A Quick Update & an Obsession Out of Control

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted last. Part of the reason is because I haven't run since my last race...almost literally. I took a week off to rest then tried a few times to do some short runs of < 5K only to be sidelined by some nasty shin splints bilaterally within the first quarter mile of each run. Dejected by this failure, I decided to rest for awhile and just haven't gotten up the gumption to get back out there again. I skipped a double that I had scheduled in Louisiana and Arkansas as well. Of course, next Thursday I leave for my next half marathon in Mississippi...the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon. Again this will be a race with virtually no training and I expect to walk a good portion of the course. Then to follow that up, I have a double in California in mid-January at the Temecula Valley HM and the 2nd TinkerBell HM...again, likely to be walking much of the course. What a way to start 2013!! Meh.

As far as the end of 2012 goes, I hope everyone had a great holiday whether it was Christmas, Hanukka or Kwanza. We had a great time here with the son and his fiance coming to visit for 5 days and staying with us. We ate, met the future in-laws, they visited other family and friends, I did some massive cooking preparing a bunch of crock pot soup/chili plus multiple loaves of quick bread, celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary by sitting in bed all day catching up on a semester's worth of DVRd shows and it was an overall good time.

And then there is my newest obsession...On the 11th I was up in Amarillo for an appointment and before I drove home I stopped to catch Pitch Perfect at the theater. I had been waiting to watch this since it came out and finally had the chance so I was surely not going to miss it. I knew that I was in a potentially obsessive mode when I walked out of this movie. The songs, the dancing, the quirky characters, the sweet ups and downs of romance and a cute hottie in the male lead young enough to (literally) be my son. Ah yes, Skylar Astin. Yum. I think I'm either bordering on pedophilia or cougar mode since he's literally 11 days older than my own son!! LOL!

The movie came out on DVD and VOD on the 18th and wouldn't you know it I purchased my first rental of the movie just after midnight. Within the first 24 hours I had literally watched the movie at least 10x, sleeping only 2-3 hours and repeating the cycle again for 2 more days. To date, some 10 days later, I have by m best estimate watched this movie (as I am doing while typing this) at least 50 times!! I've watched it enough that I've got the most of the dialogue and choreography down cold. It's not unusual that I obsess over a movie or male lead, but it is unusual that I've watched the movie so many times and am fangirling over such a young actor. In the past movies like Bridget Jones and Titanic were my obsessions, then came Ryan Reynolds and I watch Green Lantern (best imagery of his hot bod) at least 20x after it came out as well as building a pretty massive Facebook album of Ryan Reynolds photos...excuse me while I wipe up the drool...OK, I'm back.

Ummm...yeah. this is currently the wallpaper on my cell!  *sigh*

Anyway, two days after first watching the VOD movie I went out and bought the soundtrack which took me 2 hours to figure out how to import it onto my phone so I could go grocery shopping and driving while listening to the music wherever I go. It was kind of funny to be jammin' out to the soundtrack while doing my grocery shopping at Walmart and Albertson's. I've been living Pitch Perfect for over a week now watching it whenever a have a spare couple of hours, listening to the CD when I'm at home or anywhere that I can listen to my phone and just today I spent a few hours to build a Pintrest page dedicated to the movie (featuring a lot of Skylar Astin). For Christmas my son gave me a Visa gift card that was to be used for running gear ONLY, but I snuck in the Blue Ray/DVD mega combo pack which I had to order online and am eagerly awaiting to arrive so that I can watch all the extra content. I'm pretty sure my constant scanning for new online pics of Skylar, watching numerous YouTube videos of the movie and Skylar plus following Skylar on Twitter may border on stalking. I jest, I jest!! lol!

There are additional new tracks on the just released extended
soundtrack that  I will be downloading from iTunes.

I'm not certain why the movie resonates with me so much. I know a new hottie and the music are certainly a draw, but whatever it is I do love this flick! At least it's a healthy obsession...for now. I'm not going out and blowing money, doing drugs or other stupid things...so it's OK, right?

