Three Things Thursday

1. I stubbed my toe on the top stair coming up from the basement on Monday.  It cracked so loud and hurt so bad I was convinced I had gotten at least three of them.

I was really worried about running on it.  I taped it to the one next to it and ran 7 miles yesterday morning with minimal pain.  YAY!

Sorry for the ugly foot shot.

2. My iPod got wet Monday and will turn on but that is about it.  I can't do anything with it other than light up the scree with the button on top.  Christmas is coming! Coincidentally the ipod nano 7th generation is out there.  and they are so pretty!

I would be happy with whatever my generation of them is, 4th maybe, the crazy thing is they still sell for nearly as much as the new ones.

3. It snowed over the weekend and the snow wasn't ideal, but we did manage a small snowman.

He didn't last long though.

My sister and I got in a snowy run that was like running in sand, sort of.

and Cola got to go too.

Thanks for all the great birthday wishes!

What kind of mp3 player do you use?  Would you recommend it?

It's my Birthday! I will eat it if I want to.

I love birthdays.  There is just something about them that makes me happy. Sure I am older, but who doesn't want to get older?  Until they invent some new technology the alternative doesn't sound very good to me.

Look what was waiting for me at work today....

Despite what it says I did share.

Did I really need to eat it?  No, but birthdays only come around once a year!  Woohoo! Besides I can run it off, or at least some of it anyway, tomorrow.

Maple bar for second breakfast and german chocolate cake for lunch.  YUM!  Now to see what I get for supper...

Motivation Monday. Getting out the Facts

I do not participate in "Meatless Mondays" there are days I may not consume some meat, but I can't remember the last time that was.  I like meat. I like the flavor, I like the texure.  I like pork, chicken, turkey, and of course BEEF!  Fish is good too. 

I don't hold it against anyone who wants to abstain from eating meat. Some people don't appreciate the things about it that I do.  And that is okay.  I hate onions, large chunks of raw tomato gross me out and saurkraut is gag worthy.  I don't hold it against people if they don't like meat.

I do hold it against people when they are spreading false information and too readily buy into what the enviroquacks want people to believe.

Part of Los Angeles touting their Meatless Mondays was to help save the environment because..

 Between feeding them, providing them water and using up land to keep these animals housed, livestock use more natural resources than virtually anything. Not to mention transportation of animals and their products.  source

Excuse me?  Last I checked

• water was a renewable resource
• grazing lands account for 783 millions acres or 35% of the US,much of that (about 587 million acres) is unsuitable for growing crops. Raising livestock on it doubles the land area that can be used to raise food for a very hungry world.
• Fruits and veggies also have to be trucked to the market

“Clearing the Air: Livestock’s Contribution to Climate Change,” a study by Frank Mitloehner,

Ph.D., associate professor at University of California, Davis, points out that raising livestock in developed countries, such as the United States, results in far fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than in developing countries. According to EPA, the U.S. transportation sector accounts for at least 26 percent of total annual anthropogenic (man-made) GHG emissions in this country, compared to less than 3 percent associated with total livestock production. source

If we aren't producing the beef there are many other countries willing to step up like Argentina, Brazil and Russia.  We do it more efficiently. Why not produce our own beef supply?


Will Meatless Mondays really help the planet?

• Miniscule impact: According to Dr. Jude Capper at Washington State University, the environmental impact of every American following Meatless Mondays is miniscule – the impact of one meatless day per week is less than one half of one percent of the U.S. carbon footprint.
• Sustainable beef: U.S. cattlemen raise 20 percent of the world’s beef with 7 percent of the world’s cattle, making the United States a leader in raising sustainable beef, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2011).
• Vested interest in the environment: America’s cattle ranchers have a vested interest in sustainable environmental practices – after all, the beef community thrives on multi-generational family farms. On average, each cattle farmer has 13 different practices in place to accomplish environmental goals such as nurturing wildlife, preventing erosion and conserving and protecting water.

Farmers and Ranchers have actually reduced the carbon footprint of producing cattle by 16 percent in the last 30 years. 

I could seriously go on about this all day. If you want to read more about debunking some of the myths about meat, health and the environment I encourage you to check out the links I provided.  A great one that is brief and concise can be found HERE.

Nobody cares more for the land these cattle are raised on than people who take care of the land.  97% of livestock operations are owned by family operations like mine.  We have a deep love and connectedness to the land.  We want it to be there for future generations to love like we do.

