Napping Bee.

I know.  I know.  It has basically turned into some sort of hack-version of the Animal Planet ’round these parts lately.

I have nothing to say about that situation.  I just call it like I see it.

I did not know that bees were given to napping.  Maybe they aren’t and this one was offering its body up to predators as a sacrifice for the hive.

Or maybe…it was a sick bee.  I’m not sure which would be worse, to tell you the truth.

More importantly, the more observant amongst you might be thinking, But Kat, you don’t have a hydrangea.

And prior to Saturday night, you would have been correct.

But Jenna used entire hydrangea plants for decor at her wedding, so when the clock struck midnight 10:30, she forced one on me.

Obviously I happily accepted it without complaint.  I’m 99% sure that Hydrangeas are my favorite flower.  The only reason I say 99% and not 100% is because invariably I always forget certain varieties of flowers (Example: Peonies) until they are placed directly in front of me.

Puzzling over what to do with it the morning-after, I brought it outside along with a soup spoon.  I then proceeded to gouge out the spot where the plant formerly known as Purple Basil was, and tucked the hydrangea into its new home.

I love it 11/10.  It is a wonderful contrast to The World’s Laziest Plant That Refused To Grow And Then Died Outright.

Thank goodness that shame has lifted from our tiny planked-paradise.

Bee Story Time: While my bee was apparently a pacifist, do you have any horror stories re: Getting Stung?

Gardeners: What’s growing for you right now?  Have you had any major failures?

Or something like that.

Probably because taper officially started on Sunday. I don’t quite know what to make of that or how I should feel since I’ve essentially been tapering since the beginning of May.

Taper is starting and today I ran 13 miles for the first time in a month.

Why yes, we can all hyperventilate ensemble.

I know I did this to myself.  I put myself in this place.

When I ran the first 20 miler on my plan, I knew that based on how my foot felt, it would be the only one I ran this training cycle.  Largely, I continue to feel very much okay with that decision.  I had a great run and I know that at this point, if I could go back and do it all over again, a second or third one would not have made the difference.

An extra four weeks of healthy training, on the other hand?  Would have made lots of difference.

Physical Therapist #2 (I am now on my third and final therapist) told me that the runners he sees do not feel “pain.”  They feel tightness, tenderness, soreness, clicking, stiffness and discomfort.

Raise your hand if you were nodding along as you read that list.

Me too.

But they do not feel pain.  Because pain means admitting that an injury is real.  That it can’t just be massaged-rested-stretched away.

And so every day we run “pain”-free, we engage in an internal dialogue.

To determine if the healing we find in a rest day will help us more than the speed training will.

To figure out if taking a week off now will save us two injured weeks down the road or if it will completely and totally derail our plans and goals.

To think about whether going to a Real Doctor will teach us anything that running friends couldn’t or we weren’t able to find on Google.

So after this last month of pre-taper, I find myself in a place where there is No Plan and No Real Goal other than to show up at the start line on June 16th.

Considering that last year I only managed to run 9 miles in the week leading up to the marathon (after two full weeks of rest), I think that puts us ahead of schedule.

Runners, what do you do during taper?

How do you decide if an injury is “real”?

And for bearing with me, the winner of my giveaway for The Homesick Texan is…Carrie!  Congratulations, Carrie!  E-mail me at tenaciouslyyourskm at gmail dot com with your address so I can get shipping!

I solemnly swear that after this, the last wedding post, we will be 100% back to our regular programming and I will finally have the time to (1) catch-up on blogs and (2) draw a giveaway winner.

Between laundry, cleaning and tanning, I was just done-for on the productivity front today.

Our Madelyn got married yesterday and the only way to describe it is to say that when she walked down the aisle to Here Comes The Sun, It Was Perfect.

A photographic summary of last night.

Look.

We call it: Attack of the Sweaties.  Really.  My hair was a total rat’s nest by the time the night was done.

I know that based on the number of (non-hired) cameras in the room, there have to be more snaps of us.  Of the tables.  Of the ceremony.  Of the most gorgeous wedding dress that I no longer have to deflect questions about.

re: The Dress.  The Parents, Christine (Madelyn’s sister-in-law) and I went shopping with her for The Dress, and thus we were the only ones who knew what it looked like.  It was a wonderful honor, but when people started asking questions about the dress, I had to play Sphinx because I was never sure if she had started sharing little details here and there.

