I was scheduled to work at the fundraiser today and my shift at our homeschooling table began at 9:30 AM. I was off on my run as soon as it was light out because I didn’t have much time to spare.

I was back about 45 minutes later with what I believed would be enough time to shower and have a quick breakfast.

Except when I say “quick breakfast”, I apparently mean throw in my bag and eat there because I am fairly consistent at underestimating how long it takes me to do something.

And by “do something”, I mean get myself ready and out the door.

I worked 2 hours manning our table, selling homemade items and baked goods.

Play silks and paper lanterns painted and folded by kids from our group.

I left with (and when I say “left with”, I do mean paid for) two sweet little felted acorn ornaments for our tree.

The rest of the day has been dedicated to getting ready for our move to the new house in just three short weeks! Today has been declared Garage Organization Day, therefore we (and when I say “we”, I mean Zak) are working mostly in the garage.

Some items of interest have been unearthed. And by “unearthed” I of course mean ready to be hauled out to the side of the road in hopes that some sucker will pick it up.

Ava asked me to write “3 Pennies” on a sign for her and explained she was trying to earn money for Maxine’s birthday present.

By “birthday” I’m guessing she means Christmas. Although Maxine’s birthday is in September and at 3 cents, maybe birthday is exactly what she meant.

Unfortunately, I wrongly assumed Ava wanted to get rid of this drum like I did and sell it for some cold, hard cash.

Cold hard cash, yes. But by my little entrepreneur went a step further and turned “get rid of” into bilk multiple people for 3 cents each.

Crap. Zak’s already in his seat. Does that mean he’s the more dedicated parent? And by “more dedicated parent” I totally mean bigger brown nose.

All in the name of one less birthday present I have to pay for next year.

We listened to the sweet melody of music inspired both by Disney and PBS – raw and uncensored.

And by “sweet melody”, I do indeed mean sweet melody.

After the first act I excused myself to get lunch ready for us. Except by “us” I mean me because nobody else was hungry. A peaceful lunch by myself it is! And by “myself” I mean with my favorite magazines.

I made a quick stop at the natural food store on my way home today to grab some hemp seeds. Hemp seeds are a natural, vegan, non-soy based way to boost the protein content of a giant lunch salad.

1 Tablespoon sprinkled on my salad = 57 calories and 4 grams of protein.

Although pricey, hemp seeds are not only a source of protein, but also a great source of Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Except by “pricey”, I mean it’s time to start advertising those drum podium performances.

And when I said “some sucker” above what I really meant to say was some wonderful, generous person looking to fund plant based protein needs and take a great drum off our hands at the same time.

• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• One Armed Carrot Jokes

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

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.

So instead of standing up the pool for our hot date, I was off to swim laps for 40 minutes. Today was my usual 6 sets of 100 yards freestyle, 100 yards backstroke, 50 yards kick board topped off with 25 yards freestyle, 25 yards back for 6 sets for a cool down.

A cold snowy morning deserves a nice warm breakfast, I do declare!

Banana bread oatmeal it is.

1/2 C water
1/2 C unsweetened almond milk
1/2 sliced banana
2 Tbsp raisins
Dash of cinnamon

Into the pot and brought to a boil.

Add 1/2 C rolled oats, cook for about 8 minutes on low. Remove from heat, covered for 5 minutes.

Topped with the other half of the banana and a couple tablespoons of hand crushed walnuts.

Cold Oat Mountain!

Immediately upon waking this morning, as Ava rubbed the sleep from her eyes said:

“Ummm Mommy? Did you notice there’s snow on the ground? Is today winter?”

Before I even had a chance to explain she was off down the stairs to throw on her coat (over her pajamas), jumped into her rain boots (no socks), put on the first pair of gloves she could find (mine) and out she went.

She has already made a snowman.

And had snow for breakfast.

She assured me though, “Don’t worry, I checked – it’s not yellow. Or colorful at all.”

Shew. You can’t say I haven’t taught her anything.

–

In other homeschooling news, check out this great article from yesterday’s New York Times outdoor Kindergarten and Waldorf schools that Elisa’s left in a comment this morning! This is exactly what we want for our little gals here.

• Terribly Tired Tooth Fairy
• Run for Breakfast
• No Run, No Guilt

Where’s the place to be on a cold, dreary day?

The beach of course!

