A Little Dish of This, A Little Dish of That

You should watch The Dish on the Style Channel. I'm not sure what other programs are on this channel, and I am pretty sure the host (you may recognize her as Topanga from Boy Meets World) doesn't have any other job offers, but this show is perfection. It is like Best Week Ever, back when that was still a great show. They cover all the latest and greatest happenings in magazines, tv and celeb culture from the previous week. 30 minutes (or 24 minutes if you dvr and skip all commercials) of pure trashy fun. Check it out people! Seriously, new episodes air at 7am Saturday morning. Set the dvr to record and you have the perfect companion for a Saturday morning hangover.

Joy To...Me

A few recent developments that are making me very happy...

I am still on a post-20 mile-run high. Not only am I loving heading into 3 weeks of reduced mileage before the marathon, but I can finally drink Diet Coke without worrying about it's dehydrating affects.

Target is now carrying my favorite of favorite hair products, Bumble and Bumble. Seriously, this stuff is fabulous AND hard to find in Cincinnati. I actually made quite a scene of joyful shouting when I saw B&B in this Sunday's Target ad. Now, I'm not going to claim that this stuff isn't expensive, at $22 for a bottle of shampoo it is a drastic price hike over my usual $3 Garnier Fructis, but it is worth it. After years of Target shopping, will I finally cave and get the Target creddy to save 10% on my first B&B shopping binge?

So, I've got Diet Coke to keep me caffeinated, B&B to keep my locks shiny and bouncy, and...

Panera Chicken Noodle soup. I am addicted. I've got a habit and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I am even considering buying the "soup for a group" which serves 4 people. At $12 I think it's a pretty good deal for 4 dinners. What I am really looking for is a way to make my own version. But the secret is in those delicious chicken soupy noodles. How do they make those? And is it something I am even capable of? If anyone out there knows a recipe even close to the Panera soup, please share!

I'm drinking d.c., slurping soup, staying in on Friday night to wash my hair, and I couldn't be happier.

All My Friends Are Pirates, That's Just Who I Am

I'm not sure what it is about a tailgate that inspires the "back to back" pose, but MA* and I are 2 for 2 on this one. The pose originated at the Colts tailgate during October '07's DLO Reunion and once again came to life this past Sunday at the Bengals tailgate during DLO CountryFest. I won't go into the particulars of our fabulous weekend as I think Em has already done a fine job on her blog.

Here we are pictured at the first of the weekend's tailgates, near Lucas Oil in Indianapolis. We arrived early to, as Kenny would say: "Mix us up some strong libations. No worries, just good vibrations." During our tailgate for the Kenny Chensey/Keith Urban concert is was v.windy. My only concern was for my tangled hair and the consequent ruining of ALL pictures because I look like a wild-abeast (see above picture as an example). The threat of any serious weather never crossed my Kenny/Keith/Miller Lite soaked mind. Which brings us to the Bengals game on Sunday and yet another series of windblown wild-abeast pictures (I will spare you more examples). All leading up to a huge windstorm, several people without power for days, and a rampant run on all local gas stations and grocery stores. Luckily I was not affected by any of this and had plenty of time to focus my angst and pain on my upcoming 20 MILE run.

Due to a scheduling conflict the 20 mile run had to happen Friday night. I was a nervous whiney mess at work (sorry kids), and an even more nervous whiney wreck once I got home and laced up my shoes. The run was rough, both mentally and physically. But for the most part I felt confident that I would finish. I split the run into 4 loops of 5 miles with 2 different 5 mile routes, so I only ran each loop twice. It helped to break things up a bit mentally. I really tried to focus on just 5 miles at a time, even re-starting my stop watch each 5 miles so I knew my "split" times. Overall I am very happy with myself, mostly just for finishing, but also for staying strong and really resisting the urge for multiple walk breaks. I was very focused on FINISHING and if that meant running more, running faster, then so be it. Now of course I am an achy noodle type who doesn't expect to accomplish much on what I am sure is going to turn into a very lazy Saturday.

But I've got my 20 mile run finished, I enjoyed a traditional 20 miler celebratory Zip's dinner with Em and Casey, and I am free to let my leg-olays recover the rest of the weekend.

Librarian

Week two of the new school year is about to come to an end, and I finally find the time/energy/will to live to write a new post. The start of any school year is always a bit of an adjustment. Summer is full of quiet days, popsicle breaks and a small, but reliable group of employees. Fall semester brings the return of students to campus, new employees to train, and a whole new group of people that assume I am a STUDENT.

Not only am I not a student, I am a librarian. Something that many people have trouble grasping. They either think of a librarian as...

Exhibit A: an old lady in horrid clothes telling everyone to Shhh

or they think of a librarian as...

Exhibit B: some sort of eyeglass and bun wearing girl who can't wait to get dirty in the stacks

I hate to disapoint, but...

Exhibit C: ME, is much closer to the mark. No glasses, no buns, no horrid clothes, no old lady (though I do have some grey hairs) and no shussing people (just mega-death glares when they annoy me).

Hope all of you starting a new school year are off to a good start. How many days until May???