God's Glory

There's nothing like the most amazing, drawing dropping, God glorifying sunset to make you run longer than you planned.  Linda was tired from Body Pump, Body Combat and two TKD classes, so she was just going to chill tonight.  Instead she got a case of the guilts for not walking Chimi all day. It poured buckets earlier, so we just did quick trips out to the backyard.  Since it cleared up, she decided to go ahead and take him.  It was chilly enough for her to wear pants and a sweatshirt (other runners were in tanks and shorts though.)  Chimi is getting way better at running and he hardly balked at all. 

She is so glad she went.  As she was rounding a corner and running up a hill, she noticed all the houses bathed in this incredible pink light.  She looked up and totally stopped.  The sunset bought tears to her eyes.  It was pink, orange, pale yellow, and creamy white with a strip of Caribbean blue right in the middle.  Instead of turning back towards her house, she kept running uphill to get to the top of the neighborhood so she could get a better view.  I'm sure everyone who passed her (there were a lot of people out tonight) thought she was injured because she was crying as she ran.  Her iPhone was home charging so there is no picture.  She even typed "amazing sunsets/beautiful sunsets" into google to see if she could find something similar.  There weren't any photos close to as pretty as it was.  Hopefully some local photographer got a shot at that exact moment and will post it on FB so she can re-post it here later.
Since she is already teary-eyed, here is a picture of me and my Snickers.  I used to put my whole head in his mouth.  He loved me so much.  Not a day goes by that Linda doesn't think of him and wish he were still alive.

Horses furloughed

Since we live in the DMV area (District, Maryland, Virginia), Linda knows a lot of people who have been affected by the government shut down. Friends from the gym and church, sometimes both husband and wife, have been furloughed.  One couple just bought a house and the woman is 9 months pregnant.  There are parks, museums, monuments and all sorts of agencies shut down.  The gym has been packed with members working out instead of going to work. Linda had twice the number of people in her classes this morning.  Traffic is also non-existent.  She is still leaving 45 minutes early for a 10 minute drive though because that's her schedule. Today she browsed Whole Foods since she had 1/2 hour to spare.  Wow!  Such great things.. but all so expensive.

This A.M she read about another shutdown.  The annual roundup of wild ponies on the Eastern Shore of Virginia has been cancelled.  The Chincoteague horses have a fall roundup ever year so they can get their annual health checkup before winter sets in.  Linda knows this is a stupid thing to be worried about compared to people getting behind on their car or house payments.  It is the way Linda has always been.  In movies, if the animals get hurt or die she gets all upset.. more than if the movies has a shoot-out or disaster strike.  This is real life and people are way more important than animals so it shouldn't be bothering her one bit.

I wonder if horsey people & veterinarians (Linda almost typed vegetarians) could volunteer to do the round-up to give the horses their medical exams?

"I'll help Nana!"

M is for M & M's

Penny just loves her horses and the ABC book that she got as a prize on Thursday.  Linda got to watch her twice on Thursday.  Sarah and Taylor had a date night, so she went over again at 6:30.  They did the whole ABC book.  It's a flip book and has a die-cut letter on each page where you can trace it with your finger.  On her own when she saw the P, Penny said "P- is for POP!"  Last time she said "P-is for POTTY."  (Tier, she also knows "T-is for Tierney.")  After reading, they played Horses for about 1/2 hour; had a snack, read the picture Bible and got ready for bed. 

Sarah told Linda earlier in the day she was feeding the horses leaves

This was the first time that Linda has had a hard time getting her to bed.  Even though it was 15 minutes past her normal bedtime, she kept crying "Oh no!!  Horses.. Owl (?).. Moon... Kids... Outside... Juice...Show (her TV program)" anything to get her Nana to let her stay up later.  She even pulled out the stops with "Bible, Nana.. Noah, Moses..!" so Linda would keep reading to her. 

"Wash, Wash..."

Check this out: Penny loves to clean.  Today she helped Sarah do the chores.  After classes today, Linda did much needed grocery shopping, cleaned the whole house and made a new recipe.  She used red, yellow, and orange peppers, shrimp, quinoa, jalapeno cheese and mango-pineapple-jalapeno salsa.  (Yes, she likes her food spicy.)

OK, I know she always says it was the best combination of food ever, but this really was.  The cheese looks like marshmallows because she only had fat free cheese and it didn't melt very good but tasted fine.  Next time shes going to use the real thing.

At the grocery store, Linda picked up a bag of Candy Corn M & M's.  She read on a few blogs that they are amazing.  Her whole life, M & M's have been her favorite candy.  In the past years, she's eaten more than one Costco size giant bags by herself.  Hopefully her self-control is a little better now and she won't eat the whole bag in one week.  The plan is for her to eat 10 a day.  Do you think that its even possible?

Tier looks beautiful even with candy corn teeth

A 12-pack of ponies

Linda couldn't wait to get to Sarah's this morning after Kid Fit.  Penny was waiting at the top of the stairs with a big grin on her face.  As soon as she saw Linda, she said "DOWN CHIMI."  She says it all the time, even when there is no dog to command.  If there is a dog in her TH neighborhood, she still says "Down Chimi!" even if its not jumping.  They packed up to go to the mall while Sarah did her chores.

