The Little Things

So (crossing fingers) at the moment we've got a very rare 19 consecutive days at home on the calendar, and we enjoyed seven of them last week.

Gorgeous Flowers from a Colleague

Since we were home, I was able to walk through the door every day and enjoy the beautiful bouquet that was sent to me by a very thoughtful colleague to celebrate the 5th anniversary of my law firm.

E and I started 6 weeks of *very* particular healthy eating (lots of Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids with a goal of 25-35% of calories from fat, essentially no alcohol, very limited animal fats and dairy, seafood every other day or so, heavy on the low glycemic index veggies and legumes, with a goal of no more than 35% of calories from carbs, and a general preference for foods that are low on the inflammatory response spectrum).  As of tonight, we'll be one week down with 5 to go.

The hardest thing to give up?  Cheese.  Hands down.  We're still eating small amounts of it, but nothing compared to the approximately 4-8 oz. per day we used to eat.

The best part?  Researching and trying new recipes.  Last night I made a crowd-pleasing dinner of scallops with sauteed leek strips topped with pesto over quinoa for guests.  They didn't even know that they were being fed a super-healthy meal.  Huzzah!

In garden news, the beds are weeded, amended, and the tomatoes are in, as is the watering system (we had to order new parts, patch leaks, add emitters where needed, etc.).  I still need to program the watering system timer and put in eggplants, squash, cucumbers, and any other non-tomato plants, but I should be able to finish that this week.  Then it's my favorite part of the year.  Just waiting, adding supports, and pruning until first fruit.

At the beginning of the season despite all the work, the garden never really looks like much.

When tomatoes drop rotten fruit, the seeds ferment, stay in the soil, and after the rain in the spring, they sprout.  This year, in one particular bed, I had at least 10 volunteers back in March.  I culled and selected the 3 healthiest and now I have 3 tomatoes that are well over a month ahead of the rest of the transplants.  Should be fun to see what varieties they actually are.

Volunteers!

Last weekend, I had a friend in town, so in addition to going to the movies and a party, we wore our Cal hats on a walk around the Stanfurd Dish.  It was a great way to get in some hilly miles and catch up.  We even got a Stanfurd professor to document our Cal gear.

We'd hoped for an awesome Pacquiao v. Mayweather fight, but despite the very loud cheering and enthusiasm of the crowd, afterward, we all agreed that it was sadly, a very over-hyped and past-due non-event.  Oh well.  We still got to hang out at a friend's party.

In running/workout news, a couple of weeks ago, thanks to the suggestion of a friend who's an athletic trainer, I started an 8 week Tabata program.  So, 5-6 days a week, E and I get up and, post coffee, we do the 4 minutes of intervals (8 X 20 seconds on 10 seconds off) together before we start our days.  It's been a nice addition to the workout regime to shake things up a bit.  Last week I took an easy recovery week. So, in addition to Tabata, I fit in 17.69 miles, all but one set of 10X1 minute speedwork very easy, including 10ish miles of walking and hiking.

Next Running goal?  Pace a friend at the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half in 6 weeks.  After that, ideally, I'd like to actually race a half marathon or 10K sometime in June or July.  I'm definitely open to suggestions if any local folks are already registered for races and would like some company.