Cool

I can't believe the forecasted temperature for tomorrow is below 70 degrees. In August.

It's awesome!

I prefer these temps. I know, I know...people prefer warmth. But I still think these temps are ideal. Not too hot; not too cold. Perfect. These are the temps I want to see around my birthday. But that's still a month off. So it is a bit odd to feel them now.

I've even noticed that a few trees are starting to turn colors already. And I'm not ready for that yet. I actually want to take another trip to Minneapolis and photograph the view from a friend's loft with the fall colors in mind. His view is AMAZING and I think the fall view would be something I NEED to capture. But I'm not sure the trees will hold out until I get there again.

Anyway...I'm looking forward to these crisper temps. I love the feel of fall. It just feels 'right'. Sorry to you who love summer....

Stress be gone

A lot of things are going on in Webgal land lately. Lots of things I can't really write about though I really want to (maybe someday later). I'm stressed. It's that simple. And I'm placing the blame solely on me.

Tonight as I came home from church, I picked up my mail (something I don't do very often). In the mail was a pamphlet and note from the personal trainer I used a few months back. Now, I've sucked at working out lately. And it shows. BOY does it show. The pamphlet she sent was for a six week intensive program that's starting at my gym. This program is kind of like small group personal training. The minute I read it, I knew I had to do it. Yes, I have to pay a lot more for it, but considering the cost of personal training, this is cheaper, and I like my personal trainer. And most of all, I really need to get back to the gym for fitness and for sanity. I think a lot of my stress lately is because I'm not taking the time to do exercise and relieve that part of my psyche.

I loved working out every day. Really! But I fell out of my morning routine. And I need either routine or accountability (or both) to succeed.

In addition to that, I recently decided to start pilates at my gym. This involves a three session "intake" program, that helps you learn more about pilates and how you should best do it. Luckily, my friend is the director of that area at the gym and she'll be doing my sessions. So it'll be great to work with her and catch up. She's very enthusiastic about pilates and I love that. I need enthusiasm. I need something. And hopefully all of these things will help me get back on track and stop this quick slide into bad habits, and alleviate some of my stress.

A couple great bloggers and a giveaway

I've been following this blogger, Iowa Girl Eats, for a while. And she's AWESOME (even IF she's an Iowa alum....go Cyclones). If you like food, travel or exercise, I HAVE to recommend her blog. And here's what's even better...she's got a contest. She's giving away some Pure Bars. So check her out!! (contest ends tonight, so check her out NOW!)

And what's even cooler? Her bro has a great blog too! (Actually, it's how I found her.) Check out his blog too (I even helped him fix it recently).

A Laugh (for me at least)

I don't have anything exciting to say, but I did just see this and it made me laugh.

It's a birthday kinda day

Today is my favorite little baby giraffe's first birthday. And lucky for me, I get to go feed him today.

Today is also my cat Cady's birthday (according to her ARL papers). She's two. Not that she acts any less like a kitten. She still claws and plays and claws. I thought cats slept like 20 hours a day. Not this one. Luckily, I found out today that one of my favorite little cat cartoons (Simon's Cat) released a new video. And it just perfectly depicts Cady. Enjoy!

Yummy, yummy produce

Today's take was kale, onions, potatoes (!!), cucumbers galore, and zucchini. Very happy with this week's CSA take. I got quite a bunch of everything.

I'm really looking forward to the potatoes and zucchini most of all. I plan to incorporate the onions and kale into some turkey burgers this weekend. I got some awesome recipes to work from this week and I'm really looking forward to it.

I tried some of the cucumber tonight. I've never really liked them, but I could tolerate it for the sake of eating veggies. I need to remember I eat for fuel and not for fun. And cukes are probably the best way to remind myself of that.

Ugh

I feel fat today. Oh yeah...I AM fat. Time to get up off this lazy butt again.