Running Club and . . . Salsa!

So after doing a tiny bit of research, turns out EOS brand lip balm has no SPF except for the yellow/lemon version.  So while I kept reapplying EOS to my lips all day Saturday, it did nothing to protect my lips.

That is a comparison from Tuesday to yesterday.  This morning I have two more scabs on my upper lip, but I’ll spare you the details of that!  The swelling has gone down, so that’s good.  Hopefully in a couple days the scabs will heal and fall off.  Just don’t want anyone to go through this – it’s painful!

I love when leftovers from dinner can turn into a wonderful breakfast.  It was almost like I was eating at a diner on a Sunday morning.  3 ounces of beef, egg white scramble with Cabot cheese, baby new potatoes and cherries.  This was so filling!

I opted out of my walk at lunch since I was going to my first session of my running club.  I ran some errands, put gas in my car, etc.  Lunch was pretty ballers too.  I love stretching out beef with refried beans in these tacos.  Just 3 ounces of beef mixed with 1/2 a cup of fat free refried beans, then I topped them with chopped red cabbage, baby spinach, shredded extra light Cabot cheese and these tri-colored organic carrots shreds that I bought at Mariano’s.  Such a colorful plate of food!  On the side I had mango, which I totally butchered while trying to cut it up – and more cherries.  I’ll be so sad when cherry season is over.

So I was prepared with sunscreen stuff before my run!

And I had spf 50 for my arms, neck and legs.

So my co-worker and I decided to join this running club – it meets once a week and whatever we do that week we have to repeat it twice before the following week.  So I think my schedule will be Wednesday – group run, then Friday and Sunday complete my other two walk/runs.  Yesterday was only 30 minutes long – walk 5 minutes, then run 1 minute.  The “leaders” had whistles to let us know when to start or stop.  My friend as a Couch to 5k app that she’s going to tell me about today that has a similar feature, when I find out what it is, I’ll let you know.

So I get there at 6:20 and it starts at 6:30.  I text my friend and say “hey, let me know when you get here.”  I wait until 6:25 – no response.  Then finally at 6:29 I just said “go inside by yourself!”  Not going to lie I thought she got tied up at work and I contemplated leaving!  Turns out she was already in the store and left her cell phone in her car.

What I liked about it is that there were all sorts of people – high school kids, fit runners and every level in between.  See the woman in the red shirt on the right hand side?  She walked with me and my friend for a while.  I was wearing my Spartan shirt and she asked what that was about.  I told her that I had gotten a free admission so I felt I had to do it, and my friend told her that I had a successful food blog.  She said “I love food blogs!”  I said, why don’t you check mine out and told her it was My Bizzy Kitchen – to which she said “I follow your blog and Pinterest page!”  Small world!  I will miss next weeks group run because I’ll be in Denver, but other than that, I don’t think there is any conflicts.  I believe our 5k is around September 27 at which time I hopefully will be able to run a 5k again without stopping.

So by the time I got home it was almost 7:45 and I was hungry!  We decided to make a vegetarian lo mein.  Guys, this could not be simpler:

• 2 cups of any chopped veggies – we used mushrooms, baby bok choy, the tri-colored carrot shreds and peapods.
• Cooked lo mein – my store sells lo mein in the Chinese section and it had three pre-wrapped bunches – best part is that it only takes 4 minutes to cook
• 2 tablespoons good Teriyaki sauce – we used Kikkomen

Saute veggies in a bit of olive oil and cook just until the bok choy starts to wilt and the mushrooms start to brown – about 3-4 minutes.  Once the lo mein is cooked, I simply used tongs to drop the cooked pasta into the pan with the veggies.  Then added the teriyaki sauce and topped with chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts. 

So simple, light and tasty!  At first Jacob was like “where’s the meat?” but he had two servings and didn’t miss not having meat at all.  I did pretty good on my steps yesterday!  I had time to kill after work before the running club started, so I went to the gym and walked 2.5 miles and stretched for about 10 minutes.

I love it when blog readers send me stuff that remind them of me – it can be hot sauce on a shelf, or a goodwill find.  Yesterday blog reader Kris who I met in Milwaukee when I had my Spartan race sent me this text message – she said there was a heart in her watermelon and it made her think of Tony!  So sweet

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More vacation stuff!  My Aunt Cele is the matriarch of our family at age 85.  She is a very proper Southern lady from Hilton Head and you will most likely never see her without lipstick.  A couple times at the family reunion she would whisper to me “darlin, is my lipstick still on?”   Her daughter Pam died a month after Tony, and we both helped each other through phone calls this past spring, even if it was just to cry to each other over the phone.  I love her so much.  She also gave me a check to buy a tree to plant in my yard in memory of Tony.  Love.

This is Weare, Pam’s husband.  He and I were in the same boat as we both lost our spouses, however he had been with Pam for 34 years to my 14 with Tony.  It doesn’t make the grief any different, but when he talked to me he said more than half is life was with her and it’s kind of hard to imagine what kind of life he was going to have with her not in it.  He’s a psychiatrist, so we were talking about stages of grief, etc., but I really didn’t want to talk all that much because I would have been a pile of tears. 

This is me and my Aunt Martha.  I am pretty much her favorite niece – duh!

When I was at her house earlier this summer, since we drove I made a dozen quart jars of salsa to share with her and my two cousins.  I canned them so they would last a long time.  Well, Aunt Martha was already down to her last jar!  When I make salsa like that, I call it my “company” salsa – just a little bit of heat.  My Aunt Martha has a new friend in her life – his name is Will.  They ate the salsa one night and he said “does she make a spicier version?”  Yep!  So Sunday after the reunion I showed my Aunt Martha how to make it and we drove to his house to drop it off.  This is the longest hand delivery of salsa I’ve ever made!

He seems very nice, down to earth, and I was glad that I had the opportunity to meet him.  I am running out of vacation days at work so that will probably be my last visit to Virginia this year.  But it’s a record year – I went there three times this year!

I guess I’ll get my shit together and go to work.  I checked my lottery tickets and um, I didn’t win so I guess that I have to go.

Oh, UPDATE ON THE CONTRACTOR!  I told you guys that he was supposed to meet me Tuesday night at 6.  Well, by 6:30 he wasn’t here, I texted him and he said he was in Chicago “working” on a job and that he was going to be another hour or so and with traffic, it would be best if we met a different night.  I had the running club last night so he’s supposed to come over tonight and bring his receipts.  I’ll probably never see him again, but who knows!  Jacob’s grandfather works at Home Depot and put me in touch with their licensed, bonded, and insured construction guys who should be coming over to give me an estimate in the next couple days.   Fingers crossed!