Reading and Eating
This week, I started the first book of a sci fi trilogy my son really wanted me to read: He warned me that it was a little difficult to get into, but I like it! I’m only about halfway through, but here’s the description: “Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space in an attempt to make contact with aliens- and they succeed. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Now, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.” I’ll admit the book is a little complex. There’s a lot of physics involved, but I don’t worry about understanding every last detail. I figure, anything that’s really beyond my scope of understanding isn’t crucial to the story. This book seems to be very popular in the genre, so it has to be written for people like me, and not just scientific geniuses. I should finish it this week and then I’ll have to move onto something else- my son is bringing me the second and third books when he comes home for Thanksgiving. Eating-wise, I had a waffle fail. I made Nora’s pumpkin waffles, but left out the sugar and tried to sub out the regular flour with part almond flour and part oat flour. They stuck horribly to the waffle maker (I think the almond flour made them too fragile) and I had to scrape them off. They looked horrible but tasted pretty good! On Sunday afternoon, my daughter actually asked to go to Marshall’s WITH ME. This was a big breakthrough for us, although she did say “I hope I don’t see anyone I know.” Ahem. I really think I know how to behave if she were to run into someone from school. For example: “Oh, so THIS is Josh!!! I’ve heard SO MUCH about you!”= INCORRECT. Fading quietly into the background=CORRECT. Fortunately we didn’t have to worry about it. No one from school was spotted, and she got several new shirts that she was really happy with. Afterwards we went to a coffee shop where I was amused by this sign: My daughter got an iced “Caramel Apple Butter Chai Latte,” which frankly sounds disgusting, and I upgraded my usual Earl Grey tea to a London Fog- Earl Grey with milk (almond milk for me) and vanilla. Yum! Lastly, we had a fun Sunday night dinner. I made this Vegan 7 Layer Dip from Nora Cooks. It was delicious, semi-nutritious, and very festive. What are you reading? Do you like the fancy fall-flavored chai drinks? Top photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash
IT’S HERE!!!
Did you know we’re having an election? Hahahahahahaha… okay, seriously. We’re having an election!! Early voting in our county started TODAY! The top photo is the coloring book I won in Suzanne’s giveaway. At my request, she sent the coloring book to my sister. I think most people who read this blog share my political views (but if not, we can still be friends!) so I’m not afraid of offending anyone when I say that I’m voting for Kamala Harris because a) she’s not Trump (I mean….obviously), and b) she’s a WOMAN. Eight years ago, I brought my daughter along with me when I voted. I was so, so sure that Hillary Clinton would win (sob) and I wanted my daughter to see me mark my ballot. I told her we’ve never had a woman president before. Her astonished response was, “We HAVEN’T? Why NOT???” Great question. I’m tired of this BS. I know Harris isn’t perfect, but I want to see a woman president! If she doesn’t win this election, I blame it on the deep-seated misogyny and racism in our country. I hope we can overcome it. My daughter is too young to vote (she’s 15) but this is my son’s first time voting in a presidential election! He’s away at college, but he requested a mail-in ballot from Florida, and has already sent it in. I’m excited for him. The thought that this is his first election, with many more ahead of him in his lifetime, helps me remember that even if things don’t go our way this time, there will be other elections. We’ll vote again in four years (er. Hopefully…) One more thing. Is it my imagination, or is this election less vicious than the last one? I mean, I know people still feel passionately on both sides. But it just seems like we’re all less prone to going around shouting angrily at each other. Four years ago, we had to ban all political talk in our break room at work. I remember our boss saying “Hopefully next time we can have a kinder, more gentle election.” Is that actually happening? OR, is this the calm before the storm? Are people quieter because they’re wary? Are people afraid of what Trump will do if he wins, and also afraid of what he’ll do if he doesn’t win? All I know is, I’ve been dreading his election for four years, but now that it’s here, it hasn’t been so bad. Of course, I may have to revise that thought on November 6th. When are you voting? – I’ll be voting on Wednesday! Have you noticed that people are quieter this time around? Do you think it’s because we’re too exhausted to fight, or that we’re scared?
