weekend plans

cousins are coming this weekend!

we will go here.

and here.

tour here.

 

and maybe go here

to see this.

definitely here

food from here

and here

gosh, there's just so much to see,

so many places to go

and so little time.

happy weekend!

images from all over the place

taxes!

This is too difficult for a mathmetician. 
It takes a philospoher.
-Albert Einstein, on filling out tax forms

America is the land of taxation that

was founded to avoid taxation.

-Dr. Laurence J. Peters

Be wary of strong drink.

It can make you shoot at tax collectors...

and miss.

-Robert A. Heinlein

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist

is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.

-Mark Twain

Alexander Hamillton started the U.S. Treasury

on close to nothing and that was the closest

our country has ever been to being even.

-Will Rogers

'happy' tax day.

winning the battle - week five

1 pound down this week.

So, I'm learning I can't just wing this.  It's hard work to stick to a diet and a workout routine.  I knew this, but I feel like I'm learning it again.  Funny how that works.  And when I don't stick to the diet, I sure do know it on Monday morning when I step on the scale.  So, this week I will stick to the diet, which means really thinking about portions and choosing the foods which are on the diet.

On the upside, my clothes are starting to fit differently.  For instance, I wore one of my favorite shirts today and instead of pulling around my belly and waist, it totally hung really nice and cute.  I felt like I looked skinnier, because the shirt was hanging right.

The running feels good.  On Saturday, T.T. and I ran the Swamp Trail at Theodore Roosevelt Island, which is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.  I loved it.  The Swamp Trail is part dirt/mud/rock/log trail and part wooden bridge through the swampy part of the island.  It's beautiful and has great views of Georgetown, the Kennedy Center and DC.  We ran the loop twice and finished in 35 minutes.

So the battle continues, one pound and one step at a time.

swamp trail image from: nps.gov

a friendship

image from: wickimedia.org

once upon a time, there were a girl and a boy who were friends.

they were not just friends, they were the best of friends.  he treated her with so much respect and love, that she couldn't help but love him right back.  he pushed her in ways she had never been pushed to think, feel or do, and she found she liked the challenge.  he accepted and loved her no matter what, even when she told him her dirtiest, darkest secrets and things got all dark and twisty, which didn't really happen all that much.

things happened.  life happened.  they slowly grew apart as their lives took different directions.  they didn't talk or have any contact for several years.  she still worried for him, prayed for him, and wished a beautiful life for him.  she let him go, because letting go opens doors, clears the path and makes room for good things to happen.

every now and then, when she would fall in love with someone, she sometimes wished she could tell him.  tell him she was in love, happy, scared, excited and just talk things out with him.  when it didn't work, she wished he was there to hold her, make her laugh after crying, tell her it was okay and that the risks of love really are worth it in the end.  she missed him during those times and so many others.

years passed.  he found her again one day, and when they talked it was as though no time had passed.  the friendship was still there, the comfort, the easiness, the not-having-to-work-to-make-it-work, the love.  it was all there, just like they had left it.

only now, they were grown-up with experiences that helped them not be afraid.  they could talk about their fears, hopes and the possibilities.  it was scary, but the thought of not having these conversations was more scary.  and in the end after the conversations, they found it wasn't scary at all, but more like being wrapped and hugged in an old, comfortable blanket, softened by age and familiar. 

they were more accepting of each other.  things that once seemed so important just fell away and the really important stuff rose to the surface and stuck.  their frienship wasn't perfect, in fact little things sometimes drove them crazy, but not for long.  soon they would be laughing again.

their friendship was a rock for both of them. it was a measure of all other friendships and relationships.  both knew it was something rare, wonderful, strong and not to be taken for granted. they knew their friendship was meant to last no matter what happened between them and for that they loved each other all the more.

the end...

beauty on the way

the other morning on the way to work,
i drove through a cloud of cherry blossom petals
falling to the ground. 

for just a moment
time
slowed
down
and i was caught in
the midst of a perfect pink
storm of spring beauty.

it also made me feel like Anne
as she's driving in the buggy with Matthew
on her way home to Green Gables for the first time
and she sees the Avenue full of wild cherries,
plums and other beautiful trees in full bloom.

"Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn't seem the right word to use.  Nor beautiful either.  They don't go far enough.  Oh, it was wonderful--wonderful.  It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination.  It just satisfied me here"--she put one hand on her breast--"it made a queer funny ache and yet it was pleasant ache. "  (Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maude Mongomery)

yes, that's just it.  she captures how i felt just perfectly.

i love Anne.
i want to be her when i grown up.
i always want to keep my appreciation for beauty, for life.

from worldofstock.com

dream tree

when i dream of trees,

i dream of this tree in particular.

i dream of a weeping cherry tree

its thin branches twirling in a breeze,

covered in lace of the lightest shade of pink

tinged with bits of green.

i dream of this tree in front of my home.

shading my yard, providing protection for

a child in a swing reading a favorite book,

a blanket covered with leftover picnic remains

and a sleeping child.

marking the seasons of life,

welcoming visitors to my home,

giving such beauty each spring.

i. love. this. tree.

i see it every day on my way to and from work

and it has become my dream tree.

i, especially, love this tree in the spring.

gorgeousness abounds all around.

photo by me on the way to work one morning.

winning the battle - week 4

this week 0 pounds lost, but none gained either.

it was easter and we had a picnic potluck.  the food was amazing and all homemade:  carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, croissants (yes, homemade) with chicken salad, guacamole and chips, hummus and pita, couscous with roasted peppers, fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies, easter eggs, angel food cake, sweet sticky rice with mango and coconut milk, carrot sticks, vegetarian salad nicoise and lime-ginger macaroons. oh yeah, i ate the food.

the good news is that i ran three times last week and felt great.  my running partner and i are a good team.  she's good at getting us started and i'm good at keeping us going when we want to stop.  we are having fun.

i'm enjoying being on this diet, because i'm learning really how to make up menus and pay attention to quantities.  it really does help to follow a menu and track everything i eat.  it makes it easier for me to eat right and well.  planning menus in advance also helps me know what to eat and when, and takes the guess work out of it.  plus, at the end of the day when i'm tired and just come in from running, i don't have to decide what to eat, the decision is already made for me.  i like that.

this week i have my work cut out for me, but then i knew i would after eating all that lovely food on sunday.  life is short and dessert should be eaten first.

me, out for a run.

we can call this a before shot.

funny story about this photo.

two guys with heavy accents stopped me during my run for directions.

in exchange, i asked one to take my photo.

he took the photo and as he handed me back my camera said,

"you don't look as hot as you think you are."

i wasn't sure whether to be offended or laugh,

or if he was referring to the fact that my face was bright red

from the heat.

so i just started running again and laughed.

whatever . . .

photo taken by, quite possibly a very rude, random tourist

mmmmmm, cake!

If you like Angel Food cake, you're really like gonna like this twist.

The ingredients: Angel Food cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple.

The jelly beans are for later.

Dump the cake mix and the entire can of crushed pineapple in a bowl.

Do NOT add the water, which the directions on the box call for.

The pineapple has enough liquid for the mix.

Follow the directions on the box for mixing the ingredients together.

Then pour the batter into a baking dish of your choosing.

If you use a mold like I did, then be sure to overfill it.

I baked the leftover batter in a 9'x13' cake pan.

Follow the baking instructions on the box.

This is the finished product.

I used the cake from the regular cake pan as the base,

frosted it extra creamy Cool Whip,

and sprinkled green coconut for grass.

I placed the lamb cake on top,

covered it with more cool whip and coconut

and gave it a face with two black jelly beans for eyes

and a pink jelly bean for a cute little nose.

Normally, the lamb mold would be sitting upright on the plate,

but the cake collapsed and I only got half a lamb.

Oh well, it's still pretty cute and was a hit at our picnic this afternoon.

This is the yummiest Angel Food cake ever.

It's like eating a piña colada.  YUM!

Thanks to my friend K.L. for loaning me the cake mold this weekend,

and the great twist on an Angel Food cake recipe.

photos by me while baking in my kitchen early this morning

and yes, tara, i'm channeling thepioneerwoman.com