Pushing Up Pansies

June 29th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Morning Craziness - (10 Comments)

Well, it’s that time of year. The time when I start hemming and hawing about what I’m going to train for this summer: the half marathon or the full marathon. Last year I considered running the full marathon again but then bailed mid summer. I instead opted for the half with the excuse that I’d never run a half marathon before, conveniently weaseling my way out of a summer of 20 mile long runs.

Business as Usual

January 4th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

The holidays are over. We have moved into our new house and are mostly settled. A formal complaint was filed yesterday over the lack of home cooked meals and several informal complaints have also been filed over the lack of regular posts in recent weeks as well. It would appear that I am officially out of excuses for not cooking or blogging per usual. Your break is over lady, time to get back to work.

New House Perks

December 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (19 Comments)

One of the nicest perks of our new house would be the regular running group that came built right in to our neighborhood. They run Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and as luck would have it, today is Monday!

I found out about the group from a friend who lives in this neighborhood. He’s been running with them for a while and invited me to join them on a Saturday morning run back in October. I accepted the invite and by the end of the run I was already contemplating what it might take to get our closing date bumped up to that very afternoon.

Last Dance, Last Chance

December 24th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

This post is a figment of your imagination. Or is it?

I didn’t expect to have a chance to run or post this morning. But here I am, having unexpectedly run and now unexpectedly posting. How unexpected.

When an opportunity to run this morning presented itself, I jumped at it. Zak worked from home, the kids slept late, so off I went for a healthy dose of endorphins and some fresh air and sunshine. The real reason I went was to wax nostalgic because unless I get to sneak out tomorrow morning (Merry Christmas to me?) this will be my last run through these neighborhood streets as well as my last chance to avoid running into Mr. Miyagi.

Terribly Tired Tooth Fairy

December 14th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (18 Comments)

We were almost forced to write a strongly worded email to the Tooth Fairy this morning. Apparently the Tooth Fairy slept like a rock last night and did not wake up in the middle of the night like she expected to. Fortunately, the toothless child in question decided to use the bathroom before she remembered about the visit from the Winged Dental Nymph and our crisis was averted.

We’ve got an outdoor homeschool adventure on tap first this morning which will suffice for a workout today. I spent my usual workout time prepping food and packing lunches.

A Breakfast Carol

December 10th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (15 Comments)

Today felt like an overnight oats kind of morning. Except I didn’t make overnight oats last night. Good thing “Overnight Oats” is just a trick of a name and it could more accurately be called “Just a Few Hours Oats”.

Into a bowl at 6 AM: 1/2 a mashed banana, 1/2 c of rolled oats, 1 Tbsp of almond butter, 1 Tbsp ground flax, a tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 c of chocolate almond milk.

Oat Prep Bowl

And a single chocolate chip because I’m rowdy like that.

1 Chocolate Chip

Don’t You Eat that Yellow Snow

December 1st, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (22 Comments)

We take December 1st very seriously ’round these parts.

December 1

When I closed my eyes and laid my head on my pillow last night the grass was green! It was also November, so it must have been the flip of the December switch that did the trick.

I had a date with the pool this morning, and for a moment I entertained thoughts of how fun it would be to run in the snow today instead.

But then I cuffed myself upside the head and reminded my overly ambitious snow running self I’ve got all. winter. to run in the snow. Let’s not rush things.

Black Friday Virgin

November 27th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

First the first time in my entire life, I got up early on the day after Thanksgiving to hit up a Black Friday sale. An email from the running store I shop at had some offers that were just too good to pass up.

FF Email

Well what do you know, I just so happen to be in the market for new running sneakers. Sale sneaks? A group run? Free food? I’ll be there!

The store was packed at 7:30 when I got there and after a half hour trying on sale shoes and elbowing my way through the crowd to the sales line, I got through checkout just in time to leave with the running pack at 8:00.

French Toast Torture

November 25th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

Given it’s Thanksgiving week, almost all of our normal homeschool-away-from-home activities have been canceled for the holiday. I wanted something warm for breakfast this morning but the idea of hot oatmeal just wasn’t doing it for me. Since we didn’t have to be anywhere this morning, I decided to spend some time on a more time-intensive breakfast.

Who wants French Toast for breakfast today?

Wednesday Breakfast

*crickets chirping*

Why am I the only one raising my hand? French Toast is good YO! Well you and I know that, but my pint sized gang has never been interested in French Toast. Insanity you say? That’s what I say!

The Quickest Way to a Long Workout

November 24th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (9 Comments)

For my work out this morning I planned to hit the machines at the gym. I was surprised to find that the temperature was only in the mid 40’s, so at the last minute I decided to warm up by jogging the mile to the gym instead of driving.

Exactly 8 minutes and 19 seconds later I was at the gym to hit the elliptical for 20 minutes and then spent 15 very sweaty minutes on the stair climber. Why do you get so incredibly sweaty on that machine? Tell me! Someone tell me why!