Reason #27 I Like My Job

0828081328.jpg, originally uploaded by cherrydg.

I was heating up my lunch today when I got a whiff of a familiar smell. I turned around and saw this rice cooker on the kitchen counter.

Merry-land Weekend

Friday - I had a craving for Papa John's pizza so we stayed in and watched more of the Olympics. Glad to see that both the men and womens 4x400 relay teams hung on to the batons.

Saturday - Ran a short 5-miler with Steve, went to my chiro-cracker appointment and then rode topless in the Jeepy to Annapolis. Picked up our bib numbers and chip at the Navy-Marine Corp stadium and strolled around the expo. Despite my addiction to running clothing and gear, I did not buy a single thing. Made the familia dinner at Mom & Dad's, watched the mens marathon, and went to bed when it didn't look like Ryan Hall was going to be medaling this time around.

Sunday - Awoke at 5:15 so that we could get our tails back to Annapolis for the Annapolis 10-miler. I was SOOOO not looking forward to this race. I had heard from so many people how hilly and difficult it was and how the weather was typically miserably hot and humid. Thank you Momma Nature for sparing us the humidity. And thanks to my bro Robby for taking pictures. (Sorry I was too zoned out to see you on the course.)

No, we did not coordinate our outfits. We both just happened to pack orange tops.

I knew I wanted to run this race conservatively so my pace wasn't as good as it was at the Leesburg 20K that I ran two weeks ago. I finished in an hour, 35 minutes, and some odd seconds: better than I expected. And the hills that I had been fearing weren't as scary as I had imagined in my crazy little brain. Post-race I got my banana, beer, and finishers jacket. This is the only race I've done so far where they don't give you the schwag until after you finish the race.



Headed back to Mom & Dad's to shower up and then took a field trip with the 'rents and Mr. Cary (friend of Dad's) to some new international grocery store. Awesome. They had so many different kinds of food that you would never find at Giant or Safeway. Some tame things such as Chinese okra (okra that's bigger than a cucumber) wasabi peas and some other items that make you wonder what the heck you'd do with it such as Twizzler shaped tapioca and salmon heads.

Next stop in our foreign food field trip was the filipino market. I bought my share of filipino sausages, candied coconut, and assorted sweets.

Our feasti-val continued with steamed crabs and shrimp.



This was topped off with some jackfruit and ube ice cream. Unusual flavors, but yummy.

Welterweight Burrito

Steve's burrito from Chipotle weighed in at a whopping 1 3/4 lbs. It even has his initials on it.

I touched a Wii

A co-worker asked me to be on her team for the company Wii bowling league so I got to play for the first time EVER. (Yes, I am behind the times.) My Wii Mii even has a mole above her lip like real me. We played a trial game during lunch as just like in real life, I'm a disgrace to the bowling community. My final score: 85.

Track workouts are like church

When I was a kid, I used to do anything I could to get out of going to church and CCD (Sunday school). Fake an illness. Pretend to be sleeping. Lose a shoe.

I'm now finding myself trying to come up with an excuse to miss the track workout tonight. We're scheduled to do a 2-miler followed by 4-8 400 meters. Steve's in Winchester so he can't make it so that doesn't help with my motivation. I can't sleep in tomorrow like I normally do after a track night because I have to be in DC for a class.

As you as my witness I'm forcing myself to go because I know I'll feel better when it's over. Besides, I've had coffee from Starbucks every morning this week so my pants are guaranteed to be uncomfortable if I don't get my tush running. Plus I have a 20K this weekend and I'll be pissed at myself if I don't beat last year's time. Amen. Allelujia.

For my crafty friends...

Update of projects I've worked on over the last few months.

Pre-smocked dress that will be going up on Etsy because it's just way too pink for my liking:

McCalls' 5654: (Thanks to Maricel for showing this and the following pattern to me!)


McCalls' 5617:


Cherry apron:


Tote bag:


Triathlon cross-stitch: