Eager, Focused, Ready

Do things look a little different here today?  I thought so.  I also thought you might enjoy some Texas sunshine this morning.  It’s awfully pretty.  I wanted to share breakfast with you today.  I made a pot of oatmeal Charlie-style, cooked with lots of raisins and unsweetened coconut.  Then I topped my bowl of oatmeal Rose-Anne-style, with wheat berries, Naturally More peanut butter, and chocolate chips.  The chocolate is for energy, of course.

On Thursday, a brand-new camera entered my life.  It was a big day for me.  I’m thrilled and scared to begin integrating photos into Life, Love, and Food.  The truth is, it’s a challenge to weave different media together without losing the narrative.  A good story requires a bit of focus, and too many photos can distract from the written word, which, to me, is where the real action is.  But I love a good photo or two as much as the next blogger, so I’m going to try it.  It might be a little bumpy at first, or blurry and strange, but it will be an adventure.  And that, my friends, may be the most important part.

It’s a big weekend for me, and not just because I’ll have a camera glued to my hands for most of it.  Tomorrow is the 4th Annual Armadillo Dash, and I’m running in the half-marathon event.  Like most running events, this one will require me to peel myself out of bed before dawn so that I can trot 13.1 miles alongside perfect strangers.  Personally, I think the whole idea is slightly insane, but I can’t wait.  The feeling of accomplishment at the end is huge—bigger than words, even.  When I ran the Chicago half-marathon three years ago, I remember feeling buoyed up by the energy of the crowd, all those other runners and the spectators lining the streets.  The city stretched out before us, a ribbon of pavement winding through downtown Chicago and alongside Lake Michigan.  I felt strong and confident, each footstep bringing me closer to the finish line of what had become a five-month journey.  That same year, not too long after I started training for the half-marathon, I started this blog.  With running and with writing, I still feel that same sense of wonder, of being swept up in the momentum of the occasion.

I have to get my preparations for tomorrow underway soon.  My race packet awaits me at a nearby hotel.  This week I replenished my stash of eggs, so I can bake a batch of Breakfast Biscotti, several of which I’ll tuck into a baggie to take with me to the starting line.  In anticipation of how I’ll feel after the race, I want to make a big pot or two of soup today, something nourishing that will make for tasty leftovers.  I’ve got my eye on this Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Warm Spices from Orangette.  The recipe comes with a strong recommendation from my friend Daphna.  But I might double up on the lentil soups this weekend because I’m tempted by another soup—this time from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home—which is quite different from the green lentil soup.  It’s a red lentil soup, spunky with tomatoes and bell peppers, spicy and tart with cumin, coriander, and lemon juice.  There’s no coconut milk involved, but the red lentils should cook down into something creamy and soothing, a nice backdrop for all those vegetables and spices.  I’m eager to stock up on soups this week because I want to spend more time outside after work, soaking up the last rays of sunshine before the sun sinks down into the western sky.  It feels like spring around here, and I don’t want to waste a minute of that feeling.

Have a happy weekend, adorable readers.  I can’t wait to see what the days bring.