My favorite parts of the movie in chronological order (SPOILER alert!):

• Right at the beginning when Jesse sings to Beca from the car before they even meet...too funny when his parents take off  at high speed during Freshman move in day.
• A capella tryouts, especially when Jesse sings.
• When Jesse messes around with the album covers to make Beca smile.
• When Jesse meets up with Beca on the quad arriving with a candle, Snyder's of Hanover Hard Pretzels, movies including The Breakfast Club and a juice packet. Why would you need a candle in the daylight, on the campus quad?? IDK.
• The riff-off especially when Jesse sings Feels Like the First Time and you know that he's singing it to Beca.
• The dorm scene right after the riff-off where Jesse puts the move on Beca.
• The Trebles performance of Right Round at the first competition. Swoon!
• The Bellas breaking out with Party in the USA in the bus.
• The Footnotes performance of Blame it on the Boogie.
• Beca yelling at Jesse after Aubrey lays into her after the Bellas performance at semi-finals. So sad...I feel so bad for Jesse! :(
• Beca finally watching The Breakfast Club.
• Beca trying to make up with Jesse after spring break and he basically breaks up their relationship ("whatever this is") even though he cares for her still. Another sad section of the movie. :(
• Aubrey's major projectile vomiting episode and the ensuing girl fight.
• The Bellas mashup in the swimming pool.
• The Trebles final performance of Bright Lights, Bigger City/Magic. Easily my very favorite musical number. Not only do you hear the smooth voice of Jesse but Benji also lets loose and the boys in general dance great. Huge swoon for Jesse!! (Excuse me, I have to go wipe off the drool again!)
• Beca's section of the Bella's final performance when Jesse realizes that she's singing/making up to him. The look on his face is priceless...which leads to more swooning!
• OK, being the romantic that I can be at times, when they finally kiss. Oh, to be 25 year younger, 25 pounds lighter and in the place of Beca! ROTFLMAO!

Yes, this is a very lighthearted movie which gives me a fuzzy, warm feeling inside...in a PG sense. The acting is great and entertaining. The music, dancing and singing is great...especially Skylar Astin as Jesse. His voice just hits the right spot every time whether he's singing or rapping. Rebel Wilson throws out her irreverent humor and brings on a lot of laughs. Anna Kendrick is well cast as the rebel finding out that college life can be fun. The cast overall is just awesome. Oh, and then there's Elizabeth Banks as one of the competition commentators...she is hilarious in the 10 or 15 minutes she has on screen!

So, I've just finished watching the movie and singing and dancing (quietly) to the last two performances as the old man slept...good thing he's deaf! My VOD rental is expired so now I just need to wait and see if I can manage to hold off on ordering it again until my mega combo BluRay/DVD arrives sometime between now and January 2nd. If it doesn't get here by Saturday, I'll probably be going through withdrawal symptoms and have to order it yet again! Oh my!

Here are a few of my favorite videos off of YouTube with regards to Pitch Perfect. Enjoy!

Mike Tompkins, the cast of Pitch Perfect and fans sing "Starships."

Again...Skylar Astin's voice...ahhhhhhh!

This video has most of my favorite non-musical scenes 

from the movie between Beca and Jesse. It's set to 

"Without You" as done by Lea Michelle from Glee...

Skylar's former cast mate on the Broadway hit 

"Spring Awakenings."

The Trebles perform "Right Round." Damn, Jesse and Donald are good!

I can't be the only one loving what happens at 0:51 in the clip...

Second half of the riff off...songs about sex. 

Jesse sings "Feels Like the First Time". 

OMG. I can't get enough of his voice!

Monthly cooking plans

Well, all the food that I cooked during the first week of the year is almost gone. We have about 5 bags of taco meat (4 servings each), 2 Caribbean Jerk chicken breasts and 4 servings of soup left. That means it's just about time to plan another massive crockpot cooking adventure for another month to month and a half's worth of food. I can't tell you how convenient it has been to just pull something out of the freezer to heat up and only need to make quick sides like rice, potatoes or veggies! So, what's on the menu for the next cooking excursion? I know that there will be:

• Vegetarian chili
• Texas style beef chili
• 3 Meat Jambalaya x2
• Honey & Orange Tofu x2
• Shrimp Etouffee x2
• SBD Savory Chicken Saute x2
• Pork & Shrimp Wonton x3 (should make about 180 pieces)

I've got to look around for some new crock pot recipes to try out, maybe 3 of them. Once I figure out the new recipes that should be enough food to get up to the end of next month all done.

