A Snowshoe SWITCH-A-ROO, A REAL Snowshoe, & A Pilates Bit…

I was enthused and all set Saturday morning to go on my first snowshoe of the season. Saturday morning dawned white from snow falling most of the night, and it was still lightly snowing as I headed over to Diane’s house to meet. She had her van warming up as I transferred my snowshoe gear to her vehicle. I went in to play with Ollie for a bit and chat about where we were going to snowshoe.


Diane said there was this place up Emigration where her boss goes and she thought it might be fun to check it out. It sounded good to me. I asked if it was near the top of the canyon, and she said it was somewhere in the middle section behind a grouping of houses. She wrote down the directions her boss told her. Well, and Kym flaked and wouldn’t be able to join us.


It was as we were going up Emigration that Diane handed me the directions and said,” Here’s the directions read them out loud for me.” So I start reading…

“Emigration Canyon,

Up 3 miles or so look for Fire Station,

Take a left,

Drive up – house on right with red awning,

Take right...”

There are more directions but I stop there, and I say, “Gee, that sounds like its up by my friend Henry’s house.” I’m trying to place the area it in my mind. The “Human GPS” at work. I put the sheet of directions down and I’m waiting to get closer to the Fire Station. My brain thinks of the area we are driving to.


Diane tells me to the read the rest of the directions as she pulls off to the side into Ruth’s Diner parking lot. I think this is strange for her. “Please read the rest of the directions,” she says again. So I humor her…

“Drive past BIG dog house on left,

Turn left,

Old beater truck – take right,

Keep driving until road dead ends,

Walk up trail about ¼ mile,

Then take left up to crest.

AND this is all just a big joke to take you to breakfast to celebrate your birthday….”

“Oh MAN!” I laugh as Diane reaches in the back seat for a leopard printed feathered gift bag.
“Happy Birthday Girl!” Diane hands me the gift bag, “I’ve been planning this for a week. You are hard to pull a surprise on and I thought you were never going to finish reading those directions."  Shortly afterwards Kym showed up to join us and we had a nice breakfast and I got to open some presents. It was fun and a first that anyone’s pulled a successful birthday surprise on me.


On the way back to Diane’s we made arrangements for a REAL snowshoe the next morning. I arrive the next morning and as I get out of my car I yell jokingly,” Are we going for a REAL snowshoe this time?” Diane laughs and yep we really went on a snowshoe this time. Here are some photos from it…

I was surprised there was about 2ft of snow in the nearby mountains.

Snow was still coming down as we were snowshoeing around.

Myself in my glorified snowshoe gear.

Diane just being Diane!LOL!

This morning was my 10th pilates reformer class. It was the same teacher (Cathy) that I had two weeks ago where my abs hurt almost the entire week afterwards, and half way through the class she had asked me if it was my first pilates class. At that time, I had told her,” No but I have no core muscles.” I liked how she taught the class. She would go around the class and with her hands helped and talked me into how to do the proper position. She also is really good for helping me to push myself just a bit out of my comfort zone.

This morning, I was the first to arrive on a cold November morning. I told her that after her last class I took two weeks ago my abs hurt the rest of the week. We talked some more about how I was going to Jump Board and other early morning classes. She said that she hoped I would notice an improvement when I was in class today.

Lo & Behold! I surprised myself. I managed that head stand like position which I guess is called a “short spine”. It’s the same position I tried last Friday morning and had the machine come apart in my hand. I discovered I was doing it all wrong. I was bending my legs too early and I can be more stable if I keep my arms down straight against my side. There were still quite a few times in the class that I couldn’t really manage to do some of the positions in the class but I did notice that I’m managing more in each class; little by little.

I know I am progressing because my abs are not hurting as I’m sitting here writing this. I also have noticed that I’m getting more definition in my abs. Granted, I’m still WAY off from a six pack.

Plank Pathetic & A Pair of Characters…

Saturday night, I went over to assist a disabled friend who is the process of moving from an apartment into a condo. I’ve been trying to make myself available to her to help move some of the larger heavier items and also some of the articles that are higher up. We were sitting and taking a break at then end of the night.  As we are gabbing along the subject of my ability to do the plank position came up. She says she does it all the time as part of her therapy. I’m starting to feel about 4 inches tall because here’s a disabled person that’s able to do the plank and I can’t. How pathetic am I? Well, this morning she sends me a message and says, “Oh, by the way I was talking about a reverse plank position last night.” Whew~! That was a load off my mind because I was REALLY starting to wonder if I was just plain plank challenged! Well, I AM but…  Then I'm wondering... Wait a minute there's a reverse plank?  Maybe I'm focusing on doing the wrong plank!



