Hello,

Have I mentioned the fact that I can’t believe we’re more than halfway through the year already.

My folks were out of town for the weekend and I was tasked with getting their mail and newspapers. But more importantly to tend to their garden. I love it when they ask me to do that because I score some awesome herbs and veggies. The most recent haul consisted of zucchini, basil, oregano and some swiss chard.

Their basil plants are on steroids!

Their basil plants are on steroids!

I ran about 2 miles to their house and then 2 miles back.

IMG_4276

My body has been giving me some grief lately. My knee, is a bit wonky so I need to stay on flat ground and take walk breaks every so often. Also, the arch of my foot (on the same side as the knee) has been hurting (which i most definitely believe one is related to the other). And my left hip is still mildly sore. Batting 1000!

On Saturday I took a drive upstate to visit my friend Nicole. I spent some quality time with her (almost) 5 year old daughter.

 

I'm surrounded by cuteness

I’m surrounded by cuteness

I think I want a pair of silver sparkle jellies too

I think I want a pair of silver sparkle jellies too

And she made the best cake. It had hot pink frosting and marshmallow icing in-between the two layers of pink cake.

Pink poodle, pink cake. We take pink very seriously

Pink poodle, pink cake. We take pink very seriously

Duncan and I being silly

Duncan and I being silly

On Sunday I spent about 5 hours over at Mr. SOTSS’ to hang with Chester while Mr. SOTSS and his girls were away for the day.

You mean he's not going to be home ALL DAY?

You mean he’s not going to be home ALL DAY?

Chester gets depressed when his dad isn’t around but he was happy that I was there to feed him dinner and let him out in the yard and maybe he enjoyed watching the Olympic trials with me and Duncan?

Doing my freelance work, watching the Olympic trials and hanging with the pooches

Doing my freelance work, watching the Olympic trials and hanging with the pooches

I took advantage of the Chester-sitting visit to use Mr. SOTSS’ grill and grilled up all my garden loot. And while I was at it I grilled shrimp too.

getting ready to grill

getting ready to grill

I cut up the basil into ribbons and sprinkled it on the zucchini and the shrimp and then doctored everything up with olive oil, salt, pepper and some garlic.

Dinner is served! And I ate outside on the deck since it was so nice out

Dinner is served! Grilled zucchini and shrimp. And I ate outside on the deck since it was so nice out

In other weekend news, Duncan went to the groomer.

Before and After

Before and After

And now he smells delicious. I hope your week is off to a good start.

Do you have a barbecue? Do you like to grill?

Do you have a garden? What do you grow? I’m waiting for tomatoes, peppers and corn to come from my dad’s garden in the coming weeks.

So, I had a little meltdown in my car yesterday afternoon when I tried to run a couple of miles for the first time in a month and the knee didn’t approve nor did it improve. How could 4 weeks of rest go by without ANY improvement? (apparently I’m really stubborn and not listening to my “Time and Rest heal everything” advice) Other than my day of skiing 3 weeks ago I haven’t done any cardio. Tears were shed…

tears

is it weird that in the midst of crying I needed to document it with a photo?

Don’t feel bad for me. It’s totally not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s my own personal struggle and I’m going to have to dig deep to keep myself sane.

More »

I got these lovely kicks as a birthday gift from my sister-in-law last month and had been planning on saving them until the new year but today I thought I’d try them out to see if they had any impact on my knee issue.

Asics Cumulus 16

Asics Cumulus 16s in bright blue. Apparently I’m supporting Prostate Cancer Awareness and had no idea. When I selected this color it was just because I liked it

Well, the verdict is they didn’t help. 🙁 As a matter of fact about 2 1/2 miles into this run I felt that strange sharp knee pain and had to stop and stretch for a bit. But after that I was totally fine again. This knee thing is so strange. It will be totally fine until I make a turn or get to a part of the road that is uneven and then I’ll get that tweak but then it’ll go back to being fine again. I’m curious to get it looked at but honestly the thought of primary care visits and referrals and $50 copays etc just makes me say forget it.

Well, I managed to get in another solid 3 miles.

photo 3

And then I took the doodle in the car to run errands with me…

photo 5He’s been so cute in the car lately. He likes to lean back on the seat and rest his head. Love this boy.

After the errands I took him to the park by the water for a little walk.

photo 4

And now I’m typing this post and Duncan is just staring at me. Not sure what he wants. Maybe just my attention.

photo 1Tomorrow I’m going to work at the Philadelphia Marathon Expo. I’ll be at the New Jersey Marathon booth. We’re raffling off a free race entry so come by if you’re planning on attending. =) I’m loving my part time job working for the New Jersey Marathon! I dropped off some postcards at Jackrabbit Sports’ community bulletin area yesterday =)

photoAfter the expo I’ve got to hightail it home because I’m going to the Blue Gala fundraiser event again this year. It’s to raise money for a fairly large animal rescue. I’ll be back at the expo ALL day on Saturday too. I’m exhausted just thinking about the next 2 days.

Have you ever been to Philadelphia? It’s a great city to visit. I seem to do a lot of running there but someday I’ll go just for the culture and good eats. 

What’s on your weekend agenda?