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.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Went to the National's game last Saturday and had a blast. I met up with Ames and Melly at their house and we metroed in. Apparently, it's tradition to stop at Five Guys before the game, so that's what we did. Five Guys is a decent $5 burger:

And then we headed in to watch the game:

The best part about everything was that it was deliciously mid 80s and the sun was shining and I was warm and happy. Even got the slightest bit of a sunburn. Oh, and the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 which is fun. Apparently they sort of got good out of nowhere.

Opening pitch.

I really wanted to capture the exact moment the bat hit the ball, but that's actually really hard to do.

First home run of the game. Yeah!

Nat's win!

The President's race was also pretty funny.

Afterward there was a Dierks Bentley concert. At which I learned that I don't love Dierks Bentley. There's a level of sophistication missing from his music generally, and 5 of the 10 songs were about drinking, and he sort of embodies the "forever young and carefree" mentality of the age, which I don't love. BUT he does have a ton of energy on stage, and we like that.

All in all a lovely way to spend a Saturday. There's not much more wholesome than a stadium of people singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th Inning Stretch; and we like wholesome around here.

Soundtack for a Break Up

January and February -- Daft Punk, Something About Us

...I need you more than anything in my life/I want you more than anything in my life/I'll miss you more than anyone in my life/I love you more than anyone in my life...

March through May -- Kenny Chesney, Come Over

...I told you I wouldn’t call, I told you I wouldn’t care/But baby climbing the walls gets me nowhere/I don’t think that I can take this bed getting any colder/Come over, come over, come over, come over, come over...

June and July -- Jerrod Niemann, What Do You Want From Me?

...Now tell me, what do you want? What do you want? What do you want from me?/Are you tryin’ to bring back the tears or just the memories?/You keep takin’ me back, takin’ me back where I’ve already been./When we hang up it’s almost like I’m losing you again./Can’t you see? So what do you want, what do you want from me?...

August -- Sara Evans, A Little Bit Stronger

...And I'm done hoping that we could work it out/I'm done with how it feels, spinning my wheels/Letting you drag my heart around/And, oh, I'm done thinking that you could ever change/I know my heart will never be the same/But I'm telling myself I'll be okay/Even on my weakest days, I get a little bit stronger...

First half of September -- Jana Kramer, Why Ya Wanna

...Why you wanna/Show up in a old t-shirt that I love/Why you gotta tell me that I'm looking good/Don't know what/You were thinkin'/You were doing/Moving in for a hug/Like you don't know I'm coming undone/Why you gotta/Why you wanna/Make me keep wanting you...

Second half of September  -- Julieta Venegas, Me Voy

...No voy a llorar y decir que no merezco esto/Porque es probable que/Lo merezco pero no lo quiero/Por eso me voy/Que lastima pero adios/Me despido de ti y me voy...[I am not going to cry and say I don't deserve this/Becaue I probably do deserve it, but I don't want it/so I'm leaving/It's a shame, but goodbye/I'm bidding you farewell]

I'm in Trouble

Walked out the door today to head to work and with a shiver and a groan of dissatisfaction thought to myself "Why is it Winter already?"

This is a problem, because it's not Winter. It's barely the first breath of Fall. I will never be warm again.