THE FABBEST FRIDAY EVER!

I'm linking up with Laura at The Everyday Joys to update you on my week!

The Joy of Running. Yes, the JOY of Running.

 

Since hurting my back last July in a car accident I haven't able to run.  This has changed! I'm starting again in fits and starts.  I did a 16-minute pyramid walk on Wednesday and at the top of the pyramid I sprinted as fast as I could for a full minute.  I laughed and cried at the relief of it.  I felt such joy in the movement.  I experienced minimal soreness afterwards in my hips and muscles.

 

I also ran slowly the day before Christmas in the ice in a disorganized manner to Arcade Fire's Funeral Album, which I have come to find has a great steady beat that lends itself for some crazy interval running/jogging.  Power Out continues to be my favorite for this.  It has an amazing fluttering of the guitar strings to move your legs to in a sprint, and a strong steady beat if you prefer to jog or even just walk with attitude during it. And then when the violin starts in with its devilish screeching eerie adrenaline, I sprint like I'm running for my life.  It's fun as hell. 

 

I was able to run and jog for about a half hour Christmas Eve.  That was my first time since the accident I had done anything like that, and the first time I've ever run in any sort of bad weather.  I was in so much pain for a week, so that's why I started out slow this week. I continue to waiver this week between 222 lbs and 224 lbs, so that's a lot more weight I am carrying now than the last time I was able to run.

 

Except for the change in my face when I gain weight and some discomfort from tight clothes, I don't care that I'm fat.  I mean, we all get those insecure days where you're poking at your stomach like, "REALLY STOMACH? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" but most of the time the thing I hate the most about gaining weight is when it impedes my movement.  I'm someone who used to dance, so if my workout is a dance workout and I can't achieve the lines and angles that the dancers I see dancing can achieve, I get frustrated. I don't like my fat getting in the way of me doing what I want to do.

 

I will welcome any weight loss that comes my way, but honestly?  I want to see gains in strength, endurance, and agility. And when I'm running like a fool thinking I'm going to pass out and die and yet feeling exhilarated at how much I'm accomplishing,  I want to live in the moment without worrying about injury.  I don't want to even wonder or imagine injury. 

 

New Years' Resolution Update

 

My only New Years' Resolution is to cook more often.  And I did! I made a breakfast casserole!  It looks like this:

 

 

Here are the steps I took to make this sucker.

 

1. Fry up 20oz of sausage and try not to eat it while it cools down.

 

2. Pick up the cat that has now jumped on the table to sniff the sausage hiding under some paper towels and put her down on the floor.

 

3. Bake some high class bacon and save at least 6 strips for the casserole. (I made bacon sandwiches with the leftover bacon.)

 

4. Pour your bacon grease into a container so you can feel like you've made your own butter and feel all sanctimonious and pinteresting and frugal until you realize it is stinking up the fridge three days later and toss it.

 

4. Crack nine eggs in a really big bowl and pound them into a solid color of yellow goo.

 

5. Toast three slices of toast and cube them and toss them in there.

 

6. Add three cups of half and half and 2 cups of cheddar cheese.

 

7. Crumble all your sausage and realize that you used links and that you'll actually have to slice them into tiny sausage balls.  Dump them in the bowl.

 

8. Crumble your bacon and dump into the bowl.

 

9. Freak out that your bowl actually wasn't big enough and get out a bigger bowl to pour all this junk in.

 

10. Get excited that you found a bigger bowl and combine everything.

 

11. Realize you forgot to preheat your oven and wait for the temperature to rise to 350 F.

 

12. Pour everything in the bowl in your 9x13 glass casserole dish.

 

13. Suddenly remember you wanted it to marinate in the fridge over night and turn off the oven.

 

14. Cover the casserole dish and place it gently in the fridge and go sit down and drink something delicious, putting your feet up.

 

15. Feel accomplished.

 

16. Freak out because you forgot to put dijon mustard in the casserole like the recipe called for.

 

17. Shrug and decide to substitute a crap ton of basil.

 

18. Sit back down and relax .

 

19. Wake up in the middle of the night and realize that you forgot to grease your casserole dish.

 

20. Wake up every hour on the hour because in the midst of this you also forgot to feed that cat and now she's kneading your chest bones every hour for twenty minutes.  It's her way of doing cat CPR to call your attention to why you're horrible at everything and do not deserve sleep.

 

21. Wake up bleary eyed and bake the thing on 350F degrees for an hour anyway after feeding the cat. 

 

22. Panic as you notice the crust turns brown and wonder if that means the casserole is burning.

 

23. Google "I forgot to grease the baking dish" and after 30 or so results realize it will be fine.

 

24. Fall back to sleep for five minutes.

 

25. Casserole is ready! Cut it while it's hot and feel smug that you made food in less than 30 steps. I KNOW.

THEY DID IT!!!

So in November I was honored to be asked to play a role in the wedding of my close friends Joey and Kenny.  The first part of my duties was finished yesterday as I helped them get legally married by taking some photos and wearing a ridiculous dress (that I've been dying to wear as I bought it back in 2007 and finally got a decent crinoline to wear under it last year but just haven't had an occasion to try it out.)  And then I signed my name.

 

I'm pretty sure I took this photo.  I have no idea.

 

Sometime later this year they will have a beautiful wedding which I will also hopefully take part in and everybody is so excited about this.  My heart felt so full yesterday.  I feel like now it really is 2013, that Joey and Kenny secured the love of their lives legally yesterday and that everything is going to be OK.

 

This is everything I wanted for my friends, for them to have the same legal rights to their spouse as I do to mine.

<3