There's got to be something interesting going on...

Morning,

I read my blog this morning and realized that there has not been a single thing of interest in quite some time. Certainly there has to be something interesting going on in my life. (said in the voice of Pooh) *think, think, think*

What I am focused on right now is:
Sunday is Christy's shower :-) We are having it at the Chateau in Andover... I think there will be about 30 - 40 people there a nice size if you ask my opinion.

It is very weird to me that
A) I am a bridesmaid and
B) that I have NO CLUE what is going on with the shower. I don't know the favors... I never even saw the invites...
C) And I didn't even get Christy a gift off of her registry. I got her a really cool platter that I figured she could use again after the wedding BUT during the wedding it is a guest book. It should fit the 175 people coming (I think). Corey likes kitchen stuff and I figured that way it wouldn't be a book that nobody ever looked at again. Have any of you who are married ever looked at your guest book again? We did the next day and then it went into the cellar. I have pictures of everybody who was there :-)

After that (and I will post a couple of pictures) I will be going on vacation Tuesday night and returning EARLY Saturday AM. We are going to Chinoteague
http://www.chincoteague.com/pony/ponies.html
This has been a vacation I have always wanted to take. And this is the year... It has ALWAYS been one of those "next year" vacations. I am excited to go I can NOT wait to see the ponies and the island. We will be there for a carnival (and I really REALLY love carnivals)
SO here is the schedule:
Tuesday night fly out of work RIGHT @ 5:00 (in my already packed car) and pick up Jim and maybe Mom and watch KR tell at Blue's. From there we are getting together with Robin to grab Katy and Abby and we are headed to VA... Here are the directions for anyone interested: http://tinyurl.com/o3n2h
We SHOULD arrive in VA around 6:30 - 7:00 and the ponies are scheduled to swim between 7 and 11 so hopefully we will get there in time.
We will watch the ponies swim across and head on over to the carnival for the rest of the crew to have a BBQ lunch and me to take a nappy (since chances are I will do most of the driving.)
Wednesday and Thursday we have no plans but to check out the island and the reserves on near-by Assateague.
Friday we are watching the ponies return to Assateague and will hang out just a little bit more (there is something that Abby wants to do for her mom and dad this day) and then heading home.

Then Saturday is the registration for that God forsaken tri and Sunday is the Tri.

Hugs to all

Can you believe that the weekend is over?

I can't! It seems like it hasn't even begun yet! Friday night we went to see Bill Burr (a comedian for those like me who have no clue who he is) and it was great to see Fred and Joyce. I haven't seen them in a long time :-)
Got home a little late and crashed. Saturday I got up and decided to make bread HOWEVER our AC had died the night before so that was brutal... I whipped out the trusty bread maker and plugged it in on the back porch. Quick and easy bread :-) I made a

"Simple oatmeal Bread"

3/4 cup plus 3 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon oil or butter **
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 of a cup quick oats **
2 1/2 cups white flour
2 teaspoons of yeast
**

Put all the ingredients in your bread maker in the order listed. Set it for a 1 pound cycle and go for a bike ride/run combo (or at least that is what I did) Come home and take bread out of machine bring in house and enjoy.

** =
I used olive oil
I didn't have quick oats but I did have a packet of instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal so I used this.
And lastly I added some wheat germ (about 3 tablespoons)

Sunday morning I made toast and jam for breakfast ~ I know this sounds like a lame breakfast but remember the no air conditioning? 2 slices per person was enough to fill Jim through to dinner. There were a variety of jams available for trying with the bread. Guava, Peach, 4 fruit, Grapefruit Ginger, Raspberry, Strawberry, and concord Grape... A loaf only made about 8 - 10 slices but I am told they were heavenly.

Well back to Saturday:
First I went for a short run (a little over 2 miles), then a bike ride (about 17 miles ~ I was a little tired). Then we went to Tricia's for a great BBQ and Jim and I had a fun time. I had a yummy fruit salad... Thank you Tricia for being such a lovely hostess. We left there after 9:00 and it was most definately my nappy time. It took about 50 minutes to get home (the 495 way is about 10 minutes shorter) I was asleep by 10:30 :-)

Then for Sunday I got up and made more bread :-) I like the fresh bread feeling. I got to read my favorite magazine (for me magazine is the name if you are interested) and just enjoy a quiet house (which is a rarity) and got ready for a longer bike and shorter run. I met up with Laura (after having to call her and tell her I couldn't remember HOW to get to the bike path) and we went for a nice ride. Then we met up with Kevin and went on a really up and down ride! Damn I am out of shape! After the ride Kevin and I went for a short run and headed back. Where I sat in a chair and did NOTHING, that was great :-)

Last night I got home and Cheryl called me over she had new yoga pants for me (I might have bicycle grease all over my other ones) and then I went home and crashed. On the floor of the hobby room. I was asleep by 9:00

Whew this weekend flew by...
And this morning (after a 4 mile run) I made french toast for my dad for his birthday (with the homemade bread) and tonight we are having a BBQ for him.
Happy Birthday Daddy-o