But instead of posing, we were busy throwing back drinks and fully committing ourselves to the art of dance.

By “commit” I mean three hours worth of full-frontal, everybody-everywhere should probably have a safety-circle, maybe I discovered a bloody scratch on my right eyebrow today.

Yes, really.  There’s no way you’re as surprised as I was.

This is in contrast to this morning when I woke up with Priscilla next to me in bed and Marcus and Ben on the floor.

Of the many things we did last night, driving home was not one of them.

Truth be told, I found out this morning that everyone assumed I was hitting the bar hard throughout the dancing (reality: I cut myself off after dinner) which explains why Lindsey and Marcus were force-feeding me Korean tacos from the Home Street Home food truck that they rented for when the late-night munchies struck.

Like, coolest idea ever?  Or coolest idea ever?

In all seriousness, I think I probably had…six tacos?  By the time I had snarfed the last one, I was like, no really guys.  It’s cool.  We can stop now.

When I die, bury me in short ribs and radish slaw.

What’s the most interesting wedding food you’ve ever eaten?

We are so good at this game.

In as many words, while we were handcuffed together, I got his name, number and e-mail address.  Because when I am drunk, I like to play matchmaker.

So, if you are also around the age of 22 and want to go on a date with a reasonably attractive guy named Joey who seems to have his life together, call me.  Maybe.  I’ll give you the deets.

Since we’re leaving forMadelyn’s wedding in about an hour and a half, I’m photo dumping.  If there are any transitions at all, they’re going to be just awful, so stay sharp, kittens.

These were on the ends of the benches at Jenna’s wedding yesterday.

They weren’t terrifically elaborate but they were SO beautiful.

Since we had three hours in-between the ceremony and the reception, Marcus and I went on a side-trip to Como Zoo (two minutes away) because I have been many, many times and he has been never.

And the suggested donation is $2 for adults.  Which basically translates to “free.”

On our way out, he asked me if I wanted to ride the carousel.

Answer: Always yes.  I have absolutely loved them since I was a pup (it’s the horse-thing).

But as evidenced by the snap above, I had to ride side-saddle since I was frocked-up.  I can truthfully say that this was a first for me.

Jenna’s husband John is A Major Fan of Nautical Themes.  As in, when Jenna moved in with him, all of their bathrooms had one.  Jenna is…not.

So even though I know that this is a declaration of war to my dear sorority sister (and an act of kindness for her husband), I tried to fashion a nautical-themed envelope for their card/gift that would be beyond impossible for John to throw away.

I think there’s a chance that it may actually survive the gift opening.  Some of you may think that I am kidding.  Really, I am not.

Homage to Steel Magnolias.

Enough said.

And finally some artistic looking shoes.

Don’t ask.  I don’t get it either.

What are you up to this weekend?

Which, among many other things, involved me getting handcuffed to a 22 year old.

What I didn’t plan for was an ending like this.

Marcus: Is the cat flicking you off?

Me: No, it’s just missing bits.  At least I got most of a single tattoo instead of three different ones like the other girls.

Waking up to it this morning?

Priceless.

Do you do temporary tattoos?

I’m not going to lie, assembling these was a total confidence-killer.  The salsa seemed to spicy, the corn tortillas did NOT want to behave and we did not have enough chicken.

I like to think that I have a fair amount of trust when it comes to actioning new dishes, but oh, how I was tested.

Since we didn’t just have carnitas off-hand, I decided that instead of poaching the chicken, I would season it as if it were carnitas, roast it and shred.  This was A Good Decision because the difference between poached chicken and carnitas is kind of significant.

As this batch didn’t make nearly as many enchiladas as I would have liked (my failing, not Lisa’s) and I wanted to stretch these out into leftovers, we served them West-Texas Style with a soft-fried egg on top.

Really, this was the best of all possible worlds.

