Monday, November 14, 2011

A Runny, Lazy, Wal Marty, Mac & Cheesy, Hot Tuby, Face Stuffy Kind of Weekend

Good Monday morning. 

Why is it always harder to return to work after a long weekend? 

Here is how my long weekend went:

Friday

Off work, so I slept in (7:30), cleaned, and started my Christmas shopping.

CrossFit WOD at 4:30.  I subbed 12 pull ups for the rope climb and used a 25# plate for the lunges.  Finished in 30:13  (If you want to get a laugh, come to CrossFit on a toes-to-bar day and watch me struggle.  RIDICULOUS!)

Dinner at the Harlequin to celebrate my great-aunt and great-uncle's 50th wedding anniversary.  (review to come)

Saturday

10 mile long run.   Why are long runs becoming harder instead of easier?  Lately, my stomach has been very upset during runs.  I've been very cautious about what I eat, trying to avoid a lot of fiber (brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, broccoli, beans - basically all fall vegetables). Does this happen to anyone else?  Any other suggestions on what I can do?


My route - I ran a lap at Prien Lake Park, then headed to Country Club Rd and ran some neighborhoods in the Lisle Peters area.  I prefer running neighborhoods.

Also, the top of my left foot had been hurting.   So I googled "pain on top of foot while running" and stumbled upon this.   My Asics got a relacing that looked a little something this this:

Success.  No more foot pain!

After what felt like 359743 hours of running, I finally returned home to an ice bath.  The ice bath was followed by a warm shower and lots of laying on the couch.

Eventually, I worked up enough energy to put on real pants and go to Wal Mart.  Since Starbucks was on the way, I stopped an tried out the new Skinny Peppermint Mocha.  It was alright, but not as life changing as I'd hoped it would be.

After stepping into the doors of Wal Mart, I immediately regretted my decision to enter this place on a Saturday.  MAD.HOUSE.

My splurges of the day (besides the $4 S'bucks): sugar free white chocoalte mocha creamer

source


and xanthum gum. 
source
I have been wanting to buy xanthum gum for a while to use to thicken up smoothies, but its so expensive!  I've heard that a little goes a long way, so it lasts for a long time.  Well, it was marked down from $10 to $8, so I gave in and bought it. 

My sister cooked dinner and invited me over.  She made round steak, rice & gravy, crowder peas, and Velveeta Shells & Cheese.  Yum!  Her steak was awesomely tender and delicious, but for some reason I was loving the Shells & Cheese.  We had a conversation about how we actually prefer boxed macaroni and cheese to the homemade stuff, because it is what we grew up on.

We fired up the hot tub and soaked our sore muscles.  The moon was huge and bright and beautful.

As much as I wanted to jump in bed and turn off the lights when I returned home, I couldn't.  I promised my mom I would bring dessert for lunch on Sunday.  So I had to bake. 

I decided to make an upside down pecan cake recipe that I found in one of my Junior League cookbooks.  This genius thought it would be easier to flip the cake if I used a springform pan.  Wrong.  The topping was basically pralines, and it leaked out of the springform pan and all over my oven.  I attempted to clean it while the oven was still hot to avoid the formation of hard candy, and burnt up my hands. 

To make matters worse, the cake ended up being dry.  Fail.

Sunday

Church.

Mom & dad's for lunch.  The menu included: my dad's famous ribs, sausage, rice dressing, potato salad, baked beans, 7 layer salad, green salad, garlic bread, buttered rolls, cheesecake, my pecan upside down cake, and ice cream.  Oh and I snacked on grapes and pepper jelly (not together) after church. 

Gluttony at it's finest.  I couldn't stop.  The ribs were sooooo good.  And of course I had to have each dessert, then go back for another bowl of dessert during the Saints game.  At 11:00 last night, I was still miserably full. 

Lola wanted to go for a walk and I wanted to digest some food, so we were going to stroll around Shell Beach, but a very long lost friend was in town, and he came over to catch up.  I don't think we had seen each other in at least 3 or 4 years. 

All in all, a good weekend. 


Do you like boxed mac & cheese?  or do you find the fake cheese disguisting?
I like the Velveeta shells & cheese better than blue box macaroni, but if the Kraft blue box stuff isn't made too watery, I don't mind it either!

What is the worst baking disaster you have ever had?