My Big Events

Over the past 2 weekends, I ran in two different 10K's. The first one, Lawyers Have Heart 10K was in Georgetown. MTH was also supposed to run it but there was travel issues that occurred. He was flying into DCA from LGA but didn't get in until after midnight. I had to get up at 6:30am in order to be ready for the 8am start. Needless to say, MTH slept in a little later than that. I ran it in 61:22 which is about 9:53 minutes. But, my split (the first 5K) was 33:20 which means I ran the second half of the race much faster. The reason for that was all the people in my way in the beginning. Therefore, I actually think I could go faster! Next time, I'm going to push myself.

The second 10K was the XTerra James River Scramble. It was a trail run through the James River Park system in the middle of Richmond, VA. As you may or may not know, the James River runs through the middle of Richmond. Because of the river, there are all kinds of trails like you might find out in the country but in the city. It was a really cool race that I enjoyed much more than a normal 10K. I'm ready for another one. I'm hoping to update this post with a picture from the race where I'm running over some rocks to cross the river (no water in sight).

That same day, MTH did the James River Splash, a one mile swim in the James River. Unfortunately, it was 15 miles from where my event took place so we didn't get to see each other. The good part was that my parents and my sister were in town for Father's Day weekend. My mom and sister went with me to cheer me on. My father went with MTH to cheer him on. MTH did well in his event (as expected!).

Bed Stuff

I went shopping this weekend with Britgirl. We went to Stony Point Fashion Park and Short Pump Town Center, the two main malls in the Richmond area. I wanted to find some new bed linens. I found some that I loved at Reservation Hardware but they were, of course, very expensive. I decided to wait and look around a bit more. We then went to West Elm where I found some I liked just as much for at least half the price! And, I got a new file cabinet with wheels. Here's some pictures of the newly dressed bed.

Overall Picture

Palm tree accent pillow

Busch Gardens Europe

I didn't quite write my post on the fun day later that day. Here's my update. We rode all of the roller coasters including the new one, the Griffon.
That one is awesome. MTH has to go back with me so that he can ride it too. If you like roller coasters, you would love this one. We also did bumper cars. I always love that one with a group of people. Then, you can go after you people and have fun running into them.

Running Update

I haven't talked about running in a long time. MTH and I are signed up for a 10k next week - Lawyers Have Heart 10k. It's in Georgetown. It'll be nice to head up to DC and see a few people from our old life. Today, I ran 5 miles. It was a little hard at the end but I think I'll be able to do the 10k (6.2 miles). I'm sure there a hills which may make it hard but I'm looking forward to a race. I haven't done one since April 2006 when I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Father's Day weekend MTH and I are both doing events at the James River Adventure Games. I'm doing the James River Scramble. MTH is doing the James River Splash One Miler. My parents and sister are coming to visit so they'll be there to cheer us on. After that, I have no events planned for myself. Of course, in mid-July will be the big day for MTH. He'll be swimming, biking and running in the Musselman Half Ironman Triathlon in Lake Geneva, NY. We're staying at a bed and breakfast as there were no hotels in the town available. It's called Belhurst. We've decided to drive so I'm hoping that there will be time to stop by a winery or two.

Phoebe The Terror Cat

So, Phoebe went to the vet today. Not a good scene. First she was weighed and that went ok. She's 9 pounds, 3 ounces - healthy! Then, it went downhill. She jumped off the exam table. The vet tried to get her and if any of you are familiar with Phoebe you know what happened next - she started hissing. Then, of course, since the vet wasn't going to leave her alone - she needed her distemper and rabies shots - Phoebe started growling as well. After putting her back in the cage, bringing in an assistant, getting some huge leather gloves and a towel, Phoebe got her shots. At the end, the vet apologized for not doing the full exam - she wasn't able to look at Phoebe's teeth. I can't say that I blame her for not looking! We don't have to go back for a year. The vet said that she can give us a pill for Phoebe next time that will make her more docile. So, basically, Phoebe has to be on drugs to go to the vet!

Nova

I heard an interesting story the other day. When Chevrolet tried to sell their car, the Nova, in Latin America, it did very poorly. Can you guess why?

