F and I went jogging on New Year's Eve! We got everything done for the little get-together we had, all the food prepped and cleaning done, and the weather was so nice we had time for a jog. I was so happy we got a chance for one more jog in 2010! 40 jogs in 52 weeks is a pretty good score. :)

It was supposed to rain all day today. This morning it was damp but not raining! And also about 60 degrees outside. F and I went for a good 30 minute run. It felt great. I'm even happier because we've been eating like holiday hogs all weekend--a tree trimming party Friday night, and my parents' holiday party yesterday, so absolute tons of food. Hooray for jogging. Off to eat some leftover tomato pie now and maybe go buy a Christmas tree if the weather holds out.

I'd been planning to go jogging this morning, but last night it was so nice out walking home, and then I checked the weather and saw that today's low was supposed to be 31, so I thought jogging last night might be a better idea. It was a good jog--I went my usual route and cut through the park, but then I cut over to the right and went up the hill over there to take the long way. Then I stopped at the Co-op for apples (no pockets in my runnin' pants, so I hid a $10 in my sneaker). Somehow I managed to drop my change all over the floor twice while checking out, making me look like a crazy person (but the first time she handed it to me funny, and then the bottom of the grocery bag broke and everything fell out). I walked the rest of the way home from the Co-op and even took off my fleece and walked in my tank top to cool off.

The apples I bought are currently in the crock pot turning into applesauce. Yum. Tonight I'll also do some baking--definitely gingerbread, and maybe pumpkin stuff too. I'm excited about the gingerbread because this year, instead of using my man-shaped pan, I'll be using the amazingly awesome dinosaur-shaped pan I got at a yard sale last summer. A gingerbread dinosaur! What could be more fun?! I ask you. Then, I really want to do pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and since that only calls for half a can of pumpkin, I usually make pumpkin bread at the same time to use up the rest of the can. But all this would mean a lot of baking and mixing tonight, resulting in an awful lot of yumminess for just four people tomorrow, but it's never gone to waste and pumpkin bread for breakfast for the next few days is in no way a bad thing.

Tomorrow F and I are going to get up at a decent hour and go to the 9:30 yoga class at Enso. It'll be F's first trip and Adam is teaching the class--I think F will like him. Then it's home to shower before heading up to my parents' for the day. I'll be bringing the applesauce, the baked goods, and the fixings for corn pudding (a single batch, since Mom can't eat it). I also need to bring measuring tape (for nefarious purposes) and laundry. We'll possibly change our sheets, just because laundry is free and plentiful at my parents' house.

We're considering whether to stay overnight at my parents' to get up early for the traditional Black Friday mall trip. We don't even need anything from the mall really--the trip is traditional because JC Penney's gives out free little snowglobes every year, and we always go to get them. Then we walk around the mall a bit, maybe stop at Starbucks for peppermint mochas, and when it gets too crowded, we go to Burger King for breakfast. This is the tradition. It's a great me-and-my-parents thing but it's a little different now with F in the picture.

At first we were thinking we weren't going to do the Black Friday morning thing. Then it occurred to me that we've been sleeping pretty badly lately due to our heat kicking on and clanging--it wakes us up at least twice a night, but always at 5AM, which is the crappiest time to wake up when your alarm goes off at 6:10. Last year the clanging seemed to subside a bit after the first month or so, or else we just got used to it, but we're not used to it yet this year and we're both grumpy about it. So I said, if we sleep over at my parents' house nothing will clang. F said, yeah but then we have to sleep on an air mattress that will squeak every time we roll over, to which I answered that we can take our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress with us instead of using my parents' air mattress, which does squeak and which leaks air just a little bit and therefore dips in the middle. We haven't tried our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress yet. And it's not like we'd have to take a lot of extra overnight stuff with us; we're already taking all our laundry, we can just wear clothes out of that, and my parents have shampoo and toothpaste and stuff. So I think we're actively considering the possibility.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating it!

I had to go jogging extra early this morning because I had to catch the 7:54 train to work for an early phone meeting. (And it was a good thing I did, because I ended up having to call the guy 15 minutes earlier than scheduled!) So I was outside at 6:20 AM, which is what I was doing all summer, but it's very different being outside at the end of October than it is in July. It was DARK. The bedroom windows were lit in some houses, but mostly it was quiet. Car headlights were really blinding. I was hoping I might see the deer in the park, since it was so early, but even though the park has lampposts, it was so dark that the deer could've been dancing around right under that tree there and I wouldn't have seen them. Also, lampposts in the park do not make it safe to run in the park in the dark. I was trotting along, thinking how neat it was to be in the park in the dark, and I missed a step and twisted my ankle. Ow. It was the kind of ankle twist that works itself out after a few steps, not a serious twisted ankle, but still. I stopped jogging and walked for the duration of the park. (And I was on a nice path with lighting--I do not know how the heroes of fantasy novels survive when they're escaping bad guys by running away through the woods at night.) Anyway, a decent enough jog I guess. It was also pleasantly warm this morning, but I wore a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, neither of which were necessary. Better to be warm than cold, though.

It was kind of rainy this morning so I skipped my usual jog and just went to work early. Then at work today I found out I have an early meeting tomorrow, so I'll need to get to work early tomorrow too. I didn't want to skip my jog this week, and since I know I have too much going on this weekend for jogging, I decided to go out after work. Best jog I've had in weeks.

I listened to my VNV Nation playlist instead of my usual playlist, and that made a big difference. I got all nostalgic for going out dancing and spent most of the jog enjoying the music and mentally planning out when I could possibly go dancing again (seeing as I have no one in Philly to go to a goth club with, this would involve getting Heather or Lisa down to Philly on a Wednesday, or traveling to NYC or Boston myself, so the prospect entertained me for most of the jog). I haven't been out to a goth club since 2006. I'd so have to go shopping.

Also, I realized that, when I'm jogging to a song with a strong beat in 4:4 time, my left foot naturally wants to come down on the 1, and when I'm aware of getting off beat my body frantically tries to get back to it. Ah, the lessons of marching band. It never really leaves us.

Time for a shower.

F came with me on this morning's jog. The deer did not want to meet him. The squirrels, which are usually ubiquitous, so much so that they don't even garner a mention on my Wildlife Report, were almost all in the trees today, freaking out about autumn. The sidewalks were covered with acorns and shells.

Now that we're off summer hours, I have a little more time in the morning (at least until it gets colder and I have to start blow-drying my hair), so I was able to jog for almost half an hour. Sadly, no wildlife, though.

F and I slept in till almost 9:00 yesterday morning before we went for a jog. I made him follow my normal route so we wouldn't go too far like we sometimes do when he picks the route.

In other news, we each spent 2.5 hours yesterday and almost 2 hours today working on writing. I have a crapload of new poems. I have never had this many new poems before. My project while F is out of town next week is to assemble a book manuscript. Can we say, dang?

Dang.

I went for a jog this morning and it was awesome. Temp right around 70, so it was nice and cool. I had a really good run!

Today I narrowly managed to not get rained on. It started thundering right before I left the house, but I was already dressed so I figured I'd go anyway. I cut the jog a little short but I was still out for a good 20 minutes. Apparently I now run faster than a thunderstorm!

My new haircut was a bit of a challenge to deal with, but two pigtails and a headband managed to get it under control adequately. And it's still better than having a long sticky ponytail hanging down my back and getting everywhere.

In other news, I went to the Social Security office this morning. Name = changed, and I was in and out in less than half an hour. It pays to get there before they officially open and also to have paperwork done in advance! Next project: DMV.