It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. It is POURING rain here. We have been in an extended drought so this is very, very good news. All the lakes in town are not only dry, they are now covered in tall grasses. There's also a horrible stink coming off them as ground that has not been exposed to air in probably decades is revealed. When it started sprinkling yesterday, most people I know said they either walked outside or stood on their porch and just marveled at the rain. Like it was some type of unknown phenomena falling out of the sky. We went to sleep last night with the sound of rain beating against the roof and windows and it was so cozy.

My running buddies and I were out in the craziness at 6:30 a.m. Dark streets and sheets of rain pelting us. "This is where your friends tell you you're crazy," said Jack. "And on a day like today, they may have a point."

We had plans to do 4-5 miles but called it quits a little after two miles as we were waterlogged and were probably closer to swimming than running.  We'll try again tomorrow. Meanwhile, I hope the dark skies stay put. Every now and again, these dark, overcast, dreary days are quite fun.

Food That Gets Thrown Out

I'm embarrassed at how much food I waste. The problem is that I get excited in the grocery store and end up buying things that with a little foresight I'd realize I have no intention of eating. Here is but a sample of foods that sound good in the grocery store but not so much when I get home:

  • Celery. Every week I buy a huge stalk of celery with plans to snack on celery & peanut butter. And every week I toss out a graying hulk of untouched celery as I snack on Wheat Thins or cereal instead.
  • Soup. In the soup aisle, I am under the impression that I love soup and will eat it every day. Ignoring the reality that if you try to feed me soup at noon on a Tuesday, I will throw it back in your face while screaming, "Where's the BREAD???"
  • Unknown fruits - Each week I pick up some mottled green thing with bumps, determined that I will discover what it is and cook it. Or I lovingly run my hands over the eggplant--such a pretty purple color.  I have an eggplant rotting in my vegetable crisper even as I write this.
  • Frozen vegetables. I can't tell you how many bags of stir fry or mixed vegetables are shivering away right now in my freezer, scorched by major freezer burn. Once home, tearing open the bag and heating water in a pot to warm them just seems like too much effort...
  • Any sort of gourmet cheese. I figure if it costs $8 for an ounce, it's got to be good, and I'll feel too guilty not to eat it. I'll share this insight with you- expensive green moldy gourmet cheese is not a pretty sight.

It's time to just admit to the fact that I can get by for years at a time on whole wheat bread, peanut butter, cereal, soy sausage patties, and bananas. And you'll note that nothing in this listing requires me to turn on the stove. What about you? What's your secret grocery store shame?

What Can't Be Explained

I'm having a little "poltergeist" /Stephen King moment. This morning I walked into the exercise room as I do every morning. I grabbed my running clothes from the dresser. Fine. Get the clothes, get dressed, drink a cup of coffee and eat some toast. Thirty minutes later I return to the room to get my shoes. And there, lying on the carpet in front of the door, is my runner's knee band.

A little history. The runner's band is a padded black band that velcros around the knee and offers stability and support to the kneecap. I bought a band last year when my left knee was giving me trouble. The knee flared up again this spring and I spent weeks looking for my band. I keep a tidy house so there were a limited number of places where it could be. I looked in all of them. Nothing. Not in my gym bag, not in the dresser where I keep my workout clothes, not in the bin on top of the dresser where I keep my i-pod. I even searched other closets and drawers and never could find the band.

I was slightly irritated, as I'd paid $20 or something for it and it just didn't seem logical that it would disappear. But after intense searching, I figured it had droppped out of my bag or car somewhere along the way and was gone. The knee patched itself up, so no worries.

On Monday of this week, I wasn't feeling well so I did a quick indoor run on the treadmill. My knee started hurting again and has throbbed all week, making me wish I had my band.

Then this morning... ta-dah! I came back into the exercise room and the band is practically sitting in the middle of the floor! Where did it come from? How did it get there? I have retraced my steps. I was in that room yesterday stretching out, which would have put me right by the door, and nothing was there. I didn't take anything in there this morning, like my gym bag, which I KNOW it wasn't in anyway. It is the freakiest thing. Where in the world did this thing come from? There's no where it could have dropped from. Even if it somehow came from the dresser, it seems unlikely it would land by the door.

So there's my ghost story for the month of October. Weird, huh?

Co-workers cake

Yesterday was a good day. I came home from my track workout (which kicked my butt, thank you very much) and sitting on the counter wrapped in plastic wrap was... cake.

"Where did this come from?" I asked Blair.

"Bosses day," he replied.

I gasped and put a hand to my throat. "Does this mean that this is A-----'s" cake?" I asked.

"A" is a woman who works with Blair who gets my vote for best baker on the planet. I live for the holidays when she makes a baked goods goodie basket for everyone she works with.  One year she left out the peanut butter balls, which are my favorite, and I told Blair to tell  her she was going to be fired if some peanut balls didn't show up on his desk, pronto. Needless to say, he ignored me. But I later told A what I'd said and the next year she sent home this huge batch of peanut butter balls with Blair, just for me.  She's fun that way.

So last night I had a piece of pound cake that was to die for. Super-moist, hint of coconut, .... one bite probably gained me back every calorie I'd lost running but who cares? So worth it...

The problem is that I'm alone today in the house with the cake. "I'd like some cake tonight when I get home so don't eat it all, okay?" said Blair.

"I make no promises," was my reply.

I think I need to chain myself to my desk. It's only 7:15 am and I can feel my willpower breaking. Cake... coffee... YUM.

Blair better get home from work early tonight. It's his only hope.