Ham Tetrazini

Ok, I FINALLY got a recipe done!  One of my all-time favorite family recipes: Ham Tetrazini.  I'm a dork and I forgot to start the pasta before I started everything else, and I ended up eating my steamed broccoli straight out of the pan so it wouldn't get cold while the water came to a boil.  Oh well.  Oh, and Molly was happy, since I had to shred cheese, and she knows I always drop some.


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Hi Internet

I'd like to say that I've been too busy to update the blog, but really I just haven't been much in the mood. I feel like I haven't written a real post in forever.  So I figured I'd at least pop in and say hi, and post a picture of my wacky dog.  She likes playing in the hose water and getting all wet.

Stefano and his team won their hockey championship game, and then found out pretty much the next day that he had to go to Chicago for work.  So he's been there almost two weeks now, though I was able to fly out and join him for Easter last weekend.  We got to stop at my Grandma's and catch up over coffee, and had Easter with his immediate family, his grandma, and his great-uncle.  His aunt, uncle, and some family friends joined us later for the Hawks game-- it was LOUD!  Had a great weekend, even if I had too little sleep and too much food.  Oh well.

I did manage to run both days in Lemont-- a little over 8 miles on Saturday, with Stefano, which was very very slow and painful thanks to too many hills, and then a nice quick 3-mile recovery run on Sunday sandwiched between church and guests arriving for Easter dinner.

This week has been pretty quiet.  Still running four times a week, and my joints are really starting to feel it.  I feel like I have old woman knees today;  I kept almost gasping whenever I had to kneel to grab something off a lower shelf at the grocery store.  Oh and I went to the grocery store after work (it was mobbed.  Ew.  I actually had to circle around a few times and stalk someone for a legal parking spot) and bought a truly massive amount of vegetables.  Veggies make me happy.

Ok, spazzy tired Carrie signing out.  Time to go sleep so I can wake up, work, run, and sleep some more.  I guess having a routine is kinda nice.

One last thing-- I am still working slowly on figuring out nutrition info for the family recipes, but it's complicated by the fact that a lot of them don't have info on number of servings or serving sizes, which means I need to make the recipes and work it out.  And I haven't been doing too much cooking lately since I have no Stefano and it takes a long time for me to eat leftovers.

Security Irony

Please do not leave your bags unattended. Unless you've already sent them through the xray, and you have to wait ten minutes for the privacy invasion machine while your bags sit unattended at the end of security.
Counterproductive security measures and being treated like a criminal really make my morning.

Shopping under the influence

Apparently I shouldn't shop while tired. Not only did it take me almost an hour to do a twenty minute shopping run, but I almost signed my maiden name for my credit card.

Shut up, legs, it's good for you

My legs are all like "rarr I hate you" and I'm all like WOOO I'M A RUNNER.

Ow.  My legs haven't been this sore since my last fourteener.

Did a 7.7 mile run today!

I totally forgot to give this post a title...

I really feel like I should update my blog, but I just haven't been in a writing mood.  Oh well...  Go list!

1.  Stefano is playing in the championship game for his men's hockey league tomorrow night.  GO STEFANO GO!!!  So excited.

2.  Speaking of hockey, it's NHL playoff season!  My Avs had their worst season in franchise history, so I'll be rooting for the Blackhawks.  Stefano might not talk to me if I didn't...

3.  I love my bike.  I've biked for errands every day this week.  I need to go get a basket for the back so I can do grocery shopping.

4.  It's lawn season, meaning my neighbor Mary has been out there four hours a day, on average, mowing, leaf-blowing, moving the sprinkler, and watering with the hose because apparently when you're Mary the sprinkler is just not enough.  At least she's been nicer lately; the last couple times I've waved, she's waved back!

5.  No new developments with the neighbor's unleashed dog.  Haven't seen any of them in a while, actually.  Maybe they're out of town.

6.  Sometimes I feel like the guy from "Rear Window" because I watch and talk about my neighbors so much....

7.  I went running downtown with Stefano and a running club at his gym.  It was cold and I was the very slowest in the pack, but hey, I was part of the pack.  Ok, well, I managed to keep part of the pack within sight the whole time.  That counts, right?  We ran a 5k, and I ran the three fastest miles I have ever run.

8.  I don't think I've eaten out since I got back from Kentucky.  I love my kitchen!

9.  I think that's everything.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Stefano bought me my birthday present early!!

I am super excited!  I wanna play hooky from work tomorrow and ride my bike to the zoo...

EDIT: Here's a link to the bike info and a better picture.

Wednesday

You ever have one of those days?  Where stupid little things keep going wrong and driving you nuts?  And any one of those things you could handle on a normal day, but today they drive you insane.

Today was one of those days.  It was insanely windy.  The pavement we were inspecting was TERRIBLE.  Our maps were wrong. You missed your (apparently) only change to save your online baggage payment receipt when you checked in online.  Websites mysteriously won't load.  The exercise bike in the hotel required a doctorate in gym equipment to understand and kept changing settings randomly on you.

But none of that matters.  I'm going home tomorrow. Incredibly happy.

Hopefully loud-tv-watcher next to me goes to bed early tonight.  I am tired of tossing and turning with earplugs in until 2am when he/she finally decides to turn off the tv.

Countdown

I get to go home the day after tomorrow.  Only two more nights in hotels.  We've been in really cheap hotels for this project, and something at every hotel has stopped me from getting good sleep.  Running screaming children. Slamming doors.  Man talking loudly in Spanish on his cell phone right outside my door.  Fire trucks going by.  Being right on a busy road with lots of road noise.  And now, the TV in the room next to me is right on the other side of the wall from my bed.  The people next to me are apparently people that have to have the TV on all the time.  It was on since the time we checked in at 1pm yesterday until about 2am, then they turned it back on at 5am.  I slept with earplugs in.

Running high

You'll have to forgive me if I'm babbling ... I'm on a bit of an endorphin high right now.  We got to our hotel early today (aka 545pm) and I realized I had about two hours of daylight left. I was planning on doing my long run tomorrow, since Saturdays are my usual long run days, but I wasn't sure I'd have time at night, and I wasn't keen on the idea of running in the dark tomorrow morning. So I snarfed a granola bar, packed up my mega-dorky running waistband with a water bottle and hit the road. I meant to do five miles, but ended up closer to six since I got mildly lost. Kentucky has some strange aversion to street signs.

Long story short, I ran 5.7 miles in an hour and eleven minutes, for an average pace of twelve and a half minutes. Considering my usual pace is closer to fourteen minutes, I'm really freaking happy.

Alrighty, my fajitas just got here, so I'm gonna dig in. But writing this while waiting totally achieved the desired effect of making sure I didn't eat an entire basket of tortilla chips.

Elizabethtown

Howdy from Elizabethtown Kentucky.

Normally I like a high pressure shower. But this shower was more like a power washer. On the bright side, my skin is nice and exfoliated!

Oh, and happy birthday to the love of my life! I considered calling and singing to him when I woke up, but since that was 4am in Denver and he won a playoff hockey game last night, I figured I'd let him sleep. Love you, Stefano!