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I had made plans in my head to run to my parents house this morning and surprise mom on her 59th birthday. But for some reason I couldn’t get up and go in time for it to work, PLUS I have a present here for her that I needed to bring. I mean, I could have had them drive me home and give it to her then, but with the Pride Parade and street festival closing roads and making things a traffic nightmare around my house, I used it as an excuse to sleep for another hour.

But fret not, my pets – I got up, laced up my shoes and got out the door.

To punish myself, I ran up a nasty hill, through a beautiful cemetery and onto the belt line. The trail is another one of my favourite running spots that makes you feel like you’re hidden from the city, despite having to cross streets every so often.

But it was here that I stumbled upon something more lovely than the surrounding nature.

Stuck to a post set up to prevent cars from entering the trail was a bright orange post-it note that told me to smile because I was beautiful. And it made me chuckle. The walkers, runners and cyclists on the trails were mostly oblivious to this little self-esteem booster that stopped me dead in my tracks.

And me without a camera to document it. Sigh.

So thanks to whomever posted that little note, making an overcast and rainy day a little bit brighter and warmer.

I know that Amy, Jaime, Angie and Crystal have all taken up the challenge to brighten someone’s day, but consider doing it yourself.

You never know who you’ll inspire.

You live alone.

You do not need to make an ENTIRE lasagna when you’re craving it.

You do not have a microwave to reheat portions.

You need to remember to invite people over when you make large amounts of food.

You also need more canned tomatoes now.

Don’t forget to put them on your shopping list.

I’m not talking about an aversion to wearing the little item of clothes that show off my tree trunk legs, no ma’am. Anyone that knows me is aware of the fact that once it gets hot out, they enter heavy rotation in my daily wardrobe.

But then there’s this ONE race that I LOVE with all of my heart where I run in one…on a team called GO SKIRT! that came about after finding Running Skirts (with a little help from Shirls) and noticing a funny quote under a picture on their site.

Well, unfortunately I won’t be donning my running skirt on June 27th this year, the day of the Pride & Remembrance Run, the run that got me started on running to begin with.

Why? Because I’ll be wearing a pretty dress at my wonderful friend’s wedding.

She’s having brunch. There is no way in HELL I’d say no :P

But this is where YOU come in.

If you’re in TO, I want to live vicariously THROUGH YOU.

I want you to run or walk the 5km race that is THE most fun, THE most colourful, THE best catered and THE most worthy of your time and $$.

I want you to wear a skirt, hit the streets and support Casey House & Black Cap.

And if you can’t run, walk or are NOWHERE near TO, sponsor Jainey or one of the GO SKIRT! team members. OR Cinemarie, who I suckered convinced into running my favourite race.

 

So…Just do it! :P

 

 

oh…and jainey never believes that you all want him to write, so give him some love in the comments :)

I REALLY need to do something about my microphone and flapping fan.

But tasted SOOOO RIGHT!

Take mom’s Irish Soda Bread (the plain variety, not the whole wheat that I’ve made before), dip them in a mixture of eggs, milk and vanilla.

Place in pan and cook until golden.

Irish French Toast!

So essentially, my heritage in a pan…minus the Native (maybe I should try bannock French Toast next :P)

Soda Bread is really dense and a bit sweet, so it makes for a really FILLING breakfast.

SO thankful that my mother only sent me home with half of a loaf or I’d be eating this for weeks.

In no way is this healthy or weight friendly. It’s just REALLY, REALLY good.

And mom said it was ok, even though I thought it was a bit blasphemous.

What kind of bread do you make French Toast with?

How the hell are the two related might you be asking?

Well, they are.

With every passing interview and every subsequent rejection, my confidence is waning and my weight is at a stand still.

I look over the work that I have produced over the years and wonder if I’m even good enough for the positions I’ve applied for, over analyze the answers I’ve given to interview questions gone by and worry about how I’m going to pay the bills for months to come with no income.

But then I get to do something fun one day out of the week, like bake cookies for a friend who bought me a city mug from her recent travels to England, Wales and France.

She specifically wanted ginger molasses cookies, just like the ones that you can get at Starbucks. So I found a recipe online and set out to do just that.

But not knowing what they really taste like, I’m at a loss as to whether or not mine are even good.

Do they measure up? Will they be any good? Why do some have those gorgeous crackles and others don’t? Why is the ginger taste so strong? Will she like them?

 

UGH!!!!

 

I LOVE baking. This shouldn’t be THIS hard.

 

Please come back, self-confidence. I miss you.

 

Yup – You read that right.

See, I’ve been in dire need of new running shoes for weeks now. I’ve been running (or avoiding it, rather) on shoes that were well beyond their best before date. The problem was I couldn’t justify paying $100+ for new shoes right now. So I was using the old shoes as an excuse not to run, because sometimes my left knee gets a little sore and I know my shoes probably have something to do with it.

But I really couldn’t let it go any longer. I NEED to keep running and work toward getting back to my goal weight by my goal-aversary (which I’m starting to think won’t happen, but oh well).

Well, I figured out a way when I was cleaning out my wallet recently.

See, I have just about every point card that you could imagine, and I’ve only ever redeemed points for products once (which was SUCH A GREAT IDEA as it gave me the digital devil. Yeah, crappy choice in the end).

So I went online to find out what the cards could get me.

Well, with some of my Air Miles, I was able to get $100 worth of gift certificates to SportChek.

SCORE!

Knowing what kind of shoe I need to be in and knowing they sold a pair that would be ok for my feet, I hauled my butt in there as soon as the gift cards arrived at my door (only took a week).

I was lucky that they had a pair of Asics 1140s there in a colour I actually liked and listed at $99.99.

They rung up at the wrong price ($129.99), but after alerting the staff to the item on the wall, I got the right price and only had to pay the $12.99 difference for my new kicks.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I am one happy mouse.

 

Although reward/loyalty cards can take awhile before they become worth it, the pay-out is pretty sweet.

 

I’ll be sure to christen my little rewards tomorrow morning.

No more excuses.

 

A group of running associations and races in the US have joined together for the first annual National Running Day.

There are events being held from coast to coast to south of our border.

So why don’t Canadians have any events or days like this? I guess it’s just a matter of planning, as it’s in its first year and will grow as time goes on.

But are you running today?

Does a day like this affect your plans to exercise?

For the hosers, does it even matter that it’s an American initiative with no Canadian events?

Should Canadian organizations get involved?

Lace ‘em up and let me know.

It’s over.

I think I did well, all things considered…

But boredom ultimately won in the end.

I didn’t need or want them.

They were just there.

Oh well.

Thank God there won’t be anymore until next year.

Although tents collapsed, blew away in the wind, and it rained like a mother bear, there is nothing like escaping to the wilderness where you’re reminded of just how small you truly are.

Even if you have to drag a dozen or so crazy kids with you.