Ecstasy

I only get it once in a while. 

And after the first little bit, I think I might just hover over my supply and not look up until it's all gone. 

And I'm not much good at sharing it either. Good God almighty is that stuff good.

Apple cider donuts, with an apple cider chaser.

We just made a trip through Edwards Apple Orchard on the way home from church, mostly to get some of the honeycrip apples, but secondarily for the delicious, hot-out-of-the-oil sugared donuts. And of the dozen we purchased about 45 minutes ago, I would say there's abotu 4 left. 

1.5 for Addie

1.5 for Clare

1 +/- for Ann

4 for me.

Yes I ruined my lunch. I don't care.

;-)

Burnin' down the house

I had intended to blog about the joys (mostly) of gathering and burning leaves on a beautiful fall day yesterday. But as we arrived home a few minutes ago with the wind up much stronger than yesterday, I saw that all of my efforts in the front yard have been completely erased. There's a whole new layer of brown oak leaves covering my yard - ugh.

Which means yes, I did waste some time yesterday. But the upside is I have every excuse to be out there again today.. blowing, raking, dragging them out back, burning them by the ton. And....inhaling the smoke that both infiltrates everything and yet defines fall with a certain smell.

I even had a dream last night that I looked out back and saw one of my woodpiles on fire. In the dream I didn't seem terribly concerned, and I remember only briefly giving a thought to how I would put it out. 

Fall Classic

As part of yesterday's fun at the YMCA which included the aforementioned Spooktacular, I also ran the 5k as part of the Fall Classic race. (The Spooktacular wasn't all that bad this time around, actually. Since it was a good time for me to be with just the girls, I enjoyed watching them have all sorts of fun no matter how ridiculous the game was, or how worthless the trinket was. They still loved it.)

I wasn't sure how my legs or lungs would fare since I've been on major workout hiatus since the triathlon, but it ended up working out well. It was a really brisk start to the morning, but nice and sunny. And unlike tri races or just plain cycling, we can actually race with the iPod plugged into our ears. That by itself was a huge boost. But I also made a conscious effort to start near the front of the pack, forcing myself into a pace that normally would be a little quick for me. But wanting to stay mostly with that pace and having some tunes to help me out, I was able to keep it up pretty well. I couldn't believe it when I crossed the 1 mile mark and my watch only read 7:58. I knew better than to expect that to last for 3 full miles, but I wasn't too far off. 

I finished the 5k in 24:40, only 40 seconds off my "career best" from several years ago.

My lungs took a minor beating from the effort, feeling like they were really burning for about 20 mins afterward. But I ended up with a trophy for 3rd place in my 30-39 age group!

How 'bout them apples.