After last weeks merry-go-round sickness, Linda thought it would be better to ride the train. It moves slowly, and does an entire lap around the 1st floor of the mall.  Linda still got motion sickness, only it wasn't nearly as bad as the carousal.  Back in the day, she could ride every roller coaster, the spinning tea cups and even those rides that make you go upside down.  How come she is getting such intense motion sickness from the littlest things?  It last a long time too, not just when she gets off the ride.

They were the first ones on, so they picked the caboose.  It is the best car because there is a little back porch area where you can be out in the open if you want.  Penny thought it was so fun while they were boarding.  She was yelling "TRAIN" over and over.  Watching 5'10" Linda trying to get in and out of the little door with a knee that doesn't bend so great must have been funny.   Plus, the seats are only 4" wide so sitting isn't all the comfy. 

Nana!  This is so much fun.  TRAIN!

As soon as it started actually moving, her expression changed

Not so sure about the train now

After 10 seconds Penny decided it was super fun and that she wanted to be a train conductor when she grew up!

"This is way-cool Nana"

She waved and said "Hello!!" to everyone they passed.   Of course they hit up Nordstrom's for their balloon and watched the tropical fish in the big tank.  Penny even got two prizes for being such a good girl.  A Princess ABC book and this toy that Tierney would have (or still might) adored:

A 12-pack of Ponies! 

Soyballs

Linda is out of fresh fruit and veggies.  That means she has to get creative with what is in the freezer.  This looks kind of gross, but she actually said it was delicious.  All these ingredients were hiding in her freezer: broccoli, black beans, corn, red peppers and veggie meatballs (they should be called soyballs since there isn't any meat and probably no veggies in them either.)  mixed together with some spicy salsa and seasonings... WIN!  Plus, there is enough leftover for 2 more meals... DOUBLE WIN.  After classes or church when she is starving, having something that can be quickly heated up in the toaster oven or stove top is really nice.  Back in the day, she would eat whatever was handy (pudding cup, cereal, toast) or not eat at all.  Tonight she ate dinner before leaving for church . That only happens about 1 out of 100 times because she is usually too rushed.  Today she got home from the gym super fast since there was zero traffic. 

It looks like the laptop made it one more day.  The screen keeps fading and turning itself off.  The battery is showing 100 percent full and she has it plugged in, but it still won't stay on.  Sometimes it restarts, sometimes it takes awhile.

Tomorrow is Thursday. Yay... Kid Fit and Penelope's day!  Sarah said Penny has been a little crabby the last few days.  Hopefully she'll be a good girl for her Nana and they can have some fun.  Was it only last year that she was this little??

How did Linda not know she had this picture?  Epic pout!!

Will you miss me?

The laptop is dying.  It's probably only has a few days (or maybe hours) left before it goes ka-put.  When laptops break, its probably cheaper to buy a new one then get it repaired.  Even though Linda does NOT want to go through the hassle of getting all her stuff transferred and possibly (maybe) having to learn out to work a Mac.  All the really cool people say that Windows operating system is a dinosaur and that Mac's are SO MUCH better.  I know it would certainly get along better with her Apple TV, iPhone and iPod.  If anyone has an extra $1,500 laying around (for the cheap Mac!), could you send it to her?  (Just kidding... kind of.)  It is tempting just to get an inexpensive $500 computer and then wait to upgrade to something better later.  Hmm... or she could put ads on this blog like so many other blogs and earn $$.  If you don't see posts for awhile, its because she'll have to borrow someones laptop to update.   At least all of the photos got backed up on an external hard drive last night.  She couldn't figure out how to back up all her Les Mills music, but that has to be done ASAP or she'll have to reload everything and that would not be fun.  There is a computer-nerd name for what is happening to the laptop, but she already forgot what it is.  We don't have a desktop anymore either.

Linda is going to try this in her spare time... ha!

Just rereading this post made Linda realize how rich she actually is and not the least bit poor.  She has an Apple TV, iPhone and an iPod (not to mention a house, car, food...)  Never mind about whining about the laptop money.

So much goodness in one dish

 P.S. Linda is writing this post.  She wants to switch voices, but its so hard after so many years!!

This recipe keeps getting better every time I make it.  Yesterday I did it a little different.  Instead of putting all the vegetables in the dish at the same time to bake, I layered it.  First went the potatoes, followed in 10 minute intervals by carrots, Brussels Sprouts, peppers and finally the tomatoes right at the end.  Each layer got some olive oil (just a brushing) and some seasonings.  I can't believe I used to live on grocery store cardboard pizza, TGIF boxed frozen appetizers, unhealthy take-out and cereal.  Everyone asks me how I lost weight in the last 9 months.  There isn't any magic potion or secret (except tracking everything I ate with My Fitness Pal).  The answer is not eating junk food; frozen convenience meals or processed foods.  I still eat some real sugar daily though :) Restaurant meals are rare.  The amazing Chili Rellenos from Sunday's lunch lasted me for 3 meals, not 1 like it used to.  The key is eating when your hungry and just til you are not hungry.. but never stuffed. The real test will be going to the Dr. and seeing if the dangerously high cholesterol numbers are down.  Maybe, maybe not (since its mostly likely hereditary) but I'm not going to change the healthy meals!

Abandoned Wizard of Oz theme park.  This is an eerily beautiful photo.

This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just think it's so cool.  Tier posted a link about abandoned theme parks today and it got me looking at some different sites.