Monday – Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Sauteed Mushrooms and Green Peppers on Homemade Crust

Originally I was going to make some sort of frittata-type arrangement and when I got home from my ride I was just…not in the mood.  I wanted something that fell more into the categories of Comfort and Carb-y.

Thankfully it doesn’t take a lot of arm-twisting to get Marcus to agree to pizza.

The way I justify pizza in this house as a healthy food is by piling about a pound or so of vegetables on top.  Which is really probably unnecessary because we eat a salad with dinner anyway.  But we all know that variety is the spice of life and cheese would just be…cheese.

Modification: I tossed in ~ 1 T dried, crushed rosemary and ~2 T minced garlic to make the crust a little bit more interesting.  You should too.

Wednesday – Chicken Skewers with Meyer Lemon Salsa, Roasted Asparagus and Roasted Potatoes

Surprise.  I subscribe to bon appetit and yet, for all of the things that I see in there that look delicious, I am rarely moved to action.  So anyway, please excuse the fact that this recipe originally appeared in the January 2012 issue and it is now May.  It is what it is.

Confession: I do not love skewering things.  If I’m standing at a social event (or a fair) then yes, things on a stick are purely delightful.  If you’re having guests, it can be a really nice presentation on the plate  But if you have the time to sit down, you enjoy meat that isn’t bone-dry and you’re not trying to stretch the amount of it that you have, there’s just no reason.

So we did not skewer these chicken thighs, trusting in forks and knives to cut bite-sized pieces instead.

How innovative, I know.

We also used the grill-pan instead of the grill or the broiler because when it’s all Thunder and Lightning outside, that’s really The Choice.

Lemons we didn’t have: Meyer.  So we made the salsa with regular lemons.  Because sometimes, that’s just how you have to roll.  I will readily admit that segmenting lemons (using the “supreme” method) was nightmarish and I had to call it quits after four.  I was ready to banish the salsa to the Do Not Make Because It’s Too Pesky List, but it was SO GOOD.  So it looks suspiciously like I’ll be buying a pair of gloves for the next time I action these instead.

Have you ever made homemade guacamole?

If not, you really need to get on that.

What is the most painful dish you’ve ever made?

p.s. Have you entered yet?  Don’t forget my giveaway!

Verdict: We are.  Even if we try to avoid admitting it.  Most of the time.

Emily managed to call my attention to convenience-astrology last night, so I took a moment to do a brief bit of research so that we could all be in-the-know.

The deal: Mercury moved into Gemini today with Venus and the Sun, the Moon is in Cancer and Mars is in Virgo.

Take that information and do with it what you will.  We should probably be making a chart of this stuff.

And yes, I checked the moon phase.  It’s not even close to full.  At all.

What am I making of it?

Today, as I was about to pull into our driveway after work, I noticed this.

Whomping Willow down.

Since neither Marcus nor I saw it this morning on our way out (it would be kind of a big thing to overlook), I’m assuming that some part of today’s storm took it out.

Leaving us with…a lot of space to spy on the neighbors.  Or something.

Given the choice, I would prefer to have my tree back, thank you very much.

What I’m really trying to say is that Universe?  I get it.  This is me (and I suspect a lot of us this week) hearing you.  We are not in charge.

Minnesotans: Did you lose any trees?

Horoscopes: Yes or no?

P.S. Don’t forget The Giveaway is still going on!

Like, Thanks for all of your allusions, but none of us want to read about the life you refuse to tell us about.  I bet this must be really therapeutic for you because none of us get it and none of us care.

Am I right?  Or am I right?

Post-run, despite the ominous sky, I headed out onto the porch to watch these guys do their thing.

Fact: When I’m on my own, I call them geeselings.  Yes, I realize it’s not a real word.  But it just seems more fitting.

For whatever reason, apparently watching the little ones fills me with a sort of glee.

Especially when they tend to roll like tiny, uncoordinated raptors.  I DIE.

If you managed to stick with me through that metaphor, then you’re obviously in it for the long haul.

And then they start wandering into the road and my heart is in my throat.  Attached much?

And yes, this is not even quite half the flock.  But they were a little bit rambunctious today.

An hour later (and when the wind really started picking up) I headed in.

After snapping at least 30 pictures of them, I’m guessing that my dignity welcomed the respite.

