Serious Christmas Vibes
Well, today was an exciting day! I arrived home from work to find a stack of Amazon packages outside the front door. I knew they weren’t for me- they were all presents I had ordered for the kids- but there’s still something exciting about seeing a pile of packages. I was also very happy they arrived on this particular day (more on that in a bit,) After I carried the packages in, I went to check the mailbox and found FOUR holiday cards and a mysterious package… which turned out to be a book from Kyria. At first I wondered if Kyria was my Secret Santa, but no… she asked for my address last week, which she would already have if she were my Secret Santa. No, Kyria sent me Running Your First Ultra as a gift!!! I absolutely can’t wait to read it. Thank you, Kyria! A little later I heard a truck pull up, and ANOTHER package was delivered. Now what??? OOOH!!! It was my Secret Santa gift! And guess what… my Secret SANta turned out to be SAN herself! She sent me a mug, vegan cookies, and peppermint soap. OH YES. I love everything, and the mug is being saved until January. I always get so sad when I have to put away the holiday mugs, so San’s mug will ease the pain of that day. THANK YOU SO MUCH, SAN! Phew, that was a lot of excitement. And, tomorrow is my “elfing” day. I’ve done this for a long time but just recently heard it called that. I take a day when no one else is home to wrap the “Santa” presents. Just to clarify- my kids do NOT believe in Santa anymore (in case you were getting seriously worried about my family.) But they still enjoy some Christmas magic, so the Santa presents are hidden away and appear under the tree on Christmas morning. I use special, “secret” wrapping paper and try to make them as pretty as possible. On my elfing day I’ll get my favorite tea from Starbucks in a festive holiday cup, and spread all the presents, wrapping paper and ribbons on the living room floor, so I can wrap leisurely. I’ll either listen to Christmas music or watch something Christmas-y while I’m doing it. This is so much more fun than wrapping presents while crouched furtively in the garage (I’ve done that too.) And this is why I was so happy the presents arrived today. There will still be a few more trickling in, but the more I can get wrapped tomorrow, the less I’ll have to do later. Things are moving right along! Most of the presents have arrived, most of the outdoor decorations are up, and most of my Christmas cards have been sent. I do have one area where I’m lacking, and I’m hoping to get some advice. I realized I have NO stocking stuffers for my son. My daughter is easy- a scented bodywash, some stickers, a bracelet, some candy… done. Does anyone have any ideas for a 21-year-old male who doesn’t like candy, is very picky about his soaps and personal care items, and obviously is too old for toys? HELP!!! Do you like wrapping presents? Do you do it all at once on a special day, or spread it out? Do you like Secret Santa exchanges? – I love them! I did San’s and we’re also doing one at work.
Weekly Rundown- Why We Live in Florida…
Tra-la-la! It was a beautiful week in South Florida. Our weather cooled down and we were able to open our windows for three days in a row. And there was a long run in there… but we’ll get to that in a bit. I’m joining the amazing Kim and Deborah for this weekly rundown (thank as always for hosting, ladies!) Let’s get right into it. Monday 4 mile run followed by a little core work (plank and dead bugs.) Tuesday Strength day at home… mostly focused on upper body and core. Yada yada… let’s get to the good stuff. Wednesday YOU GUYS. I woke up to 53 degrees FOR MY LONG RUN. I was standing at the start of the trail, applying lube and I actually felt… cold??? What is this odd sensation? Not only was it in the 50s, but it was cloudy and windy. I had to start running in order to warm up! This was a run of 22 amazing miles. Not only was it much easier to run, but it was easier to eat and drink. I ate a Lara bar! And it was even easier to drink my Tailwind. What a difference 30 degrees makes. On my run I saw these three, I assume a mom and two babies? Wild hogs aren’t necessarily vicious killers, but I know any wild animal can be dangerous, especially when babies are involved. I stopped and considered turning around, but they saw me and ran off into the bushes, so I was able to continue on. Later I had this text exchange with my husband: AHEM. Charlotte is our beautiful black cat, and I like to think she’s FESTIVELY PLUMP. Thursday Guess what I didn’t feel like doing? RUNNING. But I got out there and walked for one mile, and then ran for 3. I felt better and better as the run went on, which gives me confidence that I’ll be able to do back-to-back long runs at the end of the month. Friday Hmm. Still a little sore, but I went to the gym for sled pushing and pulling, squats, and deadlifts. I also decided to add in reverse flys, because my upper back was sore after the long run- I’m sure from carrying the hydration pack. I figure it can only help to strengthen those muscles a little. Saturday 4 mile run! Our weather has warmed up again, but even though it was 70 degrees it was still comfortable. Followed by a quick plank before heading off to work. Sunday OFF! Sleeping in, waffles, and then I HAVE TO get the outdoor decorations up- which means it will be at least 85 degrees. It’s always sweltering on the day I put up the Christmas lights. But that’s okay- no one has perfect weather all the time. How was your week? Any incredibly good or bad weather? Any unusual wildlife spotted on your runs? – This is the third time I’ve seen wild hogs on this trail. Florida is so weird.