I really would love to answer any questions that are out there.

Silent Sunday

Had such a great run today with my dog.

8 miles of big fluffy flakes.

 

dont judge the glasses they were free

Run! Turkey Run 5k Recap

It was a bit of a bummer to have such perfect weather all week and then have a cold and windy day for the 5k.  Acutally I don't think it would have been too bad if the wind wasn't so cold and I think there were up to 20 mile an hour winds.  With temps in the 30s already it made it feel pretty cold.  At least the sun was shining!

 

I didn't really have a specific goal in mind for the race, I was thinking, hoping to get right around 7 minute miles.  I was pretty confident I could pull that off and for the street mile I wanted to at least come close to last years time of 6:32.  (I know I can do a mile faster, but coming off of a 5k with tired legs, not so much)

 

We were so cold waiting for it to start, we even ran a little trying to get warmed up.

If I look cold here, it is because I am, my teeth are chattering, but the beer was good.
Obviously a post race picture since I am drinking beer.



 

 

I lined up near the front and felt like I was being passed by lots of people right away, but I glance at my garmin confirmed that I was still going faster than I wanted to at 5:55 pace, so I slowed down a little more.  I knew a lot of those people were starting out too fast and I would start passing some of them soon.

I did.  It is so much funner to pass people than to get passed.  First mile was 6:52 and my legs were feeling tired, so I was little worried about how the rest of the race was going to go.

I settled in for the second mile, most of which seemed into the wind.  My toes were freezing.  I was still passing quite a few people, most all of which were males.  HAHAHA. I couldn't see any girls ahead of me though, so I knew the front runners were way out in front of me. Second mile 7:02.  Little worried for the last mile at this point. 

No need to worry.  I seemed to really get my legs under me at this point and pulled off a 6:44.  with a 6:10 pace for the last .14.  I may have dry heaved several times after crossing the finish line.  (I am such a heaver)

 

Final garmin time for 3.14 miles was 21:33.   Fastest 5k of the year.  and all with no speedwork since June.  :)

My little sister had her fastest 5k time ever with a 23:30, with her last mile a 7:12.  I think she surprised herself.

We were 3rd and 9th in our age group.  I was a little disapointed that the age group was a 30-39, instead of a 30-34 since it would be my very last race while 34.  WHAT!  Yup I have a birthday Tuesday :)  Especially since the two girls who beat me were in the 35-39 age group. I could have won the age group and   (okay done whining)

So after that I was signed up to do the street mile.  I was waiting outside the beer garden for my sister to get her beer and watching the street for the people to get lined up.  Except somehow I missed my sister and they lined up somewhere different from last year.  By the time I found my sister and figured out I should find the start line somewhere else it had already started.

I briefly debated running down to the start line and running it, but I could see people coming in already.  I didn't want to have to weave through all the walkers so I went and filled up my free pint glass instead :)

 

 

We waited for the awards and then ran to our vehicle and had the heat on high all the way home trying to get warmed up.

The shirt was a cotton long sleeve shirt and despite what it looks like in this picture is maroon and a dark grey.  A very comfy lounge around the house type shirt.  Not the kind I won't ever wear again.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Running Sister and being thankful

My little sister and I took our youngest children to my Grandmother's house (the older ones were busy in kindergarten) and ran together for our long run this week.  I think we are going to try to do this more often.  The run went by so fast!

We did one of my favorite runs that was a 9.75 out and back. The weather was PERFECT,  the company awesome.  Too bad it is supposed to be back the in the forties next week.  I am kind of loving the 50s we got this week.

We may also have made time at the end of our run for a small photo session.  

We were trying to get a good jumping picture, but never really did.  It is hard with a self timer and then we got busy laughing.

AND our Grandma even fed us lunch afterwards and agreed this was something we should do again.  She loves spending time with the her great grandkids.  

Some things I am thankful for on this Thanksgiving Eve

•  my very awesome family
• my health 
• having a running buddy (even if it is only until the end of May)
• my Cola dog is doing better and is doing short runs with me again
• food on the table
• I have a job I like
• getting to do a 5k and a street mile on Thanksgiving

Yup I have a very blessed life.  

Monday Motivation: Winter is Coming

If you watch Game of Thrones or better yet have read the books, (because they are so much more excellent than the movie) the phrase "winter is coming" makes you think of so much more than just winter being on the way. 

