Vegetable Pulp Crackers

September 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (29 Comments)

I’ve been a busy little bee this morning! (New header anyone?)

After some blog reading this morning I officially had produce dehydration on the brain. With dehydrating madness going on across the land, I knew today was the day to fill the house with the smell of hot fruit stank.

But first, a run! 5 ish miles in 40 ish minutes. I got caught in the rain for the last mile and a half but you’ll be glad to know that both me and the iPod survived.

Easy Like Saturday Morning

September 26th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (16 Comments)

Zak and Ava are heading up to the cottage this weekend to get some things wrapped up for the end of the season. Zak was going to go by himself with his brother and mom, but then we thought Ava would enjoy it. Now that she’s older she’s much easier to take on the 4 hour road trip to up north.

We also thought it might be nice to let each girl have a parent all to themselves for a weekend. So Zak and Ava are off on a little adventure and Maxine and I here to have what I’m sure will be a few little adventures of our own.

Crack That Nut

September 24th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (27 Comments)

Off and running first thing this morning. I’m so glad we’ve had a slight reprieve from the chilly mornings and I can run in shorts for a little while longer still.

I left my iPod at home today, wanting to just run and be completely present in the moment, focusing on what I was doing. My breathing and the sound of my feet hitting the pavement were the soundtrack for this morning’s run.

I had enough time this morning to go a bit longer and did 5.76 miles in about 47 minutes. My run definitely felt longer today without something to distract me, but it was welcome.

My little mung beans have already started to sprout!

Sprouting

After a few more email exchanges with my mom this morning I realized it was probably worth my time to take a closer look at the sprouting instructions that came with my lids.

Wait. Read the directions? Imagine that!

Sprouting Instructions

OK I promise I did read the instructions yesterday but didn’t get much beyond the soaking part because that’s all I was concerned with then.

One Armed Carrot Jokes

September 18th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Late Night Craziness - (25 Comments)

Who doesn’t want a little AliSUN in their day?

AliSUN

Anyone who doesn’t read this blog, apparently.

I ran to the soothing sounds of having New Moon read to me. Finally! Someone who reads to me!

New Moon - Visitor

I set out to run 5 miles and was back in about 40 minutes. I was ready to be done running but not ready to head back inside yet so I hopped on my bike for a 20 minute cool down ride and took advantage of the opportunity for a slightly longer work out today.

Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right

September 16th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (26 Comments)

Immediately after I hit Publish this morning we were off for a homeschooling meet up with some friends at a playground.

Tube Crawlin'

Do you remember being a kid and running without wondering when it was time to stop? Running to try and catch a bird or running like you were being chased by a monster in the basement that was going to pull you back down if you didn’t get to the top of the basement stairs before the door closed at the bottom of the stairs behind you?

Run Ava Run!

(See her out there running like it’s nobody’s business?)

The Marathons are Over

September 16th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Party Time - (26 Comments)

A whirlwind day yesterday with so much going on, thank you all for all the birthday wishes for my baby girl!

After Maxine opened her gifts from us in the morning I got started on her cake. I used a chocolate cake recipe I’ve used in the past.

Dark Chocolate Cake
2 c boiling water
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c butter, softened
2 1/4 c white sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Half Marathon Race Recap

September 13th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (49 Comments)

I’m going to spoil the ending by jumping ahead and saying right at the start that today was probably one of the best runs of my entire life.

The day started at 4:55 AM when I woke up a half hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I slept like a rock and felt great when I woke up. I called Shawn at 5:30 to make sure he was awake and moving around.

Shawn and I went over our strategy last night, but I was still feeling unsure about our approach this morning. Fast at the beginning? If so, how fast? Save it all for the end? How much do I hold back? Maintain a steady pace throughout?

Half Brained Half Marathon

September 10th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Motivation - (25 Comments)

I’ve felt so swamped this week I keep *forgetting* that the half marathon is on Sunday. Last year at this time I was gearing up to run my first full marathon and it was of course all I could think about. I began checking the weather forecast day 10 days out. I laid out my clothes and mixed and matched outfit possibilities in my mind figuring out what would work best. I checked the race website for updates multiple times a day. Re-read emails from the race director again and again, making sure I knew every last detail and didn’t miss a thing.

It Is My Duty

August 31st, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Dinner Time - (19 Comments)

I keep waiting for the watermelon to stop tasting so good –

Watermelon

but alas, that time has yet to come. I guess I’ll just have to keep testing the watermelons until I’m sure watermelon season is over. It is my duty.

So as luck would have it my mom had a technological snow day of sorts and was able to leave work early – thus I was able to get my run checked off the to-do list much earlier than I anticipated.

Midday sun + warm but not too hot air + slight breeze = perfect running weather.  It was my duty to run.