Irrigation System, How Do I Love Thee

MTH's parents came to visit this past weekend. The arrived around noon on Friday. By the time I came home at 4pm, they had installed an irrigation system in our front yard! It's so great. We now don't have to worry about remembering to water. There's a timer and it automatically comes on in the morning and waters all of our nice plants. Here's some pictures of the system that they installed in the back yard on Saturday.

There's the sprayer

There's one of our beautiful plants

Today is a Fun Day

Today is the quarterly Work Fun Day. We're going to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. I haven't been to an amusement park in a few years so it actually should be fun. I'll give an update later today on the activities of the day. And, maybe I'll post about other things!

Our Front Yard

MTH, SM (my sister) and I planted a few flowers and ornamental plants in the front yard on Cinco de Mayo. Here's some pictures:







I will also post several pictures throughout the spring and summer to show its progress. Hopefully that progress will be a good progress and not a lot of weeds!!

The plants are:
geraniums, ornamental variegated leaf thing (don't remember the name), lily turf grass, impatiens and begonias. We also fertilized the azaleas. Hopefully they'll show their appreciation!

I also planted an herb garden in the backyard. The herbs are: rosemary, lavender, oregano and thyme. I'll have my very own fresh herbes de Provence.

I've been tagged....

What is tagging you might ask? Apparently a sort of '"get to know you'" game that bloggers play.

The Rules:
• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself
• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog
• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged

Seven Random things about myself:
(1) I worked at McDonald's.
(2) I don't have a middle name.
(3) I know how to clog.
(4) I call a shopping cart a "buggy".
(5) I know how to make bread from scratch.
(6) I've now been to Las Vegas 4 times in 3 years (I think I'm done)
(7) I think I'm ready to move again.

Loud took all of the blogs I know so I had to tag mostly random bloggers:
http://kitchenmusings.typepad.com/
http://humdrum-girl.blogspot.com/
http://rosy-and-grey.blogspot.com/
http://awkwardthingsisaytogirls.com/
http://chewyyyy.blogspot.com/
http://scottpharr.blogspot.com/
http://valereelynn.blogspot.com/

SM's Visit

My sister came to visit the weekend before MAK. I'll be posting some of our handiwork soon. She helped us to plant flowers in the front yard. It looks so much better. We also enjoyed cooking out and eating out. She had to leave one day early because of a job interview. We're keeping our fingers crossed (no word yet).

Grilled Pizzas (again)

I know that I’ve talked about grilled pizzas in the past. I had my team over this past Tuesday for dinner. I decided that grilled pizzas would be fun since each person can make it how they want. In Alexandria, I could buy pizza dough at Trader Joe’s or at Whole Foods. In Richmond, none of the grocery stores seem to have pizza dough. So, I had to go to Plan B – call a pizzeria. That was a lucky break. The pizza crust was the best we’ve ever had. It made the pizzas that much better. I’ll be buying it from a pizzeria from now on! 2.718 – Have you tried grilling pizzas yet?

Everyone – have you grilled something on the grill that at first seemed weird but turned out very good? I love trying to find new things to grill that you wouldn’t expect to be good. My new things for this year are bananas and strawberries.

Weekend with MAK

I had a great weekend with MAK. It was 5/11-5/13. She got in around midnight on 5/11 and we went to sleep around 1am. Impressively, we got up at 7am and went for a 3 mile run in the neighborhood. Then, we had a great breakfast of Greek yogurt, maple almond granola, toast with strawberry preserves and peanut butter and coffee. MAK enjoyed it so much we had it again on Sunday morning. We then headed to the mall to shop for a little while. When we came back, we had a lunch of gourmet cheeses, bakery bread and champagne. Then, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Due to the time difference, MAK did take a nap for a little while but not for as long as I expected. We had dinner at a place called Bacchus. Then, on Sunday, we went for another run, had the same breakfast and then walked around Carytown. Then, she left to go home. It was a whirlwind trip but a lot of fun! I’ll see her again in August for her bachelorette party at her Mom’s.