(totally a side note, but do you ever look at a word and even though you have seen it, used it and wrote a thousand times, suddenly it looks strange and wrong and sounds weird?  That just happened to me with winter.  I mean look at the word  winter.  Looks similar to winky. )

Wow is this post about anything yet?.. 

Oh yeah what is motivating me on this Monday morning, winter is coming.  Right now however the weather is slightly chilly but great for fall running.  I intend to get out and run every chance I get before the artic air makes it's way south and we have subzero temps for what feels like months.

I am throwing on a running skirt every chance I get.  It was 40 degrees yesterday when I set out on my run, which is where I draw the line for skirts, especially when it is a little breezy and the sun is hiding behind the clouds. It was a little chilly at first, but once I got warmed up, it was perfect.

About a mile into the run I got a "niggle" in my right knee so I stopped to walk and have a mini photo shoot.

  It worked.  Niggle gone.  I love how bright my green running vest is. I feel so visible, and not at all to be confused with a deer since it is hunting season still.  6.3 miles and it felt uphill all the way.

\What is making you get out there today?
What temp is your cutoff for shorts or skirts?

Things You Wanted to Know

Sometimes I answer questions by replying to comments from my email, but some people are no reply bloggers and I can't answer their questions.  Between, work, kids, running, and life in general a lot of questions sometimes go unanswered.  Here are some that I have been asked lately and not answered.

Tasha @Healthy Diva asked me what half marathon I was planning to run in the spring.  I am actually look at   doing 2.  One in March around St Patricks Day in Bozeman called the Run to the Pub

yes I know that says 10k but they do a half too.

A St. Patrick’s Day celebration not to miss! Here is an early season 10K or Half Marathon to start your year off right. A mostly downhill course will get you prepped for meeting at Pub 317 for your free beer after the race. All proceeds go to local charities. Plus win a trip to the Dublin Marathon! Remember top 3 St. Pattys day costume wins a prize, go crazy!

and then another one three weeks later in Billings that is new this year that will benefit the Chase Hawks Foundation. It is so new I am not even sure they have the course set for it yet, so it could be a little crazy.

 Either one or both could have bad weather or they could have perfect spring weather.

Emily from In the Between didn't know what dive bombers are.  Here is a demonstration of them.  I would have made my own video, but I am too lazy.

Lots of people wanted to know what kombucha is.  It is a fermented sweet tea said to have all kinds of health benefits, none of which I think have been proven.  I do know I feel pretty good when I drink it.

and finally how do you drive without brakes.  First of all, I don't recommend it.  It involves a lot of downshifting and use of the emergency brake. Also, just driving slower than normal seems to help. 

Here are the nutrition facts from my favorite flavor Raspberry Chia from Synergy

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 8 fl. oz.
Servings Per Container 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories 30
Calories from Fat 0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 10mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 8g (2%)
Sugars 3g
Protein 0g

ADDITIONAL NUTRIENTS (per bottle):
Folic Acid 25%
Vitamin B1 20%
Vitamin B2 20%
Vitamin B3 20%
Vitamin B6 20%
Vitamin B12 20%

PROBIOTIC CONTENT:
Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 6086: 1 billion
S. Boulardii: 1 billion

ANTIOXIDANTS & ORGANIC ACIDS
EGCG 100mg - Glucuronic Acid 10 mg
L(+) Lactic Acid 25mg - Acetic Acid 30 mg

 

 

It is also said to do tons of great things for your body like boost energy, help prevent cancer, help with digestion.  For a longer list of things check HERE

 

 

Have you ever tried kombucha? 

Did you try a dive bomber yet, or did you know what they were already?

 

Three Things Thursday

1. Here is a great reason why I  keep notebooks of old workouts.  It is fun to go back and do older ones and see how much I have improved.  My upper body strength is so much better!  I killed the dive bombers.  Just saying.

2.  Did a 9.5 mile long run yesterday.  I made Cola stay at home, but he really seems unaffected by the run on Monday.  I think I will let him venture out with me this weekend again.  :)  makes me happy to think about getting to run with my Cola dog, I have been missing his happy running face.

3.  I am getting excited to start training for a half marathon in the spring.  i am oddly excited to start doing 400s and 800s again and to have more structure to my running.  The break has been nice though.  I was feeling pretty tired after my marathon last July.  My little sister and I are looking at doing a half on March and then another in April.  They will be about three weeks apart so that should be plenty of recovery time. 

