Christmas Things

I have been a little off today.  The Murph and the cats beware!  It didn't help that I tackled the outside Christmas lights which were in a tangled mess as strings of lighting usually get and the extension cords too.  Good thing is I finished most of the outside Christmas decorations and most of the lights still work from last year.  My mood got a little better until I got a call from The Boy.  Things went downhill again.  He can be very disrespectful.  I don't know when he will ever get it that he's an adult now and some of the things I automatically did for him as a child, I do now to "help" him out of the goodness of my heart, but not a mommy requirement anymore.  Especially when I'm being called "stupid" or an "annoyance" or he tells me "I don't know what I'm doing" etc, yet he needs my help.

Will he ever learn?

On to happier things!  Here's some of my favorite Christmas decorations collected over the years or adopted from The Murph's collection.  I've spent a month going through boxes and getting stuff out and still am not finished.  The Murph offered to help, but mostly just wanted to avoid the whole mess of it.  He did say tonight that while he doesn't like the decorating process, he does like it when it's all done.

 I do love this little pink Christmas tree purchased at Michael's a couple of years ago.

One of The Murph's favorites is this nativity scene.

And I always have a stocking for the cats.  They are almost human after all. (at least they think they are)

Our first Christmas ornament.

More of my favorites.  Not surprising that most of my favorites involve clothing, shoes or cats.

From the days I actually thought SouthPark was funny.  I'm just sick that way.

The Murph wanted to know why there was a dress hanging on his tree.

And shoes too.  Lots of shoes!

That's it for now.  I'm still working on The Boy's tree where I have all of the ornaments he ever made from toddlerhood through the school years.  Some of my all time favorite, one of a kind ornaments ever.

I Say Comfortable - The Murph Says Sexy

We didn't take too many pictures while we were at the beach this Thanksgiving.  We went out a couple of times while we were there though. I really love this dress.  It is very comfortable and versatile and not very expensive at all.  It can easily be dressed up or down.  I have actually worn my black Ugg boots with it.  (I know!  Sorry!!)   I also have it in leopard print, but I don't really get to wear that one as much.   And, of course, this dress has spandex!  I've come to realize that almost all my clothes do!

The shoes are Jeffrey Campbell purchased last year.  I don't get a chance to wear them much, but I LOVE them!  Phantom was being very cooperative to let me hold him and get a picture too.  He is VERY heavy though!

Sunset over Mobile Bay. To the right is a picture of the US Alabama Battleship.  I remember taking The Boy to see it when he was little.

Going through downtown Mobile, Alabama heading back to the beach.

Another one of the US Alabama Battleship in Mobile Bay.

You can barely see them, but there were hundreds of birds flying around together in the Santa Rosa Sound.  Migrating?  Who knows, but The Murph grabbed the camera and started taking pictures from the balcony.

And a big squeeze for my beach cat who did NOT want to come back home the other day.  He should have been an only cat, but he will have to tolerate the other two cats for now.  I could send him to live with The Boy in his apartment and pay the pet fee, but I think I would miss him too much!  It is bad enough that The Boy's not here anymore.

That's it for this beach trip.  Can't wait to get back down there after Christmas!

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and My "Subliminal" Influence Over The Murph

As we were taking The Boy back to school last Sunday, we had to stop by the drug store and get his meds refilled.  It just so happened that the right next to the drug store drive-thru was a Krispy Kreme doughnut drive-thru.  Since The Murph is anti-doughnut/anti-anything sweet and sugary and full of carbs, I knew it would probably be useless to suggest we get a doughnut.  Instead I did something a little more subliminal and said, "Look!  The Krispy Kreme has a drive-thru too!  Right next to this pharmacy drive-thru!"  (hint hint - look, doughnuts - that way!)

While I really didn't think it would work other than getting The Murph to "notice" the Krispy Kreme drive-thru, I was pleasantly surprised.  We had to wait 20 minutes to get the meds refilled, so The Murph, on his own (he he), suggested we go get "coffee" at the doughnut shop.

The Murph did get a cup of coffee and I got a french vanilla cappuccino, but we also got one doughnut a piece.  The Murph got a lemon creme filled, I got my favorite vanilla cream filled and The Boy got his all time favorite and probably the only kind he likes to eat, the crullers.  The anti-doughnut Murph had his half eaten before I made it to the table.

He even agreed to wear the little hat so I could take a picture and put it on my blog.  This is his "excited" face.

We had the doughnut debate of which it is better, Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme.  I'm a 100% Krispy Kreme fan although Dunkin donuts are good too.  The Murph prefers Dunkin Donuts because he says they are not as sweet.  We agree to disagree on this one.

