Long lines

Personal best

Not for me. For Wish!

Today Wish ran three miles with me for the first time! He is finally pacing himself better and trotted at a sweet little clip nearly the whole way (minus stops to sniff). The sun set during our run, the streetlights were glowing and there were three or four inches of fresh snow on the ground (but almost entirely shoveled off the sidewalks already!). It was a beautiful night in our city.

I am proud of this little dog.

Marvelous Monday: Week 2

Monday! Here we go:

1) Reading treats this week: today I picked up my reserved copy of A Field Guide to American Houses, and it looks simply marvelous. It's grouped by housing style, with lots of example photos and drawings to point out the key features of the style. I loved the architectural tidbits from the neighborhood walking tour I took and am excited to read the book and then know more about the other kinds of houses in the neighborhoods where I run.

2) You aren't going to believe this, but I got out for a run before work this morning - my first weekday morning run in what must be months - and did just under five miles, the last 1.5 of which were with Wish. It felt great to have the workout in the books so early, though tomorrow morning is supposed to be snowy and windy, so I won't guarantee that I'll be out there again.

3) My mom Santa included a little Keeshond-shaped cookie cutter in Wish's stocking at Christmas, and I am too fond of it to stash it away until next Christmas, so I devised a temporary little kitchen set-up, thanks to scrapbook paper, a few nails and a 5x7 picture frame (minus the glass) to keep it on display. I am trying to decide whether I should make two more with my Minnesota- and heart-shaped cookie cutters to make a little (odd) triptych. For now, the little Keeshond is making me smile.

4) My beloved "Hart of Dixie" is back tonight after a midseason hiatus and I just figured that out today.

5) I aim to begin a sewing project this week.

What's nice about the start of your week, Reader? Any winter TV shows coming back that you're exciting about? Any new books on your reading list? Tell me!

Jambalaya and ice cream cake

Last night my family had dinner together at my parents' house to celebrate Josh's birthday. My mom cooked jambalaya and cornbread, which we loved. Then she took the dessert out of the freezer and plopped it straight into the oven, then onto the dinner table, where it had to sit for 30 minutes before we ate it.

It's something between a baked Alaska and a bombe, so it had a bottom layer of brownies, then layers of coffee ice cream, cookie dough ice cream, and some other kind of ice cream (chocolate?), then topped with meringue, which is what was browning in the oven. It turns out that the meringue insulates the ice cream layers, so the ice cream doesn't melt in the oven.

We were in awe. It was a special birthday treat and a great evening.

101 in 1,001 update

I'm into the last calendar year of my 101 in 1,001 project!

I didn't make formal resolutions this year, but I have been thinking about 2014 in a big picture, wanna-make-a-vision-board kind of way. It is a perfect time to revisit the 101 in 1,001 list and do some planning, since my list wraps up on September 28!

I have 51 items complete and 17 in progress.

I finished a few recently:

#90 Try six new foods. I tried a guava on Christmas Day. I've never had it not in juice form!
#89 Take a cooking class. The buche de noel cooking class I took with Sara through Minneapolis Community Ed covered it (and was awesome).
#43 Give blood at least once a year. (Five donation visits during the 101 in 1,001 project: twice in 2012, twice in 2013, and once this week. I'm glad I got more consistent about this - and thanks to Kate for the initial nudge!)

I'm trucking along at others:

#82 Try one new recipe per month. (I love that these are all collected in one place, in my Google doc.)
#92 Read five classic books. (I've been reading Sister Carrie, very slowly.)
#97 See five classic movies. (I watched "The Godfather" last month.)
#73 Take a photo of the same place every month for a year. (This one is really fun!)

I'm keeping my eye out for some that I need to get moving on:

#57 Learn the basics of car maintenance (either by taking a class or asking my dad to teach me to change oil).
#61 Complete three financial literacy projects. I've been thinking a lot about this and have some ideas.
#67 Go to six cultural events with a friend. (Volunteers and ideas welcome!)

And I got the ball rolling on some others this week, including: making a dentist appointment, picking my next poem to memorize, marking my calendar to volunteer at an upcoming race, marking my calendar for the local hot air balloon festival, and hitting the sauna on those cold, cold days when the gym was my best workout option.

There's a lot left to tackle, but with nearly nine months to go in the project, I'm making progress. Even if I stopped today, it's neat to look at the list and take stock of the progress: the nearly 50 items I've checked off in the last couple of years that represent more trying, learning and exploring than I would've done without the list. I'm also jotting down ideas for my next list as they pop into my head, and at risk of looking too far ahead, I'm excited to start fresh with a new 101 in 1,001. But first: the remaining 51 unchecked items. Onward!