Do you keep track of old workouts?

You never fully appreciate brakes until you lose them.

Sooo, it must have been when I was driving to work Friday my car was trying to tell me something.  I got a rock in the brakes about a mile and a half from my house.  I couldn't get it out, usually I can go backwards and forwards and it will fall out.  No luck.  So I called my husband and he came down to save the day.  I ended up taking a different vehicle in to work.

Saturday as I was driving in to get my Bountiful Basket I thought maybe the brakes felt a little sluggish, but blamed it on all the snow.  Sometimes when the wheels get all packed in with snow the brakes feel kind of funny.

Sunday driving in to the Hoofin it For Hunger 5k I thought maybe they felt sluggish again, but once again blamed it on the snow.  Once I got off the interstate, I said to my sister something about the brakes not feeling right.  I had to pump them a little to stop.

Luckily the race was only two stoplights and turn off the interstate.  About ten feet away from where I parked the brake light came on.  I managed to pull in and call my husband.  He came in after the race and needed one look under the car to diagnose the problem.

Somewhere along the way I had snagged my brake line and it had a pretty good leak in it.  He drove my car home with minimal brakes and I got to drive his pickup with the trailor on the back.  I was a little nervous driving it, but at least I knew I had brakes! 

After we got home, he made me drive around in my car, with no brakes and practice driving without brakes. ( Don't worry our roads are never busy.)  I told him it neither sounded like a great nor a fun idea, but he didn't care.

We both survived, but he is still going to be fixing my brakes before I drive my car willingly again.

In running news..
I did a fabulous 7 miles Monday in the cold and stayed warm enough while running but once I got home I was freezing!  Guess who came with me.  Yup one small Cola dog.  He did pretty good, but still has a bit of a limp.  I will make him stay home the rest of the week.  Progress! YAY Cola!

Muscle Gauge Nutrition Whey Protein Powder and a Pumpkin Protein Pancake recipe.

I recently was able to try out Muscle Gauge Nutrition's Premium Blend whey protein powder.  I picked the cinnamon bun flavor since it is fall and I figured it was mix good with pumpkin flavor.  (I have been really wanting to try pumpkin protein pancakes and pumpkin protein smoothies).

Flavor: Love the flavor, possibly a little bit much on the sweet side when plain, but mixed in a pumpkin protein pancake it was perfect.  I also added a scoop to my oatmeal a couple of times in the morning and found that a pretty good addition to my oatmeal.

Mixability:  I had no problems mixing it up, no clumps.  I usually used a shaker mixer bottle.  It also mixed up good in my pancakes and I never found any clumps.

mixes easy and I like the flavor..yay! (excuse the post run hair)

Each serving has 22 grams of protein.  Or as they put it on their website it is:

 Fully loaded to build lean muscle and strength quickly, each serving of this advanced whey blend formula contains 22 grams of pure protein and only 1 gram of carbohydrate. Every sip of this protein blend is power packed with biologically active micro-fractions, delivering the full range of amino acids to feed your muscles.

There are some other really fabulous sounding in addition to the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry standby flavors like

Cake Batter

Rocky Road

Ice Cream Sandwich

Yum.

Here is the recipe I used for Pumpkin Protein Pancakes (or waffles)

1 scoop Cinnamon Bun Protein Powder

1 scoop pancake mix

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
 

made two pancakes or 1 large waffle.  The scoop that came with the Muscle Gauge Protein Powder was about 1/4 of a cup in case you were wondering.

Value : a 2 lb can costs $51.43 and contains 30 servings or is about  1.74 a serving. 

 

I was provided with a 2lb can of Muscle Gauge Nutrition's Premium Blend Whey Protein Powder.  The opinions expressed are my own.  I was not compensated in any other way for this post.



Hoofin it For Hunger 5k Race Recap

I could see all week that Sunday was going to be cold. Luckily the race was at 1:30 in the afternoon, so the temps for the race would be about as warm as we could hope for, and they were.  I wasn't about to skip my first race since Hood to Coast in August!

It was in the mid to high twenties, with only a slight bone chilling breeze and best of all sunny.  The sun really makes all the difference at those temps.

The race was held at Riverfront Park in Billings so I knew it would probably be a trail run of sorts, but with the snow it was a whole other matter.  I brought my Yak Tracks just in case but as the course was mostly just snow covered grass and trails with a very small portion of it cleared, I didn't feel like I needed them.

