Randomness

All day today I thought it was Wednesday--
All day yesterday I thought it was Tuesday--
All day Sunday I thought it was Monday--

I am clearly confused with what is going on-- so just a few bits of randomness while I am waiting for the Mandlebrot for Shalomfest to cool.

Me and mis amigas a couple of weeks ago.  It had rained during our entire run and we were soaked!   Anytime we have a particularly difficult run we like to document how crappy we look afterwards.  

My oldest niece Savannah turns 16 tomorrow! We had a little celebration at my parents this weekend. She is an awesome kid, I am proud to be her aunt.  However, I would reccomend that the drivers in the OKC area watch out, this kid will have her license soon.

Another photo from the festive event, the candle lighting was a very difficult process.

Last but not least,  a photo of the girls from our Young Kehilah event at Magoo's on Saturday night.  It confirmed the fact that I suck at pool, but nonetheless a good time was had by all.

Ran 4 miles yesterday with Brigitte and then speed training this afternoon.  1 mile warm up and 8x 400m with 200m walk in between and 1 mile cool down.  Speed training is not fun, it was raining this morning when I had planned to go with Jen so I went at 4 in the afternoon.  The weather said it was cool but it did not feel cool at all.    Running with my friend Brooke G and her little one tomorrow.Looking forward to catching up.

ok- last bit of randomness--my dog loves baked goods. I have been beating him off the mandlebrot all night.

Just another Tuesday and other stuff!

  It's my first day back to work and boy is that a bummer.  Why is it always so tough to go back to work,  I didn't want to get up this morning so I had to run after work.  It's not as hot as normal but 87 is still not  a fun temperature to run in.

However, I got in a few miles, did a Jillian Michaels DVD, and finished up with 8 minute abs.  Spent some time in the garden,  everything is literally growing faster then I can pick them.  I think I'll try and can some tomatoes this weekend but we will see.  

 This was ready today----

So, I cooked it with my salmon filet--

It was for sure one hot mamba jamba!!!!  I drank 3 glasses of water after eating it!!

     So, It was just another Tuesday- but it's not- it's a yartzeit.  Sundown today marks 3 years since my husband Marcelino died. It's seems like yesterday but yet a lifetime ago at the same time.  This is the first year that I feel I am able to objectively look back at the time in my life and make clear judgements about it. Here is what I have learned--

a. Never underestimated the love and support of your family and friends-. I can never say how grateful I am to the people that were there for the long haul.

(you know who you are)

b. Life is short--LIVE it-- but in a good way- 

c. Work, money, cars, etc.  are not important-People are- I know you hear this all the time but you don't realize it until someone is gone.

d. No matter what happens, you gotta get up and keep going.  The mother of a childhood friend who died in an accident when he was 19, she  told me this.  Believe it or not, as simplistic as it sounds it is simultaneously the best and most difficult advice I received.  When she told me this, I figured if anyone knew, it was her, so I better listen.

There are many more things but I will keep it short and leave it at that.

Lake Taneycomo

Had a great weekend and I am sad that it is over.  Friday night we welcomed the new Rabbi's at Temple with a wine and cheese kiddush after services.  It was nice to see everyone and I loved that services started at 630!!  I was home by 8:30 and ready for bed, which is great because I met my amigas Bridgitte and Hillary and 5:30 on Saturday morning and we ran 4 miles before meeting up with our group at 6:30 to do 6 more miles.  I'm in a new group this time around and it was fun to get to know some new people on the run. This group is faster, which was fine this week, but we only went 6 miles. I'll see how it goes when we get up to 20.
        After the run, I rushed home, took a shower, got Bradley and headed to Lake Taneycomo in Branson.  It takes about 4 hours to get there but I stopped in Springfield to pick up Larry ( he was working there) and we drove the last hour  to Branson to meet my mom and dad, my brother, and my brothers 3 kids.  We had one of those cabins that fit a whole bunch of people, and we were defintely a whole bunch of people. Lake Taneycomo is one of those places where is water is always cold, so cold that you don't even swim in the lake it is stricly for trout fishing.
        We spent the day Saturday relaxing, cooking, and getting acquainted with the area. Suday morning my Mom ( G_d bless her) took all 4 kids to Silver Dollar City.  I went shopping and to the pool, Dad contintued on with his relaxation and Brent and Larry went fishing on the lake.

Hard to see but that is Larry and Brent, they were out for like 6 hours fishing!!  Eventually, Dad and I got a pontoon boat and spent a couple of hours on the lake ourselves and that was fun.  When the kids finally got back we took everyone out on the boat...I made Bradley drive !! 

