Today I...

...got up really early to make it into DC to run in the AIDS Walk 5K. I don't know what my official time was, nor could I even give you a best guess, but I'm betting it was a personal best because after mile two I decided that I needed to pass anyone I could see who was wearing pink, which kept me running strong through the end of the race.

...hurried back home to meet my visiting teachers at La Madeleine for lunch. That was yummy and fun!

...took my insurance payment (that FINALLY arrived) and paid off the balance on my car loan. I am once again consumer debt free.

...went to Target. It still sometimes blows my mind a little that I can just go to Target whenever I want.

...made a tutu and a witches hat for the costume I planned to wear to the ward Halloween Trunk-or-Treat/Chili Cookoff.

...checked the oil in my car, filled it up with gas, cleaned out the accumulated junk of the past two months, and vacuumed the interior.

...whipped up a batch of rice crispy treats.

...went to the ward Halloween Trunk-or-Treat/Chili Cookoff.

...wrote this blog post, and then took my exhausted self to bed.

I Rocked That

Here are some things that I've totally rocked lately:

• Ran the whole 3.6 mile loop that I've been doing. I'd gotten the first three down, but either direction I run, that last .6 is all uphill and it was killing me. On Monday, though, I totally rocked that run and could have gone further had time permitted.
  
• Two weeks of daily journal writing. Some of you are stellar journalers. I am not. But I totally rocked that journal writing these last two weeks and made an entry every day.
  
• Deep cleaned the house. I was just going to do a "presentable for guests" job on Saturday and then I rocked that cleaning job and my house is STILL sparkling.

Here are the things I'm planning to rock in the future

• The splits. I've been taking a ballet class and will probably add in some yoga, and hopefully in a few or several months, I'm totally going to rock the splits.

• The hymnbook. This week marks the start of Project Hymn Book -- I'm going to start with hymn number one and spend 20 or 30 minutes a day practicing until I know it, and then move on to hymn number two until I get through the whole book. This is obviously going to take more than a year, but I'm going to rock that hymn book.

Good Things

I don't love being cold but I do love pretty Autumn trees.

And getting cozified with piles of blankets.

Also, I found a replacement for Big John's. It's nice to have a regular place again.

I don't actually love these shoes, but I'm muchly enjoying my ballet class.

And I'm enjoying being one of those active people and having a running trail right out the back door.

Stylin'

I know that many of you look to me for all your fashion guidance, so as a service to you, I thought we could take a minute today and appreciate the awesomeness of my running outfit lately. Behold:

I think you'll agree that this is the most amazing running attire you've seen in a while. You're dazzled by the bold choice of color and delighted by how great those sweats fit. You wish that you had a sweet cloche to get your hair tufts to flare out like that. You're thinking, never in the history of all my days have I seen so fabulous a running outfit. (And/or one you're making emergency call to the fashion police right this minute.)

You're welcome.