Gotta Luv It

Wow. What a beautiful day today. They don't get much better than this. Sunshine. Little wind. Upper 60's (I think). Fab.U.Lous. Got my peas planted (shell peas and sugar snaps) and one row of onions. Might plant another row of onions. I think I got some sun today. Even though it's only early May, the sun is as high as it'll be in mid-August. Keep forgetting that ...

Here are my Spring Classic photos:

A few runners yesterday told me they read my blog every day. Thank you so much. I do this for YOU, not me. :-) 15K results

I was going to take the day off today, but late afternoon decided to go to the Y to lift and swim. I'm glad I did. I feel better after the swim, actually. It was both good and bad. Good: I swam my first 1/4 mile in 9:34, which is a PR. The first mile was 43:00, also a PR. Bad: After about half an hour, I'm in the deep end and I look down and there a couple kids swimming under me and there's another one at the end of my lane. Yikes! Threw me for a loop! They're not supposed to be in the lap lanes!! So I stop, start treading water, look up and the lifeguard is walking over and tells them they're not supposed to be there. Then I check the next lane and it's now empty so I moved over there. Meanwhile, my watch is running. So ... I'm going to give myself credit for a SUB-43:00 mile. Probably 42:30'ish when all was said and done. :-) Then after the mile, but before the hour was up, in my new lane, someone starts swimming behind me but she hadn't asked to share the lane so I didn't know she was there. I turned at the end and start swimming back and there she is in the middle of the lane. So I go around her, finish the length, and swim back again. There she is, swimming toward me again and not getting her hair wet ... in the MIDDLE of the lane. This is starting to piss me off! STAY ON ONE SIDE OF THE LANE ... PLEASE!!! Whatever. At least I got my hour in.

Judy ran out at lovely Oxbow park today. Here's what she says: Well, whether you run, walk, hike or just amble - the trails at Oxbow are wonderful right now. I did my 15 or so today and it was lovely. Of course the weather was perfect but the woods are beautiful right now. Buds and leaves on trees - carpet of green splashed with wonderful blue, purple, pink, white and yellow flowers everywhere. Awesome is all I can say. The trails - at least today were dry. I saw deer - one almost so close i could touch it. Bald Eagle - thank you for soaring overhead as I was waddling along. Blue Jay. Fat Squirrels - one almost a burgundy red - never had seen that before. Mama and Papa Goose and a clutch (is it?) of goslings - so lots of posturing and hissing each time I passed. Fellow runners spotted - Rob Mitchell, Andy Shulha, Chris Koch and Jenny (I don't know the last name), and Joe and Sarah Lovett, Pam Pettengill and Lynn Saari. We were going opposite directions so just met up here and there but fun to see them all.

I would encourage anyone, whether they just want to walk or go for a buttkicking run - head out there....drink in the beauty with the fresh air and enjoy the footing of the trails as a reprieve from the asphalt and concrete we tend to pound so much. Good stuff!

BTW: Most, if not all, of these runners are training for upcoming ultras.

Tomorrow is a cookie delivery day for cookies of the month. I tried a new recipe from the inside of a Land O'Lakes butter carton. They're a little flatter than I usually make, but they're good. Here's the recipe:

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (the recipe didn't call for it, but cookies taste flat without salt)
1 1/2 c. Land O'Lakes butter, softened (I used unsalted)
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla (Tbsp, not tsp)
1 12-oz. package chocolate chunks or chips (1 used 3 cups, 1 1/2 pkgs.)

Heat oven to 375. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture, until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.) Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets.

Makes 26 jumbo cookies. (I used a smaller scoop and got 41 cookies and baked them for 12 minutes.)

As long as I'm on the subject of cookies, take a look at this:

It's from a 1940 Trinity Lutheran Church cookbook on loan from Jim Benike. Check out the bottom recipe on the page. Baking instructions: "Bake like rocks." OK. Some of them say, "Bake in a moderate oven." or "Bake in a slow oven." No times given. I can probably guess on those and be pretty close to correct. (The second from the bottom doesn't even have instructions.) But "Bake like rocks?" ... I don't have a clue!! Funny.

I think I'll close now.

Quote for the day: "We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right." --Nelson Mandela

Adieu.