Scenes from Flying

I am flying to Las Vegas today. Since we live in Richmond, unless I’m flying somewhere close by, I have to connect. For this flight, I connected through Dallas-Forth Worth. During that layover, I saw a group of men all dressed the same. That in itself is not interesting. The interesting part is that they each had on green shorts, yellow socks and blue blazers. I have no idea why. I should have stopped one of them to find out. Next, I was sitting in my gate area waiting on the flight to board. A man walked out of the bbq place across from our gate – he looked just like Santa Claus – white beard and belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly. Now, I’m on the plane to Vegas. The woman beside has decided one of two things: 1) She’s not actually on a plane but actually in her shower or 2) We all WANT to hear her sing along with her headphones. She has now bought a snack so that should keep her from singing for a while. Eating does not stop her from singing. The thing is, I actually have on headphones and can still hear her. I have to say, this is the only time I don’t like being around people.

My Upcoming Posts

It’s been a while since I posted (again). I’m on the plane to Vegas right now so I decided to get my computer out and write my posts in Word. I’ll post them all at the same time later.

Cookout Update

We ended up having beef kebabs as my British friend (Britgirl, from now on) could not find any lamb that she liked. For some reason the Halloumi melted. One of Halloumi's interesting properties (normally) is that it doesn't melt when heated. Thus, it's ability to be grilled. Anyway, we were able to salvage a few pieces so people got to try it.

I also made some "souvlaki" chicken. It turned out nicely. It was just a marinade of balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and pepper.

The grilled banana splits were a hit! I grilled some strawberries this weekend again because I enjoyed the grilled fruit so much last weekend.

First Cookout

Today will be our first cookout in our new house. It's just a small affair - about 7 people. My British friend is bringing lamb kebabs with green peppers and halloumi accompanied by tzatiki and pita bread. To keep with the Greek theme, I'm making grilled chicken souvlaki and a Greek salad. I'm also going to buy some hummus. Dessert will not be Greek as I do not think I'm up to making baklava. And, I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of the Greek version of baklava. Dessert will simply be grille bananas and strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream and Thin Mints on the side.

Mediterranean Food

I love almost all food that is Mediterranean. Here in Richmond we no longer have access to a Lebanese restaurant. I'm very sad about that. I love Lebanese baklava the best of all. Rosewater and pistachios instead of honey and walnuts like the Greeks. But, I can get some really good hummus and baba ghanouj. We're having a cook out next weekend so I'm definitely looking forward to our first grilled Halloumi of the season. If you don't remember Halloumi, click here.

I never did try it with kebabs as I mentioned in that post from last year. We also never tried it for breakfast. Maybe this year.

Hiatus

Yes, it's been a long time since my last post. 35 days to be exact. At first, I had no choice as we had no internet connection when we moved into the new place. Then, I just wasn't in the habit anymore. I've kept up reading my normal blogs: ETK, Blondie, loud and she who updates her blog less than me, e.

I'll post more later to catch you up.

Salad Pizza (Yummy!)

On Saturday, MTH picked up the snacks for our small St. Pat's Day get together. He bought some pizza rolls, beer, gouda cheese, beer, 4 leaf clover butter cookies and more beer. So, we needed up only eating the pizza rolls and the cookies. Therefore, there was gouda left in the fridge. We're moving out later this week so I'm trying to use up all the food in the apartment. I did a search for gouda pizza and found a recipe for something called Rip's Red Salad and Gouda Pizza. The reason it's called "red salad" is that it has radicchio, red onions, tomatoes, red bell pepper and red jalapenos in it. I did not want to spend the extra money so I had green bell peppers and yellow onions. I also didn't use nearly as much chesese as that recipe calls for. The nutritional information said it had 599 calories and 32 grams of fat per serving. It used a Boboli pizza crust so a serving was considered 1/4 of one of those. That's not huge. I looked at how much fat was in one of those and it was only about 4 grams. Therefore, all of the fat was pretty much coming from the cheese.

In case you're not interested in looking at the recipe, the basic idea is:

marinate a mixture of radicchio, tomatoes, green peppers and onions in a balsamic vinegar, olive, salt, pepper and sugar mixture for about 45 minutes. Put some cheese into the mixture as well as onto the Boboli crust. Be sure to drain the marinade from the veggie mixture as much as possible. Put the veggie mixture on top of the cheese topped Boboli. Put a little more cheese on top of the veggies. I also added some red pepper flakes. Bake in a 500 degree oven for 12 minutes. Let stand for 4 minutes after removing from the oven. Enjoy!

The end result of this recipe was awesome. MTH ended up eating about two thirds of it! I had one quarter last night and the other small portion that was left tonight along with the leftover asparagus.