More marathon musings and some food

This makes me happy whenever I walk to my car

I was talking with Emily on Monday afternoon, and she told me about a friend - and I am using that term loosely now - who cheated on her "marathon". A mutual friend was suspicious because she had passed her and when she checked this girl's time, found she had finished significantly earlier. She had missed two of the checkpoints, and so ran a 20-mile race. Still not insignificant, but don't go telling people you have run a marathon. I told Emmy that she could run with Paul Ryan (in reference to him shaving more than an hour off his marathon time). She asked me if I had seen the signs in Water Works Park, the one that said "Paul Ryan's marathon", then "If you were Paul Ryan, you'd be done now." I HAD seen them, but politics were the last thing on my mind; I thought it was referring to someone who had died at that spot during a previous DSM Marathon. Just goes to show that cheating will come around to bite you in the butt. (Just for fun, if you're interested in calculating your race time in Paul Ryan time, you can do so here).

I wore my medal to work on Tuesday, and my friends oohed and aahed enough to make me feel special. I had even chosen to wear a top to match the ribbon. One of the women from the administrative side of the museum was in the shop and my friend Cathy (yes, same name, same spelling - it was popular in the 50's) asked her if she had noticed my ribbon. Susie said yes, pretty haltingly, until Cathy told her is was for the marathon. She said, "Oh thank God. It's so ugly that I thought it was maybe an art project or something - I didn't want to say anything!"

And speaking of the Joslyn, one of our potters was in early on Tuesday, and I bought a few pieces even before we put it out. Come check it out if you're in the area and need something for a gift or for you. "To me from me" are always good gifts.

I was pretty sore Monday, so was glad that I hadn't used the gift card for a massage and pedicure that Aly and Alex had given me for doing the calligraphy for the wedding. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) I had a massage Tuesday afternoon after work, and it was glorious - the best I have ever had. My guilty pleasure has always been pedicures, but I may have changed my mind. While my calves and feet were a little achy, she could SEE the knots in my shoulders and upper back before she even touched me - no surprise since I could definitely feel them. She told me I should come in regularly for even half an hour and have her work the kinks out. If you're in Omaha and need a good massage, see Ashley at One Drake Place. She is a little bitty thing, but amazingly strong!

My pedicure was yesterday, and I had my nails painted OPI Russian Navy - the exact color of my bruised toenails!

I really seriously will stop talking about this race soon. I took Monday and Tuesday off, and as I had to be somewhere early yesterday, I hopped on the treadmill instead of running in the dark. And cold. I cannot even express how much I hate the treadmill. I know it will be a necessary evil this winter, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! Tomorrow is outside - it's supposed to be cold, but at least dry.

I have been really hungry this week, and I know it's because I haven't planned any snacks. We have a bag of Chicago Mix popcorn in the pantry that keeps calling my name, and I have been horrible about resisting. So I will plan better snacks, and hopefully be able to ignore the treats. Or at least eat a reasonable portion size. For example, my snack this morning was an Abs Diet banana split smoothie:

And it looks like I have dessert for after dinner tonight

BREAKFASTS:

Greek yogurt and slice of chocolate chip banana bread (Thanks, Debbie!)

Hard-boiled egg, yogurt, 1/2 PB sandwich

Oatmeal with 1 T PB, almond-coconut milk, and 2 tsp brown sugar. And coffee

 LUNCHES:

Leftover rotisserie chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts, milk

This just sounded really good when I saw it in the store

And it was. There was a nice little kick to it.

 DINNERS:

Rotisserie chicken, roasted Brussels sprouts, carrot sticks. I love a colorful meal!

I was feeling carnivorous. Filet, baked sweet  potato, and salad. I ate half the steak and will have the other half on a salad with blue cheese tonight. Dwight has a meeting and I can't eat popcorn for dinner.

So that brings me up to date. My tummy is rumbling so I need to go find something healthy to eat before settling in for an afternoon of knitting. I started a new project - a scarf that will make me think every other row.

The pattern is Three Sisters Scarves #2. I found it on Ravelry. This is NOT my scarf; if it turns out well I will post a picture. My yarn is in shades of blues and browns

I'm using one of my favorite yarns, Handmaiden sea silk - made from silk and a cellulose from seaweed. It just feels so good in my hands! The needles are little and the pattern is airy, so the scarf drapes beautifully. I made the Three Sisters #1 last year, and while similar, this pattern is a bit more difficult. And by difficult, I mean that I have to pay attention! No mindless knitting here - except for the even rows.

In case I don't write tomorrow, I have a fun weekend planned - hockey tomorrow night, and then I'm headed to Des Moines for a day of wedding dress shopping with Erin (our bride-to-be!), Emily, and Beth, Erin's mother-in-law-to be. I'm pretty excited, since I have never gone wedding dress shopping - mine was a Gunne Sax dress. Hey, it was 1981.

And if that wasn't enough fun, we're getting together with a bunch of friends to watch the Nebraska-Michigan game on Saturday night. Go Huskers!