Coffee Talk

If we were having coffee today, I would start off by telling you that I have started taking my coffee with coconut oil. It makes me feel fuller for longer, therefore keeping me from snacking before I have my lunch (sometimes!) I have also stopped putting any sweetner in my coffee (in fact, my second cup is now black) and I don't really miss it. It is funny what we do just because it is a habit (for years I took milk in my coffee) but once the habit is broken, it doesn't seem so bad. 

I am sure we would talk about the current climate of COVID, as it is something that you really cannot avoid, but I don't really want to focus on that; do you? 

Instead let's talk about our gardens. Do you have one? Mine is kind of small this year. Due to my studying and then the arrival of COVID (I guess it's unavoidable), I ordered plants online and then from a local nursery, but both got planted late and I have not been the best mother to them. I did set up a drip system and I was weeding a lot in the beginning, but in all honesty, that has gone the way of the dodo. Okay, maybe not the dodo, but definitely the black rhino. However, I did get my first tomato a couple of weeks ago and now have picked about six of them and have several more on their way. Also, I have green beans, peppers and lettuce. However, my asparagus, beets and squash decided not to come out and play this year. I think next year, if I am not studying, I will revamp the garden, fertilize it (something I have not really done), add compost, etc. and actually care for it. 2021 is going to be a busy year (hopefully!) 

What book are you reading? I am listening to Becoming Clementine, a book about a WWII woman pilot who joins the resistance in France. I am also reading The Paris Orphan, a book about a WWII woman who becomes a war correspondent in France. I did not do this on purpose, reading two books surrounding the same theme, and to be honest I think I am getting confused from time to time about what woman I am reading about. But both are good so far! Due to COVID, I have been driving to work instead of riding the bus/BART, and so I have been listening to a lot more audiobooks. Last month I think about 50% were audio, when generally it is more like 20%. 

What else is going on in your life? It took me a while, but I finally met up with my parents for a socially distanced visit. My brother and I slept in a tent in the backyard and we had dinner and breakfast outside. It was so nice to see them after 4 months, but I am still wary of bringing something bad from the crowded Bay Area to them in their small town. 

I am also trying (as you can see here) to get back into journaling and blogging a little. I try to do 5 or 10 minutes each day in the morning while my brain is still fresh. I also have a planner (paper) and I have been trying to keep my days more organized. Also I think it feels good to plan something, even if it is just a grocery list or a day working in the yard! I am definitely missing that. 

I bought a dehydrator. I have been wanting to make my own backpacking food for years but never did get around to it, but this year is the year! I have only made dried zucchini so far, but I plan to try to dehydrate entire meals at some point. Have you ever made a dehydrated meal?

What else is new with you? Tell me something interesting! 

Coffee Talk

I am having a hard time forming more than a list these days... but there are a few things we would talk about if we were having coffee today. First I would ask you:  

How is your week going? What's the weather like where you are? What big things are going on in your life lately?

I am not really one for small talk, but I may start the conversation off by saying that it's finally raining here! We have been needing it so badly. Of course, this is literally just a drop in the bucket, but I will take it. The other good thing is that this hopefully means that it is snowing in the Sierras and I can soon do some skiing and other winter sports.

Next I would delve more into my week by saying how I sometimes really love working with all men (not as many emotions running wild, no line in the ladies room EVER) but sometimes men can be as bad or worse than women when it comes to being catty and/or talking about each other behind the other person's back! They sometimes whine so much I want to just smack them. That and one of them keeps stealing my supplies.... As much as they are a pain, I do like the group I work with. In fact, last night we all went to all-you-can -eat Korean BBQ and I  gorged myself on spicy pork and little side dishes!

I need a quick and effective fitness routine that I can do at home. Do you have any suggestions? My criteria is that I want it to be less than half an hour and I do not want to have to pay for it. This month, and even more so in December, is filling up with week day activities and I need something quick I can do in the gaps of the day.

I have not done any Christmas shopping, and I am behind on starting my Christmas cards. This year I am having trouble getting motivated to do projects. This also bleeds into my running life. I just can't muster up the energy to go running on the week days lately! With the holidays around the corner, this is not going to get any easier. I need to make a list/schedule and start checking it off.

I would love to do this multi day snowshoeing trip in Yosemite. Seeing the valley in the snow would be absolutely priceless! I have added it to my list of things I want to do, which is getting longer and longer each day!

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Okay, your turn: Where do you want to travel to this winter?  Have you started your shopping yet? tell me what fitness routine you are doing for the winter!

Coffee Talk

Thanks for meeting me for a virtual coffee! I'm glad you're here!

