NHBPM 22-25 (catching up again)

November 22 - Thanksgiving Day - Thankful post

Today I am supposed to write about what I am thankful for. I have read many blogs (and Facebook posts) where people are posting thanks every day in November (at least through Thanksgiving). I am glad I didn't do that because obviously it is impossible for me to keep up with anything on a daily basis!

I have many things to be thankful for. I am thankful that I am healthy, and that everyone close to me is relatively healthy as well. Several family members have various conditions or complaints, but nothing that really interferes with their lives or makes them suffer. I am thankful to have a good relationship with my family, and even though we have our squabbles and disputes, we have never had major feuds that cause long-lasting damage to our relationship. I am thankful for my boyfriend Rod, who is an important part of my life. I am thankful for my dear cat Libby, the remaining member of our feline family. (Yes, I include myself as one of the feline family.) I am thankful for my job that provides a good living, is fairly stable, and the great people I work with. I am thankful to live in Washington, where there are no hurricanes or tornadoes, and although there could be earthquakes, that the Big One hasn't hit us yet. I am thankful that I am able to run without having incurred any serious injury, and that I have continued to explore and expand my runnign experiences over the years.

November 23 - Clean out your fridge in written form. What's in there? How does it reflect your personality?

The alternative was to clean out your closet, and I just can't face that.

My fridge is always pretty full, but I try to eat everything I put in there. The only things that tend to stick around too long are ingredients I buy for a special recipe that only needs a portion. Unfortunately those tend to get shoved to the back of the fridge and eventually grow hair. Right now there's some evaporated and condensed milk in that category, and probably some sour cream somewhere. Every once in a while I throw out the junk. Otherwise...

There are a few bottled dressings and sauces, including barbecue sauce, Frank's hot sauce, ketchup and mustard. I always need to keep at least a jar of dijon mustard on hand. I always have a few containers of plain Greek yogurt. Right now I also have a bag of spinach, probably a few bell peppers, some cucumbers and apples, and leftover mashed cauliflower from Thanksgiving (I'll be eating it tonight). There's a carton of salsa that I hope is still good. My leftover food is low right now because of Thanksgiving and being in Seattle for a couple of days. Oh! There is usually an open can of cat food for Libby.

My fridge reflects my personality because it is usually stocked with healthy food, but there is also extra clutter that I can't bear (or be bothered) to clear out!

November 24 - If I had more than 24 hours in a day....

I would sleep more. No question. I think that getting plenty of sleep is so important, yet I almost always cheat myself of sleep because it is the one thing that I can stint on without noticeable consequences.

November 25 - How have your goals as a person evolved?

Ten years ago I could never have imagined I would have goals like running a marathon or a 50K. Back then my goals involved things like antique collecting, home decorating, and gardening. (As well as career/job goals, of course.) I'm a little regretful that the home and garden goals have been put on the back burner as much as they have, actually. Now that I've achieved most of my running goals (not that there aren't always more to explore), I would like to move toward some balance where I fix up some of the things I've let slide with my house and continue to train and run as well. I tend to be a serially obsessive person...that is I give my all to one interest, then move on to something else. It would be nice to do a little bit of everything.

That takes me through the weekend...and I don't have the energy to start this week's topics yet!

I'll come back soon with a post about the weekend's running activities (Seattle Half Marathon), and my thoughts as taper progresses and the Honolulu Marathon approaches (less than two weeks!).