Sunday afternoon, I’m out with the Popette doing our monthly Barnes & Noble visit. As we are getting settled with coffee in the café area of the store, the Popette talks with a guy nearby. He has three different thick tomes on the table in front of him; one of which is about 4 inches thick. She teases him about cramming for a professorship. He laughs and talks with her for a bit as I pick up our coffee order. The Popette and I start doing our catch up banter and I can see over the Popette's shoulder that Mr. Professorship is eavesdropping on our banter by the smirks and the quiet chuckles.

The Popette gets on the subject of a new poetry writing group that’s she’s been invited to join. It’s pretty prestigious for her to get into. She’s gone a couple of times to it. I ask her what she thought of the group. She comes back with,” They’re a bunch of A$$holes!” I can see Mr. Professorship’s jaw drop.  I chuckle because this is just classic Popette all the way.


I continue on,” So, let me get this straight you’ve gone two times. Did it take you two times to discover that they were A$$holes or is your learning curve getting slower?” I hear the chuckle erupt from Mr. Professorship. “No, no, no… I was just kind of quiet and unsure the first time I went….” I tease her about I could NEVER imagine her as being a quiet wall flower. Mr. Professorship is quietly laughing and shaking his head.


The Popette then goes on to tell of the dynamic of the group and to explain it was really just one overbearing person in the group that was TRULY the A$$hole. If it weren’t for this particularly “unsavory overbearing wench”, it could be an okay group. I can see that Mr. Professorship has forgotten about his tomes completely by this time.  I can see him shaking as he's silently chuckling.


Our lively banter continues on. I ask the Popette about her male companion; a dear sole who spends a great deal of time with her. I would describe him as a steady nice guy who literally worships the ground the Popette walks on but he’s a bit stale like dry toast around the edges. The Popette then goes on to tell how the two of them had a conversation this last week. Her companion was concerned about her dying before he did. The Popette found this very endearing that he didn’t want to live without her. Her companion responded that he was afraid that he was boring her to death.


This cracked me up! Meanwhile, I’m watching Mr. Professorship almost fall of his seat and he was laughing SO hard he looked ready to cry. Just watching Mr. Professorship over the Popette’s shoulder had me cracking up even harder. The Popette continued on with how she was SO surprised by her companion’s “one-liner” which WAS SO out of character that she ended up spitting out her coffee all over the place.


Later, the Popette took off to check out the Barnes & Noble store. A bit after that, Mr. Professorship got up to leave. I smiled at him and stated,” She’s quite the character, isn’t she?” He said,” You are both a pair of characters and you made my afternoon. Thanks!” Then, he left.

Trick-or-Treaters, Bike Rides, & A Month End...

I had 2 trick-or-treaters that showed up on my door step last night. It surprised me and I was totally unprepared. All I could offer them were Clift Sports Bars. One of the kids just gave me a look like, “What in the Heck is this?” I offered to give him cherry-flavored sports beans instead. “Beans?! No Lady, that’s okay, “and they walked down the hall to the next door. For two years, I’ve been prepared for kids to visit my apartment door and never had anyone show. It would figure the one year, I’m unprepared I have a couple show. Go figure!



The whole group of riders at the 5th Annual Tricky Treat Costume Ride!



First Place Costume Prize- Minnesota Viking and her trusty steed!

The 5th Annual Tricky Treat Costume Ride this last Saturday was a success and TONS of fun. There were almost 50 riders and 85% of them came in costume. The first prize went to the Minnesota Viking and her faithful steed. Second place was an original costume that referred to himself as the “Antelope Island Road Kill”. He had a broken helmet as well as an arm and buffalo tracks all over. Third place brought in the Groovy Trio. Though, I will say that it almost made me think of Thing One and Thing Two when my friends Diane & Kym stood next to each other. And in fourth place were a copper and robber. After the costume contest we did door prize drawings. Thanks to the donations and help from my wonderful group of friends, there were a little over 25 door prizes for the riders to possibly win. It was very nice because a great deal of the riders went home with something. A BIG THANKS to Doug Jensen, the Levenson’s, Penny Perkins, Curt Griffin, the BCC Club, and my Disneyland friend Sal.

