Dear Mom,

Just wanted to write you a quick note to say, HELP! My yellow blankie is falling apart. I mean, it is pretty old but really that's no excuse. It is well loved, especially the edges and it may be in need of repair. I know you can do it. You've fixed it a million times before. Pretty much all of the satin edging has been replaced. Well, except for right here.



and there are a few little holes in the middle and a few bigger holes near the edges.



I considered folding it gently, wrapping it in a pillow case and putting it up but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. That little yellow blankie still sleeps under my pillow at night. I must admit, during college, I started leaving it at home on overnight trips but it was always under my pillow when I got back. I even left it home last October when we went to Washington D.C. for the marathon. I know! Growing up, huh? :) When I was younger I used to tuck it in the bottom of my sleeping bag when I went to slumber parties. I took it to grama's and the lake, and on vacation, and in the car. It went to college, lived in the sorority, moved to Arizona (although it did have to live in the closet there) and then moved to Omaha for physical therapy school.

So you see... it is well loved and in need of repairs.



On second thought, maybe it doesn't look so bad after almost 30 years.

Never mind.

I decided I like it just the way it is.

Love,
Kate

Picture update

Here are a couple of pics that I talked about in previous posts.

From Brick's latest post...

here he is sitting under the Foosball table waiting for the red laser pointer.



and this is B and K sacked out at the end of their long day in our bed. Don't worry, I squeezed in between them and then later Mr KT put them to bed in their boxes so there would be room for him in the bed.



And this is a picture from my Blackberry of New Year's Eve dinner. It didn't come out very well on the phone but it rated two thumbs up from the other end of the table!

Screwing Your Shoes

Ok, this sounds way hotter than it actually is... unless you are a runner and then you might disagree.

Let me preface by saying that I live in the Midwest (Nebraska) and we get some sweet weather (as do many other places) in the winter. Sunday morning I ran at 8:30 am. It was about 6 degrees and the wind chill was -16 degrees (30 mph out of the NNW). Brrr, that is cold. Many of you all know exactly what I am talking about. To be honest, it really isn't that hard to run outside if you dress appropriately. People typically say, "I can't run outside in weather like that, it hurts my lungs." I don't have that problem. Ice freezes my eyelashes and nose hairs together, makes frost on my hat and makes my cheeks sting. Sometimes it is so cold it gives you a virtual ice cream headache when the cold wind hits your forehead just below your stocking hat but it really doesn't bother my lungs at all. Guess I'm lucky. Anywho, along with all that cold also comes snow (no big deal) and ice (a bit of a pain). I don't mind running on the ice except that the chance that I am going to fall down and break my neck exponentially increases when I have a dog pulling on the end of a leash. In the past I have just barely managed to stay on my feet and typically take one or two little tumbles in the winter but have come away unscathed. The problem is that even if you stay on your feet, you can't go very fast because you have no push off.

Now, check this out!

Woot woot! Yeah, I screwed my shoes. This tip came from Blink. He sent me a link to the web site. So freaking cool.



Just follow the instructions on the web site and I am not kidding you, it is like Go Go Gadget shoes. Almost like having a serious super power! So awesome. You still have to be careful obviously but my gosh it is amazing. The other cool thing is that you can take the screws out and run in those same shoes later. Whoo Hoo! Thanks Blink.

New Year's Eve Meal

For the last two years, on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, I have made dinner for Mr KT and I. We have something that I've never made before. Last year, I made beef tips with Sugar Snap Peas and Fried Rice and Cranberry Sorbet for dessert. This year we went All-American with BBQ Beef Ribs with BBQ sauce from scratch, Boston Baked Beans, and sweet cornbread. Dessert was Lemon Daiquiri Sorbet.

I had actually never made any of these recipes before. The cornbread I usually make isn't sweet. But I have to say that everything turned out great! It was so yummy. I was so glad because I had been looking forward to good ribs and I would have been so disappointed.