We met up with our “Get These Kids Outside Or Bust” homeschooling group and today was a true test of our pledge to get outside even in the crummiest of weather.

It was cold. It was rainy. There was whining.

Ava happily played with her friends but Maxine clung to me like a marsupial and said “I want to go home” about 100x in my ear, throwing in the occassional “I’m hungry” despite having just eaten breakfast 30 minutes earlier.

We made it about an hour in the misty rain and upper 30’s temps before finally succumbing to cold, wet feet and went back to the car for some heat and some food.

Curried Chick Pea Sandwich Spread for me – that I didn’t spread on a sandwich but ate with raw veggies instead.

Cheese sandwiches and smiles from the peanut gallery.

We enjoyed our car seat picnic and let the hot air blast us for 30 minutes before the feeling returned to my fingers again and it felt safe to put the car into gear.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert – one for each of us. Definitely feeling warmer now!

Despite today’s weather challenges, I’m still totally into this “get outside and experience nature in all kinds of weather” group we’ve hooked up with. We were unfortunately not dressed appropriately for the weather this morning – or more accurately, we weren’t dressed for the rain.

*shaking fist at weather man who mumbled “a chance of showers”*

See? I did find something else to shake my fist at today after all!

Let’s just call today a lesson, shall we?

Blast of heat + lunch = no chance of holding still for a couple pictures.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent at home – dry and inside.

For dinner tonight I made something that I’m unsure of what to call it. Sweet Potato Lentil Chili maybe? But there are no tomatoes in this. Does the lack of tomatoes disqualify this meal from taking on the title of chili? How about sweet potato lentil stew? OK. That works.

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 c brown lentils, rinsed and drained
2 c vegetable broth
3 c water
chili powder, cumin, salt and crushed red pepper, to taste

Saute onions until soft, add sweet potatoes, lentils, water, broth and spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. (Red lentils cook faster than green lentils if you’re in a hurry!)

Just 140 calories per 1 cup serving! This recipe made 7 servings, I had 1 1/2 servings for dinner.

This dinner was very easy, totally yummy and very filling! Especially with a tossed salad along side it.

Yeah, let’s just call this stew. The morning was chilly and I’m not in the mood for any thing else “chilly” today.

• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• Say What You Mean To Say
• Whensday?

Today we had plans to meet up with some new homeschooling friends for a nature hike. This informal group meets weekly – outside – all year round. The idea is that “kids need to be outside and surrounded by nature”. What a concept! A small group, a few of whom we know from other homeschooly places, this idea is right up our alley. The central theme is that we’ll get outside, exploring nature, no matter the weather. So even when it’s cold and snowy or wet and rainy, we still meet up and do something outside together.

Today? It just so happened to be a perfectly cool, crisp and sunny fall day.

I’d never been to the park we were supposed to meet at today and although I had directions, I got a little lost. Today of all days I left my cell phone at home. I stopped to ask for directions and we eventually made our way there. When I found the parking lot empty I realized we must have come in a different entrance than everyone else.

So now what? Turn around and go home after driving 30 minutes to get here? I considered it for a split second before I realized that – hey! We’re here! Why go home when we can go for a nature hike? Even if it just ends up being the three of us, we’ll still have gotten outside together and some exercise too.

I studied the map before we hit the trail. I could see that it was about 3/4 of a mile to the opposite end of the park and I figured we had a fairly good chance of running into everyone even though I didn’t know exactly where we might find them.

I knew Ava could handle walking at least a mile, so I strapped Maxine to my back and off we went.

Hmmmm, a sign! I wonder if someone is trying to tell us something?

We walked and walked and saw no sign of anyone. I worried we wouldn’t find them.

I worried we’d go too far and Ava wouldn’t be able to handle the walk back.

And then I stopped worrying and just enjoyed our day outside together.

I told Ava that she’s my little tree hugger. She replied that “No, I’m not a tree hugger, mom. I’m a koala.” Oh, my mistake.

Another sign!

After about 15 minutes on the path we came upon a trail runner coming from the opposite direction. I stopped him to ask if he’d seen a group with young children. Much to our delight he responded that yes, there was a group of mom’s and kids just ahead.

Jackpot!

The trail was beautiful, but the location where we met up with everyone was even better!

A large stream with beautiful waterfalls, lots of rocks and logs to explore and friends to play with.

Where the heck is Maxine in any of these pictures? My shy little (28 lb) mama’s girl stayed put almost the entire time.

