I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 11.52mi
time: 59:50
pace: 5:12min/mi
speed: 11.55mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1872237959
Seriously – mid November, northern Illinois, 71 degrees. I think I have died and gone to heaven!! I had both bikes out today cause the weather was so nice. I think the hammer is going to drop soon though – they are saying snow flurries on Saturday…we will see! Also – BRUTUS!
Another great year – 250 kids stopped by to get KING-SIZED candy bars! We are officially the “king-sized” house!! It was so funny to hear people refer to us like that. Not as many repeats as previous years, which is good. Still a few, some I could have definitely called out but it was in the last half hour and I was just trying to get rid of candy at that point so I didn’t care. I don’t know. Kinda think I should said something since the kid had his jacket on backwards – it was the dumbest disguise – but if that is what he thought would work he is going have bigger problems in life 🙂
The point where Brutus was over his costume:
And the moment when Luna decided she was over her costume:
No this isn’t a post about my freezing kittens but about me making popcicles for my cats.
Luna doesn’t even seem to notice, but Brutus likes it. Or kinda likes it. He does eventually lick the ice cubes but seems a bit suspicious. Its supposed to be super hot this weekend so we will try again.
Basically you just take some cat food, add a little water or tuna juice, then freeze it.
It was a beautiful day for a ride so Scott and I met up with some fellow riders from the bike shop. No destination in particular just a lot of country roads. I met some new friends and it was just really fun to be out riding with a group again. I don’t get to do it as much as I used to and I didn’t realize how much I missed it. Everyone except one person was riding Triumphs so it turned into a “British invasion” ride which was ironic and humorous on this Independence day weekend 🙂
I also did some patriotic nail art which I think turned out pretty great even though I haven’t done nail art in a while. I was pretty steady with my left hand so they both look equal. I think the trick is to keep it simple. (duh) But that is hard to remember sometimes when you see all these great ideas on the internet.
With all the holiday excitement there have been teenagers setting off fireworks in the park next to my house for the last 2 weeks which has made Brutus afraid. The first time I found him hiding under the bed but now he has taken to being carried around after some fireworks go off. Luckily there isn’t too much in our neighborhood so I am hoping tomorrow won’t be a big deal. He doesn’t seem nervous about the city fireworks that are far away, only the ones that are happening nearby.
I biked with MapMyRide!
Distance: 5.57mi
time: 32:29
pace: 5:50min/mi
speed: 10.29mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1460538987
The Other and I went on a ride today, it was chilly (see what I did there with the title?) – about 56* – but once we started riding it was ok. Still blocked in on both sides by the high water but we made the most of it.
For dinner we had Bertolli Classic Meals for 2 which are complete frozen meals with 2 servings which heat up in about 15 minutes. They are pretty good – better than most of the other frozen dinners on the market. The food tastes high quality and the meat isn’t rubber. On a busy work night or when you just don’t want to cook these save a meal of fast food so there are really nice. I get mine from Peapod but you can probably find them in your grocery freezer case and I totally recommend you try them out.
I have been doing some slow cooking lately and have been using this hand me down crock pot which I think was actually from my Nana and Boppa. It works but now that I have been doing this more, I can tell there are some things its missing. For one, its small. For two (and biggest) the interior is not removeable so you always have to wash it by hand. Boo!
The The Other told me that new crock pots are only $30 on amazon AND they have a removable dishwasher safe interior. Yay!! Plus its larger! Double Yay! So I ordered one and it arrived yesterday.
For the first meal in my new crockpot I decided to make Mississippi Roast – simple and delicious. Simply delicious. Seriously, if you own a slow cooker, you need to make this recipe. Plus I think with only 3 ingredients, its counts as “Clean Eats” 🙂 Here is the recipe if you want to try it yourself, which you totally should.
The start of the meal:
4.5 hours later (on high)
I decided to serve it over egg noodles so here is the finished product.
So now that I have eaten all that deliciousness I decided to go for a bike ride. I’m lying – I rode my bike before I ate – after I ate I just laid on the couch 😛 But seriously I did ride my bike today, although indoors, but tried a different strategy which I think worked out great. Instead of planning to ride 5 miles, I set a timer for 30 minutes then played a video of mountain bikers on the screen and listened to my audio book. Since I wasn’t focuses on how many miles I had left to be finished the ride actually felt much shorter and I actually rode farther than 5 miles!
I am pretty proud of my steady pace as well. Only one dip in the center there which is when the cats started fighting. Because of course they can’t let me exercise in peace.
At the recent LSCC annual cat show there was a photographer who specializes in show cats. One of the perks of having a vendor booth (especially one right next to the photography booth) is that I am able to sneak in my kitties for professional photos!!
I expected to be Luna, being the more shy cat at home, to be a complete pain. I was actually a little nervous about letting go of her, sure that she would run off the table and out into the show hall and everyone would know I snuck in my cat. However although she was nervous at first, once the photographer got her interested in a toy she was amazing!! We got all the famous kitty show shots – side profile, over the shoulder, 1 paw up, close up – it was amazing!
Brutus on the other hand – our brave out-going boy – was having none of it. Besides the first picture where he doubled up with Luna, he spent most of his time hunkered down and jumping off the table. Luckily the photographer was great and had a lot of tricks to get some good pictures out of my bad cat.
As Magritte gets older, she is becoming less interested in grooming which is resulting in mats – lots of them. She has also become very very grumpy about being brushed so its very hard to keep up with it. We decided to get her groomed but its hard to find a groomer that does cats. our vet recommended a mobile groomer which turned out to be fantastic!!
They come right to the house and do everything in the van. It took about an hour and from what they tell me Magritte did great! The groomer was very nice and listened to what we wanted, and any concerns we had (I thought Magritte might bite since she has been so grumpy lately). I highly recommend this service and will definitely use again, not just for Magritte but probably to wash all the other stink-kittens as well.
Before and After
Brutus on the other hand isn’t that much of a fan. Magritte came back looking and smelling different, and now Brutus has trust issues. Its been 3 days and he is still growling and hissing at her. The first day was the worst – in this video he is actually growling at Luna. He is such a drama llama. (best viewed with sound)
Best Christmas gift I ever got!
She was a great cat with so much personality. She was the cat that would snuggle me when I was sad. She was a fantastic travelling companion. She didn’t mind being dressed up (and maybe even enjoyed it a little bit) I will miss her greatly.
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