Last night after all the excitement the kids were a little wound up and this happened--

My nephew, Preston,  he's a funny guy- that Larry's fake Duck Dynasty beard and my sunglasses, he looks remarkably like Phil. Anyway, we got up early this morning and came home, Shadow was so happy to see me he almost threw up....literally.   We had a great weekend making good memories with the fam!!

Just for fun, here is a picture of Shadow and Larry from the weekend before at Greenleaf Lake!

My dog is an idiot or and evil genius, not sure which-  also a picture to show you what I picked from the garden this morning!

Possum or Opposum!!

 Do you spell it Possum or Opossum?  It really doesn't matter which one it is I dislike the creature however you spell it.  I have had a deep seeded hatred for possums/opossums since I was a kid and through various incidents throughout my life, the hatred has only festered and grown.  I swear that I have a point-- I saw THIS walking accross my neighbors yard Saturday morning__

Now, I understand that you can't see it very well but, it is one the largest possums/opossums I have ever seen-. I am now devising a way to capture and rid the neighborhood of this disgusting beast.  I will keep up updated on how it goes.  

    ok- on to the rest of the weekend!  Ran on riverside and it was HOT-  however the river is up for the first time in a few years and that was nice to see.  Oklahoma has been in a severe drought for the last few years and up until a few weeks ago you could literally almost walk completly accross the river.  This weekend it looked like this

I realize that it looks like a big muddy river but to me it looks like a big muddy end of a drought! 

Finishing the run on Riverside! First week of marathon training, I wanted to get 24 miles in but only got 18.  Goal for next week is 25 miles so I'm going to really focus on getting those done, the problem is that it is 95 degrees when I get off work so I have to get up at 530 just to get a few miles in.   So, this week goals are early to bed, early to rise, and early to run!  I get up early anyway, I just really like to sit and drink coffee for an hour or so before work.  Must break that habit.

Oh yeah I was on Great Day Green Country this morning,  talking about the Diablo Dash that is coming up on Saturday, that was pretty exciting.  I can't believe how many people were getting interviewed today.  I'm not sure I would like to have that job at all. 

Anyway let me know if anyone has a good idea on catching a possum/opossum-I know how to do it, just want to see if anyone has any new ideas:)

Social Security Office

I took Michael to the Social Security office this week.  Have you been there lately- it looks like this

 20 minutes before it is even open.  Do you see the really tall black man-- that is Mike.  We had quite an experience, there were people with mismatched shoes, screaming children, no places to sit, oh and a two hour wait.  When it was finally our turn the lady calls his name and the only thing Michael could say is that he couldn't believe how beautifully she pronounced his name!!

I got a new dishwasher and I love it.  It is the best thing I have ever gotten, who knew that you didn't have to wash your dishes before you put the in the dishwasher. 

It has rained and rained and rained here, so the gardens look fantastic! 

If you look closely you can see a purple bell pepper.  I had never heard of these until this year and I can't wait to see what it tastes like.  It looks really weird, so I am highly interested.

Last but not least, I have started training for Chicago this week and am hoping for a mild summer for training.- will finish the week at 24 miles-thats not bad for week one.

One more thing and this is it.  I bought this necklace this week- 100% of proceeds go to help the victims of the OKC tornadoes, it's made by a local small business called "The Vintage Pearl"  They have a ton of cool stuff and can customize anything.  I have several friends that have 26.2 necklaces from here.... If anyone ever wants to get me something, I'd love a 26.2 necklace:)

I HEART OKLAHOMA!

Dishwashers and Water Towers

I haven't been sleeping well this week so, my apologies if I am complaining a little on this blog.  It's been three night in a row with only a couple of hours sleep, but I have high hopes for a good sleep tonight.  
Complaint number 1-- My dishwasher has recently turned into a drying rack.  It does such a poor job at washing the dishes that I have simply turned it into a drying rack.

Yep- I hand washed these dishes and the put them into my non working dishwasher to let them dry.  
I've been telling this guy that its not working but he is not concerned.  He just wants you to notice how small the water tower looks from the top of a cell phone tower.

All of my appliances seem to be slowly but surely dying!  

Complaint #2-  It's getting hot-- Too hot to run in the evening--  I planned on running 4 miles today, had two super awesome miles and two super crappy miles- I have to get used to the heat again and that is not fun.  I think I might just switch to morning runs and evening strength training.  Oh and I need new running shoes- Anybody want to get me a pair for Mothers day??  I like Brooks Pure Flow:)

Complaint #3- Check out this hat

If you worked in a kitchen would you wear this hat?? Do I look French? I hope not.   

OK- I'm done complaining- the hat makes me laugh but really is this a kitchen employee hat?