We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the bank of the stream. Cucumber and tomato salad for me.

That would be Maxine’s Stonyfield Farms Yo Kids yogurt – not mine. I did eat a couple of those Kashi crackers with my black bean and salsa soup!

After our day outside we had yet another homeschool gathering that kept us out until the early evening. Home and very ready for dinner – I whipped up a quick hummus veggie wrap for myself.

Enjoyed standing up in the kitchen while making two little trailblazer some spaghetti.

Two tired kids in bed early tonight! We need to get lost more often.

• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• Say What You Mean To Say

Tonight, in the history of cooking in my own kitchen, I had an EPIC FAIL dinner. It was a disaster – completely to blame on a new ingredient that I’ve never cooked with before: Polenta.

I will attempt this meal again next week and will share more details on tonight’s disaster then. Until that time I’m going to be annoyingly cryptic.

Fortunately though, there’s always a silver lining.

Like a giant salad? Thank goodness there’s always a Plan B.

Packages from sweet friends named Whitney would be part of tonight’s silver lining as well.

Whit very generously sent us an awesome house warming package from a great little pottery shop she likes, The Muddy Muse.

Some house numbers to go with our new casa!

Along with a totally sweet and very Waldorf homeschooly Fairy Door for the girls that they are going to love!

I was so touched by Whit’s sweet gesture, I am in love with all three pieces! The numbers are the perfect compliment to our new yellow house! I’m not even going to show the Fairy Door to the girls until after we have moved in to the new house. I’ve got big plans to put it on one of the big old trees in our new back yard and tell them we have a tree with fairies living in it. They are at the perfect age for this and I can’t wait to play.

Thank you Whit for these beautiful pieces of pottery, this care package totally made my day!

Silver lining #3? The discovery of some holiday teas from Stash Tea.

I am enjoying some Christmas Eve Tea as I type, even though it’s only Saturday Eve. It’s a spearmint tea with cinnamon and orange peel and is quite enjoyable. I really wanted to try the Chai but it’s going to have to wait until the morning lest I lay in bed awake all night wondering if I hear reindeer hooves on the roof.

Cranky toddlers that finally collapse in an exhausted heap on the couch? Let’s call this tonight’s fourth silver lining. Although bumping this up to number THREE might be more appropriate.

And last, but very far from least, another silver lining that came in a cardboard box tonight.

At least I was entertained as I made ruined dinner. See? There’s always a silver lining.

• Say What You Mean To Say
• Not Chili
• Whensday?

More homeschool ice skating today! Except today we found the equivalent to training wheels for beginner ice skaters.

We had another little lesson this week from a very sweet instructor. (But would have preferred Sk8ter Gurl Hollyz or Ice Dancing With The Stars Cindy – sorry ladies, we had to settle.)

And within 10 minutes, she was off and running. Errrr, skating.

From the ice rink we skid home for a fast, late lunch and then off to the gym for homeschooling Phys Ed.

Look at all those little homeschoolers! They look so… so… NoRmaL! Go figure!

Maxine watched. And snacked.

She worked on her sorting skills, separating the evil walnuts from her precious raw cashews and raisins (how dare I!) and very thoughtfully leaving them “for Ava” in the hood of Ava’s coat. Such a good sister.

Snacked up, she’s off!

Running her solo homeschooled gym class for toddlers.

I had a big dinner planned for tonight but after a day full of comings and goings,the very last thing I felt like doing was slave over the stove. Instead I just did a little indentured servant over the stove and borrowed an idea from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan – hummus quesadillas. Except I added cheese and totally de-veganized this. Just call me this Eat, Drink and De-Vegan.

Pan misto‘d with olive oil, a whole wheat tortilla smeared with a couple tablespoons homemade garlic hummus, then sprinkled with 1 oz of shredded Organic Valley chedder cheese.

Topped with a couple handfuls of fresh spinach.

And another whole wheat tortilla. Grilled on medium for about 5 minutes on one side before flipped to the other side for another 5 minutes.

Yeah. Let’s just say this rocked and totally kicked the ass of any fancy schmancy dinner I had in mind.

550 calories all together, subtract 80 if you opt to go the vegan route. Serve with salsa. And drool.

• Confessions
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• There’s Always a Silver Lining

I had high hopes today.

High hopes that the Garmin 405 would be available to borrow at my local running store from their electronic lending library.

