Random thoughts

Sunday Funday

Just fyi, I’m going to wait until the end of the month (Tuesday) to recap my whole month of thankfulness.  And then perhaps I’ll launch another great plan for December—it’s been wonderful reminding myself of how many wonderful people, places, and things I have in my life.  What are some other monthly projects I could do?

Today:  spinning class with a friend, long run (well, we’ll see how the legs feel after spinning, but you do what you gotta do), then cookie swap party.  Last day of Thanksgiving vacation, let’s make the most of it!  And hopefully burn a few more calories Smile

This week:  Child of God students perform at Grandparents Day, lots of teaching, wedding, a couple of church jobs, more Bikram yoga, several workouts with Mike, lots of running.  And maybe we’ll get the tree this week and decorate (hopefully!).  I love decorating for Christmas.

 

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The plan for Grandparents Day!  As usual, I shall be performing on the piano.

Okay, let’s see how the day goes—lots of fun activities ahead, can’t wait to see all the cookies people made. 

Readers:  let’s hear from you—what are your favorite Christmas cookies?  Also, any ideas of good monthly projects I could do, i.e. the Month of Thankfulness, or something totally different?

Weddings

Back to work!

Well, sort of.  I basically had the day off, but I did have a wedding to play.

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The wedding was at Temple Israel.  It went smoothly, nothing noteworthy.

Before and after the wedding was the hard work!  I did get to sleep in today, for once, but after I got up I was seriously in cleaning mode.  I spent about two hours cleaning the house, then went grocery shopping.  After the wedding I made several of the things I am serving the girls for tomorrow’s Cookie Swap.  Since the party is over dinner time, but not technically a dinner, I wanted to provide some more substantial snacks.  I decided to make some spinach roll-ups and some “crab” roll-ups.  Basically, I made two different spreads, spread them on tortillas, and rolled them up.  Tomorrow I will slice them into bite size pieces.  I also got a bunch of other stuff at the store—cheese, crackers, veggies, etc.  I’m sure there will be plenty of savory food, and then of course dozens and dozens of cookies, but those are technically for later.

On a more personal note:  yesterday I was a bit stressed and I wrote about how yoga is stressing me out.  I think the issue is that I need to set a boundary.  I’ve decided I will go two times next week and two times ONLY, and not worry about it.  If I decide to continue with yoga, I will only go once a week, and if that doesn’t happen due to my work schedule, I will not let it bother me.  I spend lots of time working, practicing, and running…I can’t do everything, and I need to allow myself to do some things less well, or at least less often.  That was the problem I had earlier in the year with the pottery class—I ended up resenting it because I wasn’t putting in as much time as the other people in the class and I felt like I was a failure.  Instead, I should have tried to appreciate the time I was able to put into it, and simply allowed myself to do what was possible for me.

Edited:  I forgot to say what I am thankful for today!  Today I am thankful that I live in a small house so it doesn’t take too long to clean the whole place from top to bottom!!

HBBC:  2 hours cleaning house:  4 points, 7 fruits/veggies: 1 point, 30 minutes cardio/strength training video: 1.5 points.  Total points: 6.5

Random thoughts

Black Friday

I am NOT shopping today.  Well, maybe a little online shopping…or at least looking.  Time to start thinking about Christmas presents, but not time to wait in line for stores to open at 4 am!  I’m very thankful I didn’t have to get up this morning and wait in the cold for a store to open so I could possibly get a deal on a super huge tv!! Yes, that is definitely what I’m thankful for today–I really hate crowded stores, so I’m thankful I didn’t have to do that!!

I made my cookies for my upcoming Cookie swap party this morning.  I really wasn’t in the mood to do so, as I was still stuffed from yesterday, but I needed to get them made.  I baked two different kinds–one was from the back of a bag of  peppermint chips from Andes Mints.  They contain coconut, pecans, oats and chips, and are unusual but quite tasty!  I must admit I purchased the chips on an impulse the other week–they just looked tasty.  The other kind are something I made last year–thumbprint cookies with jam.  I enjoyed them last year!  I added a couple things to the recipe this year to make the flavor a bit stronger.  Now I just need to clean and straighten the house and figure out the snacks for the party.  I did not plan very well–this party is making my vacation stressful!

I have a tendency to carry a lot of guilt around.  For instance, today I felt very guilty about all of the eating yesterday, and also at the potluck on Wednesday night.  I also feel guilty for not going to Bikram Yoga again, and I really don’t think I’ll make it back until Tuesday.  (They encourage people to go everyday, so that definitely adds to my guilt, also the fact that I have an unlimited package for these two weeks.  But I just don’t have time!) There’s also the constant nagging guilt that I am not answering phone calls/emails promptly enough and feel constantly behind on things for my school positions.  Gah!

I did get a run in today though–4.5 miles on the treadmill.  I felt MUCH better afterwards.  I also did a few teaching/business things so I feel a bit less guilty about that!  I suppose I’ll just get through the next three weeks and hopefully be able to actually relax about work over the Christmas holidays…the upcoming performances are definitely stressful!  And yoga should be relaxing, not another stresser, right?  Gah!

