Gina’s week 3 of the Winter Shape-Up.  I kicked ass and it felt awesome!  One thing I love right now about doing the shred is that I’m actually sweating and to be honest, it’s one of the things about working out that I love.  With it currently being winter, I don’t really sweat much on my runs outside.  Both of my martial arts schools are in warehouse type buildings which means they tend to be on the cold side during winter and that means I’m not sweating as much.

I love to sweat!  I stink like a mofo too when I sweat.  I smell like sweat and garlic. Sexay!  In the mornings I have the added bonus of morning breath to go with it! :p  When I sweat, I feel like my body is working it and all kinds of nasty toxins are being forced out.  In the winter when I don’t sweat as much I don’t feel as great after a workout.  Don’t get me wrong, I still feel good but not fantastic.  I like feeling fantastic!  Doing shred in the living room helps me crank out a nice sweat.

Read more on February 4th, 2010: preparations…

Hey gang!  Dinner last night was risotto!

YUM!  With:

• Carrots
• Zucchini
• Onion
• Sundried tomatoes
• Artichokes
• Shrimp
• Red pepper and asiago chicken sausage

I put some shredded asiago on top and it was delish!  I do not add cheese to the risotto but put it on top instead.  This helps me control the cheese amount better and then everyone can have as much or as little as they want.   I know this isn’t technically how risotto is done but it works for us!

Then I had a glass of white (celebrate!) and some dark chocolate with sea salt.  YUM!  And I read for a wee bit and crashed out in my warm toasty bed in my warm toasty house.

I got up this morning to snow on the ground.  Bleh.  I’m over snow. :p  When I took Rocky outside for his morning potty run, I noticed how not cold it was.  Hrm.  Then as I headed out for my run I realized how much of a mess everything was turning into.  It was warm out so the snow was melting quickly, turning into a slushy mess on the roads.  Yick!  I did 4.5 miles and headed home.  It was a tad slippery out and my hamstrings were getting a little tight.  I was perfectly fine with a 4.5 mile run though!

Read more on February 2nd, 2010:Toasty…

Hey gang! Sorry for no post yesterday but if we weren’t running around buying space heaters then we were under the blankets trying to stay warm.

Saturday’s dinner ended up being chili from the freezer.

The last of the pumpkin squash chili! Sadface. Multigrain bread and butta on the side.

Sunday, January 31st:

I got up early in the morning and headed out for my long run.  I was dying to run because I hadn’t been out since Wednesday, this makes me cranky.  The difference with yesterday is that Scott was up with me!  He’s never up that early on a Sunday so it was a bit unusual around here in the morning.  Rocky was confused and thought Scott was cramping his style. “This is me and mama time DAD!”  :p  It was cold yesterday but I was going to get my shiz done!  Because there was no wind I was able to bust out 8 miles in 11degrees, not too shabby.

Read more on January 31st and February 1st, 2010: Icicle…

Hi guys!  Check out Thursday’s snackies:

Red wine and some chocolate chocolate-chip cookies.  Mmmm!  We watched some 24 while snacking.  We don’t watch a lot of TV shows because either I think they’re dumb or they started off great and turned craptastic (Heroes anyone?).  While I know 24 can get a little ridiculous, I still love seeing some Bauer Power in action.  HAWT!  Then I crashed out in bed.

Friday:

Normally Fridays are my rest days but since I didn’t run on Thursday and only did conditioning class, I really felt the need to workout.  I didn’t run because it was late in the morning and because it was really cold.  So I did two levels of shred and a few other extra lifts and called it good.  I felt so much better having gotten something done!

Then the rest of the day I putzed around on the computer looking at gaming stuff. No lie, I found a great website of one of my favorite games and proceeded to waste away the hours.  Can’t help it, that stinking game sucks me in every time!

Read more on January 29th and 30th, 2010: Busted…

Hi gang!  Last night after stick fighting class I had a snack.

A whole wheat pita with PB and honey.  I only ate half though, that was plenty for me.  I was a bit hungry and since I planned on running a good distance this morning, I figured the extra fuel was no problem.

And then I didn’t run.  Boo!  When I got up this morning there was some seriously crazy wind going on.  Like hardcore wind.  No way I’m running in that.  I hate cold winter wind!  Back in the day when I first started running and was on the weight-loss train, I would have ran in it for sure.  Now that I’m in maintenance mode I can be a little bit more laid back with the runs (not much because I still need to get my run on or I get really cranky).  If it’s windy out, then I’m not running.  Winter wind I’m talking about, in the summer it’s not so bad.