Myself, the "Holy Ghost", & 2nd Place Winner- Antelope Road Kill.

3rd Place Winners- The Groovy Trio- Diane, Stephen, & Kym.

4th Place- Cops & Robbers!

I was just amazed at the variety of costumes. There were two REAL highlights once the ride started. One of the highlights of the ride was a donut stop at a local bike shop (Salt Lake City Bike Company) where we got to play a version of the “Wheel of Fortune” and win tire patch kits, water bottles, or a tire tube. The other highlight happened as all 50 of us waited at a stop light. As we stood with our bikes waiting for the light a group of Japanese tourists were in the cross walk. They stopped and quickly grabbed their cameras. It was a variation of paparazzi! Cameras were flashing and various people standing by us having their picture taken. I was crying because I was laughing SO hard. Sometimes, there’s some truth in stereotypes?

And the month report for October....
I still have 7 more lbs. to lose to my goal weight.

I'm currently working on porch #83,84, & #85.  I seem to be having issues with completely finishing a painting.  I'm hoping to cure that problem soon!

STATS for the Month...

18.5 miles Running

100 miles Cycling

2 hours 3 minutes on elliptical

Read 5 books this month --up to 53 books for the year!

My Favorite Time of Year...

Fall is my favorite time of year. The summer warmth has dissipated. Cooler temperatures that call out for the sweaters and light jackets. Images of pumpkins, falling leaves and the landscape turning colorful hues of orange, red, and yellow come to mind.  It’s a time to get and take long meandering walks to enjoy the colorful landscape.  My absolute favorite holiday occurs this time of year—HALLOWEEN! Fall also contains Thanksgiving; which is my second favorite holiday. The only thing I don’t like about Fall is that it’s a signal the arrival ending of cycling season. Darn it! But I guess you can’t have it all.

Halloween Bike Ride- An 2' x 4' Oil Painting I did a few years ago.

For me this season, heralds a time of year to slow down a bit and reflect. But it seems as though, this year the colors haven’t quite stepped in like they usually do. Maybe it’s me “jumping the gun” in anticipating Fall ahead of schedule. After all, today is only the first day of Autumn according to my desk calendar. I tell you I am looking forward to some of that slowing and reflection time. I feel like most of the summer it’s been run, run, run, AND I’m so ready to SL-OOOWWW down.

 

I will say part of that run, run, run is self-induced. It seems as though I’m always trying to do too much. Why do we always seem to do that to ourselves? I know my limits like anyone else but I always seem to be striving to be a Super Hero Human. Then, I feel a bit deflated when I realize I’m not super in anyway and just an everyday ho-hum-drum human. I’ll have to leave the bounding a building in a single leap to someone else and that might be best considering my fear of heights.



Speaking of running, I’m thinking that I may be do for a new pair of running shoes. Now, talk about run, run, run that's self-induced!  But in anticaption of doing more running indoors on the "dredmill".  I've been thinking.  It’s been about a year since I bought the last pair. I’ve been averaging about 25 miles a month and they probably have close to 300 miles on them. Once I was told that you should get new pair of shoes about every 350 miles of running. But I always wonder if that’s really true or if it’s just one of those sales gimmicks.  But I would like to shop around and find a new pair so possibly I could use that as an excuse?  Yeah, that works!

P.S. I'm up one more pound this week.  The night time bike rides have been cut short due to earlier sunset times but I'm still eating the same amount of calories.  Time to pay closer attention to that equation.  Exercise Less = Eat Less Should be the new equation.

A Weekend Workshop...

I’m off to Pocatello , Idaho this weekend. Why the big "town" of Pocatello, you might ask? I’m going to be taking a “Pouring Luminous Watercolors” Workshop at the Pocatello Art Center . The workshop is taught by a wonderful watercolorist that I have been admiring on-line for awhile. Her name is Leslie Redhead. I LOVE her poured watercolors of cityscapes and buildings. Pictured here is a Chinatown Statue, a poured watercolor that I stole from her site. (I hope she’ll forgive me.) It is one of my favorites. She also has some amazing flowers; especially irises and poppies. Please click on her name and check out her artwork. It is definitely worth a visit. Leslie is based in Vancouver , BC , Canada ; and I jumped at the chance when I found out she was holding a workshop so close to Salt Lake City . It’s about a 3 hour drive and, of course, I’m taking my bike in tow. I figured I could bike some new territory while I'm there. I’ve really been excited for this weekend for the last month. It’s almost like Christmas! I’ll update you and hopefully share a beautiful piece of watercolor artwork when I get back. I'm also using it as an excuse not to do my weekly weighing in.  I KNOW I haven't been good this week, and don't want to face that scale.

