Marvelous Monday: Week 39

It's Monday, and it's a gorgeous day in this corner of the world: sunny, deep blue sky, and temperatures in the 70s. The leaves are starting to change color, and you know that thrills me.

Five more marvelous tidbits:

1) I ran this morning for the first time in nearly three weeks! Items of note: pink cirrus clouds, somewhere two and three miles covered, a lengthy stop to examine some marvelous maple leaves. It was a wonderful way to start Monday.

2) I spent some time at my parents' house on Saturday, and along with old copies of my high school newspapers, yearbooks, sports memorabilia, cards, photos and a letter jacket, I also retrieved Wish's All-Time Favorite Toy, which we'd left there on a previous visit. It's this gnarly, beat-up old toy football that has long since lost its squeak, and when I showed it to him later in the day, I thought he was going to explode with happiness.

On Sunday, I found him in the living room, not expecting to play, just sitting like this:

3) It's Twin Cities Marathon Week! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. The course looks beautiful, and so does the forecast! I'll be volunteering with my committee near the finish line. I know several friends (and readers - hello!) are running the marathon or 10 Mile. If this means you, please give me an approximate time range, and I will cheer and shout for you! I am so proud of the runners already, especially the ones who are tackling a distance for the first time.

4) Tonight Josh and I are watching the play-in game between the Rays and the Rangers that determines which team will go to the playoffs. Like many Minnesotans, I'd guess, I have a soft spot in my heart for Game 163s that harkens back to the Twins' own Game 163 in 2009 against the Tigers that lasted 12 innings and was totally epic. I was on a work trip to Colorado and wasn't able to watch the game in real time, but my phone was going crazy with texts and I fielded several questions at my work event about the game. (Josh was at the stadium, so I guess we balance out.)

5) And to pair with tonight's baseball game: tonight's dinner is sweet corn and bacon skillet mac and cheese. It's basically bacon, corn, pasta and cheese topped with tomatoes. This Iowa Girl Eats knows what she's doing.

In a potentially unprecedented way, this Marvelous Monday covers a number of things I love: running, leaves, clouds, Wish, my family, Twin Cities Marathon, baseball, cooking and food. Whoa.

How's your week starting out, Reader? What is your best guess for peak fall color in the Twin Cities? Will you spectating and cheering this weekend (or running yourself)? Favorite fall recipes? Do share! The butternut squash is arriving in this week's CSA!