Let The Games Begin?

Last week was one of those weeks were I completely overbooked myself and this week is going to be more of the same. Last week every day I had something after work, culminating in a client meeting and dinner on Friday, of which I was very glad to see the back of, although it went well and we had a good time. Planning for work events with multiple personalities and likes/dislikes is not really my thing, although I always seem to be in charge of doing it, like it or not. Luckily everyone was happy in the end, but if I don't have to do that again for a long time, I will not be sad. On Saturday I went to a wine and music event with my friend E and we were talking about his Thanksgiving plans, which are going to be nothing social, and I was telling him how I completely understand why. Sometimes it just creeps up on you and you need to hide under a rock for a while. 

Fancy dinner

Wine & music with Les Claypool

Luckily although this week will be socially heavy, it will be fun and a bit more low key. I only have Thursday off of work, so will have to go back into the office on Friday, although I expect it to be slow, as the markets are not open all day. Then on Saturday, I will run the Quad Dispea, an annual trail race, for which I have not trained enough. It will be painful, but it is kind of the running community's "holiday" get together, where you will often see people that you may not have seen since last year's race, so it will be nice to catch up with them, or at least see them on the course. I am crossing my fingers that it doesn't rain, as there are some steep muddy and slippery rock sections that are much more fun when dry. 

The Dipsea trail is known for its 678 stairs

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, which will probably just be a low key lunch/dinner, lots of games, some hikes and otherwise just catching up and drinking lots of coffee! I think we are looking at lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s, and no rain, which is a very welcome thing! Last weekend we had some thunderstorms which were good for the garden, but difficult when trying to dash from a car to a restaurant in high heeled shoes, which is what happened to me on Friday night. 

Quirkle, one of our favorite games

Besides the rain though, the weather has been pretty good and is still not getting too cold at night; our lowest low has been in the 40s still and the trees are still pretty and golden in most places. Of course, as I mentioned before, this still means that raking season is going strong, and likely will for some time yet. I have really been enjoying leaf peeping walks around the neighborhood lately though! 

Golden leaves

Fun neighborhood corner

After that, November will basically be over, and it will be the last month of the year! My Christmas cards are 99% done, so I will put the finishing touches on them and get them sent out at the end of the month. The other thing I always do in the last couple of months of the year is to get all of the pesky check ups done. I already went to the eye doctor, next up are the dentist (today actually) and all of the lady checks and then I am done until next year! I still have to do some more serious dentistry, but will wait until my new insurance starts in January, and will also do my normal wellness exam (blood panel for triglycerides, cholesterol etc.) in January once the calendar starts over again. 

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Have you done all of your annual exams, dentist appointments, eye appointments etc. yet? What are your neighborhood walks like lately? 

Am I Wearing Pants? And Other Random Stories

Who remembers this meme? 

Leg Pants. 

I think the meme above was from when it was once again becoming more common to wear leggings out in public for no reason (see --> "are they yoga pants? are you doing yoga?") and it was not always appreciated! These days it is more accepted, but there is still the "leg pants" phenomena, where I wonder if a woman (or man I guess) knows that her pants are the exact same color as her legs. Sometimes I nearly have a heart attack as I pass or come up behind her, thinking she is walking around naked. People, perhaps get a shade a few shades darker or lighter than you? Or maybe you like seeing how many people you can get to do a double take. 

As a kind of related side note, the other morning I was getting off the train and a lady was getting on the opposite train and I saw that she was wearing leg pants that really hugged her butt tightly and were the perfect color for her complexion. She had a nice fur coat on top and had her hair done up really fancy. Then I realized at the last minute that she was NOT wearing pants, or underwear and that was actually her butt I had been seeing. Good morning to you too!

Mean Dad. 

Two weekends ago I went to A's soccer game. If you come to spectate, you must sit on the same side of the centerline that your kids are sitting on on the opposite side. We arrived a few seconds after the game had already started and so the only place to sit was basically just left of the centerline (by mere inches) meaning that we were sitting right next to the spectators from the other team. There was a girl on the opposite team who was playing on our side of the field and her Dad was sitting a couple of chairs down from us. He kept yelling at her, berating her, telling her all of the things that she wasn't doing etc. (these girls are around 13 by the way). The ironic thing was that he was pretty supportive of the other players, but very critical of his own daughter, who I thought was doing quite well. 