Score! After reading Shari’s post yesterday on gadgets I had Garmin envy and hit up the cheapest way I know to get my hands on a Garmin (FREE), even if it’s only mine for a week.

I had high hopes for a dinner out at a restaurant near Zak’s office before a homeschooling gathering tonight. He eats lunch here frequently and has only had good things to say about their salads.

Fruit & Salad Company? Yeah, it’s no coincidence you can spell A L I S O N with the letters from the name of this restaurant. How have I never eaten here before? This is a question that has no answer.

We all had high hopes there would be no 6 pm meltdown tonight.

But that one was just plain old silly.

We had high hopes that some apple juice would help.

We’ll take our meltdown to go, THANKS!

There were oh so many high hopes for an amazing salad from a restaurant that calls itself a fruit and salad COMPANY for crying out loud.

Can you make out the tears in my pile of iceberg lettuce? Turns out you can also spell the word S A D with the letters from Fruit & Salad Company. Too bad you can’t spell J I P P E D or R O B B E D.

I got the “Veggie Chop” which promised bite sized veggies and mixed greens tossed in balsamic vinaigrette. I left off the asiago cheese and would have left off the croutons too had I not been distracted by the 6pm meltdown going on at my feet. I will say though that I had an enjoyable treasure hunt in the car for the smallest pieces of broccoli I’ve ever seen, a couple of sad mung beans and three slivers of carrot. I do not have high hopes for getting my money back.

We all high hopes for a gathering with some new homeschooling friends this evening.

And those high hopes were totally warranted! We had a blast telling stories around a campfire with some homemade kettle corn, warm apple cider and lots of laughter. Iceberg woes temporarily forgotten.

I’ve got high hopes for a REAL salad tomorrow, or at least dreams of one.

• We Came, We Saw, We Raked
• There’s Always a Silver Lining
• Say What You Mean To Say

Today’s day of calorie counting began with a freezing bike ride to the gym. Well, actually it was 33 degrees so I guess it wasn’t exactly freezing. I’m such an exaggerator sometimes.

30 minutes on the treadmill with some speed work intervals (4 two minute sets at 9.3) thrown in to keep things interesting – a total of about 4 miles. I noted today what the calorie total said and it was about 450.

Treadmill dues paid, followed by a Very Cold (but this time welcome!) ride home for my first calories of the day.

Green juice for two! My serving: 131 calories (based on my numbers from yesterday)

About an hour and a half later I was ready for My Real Breakfast.

Fruit Cereal:

1 1/2 bananas (158 cals), 2 Tbsp ground flax (60), 2 Tbsp sliced almonds (85), 1/2 unsweetened vanilla hemp milk (30) = 333

We had to leave early this morning (”early” as in 9:30!) to meet up with some homeschooling friends for a nature walk.

We were on a leaf hunt! Maxine was cold and cranky and refused to walk. Carrying an extra 30 lbs for a 30 minute walk. As if I didn’t already run for 30 minutes this morning, kid? Thanks for doing your part Maxine to help these final 10 lbs come off that much faster.

Moments after this picture was taken the 3 older girls shrieked in utter delight when they spotted “poison cherries” on a tree about 50 yards to the left.

Before we left we hit up the nature center and did a little research for my new Taxidermy blog. I just need some help coming up with a new name. Any ideas?

The Flying Squirrel?

Hug a Nut?

Play Dead?

I’ve Got Beaver Fever? (I wonder how many calories are in the leaf?)

Meh. I’m still working on ideas.

We had some errands to run after our leaf picking poison cherry stuffed carcass adventures. I packed some snacks to hold us over until we could get home for a proper lunch.

Carrots and jicama sticks anyone? Yours for a mere 70 calories! Yes please!

And how about half a MamaBar at a whopping 111 calories? Sold to the lady with that crazy look in her eye!

My Proper Lunch would be a salad as big as my head (150 cals – for the salad, not my head) and homemade balsamic dressing.

1 Tbsp EVOO 130 cals
2 Tbsp balsamic 30 cals
1/2 Tbsp agave nectar 30
+ s&p

Lunch! 340 calories!

The Snack: Round 2

2 Tbsp chia seeds 138
1 tsp agave nectar 20
1/2 c hemp milk 30
Dash of cinnamon

Soaked in all it’s 188 calorie glory for about 4 hours to be called chia pudding.

