Yes – I won the week’s football picks! Thank you Ravens last night 😀 Now John has to take me to dinner this week. :happydance:
I woke up feeling ready to run. It was a perfect morning to run. 50 degrees, not windy, cloud cover. Yes. I had a date for a wee bit of fuel.
Then I did my hill route. I have not run hills since before I herniated my disk in April, so it has been a long time! I just have been at the track or flat routes (or the dreadmill). I was surprised at how easily I did the hills. Biking really does make running a lot easier. Except it seems slower 
I extended my route a little bit and ended up at 3.7 miles today. It felt great! I need to start doing bricks to prepare for next month’s duathlon.
I wasn’t sure what to make for breakfast, and John was using the waffle iron, so I decided to do protein pancakes, except I made 1 giant one.
:cough: with a little cream cheese icing on there :cough: That was kind of fun. Sort of like fair food!
I had a question posed to me about if I lose weight on the long bike rides. The answer to that is no. In fact, I always gain about 3 pounds from the long rides. I think that is a combination of eating different foods on those days, plus water retention from muscle use. The scale always drops back down over the course of the next couple of days. I am so used to seeing that now that it doesn’t freak me out. It did at first, but then I realized the weight would just drop off without me doing anything different. Maintenance isn’t always staying at the same exact number.
Lunch time today and I tried another protein crepe. I think I may give up on this recipe. They just are a little tough with the protein powder. I was hoping the whey would make a difference, but it did not.
I filled this crepe with chopped cooked chicken, sauteed broccoli and a sun-dried tomato laughing cow wedge. Flavor good. Texture bad.
One of the best things about blogging has been the wonderful people that I have met virtually. Sometimes I can’t believe that I actually have not met some of these people in the flesh, because I feel like I have known them for a long time! Debby is one of those bloggers with whom I feel a real kinship with because she is kind of like a twin of me. She has lost 100 pounds without surgery and is quite the animal lover. She is also an incredibly talented lady. Debby asked for my address last week because she wanted to send me something. I really had no idea what it was.
When I opened the box, my jaw fell on the floor to find this beautiful quilt inside!
It has a coffee theme. Now how did she know that I love coffee?? Check out that detail!
I laughed when I saw this:
Indeed….
You all need to bug Debby to put up an Etsy shop if you have seen any of her other quilts on her blog. She is that talented. So thank you again Debby!
Pixie does not get to lay on this quilt LOL.
Speaking of coffee – I had a latte with another pumpkin scone.
I am doing good not eating these in multiples. Sometimes I can do that.
I finished up work right about dinner time today. John had the grill out and did a couple chicken thighs. I thought I would have a different veggie since I had broccoli at lunch.
Yum! It is really hard to cook bone in meat on the grill, I have to say.
Not a terribly exciting evening planned. Just an evening of garden puttering and some relaxing tonight.
Not to mention a snack plus some decaf. Seedless grapes were on sale!
Question: For those of you that blog, what is the most surprising thing you have found?
That’s so funny, I saw “quilting friends” in the title and I knew it had something to do with Debby! 🙂 The Java Queen quilt is marvelous!
Yes, I’d definitely say that the camaraderie and support are the most surprising things I’ve found while blogging. I love it!
Glad you had a great run! And oh, I know what you mean about running seeming slower. I think that’s why I like biking better, I can see more stuff in the same amount of time.
.-= Pubsgal´s last blog ..Weekly Update- 9-9-10 whoops- a day late! =-.
That quilt is lovely – what a sweet, sweet thing for Debby to do! She is really talented and DEFINITELY should open an etsy shop!
To answer your question, it’s the friendships that I’ve made through blogging, no doubt. The bloggers that I’ve emailed with, spoken on the phone to, and yes, met in person (Debby!) have been so real – an extension of themselves from what you see on their blogs. I really hope that one of these days we can end up at some blogging convention together – I know we’d have a blast!
.-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Awk-ward =-.
I love the quilt! I used to quilt, when I had the time, but since my hands went bad, I’m doing good to sew on buttons or milk the goat. I’m jealous! Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com
.-= Vee´s last blog ..Low-Carb BLT on FlaxBread =-.
What a beautiful quilt! Wow, she’s extremely talented.
What a wonderful quilt! How nice!
From being gone for the weekend, I’m behind on reading blogs. Finally getting caught up tonight. So – CONGRATULATIONS on such a great century ride on Sunday! You pushed up the hills (and down them) and rode faster than ever. That’s wonderful! What great accomplishment. 🙂 (bummer about the sag wagon making you feel pressured – at least you got him off your tail for the end part!)
Also, I love the hot air balloon pics. I just found out yesterday that there will be a 25 balloon launch this weekend just 8 miles from my house. Can’t wait to go see it with my sons.
.-= Kim Zepp´s last blog ..I will travel 703 miles on Sunday =-.
That is such a beautiful quilt! How nice of Debby! 🙂
.-= Alissa´s last blog ..School Day =-.