If we were meeting for coffee today, I would get a large french roast with milk and splenda and you would get your favorite coffee and we would catch up on what we have been up to lately.

- I had a great time at New Years with friends. It was a very small group, which is the way I like it. I wore my comfy pants and ate a ton of crab and listened to Michael Jackson. At the end of the night though, two of my friends had an argument about whether or not one of their photos should be put on Facebook and one of them left in a huff. It was a strange beginning to the new year.

- I have started learning how to pickle things. Do you know how easy it is? It is so easy! All you need is some vinegar, salt , sugar , jars, dill seeds and peppercorns and whatever you want to pickle! Put the raw item in the jar, heat up the vinegar, salt, sugar and the spices to a boil, pour in the jar and voila! You have pickles. I didn't really use a recipe, but you could use this one if you want to give it a try. I made pickled cucumbers, picked green beans (dilly beans), green tomatoes, pickled jalapenos and pickled beets. So far, they have all been pretty good!

- I signed up for the Boston Marathon again (back in September). I looked into airline tickets the other day and they are Expensive! It may be because it is also Easter weekend, or maybe just that it's also the Boston Marathon, Patriots day and the Red Sox game...whatever it is, I can't decide whether I should buy them now because they may go up more, or if I should wait and hope they go down. I always do the same thing, wonder if I should buy now or wait.

- I started using the library again. For a while, I have been using the Kindle, especially since it if often lighter than the books I get from the library and it was giving me a backache to carry around the darn things! However, I am tired of reading the bargain books from Amazon and want some more recent ones, so back to the library I go! Of course, when it rains it pours, so I have about 10 books to pick up tonight after work!

Other than that, it's work, running and life in general. What have YOU been up to? What did you do for New Years Eve? Have you ever tried canning? What's your take on buying airline tickets? Do you use the library?

Cream or Sugar?

A few days ago, I kind eavesdropped on Amber's virtual coffee date. She did most of the talking, but I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would invite you to have coffee with me and I would do some of the talking this time.

What are you having? I am buying. A latte? I am drinking a non-fat peppermint mocha, light on the mint, light on the chocolate. Double the whipped cream.

Things have been going well over here. The weather has been great and I have been enjoying it and getting outside and doing things. People talk about how San Francisco is the foggy city, but lately, it's been clear as a bell. Going to work, as ironic as it seems, has been great, since I have to go over the bay bridge and I get a view of the city each morning. It is like a little two minute pep talk each morning. It gets my day started right.

Speaking of work, it never gets old. About three months after I started, just as I was starting to understand what I was doing and to finally feel like I was doing things right, they switched me into a different department. Since then I have been slowly learning the ropes in the new position, but I have a long way to go. Every day I feel like I am behind. However, I have talked to others in the office and have been told you never DO feel caught up. The name of the game is prioritizing. I am learning how to do it better, but it's a game I am not quite used to playing yet.

Speaking of playing games, I have been having a great time meeting up with old friends from the Bay Area. I went running with one of them who was about to run her first marathon, I met up with another at First Friday and I had a great time going to the Muse concert with Broski last week. We bought tall beer cans at the corner market and put them in paper bags and pretended we were 17 years old, sneaking around behind the woodshed, drinking stolen beers from our parent's basement refrigerator. Not that I ever did that, but I heard that some people did.

Speaking of beers, this weekend was part of the SF Beer Week (which is still going on through next weekend) where you get a taster sized glass and you get to try a bunch of different kinds of beers in the same place. Also, many of them are beers you would not normally get. They are from smaller, lesser known breweries and are often from out of town. Saturday, I went to the Double IPA Fest with Broski and friends, where the beers and the beards were flowing. Yes, there were a lot of bearded dudes there. I found a new favorite beer Societe Brewing Co's Double IPA and I met the brewer, Doug, who was a nice guy on top of making a great beer. On Sunday, we went to the Sour Beer Fest and found another great beer: the Upright Brewery "Four". 

Let me summarize: Ladies, if you are single and you are looking for a bearded brewer who likes drinking beer, you should go to beer week. It was probably 80% men. Of those, 73% of them were bearded.

Although I haven't been talking about it much, I am also still running a lot. There are a couple of recaps in the works, but let me tell you that Broski was involved again! He is really on a roll folks! Other than that, there has been much training for Boston, running up and down hills, applying sunscreen, doing multiple loads of stinky laundry and plenty of listening to Pandora. My new favorite running station is the Rap Strength Training station. It really gets my feet moving!

So, now that you have had your latte and I have unloaded on you, tell me:

What's new in your life? What did you do over the weekend? What do have planned for the next week?