An Update & Indulgences...

I’ve lost a total of 2 lbs. this week which rather surprises me with the indulging that I’ve been doing. For example last night at Mimi’s Café after ordering a small appetizer for my meal.  I, then, ordered the chocolate bread pudding. OMG! Talk about decadent! It arrived at the table with two different sauces – a rum sauce and a chocolate sauce. Then the bread pudding had chocolate chips mixed in and they were to that just melting point.  YUM!  Now I’ve never been too big on chocolate but bread pudding with a bit of a rum sauce I LOVE. But if you add a bit of chocolate on top of that and its pure genius!

Now I will admit that I did do a 23 mile bike ride before consuming the OMG chocolate bread pudding but I DON’T think that was quite a fair calorie exchange. The scale might have been slightly tilted heavy on the dessert side. I did however purposely choose to have a smaller appetizer so that I “could have” said dessert. But I was still rather surprised that I was down 2 lbs. after such rich dessert consumption. Oh, and I also had a beverage with sparkling wine with cranberry juice; called a Hibiscus. It was very refreshing after a bike ride, but that was another indulgence I probably should have forgone.

My activities for this last week to help combat the general war of weight loss and has assisted in bringing me to a total of 20 lbs less? Well, there was 110 miles of cycling, 5.75 miles running, and 1 hour on the elliptical machine. I guess it was enough to tip the scale in my favor but still I can’t help but think what I might have been down if I would stop partaking of such food items.  But ultimately, I blame that dang blackboard that listed the Special dessert of Chocolate Bread Pudding.  Talk about a sucker for a marketing ploy!

A Quick Weigh In & An Art Show...

The scale stuck tightly with the same weight as last week.  I'm still down 19 lbs. and still have 13 more to go.  It's a bit of a stalemate I suppose.  I will admit that with the rainy weather we've been getting a great deal of late I didn't get the exercise I usually do.  I just barely managed to get to the top of the Emigration Canyon ride on Tuesday night before it started getting a bit rainy on the way down.  And it was chilly on top of it!  Last night it was rainy again and I ended up at the gym last night.  I ran 3.25 miles on the treadmill and then "cooled down" on the elliptical for 25 minutes.  The cramp came back but it was after almost 3 miles running.  I ran a mile then did some stretches, and then ran more.  I'm thinking that maybe I just need to do a bit more stretching with my runs in the future.

Tonight is the opening for the 3rd Annual Gallery Roll 2011.  It's a Bike Art Show that takes place at a local bike shop; The Salt Lake City Bike Company in downtown Salt Lake City.  Bike and Art my two favorite things combined.  What fun!  The show is kind of unofficially a part of the Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll, and it's also kind of part of the Salt Lake City Bike to Work Week.  Then, May is national bike month too.  I was in this art show two years ago with my Halloween Bike painting.  This year, I have three of my paintings that were accepted into the show; one oil painting and two watercolors. 
Here's one of them.... 

"Shadow Cycling Chalk Creek Canyon", watercolor on paper.

Weighing In & Spring’s in the Air…

The scale cooperated with me this morning and gave me the other half of the pound I almost lost last week. I’ll admit surprise at this; sometimes I really think this scale hates me. But I’m pleased and that puts me at a total of 19 lbs. lost, and 13 more to go. I’m getting there; slow but sure.

Photo of the tree blossoming near where I park my car at work.  Spring flowers!

Spring seems to be in the air at last. The weather has finally seemed to turn nice for the last couple of days. I went out on a club bike ride last night and almost felt nude wearing my bike shorts. It was the first ride where I didn’t have to haul all that extra gear along with me. I got to leave the extra jacket, the skull cap, the knee warmers, and the arm warmers in the car. I could actually feel the breeze run through my helmet and hair. Now this is bike riding at its best! Awe; what a treat!


