Happy Blogging Anniversary to Me!

I've been blogging for almost a year now. Ha! And some of you have been with me from the start. Suckers! :)

Running update: I ran before work again this morning. 4.7 miles. I really do enjoy this whole running-in-the-morning routine. Gets me going, and makes me get to bed at a decent time, too. This morning, I tried to do sort of a tempo run. Tempo runs are not easy, though one would think they would be compared to other training techniques. I just get into such a groove when I run, and am good at keeping a consistent pace. To notch that up a bit in the middle is difficult for me, but I'm trying.

I have a feeling I'll get in more runs during the week now that I'm doing most of them in the mornings. If there is one bad thing about my training over the years its that I easily flake out on my weekday runs because at the end of the day I'm too tired, or its too hot, or I have to work late, or I want to do something else, or all of the above. Running in the mornings doesn't allow me to make these excuses anymore.

Weekend in Bryan: Yes, I was back in Bryan this weekend. Still cleaning out my grandparents' house. We are making progress, but its hard to tell sometimes. We went to see my grandmother (MomC) and I'm pretty sure that she recognized me this time. That made me happy.

I took Friday off of work to get there a day early, and I'm glad I did. My mom cooked her awesome steak fingers for dinner on Friday...I haven't had a true home-cooked meal in forever! It was delicious. That meal has got to be one of my all-time favorites, right up there with her teflon pancakes (the syrup beads up and rolls off the pancake, no lie!) and breakfast cookie (the coffee cake that was missing the ingredient that makes it fluffy) Those two items have very special places in my family's hearts! Poor Mom, we'll never let her forget!

And something new for me...I went "mall-walking" with my parents on Saturday morning. I walked maybe 30 steps before it happened...I spotted an open store. Good thing I thought to slip my credit card in my pocket because, yes, I managed to keep alive my streak of buying something every time I set foot in a mall or shopping center. Pink and white Air Jordan walking sandal/flip-flop things. They are quite cushion-y and fashionable. I've never purchased Air Jordan shoes before. I'm not entirely sure Michael Jordan had in mind pink shoes when he teamed up with Nike for this deal many years ago. So my "mall-walking" adventure was really just another opportunity to shop. Who knew?

And, we saw Star Trek. Loved it! I've been a Star Trek fan my whole life (I know! I'm a bit nerdy! Gasp!), thanks to my dad, and this movie was a great prequel of sorts. Its fun to see how your favorite characters from something came to be. I enjoyed that about Star Wars I, II, and III, too, though those movies were not that great. I realize that is blasphemous in some circles. Sorry. Then, we watched The Longest Day, which I have never seen, and I capped off a long Saturday by watching the mighty Red Wings thump the Penguins. I love hockey. I just don't understand why the general American public has not taken to this sport. What's not to love??

The Bachelorette better get rid of the foot-fetish guy tonight. I just threw up a little in my mouth thinking about it.