I sort of followed recipes but not really and so I am attempting to write down what I remember doing. So, here goes...


BBQ BEEF RIBS
--------------

4 lbs. pork spare ribs
Cumin powder
Mustard powder
Chili powder
Celery flakes
Garlic salt
Brown sugar
Liquid smoke


SAUCE:

2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. vinegar
1 c. Ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder

Line a roaster with foil (otherwise you have a mess). Place ribs in roaster. Brush ribs with liquid smoke. Sprinkle lightly with each of the seasonings. Put a 1/4 cup of water in bottom of pan. Seal with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Decrease heat to 300 and cook for 90 more minutes. Uncover and pour some of the sauce over the ribs. Bake 5 more minutes or until meat pulls easily away from the bone. Serve remaining sauce with ribs at the table.



BOSTON BAKED BEANS
------------------
(I seriously didn't follow the recipe on this one so here is what I did.)
INGREDIENTS

* 2 cups canned organic navy beans
* 5 slices of turkey bacon
* Onion flakes (didn't measure)
* 3 tablespoons molasses
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1/2 cup ketchup
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Arrange the beans in a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.
4. In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
5. Bake in the preheated oven, until beans are tender and heated through. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if necessary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.



SWEET CORNBREAD
---------------
Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 2 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bow. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil and butter in a small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended. Pour into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

FOR MUFFINS:
SPOON batter into 18 to 20 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool slightly. Serve warm.



BEN & JERRY'S LEMON DAIQUIRI SORBET:
------------------------------------

3 lemons
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup corn syrup
2 1/2 cups cold water

1. Grate the zest from 1 lemon and set it aside.
2. Juice the lemons. Save the pulp but pick out the pits.
3. Stir the sugar, rum, corn syrup, and water together in a mixing bowl until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the lemon juice and zest.
4. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.
Makes 1 quart.

I froze the entire amount in a 9x13 pan and then used a hand mixer to whip it up when almost frozen. Then refreeze and should be ready to serve. I think a ice cream maker would have been better it just wasn't in the cards.

So, I recommend all of these recipes. Happy cooking! Oh, and I do have some pictures that I will post with this shortly. They just haven't been downloaded yet.

A Year in Review

2008 - The year of my first real half marathon, first half ironman race and my first marathon. It should have been my first adventure race as well but I was too sick to race that.

The numbers are as follows...

Runs: 171
Avg. Time: 00:50:31
Total Time: 143:59:33
Avg. Mi Pace: 9:44
Avg. Dist.: 5.2 Mi
Total Dist.: 883.3 Mi
Avg. Cal. Burned: 547.3
Total Cal. Burned: 89208


Bikes: 75
Avg. Time: 01:09:39
Total Time: 87:04:32
Avg. Speed: 16.2 MPH
Avg. Dist.: 18.8 Mi
Total Dist.: 1410.5 Mi
Avg. Cal. Burned: 664.6
Total Cal. Burned: 44525


Swims: 88
Avg. Time: 00:55:47
Total Time: 81:50:08
Avg. Dist.: 2180.7 Yd
Total Dist.: 191905.0 Yd
Avg. Cal. Burned: 509.1
Total Cal. Burned: 40728


Others including xc skiing and yoga
Others: 42
Time: 44:35:00


Total Summary
Workouts: 340
Total Time: 361:07:14
Total Dist.: 2415.0 Mi
Cal. Burned: 175759

One of the main problems with the program I use to keep track is that it doesn't tabulate the strength into your totals. I'll have to see if I can figure that out.

So, now the next step is to figure out what the next 12 months are going to look like and what the goals are going to be. I'll be posting that soon.

Brick's Busy Day

We take a break from our regularly scheduled triathlon posts to hear from another very naughty family member who would like to share their story.

Man, it's 5:45 am?! I'm not ready to get up. Geez mom, go back to bed. Come back in an hour. Wait, wait, wait. I changed my mind. I'm up and I have to potty NOW. Let me go up the stairs first. Door, door, door, bell, ring the bell, outside, brrrrrr, phew, that's better.

