A Girl Needs to Plan Ahead

531.08 miles.


That's how far I have walked/run/hiked since May 10. If I do say so myself, that's a long way.


It has been a good thing, this Healthy Employee program at my work. I can always get someone to go out walking/running/hiking with me. And even Lane has stopped complaining. Don't get me wrong - he's still not embracing it - but he has stopped whining about it. Did I say whining? What I meant was joining in reluctantly.


My visiting teachers have allowed me to join them for a 5:00 am walk to the water tank 3 times a week. That's a big hill! And 5:00 is really early. But I'll keep going as long as they will let me . . . it's a good walk.


So school is about to start. I am so ready. Despite all my best intentions to buy everthing so I don't have to go back to Walmart, I'm pretty sure I'll end up going back to Walmart. I hate Walmart. Or, I should say, I hate the Lindon Walmart. It is worth my time and gas to drive to the one in Cedar Hills where they generally have more than 2 cashiers working. More than once I have given up in frustration, handing all my stuff to that cashier who does nothing but oversee the self-checkout and storm out of the store telling that cashier person that I was going to Target. I think I can probably drive to the Target in American Fork and still get done faster than at the Lindon Walmart. Ok, Walmart vent over. I feel better.


Vacation is in 16 days. 5 of those days are weekends, and they go by fast. 3 of those days are Fridays, and they also go by fast. 1 day is the last day of summer vacation - fast. 1 day is the first day of school, 2 days really because of the A day B day thing - fast. So really it's like 5 days away. (Seinfeld)


I still need to get Lane a new Hawaiian shirt, which he will gripe about but still wear because he knows it isn't worth the fight. Jack thinks he wants a Hawaiian shirt too. Yes, I have started packing and making lists . . . and thinking about where to go next year!

I find myself these days compelled to sing "Sunrise, Sunset"

We took a hike to the G. Not everyone was happy about it.

Not naming any names, of course, but there may have been some members of the family who complained. Perhaps some members of the family complained the entire way.

But just look at the view (north) . . .

and this view (south) . . . We could even see the windmills in Spanish Fork.

Jennefer D. may be glad to know that this year's hike was much, MUCH better than that one on July 24th a few years ago, when I laid down in the dirt at the base of the G feeling like I just might die. Yes, this hike was pure joy. I think I may be slightly stronger and have a slightly larger lung capacity than I had then.

Lane left his sunglasses up there. He didn't remember until we were more than halfway down, and somehow didn't feel like going back up to fetch them. So I guess I owe him new sunglasses. He was a good sport to go; he's never been there before. I told him he is truly a Viking now. He only grunted at me.

We are now the somewhat-proud-mostly-bewildered parents of a dating daughter. That's weird. Really weird. She hasn't got her drivers license yet, but she is driving pretty well and is now just working on hours. She has even got a job to start next week. Am I freaking out? Why, yes. Thanks for asking.

There was NO sign saying "Only 1 per person"

In an effort to control any potential flooding this spring, Pleasant Grove City ran a huge pipe from the retention basin at the top of Grove Creek Drive, down the middle of the road, and emptying into the Murdock Canal. Although it was an inconvenience to me to have to drive all the way down to 500 East and over to 1100 North to backtrack to my parents house, which is located about 1 block north of where this pipe was, it did made a nice little attraction for us. We would walk down to check out the water several times each week, which is a little over a mile walk in each direction. It was pretty cool to see the water shooting out of this pipe. Seriously - Shooting - it was moving with a lot of force.



The pipe is still going down the middle of the road, but it is no longer moving water, and they have opened up the portions at the intersections so I don't have to take the scenic route to my parents house anymore. But we do miss seeing that water shooting out. And kudos to PG City - if there was any flooding, I never saw it. And I survived the minor inconveniece.

This is the pipe, looking up from the canal towards the mountains. The city built a few little walk ways over the pipes so people could cross from one side of the road to the other.

Our walks on the canal also provide us with occassional little treasures, like this giant puff. I guess it doesn't look so gian in a photograph, but it is WAY HUGER than a regular dandylion puff. The stems are thick and it makes them hard to pick without disturbing the puff, so it's just easier to have Addie blow it directly off the stem in the ground. They are so big it takes several blows to get the job done.