When I was a kid we sold the glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts in fundraisers.  I didn't know anybody who had never had a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut.  It was always fun to try an assortment of the different flavors too.  I do like the creme filled doughnuts, but you still can't beat getting the original glazed Krispy Kremes hot out of the oven.  They weren't making them while we were there or we would have gotten at least 2 more hot glazed doughnuts each and maybe a dozen more to go.

Obviously, The Murph would have to be "subliminally" convinced he needed fresh, "hot now" doughnuts.  I'm sure I could have figured something out.

No Time To Blog! It's Cyber Monday!

No time for a real blog post today because I'm very busy online shopping.  I skipped Black Friday and stayed far away from the brick and mortar stores and opted to spend some quality time at the beach.  No regrets!

On Saturday, I purchased a new bike rack from a local small business.  I went on Tuesday and had them hold it and then called from the beach on Saturday to actually purchase it.  I am all for supporting small businesses when I can and I got it at 20% off which is the same if I had gotten it online at REI.

Yakima Holdup  Bike Rack

Next on the list, other than clothing items, is a Kitchenaid Artesian Mixer in white like this one.

The perfect thing to assist me in my yearly baking.

I am still looking, but I think I have found the perfect dress for our Christmas party this year.  More later!

Shop on!

Fashion Friday - Cause I Do Sometimes Wear Things That Don't Involve Spandex (UPDATE!)

It doesn't happen often that I actually wear nornal, non-work out clothing, but when I do it looks something like this.  While I wanted to do weekly fashion blog posts when I first started this blog over a year ago, it kind of didn't go as planned because there's only so many Lululemon, Nike, or Brooks fashion posts I can do and still hope to have anyone still reading my blog.  I put work out clothes on the morning and stay in them most of the day the past few months.  I blame it on the Murph who decided one workout wasn't enough per day and decided to do two - one in the morning and one in the late afternoon.  I'm a team player so I go along.  

Black Tank Top - Express - old but similar Here

Top - Bebe - old

Jeans - J Brand similar Here

Boots - Steve Madden old but similar and newer version Here

Nails - OPI Lincoln Park After Dark - find it Here

Very Important Update!!

Okay, I lied about the spandex (you know when I said I actually wear something that doesn't involve spandex) because I just realized there's actually spandex in...

the jeans, 

fabric & care -cotton/spandex

the tank, 

•  soft tank in a classic fitted shape with light stretch. The double scoop neck looks hot layered or alone over shorts or a flirty mini.
  • Double scoop neck
  • Sleeveless
  • Fitted shape
  • Straight hem
  • Cotton/Modal/Spandex
  • Imported

the BeBe top (take my word for it - it's stretchy)

and probably in the boots too.  I wouldn't be surprised.  So practically my entire wardrobe involves spandex.  Without spandex my life is over!  I wouldn't have anything to wear.  I mean REALLY not have anything to wear.  Not like now when I look in my closet full of spandex and can't "find" anything to wear.

Racing And Eating - My Kind Of Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving Day.  Mine has been great!  It started off with a 5k race in Pensacola Beach this morning and ended tonight with a very delicious meal cooked mostly by the Murph.  He cooked turkey, his grandma's famous stuffing and I made a green bean casserole.  We kept it simple this year since it's just the three of us.  We picked up The Boy from college yesterday.

Check out the turkey below if you can see it under the overflowing stuffing.  The Murph went a little out of control with the stuffing.

Phantom came with us and is a surprisingly good traveler.  He was in the carrier for about 6 hours with no complaints.  Here he is on his back doing his dead bug pose and chilling in the back seat of the car.

I registered for the race last minute this morning about 10 minutes before the race start and they were out of t shirts already.  Disappointing, but then I placed first in my age group and got this medal so I was very happy.  A t shirt would have been nice though.  I am collecting all my race t shirts from the past 14 years of racing and plan on getting a quilt made with some of my favorites one day.

There were several turkey trot races today.  Hope everyone got a chance to do one before the big feast.

My Very Last Zinger

These are most likely the last boxes of Twinkies and Zingers in the entire state of Alabama.  I went from store to store in search of them Saturday because it may be the last time I ever eat another one.  (not that I eat that many anyway, but you know...)

There weren't any regular Twinkies anywhere to be found so I had to get the chocolate filled ones, which are probably not worth as much.  This was the very last box Winn Dixie had on the shelf along with one lonely box of Zingers.  Zingers were my all time favorite as a kid.  I just couldn't resist.