HBBC:  4.5 mile run: 4.5 points, 7 fruits/veggies(yay!): 1 point, total: 5.5 points

Total for week 1 (nov. 20-26): 40.6 points

Food, Running, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day

I woke up early on Thanksgiving to do the Chesterfield 11th Annual Turkey Trot (5k race).  The race started at 8:30 am so I wanted to get there in plenty of time.

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It was pretty cold, so I wore my new workout skirt (ha!) and a long sleeve tee I bought myself in honor of the upcoming Phoenix Half-marathon.

I was cold and tired, and I should have wore a hat or something over my ears!  By the time the race started, my ears were freezing.  In any case, I ran pretty well—it was a crowded course and pretty boring (around a mall), but I kept going pretty well.  I actually thought I would break my last time, but I guess due to the cold and drizzle I wasn’t moving as fast as I thought.  My next race won’t be until mid-December so I’ll have a bit more time in between to train.  And then nothing until the half-marathon in Phoenix, yay!

Results: 32:17, 1269 of 2347, 76 of 172 in my age group (30-34)

Okay, race done, off to eat!

The night before I made my pies and upside down cake.

 

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Pumpkin Pie, Sour Cream Apple Pie, and Cranberry Upside-down Cake.

It was raining pretty hard when it was time to load up the car, so that was annoying.  We headed over to our friends’ house (Laura and Jon) around 11 am.  Chris was making the turkey.

The menu:

Turkey and Gravy

Classic Cranberry Sauce

Grand Marnier Cranberry Relish

Potato Fennel Gratin

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Spicy Cornbread Stuffing

Parmesan Broccoli

Mustard Cauliflower with Lemon Butter

Maple Roasted Squash

Martha’s Mac and Cheese

 

Yes.  It was ridiculous!  Also, of course, appetizers, dessert, and wine.  The rest of the people came over around 3:00, and we probably ate dinner at 5:30 or so.  The food was fantastic!  (My friend Laura is a tremendous cook).

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A sampling of the day’s activities, and my dinner plate.  We cooked, played wii, ate, and talked.  Some people watched football (I did not.)

It also snowed a bit in the afternoon!  Our first snow of the season.  Very pretty!

Okay, one last picture of the pies…and a topping for the pies…

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I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!  It was great to spend the day with good friends.  I am thankful to have so many wonderful people in my life!

Food, Thanksgiving

So full!

I am so ridiculously full!  I am never eating again 😉  I am thankful for a wonderful, bountiful Thanksgiving dinner with dear friends….it was a wonderful day!

Today was the first snow.  No real accumulation, but snow nonetheless.

Off to bed.  The pies/cake were a huge success!

HBBC:  Turkey Trot 5k (3.1 miles): 3.1 points, 1 mile walk: 1 point, 8 to 9 servings of veggies: 1 point, Total points: 5.1

Food, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Eve

Wow, what a day!  I’m finally sitting down for about the first time.  I’m THANKFUL today for my good health!  Without my health, well, I wouldn’t have anything 😉  But seriously, I’m thankful I am healthy and able-bodied and that I am able to do whatever I need to do. I’m talking both minor ailments such as colds and more major illnesses or handicaps…I’m basically thankful I’m not suffering from anything at all at this time!

I just finished making three desserts and a topping for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Two are my grandmother’s recipes and two are from the internet.  Here and here.  I’ll post pictures later, don’t want to spoil the surprise!  Suffice it to say that although I did make my own crusts from scratch, and I’m sure they will be tasty…wow my crusts look atrocious.  I struggled with them and finally just did my best.  I really need to work on my pie crust skills.

Today I almost turned off my alarm and skipped Bikram Yoga, but I would have felt too guilty.  I went to my second class today.  It was tough but not as tough as the first one.  The class was taught by the same teacher as yesterday’s but was much larger (probably twice as many people).  It was at 9:30 versus yesterday’s 11:00, and I didn’t get to eat enough beforehand–they say not to eat for three hours beforehand, but I was VERY hungry during class, so I’m pretty sure that was a bad idea.  I’m still not sure how I feel about the classes, but I’ll continue to go during the two week period no matter. Probably will be there sometime on Friday.

When I got out of class, it was POURING rain!  I almost just drove home, but after a few minutes (and a bit of powerade zero 😉  ) I continued with my errands.  Packet pickup for tomorrow’s race and groceries, followed by a quick lunch then a really intense workout with Mike.  Then home to bake!  Now I must get ready to head out to a friend’s potluck dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers (particularly my family 🙂 ) !

HBBC:  90 minutes of Yoga:  4.5 points,  Treadmill running 1 mile: 1 points, 60 minutes weight training/core work with Mike: 3 points, Total points for day 8.5.  Total points for week (so far) 30.

 

thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.