Last night I got another treat just after work and before heading to the bike ride. A co-worker took me out for a quick drive in his little red convertible. I had all ready changed into my spandex out bike outfit and had donned a ball cap. He was whipping around the corners like we were on rails and he zoomed it up to 80mph on the interstate. It was fun but I kept on expecting to see a cop pull us over for speeding. I teasingly asked him how many speeding tickets he had gotten since he gotten the car. None he said; so either he was showing off for his co-worker (me) or he’s been lucky so far. Hmmmmm….

Weighing In & Sunset Boulevard

It’s been two weeks since I’ve weigh in. I was hesitant to step on the scale this morning for fear of what I would see. But GREAT news, I’m down 3 lbs.! YAHOO! That brings me down a total of …. (Drum roll, please)…18 lbs. Little by little, pound by pound, I’m working at it. Lately, I’ve been receiving comments from friends and co-workers that I’ve been looking skinnier and it really makes me feel good. Clothes have been fitting loser which quite often I feel is the REAL test if you are losing weight. But I’m not ready to go shopping yet. I still have another 14 lbs. to reach my goal weight. I’m past that halfway point.

Last night, I got to see the preview of Pioneer Theatre’s “Sunset Boulevard”. Years ago, I had seen the black & white 1950 version with William Holden and Gloria Swanson. I vaguely remembered the story line. But this was a treat. To see it live on stage, in full color, and with live music played that was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I would recommend it to anyone in the Salt Lake City area who enjoys the live theatre to go see it.



The cast did an amazing job, especially the actress that played the role of Norma Desmond. But what really held me in awe about the whole affair were the set design and the costumes. The costumes of various extras and Norma Desmond’s costumes were colorful and vibrant. They spoke of the glamour and fun of the time.

Norma Desmond's role was
played wonderfully!

The set design was really amazing. They used a series of drop down and roll on designs that moved seamlessly along and kept the story and action moving along. I especially loved the inside of Norma Desmond’s house. It was elaborate with a balcony at top (where Norma would quite often make a show stealing entrance) with stairs leading off down to a landing where a door was (serving as an on-stage entrance). Then more stairs to lead to the bottom level where furniture was placed. I got lost in the wallpaper and the little details like light fixtures and furniture material that fit the time period to a “T”. Someone had done their homework and put some work into it. It showed! If you get the chance, GO!

A Weekend of Biking & Ballet...



My cycling buds, Diane & Kym,
during an Emigration Canyon ride last year.

 It turned out to be a wonderful weekend. Though, I will admit I had my concerns as it dawned cloudy and rainy early Saturday morning. I had planned on biking 60 miles Saturday morning. I arrived early at the place where the club bike ride was supposed to start. I some how had it on my brain that the club ride started at 8:30AM but it was 9AM. Oppps! While I waited I chatted with mom on the phone. It was lightly drizzling on my windshield as I waited but the weather really cleared up shortly after we started the bike ride. My friends, Diane & Kym, barely arrived in time. In fact, we left after almost everyone else had taken off, and Diane was still shaking from Kym’s back seat driving as they were rushing to get to the ride’s starting location. They had to have the “Human GPS” (Me) out there to make sure they didn’t get lost. So I lead the way and made a couple of scenic off shoots. We ended up cutting the ride a bit short because Kym was concerned about getting home and doing some studying. I know I could’ve gone on but I wasn’t in the mood to bicycle by myself.


Later that night, I was off to the ballet. It was Ballet West’s Bolero with Sinfonietta & Chaconne and the last night of it’s showing at the Capital Theater. We arrived early to sit in on the “talk” about the ballet. The art director, himself, Adam Sklute, talked about the ballet that we would see. Normally, it’s quite often a Ballet West student that gives these talks. It was very informative and fascinating to get in sight as to what you were about to watch. It really made me appreciate the ballet all that much more. I guess they do this prior to most of the ballets, and I would recommend you take advantage of the opportunity if you go to a ballet.



The ballet started out with the Sinfonietta which was joyous dance with almost an Olympic celebration flare. The back drop was an impression of mountains disappearing into the distance and the dancers were quite often dancing and leaping with out-stretched arms; almost welcoming in the feel of patriotic exuberance.



Next was the Chaconne which was classical courtly ballet with the beautiful graceful lines and poses. I was amazed with this in the unity of the dancers. Watching almost 20 pairs of feet moving in unison was just mind boggling and amazing. I found myself captured up in the dance so much that I almost forgot to breathe.