As Broski and I were sitting there, we chatted about this cool camera that was sitting right on the centerline, filming the game. We even Googled it to find out how much it cost and surmised that one of the parents must really be into sports. My friend K (A's Mom) arrived around halftime and after she arrived, the mean Dad walked away and went to sit further down the field. I was telling her how this Dad was being so mean to his daughter and she was really doing well and K told me that the last time they played this team, the parents got into a huge fight because the parents of the other team were all being rude, mean and unsportsmanlike (i.e. telling their daughters to "take them out!" and encouraging them to hurt the other girls and things like that). Anyway, the game ended, our team won in the last three minutes (boo yeah!) and as we were packing up to go, we noticed mean Dad packing up the camera. We kind of shook our heads at ourselves, imagining him sitting at home with his poor daughter, making her relive everything she had done wrong in the game. 

Later that week I was having dinner with K and the kids and she told me that she had received a video from a parent using that same camera for L's last game and as she had watched it, she had remembered how good the audio is on these cameras. They sit up off the field about 15 or 20 feet, but she could hear the parents chatting underneath the camera. I asked her what they do with these videos and she said that often the team will review them all together and they will talk about what needs to be improved. So basically, the team that A's team played is going to do the same thing. And if they do, they are going to get an earful about how I felt about mean Dad!! Oops. However, nothing I said was not true, AND they are also going to be able to hear him berating her, so perhaps he will take note. People, we are being watched and listened to no matter where we are! I guess the moral of the story is don't say anything that you wouldn't want a bunch of thirteen year old girls (and their mean Dads) hearing! 

Expiration dates. 

Last week Nicole touched on suggested expirations and I just want to say that I pretty much ignore most expiration dates. This may make me gross in some people's minds, but I am fairly sure that most of them are just a ploy to get you to buy more of their product. Now, I know that if they are old they can be less effective or not as tasty in the case of food, but I don't think I am going to die if I use a 2 year old mascara or eat an expired can of corn. I take them as a suggestion and if it is food, I definitely give it a good sniff before eating it. But I am going to use up that two year old bottle of Jergens and that Costco coconut oil even if it kills me. 

Having said that, in the past year, I have bought new tires for both my car and Bertha (the road bike) and they are fabulous! I have been using the same tires on Bertha for about 10 years and I was starting to have trouble stopping due to the lack of tread. I even splurged for the fancy brand, and man are they nice. Same thing goes with the car; I have replaced a tire here and there but finally decided to get four new ones at the same time and I feel like a new woman. I also do replace the little things that I can fix myself, like my car cabin air filter (did you know you were supposed to do that? I just learned about it a few years ago), wipers and the engine air filter regularly. 

Old girl, new tires

Fall. 

It is perpetual leaf raking season again. I think I have mentioned before that my seasons are based on the status of the maple tree in my front yard. September: clean the leaves out of the gutter season. October to December: leaf raking season. January to March: ankle breaking ball pick up season, also coincides with rainy season. April to June: spring break. July to August: removing branches from electrical wire season. I pretty much fill up the compost bin and/or the green trash bin with leaves each week and I still can't really keep up with all of the leaves on the ground. Usually at some point in December there is a huge wind and rain and it knocks many of the remaining leaves off the tree, but I would prefer that just happen early so I can rake them all and be done with it. It is supposed to rain this week so maybe this will be the week it happens? I doubt it, as the tree still has about 87% of its leaves left right now but one can hope. 

Gutter cleaning season

How was your weekend? Do parents use fancy cameras to film stuff at your kid's sports events? Do you follow the suggested expiration dates on your products and/or foods? 

Fall Back

I have always LOVED Fall Back. When I was a kid I had a great theory. It went something like this:

In the morning, we got to sleep in an extra hour. This is because if we fall back, the clock SAYS 6 now, but "really" it is 7, so we get to sleep in until what used to be 7 o'clock. Score.

In the evening, we get to stay up an extra hour. This is because if we normally go to bed at 10, when the clock says 10, it will really feel like 11, so really we gained an hour in the evening too!

After Fall Back comes Winter!

However, last night I was running on the trails and it was about 6 o'clock and it was starting to get dark and I was thinking about the whole daylight savings thing. I have said it before, thinking and running (especially math!) don't always work out well for me. I have been known to have run several extra miles due to bad running addition.

Last night it was almost dark and I was thinking about how great it would be next week because at this same time it would be light, because it would technically be an hour earlier.

But wait. Then my mind got a little twisted. Is that right?

No.

Then it dawned on me. Next week when the clock says 4, it will really "be" 5. So this means we will be getting LESS light in the evenings! Wait a flipping minute, that's not fair! Who's idea was it to have less light in the evening? Darn farmers! Who needs extra light in the morning?

So I grumbled my way down the rest of my running path in the near dark, thinking that I guess I should get in my trail miles THIS week because I wasn't going to be able to enjoy them as much next week, or for the next several weeks afterward.

I also wondered why it took me three decades to figure this out.

Now Fall Back is ruined for me forever. I liked it better when I was oblivious to it's flaws.

Do you like Fall Back? Why or why not?

