Stupid Spring!

Today its rainy and with a high of 60 ... actually feels like spring. So I pull out a pair of flats (no more boots!) and head on my merry way. That is, until all of the skin has been officially scraped from my heels. AAARRRHHH!

Easter Candy (Again)

The subject line of a message from Runner's World today was "Easter Candy = Crack". The message highlighted a discussion post in which a fellow runner discusses the evils of this time of the year. I recently had a similar post, in which I discussed my love of Easter candy in general. I mentioned that my over-indulgence on the Holiday Cadbury Eggs actually burned out my craving for the traditional Easter ones. In fact, I think that Cadbury did something to chemically alter my brain ... I did not have a SINGLE PIECE of Easter candy. Not even a jelly bean.

This doesnt mean I am "off candy" or anything like that. The past few days I have been on a chocolate-covered-raisin and Milk Dud kick. I also have had a milkshake or two. Basically, without clearly demonstrating my poor eating habits I want to clearly indicate that my tastes have not changes. The sweet tooth is just as strong as ever ... but for some reason I skipped my favorite candy holiday.

And what makes matters worse is that I also skipped the big after-holiday discount candy isle at Target yesterday. Consciously! I think I should go see a doctor...

Can Bakeries Talk?

Because this one seems to be speaking directly to me (note sign in window).

Moving, Round 2

I mentioned we moved into a new house ... but what I failed to mention is that we actually didnt move out of our old house. We left everything in it to keep it "staged" for prospective buyers.

Well, we sold our place. That means we actually had to move all that stuff out. Jeff and I spent the entire weekend moving/repairing/cleaning. On Saturday (with the help of movers) it took 5 1/2 hours to physically move the stuff out of the old place and into the new. Then on Sunday we were at our old place for 9 hours: repairing holes, getting some of the little stuff left out, and cleaning. Basically, my weekend was not pleasant.

Now I sit here, staring at boxes and boxes of stuff unknown, trying to find excuses why I should not be unpacking them. So far, so good! On my way to the mall to do some returns :)

How Cadbury Ruined Easter

Every year there are little things I look forward to ... most of them revolve around food (usually some sort of pastry!). I look forward to birthdays (mine & others) because I get to eat cake. I look forward to Valentine's Day because I always get dessert with dinner. I look forward to Christmas because of Bakers Square's Peppermint Pie, and Reeses Christmas Trees. I look forward to Easter the most, because it means one thing: Easter Candy!

There is so much great candy out for Easter. Just putting a pastel wrapper on a piece of candy seems to make it taste 100 times better. Thats why I can't pass up a bag of Hershey's minis in the pastel green, pink and blue wrappers. I also love those Hershey's Robin Eggs. The mini ones are best because you can put a ton of them into your mouth at once.

And lets not forget the Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs (which are the same as the Christmas Tree ones for Christmas, and the Heart ones for Valentines day...but Egg shaped) are a must-have for Easter. They make "mini" ones of these too, but they are not as good. The bigger ones have much more peanut-butter ;)

Sometimes I feel like I get a bit too excited about Easter candy, but can proudly say that I am not alone! Last year we spent almost 2 BILLION on easter candy (2nd only to Haloween spending).

But what is the true joy of Easter? Well, up until this year it was always the Cadbury Creme Egg. But things have changed. Cadbury had the genius idea to release a Christmas Creme Egg. As the creme egg is absolutely my favorite candy ever, I was ecstatic. So ecstatic, in fact, that I probably ate one-a-day for about 10 days straight. And now, less than 3 months later, they are back. And I don't want one :( I am creme-egged-out. Until now, Easter was my favorite holiday. I looked forward to the arrival of the creme egg all year. And ate them until I was sick each year ... but without worry because I would have 12 months to forget the stomach ache. Each year when they arrived I was transported back to my childhood - and the sugar high I created for myself made Easter the best holiday of all. Not anymore. If I am "over" the creme egg now, what point does Easter hold? Looks like I must find a new favorite holiday...

Do You Love Candy Too?
Keep up to date on Candy Addict, a site purely about candy that posts frequent reviews of new and/or wierd candy. They have a lot of stuff on Easter candy right now - including some new stuff!

I Wish Paul McCartney Was My Dad

Paul McCartney's 4-year-old daughter gets $70,000 a year in child support. But accoring to her mom, the infamous Heather Mills, its not enough. Why? Because it "isn't enough for school tuition, private security, or first-class airfare". Of course, that $70,000 isnt anywhere near the 50Mil Heather got in the settlement ... but that money is just for Heather, of course. Little Beatrice will have to pinch pennies to get by on the measely amount she was granted. Oh...the life.