Photo from Ballet West's website of the FABULOUS Bolero Ballet!





The third part of this ballet was the Bolero which is set to the Ravel’s pulsating beat. The curtain opened to metal coragated panels; an industrial like setting. Dancers were weaving around and behind the panels. As more of the panels disappeared to above stage area, more dancers came onto the stage. The abandon of the dance built. As all the panels disappeared the dancers weaved around each other climaxing in the pure seduction and power of the dance. Meanwhile, a huge red panel of fabric was dropping down the back center stage. The beat ended with a male dancer grabbing and holding up a female dancer within the red fabric. I was on my feet! Wow~!

A Quick Weigh In...

The news this week is that I'm up 1 lb. and I can't help but think it was due to the beer & buffalo wings I had after last night's Bike & Brew ride.  But I felt I kind of deserved them after biking 20 miles!?!  But at the same time it's never a good thing to eat after 7:30PM at night.

A photo that I took last year while riding my bike up my favorite ride - Emigration Canyon.

It's been warmer of late and on the no-rainy days I've gotten some rides in.  In fact, I've logged in almost 72 miles for this week.  This last Tuesday, I managed my first Emigration Canyon ride and just barely made it to the top before it was time to turn around to beat the sunset.  I felt slow and sluggish while I was climbing the canyon.  I didn't even venture to look at my average speed when I arrived at the top of Little Mountain.  Maybe I'll look next week -- that's if I do a little better.  If the weather cooperates I'm hoping to get a 60 mile bike ride under my belt.  Keep your fingers crossed!

The Popette's 78th Birthday at the Black Widow's Cafe...

The Popette opening a present before every one arrives.

This last Saturday, Mary "the Popette" turned 78!  We ended up having dinner together at the Black Widow's Cafe.  We all found it quite amusing that us, the Black Widow's, were going to an actual business that was called the Black Widow's Cafe.  I made reservations and then ordered a flour less dark chocolate torte ahead of time to serve as the birthday cake.  I knew that the Popette was very fond of chocolate.

Saturday arrived with rather gloomy weather; going back and forth between rain and snow.  The Popette and I arrived early at the cafe.  She had requested no presents or cards from anyone but before everyone got there I had her open a gift I got her.  It was a book that she had recently enjoyed at our last Sunday Barnes & Noble get together.  She was all ready teasing me that I was in trouble!  Oh no!


Almost everyone-- Laura, Mary the Popette, myself, and Not-So-Good; Em was taking the picture.



Enjoying her "Bubble" card with music.



We started to enjoy some coffee as everyone else started to file in.  One of the owners, Kevin, came over and wished the Popette a Happy Birthday.  He also pointed out the yummy chocolate torte that was made special for her displayed in the glass case.  It was decorated with chocolate dipped strawberries.

As the drinks order was taken, Mary read some of her birthday cards.  One had where you blew into bubbles on the inside and then it played music.  Another one had an inside poster that the Popette found a bit embarrassing!

An embarrassed Popette as Laura holds the poster that was inside the card.

Finally, we were ready to start ordering.  Our server stated the wonderful specials of the day and the soups that were available too.  Laura ordered first and told our server the rule was no one was allowed to change their order.  We all laughed as she said that it was a good thing she was ordering first! As we got half way through with ordering she was all ready trying to add something to her order.  No it wasn't a change to her order but an addition. We were all cracking up and making quite the noise.  The Popette told the server to just tell us to hold it down if he needed us to.

The big hit of the dinner was this delicious mulligatawny soup.

We got another round of beverages as we waited for our food to be made.  The food arrived and I tell you it was pure artistry!  The salads were served in cucumber wraps drizzled with dressing, and soups were served in fancy bowls.  Everyone was tasting everyone else's food at the table.  It was all wonderful and the absolute hit was the Muligunty soup.  Poor Not-So-Good had everyone tasting it and her cup of soup was almost consumed by everyone else.

Next was the wonderful torte which the server showed us all in whole and then had individual slices served to us.  We all sang Happy Birthday to the Popette after we all had our slices of the torte.  There was a delicious thick layer of chocolate gnache over the torte, and the chocolate dipped strawberry was juicy.  That and a cup of coffee-- I was in heaven!  What a wonderful way to end a birthday meal!  I would highly recommend anyone out there to visit the Black Widow's Cafe.