It was a loop with an out and back in the first loop and then another loop. 

My sister and I ran the loop as a warmup and to see how the running would be.  I could tell right away this would be no PR attempt.  (not to mention no speedwork lately anyway, but with all the loose snow it was a lot of work running!)  We took a pause for a photo shoot.



so tough I don't need my ear warmer on my ears, I wear it on my neck

It was a beautiful place to run, but here is what our running paths looked like.   Snow covered!

Unfortunately there was not a great turn out for the race only 66 brave people showed up.  There were a number of Team Beef Montana runners including Amber from my Hood to Coast team. 

yay Team Beef!

The first part of the run was through loose snow on the grass and I though "this is going to feel like a long 5k"  It was hard to get good traction! At least we had lots of pretty scenery. 

Finally we hit some cleared trail and it felt good to shake all the weight of the snow off my shoes and run.  A guy dressed in a cow costume passed me about a mile in and I spent the rest of the race trying to catch him again. 

I never did, but I think we really pushed each other as at the end of the race he commented on how hard I pushed him as he could always hear me right behind him.
Splits were
Mile 1    7:12
Mile 2    7:16
Mile 3    7:05
last .15   7:54 pace (don't judge I tried to kick but the snow here was really hard to run through.

Final time 22:38 with a 7:13 pace according to my Garmin.  I was shooting for a 7:12 pace since I haven't done any speedwork in months.  Taking the running conditions into consideration I was more than pleased with my time and think I would have smashed my goal had they been more ideal.

Here is the "cow" I was trying so hard to beat and me of course.  I did win top female overall and a gift certificate to Scheels as well as a fleece lined running pullover jacket. They are going to send me the jacket and have it embroidered with top female finsiher type stuff.  YAY!  (it even has thumbholes)

My sister ended up being third in our age group. Yay little sis!

Here is what Rocky thinks of it all.

Did you race this weekend? How did you do?

Three Things Thursday

1. Cola has been continuing to improve, until yesterday when he decided to try to play with the horses and he got kicked.  Apparently he forgot or didn't realize he would be slower since his accident.  I think he must have got kicked in his sore leg because he was limping worse again.  Then I was walking though the house in the dark and didn't see him laying in front of me so I walked right into his sore leg.  Poor Cola is have a hard time catching a break.

2.  He did get a great care package from Xaarlin and her dog CB from over at Pain is Nothing.   I meant to get a picture of it all the first day I got it, but apparently had a major blogger fail, because I didn't and now I can't find the great card they sent either.  I did manage to get a picture of the treats before they were all ate.   I love the little pizza and the cat.  So awesome.  Cola loves them too, although I am not sure that he appreciates all the great details on them.

3.  I am doing a 5k this weekend and it is going to be COLD!  Kind of makes me want to stay home instead, but I would hate to wuss out on a 5k just because of a little cold and snow.  It has been so nice, kind of a huge bummer to have this cold weather roll in for the weekend.  I think it is supposed to stay colder for the next week.  Boo.  I want fall to last as long as possible.

Tuesday Tidbits

1. If you haven't already..don't forget to vote today!  I already voted, I find absentee ballots way easier.  I like to sit with the ballot and research the canidates and the issues a little bit.  I could talk about some of them here, but not really looking for crazy people arguing with me so I won't :)

My husband keeps talking about how he hates the electoral college.  I personally didn't really get what the benefits of it were and why our founding fathers thought it was such a good idea, but once I did a little research it really does make a lot of sense and I found myself defending it to my husband.

Benefits of the electoral college according to the websites I looked at include giving the minorites more of a voice, making canidates appeal to a wider audience not just trying to get a majority vote which would mean they could potentially ignore lower populated areas and minorites.  It is also weighted somewhat in favor of rural areas, which is hard to see when my state only has 3 electoral votes and others have twenty and thirty some.

You can find it explained HERE and HERE

2. I have been on a bit of a kombucha kick lately, especially kombucha with chia seeds in it.  I am not really a fan of  the price of it though so I ration it out a little.  It is supposed to have great health benefits which I guess I haven't bothered to look up yet.  I do know I have been feeling really great lately.  Coincidence?

Do you like the electoral college?
 Do you know you are not really voting for the future president, but just some elector that says he will vote for canidate such and such but he could really vote for the other guy? 
Are you a fan of kombucha?