It is interesting though, if you compare this amt to some of the other publicized child support settlements, Beatrice is practically a pauper :)

Matt Leinert (NFL) pays 180,000 a year

Britney Spears pays her ex $180,000 per year, from a 2007 report. (Odds are he gets more now, with full custody!)

P. Diddy (Music Mogul) pays over $228,000 a year for one of his kids, and he has several with different mothers.
So while McCartney's kid has it pretty good ... I think I changed my mind. I want to be P. Diddy's kid.

Happy St Patricks Day!

While many of us use this holiday (and the days before and after) to drink and eat, it's also a good time for a little history lesson :) Yeah, there is some guy who was named "Saint Patrick", but thats boring. Lets talk about something interesting ... the dying of the Chicago River! It's one of the things that makes St. Pats such a great event in Chicago, and a tradition that dates back to 1962. According to the History Channel, the idea stemmed from the green dye city pollution-control workers used trace illegal sewage discharges. When someone realized this method might be useful in more ways tha one, making a unique way to celebrate St Pats. In 1962 the city released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river (enough to keep it green for a week) and we have been doing it every year since! (Nowadays, in order to minimize environmental damage, only forty pounds of dye are used, making the river green for only several hours.) This tradition is a big enough deal to have an entire website dedicated to it!

Drivers Beware!

I know I was in drivers ed at one time ... And even after years of practice I admit I am not one of the better drivers on the road. BUT, i swear I was never as bad as the student in front of me this morning. She was swerving all over the road, crossing over the median and getting dangerously near the curb, breaking in the middle of the road, pausing for (what felt like) 10 seconds after a light turned green and narrowly avoided some barriers in a construction zone. By the time I got away from her she had backed up the whole street. I just pray it was her very first day behind the wheel, because if this girl is anywhere past that stage the whole city of Chicago needs to clear the streets the day she gets her license (if that ever happens).

There were two other students in the car, in addition to an instructor. As I watched her weave back and forth I wondered what was going on in the passengers minds. Did they fear for their lives? Were they saying their last prayers? I remember my drivers ed class, and a particular driver I had in my car. This girl (whose name I will not mention, in hopes she has improved her skills or made the wise choice to refrain from getting behind the wheel) was similar to the girl I saw today. She would swerve and randomly break ... all the while nervously giggling. I remember the fear in the instructors eyes and how he rode with his foot on the break and both hands on the wheel (instructors had their own wheel and set of brakes on the passenger side). At 15 years of age, when little can instill fear, I remember the panic in my own chest each time it was her turn to drive. She was a straight A student, and couldnt even grasp the classroom concepts. One day the instructor asked her in class, "What do you do when you are merging into traffic?" and she replied "Um...stop?". She got a "C" in behind the wheel and a "B" in the classroom, averaging to a "B", and I remember her crying because it was going to ruin her GPA. She also got a recommendation from the instructor to drive with her parents for at least 6 months before getting her license. I remember her saying that her parents wouldnt take her out driving ... and that fall I saw her drive up to school, by herself. Anyway, I digress. Moving out of High School and back onto today... there is another point I want to make. When I was learning to drive, and we were all horrible 16-year-old-drivers threatening the safety of everyone else on the road ... that was before cell phones. Now you add a 16-year-old who cant get the car to go straight together with the fact that he or she feels the need to text and drive and what do you get? The reason that we should all be taking public transportation :)

Dumb World Records

I assume this 101-year-old guy, if he completes the London marathon, will set some sort of world record and his name will be in the books until another guy that old can attempt such a feat. As it looks like he will take over 10 hours, I doubt his time will be hard to beat ... but how many people that have lived 100+ years are going to attempt such a feat? Maybe this is a reputable record, but there are some that seem a bit dumb to me. Not just the "world's longest finger nails" and "world's biggest tea bag label collection" but records for athletic feats as well.

One in particular irks me. I am sure you runners out there have seen them ... the jogglers. Those guys (I actually have never seen a woman do it) who run while juggling. Well, you can set a world record for joggling, if you can beat Michal Kapral's time of 2:50:09. I dont really get it, but reading about Michal today raised a question I cant get out of my mind. If you are running a marathon, and juggling, how do you drink water? Does he juggle the three all in one hand while he drinks? Does someone just squirt the water into his mouth at stops? How does this work????

101-year-old man to run London Marathon

Thank goodness I ran my marathon last year. Who wants to compete with Buster Martin who is currently training for the 2008 London Marathon. At least I am faster than this guy ... he ran a 1/2 in five hours and 13 minutes. Last year my goal was to beat Katie Homes, and I did! Now I think that this guy should inspire just about anyone to get into the world of the marathon. If a 101-year-old man can train for this type of race, you can too! I would love to hear an excuse that tops "I am 101-years-old" :) Its gonna be a hard one to beat!

Pink Poodle?