Baby animals: Which ones are the most adorable?  Yes, I’m serious.  Bonus points for links to photos and YouTube videos.

p.s. Don’t forget my giveaway!

And no, it’s not babies.

But considering the fact that I very nearly passed out on Monday night after giving myself the equivalent of a paper cut while slicing croutons (not squeamish, either) and that Spot therapy-catted me post-work and pre-ride, it’s safe to say that right now I am not managing stress.  Period.

I gave it the good old college try, but right now it’s just easier to feel my feelings and the like.

So, thank you for bearing with me in this state of non-coping.

On that note, I did source a yellow frock for one of the weddings I’m attending this weekend.  I was hoping for a color-blocked arrangement, but those were nowhere to be found.  So I abandoned that ship and went with what worked.

Do I know what shoes I will wear with it?  No.  Does it matter?  Probably not.  I really only need them to (1) facilitate height and (2) enable twirling.  Because that’s what dancing shoes are for.

Did anyone else know that Sephora moved into JC Penney?  Because that was pretty confusing for me too.

Especially because there is an actual Sephora in the main body of the mall.  Which I stopped at so that I could spritz myself with a bit of Chanel Bleu.  Yes, I know it’s a men’s fragrance.  Yes, I also know that it smells delicious.

In the interim, don’t forget to enter The Giveaway!

What do you do to relieve stress?

What’s your favorite fragrance?

Last week was probably one of the most wonderful I’ve ever had running in the sense that I was so incredibly joyful to be out there.   Yes, I realize that this continues to place me squarely in the category of the overly-enthusiastic runner, but the moment that this show becomes actual work (instead of the work that I have chosen), I am so out.

By the numbers, I logged 29 miles, did 10 miles on Sunday and wrapped-up the week with an ability to walk.

So much for the 10% rule.  But I think we can all agree I don’t exactly have time to build on 10% of 3 miles.

I’m really hoping to get back into the swing of things over the next week or two and start scheduling all of the running dates I’ve had to postpone over and over again.  Despite my card-carrying status as a cat runner, I really have enjoyed being able to log the miles and workshop at the same time.  It’s multi-tasking at its finest.

But just because most things are going swimmingly doesn’t mean that everything is perfect.

One of the (unspoken) downsides of laying off the running for three weeks is that my callouses all decided to jump ship.

Which is totally awesome because I am such an amateur at getting blisters (I think this round would be my fifth blister while running experience…ever) that I don’t even know how to deal with the situation.

After interrogating The Twitters and getting coached to Not Wear Cotton Socks (I’m sorry, but no shit.  I’ve run a marathon.  I KNOW BETTER THAN TO WEAR THE COTTON.) and on how to deal with blisters in heels (Steph, that actually was useful), I decided reinforcements would be needed.

I usually avoid running forums like The Plague because everyone and their brother is an expert and their way is The Best.

Yawn.

But sometimes you have to go into the heart of the beast.

And apparently the beast’s answer was duct tape.

A few sporty co-workers were able to corroborate that advice and so I added Target to my post-work commute.

Since our intention was to sport neon colors for the 1 Mile, I thought that hot pink duct tape was most likely The Right Choice.  Why go drab when you can have fashion AND function.

As I’m guessing that there are a few of you on The Internets who may also need this, a brief step-by-step.

1. The Necessary Materials: Band-Aid(s), Duct Tape, Scissors.  Did you know that the My Little Pony ones come with extra healing powers?  Because I’m pretty sure that they do.

2. Say goodbye to your pedicure.  No, seriously.  I bet it looked great and that it was going to last forever.  That is not your truth anymore.  Apply the Band-Aid.

3. Trim the duct tape down to the appropriate size for what you’re wrapping.  There is no frame of reference for “appropriate” so just guesstimate while trying to avoid sticking the tape to itself or to Not Your Foot.

4. Wrap.

5. If you’re lucky like me and the blister situation is popping up in two places, wrap lower as well.  Maybe for this one you can forgo the Band-Aid.  Or maybe you’ll need another.

6. Slide on your sock, being careful not to roll the tape, and get going!

What are your blister remedies?

p.s. Enter my giveaway!