A few weeks ago, we had some friends over for dinner and drinks. My SIL and her adorable little boy, age three, were there. After dinner we were all talking, drinking wine and listening to music, when my nephew and precious baby decided to take off all of their clothes and dance around in the living room.

As parents, we all just let them be. They are so young, we thought it was just harmless, and also probably one of the last times it would ever be OK for them to be naked anywhere except the bathroom.

Well, Precious baby has kind of taken a shine to being nakey. Last week, she asked me to put on some music, saying she wanted to dance. When I turned on the stero, she started taking her clothes off and got upset when I told that no, it wasn't time to be nakey right now.

Last night, she woke up crying. I went upstairs and was quite suprised to find her totally naked in her crib, crying. I guess she was cold, and she was wet too... I found her PJs and her overnight diaper in the crib, and the sheets were wet, which told me she'd taken her clothes off before she went to sleep, and had then been awakend because she was wet and cold after going pee-pee in her bed.

I of course, dressed her in dry pjs and a dry diaper, changed the sheets on her bed, and rocked her back to sleep, tucking her in with a nice warm, dry blankie.

Let's hope this nakey thing isn't indicative of a career choice.

Hubby and I are trying to eat healthier, and cleaner.. less or no processed food, more whole grains, fruits and veggies. We've been buying more whole grains lately, like quinoa, which makes a great substitute for rice or cous cous, but it's hard to know what to do with some of the other whole grains... but I've come up with two good recipes for wheatberrys. I love the texture of wheatberries... nice and chewy, and the flavor is good too... but they are, in my opinon, a bit boring on their own, so I came up with these two ideas:

Wheatberry and edamame salad:

1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 shredded carrot
1/2 cup cooked edamame beans
three chopped scallions
1 T chopped chives
1 T chopped cilantro
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

toss together and serve! Delicious cold or at room temperature.

Mediterrantian wheatberry salad:

1 C cooked wheatberries
1/4 C shredded sundried tomatoes (packed in oil and drained)
1/4 chopped purple onion
2 T chopped fresh basil
2 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Toss and serve. Even better the second day, after the flavors have married.

I did it!

I ran my first half marathon! I ran the Moe's better half-marathon in San Marcos, Texas on Sunday. 13 miles of rolling country roads in 2 hours and 28 minutes. It was a nice run, and a nice course...rolling hills, only one really steep up hill in mile three. Once i got past mile three, it was pretty much smooth sailing until the lat mile.. that's when I started to feel like it was hitting the "wall" and running out of steam. But, I ran the whole thing! I never did stop and walk.

Here is what I learned, in preparation for the next long run I participate in, or (gulp) a full marathon next year.

1. No drinking the week before the race. I drank two glasses of wine with dinner on Friday night. I had no other alcoholic beverages for the week prior to the race. I don't think the two glasses I had really hurt me, but I won't repeat that for the next race.

2. Eat oatmeal for breakfast that morning. I did this, and it turned out to be the perfect breakfast for this runner.

3. Bring a banana and have it handy to eat during the run if you need it. I meant to bring one, and I forgot as I was going out the door (in my defense, I got up at five on the morning of the race!). I would have definitely eaten the banana at the start of mile 12 if I'd had it. I think the extreme fatigue I was experiencing at that point meant that I needed to eat. I will definitely bring a banana if I run a marathon... there's no way I could do that without some kind of snack... banana... protein bar, something.

4. Make sure you go to the bathroom, one and two, before the race. I kind of forgot about "two" in my keyed up state before the race. About mile 6, I realized I had to go. No bathrooms until about mile 8... not fun to run when you have to go!

5. Drink detox and laxative tea regularly for the week prior to the race, to help with number 4. I did not do this, and I wish I had. I will next time.