Orange you glad I did the dishes after my snack? 70 calories of citrus goodness.

For dinner tonight I made a tomato bean soup.

28 oz can of tomatoes: 175 calories
1 Tbsp EVOO: 130
1 can of garbonzo beans, rinsed and drained: 350
2 carrots, peeled and sliced:70
1 onion, diced: 30
2 cloves of garlic: 10
A couple shakes of parsley, salt and pepper: .002568999 calories

Recipe total? 695 calories

It made about 5 cups.

695 / 5 = 139 calories per cup

I sauteed diced onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Added all vegetables, salt and pepper + parsley and simmered on medium heat until carrots were soft, probably about 40 minutes. Stir occassionally and subtract 1 calorie for every spoon revolution in the pan.

1 1/2 cups = 215 calories

+ a grilled (in Misto’d olive oil) hummus (75) and tomato (10) sandwich on 2 slices of sesame Ezekiel bread (160) for a dinner tally of 460.

Today’s day of calorie counting? 1783.

I’ve had a couple of revelations today. I know what you’re thinking… already? Yes! Already!

1. I’ve been a little too friendly with the nuts in my life. No, I’m not talking about my husband and children, but the kind that good old Hug a Nut is hugging up there. Me and almond butter have become more than just good friends, we are lovers. Nuts are good for you, but I’ve been a little too eager to be a nutty overachiever. A handful of raw cashews for a pre-dinner snack? And after breakfast? And before lunch? Hello lady I just figured out your problem. Well, at least your nut problem. Now let’s get to work on your sense of humor.

2. Intuitive Eating, Thrive and the Raw Food Detox Diet have made things a lot easier for me. First, as I’ve said many times before, if I don’t eat stimulating foods, I don’t crave them, so eating like I did today and most every day is pretty effortless. I don’t feel like I’m deprived of anything. But most importantly, if I’m hungry, I’m going to eat! When calorie counting in the past I would often make myself wait just a little bit longer before finally getting something to eat. None of that now. If I reach for fruits and vegetables instead of dates with almond butter or a handful of raisins and cashews every time I feel the need for a little something, I think I’ll easily obtain a calorie deficit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to eat nuts – I’m not crazy! I’m just going to stop slathering nut butter on dates or anything and everything without a pulse like it’s going out of style.

3. Thanks for all the recommendations for The Daily Plate! It’s easy, I like it! I entered in all of my data for today and I especially like being able to see the fat, carb and protein totals, fiber too.

Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments. Like a number of you said, I’m using calorie counting as a tool to reach a goal, not an excuse to obsess over food and go nutty with. I’ve already had quite a few clues as to where I’ve been going wrong and this is exactly what I needed. A wake up call! And thankfully not one that involves a horse head in my bed.

• Scary Spoon
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right
• Terribly Tired Tooth Fairy

It’s Tuesday. That means it’s a magic basket full of snacks for me and one or more of the offspring. Today’s basket of packed goodness was for me and Ava. I was unexpectedly assisting in her homeschooling class today. Maxine stayed behind with Aunt Ellen while Ava and I forged ahead.

I was of course excited to dig into my MamaBar and give it a real trial run. (i.e., not sampling it over the food processor bowl.) I chowed this puppy moments before getting out of the car to tackle a room full of 5 and 6 year olds for three hours. I needed every last ounce of coconut oil.

Dinner tonight was inspired by Justine from the Confessions of a SAHM. Curried Squash and Apple Soup.

It all started with a lone buttercup squash I snagged the other day. The produce manager told me buttercup is a very sweet squash, so I knew the perfect recipe to use it in when I saw Justine’s post yesterday.

Halved, de-seeded and roasted with a sweet potato at 350 for about 50 minutes. When I could easily stick a fork through the skin, it was done.

What jumped out at me with this recipe was the addition of an apple! A large peeled crispin apple, sauteed with onion in extra virgin olive oil until soft.

Squash and potato removed from it’s flesh, into the pot with the apple and onion and a couple cups of vegetable broth. A tablespoon or so of cinnamon and curry powder, and then cooked for a few minutes before moving the entire contents into the food processor. I usually leave some veggies in the pot to make the soup chunky, but decided today to go wild and puree the whole pot.

This combination of flavors was awesome, the sweet with savory was so good!

Served by candle light with some garlic hummus on toasted Ezekiel bread with salsa.

