Monday, Monday...

And you can tell it's a Monday!

I haven't been sleeping well lately and I finally get to sleep and was going to let myself sleep until aruond 6:30, but the animals had other ideas.  Indy started yowling and knocking things off my dresser.  Anya decided that she needed to "share" my pillow.  Mulder, who slept with James last night, heard everyone else having fun so he came up and tried to "clean" my ears.  All at 5 am.  Yep, welcome to Monday!

I got up and putzed around until it was time to get James up.  He wanted to walk, but I really needed to get to the grocery so we decided that we'd walk this afternoon.  We went to the store and then I dropped him off at daycare.  Since we decided to walk this afternoon when I picked him up, I was just going to run to daycare and then walk home with him.  Well, when I realized how hot and humid it is I changed my mind.

After I put the groceries away, I went for a quick run.  Today was my short run day so I ran a quick 1.75 miles.  Just shy of my 2 mile goal.  I'm glad I took my small water bottle with me.  I usually don't take water with me on such short runs, but something said I should today.  I had to slow down about halfway through to take a few swigs.  Plus I put ice in it so it was nice to hold in my hand as I ran.

I was really happy with my time.  I held a pretty good pace for me on a short run.

Next week I'm going to start running with my brother-in-law in the mornings.  He wants to give it another try so I'll run with him on my interval days and short run days to get him back into it.  It should be nice.  Mike has been running in the evenings and liking that.  James will go with him when we have him.

My next race is the Lake Festival 5k this Saturday.  I'm looking forward to it since it's a really flat course.  I'm hoping for close to the same time as the Good Friday run.  I'll be really happy with that.

I'm doing a core workout before I shower.  I haven't been doing weights or core and I need to get back into it.  I'm going to do my Buffy workout.  I love that core workout and I'm in the mood to watch an episode of Buffy.

Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run scheduled and I'm doing that early before it gets hot and humid.  Plus James and I are going to the Market so I want to get my run done before heading out to buy lots of good fruits and veggies for our veggie challenge!

Mike and I are doing a veggie challenge and James wants to join us.  We are going to eat 5-6 servings of veggies every day.  James is going to eat 3-4.  The challenge is to make them all different and try new things.  I'm hoping it will get us back on track of good eating since we've been traveling so much and having to eat out.  We both just feel like slugs since vacation.  James also wants to try new fruits every week.

Well, off I go to kill my core!  Have a great day!

Planning Meals

So I'm the type that I plan the meals for the month.  I put together weekly shopping lists and do my grocery shopping every Monday morning.  The weeks we have James I usually plan for casseroles and crock pot meals.  That way when Mike and James get home they can pop it in the oven or serve it up when they are ready to eat.  The other weeks I plan meals that I cook when I get home from practice and that Mike and I will like, but James probably wouldn't.  I also make a dessert every Monday to last throughout the week.

I'm finding that in planning these meals I am using a lot more fresh fruits and veggies and a lot less processed foods.  I have been feeling better about our eating and I get to enjoy the leftovers for lunch the next day.  That's always a good thing.

This week the menu is as follows:
Monday-Pork Chop Parm w/ bococcini salad and Angel Lush w/pineapple for dessert
Tuesday-Italian Style Chicken Combo w/leftover salad
Wednesday-Mike and James go to his parent's house
Thursday-Beef Provicial Stew
Friday-Homemade pizzas

We also started having James plan and cook a meal once a week when he's with us.  This Saturday will be his day to plan and cook.  He loves doing this and it has gotten him to try new things and eat more vegetables.  He's made chicken fingers, peanut soup, 15 bean soup, pasta and sauce, and Indian food.  I never know what he's going to make until Saturday afternoon.  He helps with the shopping and the cooking.  He is always really proud of his dinners.

Sundays we go to Mike's parents' house for dinner.  It's nice to have a meal with his parents and James gets to see his grandparents when he's with us.  He likes going there and it's nice to have a day off from cooking.

I love to cook and try new things.  Mike is also a wonderful cook so he gets the Saturdays that James isn't cooking.  I love it when Mike cooks because he likes to try new things and they always turn out great!

Now I'm off to have some leftover chili for lunch.  I love the leftovers!