Marathon Missed :(

Well my cough has turned into a nightmare.  Still sounding like I've chain smoked for the past twenty years (I don't smoke), the pouring rain, and Hubby's sleepless night were all indicators that a half-marathon was not in the day's destiny.  We wound up going to early mass, eating eggs and whole-wheat toast, and calling it a morning.  

Between the rain and the missed marathon, I'm feeling pretty blue.  Top it off with a bit of guilt ($150 spent to enter the race), it's shaping up to be a glum day.  But Hubby, my favorite person in the world, spins this into a positive.  He said, "if it took $150 and the prospect of a race to keep us faithful to our training for 11 straight weeks, then this race was still worth it."  And he's right (again).  We have been doing so well at keeping up with our training, we've both remarked repeatedly how much better we feel.  In turn, we've used our training to help us make better food choices at the grocery store.  Definitely worth the entry.  Not to mention the fact that it supports our local hospital network.  Another positive.  

So I'm turning the glum into some fun.  We are celebrating my sister's birthday this weekend and I'm excited for Sunday family dinner.  The priest this morning gave us homework during his homily.  We are supposed to think throughout the week of the handful of people closest to us.  Then we are supposed to think of all of their positive traits.  In doing this, it will inspire more positive thinking in our day-to-day lives while also helping us appreciate those closest to us. I thought it was a lovely message for the day and I will actually do this homework! (I have been known to skip homework at times.)  

Last night I fell in love.  I fell in love with the most adorable kitten on the planet.  A little kitten from a dairy farm and no one knows exactly what happened to her…the top theories are that she was stepped on by a cow or caught in some milking machinery.  Either way, she has two broken front legs (hence the bright yellow casts).  Her temporary name is Bobo (which the name won’t stay if we keep her).  One of my best friend’s mom is her foster owner until someone can adopt her.  When we were over last night to visit, it was so hard not to love her!  We are taking the week to decide if we are capable and ready for a kitten.   I’m typically anti-pet owning, but I’m sure you can see why this little is having me whistle a different tune!  Here's Hubby with the cutest kitty...her casts matched his T-Shirt! (a sign?!)

Hubby with the world's cutest kitten!

Some house pictures!

My Target Chairs...I'm obsessed :)

Fresh Bread (the yellow) and Vino (the back wall)

Ham Bake Beginnings ...

A few posts back I mentioned that I downloaded the iPhone APP, “Tasty Bytes” from my girl, RR!  Of course, in all of my no-time-ness, I haven’t really used it….

Until last night!  I was in the grocery store, thinking, Wow I really should have made myself a list…I have no clue what to make tonight.  Then, I remembered her app!  I quickly (and easily) searched by ingredient for something different.  I came to:

Broccoli, Cheddar, and Ham Bake.

Yum-O!

In the words of RR, Yum-O!  This was one of the easiest things I have ever made!  It was the first time I tackled a “rue” and it was way easier than I expected!  No more passing on ‘rue –ified recipes!

It was delish!  Now not exactly the healthiest thing I’ve ever made, but it hit the spot.  Well the week has ended and so has the painting.  All the touch ups are done and the decorations back on the walls!  It finally feels like home!  Will post pics as soon as my camera make up! :) We are still fighting!  Here's a teaser...the kitchen reminds me of fresh bread and vino! (Probably because those are the paint color names...)

Sorry about the iPhone picture, he's my friend with benefits I shamelessly use while my camera plays the diva role!  Anyway, the half-marathon is in 3 days and we could not be less prepared.  It certainly will be interesting!  We made an executive decision to wear our headphones and blast music (typically race days we don’t to small chit chat, make sure the other is still breathing, and focus on not quitting!)  We will see how it goes!  Any tips for a good / new super healthy pre-race dinner?  What about morning of?  I’m going to need allll of the help I can get! 

Paint and Parm

This holiday weekend was a busy one!  We are FINALLY painting our house!  It’s new construction so up until this point we have had nothing but ugly (and cheap) white builder’s primer.  Yuck!  But we had to wait for the house to settle, then the builders to come back and fix those nasty nail pops.  That finally happened last week so Super Hubby (as I like to think of him these days) hopped right to….we were at Lowe’s Friday night and he already started that night!  He finished half of the downstairs by Saturday night and a few swear words and more than a few beers later…was sick of painting.  Poor Hub!

BEFORE (Boring White)

AFTER Sky Blue with a Dark Blue/Gray Accent Wall (won't rotate image grr)

Hubby did the blue side of the house :)  It's a blue sitting room and dining room.  The back dining room wall is a cool (I think) darker blue accent wall.  The room looks silly because the other side of the house's (kitchen and living room) belongings are all crammed in there while they work on those rooms!  Anyway, Hub took a day off and recruited my Ultimate Hero, my dad, and my younger brother to join in the fun.  They have booted me out and reduced my role to beer refilling and pizza ordering (fine by me!) and are almost finished the downstairs!  Hooray!  The remaining projects include: painting the powder room, painting the foyer, painting the hallway and steps, painting the upstairs.  Still a hefty list but I have faith in my crew!  It sounds like not much was done, but that is NOT the case! 

