Ouch...

I got home from work and decided to make one of my favorites for dinner, chickpea tacos. Even though I didn't have a red onion I went ahead and made some corn salsa to go with them.

I cut up a jalapeño, got the corn off the last two ears of corn from the crab boil Saturday night, and added a little lime juice, chili powder, ground coriander and a little cumin. Mixed it all up and left it to get all happy while the chickpeas roasted away in the oven.

I then sat down to surf the net on my new iPad and waited for the timer to go off. A few minutes later I blew my nose and shortly after noticed that my nose started burning. It took a few minutes for the real pain to set in and about that time the realization of what happened also set in.

Note to self, you should always wash your hands after you chop up a jalapeño.

Have you ever burned the inside of your nose? I consider myself an expert in burns. (Sunburns mostly, kitchen burns recently.) This was insanely painful. A quick check on Google and I learned that running water over my burnt nose was making it worse.

Milk, it turns out was the way to go. So I soaked a washcloth in some milk and held it over the affected area until the pain started to go away. After that a little Vaseline and I felt back to normal.

I won't bore you with a picture of my nose. Just know that it was very red and my eyes were very watery.

 

So This Happened...

I did a bunch of baking this weekend. Sugar cookies and cupcakes and chocolate chip cookie

When we got up yesterday I decided to whip up a frittata and some homemade biscuits for Josh for Father's Day.

 

The frittata was awesome. I put some leftover red potatoes from my BIL's birthday crab boil Saturday night. I also had the corn from an ear of corn, mushrooms and some spinach. I topped it off with a little cheddar cheese.

I then baked up a few biscuits because what goes better with eggs? When the frittata was done I pulled it out of the oven and set it on the stove so I could put the biscuits in the oven.

For some reason I didn't remember that the skillet had been in the oven when I grabbed the metal handle to move it. It only took me about half a second to remember. It was a very painful lesson. One that made me feel like my hand was on fire for about nine hours.

I have some nasty looking blisters today. Note to self, use a hot pad or a towel next time. Lesson learned.

So this post has been brought to you by my new iPad. I think it is awesome.

WIAW #8...The Birthday Edition...

My birthday was Monday and we did some celebrating over the weekend.  So this WIAW post is going to be about dinner Saturday night and dinner Monday night.  All the rest of the food in between was the same old boring stuff I eat all the time.

As I posted previously we got together with some friends and had dinner on Saturday night at Local, a new restaurant in Norman that used to be a Furrs.

There were adult beverages...

Gotta love when the waiter will bring you a glass of wine that was poured by mistake on your birthday.  I should have paid closer attention to which one it was because it was wonderful.  The short one is a Thunder Up!  Everyone is getting in on the Thunder mania in OKC.

I went with the Ratatouille.  This is not something I've ever had before and I liked it.  For some reason I thought there would be some sort of starch in it, but underneath that awesomely poached egg was all veggies.  They were yummy.   There was white chocolate cheesecake and chocolate cake for dessert, but I was too busy eating them to take a picture.

Monday night Josh and the girls wanted to take me to dinner so we went to my new favorite Mexican restaurant Chuy's.  I tried something new and got the fish tacos.

I even with with the grilled fish instead of the fried fish.  Gotta try to be a little bit healthy with my choices.  I don't eat fish that often anymore, but these were very good.  I'll have to get them again.

No dessert for me, but the girls got push pops.

Carson got about half way through hers and decided she didn't want anymore, we happened to be in the car at the time.  Who wants to eat the rest of their kid's melty, slobbered all over push pop to keep it from dripping all over the car?  Definitely not me.

It was a great birthday.  I can't wait for the mailman to deliver my iPad.  I also get to have lunch with my friend Stacy today so I might have a picture of something different from my everyday food next week.



Happy Birthday to Me...

Tomorrow I will be 38.  Man, I remember when my parents were 38 I thought they were so old!  I sure hope my kiddos don't think of me like that because I don't feel old.