Squash Galore

Firstly, I want to say GOOD LUCK to everyone racing this weekend! There are a bunch of people doing the RW Half! Go get 'em! Also, a big fingers crossed, for Lisa, who is trying for a sub 4 marathon today! To everyone else, I hope your feet are swift and you end the race with a smile on your face. As you read this, I am currently running Broski's first  half marathon with him!!!

Once again, my "meal planning" consists of making a big pot of this and a big pan of that and eating it throughout the week. This week, the challenge was to use acorn squash, but since the email regarding the challenge came after I had already gone grocery shopping, I improvised. This week's big pot meal?

Butternut Squash Veggie Chili.

The good thing about this is that even though it doesn't have any meat*, the squash gives it some oomph, so it feels really hearty and good. Like I said in my first meal planning post, it's good to have staples on hand, since this week my challenge to myself was to NOT go grocery shopping, since there are quite a few things in the fridge that did not get used up as fast as I wanted last week. So, out came the staples and into the pot they went.

As always, I make enough so that a few can go in the freezer for lunches, and a few cups can go in the fridge for this week's meals. This recipe made about 10 cups of chili. 

Butternut Squash Veggie Chili

1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 yellow peppers (fresh from the garden!)
4-5 garlic cloves, diced

1/2 butternut squash, cubed
2 cups of dried kidney beans
6 cups of water
1 packet of veggie stock
1 thai chili pepper, sliced in half

1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp fennel
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

In frying pan with a little bit of olive oil, sweat the onions. Add the celery, yellow peppers and garlic and cook for another 5-10 minutes*. Put cooked veggies and remaining ingredients in a slow cooker and cook for 8-10 hours on low. OR you can put them in a pot and cook for roughly 5 hours to achieve the same effect.

*You could also add ground hamburger to the frying pan if you wanted a meat version. 

_____

In order to get ready for the week ahead, I also baked some butternut squash in the oven. This will be added to either oatmeal in the morning, paired with yogurt for a fun dessert or used as a side dish for other meals during the week. I also cleaned out the freezer and found some chicken, so I cooked up a bunch of that to use during the week as well. That being said, here are this week's dinners.

Monday: Butternut Chili, Cabbage Salad (an old standby)
Tuesday: Chinese Chicken Salad (cabbage salad with chicken, nuts & Craisins)
Wednesday: Chicken Fajitas
Thursday: Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
Friday: Butternut Chili, Brussels sprouts
Saturday: Chicken Salad and Butternut Squash
Sunday: Dinner out / Left overs

What is your meal plan for the week?  What's your favorite way to use winter squash?

Ashes, Ashes, We all Fall Down

Lisa started a tradition of looking back each season at what things were like when we were kids. She calls it When I Was A Child. You can see my Summer list HERE.

I love this idea, and even though I am just barely squeaking in for Fall, I am still within the limits! When I was a kid, there are specific things that we did every fall. On top of that, there are many things that when I see them, hear them or smell them, completely take me back to being a kid.

Raking Leaves: To be more specific, raking, piling them up and then jumping in them. Or sometimes just what seemed like hours of raking. 

Leaves...and a dog in my sweater.

Firewood: The bane of my existence as a kid was the wood stove. There were endless hours of chopping wood, hauling wood, splitting kindling and stoking the fire. It seemed hard for me at the time, but now I look back and realize what little I actually did. I never had to get up at 5 in the morning to start the fire at least! Thank goodness I was a kid then!

Oranges and Cinnamon: My Mom used to put orange peels and cinnamon in a pot of water on the (wood) stove (and sometimes cloves etc) and it would give off such a homey smell. I loved coming home from school to the smell of that.

Apples: I mentioned before, and you have probably noticed from the Apple a Day series, that we had trees in our backyard (and still do!) Funny enough, I remember apple pies and always was a fan of eating apples, but what I mostly remember is chucking the hard apples at my cousins in the backyard. We used to have apple fights and those things sure would leave a welt!

School: Fall meant being back in school with your friends, watching football games, drinking hot cocoa in the stands and just general good times with friends.

Soccer: Even though soccer began in the summer, the actual games were played mostly in the Fall. We were a motley crew. The first year I played was the first year our school had a girls’ team, so we had our work cut out for us. This did not stop us from having fun though!  We didn’t have funding for a bus, so we had to carpool and we sure had fun on those car rides!

The soccer girls

Footie Pajamas: I might have to buy myself an adult version of those footie PJs, because those were my favorite thing ever. Although now I can’t stand having anything on my feet, so maybe it wouldn’t go over as well. They are great for wearing around the house though!

Daylight Savings: Since I didn’t care if it was dark or not, I always LOVED to Fall Back. This somehow meant an extra hour to stay up (feels like 10 but its ONLY 9!) AND an extra hour to sleep in!! It was a double bonus in my book.