Oklahoma City Marathon

I ran the Oklahoma City Marathon this weekend and believe it or not the weather was beautiful!  I really like this marathon for several reasons, one being it is close to home and I can go stay a night with my brother and visit the family etc.  Reason two being that I love the cause!  Those of us that are from Oklahoma remember the OKC bombing quite well and I enjoy being able to "run to remember".   This was marathon number 3 for me and was by far my favorite.  Running a marathon is mostly a "mental" obstacle and I had a good mindset with this one.  Wasn't worried about time or anyone else, just mainly wanted to stay away from hitting the "wall".   It worked great for me and am ready to start training for Chicago in October.

This is a really bad picture of the entrance to OKC memorial- if you haven't been there--GO 

Here I am at the finish line-  I'm not sure what I'm doing with my hands but it sure is weird.  

Larry has a picture of me walking at mile 24- I didn't notice he was there until he took like 4 photos- I'm not going to post those though, you will have to track that down on his Facebook page.

There is no shame in walking at mile 24!! Right??

The rest of the weekend we just took it easy--  Gave the dog a bath and tried to get rid of the 10 pounds of hair that is molting off him all over the house on a daily basis-

Went and visited this sweet little girl-

and cooked some dinner.  I had made chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and was hoping for some collard greens but I got this instead

Pretty strange uh?? who do you think I should contact about this??

Aquarium Half Marathon and Thunder up!!

What a great weekend.  I ran a small the Jenks Aquarium Half Marathon on Saturday,  it's a small race, mostly on Riverside but it is still fun. The weather was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous so I really had a gread time.   I train with a group from Fleet Feet and here is a great photo of us afterwards!

AND one with my friend Bridgette who rocked her first Half Marathon!

Afterwards, we went to the Bass Pro Shop!  That place is like Disneyland for Rednecks, I swear, we could have been in there for hours..... oh wait we were. They have soap dispensers, pictures, toilet paper holders and all kinds of things in the shape of Black Labs.  Larry kept wanting to buy them,  luckily I refuse to have a Lab toilet paper holder, even though we have a couch on the porch right now, there are certain levels of Redneckedness that I refuse to stoop to.  I have only my Mother to thank for that.  Also, saw these ridiculess things.....

yep--- red solo cup Champagne glasses----give me a break!

Saturday night I replicated a dinner my grandmother used to make for me on special occasions- chicken pieces.  The key to the perfect fried chicken piece is to start from a chicken breast, pound it out, and then cut it into appropriate sizes.  I have to say that these tasted just like my Grandmothers and everyone loved them.   Makes me happy?

Sunday was the Thunder Game,  you may remember that I got Larry tickets for his 40th bday last month, well Sunday was the day!!  We had and AMAZING time!! If I lived in Oklahoma City I would totally have season tickets,  we will definitely be going to another game!.

That night we all went to the Chinese buffet down the street.  I don't allow seafood in my house so this is what Larry looks like at a Chinese buffet

 Hello crawfish!!!!! BTW neither one of us was able to sleep afterward because we ate too much-- oh the trials and tribulations of getting old!!

What a Week

Well, I have had quite a week, which is why you haven's seen any blogs this week.  Monday night we went to Soul Bowl, which is our Temple groups celebration of the end of Passover.  Pizza, Beer, and Bowling, you can't get any better then that.   I bowled especially bad and that is all I have to say about that except that is was really fun.. as usual.

     Larry is home this week, so he has been trying to get the yard ready for two things 1.) the garden and 2.) planting grass seed so we can having something other then weeds in the back.  So, I came home to this one day this week.

and THIS

Oh MY!! It looks much better now and he assures me we will have lush grass in just a few weeks, but I am very skeptical.  

           I went to set up for the Oneg at the Temple today, we are always trying to get people to bake things and during the last meeting a request was made for Oreos on a stick.  We got them this week and it made me laugh.  

They are literally Oreos on a stick!!

I spent the rest of the day doing this:  

Putting together our long awaited drink menus for the restaurant.  I worked on it for 4 hours and my back feel like I did hard labor for 12 hours.  Not a fun day at all.

Running a half marathon tomorrow,  I feel excited about it and am going to try running without my watch.  I recently read an article that said that you can take 15 minutes of your time but not paying attention to a watch.  So, I figured I'd give it a try.

One last thing. This is a picture of my BFF and her son and our other super good friends little Baby---It's my favorite picture right now so I figure I would share.

CUTIES!!!