Read more on January 28th, 2010: Blown away…

Hi gang! I could tell this morning when I looked outside that the sun was going to make an appearance today.  You can sort of get an impression of what the day is going to be like when you’re up just as the sun is starting to rise.  Despite the fact that Scott and I would like to move elsewhere, the one upside to Ohio is that we do at least get some sunshine during the winter months.  Hooray!

Thanks to the crazy wind we had last night, most of the snow had blown away leaving the roads and sidewalks clear.  There were a few ice patches but they were easy to avoid.  It was colder this morning than it was yesterday morning but there was no wind so I was able to bust out five miles no prob!  Well my legs felt a bit tired today but I didn’t let that get me down, I powered on through!  Then I did week 2 of Gina’s Winter Shape-Up and took a much needed shower.  Highlight of the day was holding a plank for a whole minute! WHOO! That’s my first minute long plank and I’m feeling very smug.

Read more on January 27th, 2010: let the sun shine in…

Monday night while Scott and I were eating dinner, the wind picked up and it started snowing.  Like crazy snowing and within about 5 minutes our deck was covered.  The remainder of the evening it went back and forth between snow and freezing rain.  Nice.  Does not make for lovely driving conditions or lovely conditions period.

I woke up  to about 3 inches of snow and some ice on the roads.  The weather was cold and it was windy.  That meant it was back to two layers of clothes and YakTrax for running yesterday morning. *sigh*

Now there are parts of winter running that just stink.  But one of the worst?  Is when you get a break from all that winter weather for a bit.  We had temps in the 50s, the snow melted, and I only had to wear one pair of pants for my morning runs.  When you get to experience the joys of such a break only to wake up the next morning smack dab back into the middle of winter, it’s a little, disheartening to say the least.  It can make you really cranky if you aren’t careful.

Read more on January 26th, 2010: And here we are again…

Hi gang! Oh man I don’t think I could be even more blah today.  It’s one of those days where I’m constantly behind and running to catch up.  First last night we watched an old movie and had a snack.

Some white wine and nutrolls!  YUM! We watched, After The Thin Man and if you like old movies that are “who done it” type you definitely should give the Thin Man series a look.  The movies are hilarious!  The storyline is interesting, the dialogue is fantastic, and the interaction between the two main characters is great!  Of course with old movies one does have to deal with certain actions and behaviors towards women.  Meh.  It’s a good lesson in how far we’ve come as a society and how far we still have to go.

I went to bed way too late and had too much wine.  Bah!  For the record I don’t get buzzed or drunk (nor does Scott) because for us that’s not the purpose of a nice drink.  I think sometimes people assume that if one is drinking they are only doing it to get drunk which is a limited and sad perspective to have.  Wine and beer to me are like great desserts, something to treat yourself with and to savor!  But I have my limits and too much wine means I sleep like crap and get too hot in bed.  Both of which happened last night, combined with being overly tired and that added up to a really crap sleep.

Read more on January 25th, 2010: Blahs…

Hi gang! I’m so sorry for going off grid but we’ve been so busy with just life that I haven’t had much of a chance to sit at the computer and type out a post.  It happens.   So let’s tap the way back machine and get going!

Friday, Jan. 22nd:

Thursday evening before the show, we headed over to a local Chinese place for dinner. I had pad thai and there’s no picture.  I was starving you see and since you all have seen pad thai numerous times here, I did not take a picture.  It’s pad thai from the place we normally get takeout from, so it’s been featured.  Plus, I just wanted to enjoy dinner without worrying about the perfect shot, I fully own that.  I am coming to terms (slowly!) with the fact that not everything has to be photographed.

Now I have to get a few grumbles off my chest.  They are totally food related but if you do not want to read the grumps, feel free to move along.

Read more on January 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, 2010: catch up…

Hi gang!  Listen yesterday was just Le Crazah with me cranking out stuff here at home which lead to no post.  I know you all understand which is why I don’t even stress about it but I do still feel the need to explain myself so perhaps I still stress a bit? I also apologize for that terrible run on sentence but whatever I was not an English/Journalism major, I was Crim-Psych and we didn’t care about no stinkin’ sentence structure.  Unless we were turning in paper and even then whatever.

Random fact that will blow your mind(although my other fellow grannies will yell HOLLA): Back in the day when I was in college, most people didn’t even have computers.  Yup. Had to type a paper?  Computer lab baby, computer lab.  I had my own but no printer so I still had to kick in the lab to print out my shiz.  And I got to carry around those sexah discs.  USB what? Not.  Typing papers in high school was nonexistent.  You had to hand write those puppies and depending on your style of writing a 10 page paper could be easy or difficult.  You pick!

Read more on January 20th and 21st, 2010: powerhouse…