6. Shoes... wear better, newer ones next time! I realized about two weeks before the race that I probably needed new shoes... but everyone knows that you never debut new shoes on the day of the race. I especially can't do that, because even running shoes are likely to cause blisters for me until I break them in. that's right, I have to break in running shoes! I should have bought new shoes about six weeks before the race, so that they would be properly broken in, but in good shape, by the time race day came. Instead, I wore the shoes I had, which were far past their prime, and now my knees really ache, which I am sure is due to the fact that my shoes weren't tip top.

7. Get plenty of sleep the night before the race. I went to bed at 9:30 on Saturday. Before I went to bed, I took a long, hot Epsom salt bath. It really helped relax me so I could fall asleep.

There a some other races this spring.. that Capitol 10,000, and the Texas Round Up. I think I'll run both of them... might as well, they are both ten K races, which means that they are half the distance I ran on Sunday. That, I can do.

We've been back and forth about that to do with the "game room" at our house. The "game room" is actually a large, long room that runs along the back of our house. It was originally a covered proch and was enclosed by a previous owner.

I had previously lobbied to return it to that state, and I still wish that we could, but, I have accepted that we really do need the space as a play room for precious baby and a video game and computer area.

About a year ago, we had a flood in that room. During a really bad rainstorm, the backyard flooded and water seeped in to the game room. Fortunately, we caught it immediatly and were able to control the flooding, shop-vac out the water and we removed the wet drywall to prevent mold growth.

We addressed the drainage problem in the backyard by digging a drainage ditch and lining it with rocks... it looks kind of like a woodland stream now, and works really well to direct the water away from the house.

But we still didn't know what to do with the gameroom, until we finally decided what kind of flooring to put down. So hubby started scraping up the old floor a few weeks ago. It took a while because it's a big room, but he finally got the old vinyl floor scraped up. I patched up the drywall yesterday. It was horrible, exhausting work... cutting new drywall pieces, fitting them in to the spots where the old drywall had been removed, trimming and fitting over and over, and then nailing it in place. Then I applied fiberglass tape and joint compound to the seams.

Now that the walls are fixed, it looks so much better... even without the flooring. But I want that room done. I want to paint this weekend and put the floors in the next weekend. I just want the room done, so that it can be used, and I need someplace to put all of precious baby's toys! If we can't get that room done, we're going to need a bigger house just for the toys!

I found the best beauty product ever.

I'm sure any woman out there has bought manybeauty products that promise to deliver something...

shiny hair? Clear skin? Long lashes? Effortless sex appeal? Perfection?

and been dissapointed (but maybe not too suprised) when the product failed to deliver what it promised.

So, if you are like me, you are very skeptical and have drawers full of half used products. But I found a product that really does deliver what it promises.

Lip fusion. WOW. I bought the lip pencil, because I already had a lip plumper that I like (Big Fatty by Urban Decay) but I wanted a pencil that also had plumping properties because I often foung that the plumper would smear and look messay after a few hours. I wanted a product that would stay in place.

Well, Lip Fusion does what it promises. A bigger, fuller pout, without stinging or burning, and the nuetral color is just perfect on me... Nice, but not too made up. Even Hubby noticed that my lips looked lusher and fuller... and he's a "Lip man" so he would notice.

Honestly, I like the product so much, that I'm going to get the gloss to go with it... I figure that the two products would work together even better than just the pencil.

Finally, a product that will be used down to the nub!

THIS is why america is fat.

http://www.dlisted.com/node/23499

I just about barfed reading those nuitritional (or lack thereof) stats.

And no, I would NOT eat it... even if I wasn't trying to loose weight!

There is more going on in my life than precious baby and running. I've noticed that almost all of my posts lately have focused on one of those two topics. There is, actually, more than that going on in my head lately.

Super Tuesday has come and gone, and with it, the collapse of several presidential campaigns. We are now left with two Democrats and one Repulican. The Democratic Race seems pretty open right now, and it's hard to say which of the two candidates, both of whom I have tremendous respect for, will win the nomination.

It's the Republican race, that has concerned me. The Republicans have, in every past election in recent memory, run on a platform of religous faith, to one extent or another. Our current president (thankfully a lame duck) has made much of his personal faith and has attempted to expand federal funding for "faith based initiatives".

This has long worried me. I believe in the strictest separation between church and state. I feel that Government has no business funding, or even discussing, religion. And I feel that religion has no business in Government. I feel that the President, and by extension, presidential candidates, shouldn't discuss religion and that it should play no part at all in government or politics.

Which is why I, a registered Democrat, became more and more concerned watching the Republican field.

Mit Romney is a Mormon. I know what Mormonism is founded upon (and whom) and I honestly believe that anyone who can believe in it has questionable judgment at best, and at worst, is down-right delusional. (Not to mention Mormonism's shamefull history of bigamy and racism.)

Mike Huckabee is a Baptist pastor. I can't see how this man would have any business in government and I cannot see how he would be able to separate his religious faith (which afterall requires the failthfull to actively go out and convert those who don't share their beliefs) from his responsibility to govern without respect to religion.

You can imagine my relief that it appears that niether of these men will be the Republican nominee. After Super Tuesday, John McCain seems to to be the clear front runner, and in fact, this morning Mit Romney suspended his campaign.

At least on the topic of religion, John McCain has followed what I (and George Carlin) believe to be the most important of all commandments:

"Though shall keep they religion to thyself!"

Last night's Dinner was something I sort of made up... and it was too good not to share.

Asian Fish with vegetable "Noodles" (serves four)

Ingrediants:

four white fish fillets
1 T fresh minced ginger
1T fresh minced garlic
2 T fresh minced cilantro, divided
Juice of one lime, divided
Three large carrots
Three zuccini squash
1 C sugar snap peas
1C edamame beans, frozen, shelled, rinsed
1/2 C white wine
1 1/2 C Chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray or 1 T vegetable oil

Shred the carrots and zuccini into long thin noodle like strips, set aside. In a large skillet, over medium low heat, add the cooking oil or pam, and saute the ginger, garlic and half of the cilantro until fragrant, about three minutes. Salt and pepper the fish fillets, and add them to the pan, and cook for one minute on each side, just to get some of the flavor of the ginger, garlic and cilantro on them. Remove from the pan, and increase the heat to high. Add the wine and half of the lime juice, deglaze the pan, and reduce the liquid by half. Add the broth, the rinsed edamame beans, the snap peas, and the vegetable "noodles" to the pan, still well, coating the veggies with the broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, lay the fish fillets on top of the veggies, sprinkle on the remaining lime juice and cilantro, and cover, reducing heat to low. Allow the pan to steam until the fish is done, four to six minutes, unless your fish fillets are really thick.

To serve, place the fish fillets in a bowl, add some of the veggies, and spoon some broth around the mixture.

I added Siracha sauce to my bowl and boy, it heated it up, cleared out my sinuses, and just made this dish sing!

this is a really fast recipe, I'd suggest that you do all of your chopping and shredding before you start cooking, because once you start, the whole cooking process takes less than ten minutes total, so this is a really great dish to make on a weeknight, because it's really fast, and really healthy. And Precious baby ate it too... she especially loved the carrot "noodles"!

"he just won't eat..."
"Oh my kids won't eat anything other than chicken fingers..."
"My little one wouldn't eat a vegtable to save her life..."

Get together with any group of mothers and you are bound to hear something like this. I, personally, just don't get it. Don't these kids get hungry? Don't their parent make them eat fruits and veggies? And what kid doesn't like fruit?

I might be being really smug here, because we never had any problems with boy when he was younger. I came into his life when he was five, and at that point, he ate just about anything, except lettuce. Veggies, fruits, just about anything else, he was good to go. He even ate chinese and indian food at that age.

Precious baby isn't picky either. At two years, four months, she eats most things, and will try just about anything. Last night she ate chicken breast (not fried or nuggets!), broccoli (no cheese sauce) and quinoa for dinner. She eats just about any kind of fruit, most veggies (she's not a big fan of asparagus) and loves rice, noodles, any kind of cheese, nuts, loves every type of bean we've ever fed her, etc.

We try to eat very healthy at home, because Hubby and I are concerned about our health (and weight) but we also want to be a good influence to our children. We've made a point of eating dinner as a family and eating healthy foods and having the kids eat the same things we do. We don't fix special meals for the kids.

Recently, there have been several cook books that promote the idea of hiding veggies and fruits in foods that your kid will eat... like adding pureed cauliflower to macaroni and cheese, for instance. I am of two minds about this. I have a real problem with the idea of hiding healthy food in what appears to be "junk" food... it seems like you, the parent, aren't doing what you should be doing here... which is teaching your child to appreciate healthy foods so that they will make good food choices when they are old enough to do so. And your kid isn't going to learn to eat his veggies this way, he could get the wrong information... that macaroni and cheese is actually good for you.

On the other hand, I know that there are some parents out there with kids that will only eat a few things. I suppose for them, these books are a great idea... But I just think it wins the battle and not the war.

I always wondered about the picky kid, and about what his parents eat. I have an answer. I have a friend who is a very, very picky eater. She often turns down dinner invitations with friends becasue she thinks they will cook something she doesn't like. Her son, age three, is just like her. won't eat anything, other than strawberry yogurt. Which I suppose is better than nothing, but geez, he won't even eat cheerios!

So I guess the question is, is this learned behavior or is it genetic? I've heard of developmental theories that say that children develope food aversions at a certain age as a sort of left-over survival mechanisim. Wonder if that could be true?

My precious baby girl is talking up a storm, and sometimes I'm not loving what comes out of her mouth.
She goes to nursery school, and has a lot of interaction with other children her age. Her teachers tell me that they are very impressed with her verbal skills, and that she is very good about using her words to express her feelings, rather than hitting, kicking or biting.
But when she says something like "don't push me!" when she is sitting in her chair eating her cheerios, it just suprises me. The other day, I picked her up and gave her a kiss, and she said,

"Don't kiss me!"

"Why baby?" I asked. "I love giving you kisses."

I guess it was more like a joke for her, because when I said that she started giggling and burried her head on my shoulder.

But I suppose I shouldn't be so concerend, after all, she is the most cuddly little person ever, she just loves to climb all over me and her Daddy, and snuggle up to us for story time, or just about anytime, for that matter.

Precious baby is an addict. And I'm her enabler. I am speaking, of course, of the binky. Precious baby loves her binky. And at two years, nearly four months, I am thinking it is high time to wean her from it.

Yesterday I took Precious baby to Costco. She loves to go there, because she eats all the samples that store employees give out, and she likes riding in the cart. While we were cruising past the frozen food, I noticed that Precious baby had lost her binky. I hoped that she had left the binky in the car, but even then, I knew that was unlikely. At that point, we had been all over the store. I wasn't about to re-trace my steps looking for it. I went over to the pharmacy area, but Costco doesn't sell binkys (that must be the only thing they don't sell...except for ricotta cheese...). I was pretty sure I didn't have a handy spare in the car, or at home.

So I decided we would try to wean her from the binky. I didn't mention it again. We went home, and precious baby played and giggled with mommy, daddy and her big brother all afternoon. At bedtime, we went upstairs and when she asked for the binky, I said, "you're a big girl, binkys are for babies. You don't need that. "

she seemed ok until I went to put her down in her bed. And then she screamed. And screamed. She was not happy about the lack of binky. Her Daddy came upstairs to assist me. I explained that it was binky weaning time and went downstairs. Her Daddy seemed to get her to calm down pretty fast.

But, sensing it wouldn't last, I grabbed a flashlight and looked under the living room sofa, and there, back among the dust bunnies, I saw one... a bright orange and green binky. I reached under the sofa and fished it out. Dirty, but it would be just fine after a wash-off.

I went in to the kitchen and washed the binky. I heard Hubby comming down the stairs... and then, like clockwork, I heard precious baby start to scream again. I looked at Hubby.

"I have one binky in reserve.... do you think we should let her have it?"

"Give me that," Hubby said. He snatched it from the counter and ran back upstairs.

Magically, Precious baby quieted right down. So, I guess it's not time yet. It seems that Precious baby isn't ready to give it up yet, but, I don't think we are either.

Score: Precious Baby- 645,208. Mommy and Daddy- 0.

1/2 marathon training continues. I'm working on running longer distances now. Last weekend I ran 8 miles... this weekend I need to run 9, and then 10 the weekend after that. Then I need to take it wasy, since the race is mid february and I'll need to lay off the running the week before the race to make sure that my legs are well rested and ready to go.

I'm just getting a little frustrated though... it seems like I'm not losing any more weight... and I really want to keep loosing, because the less I weigh, the easier it is to run, and the less stress it places on my joints. Of course, I also want to be thinner for our trip this summer... but I still have a few months to make that happen. The race is in one month, and I'd like to be lighter... it's hard to run when you're heavy, which I know from experience... when I first started to run again after precious baby was born, I weighed about 190... and boy did that hurt my joints, and even my feet, trying to run at that weight!!!!

I just want to finish the half marathon. I'm not terribly hung up on the time, and I don't have any illusions about qualifying for some other race, but it sure would be nice to maintain a ten minute mile pace. that would work out to two hours, ten minutes for the entire race... I hope I can do that, or close to it... I've been running shorter distances at they gym with an average pace of 6.5 to 7 miles per hour, which is about 8-9 minute miles, so, If I slow it down to a ten minute mile pace, that would do it, right there.

I love indian food. So does hubby, and in fact, so do B and A, our bestest friends. So on Sunday, we all decided to get together and cook a big indian feast. And did we! When we got to Band A's house, B had already cooked Chicken corma, and Saag Paneer, and somekind of wonderfull eggplant potatoe curry, and a fabulous basmati rice pilaf as well. I quickly got to work on the Lamb Rogan Josh, which is Hubby's favorite... lamb cubes with potato in a rich, tomatoe-y, yogurt sauce, with plenty of sauce left for dipping Naan bread into. It takes a time, because the recipe requires that the dish be cooked until almost all the water evaporates , until the ingrediants are like a dry paste, two or three times before it's ready. So, you have to stand over it and stir it almost constantly, to keep everything from burning. But, at the end, you add in some yogurt and water to make the sauce, and you're rewarded with the best, richest, most flavorful sauce ever. It is so worth it.
Of course, for four people, one teeneager and one toddler, it was all way too much food (B even made two different riattas and made Roti as well!). So, we divvied up the leftovers, and now I have all this wonderful, home-made indian food packed into containers just waiting for Hubby and I to eat.

So this week was my first "kid injury" as a mommy and boy, it was horrible. On wednesday, prescious baby fell and busted open her lower lip on the playground at nursery school. They called me and told me about it, and I came down there to see her. As soon as I saw the cut, I could tell she needed stitches, so off to the ER we went. The doctor came in , and looked at the cut, and at her teeth, which were fine, thank goodness, and said, yes, the cut needed stitches, but that they were going to have to put her under to do it. I guess I can see that, I mean, what two year old, or even adult, would sit still while someone stitched up the inside of your mouth? OUCH!
So they got her into a hospital gown, and got her all hooked up to all kinds of monitors... which was just horrible to see.... I hated seeing my little girl like that! But then they injected her with the drugs to put her under... and that was worse! I was just killing me to see her like that, so little and helpless! I stayed in the room while they stitched her up, but I couldn't watch the procedure... it was just too much. I cried quietly the whole time.
After it was over they waited about twenty minutes and then we started trying to wake her up. She really didn't want to wake up, so it took a while and she was so fussy and I felt so bad. Finally, she woke up and drank some juice and they let her go home with us. For the rest of the night she refused to eat, drank very little, and only wanted to be held by one of us. It was just terrible. I never, ever want to go through that again.
She's better now, and in fact she went back to nursery school today... but the whole episode just, well, haunts me... I was so scared she wouldn't wake up, would have some kind of reaction to the meds, you can imagine. I could envision every single bad thang that could have happened. None of them did, but still, it was an experience that I think was far scarier for me than it was for her.

So we did have our cowboy christmas, and it was fabulous! Hubby's brisket turned out so, so well, that even the left overs made the best BBQ sandwitches.
The holidays just seemed to roll by this year, and by new years, I was actually glad that it was over. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, and new years especially was a good time, but it was just so busy, so full of going here and doing this and seeing so-and-so, that by the time it was over, I needed a holiday from the holiday. It was actually a relief to take down the christmas tree and come back to work.
Of course, now it's time to think about the spring, which, should start soon, here, and the half marathon. I'm still running and trying to eat better (even though I took the week of the holidays off) and I am happy to say that I now seem to be a size 8. I say that because I can wear my size 8 jeans, and a size 8 skirt, with out feeling like a stuffed sausage. Now, of course, I also have a pair of skinny size 10 bananna republic pants that are too tight... but I'm working on it. I have got to be thinner by the time I run this half marathon, but especially for our Hawaii trip. I just can't go on the trip of a life time as a fatso. And for me, where I am right now, 160, is big. It's better than I was, and I'm trying not to obscess so hard on the scale number, but it's difficult. Although, it was nice to see that I actually didn't gain (and in fact lost about two pounds) over the holiday.

We are having a cowboy christmas this year. We live in Austin Texas, and our chances of having a white christmas are the same as a snowball's chance in .... oh, you get the idea. To add insult to injury, it's probably going to be fairly warm (60s or maybe even 70s) on christmas day. Add to that that Hubby doesn't like turkey all that much, even though he makes the best smoked one around, and also dislikes ham, and you run out of options when you're the hosting the meal on the big day.
So, Hubby is going to smoke a brisket. My mom is making her famous picnic potato salad and a pecan pie, which I'll serve with bluebell vanilla bean ice cream. I'll make homemade charo beans. We'll serve as much "texas" themed food as I can think of, even for appetisers... sugared pecans, chips and salsa, and grilled jalepeno poppers... which are pickled jalepenos, filled with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, and grilled. So good! We're even having my brother and his family come over, so I'm really looking forward to having a good time with my family this year.

Where has the time gone? Thanksgiving seems like a distant memory. Boy's 13th Birthday was on December 2, so the family made the annual pilgrimage to Dave and Busters... my favorite place. No, really... not at all.
Then between work and getting ready for Christmas, what you have is no time to write. I have done some shopping, tonight, in fact... gotta love amazon dot com, always open and inexpensive to boot... and free shipping! I picked up some movies for Hubby and boy, and books for both boy and precious baby.
The lights are up and the tree is lit, and actually... it looks pretty good. This is the first year we've put lights up since we moved in to this house. The first Christmas after we moved in, Precious Baby was a newborn, so you know there was no way we were ever going to get around to hanging lights that year. Last year, she was still only just a year old, and honestly, I couldn't find the time to nag Hubby and boy to do it. But this year, Hubby and Boy actually volunteered to do it, or as Hubby put it, "do it voluntarily before you wear it out asking me." At any rate, I'm really glad he and Boy hung the lights. It looks so festive, and Precious baby just thinks the whole thing is so magical. Now I know why parents love the holidays; it's that look of wonder in the eyes of your little ones that could melt the coldest heart.
What I'm really looking forward to, though, is the Trail of Lights, an annual Christmas light display in the park here in town. Every year it gets better and better... it's a true spectacle. At the end of the walk (approximately a mile) you come to huge, I mean really huge (5 stories, maybe) Christmas tree. The tree itself isn't actually a tree, it's a bunch of huge light strings suspended from a moontower. Since it's actually open, you can run right under the tree and twirl around until you fall down, dizzy from both the spinning and the magic of the holiday.
But, as far as I'm concerned, the best part about the Trail of Lights is the story that Boy can tell precious baby. A few years ago, (OK, more than few) Boy won a coloring contest. As first prize, he got to actually light the giant Christmas tree... meaning that he got to stand on stage in the park on the first night of the Trail of Lights and he flipped the big switch for the tree with the mayor. Not too many kids can say they lit the Zilker Tree... and I'm looking forward to hearing boy tell precious baby this story as they twirl around under that big tree, falling down on the ground, dizzy from the magic spell that the holidays cast on all of us.

So I am continuing to train for the half marathon... it's the ATT Half Marathon on February 17, 2008. 13. 1 miles of running. I've been running for a while, and I was even up to running ten mile long runs earlier this year, before I was felled by our intense summer heat. I am currently running 5-6 days per week, but to start serious training next week, I'll have to back off of that a bit. I'll be running four days a week, and I'll start with 4-5-4-7... that's four miles, day off, five miles, day off, 4 miles, day off, and then the long run, starting at 7 miles but working my way up to 12 eventually.
I'll be picking up the repaired tires for my jogging stroller this weekend, which will be great... I'll be able to do the weekday runs in the late afternoon with precious baby... as long as it doesn't get too cold. On the days we don't run, I can cycle or do some other type of work out at the Y, especially since, starting next week, precious baby will start attending pre school at the Y... now isn't that convenient! Not to mention less expensive than her current day care. And when it is too cold for precious baby to be in the stroller, well, that's another good time to be at the Y, I can jog on the treadmill.

Remember that show, "Kids say the darndest things?"
Hosted by no other than the Jello man, Cliff Huxtable, aka Bill Cosby?

Precious Baby was getting a little whiney yesterday afternoon. I asked her,

"Do you want a snack?"

"yesssss! I hungwey!" said precious baby, nodding her head vigorously.

"How about some crackers?"

Precious baby's eyes lit up. "Crac-quors! Crack-quors!" She gleefully sang out. I tried really, really hard not to laugh.... it sounded just like crack whores.


Somehow, I just don't think she'd make the cut for prime time with that one.

So another thanksgiving has come and gone. Hubby made a fantastic Smoked turkey again this year. It was even better than the one he made last year. I also made a oven roasted turkey for those who don't like smoked... but we sure had a lot less smoked turkey left overs than we had roasted turkey left overs. I've got the bones and carcasses on the stove right now, making a big pot of stock. Yum.

It was good thanksgiving on the family front too. We had my brother and sister in law here, along with my mother and father in law. Historically, I haven't always seen eye to eye with my MIL, but this year was better than ever... while we may never be the best of buds, we sure are getting along a lot better, and I think we are actually enjoying each other's company, rather than feeling forced into niceness.

Running continues. While I took Thursday and Friday off, I did run six miles on Wednesday, and I intend to run at least five tomorrow. I really do want to run that half marathon in february, but even more importantly, I really, really want to look good when we go to Hawaii in June 08. I've got 7 months.... to go from a 12 to 6. I've got to get there... I just can't imagine the idea of week of sun and fun in Hawaii on cruise ship, in the current shape I'm in. Right now, I can't imagine going out in public in bathing suit. While I don't think I'm going to look perfect as a size 6, well, I'm so far from that now that comparatively, a size 6 would be fantastic! But the only way I'm going to get there is to keep doing what I'm doing... running and watching what I eat. So. time to pick it up again, first thing in the morning. In the meantime.... I am trying to resist the cheesecake, calling my name from the fridge.