A few Saturdays ago, we took a family hike along a section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail over in Orem. It was a fun little hike, I don't know how far we went, or even how long we were there. It is apparently quite a popular trail - the parking lot was full, and we saw other hikers, bikers and even joggers while we were out.

I don't know why Jack is smiling like that.

Looking back towards the north from somewhere along the trail . . .

I neglected to take any photos of the Steel Days 5k I participated in with my old and dear friend Jennifer. We entered ourselves in the walkers division (which my kids thought was quite amazing, that there was a division just for Walkers, with a capital W, and how did Jennifer qualify for it?) figuring we could walk pretty fast. Especially for the Over 40 crowd.

Well, I guess we don't walk so fast, or maybe the walkers didn't confine themselves to walking only . . . I don't know how it all worked out, but we didn't finish quite as quickly as I had hoped. We came in just over 50 minutes, and the ladies at the scoring table just wrote down our numbers, and didn't scan the bar codes on our bibs. We thought that was weird, but figured that maybe we were so slow there was just no longer a point in scanning. We had our fresh fruit and water and left.

Later Jennifer found the standings on the AF website, and it listed names and times for everyone, except us. Even people who came in after us had times listed. I know we didn't win, but it would still be nice to have some evidence that we participated.

Jennifer says we didn't get counted because I ate two bananas.

I think we didn't get counted because I made a few snarky comments.

In any event, we were really there. And if I should do it again next year, I'm willing to bet that I will still eat two bananas and still make snarky comments. It's just who I am. :)

See Lari Run

43:38


It won't set any land-speed records.


But I still think I'm all that.


I had told Lane to meet me at the finish line at 8:15 because that was the absolute soonest I would be there. The ABSOLUTE soonest. I really figured I would be closer to an hour.


As Kassie and I approached the finish line, and I could see the time clock, I was really blown away that I was under 45 minutes.

Jack got tired of being slow with Kassie and I, so the last few blocks he ran ahead. He finished at 42:48.

I had to give myself a hand for a race completed.

I would totally do it again. I WILL do it again. I just have to find another one that fits my schedule, doesn't cost to much, and doesn't require me to travel very far.

I was surprised at the number of people who walked the entire way. I never thought about entering a 5k before I could "run." Everyone should do it - it really is a lot of fun.

It was fun to see some people I know there: Kendall, one of my best cheerleaders through my C25k training, my visiting teacher Lynn (count it - we chatted!), and Krista - same time next year, my friend!

I also need to thank Lady Gaga "Bad Romance," U2 "Beautiful Day," Maroon 5 "Harder to Breathe," Charlie Daniels Band "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," Pink "Perfect" and "So What," Journey "Seperate Ways," Hairspray "Good Morning Baltimore," Ryan Shupe "Even Superman," The Killers "Spaceman," and, of course, the Beatles (how's that for an eclectic play list?) for making each running session go by faster.

Thanks also to Kendall, Molly and Stephanie (I did apologize for the "stupid" remark, but I had to rescind it after hearing about the Ragnar thing), Kassie for not bailing on me, Jennefer, Danna, Craig, Kari and all the others who wouldn't let me give up on myself. It isn't a huge thing, my 43:38, but I'm as proud as if I had won the whole dang thing.

So who's joining me for the next one?

Family Day Hike

Pleasant Grove City Recreation does an amazing job of keeping this city recreated, in my opinion. Even though this isn't quite the one-horse town I grew up in, it is still no metropolis and I think our recreation department is awesome. They offer a huge variety of programs for an affordable price. I can't think of a bad experience I have ever had with them - except maybe that creative writing class my mom made me take when I was little. But certainly as a grown up, I think they are the best.



For a few years they have offered a Family Day Hike and Breakfast and I've always wanted to go. The stars have never aligned on the scheduled date so we have never gone. This year, we did get the perfect alignment, so we went.



