"One step closer"

That weekend flew by toooo fast. I think for the rest of the month I'll probably follow the policy of skipping the prompts(clarification - skipping the prompts on the weekends). I spend so much time in front of the computer during the week that I need to set some boundaries for the weekends.

We had a big race this weekend, Summit Rock. Supposed to do a 10k, but with my knee all messed up from our move here in August well... we opted for the 5k. And thank GOD we did. It was... brutal. The inclines were ridiculous. How anyone ran up those mountain sides I'll never know. I came in 6th for my age group. I know, not exactly bragging rights but it's cool to have a number! Running down the hills was amazing. I always joke with Ed that running down a hill makes me feel like a character in a video game getting a power-up. These power-ups were huge. I felt like a real runner. Wind whipping my hair around, me bounding down the mountain side. In one supremely cheesy moment (I couldn't resist!), I turned to Ed (who was using his momentum to practice some Parkour on some nearby trees) and told him, "It's like Twilight! We're just like Edward and Bella in the woods!" Ed was less amused than I was about that.

A freezing, foggy morning in the south bay. There should have been mountains dead ahead of us, but looks like the fog had something to say about that.

Still a good turnout of some very cold runners.

Pretty little pond and fountain area behind the start line

Look, can you see that guy in the blue shirt? He's so far below us, and maybe only one and a half bends in the path ahead of us.

After coming home for a quick shower, I started in on finishing my cookie boxes. I think this was the largest batch ever. All the cookies came together surprisingly well. I never know what they look like when they get to people so here's hoping they make it in one piece. And still taste decent. Sometimes I wonder if I'm that friend that not only posts gross food pictures and adds obnoxious hashtags like yum/num/nummy/nom/tasty/delicious etc. but also is that friend who cooks or sends you food and is like YOU'RE WELCOME and the food turns out to be terrible. :-/ That being said, I hope those of you that receive a box know I put lots of love into my cookies and am just using them as a way to say thanks for being a great friend and I'm grateful you're in my life. Whether you eat the cookies or toss them or hashtag an Instagram pic of them, it matters little, as long as you get the thought behind them. :)

Baking all those cookies really got me in the spirit so we drove out and picked a tree from a lot this year. I really missed the experience of cutting down our own tree but... I do not miss the 4 months of poison oak covering my legs, back, stomach and arms, that followed that lovely excursion. I told Ed we'll definitely need to cut down our own trees in the coming years, but only when we're back on the east coast with the MUCH more manageable poison ivy. The tree is perfect. I'm still in love with the straw and red ornaments I bought last year. Reminds me of all my Christmases at Omi's and Mom's. To me, there is nothing lovelier than a simple tree with soft white lights, red ornaments and little European straw doodads. I can't wait to put a couple presents under the tree!

Sunday we decided to use up our Groupons and went bowling! I love bowling when I'm surrounded by people who suck. And technically we were surrounded by people who sucked.... they were just between the ages of 4-7 and had bumper edges up so they still knocked down pins. The rate at which I either toss the ball straight into the gutter or directly past any pins at all is pretty high, so it can be demoralizing hearing everyone else knocking things down.... even when they are doing so in a tutu. Just one beer later I felt a little better and was able to enjoy the games more. I even beat Ed! I'll take 1 out of 3. Heck, I even broke 100 on one of the games. Clearly, I'm a pro.

Ed was a big sweetie and surprised me after bowling, with a trip to the movies. And what did I finally get to see? Twilight! I told him he must have been feeling drawn to it more now after our vampire-speeds dash through the forest the day before. He firmly disagreed. :) I was pleasantly surprised with the movie, and I only laughed out loud (at it and not with it) twice. I think that's a new record. Although, can I just say, in that montage of the actors in the end credits? Why on earth did you put Taylor Lautner in there fully clothed? Huge waste of one last shirtless moment.

All in all, a great weekend. Now, back to trying to power thru the rest of my books for the year. Depressingly, I'm about 10 books from my 60 books in a year goal. I know 50 books is awesome, but... I want that 60! Augh. I have 4 books I'm working on right now I'm sure I'll finish in the next couple of days so... maybe I can pull it off???