Not-So-Good and Em -- I had to get Em in a picture!

Weighin In & Girl Scout Cookies...

I’m down 12 lbs. over all. I lost 1.5 lbs. compared to last Friday. I was good for most of this week until last night when I got into those darn Girl Scout Cookies! The Berry Munch Girl Scout cookies were calling and I was not wishing thank you very much to the Girl Scouts of America! Why do they make them taste SO good and only make them available at one time in a year? It’s like double trouble for a person who is dieting. But I guess its smart marketing on their behalf.

Oh the choices they have for Girl Scout Cookies—Thin Mints, Samoas, Dulce de Lech, Trefolis, Do-Si-Dios, and Berry Munch. They stopped selling my favorites though. They used to have these cookies I think they were called Lemon Zingers. They were a lower calorie tangy lemony cookie that had a bit of powder sugar dusted on them. I LOVED those cookies! Oh, the things I wouldn’t do for a low-cal tangy lemon cookie! It would be a short list much to my Mom’s chagrin.


I remember selling those Girl Scout cookies as a young girl. One year with the help of my Dad, I sold 200 boxes. I got some kind of an award – a white t-shirt with a giraffe on the front and it stated, “Mississippi Valley Big Seller” – or something to that nature. I wore the oversized t-shirt a few times but it lacked the luster I thought that it should have had. I won the right to wear a t-shirt. A big whoopee do! The next year I just sold the bare minimum. I also always wondered why a giraffe was on a Mississippi Valley t-shirt; didn’t make much sense to me.


Needless to say, last night I felt quite guilty about eating all the rest of the box of Girl Scout cookies. I pushed myself even harder at the gym. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and put in 40 minutes on the elliptical. When I got home my clothes were not just wet but DRENCHED! It was like I took a dive in a pool. But I will say my conscience felt a little bit better. The good news is that I only bought the one box so there are no more Girl Scout Cookies to tempt me at home. Now, if only, some of my co-workers would stop sharing them with me at work.

A Wonderful Read!

It was as I was taking a break from reading Moby Dick and I discovered a read I REALLY liked. I found myself about 175 pages into Moby Dick and I needed a break from the book. Sometimes, this happens I need a break from a book because I get bored or I’m struggling with the language. Then, I’ll end up reading back and forth between two books for a bit. I must admit that Moby Dick for me is a challenge because of the language and sentence structure.

It was shortly prior to this that I had purchased “The Memoirs of Cleopatra” for my Nook and I thought what the heck. I’ll see if I can haul my way through the two of them. I was a bit shocked when I opened “The Memoirs of Cleopatra” and it was about 1250 pages. That’s the problem with the Nook a thick book doesn’t really show itself until you open it.

 

I started reading this new book with an image of Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and past that really didn’t know that much about her. But my hats off to the author Margaret George; within a short amount of pages she was bringing Cleopatra alive to me. She intertwines historical events and details of life in the period into a well crafted experience. I will every now and then venture into historical novels but this was a page turner. I found myself immersed in Cleopatra’s time and enraptured with it. I read the whole 1250 plus pages in under 10 days. During the 10 days I found myself staying up till the wee hours of the morning reading and couldn’t seem to put the book down. I was addicted and needed my Cleopatra fix.

I would recommend this book and I am now curious to read the other two historical novels written by Margaret George. If they are as well written as this book, they will be a pleasure to devour the words on the pages.  Now the REAL challenge is going back to Moby Dick.

Fun in the Snow on Snowshoes!

Early Sunday afternoon while the snow lightly flew along the Wasatch front, I was off enjoying snowshoeing with friends.  Diane, Kym, and myself found ourselves amid a peaceful winter wonderland at a local golf course.  Kym just got new snowshoes that were just begging to be broke in.  Her new snowshoes are yellow with flowers... a little too flamboyant for my taste.  ha-ha!  It felt good to be out and getting a bit of exercise after all the eatting of Thanksgiving.  I ate too much of course!  I was really glad that the chocolate hazelnut torte that I took over to Diane's was a big hit!  I came home with enough to have a bit for breakfast the next morning.  How VERY bad of me!
   
Here's a few quick pictures that were taken during our snowshoe...

Kym with her new snowshoes. 