What a lovely gift! Debby, if you are reading this, you are so talented. I had the pleasure of attending an international quilt show several years ago – amazing works of art! I have a couple of friends who are exhibiting locally this weekend and I plan on dropping by for a few after my bike ride on Saturday. Talented, artsy people.
As for the gifts I have received, it’s been the friendship, encouragement and support for other bloggers. Amazing community.
.-= roxie´s last blog ..Monday Mélange =-.
In my 15 1/2 months of blogging ….
I have been surprised that people follow my blog and some have stuck with me through it for so long.
I have also been surprised at how blogging has helped me stay on track in my journey. It has become an integral part of my journey to the healthier, happier me.
How sweet to receive that quilt. Lovely!!!
.-= Leah´s last blog ..My Nike Plus Adventure =-.
What a beautiful gift of Debby and she’s really thought of the theme. She knows you well 🙂
Although I haven’t met any bloggers (yet) I love the support, encouragement that you get. To me some bloggers are like friends even though I never met them. I knew already this existed because I’am active for a few years now on a Dutch women’s forum and made some great friends there whom I do see in real life.
Oh dear. Thank you for all the nice comments. That was just a fun little quilt to do, and after I bought the fabric, I actually knew that if I didn’t make something pretty quick, it would most likely get buried and forgotten and never made. But thank you all for being so kind. Lori is very kind and encouraging to a lot of other bloggers, and we do have that twin thing going (oh it is so fun to be twins with someone so much younger than me!) and oh yes, I do have those lovely memories of that hand-roasted coffee I won in Lori’s challenge last year!
Roxie, did you get to go to the quilt show in Houston? Oh, I am jealous!
As for surprises in the blog world. I didn’t expect to develop true friendships through writing. I certainly didn’t expect to cry over so many dogs I have never met! I think the biggest surprise is the wonderful ongoing email relationship I have developed with a young woman who has NEVER ONCE commented on my blog! She is/was a reader of my regular blog, and then joined in on the spiritual formation blog I did last fall, and then we have continued to write to one another after that ended. Lots of great surprises. My life has been enriched through the blog world.
.-= debby´s last blog ..Simple Weekend Recipes =-.
I can almost smell the coffee aroma from the picture. (Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to wrap yourself up in the smell?)
She is very talented and so kind.
.-= Gina Fit by 41 Maybe 42´s last blog ..No-Binge Beads and Our 15-Year Anniversary =-.
That IS a lovely gift!
The most surprising thing to me about blogging has been that people still read even though I’m in maintenance mode. I’m glad they see that it’s an ongoing process, not a race to the finish. 🙂
.-= cammy@tippytoediet´s last blog ..A Few Diet Tricks That Perhaps Might Possibly Could Help =-.
Debby IS SO SO SO FLIPPING talented.
(that is all)
.-= Miz´s last blog ..Personal Training with Jackie Warner giveaway =-.
What an awesome quilt!!! I happen to live very close to the quilt capital of the world, so I often see the majestic works of art. When I was a kid, a quilt was nothing more than something that kept you warm. Now they are worthy of being hung on the wall. I will have to say, I would be using this one from Debby though. 🙂
The biggest surprise in blogging to me has been the real friends I have made – people I have never seen in person, and may never see in person, but yet I consider them friends. Awesome!
That quilt is so amazing & yes, talent there! I can’t even thread a machine! :-O How sweet & yes, calls your name!!!!
I am so afraid to make those scones.. I may eat them all in one sitting!!! You said you don’t so that is encouraging for me! 🙂
The blog world is so full of the sweetest people & then they become your friends away from home, like you know them yet never met them….
.-= Jody – Fit at 52´s last blog ..Yoga Towel Review & GIVEAWAY!!! =-.
What a sweet present and boy how beautiful. Way to go on that run too, 3.7 miles is terrific.
.-= Dawn´s last blog ..Being there =-.
That’s beautiful — what a lovely gift. Perfect for snuggling in the coming winter months. Funny how the scale does jump after a big big workout – I agree with you that it seems to be water retention. The muscles apparently need a good internal bath after a strenuous session!
.-= Call Me Ishmael´s last blog ..Yes I Can =-.
The most surprisingly thing for me was that people were interested in my story and I inspired them to get healthy. So many people tell me that, or that they started swimming because of me. So cool!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Fixing a Disasterous Dinner =-.
When my sister suggested we all start a blog while training for our first half marathon together with my mom, I was really resistant to it – I thought it would be just one more thing I had to get done each day. I never expected how much I would enjoy writing on a near daily basis, how much I would think about what I want to write, and most of all, what neat people I would get to know who feel like real friends!
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Crazy =-.
Gorgeous quilt. Great run and super yum-a-licious eats.
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..Travels and Chilled Peach and Apple Soup =-.
What a beautiful quilt. Great job on the hill run!
.-= Amanda @ Bakingwithoutabox´s last blog ..More Running & German Chocolate Brownies =-.