dailybreak

I just found out that the church secretary who was also the church organist for my church died yesterday. She had failing health the past few months. My heart goes out to the congregation and especially the Pastor. I belong to a small country church, St. Pauls, where everyone is close. I have only been a member for a short time (I was a field worker there for one year too) and most recently have been attending a closer different church, Holy Cross,(that I belonged to for 14 years before transferring to St. Pauls), but I know the congregation well enough to understand what a great loss this is for them and great sadness that fills their hearts.

I wish I had something deep to say. My mother in law is visiting from New Hampshire and has been a joy to have around. Abby took about a half day to warm up to here. But, after sharing a meal with her at supper, Abby was all talk and smiles. All the talking must be wearing her out because she (Abby) slept 3.5 hours today in naps.

Tomorrow, I am going to do something crazy. I have been thinking about wanting to get into the government/political system for years (a little unknown secret of mine) but never really made the jump. Tomorrow, I am going to get the necessary forms to run for the city's school board (there are five potential open seats up for grabs in April). I have not decided if I will go out and try to get the required 50 legal signatures and do all the necessary binding, notarizing, statment making etc before 5 PM Feb. 5th. Stay tuned. I am taking baby steps. The only person that I have ever really seriously talked about this with is my mother.
I read in the local paper tonight about the five potential openings and the article provided all the information to get the petition ball rolling.

I just ate almost a whole package of Haribo Gold Bears gummi candy. And not only a package but it was valu pak package; meaning more deliciously sinful gummi candy in the shape of cute little colored bears. Me wonder if one can get high from too much gummi? My mouth feels disgusting. Must drink water.

I have been taking a very smart, safe and mature route to running since having Abby. Instead of just running for running sake and not caring if I am hurting my knee until it starts hurting and I can't take one more step, I am trying to look at my running as something I want to do when I am 80 and not just today.

One big change is I take walk breaks. I am not going to be an elite runner, as cool as that seems, and thus it is okay if I walk.

This past November I started slowly increasing my running time by increasing my running intervals from 1 minute to 10. Now that I can go ten minutes before I take a walk break, I am working on increasing my overall running time from 30 minutes to, well, more than 30 minutes. I am basically doing this routine where for three weeks I increase my long run by several minutes and then week 4 I go easy. All the while taking 1 minute walk breaks every 8-12 minutes.

Today I ran 48 minutes w/ walk breaks every 10 or 8 minutes. Next week I will be back down to 30 for my easy week. But, after that I will try for a 56-58 minute long run. My goal is eventually 90 minutes so I can seriously think about doing a half-marathon. Which will require at least 2 hours. I have ran 2 in the past but I did not take them seriously and ended up w/ really sore knee from an aggravated illiotibial band. My chiropractor has helped a great deal along with some spiffy orthotics that fit like a glove in my Asics 2110's, which I just bought for 46 bucks free shipping...they retail for 90 bucks. Oh yeah.

It is National De-Lurking Week!

Like miss zoot I will be donating a dollar to charity  for every comment I receive. 

My charity is a program sponsored by Camp Luther where they try to send children to a week long camp for free.  I loved camp as a kid and think all kids should experience the joy of swimming in cold lakes and smelling like bug repellant is the next Chanel no 5. 

Of course, I don't have a lot of readers so maybe I should up my donation to 5 bucks a person commenting. 

Just say HI!

I am sure you are waiting by the edge of your seats to find out what I am going to prepare for my chef friend. Well, wait no longer my fine culinary friends...

SPANIKOPITA!

"Ah, Sarah, how much have you been drinking?

Not much, (just joking) but this is a recipe from my "Horn Of The Moon Cookbook". A total vegetarian cookbook that Mitch has owned for over 12 years. He says he has cooked every recipe from it. The dish consists of phyllo dough wrapped around sauteed garlic, onions, sweet basil, and oregano mixed with feta cheese, spinach and eggs. I even made a special trip to my favorite spice shop were you can pay 50cents for a fresh spices that at the store cost 4dollars or more. I kid you not! What a racket.

Happy for the weekend. Happy to wake up and the only thing to accomplish is playing with Abby, working out, and making some food. My new magazine addiction...cookbook mags. I can go through a food mag over and over again and always find something new I might want to cook. I am a little nervous (okay not really but I should be); Mon. I am suppose to deliver a home-cooked meal to a new mom who used to be a chef on the west coast for a well-known head chef. I am thinking I will just go simple and not exert any great amount of energy because I can't possible cook anything good enough. I am McDonalds and she is Le Bonne Bouche (a french pastry shop that makes food good enough for the best food mag).

Anchorversary? I just saw a commercial for Matt Lauer's 10th Anchorversary. The voice over was so serious too; as if I am the fool for not hearing this word before. That opens a whole new world of words for me. As if Bennifer and Brangelina was not good enough. I do believe those usages are out of style.

Hmmm...
When is your blogversary?

Resolution update:

55 pushups a day! I am crazy. Maybe I will just aim to do more pushups more days a week

I am almost done with reading "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner and then it is on to a new book for January. It is wierd for me to say that reading one book a month is a big deal because in college I was having to read more than one book a week. Also, I noticed back in my school daze I was much faster at reading. The more I read the faster I read. One time in order to be ahead for a 4-week African American literature course, I thought I would go buy the books ahead of schedule and read them all before the first day of class. Great books by great African American writers. Then one day I was in the bookstore, looking up more books for the class, I noticed something. There were two African American lit classes, and I had been busting my butt reading for the wrong class. I stood in the bookstore for a second dumbfounded and not sure if being upset was a valid response, because I had read books that I most likely would have never read. So, I shrugged my shoulders and said to myself oh well and started reading the books for the right class.

Perhaps that is indicative of my response to mistakes I make, which I make a lot. Oh well, shrugg shoulders and move forward. I guess sometimes I even learn from my mistakes. Or better yet my reading the wrong books thing is more telling of the fact I don't always pay attention to details. I admire those that do.

I don't usually bother with new years resolutions but this year it seemed like a fun idea. Or, at least an idea; maybe not fun.

1) Go to bed earlier
2) Turn computer off by 8pm (this will help with #1)
3) Drink less soda by not keeping it in the house
4) Learn Origami (Have already made dog's head and nightingale)
5) Read a book a month that is not a how to be a better mom book
6) Go to a new restaurant every month; cheap or fancy
7) 55 pushups a day