Weekly Rundown- It Makes a Difference
We finally had a shift in our weather! It wasn’t COLD- we’re still waiting for that first blast of crisp, cool air that brings us down into the 50s at night. But we did get down to the upper 60s and 70s, and had some breezy, overcast days that gave us relief from the heat and humidity. It was lovely! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s get right into it! Monday No school AGAIN today. The schools were closed last week Wednesday-Friday because of the storm, and then today was a scheduled teacher work day for the end of the quarter. SIGH. The upside was that I could sleep a little later- my 3 mile run started in the dark and ended in daylight. I followed the run with a MadFit standing core workout.. Tuesday Finally, back to a normal routine. I did this 30 minute Pilates core workout. It’s so hard and painful! I try to think about how strong my core will get if I keep doing it. I also did my hip stability exercises, including the one leg sit-to-stand. Wednesday 12 mile trail run! This was the run I’ve been waiting for- I finally felt good. It was 68 degrees when I started, cloudy and breezy. By the end of the run the “feels like” temp was 80, but that’s nothing. I’ve done long runs where the “feels like” was 103. The weather really does make a huge difference! You might be noticing I’ve been aggressively pushing my long run distance. Way back in May I (recklessly) registered for a 12 hour race on November 9th (hahahahaha.) I obviously won’t be running for twelve hours, but I still plan on going. The course is a repeated 4.5 mile loop, so I’ll just do what I can. Thursday Just a cool, breezy, short 2 mile run… …followed by hip stability exercises and Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout. Friday Leg day at the gym! Even this workout felt better, although I can’t credit the weather for that. I did squats and deadlifts, and felt a surge of adrenaline I don’t usually get. I really need to get to the gym more than once a week. Saturday Another overcast, breezy run! 4 miles, and towards the end I felt a vaguely familiar feeling… that feeling when running is effortless. I haven’t been “flying” in a long time! Ever since “Calfgate” every run has been difficult. But I KNEW if I just kept grinding along, I would have a breakthrough eventually. Today was the day! I followed up with 100 crunches on the stability ball. My stomach is definitely not getting any smaller, but hopefully it’s getting stronger. Later in the day I watched Baylor win, FINALLY! Great game- we needed it. Sunday On tap…. sleeping in. Waffles! Football. Baylor and the Dolphins are both on a one-game winning streak- let’s keep it going! How was your weather this week?- I can finally talk about the weather without swearing, or crying.
Friday Coffee Date
TGIF!!! Seriously, I’m ready for the weekend. But first, let’s have a lovely cup of coffee (or, tea) together and chat about our lives. If we were having coffee together, I’d talk about our weather. The other day I saw this headline on our local news: “Cold Front Arriving.” Oh, REALLY? Let’s just look at the forecast: Now, a high of 79 is a HUGE improvement! And it was cloudy! And windy! You could tell it’s no longer summer. And running this morning when it was 69 degrees felt amazing. But I was still wearing a tank top. I know our perspective gets skewed after living in Florida for a while, but I think we should strive to be a little more accurate with our adjectives. 80 degrees is not a “cold front.” Moving along. I had a personal triumph this week involving pants. My daughter needed pants for a concert on Wednesday, and Tuesday we discovered that her old ones no longer fit. She had no time to shop, so Tuesday after work I found myself at Macy’s frantically going through the racks. Of all the articles of clothing to buy for another person, pants are the worst. I brought along a pair of her jeans for reference, but there are so many choices. Straight leg? Flare? Does she want pleats? Pockets? Is she going to wear a belt? I finally picked out three pairs, figuring one of them would fit and I could return the other two. LUCKILY, one of them did fit! The next day I headed back to return the other two, but at the last minutes I noticed one of the tags said “Final Sale.” NOOOOOOO! How did I not see that before? They weren’t expensive, but I figured that was $20 down the drain. But then… I thought of my ex-boyfriend- let’s call him “Andy.” Andy had ZERO fear of rejection. He had no problem asking for special favors. If there was a sign saying you couldn’t do something, he would ask if they would make a special exception for him. And he couldn’t understand why I didn’t like to do that. So what, he would say- the worst that could happen is they’ll say “no.” I decided to channel my inner Andy. I was literally cringing inside as I said “I know these say “final sale”, but is there any way I can return them anyway?” The clerk scanned the receipt without saying anything and handed me my refund. I must have looked astonished because she said “You have one day to return “final sale” items.” WELL. Who knew??? I was so elated! I had written off that $20, and now I felt rich. And… guess what store is right across from Macy’s? Bath and Body Works- and they were having s SALE on fall candles! I had to get it! It was only $10, so I still came out $10 ahead. And it smells sooooo good. I don’t like candles that smell sweet- like I don’t want my house to smell like apple pie. This just has a lovely, fresh, apple smell. Oh, and guess why the fall candles are on sale? It’s obviously time for Christmas! Unlike some people, I don’t mind seeing Christmas displays in October. Show me all the Christmas! I’m not going to BUY any Christmas items (I’ll wait till November) but I did smell the candles. I like the ones that smell like Christmas trees. Would you try to return pants that said “final sale?” Is it too early for a Christmas display? Top photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash