pizza run

I'm back to WarCracking. I was able to peel myself away just long enough to run 2mi around the neighborhood and get us a pizza (it is Pizza Thursday, after all).
Now back to being a blood elf warlock.

Food for thought

I spent half a day today at the food bank as part of The Office's chosen charity thing. It was a fulfilling experience -- first of all, seeing how much food the city donates to feed hungry people. But it isn't even enough food. Makes me think more about my fridge, my pantry, my freezer, and what's in them. What I invariably waste, what I don't finish, what I sometimes don't start, what I buy because I think it's a good idea at the time but it ends up rotting in the fridge or collecting dust at the back of the cupboard. This morning, I chucked in the green compost bin two uncooked pork chops that I had forgotten in a salt brine, half a can of kidney beans, 4 gourmet brownies, some grapes. All perfectly good food at some point and it makes me sad that I waste it, and do it so often.
This is what I was thinking about as I struggled through a very hot run today. Tuesday RunClub was cancelled due to the heat and smog advisory. I went to the gym instead and did a core strength class. Then not having had enough, decided to run home. Perhaps a stupid decision -- it was 32C but it felt like 40C. But I ran pretty slowly, though perhaps the accurate word is sluggishly. It took me an hour to cover 7.5K. But I saw a great sign at a bus stop on the way home, at Broadview & Danforth: An 8-minute kilometer is just as far as a 4-minute kilometer. Run easy. (apologies to reebok if i've misquoted .. but it's great. and so true.)

Social Saturday

Managed to get nearly 2 miles in this morning before checking out various parties around town. To the north, a baby shower. East in a little while for my friend's annual post-golf tournament BBQ (had to skip the golf this year for the baby shower, but the Q is always good). At least the last party is next door. Makes the stumble home easier.

Neighborhood scenes

Afterwork RunClub was cancelled yesterday due to a ferocious thunderstorm. In hindsight I wished we had just waited out the storm because it lasted about 30 minutes and afterwards it was almost ideal conditions for a quick run. But that storm did quite a number on a house in my neighborhood. This photo, taken today during an after-work-before-I-change-my-mind 5K, doesn't quite capture the same drama from this front-page.


Scene from today's run: A couple houses north of this one pictured, a couple of boys were sitting on their porch and had all their hockey gear strewn across the lawn. Presumably to air them out. And boy did these items need to be. I nearly passed out passing the smelly equipment.

Routine Saturday

The best way to get back into routine is to dive right into it. And a great motivator is always the Saturday morning classes at the gym. Because if I do nothing else but these classes today, at least I feel like a productive member of society.
I raced against the clock to get to class on time. I was late by 10 minutes. I blame the chatty neighbors this morning who were having a yard sale and wanting me to peruse their wares (a quick glance didn't convince me I needed to go back after my run). Oh, and I was late because I'm a slow runner and I didn't leave myself enough time to cover the 4.8mi, let's be honest. But I went to class, strengthened my core. Hope to do this much more often. Gonna wrap up this blog post now -- live from the gym (!), and now I'm ready to take the subway home and not be any more productive (except have a shower).

Honeymoon is over...

No words can describe the past week. Our wedding was the best one I've been to (no bias here). Our friends and family are the most generous souls in the world, I don't even know where to begin to thank them, not just for their gifts but for actually coming -- some from very far away -- to see us exchange vows. It was surreal seeing almost everyone we love surrounding us as we said the words that have been a long time in coming (thirteen years, not that anyone is counting). The night went too fast.

The day after the wedding, we got a sobering look at the bill for our party. The restaurant held our gifts hostage so we'd come back and pay the next day (a fair deal ... who wants to look at the bill on the same night as the party?)

We left for the honeymoon destination (the mini version -- we are still debating whether the "real" honeymoon should be at his choice -- Fiji -- or my choice -- Belize ... which probably means we'll meet halfway... where does that put us? Africa?). We arrived at our Muskokan resort (pictured above) where we most lazed poolside and ate well. The Buffalo wings were especially ridiculously addictive.

Oh, and I managed to get a single run in on the first morning. Nearly 4K of undulating country road. And that was enough.

Honeymoon's over. Time to get back into the groove of things.... oh, stupid reality.

Will you Mariachi Me?

I got my toes painted today, so they're all pretty for the Big Party tomorrow night.
The nail color is called "Will you Mariachi Me"? I thought it was, therefore, quite fitting.

I haven't run since Tuesday. There's a lot of people to see and things to do before a wedding. But I'm not freaking out. And people think I've been remarkably calm. I think people are driving me to freakout status because I think I'm neglecting an important detail. My checklist says otherwise, and if something goes wrong, I never had a vision of perfection on this Big Day anyway.

So I am going to risk ruining the toe job tomorrow by running first thing in the morning. Just two or three miles to get the adrenaline going. My sister will come with me. I figure running is part of my life, and it's definitely a part that I want to take with me into the next phase of it.