Annual Wrap Up - 2007 Edition

It's that time of year to write some of the happens in 07.

January
- Went skiing at Mont Tremblont in Canada. Discovered that I STILL have a terrifying fear of skiing. But I am queen of the bunny hill!
- Dinner party with friends. I made TWO kinds of lasagna.
- Saw M. Ward at Town Hall
- Travel: Boston, Montreal

February
- Went ice climbing for the first time. Very fun. J gets a little frostbite in his fingers. Doesn't get proper sensation back in the tips of his fingers for three more months.
- Went skiing again - in the Adirondacks. This time with a trained ski instructor. Have another near panic attack on the green runs. Decide that J is trying to kill me.
- Took J to get a couples massage for Valentines Day. Highly recommended!
- Diagnosed with a bad knee. Started going to PT.
- Travel: Adirondacks, Chicago

March
- Saw The Shins perform at MSG.
- Still going to PT
Travel: San Francisco

April
- Still going to PT
- No travel

May
- Wrapped up PT. Knee supposedly good as new.
- Travel: Virginia, Los Angeles

June
- Began running again after 6 months of 0 miles. PAINFUL.
- Vaction in Portugal with J!
- Travel: Portugal

July
- Question why I run. So painful.
- Decide to opt out of the NYC Triathlon. Not in proper condition. Would have likely drowned.
- Travel: Dallas

August
- Ran the NYC Half-Marathon. Actually finished without having to walk. Time: 2 Hr. 18 minutes.
- Travel: Dallas (Again), Chicago

September
- Went rock climbing with J and friends around Lake Placid. Very fun. Did my first multi-pitch climb. Nearly peed my pants several times.
- Ran an 18 mile long training run for the NYC Marathon. Knee hurts like a b*tch for several days after. Not a good sign.
- Travel: Dallas (AGAIN!!!), San Francisco

October
- Saw Arcade Fire on Randall's Island, Billy Bragg at SEC, and Margaret Cho at the Zipper Club.
- Celebrated one year anniversary with J!
- Turned 32!
- Went apple picking with Sloane.
- Made the decision to drop out of the NYC Marathon - knee giving me all sorts of trouble. :(
- Travel: Dallas (Last time this year)

November
- Travel: Atlanta, Houston (I can't get away from TX)

December
- My sister gets engaged!
- Third annual Christmas cookie party with the girls!
- Travel: Boston, Chicago

Ah...it was a very full year! A good year overall. These are just some highlights.

2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year. Many changes in the works, another shot at the NYC Marathon, a century planned for May, and Argentina with J in February!

I hope you all (or one) are having a great end of year! And Happy New Year!

How much do you want to bet...

That should McCain win the Republican nomination, Joe Lieberman will be his VP running mate. Joe Lieberman was never a democrat.

Cacophany of Christmas Cookies Part 3

The girls and I had our third annual Christmas cookie bake and exchange party this past weekend. A great time was had by all. In total we had 7 different kinds of cookies. We made:

Chocolate cookies stuffed with Rolos and Peanut Butter Cups (Heidi)
Shortbreads dipped in Chocolate (Heidi)
Banana Split Brownies (Liana)
Snickerdoodles (Liana)
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Marlene)
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cranberries & Walnuts (Adile)
Rugelach with Lemon Curd, Almonds, and Dried Blueberries (Me)

We each walked away with over 8 dozen cookies/person. Eep!

You can see some of the cookies in the picture above.

Already pimping out the baby

This story in the NY Times is truly horrifying! Women now want diamonds and pearls for pushing out the baby.

Talk about priorities in the wrong place.

Meat Deprieved

It is rare that I crave meat. Even before I went vegan and then backtracked (Damn you bacon!) I never ate much meat. Most cuts of meat scare me. You never know what sort of jiggly gristle or vein you might run into (shudder). I like my meat pristine and charred until it is completely dead, dead, dead. I'm also easily overcome by the unctious nature of meat. A few bites and I start to feel a heavy, thick, cloying coat of fat cover the inside of my mouth and stomach. Bleach. The average serving size of meat is 3 - 4 ozs - about the size of the palm of your hand. My tolerance probably hovers around 1 - 2 oz.

It's not that I actively avoid meat - I just don't seek it out. For this reason, I can go days - sometimes whole weeks - without eating a single piece of animal protein (not including fish). It's usually not until I start having weird craving for hamburgers, ham sandwiches, and lasagna (my lasagna has over 3 lbs of meat in it) that I realize my deficit of protein.

Anyway, for the past two weeks - since Thanksgiving - I've been craving hamburgers and bbq ribs nearly everyday. I've been on quite the meat binge as of late. I don't know what's going on. (And no, I am not preggers or anything else of that nature). What's going on here? Has this happened to you?