Cola's Snuggle Buddy

Last week I went for a run somewhere I had meant to for awhile.  Now that I have finally done it I don't know why I haven't before.  The first part of the run is pretty tough and is up up up and up hill some more.  My legs started burning almost right away.  I stopped to walk several times on the way up. 

 

Finally I got to the top and here is a look at where I would be running.  All along the top of those hills. Such a peacefull place to run.  The only thing missing was my little dog Cola. 

The sky was overcast and cloudy but the views were still out of this world. 

I think I could have sat up there all day just staring out at everything.

A great place for sitting and thinking.

I got to the end and decided to find a way down and run back along the bottom of the hills.  It was pretty hard to find a way down.  When I did find one it was steep going and full of little shell fossils. 

When I was younger there was a fire up there which is why there are so many dead trees all over the place in the above picture. 

Cola has slowly improving everyday.  Wednesday I don't think he took more than 20 steps, Thursday he limped around a little more, but finally on Friday we went with me out to feed the horses and Saturday he managed to get excited enough around the horses to bark at them a couple of times.

Progress!  but oh so slow!

Mostly I am trying to make sure he spends plenty of time resting and healing.   Rocky is helping too.

Please don't tell anyone I was sleeping with a cat!

Simple Pleasures

 I drink a lot of tea in the winter.  I drink my two cups of coffee in the morning and then the rest of my day is caffeine free usually.  I am pretty sensitive to caffeine and if I drink any after lunch time it adversely affect my sleep that night.  I really love my sleep so I have learned to avoid it after mornings.

Caffeinated tea has the delightful effect of making me very very nauseated if I drink it hot, for some reason iced tea is fine, but hot caffeinated tea makes me want to vomit.  Not sure why, so I avoid it, plus it has caffeine so I would avoid it after lunch anyway. 

What I so really love when the weather is chilly in the afternoon and evenings is herbal tea and I think Celestial Seasonings makes the very best herbal teas.  I think orange and mint teas are my favorite.  I recently found Mint Magic and drink it by the gallon.  This time of year they also have the holiday teas out the Gingerbread Spice with a little honey is pretty heavenly.

I seem to be really stocking up lately and noticed my tea cupboard over my stove was over flowing!  The picture below is just half of the picture.

 Yesterday morning I had a crazy treat... time.  My kids spent the night with my sister and my husband was out of town.  So I sat at the table, read a book, drank my coffee and took time to enjoy the sunrise, which was crazy beautiful, a little frustrating the way pictures never really do it justice.

Are you a tea drinker? Black, green, white, red, or herbal?  I can drink a little green or white tea but mostly just avoid the caffeinated versions.

Three Things Thursday..sneaking around

1.  Thanks so much for all your comments and thoughts for Cola.  He had a pretty rough day yesterday and I don't think he walked more than 20 steps all day.  That was only because I carried him outside so he could relieve himself.    Today seems a little better but he is still very stiff and in a lot pain.  He did walk around a lot more, but I am mostly trying to keep him resting and let his body heal.  I think it will probably be a good month or two before I take him running again.  I hope I am wrong, but I do also want to make sure he is well healed up before I start running with him again.

2. Meanwhile I must admit to feeling a little guilty about going running without him.  So I have been sneaking around.  I try not to let him see me leave and then I drive somewhere before I start running.  I am sure he KNOWS anyway.  Makes me feel like a big fat cheater for running without him.  He saw me heading to the car today and made a bit of an effort to get up, his ears perked up and his tail started wagging.  I feel so lonesome running without him.  I am so used to talking to him and patting his head when he comes back to run along side me after he has ran ahead of me for awhile.

3. We had a great time for Halloween last night and I have to admit to over indulging in candy today.  UGH but YUM!

I even dressed up last night, here is my little sister, mother and me.  I am a belly dancer.  I had a costume from back in the day when I took belly dancing lessons. My daughter was a cowgirl princess.

My Dad and my son as a knight in shining armour, and my nephew Keenan. 

My aunt and uncle put on a scary scavenger hunt for the candy at her house, all the neighborhood kids got to participate. It ended in her barn, which is where we took the group picture, not pictured are all the men who did the spooking part.

Yup lots of kids on the neighborhood. 

Here is what my nephew Van thought of the scary stop.

8 stops and 2 and a half hours later we were back home where I had to attempt to put sugared up kids to bed.  Not a problem, they CRASHED!