good news

I got some pretty good news today. The Y has officially set their childcare hours. They provide free childcare for children of of all ages from 7 am - 12:30 pm and 4 pm - 7 pm each day. Isn't that wonderful?!

Now:
I looked in my running spreadsheet and quickly glanced at my progress over the last six months. Here's how it looks. It won't take you long at all to see a pattern.

monthly totals

January - 29.0
February - 38.9
March - 36.3
April - 31.6
May - 13.9
June - 9.6

I've got to step it up in July. I'm getting a new running routine and I'm setting a new goal. No excuses now. [Remember the last 10k I *ran*?]

There's another one on my calendar now. September 22nd. That's 11 weeks from Saturday. Eleven.

Think I can do it?

a mini-parade

recipe Wednesday

My SIL was kind enough to have us over for dinner last night and I was given the task of making dessert. I decided to make this key lime pie recipe from WW. I have made this oddles of times before and each and every time I have had to cook it for longer than the recipe calls for (like 15 -25 minutes longer than it says). Well, for some reason yesterday I took it out after the called for 15 minutes and decided it would eventually set in the refrigerator. Well, I was wrong. I couldn't put it back in the oven because it was already topped with whipped cream and I didn't have the ingredients to make another one in time. Needless to say, we had key lime pudding for dessert last night, but at least it was still fabulous tasting. I will highly recommend you trying out this recipe although I would encourage you to bake the pie for at least 30 minutes and maybe more. Mmmmmm. A nice cool summer treat!

Weight Watchers Key Lime Pie
serves 10
5 points per serving

6 oz pie crust
14 oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
8 oz fat-free egg substitute
8 oz fat-free whipped topping, thawed if frozen
1/2 cup fresh lime juice, from key limes

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Place graham cracker crust on a baking sheet; set aside.


Whisk together condensed milk, egg substitute and lime juice. Pour mixture into crust.


Bake until center looks set but still slightly quivery, like gelatin, about 15 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Transfer to refrigerator and chill completely, about 1 to 2 hours.


Spread whipped topping over cooled pie. Cut into 10 slices and serve.

it won’t be long before she’s walking along the sandy beaches… or maybe even running a race with us…

As you probably remember, my mom had a total knee replacement last Monday. I was surprised to learn how involved the major surgery would be. I am even more shocked to report how well she is doing. The recovery period for a knee replacement is usually 2 to 6 months. The patient is typically hospitalized for four days. Most people walk with a walker for at least a month afterwards and it's often six months before they can put all their weight on the new leg. Physical therapy is required for a minimum of two weeks after the surgery.

My mom's surgery went really, really well. Her doctor was great and he (or a member of his team) called us almost every half hour in the waiting room to let us know the progress. It was great to be surrounded by family and a few friends during the wait too. Her time in the hospital was rough. The pain medicine and anesthesia made her quite sick and the nausea made it hard for her to eat and keep food down. She's made tons of progress though with her physical therapy. I'm so proud of how hard she's worked with it and how quickly she's become so mobile. She's already said on more than one occasion that she has pain now, but that it's a different kind of pain than what she had before the surgery.

Today, a week after the surgery, she is growing tired of the support hose she has to wear and she is running out of the pain pills they've prescribed her. Even so, she's hanging in there. She's had lots of family and friends bring her dinners and I've told her that she'd better keep sitting down when they come because if they saw how well she was walking they might think she made the whole surgery thing up! She's been walking with just a cane through the weekend and I'm confident that she'll be fully mobile in no time.

Thanks for being such a strong inspiration to us all, Nanna! Way to go! We're proud of you!

random musing

I miss Will and Grace.

list of the week

Here’s a Lazy Weekend Recap for you.
This weekend I…

• had dinner with my parents



• watched The Children of Men again



• got a new phone



• took care of my roses



• went to the Y



• ate dinner with my FIL, his wife, SIL, and BIL



• caught up on reading and sleep



• made zucchini muffins and fried squash (YUM-O by the way)



• went to Lowe’s to buy more yard supplies



• dinner with my hubby and little girl

Who Else Wants A Prize?

My silly little June contest only invoked two comments. Either you guys just weren’t interested in the prize or you had nothing to say about the picture. So which was it?

I am choosing my LOVELY mom as the winner and the wonderful recipient (who has super surgery healing powers BTW) of these cards with her hilarious caption entry. I’ll deliver them this week thankyouverymuch.

Now. For the July contest.

People. There is really NO EXCUSE for not participating in this month’s contest. It’s SO EASY. I need some help getting my house clean. Like most moms and wives, I have very little time. All you have to do to win this contest is post a household cleaning tip in the comments to this entry and the person who suggests the most innovative (and simplest) (and least time-consuming) cleaning tip wins….

…drumroll please…

An all expenses paid trip to Myrtle Beach, SC any weekend in the month of August.


OK I’m just kidding.

The winner (as chosen by me of course) will receive a $5 gift card to a very cool store. And no, I'm not going to tell you the store ahead of time. You have to play to find out.

OK GO!