Possible new recipes to try:

• Crock pot Flank Steak Fajitas
• Salisbury Steak and Carmelized Onion Gravy (Crockpot)
• Crock pot BBQ Ribs (YES!)
• Crock pot Pork Chops
• Crock pot Lasagna (for carb loading weeks)
• Crock pot Spaghetti (for carb loading weeks)

If you have any to die for crock pot recipes that you think I might be interested in trying, just leave the recipe in the comments please! I likely won't be cooking until the weekend or next week.

100 Days Challenge:

• 1½ mile walk with the grandpup in 20 minutes
• Turbo Sculpt video workout 39 minutes

What I Ate Today:

• 8 chocolate chip cookies
• 12 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 3oz beef tips
• ½ cup white rice
• 1¼ cup steamed broccoli
• 32 oz iced tea with 6 packets Splenda (in 2 servings)
• 1½ cups cheddar & broccoli soup
• 20 oz G2
• 1 bag microwave popcorn

Alkalete Review Day 9:

So, after running 13.22 miles yesterday I expected to be sore quite a bit today, but that wasn't the case. Granted, the first day after a long run I'm not usually very sore so we'll have to wait to see if I'm walking tomorrow! I feel pretty good...took the grand pup to the park and walked around a bit. Got ready for Aqua Zumba but class was cancelled due to only 3 of us showing up (the other 2 ladies just swam, but since I don't swim...well). If I'm not sore tomorrow I'll be impressed, but for now I'll just have to wait and see...

Just about done cooking!

Bottom half of freezer.

Well, I started cooking again today. I managed to get the Skinny Rosemary Potato Soup and Skinny Broccoli Cheese Soup done and in the freezer (barely). I also got the meat filling for the Pork and Shrimp Won Ton and Swedish meatballs all mixed up and ready to go tomorrow. I'll flash freeze the won tons in packs of about 15 for a meal sized serving. The Swedish meatballs will also have to be put into Ziplock bags with the sauce...that means that before they can be reheated the bag will have to sit in hot water to thaw a little in order to be poured into a bowl for reheating. The same will go for the taco meat that's currently cooking overnight in the crock pot.

I had to take 2 shelves out to fit
 this much food in the freezer.
Now that almost everything is in there,
the light is no longer visible.

We have a side by side fridge-freezer so that means very limited storage in the freezer side. I guess I was too optimistic before I started cooking thinking that everything would fit into the freezer without a problem. Here are some pics of what the freezer looked like...before the soups were added in.

Top shelf.

At last count, I have well over 40 meals in the freezer right now (I'll end up with about 70 meals) and that doesn't include the items that are still waiting to be fixed! The old man and I don't necessarily eat both lunch and dinner every day so all this food should last us at least into the beginning of February...no need to eat out other then when we go out of town this month!

We do have a small upright freezer out in the garage that hasn't been plugged in since we moved into the house 4 years ago so I think it's probably time to check it out and see if it still works. Maybe if it does I'll get some room back in the side by side! :)

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 4: 50 minutes activity at physical therapy - 10 minutes on recumbent stepper, remaining time stretching, leg/hip specific exercises, balancing exercises, jumper machine. Additional 15 minutes on diathermy (RF/HF heat application).

What I Ate Today:

• 20 oz non-fat, lactose free milk
• 1 Eggie in a Basket (slice of fried whole wheat toast with a fried egg in a circle in the center)
• 2 Caribbean Jerk chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
• 3½ c white rice
• 2 c green beans
• 20 oz G2
• 4 small Clementine oranges
• 5 oz shrimp scampi
• 3/4 c mixed veggies

What a way to start 2012!

Happy New Year!

Well, today I chose to welcome in the new year with an 8 mile run! Never would I have ever thought I'd do something like that. I basically followed the same route that I did my 10 miler on last week but just cut it short at the 4 mile turnaround. I also did this as part of a virtual race that I hosted as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This race raised $510 towards my $2,000 goal. If I am able to raise that goal, I'm so definitely going to be shaving my head at the May 11th Relay for Life here in town.

