New Running Shoes

As I mentioned yesterday, scoring a great deal on some new running shoes was the highlight of my Labor Day.  (Fair warning: this is going to be a wordy post, so if you have zero interest in shoes for running or walking, then feel free to skip this one completely and read about one of my favorite meals.)

I’ve bought more pairs of running shoes in the past 10 years than I have bought pairs of cute high heels.  While that is not exactly reflected in my physique (ahem), I have learned a few things along the way about how to find the best deals on shoes for fitness, and why it’s important to spend more money on those shoes than any others.

Here are the shoes that Bionic Man, Endeavor, and I were wearing for running (Bionic Man and Endeavor) and jogging/walking with Hunter the Dog (me) prior to Labor Day.

Not bad, eh?  Still look like they’ve got some wear in them, right?  And they do, for things like mowing the lawn.  Not for exercising–especially running or walking for fitness. [Read more...]

Truth Stranger than Fiction

In the early hours of this morning, Bionic Man nudged me awake and told me, “I just had the weirdest dream.”  Then he told me all about it.  I agreed.  It was weird.

Only Bionic Man can come close to outdreaming me when it comes to weird dreams.  It’s one of the reasons I married him.  But this morning, I was not about to be outdreamed.

“I had a really weird dream, too,” I confessed.   [Read more...]

$30 Porch Makeover

It’s been a hot summer in our neck of the woods.  We’ve spent way too much of it huddled around the air conditioning for comfort, hardly daring to set foot outside–lest we cook ourselves.  At long last the heat wave ended, and we’ve been able to go out and look around.  While the heat kept our grass short, I saw a few things that had suffered from neglect.  Our front porch was one of them, landing a top spot on the to-do list this week.

Sadly, until I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, this was what greeted our guests:Porch before the makeover

Front door before the makeover

It was obviously a much more comfortable spot for spiders than humans.  

They were definitely spending more time out here than we were.  Until we made it look like this:So, how did I transform this neglected spot with a little elbow grease and $30? [Read more...]