Boots: As you can see, I used to be quite stylish. However, I have taken a significant turn for the worse, style-wise, since then. 

Me with my puss and boots

Hiking: Since my parents owned their own business which was busiest in the summer, we did most of our weekend trips and vacations in the Fall and Winter. We often went hiking in the Fall, since it was still warm enough to do so.

Mt. Whitney -- 1995

Mt. Lassen -- Circa 1987

Halloween: This holiday was a big deal. I remember getting homemade cookies and popcorn balls as the candy. Also, my Dad would buy our candy from us and then we could have it back, but only one candy per day. To me, this was the ultimate set-up because, a) I don’t really like candy anyway and b) I do like money. Money over candy was my motto. Cha-ching! 

See the wood stove behind me!? Hours of firewood splitting!

What were the autumns of your childhood spent doing? Are there some things you did then that you still do now? 

Then and Now: November

Every time a new month rolls around, it seems like there is no possible way that another month could have rolled around again already. But the hits just keep on coming. So now November is over and we head once again into the holly jolly Christmas time. Since we have a holiday in November, it makes you realize how much some things change while other things stay the same. Here are a few comparisons from last year to this year, then and now, November style.

The Who:

Every year Mr. Lovely’s father has a big feast at his farm. A pig is sacrificed (sorry buddy), the wine flows freely and good times are had by all. Last year, I took some photos but this year I slacked. However, I still managed to get photos of my friends at the farm each year. 

2010: 

Maaaah

2011:

Oink

The Where:

Before or after the November pig roast, I like to take a detour to visit the surrounding area. Last year, I had a great time in NYC, while this year, I enjoyed the harbors of Rhode Island (did you know that RI has roughly 400 miles of coastline?) 

 2010: 

Brooklyn Bridge

2011: 

Old Mills in Bristol

Last year, I also took a road trip from California to Iowa, to visit a friend of mine. I went through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas. It was a beautiful drive, full of snow and gorgeous landscapes. This year, the only road trip I have taken is by foot! It’s been a few less miles, but much harder work! (You can learn more about my road trip here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5)

2010: 

Driving through the Colorado Rockies

2011: 

Running through the leaves in CA

The What:

Some things stay the same and here is the proof. 

I always like to eat small bites of things. 

2010: 

Street food in Guangzhou, China

2011: 

San Francisco Turkish appetizers at A La Turca

I tend to cook a lot in the fall, and I guess apples are always on the menu 

2010: 

French apple cake

2011: 

After baking so many apple dishes, I finally discovered the joy of an apple corer

I always love fall colors!

2010: 

NYC Central Park 

2011: 

Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA

So, it seems like November, for me, is a month where many things are pretty traditional. I may try a new apple dish or travel to a new location, but basically there are certain things I just can’t do without, every year! Perhaps it’s because a lot of activities revolve around the holiday?

What were you doing last November? What was different this year? What remains the same?

Taum Sauk: High Point 4

My Dad wants to hike as many of the highest points from each state in the US as he can. He has hiked many more than me, but I have been lucky to hike several of them with him. We started with our home state of California. Mt. Whitney is the highest mountain in the continental US. I was 17 and I enjoyed the hike a lot more after I reached the top.

Luckily, and maybe becuase he took me on the most difficult one first, our next stop was Florida. The high point of Florida is the LOWEST high point in the USA. After that, we had "bagged" the highest high point and the lowest high point in the continental US. Since then we have been working on the in between ones.

Last weekend we went to the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk Mountain, which is 1,772 ft above sea level. The funny part is that you drive to the top. Afterward, you can then hike around on the Ozark trail, which is what we did. The Ozark Trail is in Southeast Missouri and goes all the way to Arkansas. (info source)

The Ozark Trail. 

 Fall has sprung! Look at those colors already!

 A stick bug. I almost stepped right on him.

We had a great hike and then afterwards went and ate lots of fried foods. Because driving up to 1,700 feet above sea level REALLY makes you hungry. Stay tuned for more photos on Thursday when I am doing the 12 weeks to Better Photos course on Composition!

California Highest Point: Mt. Whitney, CA -- 14,494 FT -- California Elevation Map
Missouri Highest Point: Taum Sauk Mt., MO -- 1,772 FT -- Missouri Elevation Map
Louisiana Highest Point: Driskill Mt., LA – 535 FT-- Louisiana Elevation Map
Florida Highest Point: Britton Hill, FL – 345 FT -- Florida Elevation Map

You can get elevation and location information for ALL of the high points HERE.

Do you have any strange experiences like this that you "collect"? Do you like hiking? Have you ever been to any of the high points?  

*************Also, check out my post about Why I Travel over at WRTR!