It has sure been a great weekend.  After getting cleared by my doctor to run again last week, I met up with my girls on Friday morning for a run and it was BEAUTIFUL outside.  They ran 4.5 and I did about 3.5. It was slow and there was walking but it felt so good to be outside doing what I love at 5:15 in the morning.  Saturday morning we met up again and I did about the same distance while they did six miles on one of my favorite out and back routes.  I never thought I would say that I can't wait to run some hills again.  We followed up the run with weights {shoulders and biceps I think it was} and some sauna time.

Afterwards I headed home for a nap.  We were heading out for my birthday Saturday night and I wanted to rest up.  First I had to make some peanut butter dog treats for a very special dog.

Lance was turning 10 on Saturday.  I had to bake up some love for a fellow Gemini.  Lance works at OK Runner, my favorite running store.  He seemed to like the treats I made him.  I have to remember next time to make them bigger.  I think he might have swallowed one of them whole.  His mouth is a lot bigger than the ones we have around here.

Afterwards I got some errands in and then got ready to head out to Local for dinner with friends.

Kim and Rochelle

Rochelle and I

Abby and Patti

The girls.

You might be wondering where all the boys were during all these pictures.  Well we had the girls on one end of the table and the girls on the other and it worked out fabulously.  We had drinks...

This is a free glass of wine our waiter brought me, it was yummy.  It is also the Thunder Up that I ordered.  It was also delicious.

Then there was the food.  I had the...

RATATOUILLE // 10

seasonal roasted vegetables in tomato basil broth, toasted bread, soft poached egg 

Josh had the...

MEATLOAF CUPCAKES // 14 mushroom sauce, goat cheese biscuit

Dessert was the cheesecake I have been dreaming about.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE // 6 pistachio crust, caramel and pistachio brittle

But we couldn't get just one dessert so we also got the...

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE // 6 vanilla gelato, fresh raspberry

As we were leaving Josh took the opportunity to make himself look taller than me for a change.

I don't know who he thinks he's fooling.  Afterwards we headed over to Kim and Dwight's house to hang out by the pool and continue the festivities.  There were some firsts that happened, but I won't go into them.  Let's just say it was a great birthday.

Tomorrow morning I get to meet everyone for a fun to celebrate my birthday.  We are meeting up at 5am, so I better get some sleep.

OU Medicine Corporate Challenge 2012...

This was the third year the company I work for participated in the Corporate Challenge.  I love this event, it's pretty time consuming organizing everything, but it so worth it.

I was a little disappointed this year because I still had not been cleared to run, I had been looking forward to besting how I did last year.  I was set to go back to the doctor on June 5th and the Corporate Challenge was June 1-3.  So I got to do things other than run.  {I am not gonna lie, this completely sucked.  But, what can you do?}

My first event was Saturday morning.  It was the 50 yard women's freestyle sprint.  Two years ago I finished 3rd in our division, this year I finished 1st.  We didn't have a second girl willing to be a part of the co-ed relay, so I got to drive to Edmond, warm up and swim a 50 yard sprint and then head back to OKC.  It was pretty fun.  I didn't realize the locker room at the UCO field house would be severely lacking in adequate shower space.  Oh well, I was going to be hanging out at the track the rest of the day, so who needs a shower?

My second event Saturday night was the co-ed obstacle course.  Man was it hard.  You had to run through some tires, across a balance beam, jump a hurdle, kick a soccer ball around some cones, and then jump rope five times in a row without stopping.  I fell off the balance beam so I had to go back, I was painfully slow with the soccer ball, and then I could not jump rope five times in a row to save my life.  I have resolved that if I am going to be a part of the obstacle course next year that I need to practice.  It was fun though.

Sunday morning the girls and I did the one mile walkabout.  I was bummed to not be running the 10k again this year, but there is always next year.  I did sign up for the 5k bike sprint.  I have never done a bike sprint.  When Kendra and I did the Norman Conquest last year it was very laid back and just out for fun.  In the sprint triathlons and duathlons I have done the bike has already been fast {or me trying to be fast}, but not an all out sprint.  This 5k was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  It's a time trial start, which is nice, everyone starts 15 seconds apart and when you get up there they hold your bike so you can get clipped in and then they let you go.  It was a bit terrifying to have someone hold your bike and be clipped in and just thinking that when they let go you have to get moving before you fall over.

My goal was to finish under 12 minutes. I checked out the times from last year and I thought that might make me competitive.  I figured I can work as hard as I possibly can for 12 minutes, right?  That's half as long as running a 5k, so I just put it all out there.  I pedaled as hard and as fast as I could and I finished in 10:05.  Way better than I had hoped, and I was worn out afterwards.  I managed to finish first in my division too, so that was good.

My last event was the women's relay.  The legs are like this 100M, 100M, 200M and 400M.  I figured I could run a 400M, I know I had not yet been cleared by my doctor but it's just one lap around the track.  I hadn't been cleared yet just to give me more time to build up my quad muscle in my injured leg and I was two days away from going back to the doctor.  We were second in our heat when it was my turn.  I tried to chase down the girl that was ahead of us and for the first 200M I thought I might be able to.  After that my quads sort of freaked out.  It was like they were saying "What the hell are we doing here?  What is this strange exercise we are doing?"  After that I ran out of some steam and we ended up second in our heat.  My quads were sore for about 5 days after that.  It sure felt good to be running around that track though.  I'm not gonna lie to you.

It was a weekend full of cheering and supporting my co-workers in their events.  The weekend wound up with the dodgeball competition on Sunday afternoon.  Each of the four divisions played and the winners had a round robin at the end to crown an overall dodgeball champ.  It took FOUR HOURS!  We won or division, which made me happy but that meant I ended up being there two more hours waiting to cheer our team on in the overall competition.  We ended up third in the overall, but it really was fun watching our team compete.

It was a fun but tiring weekend.  I can't wait to do it all again next year.

National Running Day 2012...

In case you hadn't heard, yesterday was National Running Day.  All over the world wide web the running community was buzzing about running. Sadly, I did not lace up my running shoes to join in the celebration. 

{***Injury Update--I have been cleared by my doctor to run and told to take it slow.  I did hit the treadmill on Tuesday evening and run/walk for 30 miserable minutes.  I can't decide if it's worse to not be able to run or building up after not being able to run.  I'll keep you posted on my decision.***}

Anyway...

I saw an interesting post on a blog that I follow, about all things running and figured I would just copy the format.  So here goes...

1. Favorite Running Memory...
I would have to go with my first full marathon.  If you've been reading my blog for a while you might remember my race recap of the OKC Memorial Marathon last May.  If not I'll give you the highlights.  Abby and I ran through thunder, lightening, rain, wind and hail (twice!), but we completed that 26.2 miles faster than we thought we would.  I would be happy to never run in conditions like that again, but it'll be a memory I'll never forget.

2. Favorite Running Buddy...

I could never pick just one.

Me, Rochelle, Abby, Patti and Kelsey (not pictured Kim)

I have the best group of women that I run with.  They are my sanity.  (Which explains why these last months have been so hard.)  They are the people I can go to and say, "how about we do this" and they will not think I am crazy.  Over the last year I have come to the realization that people come into your life for a reason and I don't know how I got so lucky to have all these people in my life but I am thankful every day they let me pound the pavement with them.

3. Favorite Place to Run...
Norman, Oklahoma!  We have so many routes that I love, or have learned to love in Norman.  I have even learned to love the hills.  Not so much the ones by Craig's house, but one of my favorite routes is from the Y to Robinson to 36th and back.  My last run before the 14 mile run from hell that ended in injury was this out and back route.  It was 5 am on a Thursday and it was windy, cold and rainy.  Man did I feel STRONG that day.  I can't wait to get back there!

4. Favorite Race...

Cowtown 2012.  No doubt about it, I felt incredibly strong in February when we headed to Fort Worth for this half marathon.  What a great weekend with the girls, got to hang with some really bad ass runners including Scott who won (and was disqualified from) the full marathon.  It was very exciting to see someone I knew cross that finish line first.  Even that mile long hill was worth it, and my Garmin said I was right on pace to break 1:50, either it was right or the course was a quarter mile long.  I guess we will never know.  I need to work on cutting the corners.  I can't wait until Cowtown 2013.

5. Favorite Distance...
Definitely the half marathon.  I love that I can run this distance and feel untrained (Hello Tulsa!), that I can run it and support someone in reaching their goal of making it to the finish line (Hello Chicago!), and that I don't feel completely dead after pushing myself for 13.1 miles to reach a goal.  I know the marathon is in my future, and I plan to break the 4 hour mark on the next one, but there is just something about the half that I love.  You don't have the "OH MY GAWD I AM DYING" that I associate with the 5k, and the training doesn't take over your life like marathon training does.

5. Favorite Running Dream...
Just like I could never pick one favorite running buddy, I could never pick just one running dream.  So here are a few, in no particular order.

• I'd love to run Boston one day.  No explanation needed here.
• I'd love to run the Hood to Coast relay.  If not this relay than I'd settle for another one.  How fun would it be to load up 11 team mates into two vans and be a part of a 200 mile trek from the start to the finish line?
• I'd love to do a half ironman.  Technically this is not specific to running, but it's a race that includes my favorite running distance, so how awesome would that be?

 I hope everyone had a happy running day.  I am excited to meet up with my group in the morning bright and early at 5:15 and see if my legs still love running as much as my heart and mind do.

 

WIAW #7...

So I went to Sam's last Thursday and decided to take the plunge.  I bought a 3 pound package of kiwi.  What is the plural of kiwi?  Kiwis?  That doesn't sound right.  Anyway...

I have only had kiwi on a fruit tart or in the green smoothies we have made.  {I do still have two frozen green smooties in my freezer, I can't bring myself to thaw them out after the green smoothie sour pickle incident a while back.  *sigh*}

So what to do with three pounds of kiwi fruit?  Well give some of them away, of course.  I don't live in a house full of fruit and veggie lovers, so three of these went to live at Abby's house.  The rest have been a part of my morning yogurt.  Hello yummy goodness! 

 This picture was from last week, but I am having the same for this morning's breakfast.  (Boring, right?)  I have Greek yogurt today, but with the bananas, kiwi, homemade granola and chia seeds I like to think that this is a healthy way to start my day.

I've got some Tazo green tea for after I finish this.  I was in the habit of having green tea every morning, but just stopped a while back.  Even though it's summer I think I'll get back in the habit.  It is, after all, below freezing where I work so it's always nice to have something to help keep me warm.  Gloves might help too.

 The OU Medicine Corporate Challenge was this past weekend, and the company I work for Imagenet Consulting {formerly, BMI+Imagenet and before that BMI Systems} was participating for the third year in a row.  I wonder wha tour name will be next year.

Sunday after the women's relay we were walking back to our tent and spotted this food truck and it just called to me.  Waffle Champion, I had never heard of them before.  The food we had delivered for lunch was BBQ, not very vegetarian friendly, so I decided to give the the Waffle Champion a try.  I ordered a savory waffle, it had chicken, sharp cheddar, and scrambled eggs with tomatillo salsa.  I had them hold the chicken, of course.

I could kick myself for not taking a picture of it before I inhaled it, it was so good.  Like a waffle taco, really.  It was really hard, but I kept control of myself and did not go back for a sweet waffle after I finished the savory one.  They had one with one of my new favorite things, Nutella! 

I'll be on the look out for the Waffle Champion.  It was worth every cent.  AND it kept me from starving to death watching FOUR HOURS of dodgeball that afternoon.  More on that later.