Just as an aside, I logged approximately 192 miles since September, not including the first two months when I wasn't recording my runs. Whoohoo!!

Additionally I started the second half of my month's worth of cooking. It was a very late start...not until 4pm but it did manage to get Orange Honey Tofu, Crock Pot Mongolian Beef and Skinny Chicken Zucchini Ziti done. I had planned to make Swedish Meatballs, wontons, Skinny Rosemary Soup and Skinny Broccoli Cheddar Soup but my legs were just so tired from the run that I just didn't have the energy to keep cooking plus I forgot to defrost shrimp for the wontons. So all those items are waiting to be done tomorrow...my two day cooking adventure is going to be a three day adventure instead! lol!

I've also joined John Bingham's 100 Days Challenge where members pledge to do 30 minutes of planned activity for 100 days straight. I had started a very similar challenge with some friends on Facebook that started back on October 24th and is to finish on February 1st. I'm not doing so well in that challenge so I'm hoping for a better result with this new challenge. This new challenges ends on April 10th...wow, that seems like a long way away! I'm looking at doing a Boot Camp on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays at 8am, plus restarting Zumba as soon as PT says I can and then I'll be starting yoga and aqua aerobics classes Monday through Thursdays at the community college on January 17th. Hopefully I'll be able to meet the challenge! :)

100 Days Challenge:

• Day 1:  8.1 Mile Long Run

What I Ate Today:

• 1 Whole Wheat Bagel Thin with 2 Tbsp Skippy's Super Chunky Peanut Butter
• Homemade French bread pizza on a white Bolillo roll with pepperoni (10 slices each half), Monterey Jack/Colby cheese (2 c total), pizza sauce (½ c)
• Orange juice from concentrate 3 - 12 oz glasses
• Lowfat chocolate milk - 12 oz
• Clif Shot Energy Gel - Chocolate
• G2 - 10 oz

(Slow) Cooking frenzy...

I'm not quite sure what's been going on for the past three weeks or so in regards to my using the crock pots to cook our meals. Usually I truly hate to cook, whether using the crock pots or cooking on the stove/oven. But things have been different lately. Since there's only the two of us we usually get several days worth of food from each recipe that I make. I don't think I've ever used the crock pots as much as I have in these past weeks! Sure, I'd use them every once in a while, typically for chili or stew and the occasional pot roast; but this time around I'm making soups, other new recipes, the usual comfort food and even candy!! In my efforts this time around I discovered that the slow cookers I had were smaller than I thought. I now have the following sizes:  2½ quarts, a 3½ quarts, 5 quarts, 6 quarts and 7 quarts. I even had two 3 quart slow cookers that I am giving/have given to each of the kids. There have been days when I've had 4 crocks going at the same time...which would have included today but I made the mistake of sending the old man to get some ingredients for me and of course he either couldn't find them or got the wrong thing. Oh well. That means I'll be cooking on Monday since we'll be out of town most of the day tomorrow.

So, what have I made in the slow cookers?

Chili (my own cheater recipe, made 3 times)
Old Fisherman's Grotto Clam Chowder (3 times)
Balsamic Chicken
French Onion Soup
Skinny Broccoli Cheese Soup
Granny's Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili (3 times)
Zucchini & Chicken Ziti
Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Crock Pot Sugared Cinnamon Pecans
Skinny Chocolate Fudge
Skinny Glazed Sweet Potatoes

All those recipes have been supplemented with some oven/stove based recipes such as Pork & Shrimp Won Ton Soup, Flounder with Shrimp Sauce, French Bread Pizza, Easy Nachos and Swedish Meatballs; side dishes such as Hasselback Potatoes, Ultra Crispy Roast Potatoes, Oven Roasted Veggies and Swedish Boiled Dill Potatoes.

On the books for Monday I have planned Skinny French Toast Casserole, Skinny Rosemary Potato Soup & Skinny Chocolate Turtles. Geez, looking at this list I just now realized that I haven't really cooked this much since I stopped doing my Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) years ago when I'd spend a whole weekend cooking enough food to last a month. With just the two of us I always manage to have enough to put some food up in the freezer so we always have a supply of food available so I'd say we have at least a week's worth of food in the freezer at present. Well, I guess we won't be starving anytime soon!! lol!