Reading and Eating
It’s been a while since i’ve done one of these posts (and there’s a reason for that, which we’ll get to later.) Let’s start with eating! I did some baking last weekend, because I sent a care package to my son. Today (December 8th) is his 21st birthday. Here’s his Christmas photo when he was a year old: I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday… and now he’s an ADULT. The years go by fast. Anyway, ever since the kids were little I’ve made cinnamon rolls for their birthdays. Now that my son is in college, I send him his birthday rolls. I always use the recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan Brunch cookbook. I only sent half the batch to my son, so my daughter got to enjoy cinnamon rolls for breakfast all week. I also sent cookies! I made two cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction- Peppermint Snowball Cookies and Seriously Soft Molasses Cookies. These recipes are easily veganized by using Earth Balance spread and a flax egg. When my son was a freshman in high school, he had his wisdom teeth extracted in December and could only eat soft foods. I googled “soft cookies” and found these molasses cookies, and he’s loved them ever since. I didn’t actually mail the peppermint ones- I figured they would be a melted mess before they even got out of Florida. My daughter loves peppermint so I made those for her. Here’s the first gingerbread waffles of the season! They are suspiciously similar to my “pumpkin spice” waffles. Two cups of oats, two scoops of protein powder, a banana, salt, 2 cups of water, and then lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves. YUM. Several weeks ago, Suzanne mentioned Red Lentil Soup with Warm Spices in her “Dinners This Week” post. The link to the recipe is actually in a post by Julie. This soup is SO GOOD. It’s like dal, but with slightly different spices. I don’t even make the topping (and use vegetable broth and oil instead of butter) and it’s still delicious. The recipe says “? teaspoons cinnamon”- I use 1/2 teaspoon. And it doesn’t specify how much salt, so I do the same thing I do with all recipes- add enough salt so that it tastes delicious. If it doesn’t taste delicious, just add more salt until the flavors pop. Okay… reading. It took me an ENTIRE MONTH to finish this book. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it- I did! But NaBloPoMo really took up a lot of my time, and it’s not like this book is a thrilling page-turner. The plot was interesting, but it was very dense and wordy. I did want to find out what happened to the dad, and I liked the ending- that it was a little ambiguous but not really (I think Mia’s “most likely” scenario is probably the truth.) It’s not a book I would ever want to re-read though- once was definitely enough. Next up- a Christmas mystery should be arriving tomorrow (ahem- that is, if Amazon manages to deliver it correctly.) I’m in the mood for something festive! Have you read Happiness Falls? What did you think of it? Have you done any holiday baking yet? Header photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
A Very Amazon Christmas
I woke up in the middle of the night last night and had a mini panic attack- HOW many days till Christmas??? Let’s just check in with Snoopy. Every year, it seems like it goes from “way too early” to panic time, with nothing in between. You know what I blame? Thanksgiving. What is Thanksgiving doing there at the end of November??? It confuses everything. I say we follow Canada’s lead and move our Thanksgiving to October. Now, logically nineteen days should be enough time to prepare for Christmas. But my sister reports that she was buying some books as gifts for her husband and was trying to avoid Amazon. So she started to order from another bookseller, but the books weren’t guaranteed to arrive before December 25th. So it’s ALREADY too late to order from some places. Amazon it is! I’m fine with Amazon, and I’m happy with them 99% of the time. But the other 1% of the time, I’m very UNhappy. Take my experience this past week. I ordered some of my usual staples- chia seeds, liquid stevia, and protein powder. A couple days later, everything arrived EXCEPT the protein powder. Hmm! I went to check the status of my order, and found out that the package had been damaged and deemed “undeliverable.” Now, what happened next is probably my fault. I crazily assumed that… Amazon would send me another one? But a couple days after that, I was notified that they had issued me a refund. WHAT. The problem with this is, that protein powder is my lunch on work days. In order to shorten my workday, I eliminated my lunch break and I just quickly drink a protein shake between clients. Because of this delivery snafu, I had two days of work with no lunch. On one of the days I brought a sandwich, but since you can’t eat a sandwich as quickly as you can drink a shake, I didn’t have time to eat it. I was very, very cranky. As soon as I realized Amazon had canceled that order, I re-ordered it, and today when I came home I found this: I mean… I’m just picturing the delivery guy chucking this on the ground. Why? Well, I guess it cuts down on wasteful packaging. I just hope my Christmas gifts don’t arrive like this. Do you feel like you’re ready for Christmas? – Thanks to a nice big Amazon order I placed this morning, I’m well on my way. Thanksgiving in October- yay or nay? Header photo by Wicked Monday on Unsplash