why is today not a holiday?

i've been asking myself that all day long. well, that and other things. 

i went for a walk at lunch and ended up strolling through the modern and contemporary art gallery at the american art museum. the colors are always different on the phone, on screen and in person (so much more vibrant in person - i think the description said he wanted to concentrate on color so intense that it "almost hurt").

meanwhile, it was a busy weekend replenishing freezer lunches. i made some turkey chili, red lentil soup and a beef stew. thirteen portions went into the freezer, while the other four will be eaten this week! the flowers are thrown in to add some more vibrant colors.

i made it! (in case you were wondering)

mise en place un

 mise en place deux

 cooked

 plated

 and tabled

garlic lemon butter sauced asparagus, shrimp and cheddar grits. i added a few fake bacon bits at the end - perhaps real bacon would have been better, but they worked in a pinch.
tomorrow i should do something with the cauliflower, even if it's just cutting it up with some bleu cheese dip. or i could rescue the mushrooms - roasted? small soup? hmm. 
here's another question - what to do with excess/old linen closet stuff? the duvet covers were easy in that i picked a reasonable number of ones that i liked and then donated the rest with their matching pillowcase covers. but what about older, mismatched towels? or more than gently used, but not completely done for blankets? maybe some could be put to use by an animal shelter or vet clinic, but to be honest, i don't want to have to make multiple donations here and there - in a very real sense, i need to conserve my energy so that i can keep working at the project. 
anyhoo....there's a soccer game on and a cat that desperately needs some attention this evening!

winter is later and/or longer than i think. every year.

the last of the blizzard snow disappeared this week. i wore shorts to sunday's run. several people complimented me on my good decision. anyhow, i finally realized and/or noticed that, while i usually think of nov-jan as winter that comes with its accompanying winter time blues, it's really the feb-mar period that i find more challenging. i start to think winter's over, but in reality, the temperatures are wildly erratic. the precipitation has picked up in comparison to nov-jan (or at least it seems that way to me). and then, just as i think my mornings are getting longer because the sun is rising earlier, we hit daylight savings time and i'm thrown off by an hour again. sigh. 
not to despair, everything's fine. i'm just noticing more. or something. 
and i still have some asparagus left, so i'm going to attempt shrimp and asparagus and grits tomorrow evening.

nothing new here

let's see ... snow, running, and food. yep, that about covers it! i was going to go to the library of congress today, but alas, it is closed. this morning the neighborhood roads were mostly clear, so i walked to the lake and then ran at the lake. i walked the roads because my biggest fear in inclement weather is ice. the path around the lake had ~ 2-3 inches of fresh powder. i started out tentative, but found myself feeling ok to run on that surface. i wonder if i burned extra calories because it was a bit like running in sand?

this week i tried a new-to-me sauce for pasta. let's see if i can remember what i put in it. i sauteed a garlic clove in about 1.5 T butter for a bit, then added the zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon.  pulled from the heat, i stirred in a cup of plain yogurt, then added my pasta, peas and fake crab. anyhow, mostly just mentioning all the details because i would definitely use it again. for valentine's day, i treated myself to a little steak with roasted asparagus and mushrooms (and mashed potatoes, of course).

maybe something new will happen this week? or maybe, same-old same-old is a good thing for the moment? stay tuned?

still eating

apparently everything lately has been about the snow, ice and/or cold or about the running and/or lack thereof. since it's been icy/cold/snowy, i haven't been running as much in the mornings. now i could use that extra time (because i can't always seem to just sleep in) to clean or organize or read or ... rescue produce on the edge of yuck.

last week i used the last of the sprouting potatoes to make soup.

this week the tail end of a bag of baby greens met mushrooms and sweet onion with the last of some fancy olives,

which then became a quiche of sorts in the evening.  two thumbs up for letting the sauteed veg drain in the fridge during work. i didn't have any milk, so i used plain yogurt. it was the normal, runny kind as the grocery doesn't seem to be able to stock their store brand greek yogurt regularly anymore. that's disappointing, but i suspect the runny kind worked better here.

whoa... where did january go?

goodness. i went out of town MLK weekend. it snowed the next weekend. and then i was under the weather for a week. now we're past Groundhog's Day (and i really hope the little rodent was right this time). anyhow, here's a look at 2015 on foot:

if you recall, and if you don't, i was aiming for another 500 mile year. so, winning! then i was trying to remember what races i ran - there were 2 10Ks, a 5-miler and maybe 3 or 4 5Ks? really, one day, i'll make a little spreadsheet for myself. more likely, i'll make a little table in word for myself because my brain does not do spreadsheets. 
this year's goals? 

1. i am going to do the half marathon training with the local running group. and i may even sign up for the race that we're training towards. it's on the eastern shore at the end of may, if anyone wants to visit.
2. i've been feeling pretty healthy, leg-wise, although i'm just not sure how many more miles my knees have in them. so i'll aim for another 500 mile year and see how it goes.
3. speaking of knees, i think i want to try some trail running. the uneven surfaces - tree roots! gullies! rocks! - always make me nervous, but why not try something new?

ok... that's all i've got for now. at least february has a whole extra day this year, so maybe i can catch up on everything?!

apparently the vet was right

or, perhaps more accurately, the animals were right to grow out their extra thick coats this winter. i don't think the bird has more feathers though. i'm guessing 20-24 inches of the white stuff fell and then got blown around these parts. in the 20 years i've lived here, i've now experienced 5 of the 10 largest snowstorms in recorded history. 

Friday, around 2pm

Sunday, around 8am

now i'm pretty sure i could get to work tomorrow, if the metro were running. but alas, my stop is not open. so i will have to spend another day at home. it'll be tough. at least i brought some work home with me, in case i get bored.