Baked Apples and a Foot on Ice

Sat on my ass all day with my foot up and an ice pack rotated with an ace bandage for compression. It hurts like the dickens on the top of my foot just below the ankle. The feeling has point tenderness then spreads down my foot. Since we just spend a butt load of money on the same foot for the whole pelvic tilt/hip/leg/foot issue the whole first part of the year I'm a little perturbed that a whole new thing just popped up. :( So if I don't feel better tomorrow another appointment with the podiatrist is in order. Grrrr.... Saturday is supposed to be our first 20 miler.

BUT I made the most yummy baked apples and that makes up for it a little, well at least for today.

• 2 Granny Smith Apples cored about 3/4 of the way
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup TJ pecan cluster cereal
• 1/4 cup walnut pieces
• a small pad of butter on top of each
• cinnamon to taste

I put both apples in a glass loaf pan with 1/8 cup water. mixed up the brown sugar, cereal and walnut pieces and fill the apples to the top. place a little tab of butter and put into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes covered with foil.Take the foil off and cook 5 more minutes until the apples are soft. When you take your apple out sprinkle with cinnamon if you want. I did have a little stuffing left so I added that on top after I put it in my bowl. Yumm-o. I added a side of TJ's pumpkin ice cream and have to say it was the best pumpkin ice cream I've had so far.  I do love me some pumpkin ice cream so I'm sort of an unofficial expert if I do say so myself.



baked stuffed apples w/ TJ's pumpkin ice cream!



This was the perfect  easy fall dessert! I just tossed it into the oven when I was finished baking the chicken for dinner and set the timer. By the time it came out of the oven and cooled it was perfect timing for a warm treat!

Just Put it Out There

Maybe if I put it out there I'll be more likely to make it happen. After my long run on Saturday I'm a little worried about getting back out there tomorrow. I need to go to KOR and also run 4 miles tomorrow. My foot hasn't bothered me much today and I'm going to ice it again tonight and give it a real try tomorrow. Maybe adjusting the laces some.

I had a great weekend with my sister and the kids. I can't believe its been 8 months since I've seen them. I got so much love from my niece and nephews. Especially the nephews. Princess Nani plays well with my boys but the two little ones really clung to me this weekend and I loved every moment of it. I loved listening to JJ laugh that deep belly laugh of his. I love that TyTy loves for me to blow on his belly and tickle him. He just asked me over and over. I got such an abundance of hugs and kisses and love from my nephews. It made me miss my boys being so little when I was their whole world. I have to hold onto my boys and that feeling just a little longer when they give out the extra love that came so easy when they were little when I didn't have to beg for a kiss or cuddle time.

 Nani is getting so big. I'm always amazed by her sensitivity and creativity. She hasn't been jaded or built walls around herself in spite of the challenges of changing schools, moving from friends, having her parents split up and all the other changes this year has brought. I know she's scared but when I took her out of the room and talked to her she told me out right that she was scared, that she missed her home and she really missed her daddy. The way she clung to me and cried made me remember the way it used to be when I was little before I was too scared to hold back. She reminds me so much of me and I miss her so much.

I'm going to hold onto those hugs and those kisses and the tears I wiped away this weekend in my heart and the forefront of my thoughts this week when I feel like I can't make it to KOR, when those miles seem like too many or the weather isn't perfect for a good run. I'll hold onto the sound of their laughter when I run in the rain next Saturday for my 20 mile run. Because I got a little time with my favorite people this weekend I'm going to put that out there, into everything I do, into my effort on the pavement, on the trail, working in the classroom. Their weekend with us brought me a little extra umph to get me through my single mama time this week and all of next week when my firefighter provider (FFP) is out of town on hunting and fire business.

I'm thinking that maybe if I clean out the freezer the FFP might actually see and kill some elk this week. Day 2 has come and gone and no animals yet.

Do you "meat eaters" eat game or do you buy from local grocers or farms?

18 Wheeler... keep on Driving

right over me. At least that is how I feel after my long run this morning. My whole body rebelled and decided that today was not a good day to run that far. BUT I got my butt out into the rain and hung on for dear life and ran. Hip and calves hurt at first but by mile 4 they were pretty much warmed up. The rain finally stopped around mile 8 and stayed away until the last mile or so.

I'm worried though... the top of my right foot hurts.. a lot. I don't want it to be anything big and I'm thinking that I'll wake up tomorrow and it will be a bad dream. 6 weeks to CIM and its not a good time for an injury. I'll ice again tonight, I'll ice tomorrow and back to running and KOR on Monday.

So I'm giving that 18 miler (and wheeler) that kicked my ass today, permission to keep on driving because I have too many important things riding on this program and a lot of prep/run time invested. Lets keep our fingers crossed for good news!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the fall weather. The cooler weather has finally found us after an extended Indian Summer her in Northern California. Tomorrow's high is 60 and its gonna be wet this weekend!

I'm thankful for my boys even though they were total boogers today (actually still are being boogers since they refuse to go to bed). I'm thankful they are happy and healthy boogers.

I'm thankful that my hubby is getting away with his dad, brother and  buddies. He needed it, he works so hard for us and he comes back refreshed and happy (and hopefully brings a whole truckload of Elk meat too).

I'm thankful for my family. My sister, niece and nephews are in town and I'm so glad I'll get to spend some quality time with them this weekend. I missed them so much!!!

I'm thankful for my friends. Some of them are going through some really hard life changing things and some of them are all consumed with new and wonderful adventures but they still check in and support me as I try and support them. I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

I'm thankful that I have a strong body even if I keep getting sick. In general I can still do all the things I need to do but I know that there are moms out there fighting debilitating diseases like breast cancer and depression but still get up and do what they need to get done to be a mom and a wife every day.

No more "Next time" for me.

Monday night at softball I hit the ball... twice.

I've started playing last Spring on the co-ed team for NSEngineering and every time I was at bat I struck out. Not for the lack of trying... I just couldn't seem to connect. There were many games that I just felt like I shouldn't be there and I was just dragging them down. I got through every game last season and half the games this season without the ball making contact. Every time I walked off the field Todd (manager) would say, "next time".

Monday night he was in Hawaii with his GF celebrating his birthday. (Tuesday night he proposed and she said YES!) so he wasn't there to see me hit the ball. BUT that's OK because now I have a little sense of "I can do it" because I already did it... twice!

Its kind of like running in the way that you think it looks so easy. Just get out there and run right? But running takes practice, to build miles, to build speed, to hydrate and fuel properly. Sometimes you just have to keep doing something until it clicks. You may go awhile before you have a good run again, or hit the ball again and I'm good with that. I do think that the rest of the team got much more of a kick out of it than me. One of the guys said to FFP that "even if nothing else goes right this game, Tina hitting the ball made it all worth it." :)

Then someone stole me phone. :(

Three Things Thursday

1. My hubby left today with his brother, dad and buddies for a 10 day camping/hunting trip out of state for Elk. I hope he brings something back because my freezer is empty and I haven't bought meat in so long I wouldn't even know where to start! We generally eat elk and venison for red meat and wild pig for our pork. I have been buying chicken from the local farm but its coming into duck season (and turkey season I think) so we'll have some foul in our futures soon.

2. I was dreading 10 days alone with the boys until my sister called and said that she was going to drive down from Washington this weekend with my niece and nephews! That totally made up for it! I miss them all so much (and I have very cool gifts for the kids that I collect but always forget to mail).

3. That race on Sunday was harder on my body than I thought. I ended up with a cold on top of it. I had a really easy run yesterday and have missed KOR all week. I'm feeling like such a flake.