Check out that Tuscan Yellow...

And the wine inspired kitchen accents...

Bass Ale = Painters' Beer of Choice :)

Last night required a quick, comfort-food of a dinner to nourish my weary Hubby.  I skipped using a new RR meal and went to the trusty chicken parmesan (served with whole wheat penne). Yum!  What took this typical 7 or 8 ranked dish up to a 10 was Hubby’s homemade sauce!  Double Yum!

Chicken Parmesan & Penne

A co-worker gave him a HUGE box of tomatoes, so last week Hubby spent all night making his famous “Roman Marinara”…I would offer you the recipe, but he’d kill me!  (But I will work on him for you, Blog Friends!)  Let me know if you want me to bug him!

How do you spend summer holiday weekends?  As we celebrate the last one, I’m thinking back to all the other great summer 3-day weekends, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, etc….we tend to do one function (picnic/BBQ) and fill the rest with house projects. 

What is your go-to always easy, always tasty meal?

HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Slow, Sluggish, and Scared!

The knockout from the 10K persists!  Being the workaholic that I am, I was still going to work and trying to keep up with all of my homemaker duties.  But when my fever reached 101.2 degrees, Hubby made an executive decision and put me on the couch.  So for the past week, I have been getting up, working, returning from work to my place on the couch in front of the TV.  I have watched more TV than ever.  Too Fat for Fifteen, Jersey Shore, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Real Housewives (DC AND JERSEY)…you name it, I’ve seen it!  Quiz me on my pop culture, I know it all!  I could write Joel McHale’s jokes for the Soup…I’m that ready!  I’m like a walking US Weekly encyclopedia!

This morning I was so excited to go to my doctor to get some real medicine. You know you are really sick when you are EXCITED to go to the doctor! And you aren’t working on a Friday! The Dayquil and Nightquil combos were not enough to beat whatever this is and it was time for some real meds!  Another clue to help you realize that you are in fact really sick is if you exit the house in a purple t-shirt, navy shorts, and lime-green flip-flops and you don’t even notice it.  It took me about ten minutes in the waiting room to realize that I was a walking Gay Pride Billboard.  I had to laugh.  I am all about Gay Pride (everyone should be allowed to love anyone I think), but this outfit would have had me on Joan River’s worst list for sure!  And I know the Gays would hate it!  Hubby of course, didn’t even notice!

I was feeling pretty bad about myself, thinking of all the bad food I’ve had and the no exercise (and my horrendous style as of late)…Hubby is an amazing help, but he’s not exactly health-conscious.  He turns his nose up at all of my low-fat labels in the fridge.  Many times in the grocery store he’ll plead with me, “can’t we just get the regular strength.  Just this once?”  Ha-ha.

But my doctor was very reassuring.  He told me that the average person burns 2,000 calories a day.  A sick person burns 6,000-10,000 calories each day, as the body works to fight the sickness. Whoa!  Who knew??  He told me that I should definitely be resting and NOT pushing it.  Still, the (half) marathon NEXT SUNDAY and all I can think is, what if we can’t finish?  We have to finish!  We’ve been training for 2+ months for this!  I am going to try in three days to jog a light 2-3 miles, to get loose.  I’m going to keep the mileage light this upcoming week, and hope (and pray) for the best on Sunday.  Please blogworld – pray for me! 

Here’s hoping I’m back in action soon!  Forgive my picture-less post, I’m too groggy from my new strong meds to add any!  Who takes care of you when you are sick?

Thanks, Hubby!

10 K-O, what a knockout...I'm DOWN!

Well blog friends...I am in a slump.  I have been feeling under the weather since the 10K and the Hubby has reclaimed his place in the kitchen during my slump.  He's doing well and in good spirits, but I feel like RR would be disappointed with me.   She probably cooks for her Hubby even when she is sick.  Sigh.  Still, Hubby and I did finish the 10K and in great time for us...one hour and 2 minutes...exactly a ten minute mile pace!  But after the race and the days since, I've felt both beat up and blue...a combo of under the weather and mentally bruised somehow...lots of stresses in lots of areas...more on that later though.

I also got into a spat with my SILs (Sister in Laws)...they can be a tough bunch at times.  It reverts me back to high school.  There is a cool table, they are all sitting at it, occasionally glaring over at me -- letting me know there is no room for me there, best to stick at the lame table.  Which I do.  Anyway, said spat was really ridiculous (as all high school arguments are), and I'd rather not comment about it anymore...does anyone else struggle to get "in" with their new family?


The bottom line is Hubby is super supportive, but I feel badly when he is put in the middle.  I am so lucky though, most wives complain that their Hubby's never consider their point of view when it comes to the fam...I am so lucky!  Still, I won't pretend I'm always right -- I will just say that I try.  I do not always succeed (in fact most often I fail miserably in the new family department).  I keep looking forward to the day when I have a baby to look after the entire time, so it won't be as obvious that I am just there not fitting in...then I will be busy.  Until then, I will continue to try, try, try.... eventually I will have to improve -- right?!