Grand Canyon, working cows, and Passover prep

 I have had and exciting week-  Monday I flew to Albuquerque and met Larry, who has been out there working, and drove to the Grand Canyon. Have you been to the Grand Canyon?  If you have not then I highly suggest that you go? Pictures do not justify the beauty,  it seriously brought tears to my eyes several different times.

 We got there about noon, and hiked to the very bottom of it.  It is one heck of a hike,  I have barely been able to walk all week.

This is Larry doing what he loves most at the Colorado river,  there is a white sand beach at the bottom of the Grand Canyon next to the Colorado River.  Who would have ever guessed?

This is where we slept.  Mainly because we were too tired to go any farther.  It was definitely not a designated camping spot but it worked.  I love to sleep outside- I think I sleep better camping then any other time.

This is was before the hike when I still looked like a normal person. I did not look like this at the end.  I equate this hike difficulty to my first marathon, where it rained the entire time and hailed twice!!!  It is NOT an easy hike. ( Do you like my Duck Dynasty hat?)  Anyway, we got home about midnight on Thursday night and I went ahead and took the weekend off. So, I got to have Shabbat dinner at home, which makes me Happy, happy, happy:)

Saturday, my legs were too sore to run the 18 miles that I was supposed to, so I only ran 5, and then we went to my Mom and Dad's to help him work cows.  This includes vacinations, dehorning, ear clipping, and castration( if necessary).  This is not an easy process, and Dad about sliced his finger off during a castration, so it was an eventful day.   We got a good dinner out of the deal and got to see my parents new kitchen, so a good day was had by all.   oh and my brother, nieces and nephew were there, they are some of my favorite peoples in the world!

Today, is Sunday and tomorrow is the first night of Passover, so I have been very, very busy.  Thoroughly cleaned the house and prepped for tomorrow.  Matza balls, knishes,charoset,boiled eggs,  tomato and mozzarella salad,and  asparagus, all ready.Tomorrow Larry will fix a brisket and we will be ready to go. 

Larry requested a blackberry cobbler, so I made one..... then the dog ate it.... end of story.

On a lighter note.  my good friends had a baby Friday and she is going home from the hospital today.  Super happy for them, What a cutie!!

Michael's Mop

I didn't take any pictures today and I am dissapointed.  I go out every Saturday morning for my long run with the intention that I will take a few pictures etc.  It never happens, I either start talking or I get tired and focused on finishing the run.  We did 16 miles today and the weather was really nice,  warm and overcast but no rain.  First 14 miles were awesome but the last two were a little rough. I think I might have gotten a little dehydrated with the humidity.   Went to breakfast afterwards and had the corn beef hash( it was awesome)!!  Corn beef and hash browns with two over easy eggs on top!!!  Afterwards, came home and took a nap,  and have been working on statistics homework so I'll be caught up when I go to the GRAND CANYON is 10 days!! Not exactly how I planned my day but, the garage will wait until tomorrow.  

     I thought I'd insert a Michael story, just a reminder that Michael is an employee who has worked at Chimi's for 23 years and he is very special.   So, he has been harrasing me about a new mop for approximately 8.4 months now, and I finally got him one.  Now, he talks about nothing else expect for how heavy the mop is! Can mops be too heavy??

Ok here's a few random pictures just to spruce it up

                              I'm gonna make this tomorrow

 Here is my puppy- he is super awesome! and very lazy!

 He also has really bad allergies and has been sneezing everywhere-- very gross!

Friday night!!

I don't know what has happened to me or who I have become but sometime in the last five years but I stopped even considering going anywhere but Temple and my couch on Friday night.  I would blame my long runs on Saturdays for this change but, I've only been doing long runs for two years.  Literally, it is 8:30 and I'm wondering how I am going to stay up until 9! Very, Very, sad.... or is it?

I was looking through my pictures for some stuff for this blog and I came across this.

It is obviously a picture from my car of the view while I was driving down Riverside.  The question is WHY would I take this picture.  The funny part is that I have four of these pictures, really what could I have possibly been doing.

Anyway,  my friend brought her little girl to work this week because she wasn't feeling well and couldnt go to school.  She is super cute and fun and we love it when she is sick and has to stay at the restuarant.  We are awful, but really, look how cute she is!

AND she has a mustache!! How cool is that!!

   I had to go to Sams this morning to buy fruit for the Temple and I got myself these..

Ok, so the Naked juice is good, but have you ever had the dark chocolate covered pomegranates???  They quite possibly be the best thing I have ever eaten... ever.   That is a two pound bag and I think I ate at least  a pound of them today.  

16 mile run in the morning. Shoud be fun? or something like that.  Hope the rain holds off until tomorrow night.  I'll let you know tomorrow when I am also sitting at home writing a blog post:)