So since tonight’s dinner was inspired by Justine, the queen of confessions – here’s mine.

My little calorie math project last night has me totally contemplating calorie counting again – or at the very least food journaling – for the month of November. For the past year now I’ve wanted to lose the last 10 “vanity pounds”, as Jillian Michaels puts it. I was reminded last night of how well calorie counting works. Food journaling was what worked for me like nothing else ever had before. It allowed me to bust through my plateau and go on to lose an additional 23 lbs in two and a half months. Writing it down and seeing the numbers is like balancing your check book. There’s no denying the numbers when they are there in front of you. It worked great for me and I’m suddenly feeling motivated to do it again. I got down to the upper 120’s in the summer of 2008 and have been hanging out in the low 130’s for almost a year now. My clothes still fit but they fit better when I was in the 120’s – and I would love to get back there again. It’s what I’ve wanted for a year now! After trying everything Raw Food Detox Diet and Thrive, the bottom line is that I need to pay closer attention to how many calories I eat. At the end of a day, it’s all about the math. Calories in have to be less than calories out and the weight will come off. If I want to see results I’ve got to keep track.

I hesitate to post this. It’s embarrassing. But it’s real so here it is. There’s no denying that it works – so I’m going to do it. I’m going to food journal for a month and see where I end up 4 weeks from now.

Confession over. Time to hit publish.

• Laundry Catch 22
• Change of Plans
• A Day of Calorie Counting

I had the most fabulous run this morning!

But this fabulous run actually started yesterday – with an innocent homeschooling Halloween party where Mama went as a Dirty Hippy and Maxine went as a ballerina.

I don’t know that this was much of a stretch from how we dress day to day, but whatever.

There were lots of fun treats and goodies.

Including some Mama Averie inspired raw donut holes, available in both chocolate and pumpkin.

Lots of fun games and activities too.

Ghost Ghost Goblin anyone? Hmmm, this seems a lot like another game I know with a duck and a goose…

And who doesn’t love some salt dough fun?

Giant rice krispy treats and Halloween chasing games aside, the climax of my story has yet to come! I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat since my opening line.

Yesterday’s party was held at the home of some friends who happen to live in our soon-to-be-new-neighborhood. Their house is just a block and a half from our new house, and yes I totally went the long way around and drove by like the house stalker that I am.  Thanks for asking!

I peppered our hosts with all sorts of questions about city living and our new stomping grounds.  The husband of my friend happens to be a runner and mentioned the neighborhood running group that meets regularly just a block away.  They run three days a week at 6am, all year round. Four to five miles, down the city streets, through the university campus, along the river path, over the foot bridge, through the cemetery to grandmother’s house we go!

Oh!  And they’re going tomorrow morning?  Wanna come along?

Do I want to come along? Do you know how many times I’ve driven by my new house? And now I get to RUN by? Getting my sneaks on now!

Fast forward to this morning - picture me dragging my butt out of bed at 5am to get dressed and drive into the city (and by the new house – of course) to run 5 miles with a group of strangers in the dark and in the rain.

Now picture me doing a little dance of joy! I loved it despite the fact that our route did not in fact take us by the new house. That’s ok, I can just drive by on my way home. No big deal – I do it all the time.

One of the biggest concerns I’ve had about moving to the city was how living in a more urban area was going to affect my running life.  All of my concerns were laid to rest this morning. I can’t even believe the new house comes with a built in running group.  Why wasn’t that a part of the house description?

Hardwood floors, new furnace, updated kitchen, running group… SOLD!

Home again and back in Suburbia, I put together a cereal parfait worthy of eating on Halloween morning.

Bottom Layer: Pumpkin, agave, cinnamon and nutmeg

Middle Layer: Kashi Cinnamon Harvest. I’ve been avoiding boxed cereal like Swine Flu but bought this for the girls and as far as boxed cereals go, I find that shredded wheat is far from addictive.

Top Layer: Sliced bananas, sliced almonds and flax.

All while being observed by a black cat. I know what you’re thinking – she looks like she’s annoyed and ready to claw me in the eye. But really she’s just showing her support for my attempt to create a Halloween feel for today’s post.

Take it from the top!  A good pour of hemp milk.

So that’s it! I’m officially ready to move!  Right now!  No time to Trick or Treat – let’s PACK!

• A Day of Calorie Counting
• When the Garmin Strikes Midnight
• Two Lefts Don't Make a Right