Well, I've missed my training and my cooking...here's hoping that tomorrow goes better than today.   As the Japanese proverb says..."Fall seven times, stand up eight."


I am standing up tomorrow.  Are you?

Pre-10K Pasta Dinner...

Cooking like RR … back in the kitchen!

We have a 10K race tomorrow, so I thought a pasta dinner would be appropriate.  I cooked Rachael Ray’s recipe…”Bucatini and Broccolini”  This link is actually slightly different from the version in her more recent magazine (the recipe I used was the magazine version).

We didn’t have Bucatini (hollow spaghetti) in our grocery store so I bought regular whole-wheat spaghetti instead.  It didn’t seem to matter.  It was really yummy and by far the easiest RR recipe I’ve cooked to date!  Score!  

Here is the final product:

Hubby kept complimenting the flavors!  He’s really sweet and was happy with the pre-race meal.  I am hoping it gives us the energy we need to do well!  Now of course it wouldn’t be me cooking an RR recipe without messing something up!  I didn’t put enough of the green stuff in the dish!  I thought it was brocoolini OR broccoli rabe, but I think Rach meant both.  Oops.  Anyway, it seemed to still be yummy (although I doubt Hubby would ever ask for more veggies…haha)!!!

Well tonight we are off to a movie (I like to be distracted the night before a race because I worry)…going to see Jennifer Anniston (my favorite) and Jason Bateman (one of Hubby’s favorites) to the switch!  I have grand plans of smuggling in popcorn and bottled water…I’ll let you know how it goes!

Here is a link if you want to try it!  It was more like a 20 minute meal, not a 30min! Hooray!   Some fresh bread or garlic knots would have really kicked this meal from a 9 to a 10 rating, but a nine is still pretty fabulous!  It made plenty -- we definitely have a post-race meal ready too! (Here is a shot of it before we topped it with cheese -- YUM!

 Don't you love my pasta bowl?  It was a gift from my brother's girlfriend.  She has the best taste!  I hope she becomes my SIL someday! 

What was the best date you and your Hubby/Wife had?  What made it so special?

The Truth About Hubby...

Well this will not be a cooking RR post because I had dinner with two of my girlfriends, the A’s…yay!  After planning for 2 months and rescheduling 3 times, we  finally met for dinner last night.  I’m still very excited about it!  This almost ever happens anymore!  Happy Dance!!!  It was lots of fun, plenty of catching up and laughing!

And tonight, Hubby and I are going out to celebrate one of our “monthery”s (we celebrate month milestones since we haven’t hit a year).  Two nights in a row -- out to eat and out of the kitchen, look at me!  I'm like a celebrity!  Break out the oversized shades!

Something else I’m excited about was to receive my first ever comments!  It is nice to know someone is reading, I feel a little lonely sometimes in this huge web of Internet!  And I know there are many entertaining things on here to do…so thanks for spending time with me!  Check Out OurDogBuffy’s fun and funny blog!  I know I’m enjoying it!   I also really like Caitlin’s Healthy Tipping Point.   Her blog is what got me hooked on blogs…I can’t wait to buy her book!

So the truth about Hubby.  I think that my blog makes him seem like he is a fan of running.  Not even close!  While he doesn’t mind it, he doesn’t look forward to it.  He will run though if there is a “goal” (hence the half marathon).  We’ve also done some 5Ks   and a 10 mile race.  So this half-marathon will be the longest distance ever for us!  It’s really scary when you think about it! 13.1 miles! YIKES!

Hubby really runs because I am terrified of dogs.  Embarrassing, yes.  True, yes.   Let’s chalk it up to a bad experience as a child coupled with never living with a dog.  They terrify me.  Don’t hate me animal lovers – I said afraid, not hate!  There is a difference!  Anyway, I convinced him that this was cheaper than a gym membership (Hubby loves to save a buck)…and it worked!  I can’t run alone because of my fear…and so the Hubby helps me!

We have been running consistently for about 10 weeks.  Before that we were off and on, not really faithful to it.  We’d like to keep it up though so we are looking for a winter race and a spring one to keep the motivation alive!  Definitely not professionals…we are those people that look like they are hurting every step of the way! Ha-ha!  But it’s getting better, and that’s the key!

Have you ever seen the show – Clean House – it is so incredibly scary!  I like things clean and neat so that show literally makes my skin crawl.  But it’s like an accident or something, I have to look!  I have to know!  It’s like when you squish a bug – you have to check to make sure you got him!

I’m getting into yoga as a cross-training method, but would like some other ideas.  Before you suggest it, I can’t swim.  I mean I can, but I can’t.  It’s not pretty! 

Are any newlyweds thinking about babies?  When is the "ideal" time to have a baby?  Do you have baby fever?  I am starting to dawdle through the baby section in Target – I might be warming up to the fever!