Diane," Can you hear me now?"

Me, with a chocolate bon-bon in mouth.  Diane didn't want to wait for me to swallow...Hello!

Running with the Dogs & Chasing Tail...

A BEAU-ti-ful Saturday morning with highs predicted to be in the low 70's.  It was hard to believe that it was the first Saturday in November.  It was a perfect day for the Squatter's Chasing Tail 5K Run at Wheeler Farm.  A fun event where it helps raise funds for Therapy Animals of Utah. 



Wheeler Farm's large barn and pretty Fall color in the background as people & dogs moved towards the start of the run.


I couldn't help but introduce myself and pet a few of the furry friends prior to the 5K.  All of them people and dogs would be running along with me on the 5K.  Some of the four legged friends got along well, and others caused some barking and growls but those were few.  There were all sizes of furry friends from the very small to the larger breed of dog. 

All breeds of dogs and sizes.

Look at this cute little one!

Twins even! And check out the Fall color!

I was loving it!  All the benefits of being around all these dogs with NONE of the clean up.  I picked up my goody bag and was a little disappointed that the tech shirt this year was orange.  ORANGE??!!  The runners got orange shirts the volunteers got green shirts. 

At the start- orange shirts for runners and green shirts for volunteers.

I got near the back of the mass start and slowly built up my speed as the run went along.  I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the 1 mile water mark and the gal with the stop watched who was calling out the time said," 11:23!"  I was zooming right along!  Nice!  I crossed the finish line while it said 37:48 and I was pleased!  It's only 9 seconds short off a full minute quicker than my run time of last year.  Slowly but surely I'm getting faster!   

I thought this little boy was just adorable!  He was wearing Dad's coat!

Top 10 Reasons Why Trick-or-Treating is Better Than Sex

A co-worker who knows how much I love Halloween put this on my desk yesterday and I thought I would share this with all of you.  I think it's cute and rather humorous!  I'll try to have some pictures with a write up about my Tricky Treat Costume Bike Ride early next week.

Also, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  I hope you manage to get some good candy and have fun!

Halloween Bike Ride, an oil painting I did based on photos from earlier Tricky Treat Bike Rides.

Here's the Top 10 Reasons:
Why Trick-or-Treating is Better than Sex.... 

10. You are guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.


9. If you get tired, wait ten minutes and go back at it again.

8. The stranger you look, the easier it is to get some.

7. You don’t have to compliment the person who gave it to you.

6. The person you are with doesn’t fantasize you’re something else, you already are.

5. If you get a stomach ache, it won’t last nine months.

4. If you wear leather and chains, no one thinks you’re kinky.

3. Doesn’t matter if kids hear you moaning and groaning.

2. Less guilt the next morning.

AND the number ...
1. If you don’t get what you want at one place, you can always go next door to get some more

Good News & A Good Weekend!

The Good News... I went to see the doctor on Friday afternoon and I just need to do stretches before and after a run.  I've over stressed the connective tissue where the top of my thigh muscles connect to my hip area.  The doctor gave me a series of stretching exercises that I need to do before and after a run.  He also suggested to use Advil before I go on a run too.  He also laughed and just shook his head at me when I asked if I was okay to run a 5K on Saturday morning,"You push it to the limit, don't you?

Saturday a 5K Run....

Friday night was pouring and pouring rain...I was getting concerned about being able to enjoy a run on Saturday morning.  On Saturday morning, it was still raining a bit.  I showed up with the intent of just picking up the bag of goodies, but it started to clear up as the run/walk was supposed to start.  The were over 250 participants for the Utah Diabetes FUN Run & Walk 2010.  The course wove through the research park area of the University of Utah Campus.  It ended up being a wonderful course that I kind of "wogged" (walk-jog) my way through.  It felt good to be running again without pain and I rushed to get in line for a free massage afterwards.  Then I waited around for the raffle.  They had some REALLY good prizes, and they also did medal awards for the first three in each sex/age categories.  I was fifth in my category... out of 9!  It was a very FUN event and I'm putting it on the list for next year.

Saturday night...
I had a fun and entertaining dinner with the "Widow's" group: Laura, the Popette, Em, Not-So-Good, and myself.  Here's some photos of us...

Sunday morning...

It was a sunny but very chilly ride up Emigration Canyon with my friends, Diane and Kym.  Here's some more photos...