I got up today, just like any other day. I had major bed head all over my body and I didn't care. I looked gooooood. I went outside in the cold, did my business and headed upstairs to crawl into bed and rub my face against my dad's back. Back to sleep for at least another hour or so. My stupid sister stayed downstairs on the couch. Good more room for me. I love her but I like to have my people all to myself.

Up at the usual time, breakfast as usual. Same old, same old... dog food. Mmmmmmm.

Back outside in the cold and then back up to the bed while my dad gets ready for work. So high maintenance. All I have to do is jump in the car, he has to shave, and shower, and put on a bunch of clothes, and find his keys, and find his shoes, and find his wallet, and pack up his bag, and GEEZ, is it time yet!?

Off to work. This is awesome. We go to work with dad some days. He has this great office with a Foosball table and sometimes if I stand under there long enough I find this little red shiny thing on the floor. Dad calls it a laser. I don't care what it is called, I think it will taste like bacon, if I can ever catch it. It only comes out to play when my human is around and it moves quick! I just can't seem to catch it. It doesn't come out every day but sometimes when I am lucky I see it. And there is this new thing they keep talking about. I think they call it a Wii? Well, my dad has been working on it for lots of days. He stands there and swings an imaginary bat. I'm a little annoyed there is no ball. And today he was sweating while he was hitting nothing in the air. He called it "boxing". And they think I am a dope. Geez. Anywho, there is this little white glove thing that swirls around on the wall. I think it may be related to the red flashy thing that keeps showing up when I hide under the Foosball table. I chase it and chase it. My people would be so proud if I could show them what I caught. One of these days that little white hand will be mine.

Then it is time to go home. My sister and I get really excited because, guess what!? At the top of the stairs at work, there is a rabbit! Yeah, a really fast, smells good rabbit with a fluffy white tail and a little pink nose. My sister always shoves her head under all the bushes looking for it but I am much more patient. I always see it and point. My silly people never do their part though. I find the animals and then they let them run off. Really!? Shoot it or something!

Today, we rode home in the back of the Neon. I love to watch the world go by. We got home and my dad opened the door to get us. We always wait like we should until he says we can get out. Today, when we headed up to the house, dad and I realized at the same time that he didn't have a hold of Kona's leash! He lunged for her right as I made a break for it. And we were off! Freedom! My sister and I have had this planned for ages. Today just happened to be our lucky day. We ran and ran and ran. He chased us on foot for a bit. That was a really fun game. Then he was gone. I was headed for my favorite thing ever. MUD! Lots of mud at the construction site about 2/3 of a mile down the road. I played for quite a bit and then I heard my dad call for me. I was so happy to see him. I ran over and jumped into the car. We drove for a bit and then my sister, Koni, jumped out of the field. He called and she bounced over to see him. Man, he was glad to see us but I could tell he was mad too! He left us outside when we got back. It wasn't cold but I like to be in with my people. He took us around and left us in our inside kennel when he left again. Damn. I was hoping for a couch.

Then guess what?! Both my mom and dad came home and I got sent straight to the bathtub. :( I hate the bathtub. My dad said it looked like I was wearing brown pants. What in the heck are pants? Apparently, I also had some giant stickers on my tummy. My dad had to trim them out of my fur. That is definitely gonna mess up my sweet bed head.

Anyway, I got my bath, had my dinner, and I am now currently working on a bone in the basement while I dictate this story to my mom. The funniest part is... shhhhh, don't tell but my sister is going to get put in the shower with her tonight. Ahahaha. She's gonna hate that. Oh well. We both think it was TOTALLY worth it. All in a day's work. And now, I can't keep my eyes open and am going to crash. Good night.

UGH!

Is there anything more incredibly boring than riding on the trainer!? Oh my gosh. I'm gonna go with NO!