Improvement, but no Proof

Did the second mission in Zombies, Run! on saturday, but it would seem that I forgot to turn on my GPS tracking. : ( According to MapMyRun.com, my route was 2.48 miles, and according to ZR! my time was 28:54. Now, doing the math, that's an average pace of 11.69 minutes per mile. (Last week's was 12:20 minutes per mile.)

And the third mission on Sunday, and again the GPS didn't turn on. Really must look at my phone and find out what's going on. 2.39 miles, 27:27 (though i sat on my front lawn and listened to the music for 2 minutes or so, but since I can't be exact, we'll say 27.5 / 2.39 = 11.5 miles per minute.

These missions weren't as fun. No zombies "chased" me. 

Made some not-as-bad-for-you brownies this weekend: boxed mix (one day i will make my own brownie mix) with 1 can of black beans (rinse them, put them back in the can and top with water; mash them up real good). Takes an extra 10 minutes or so to bake, and they don't rise as much, but still, when you're craving brownies, they'll do.

Zombie Stats from the First Mission

I can't wait to see the improvement over the course of the runs:

I'm not a Runner. It's a fact.

Nor do I ever intend to be "a runner." But what I would like to do is be able to run a distance without walking/stopping/dying. You never know when the bad guys will be chasing you / when you have to chase the bad guys:

Yup, no breather breaks / time outs there.

House Project: Shoe Storage

We've been in the house for almost 4 years and i never have proper shoe storage, which translates to wherever i take them off is where they go. Every so often I'll collect them and throw them in the dressing room; sometimes I'll even put them in there nicely, on the sorter that holds only 6 pairs tidily. Generally, though, it's a jumble by the door.

Well no longer! For quite a while I've planned on nailing up some chair rail and hanging heeled shoes off of that. Storage and display! Surely I'll be more inclined to put things away when they have an actual place to go, right?

Unfortunately I can't say where I first heard of the idea to use chair rail, it's been so long, but here's an image, from Living Etc (which I don't read, so that couldn't have been the source.)  Could have been Aunt Martha... here's a link about the article in MS.

I purchased the lightweight not-wood rail, mainly because i liked its design better, though more than I wanted to spend, about $14 for an 8' piece. (Bought 2 rails, cut to 3' which can hold up to 4 pairs.)

Four 3' chair rails, 9" apart.
Hindsight: I should have gone with the unpainted wood. Next time!

Croquembouche, Part Two

For the dessert, today: fill the poufs, make caramel, and assemble. How hard can it be?

Filling poufs with custards. Fun watching some of them expand.

Croquembouche, Part One

For christmas eve this year, I thought it would be nice to attempt a fancy dessert. Something borderline insane for someone with 2 jobs, a house, 3 pets, a b.f., and regular holiday hosting duties.

A croquembouche will do nicely.

After reviewing a few recipes online, settled on this one. An astonishing number of eggs are required. I used 18. MADNESS. But it seemed basic enough. Never made a custard before, or caramel, but the poufs are easy. Usually i make gougeres (choux pastry plus gruyere) using "Aunt Martha's" recipe (similar to this one but w/o the herbs) and figured that I could have adapted it for the desserts, but stuck with the food network one for ease.)

So HERE WE GO.

Fun in the Sun, and the Rain

My dear, dear friend Ariana came to town this weekend, staying with us and taking me to the ACL Festival. It was so much fun. Such great performances.