YAY

I have the picture from Tuesday so now I can tell you all about the day. I REALLY REALLY wanted the picture included. Kevin was telling at Blue's Tuesday night so Jim and I decided to head on in. Well first awesome thing of the evening. I, Joy, knew how to get us there with only one slight oopsy wrong way. Then I dropped Jim and his nephew Phillip off in front of the building and I went to park the car... What were we thinking having ME park in CAMBRIDGE? Heck I can't even park in the lot at work... BUT I found a parallel spot (and this is where I usually stop in the middle of the road nad hand the car over to Jim) And it was a SMALL spot but I figured that it was the best I was going to get. So I parked there... It took me 7 tries to get in but I did it. YAY! I got into Blue's just in time to hear my friend Laura tell a GREAT tale. I don't get to hear her tell near enough so it was a great treat. Then I heard a few other tellers with some good stories... Then a brief break (where I paced ~ I have INSANE amounts of nervous evergy lately), then Kevin came on and he told an incredible story about his mother... It was GREAT. It moved from before they were married (in the early 40s) through to just a few years ago. I loved it. I love stories that help you travel. And this one did that so YAY...
Then a group of us went for dinner. And had fun just hanging out....
It was great.
Here's my parking job! Yes I took a picture

A new favorite phrase

Okay so I am currently (and when I say currently I mean here at work in leiu of working) reading "slow fat triathlete" this book is great, it really makes me feel like I be a loser if I do (or don't do) the tri. So anyway I digress here is my new favorite phrase(from the book):
"Self-consciousness is the enemy of fun. It's the enemy of feeling comfortable. It's the enemy of achievement. It's your enemy. Decide right now to banish self-consciousness from your journey..."

One big old whining rambling post ~ not a great read

So yeah if you are looking for motivation or an interesting read I suggest you go to your next blog read.

Here are my insights of the last 3 days...
1- I am fat. I actually had TWO people in the last two days call me solid. One was a make-up artist friend of mine, the other was my neighbor. Yeah solid = fat... Answer to this I am on a diet. A HUGE DIET! If you see me eating something other than celery remind me I am fat!
2- I am out of shape. I biked on Saturday with my friend Kevin and we did 23.6 miles. Kevin had already biked 40 (+) miles in the morning and then met me and we did our ride. I = dead. Kevin = fine. Do I need to mention that Kevin had already biked 40 miles again? Then yesterday Kevin, Laura, and I went on a ride. Kevin again = fine, Laura = good other than her lungs were giving her shit and Jim apparently could not remember the ONE THING (his inhalor) I asked him to bring with him when he met us! Apparently the fact that he should never leave home without it means nothing to him. GRRRRRR. We did 36 miles yesterday. I have never before thought that I was going to die from exercise before this. I literally was thinking how nice it would be to lay on the grass on the side of the path and go to bed.
3- My husband was out last night when I got home and I couldn't fall asleep until he got home so I was cranky and miserable. And then all night he would just roll over and kiss me it was SOOOOO cute but I was tired and therefore today I am a sleepy cranky bitch.

And so that there is at least SOMETHING slightly cheery in my blog of complaints.
Friday night and Saturday Tyler and Alicia were right next door and Alicia said that I am her favorite person ever. Hey that is high praise from a 7 year old. AND she cleaned her room and gave all her old toys and clothes that don't fit her anymore to the poor people. She is so good about that! She hated to give her clothes and toys away until we told her that we would take them to shelters for poor people and now she asks if she can do a clear out after every season. AND she wants to buy them all new towels :-) I love this kid. AND Tyler (the little boy of my life) smiled at me. Honestly just caught my eye and smiled
LOVE IT!

hi ho hi ho less than 30 days to go...

Yup that is the truth. I have less than 30 days before my triathalon
I have been doing pretty well (in my humble opinion) on the bike and the run and am still working on the swim. It will get better, I will have more time to dedicate to swimming and all other activities because J+K are now married and it was a success and my job is done :-)
So other than to worry about the tri a little more I came on here with a purpose!
I made a yummy treat yesterday.
The carnival was in town and I love the carnival. It is all about smiles and fun times!!!! One of my favorite treats is fried dough.
However a quick look at this scared me out of that:

Calories 706
Calories from Fat 655 (92%)
Amount Per Serving %DV
Total Fat 72.8g 112%
Sat Fat 9.4g 47%
Polyun Fat 39.8g
Monoun. Fat 20.1g
Trans Fat 0.2g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 1mg 0%
Potassium 28mg 0%
Total Carbs 13.5g 4%
Fiber 0.5g 2%
Sugars 1.3g
Protein 1.8g 3%


SO since I wanted my yearly treat but not the fat pants that were going to have to go with it I figured I could make my own. I did a web search for "low fat fried dough" and I got a whole lot of nothing SO I improvised. I went to Market Basket and bought Pillsbury French Bread Loaf and unsalted butter. I melted 1/2 of a tablespoon of butter in a hot pan and cut the loaf into 6 pieces I stretched out the pieces to a good size (about half the size of a "normal fried dough") And I cooked them one side at a time. About halfway I did use the other 1/2 a tablespooon of butter. then I topped with cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar. SO good. Jim loved this recipe and is glad I found one I will make every now and again. Each one had about (and this is a close estimate):
Calories 142
Calories from fat 36
Total Fat 3.5
Saturated fat 1.5
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 308
Potassium 0
Total Carbs 22.5
Fiber 1
Sugars 3
Protein 4.2


So overall I think it was a much healthier choice and it tasted great! And if you are so inclined to worry about the prices of carnival fare (I'm not because it only happens once a year) it cost less than three dollars for 6 servings. So overall a good thing.

Hope you enjoy it as much we did! I will take pictures next time