I need to mention that it is more suited to families with kids younger than mine, but we still had a good time. They had a door prize for every family, and the breakfast was actually better than I had expected. I had just figured on something like muffins and juice/milk, which they did have, but they also had a variety of fresh fruits and even hot scones. We ate pretty quickly since I didn't have little kids who needed help, and off we went on the hike up to the waterfall (the 1st waterfall in Battle Creek Canyon, for you locals).



Since we were among the first to head up the trail, the rec dept workers were still getting some game stations set up where the kids could stop and do different sorts of little games. I'm not sure what the games were, but they were all going strong on our way back down the hill and the kids all seemed to be having a lot of fun.



So to make a long story even longer, my point is that if you haven't participated in the Family Day Hike and Breakfast, you should. Especially if you have small-ish children. They hold it in June and there is no charge, which makes it even better!

Taylor and Jack just starting out on the hike. Taylor was NOT in the mood for family fun.

Addie was really proud that she made it all the way up. We did this hike last summer, but she was faster this time, and Taylor and Dad didn't finish, but she did!

Jack and Addie in front of the waterfall.

Ummm . . . did Jack finally pass me up in height?



The theme this year was "Up," so they released a bunch of balloons. We didn't see it until they got pretty far up in the sky and kinda dispersed out.

So who is ready to go on this hike with us? It doesn't take very long, isn't very steep, and isn't very far up the canyon. Let me know - I'll go anytime.

For Stephanie

It came to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes great epiphanies come to me that way, but the problem is that when I wake up I can't remember the epiphany, just that I had one. But somehow this one stayed with me.

Remember the missing roll recipe? It finally dawned on me that it's a Taste of Home recipe. Not only that, I even remembered the name of the rolls. And so I give you:

Potluck Pan Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1-1/2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
• 5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/2 cup water. Add the butter, eggs, milk powder, salt, 3 cups flour and remaining sugar and water. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down. Divide into 27 pieces; shape into balls. Place 18 balls in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan and remaining balls in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 27 rolls.

If I want to make bread bowls, I just follow the same recipe but only divide the dough into about 8 parts and bake them on a baking sheet for a little bit longer.

Enjoy!!

Buffalo Chicken and Ranch Wraps

For a change, I'll write about something other than my running, and go back to my constant fall-back: FOOD.

There is a website called allrecipes.com that I use all the time to find whatever recipe I think I might want to try out. I have also subscribed to their service that sends recipes to my email box every few days, and many of them have been wonderful! Tonight I tried out Buffalo Chicken and Ranch Wraps. YUMMY! Not only that, it was also fast and easy and got it all done and on the table at our normal time, even though I worked all day.

Here it is:

• 1 pound thin-sliced bacon
• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/4 cup Buffalo wing sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup diced fresh tomato
• 3/4 cup ranch dressing, divided

1. Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble when cool.
2. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings, and cook and stir the chicken breast chunks until browned, about 10 minutes. Cover the skillet and allow chicken to continue cooking until no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, about 10 more minutes. Stir in the Buffalo sauce and melted butter until chicken is thoroughly coated. Stir in the crumbled bacon. Keep the mixture warm.
3. Heat the tortillas, one at a time, in a large ungreased skillet over medium heat until they begin to form air bubbles and small brown spots. Fill each each warmed tortilla with about 1/3 cup of the chicken filling and a tablespoon or so of tomatoes; sprinkle the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing. Wrap the tortilla around the filling; serve warm.

I prefer to make my own sauces whenever possible, so I made my own Buffalo Sauce to use in the recipe. Also from allrecipes.com:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup hot pepper sauce
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons honey

1. Combine the butter, hot sauce, ketchup, and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Use as a sauce for cooked chicken wings or pieces.

Everyone ate it all up, and I hurried and set some aside for Lane's lunch, otherwise there would have been no leftovers. If I was to make it again, I would amp up the "zippiness" a little bit. I do like my Tabasco. It is a perfect warm weather dinner, although my kitchen did get a little warm while I was cooking. And then there is always the problem of the stale bacon smell that sticks around . . . and sticks around . . .

But my windows are open, so hopefully it will not be so bad.