I'm savoring every last moment of yuminess because it looks like the mediation with the bakery union and Hostess didn't go very well so now everything will be liquidated.  Hopefully, someone will step in and save the Twinkies and the Zingers.

I did notice today at Publix that Little Debbie Cloud Cakes, which looks suspiciously very much like the Twinkie, was front row center.  Funny how I never noticed them before or even knew Little Debbie made this particular cake. I always thought I was a pro when it comes to knowing (and eating) all the Little Debbie cakes.  We will probably be seeing more of these "cloud cakes"on the shelves here in the south to fulfill the loss of the Twinkie.  Personally, I have never tasted a cloud cake.

  Wonder what chocolate Twinkies are going for these days in Ebay?

In Search Of The Perfect Spring Marathon

I've spent the past few days looking for a good Spring marathon to do.  This always happens right after I do a marathon or triathlon.  Suddenly I am super motivated and searching for the next race to do.  The Murph is totally baffled by this since I am usually so cranky the day before a race and sometimes race morning too.  He's told me more than once that if I don't enjoy it I should just quit.  He doesn't understand that my crankiness is my way of showing just how much I do enjoy it.

Besides the fact that I can't quit.  It's who I am.  A cranky, obsessive compulsive triathlete, type A personality who, if God forbid I did "quit," would be WAY more cranky than any pre- race crankiness you've ever seen.  Nobody would want that.  That would be BAD!

I reminded him that I was not cranky at all last weekend.  He even made a comment about how pleasant I was the day before the race.  He was very surprised at how NOT cranky I was.  I was kind of surprised myself.  Am I mellowing out in my "older" years?

My all time favorite Spring marathon was the Boston Marathon.  It was the third marathon I had ever ran in 2003.  My qualifying time for my age group at the time was 3 hour and 45 minutes.  I ran Hunstville Marathon in 3 hours and 43 minutes, barely making it to Boston.  Now my qualifying time is 3 hours and 50 minutes.  I do hope to run Boston again one day, but right now I am more interested in running a marathon in different states until I've run in all 50 states.

I wasn't very successful finding a marathon to run this Spring although there are several out there.  I would love to run the Big Sur International Marathon which is in April, but it is full and not very close. California is a long way from Alabama. Another option I'm considering is the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, which isn't very close either and it is in May.  My friend L (who is no longer the running nazi - just for the record) wants to do the San Diego Marathon which is in June.  That's getting into triathlon season and still far away and there are so many states close by that I haven't done yet.  Any suggestions?

For now, I am going to keep looking in hopes of finding the perfect March or April marathon to run in a state I haven't run yet.  I am almost totally recovered from my the marathon last weekend.  Only my calves are still tight.  I always have trouble with them since I seem to always run on my toes.  I ran my first real run that didn't involve a treadmill today.  It was a very easy 7 miles half on trails and half on pavement.  It was a beautiful day in the 50's warming up to almost 70 later.  It's no wonder I'm feeling motivated!

Saying Goodbye To Twinkies

By now I'm sure everyone has heard the sad news about Hostess, the makers of Twinkies, filing for bankruptcy - Here.   It really hits home with The Murph since his father is retired from working there 40+ years and Murph's first job during the summers was at Hostess making Twinkies.  

Well, he really made bread, not Twinkies, but I could just see him making Twinkies and Ding Dongs and it sounds more exciting than just plain old wonder bread or hot dog buns.  Anyway, it was his first legit job.

I even had our wedding cake baker put together a Hostess themed groom's cake in honor of The Murph for our wedding last month.  The cupcakes were all gobbled down first.  They were a hit.  We totally supported the brand and are a Hostess Twinkie, Cupcake, Ding Dong, Ho Ho family here.  Oh yea, and don't forget the pink snowballs.    

We are sad to see them go.  It's been a really bad day for The Murph today.

What is even worse is that The Murph's brother has worked Hostess for over 20 years and is now faced with loosing his job.  So sad.  An entire company going bankrupt and over 18,000 employees losing jobs over a union of 5,000 really dumb people who can't see the bigger picture and now no longer have a job at all.  So tragic how that small group can cause so many to suffer.  Not to mention an entire brand that's been around over 80 years.  

Gone!

I think I am going to run over to the grocery store and load up on all my Hostess favorites, especially the Twinkies before they are sold out and gone forever.  Sometimes ingesting a little high fructose corn syrup is worth it.

Most of the time ingesting high fructose corn syrup is worth it!  Racing fuel.

Goodbye Twinkies.  Hard to believe you are going.   What's next?  Little Debbie snack cakes, Moon pies, Duncan Donuts?  Sure hope those companies aren't union controlled!