A woman in Boulder (CO) is currently fignting a $1,000 fine for dying her poodle pink. The city actually has a law against dying/coloring animals, with the primary intentions of preventing cruelty to chicks and rabbits around Easter. The woman, Joy Douglas, is fighting the ticket because she claims she dyes her poodle to raise awareness for breast cancer awareness...and only uses safe, organic products. I think I am a bit in the middle of this issue. If the dye is really harmless, then I am not sure I see the big deal. Its strange, but does it create any sort of cruel treatement (other than embarassment) to the poodle? Here is a picture of the poodle (Cici) and her owner (Joy).
I do wonder, why doesnt Joy Douglas dye her own hair pink instead of her dogs? Wouldnt that draw just as much (maybe even more) attention to the cause?

"á la Mode" ... Music To My Ears

In the past few years of my life I have become quite fond of the a la mode concept. Almost everything tastes better when you put a little ice-cream on top. Today Runners World had a recipe for Roasted Pineapple á la Mode. Simple and easy. Basically, bake some pineapple and then put some ice-cream on top. It must be good!

I dont know where my love of a la mode has really stemmed from. I am actually not a big ice-cream person. I dont get cones, eat pints, dream of it, etc ... like others I know. But I find when I am eating a pastry or ordering dessert, I desire a scoop (or two!) of vanilla ice-cream on top. I guess my indulgences are not quite indulgent enough, thus the addition of a heap or two of extra calories and fat. Its funny how we change over time, our tastes and attitudes occasionally suprising us. Things I use to crave are now almost repulsive and a new list of desirables floats around in my dreams and ques my hunger pains. I only hope my tastes dont evolve to become peculiar or abnormal. For now I think I am fine with the simple addition of ice-cream to top my snacks. I just hope that I can work a bit harder on making my mind be the one in charge ... not my stomach :)

Take The "Work" Out of Your Work-Out

For real, I have found the answer to my prayers! It's the Hawaii Chair! This miracle tool can get you fit while watching tv, sitting at work, or while you are with your family. Its has a patented "hula motor", so you know there is something special going on here.

You gotta love the line "if you can sit, you can get fit"...Next time I blog, I will be simultaneously doing the hula.

Horray! People In London Just as Dumb as We Are Here

Recently, reports have been issued about the fact that they are actually padding lamposts in London to protect pedestrians who are getting injuredwhile walking and texting. According to this source, 1 IN 10 people have hurt themselves while focusing on their mobile phone screens.

I personally have found myself getting distracted while texting (or more importantly, using my mobile to blog!), but can proudly say I have never been anywhere near getting injured. If you take into account the number of people I see texting while driving or crossing a heavily trafficed street, I am suprised we dont have reports of the death toll attributed to texting.

Many cities & states ban talking on the phone while driving, while only two have specifically banned text messaging with the most recent to the adopt a law like this being the entire state of New Jersey.

I have to admit, hearing about the stupid actions of others makes me feel a little bit better about myself. Its definitely a guilty pleasure...

Do You Know What Month It Is????

why, its Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig Month! Want to know the best way to celebrate "Adopt a Rescued Ginea Pig Month"? Why, by ordering a 2008 guinea pig calendar, thats how! (All proceeds actually go to helping rescued guinea pigs). Want to know an interesting fact? According to the Orange County Cavy Haven (OCCH) , guinea pigs need to eat almost constantly in order to keep their digestive tracks moving and to prevent anorexia. That solves it! I am part guinea pig.

And if this post had stimulated your love of the guinea pig ... you can actually adopt them. These two cuties are available for adoption at (OCCH) right now! They come as a "couple", so you can't have one without the other :)

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a happy Casimir Pulaski day! Many of you are not familiar with this holiday, which is actually a pretty big deal in Chicago. Well, big enoungh that the Chicago Public Schools have a day off (not the universities though!). Casimir Pulaski was born near Warsaw (Poland) in 1745, and has become recognized in the US due to the role he played in the American Revolution while under the command of George Washington. The guy has his own monument at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC. Most other cities dont celebrate a holiday in his honor, although George Bush proclaimed October 11 General Pulaski Memorial Day in 2001. The reason we like to celebrate it in Chicago is due to the strong link the city has with Poland. as Chicago has a large ethnically Polish population. Find out what Wikipedia has to say about this holiday.

Race Report
Well, I did the Wacky 5K yesterday ... and it was much more challenging that I expected. Pretty crazy that I ran a marathon just a few months ago and now I struggle with 3 miles. It was motivating in the sense that I know I need to get back into some sort of routine. Guess it shouldnt be too hard to succeed in the Shave Your 5K Challenge now, huh?

Celebratory Cupcakes

There is only one way to celebrate a new home ... Cupcakes! Of course, cupcakes are the best way to celebrate pretty much everything.