This week's list of random collected items of little or no interest.

I'm still trying out the Glycemic Load diet, and after losing 2 pounds the second week, I gained 2 1/2 pounds the third week (no change the first week, BTW). That was kind of depressing, so I drowned my sorrows in chocolate covered almonds and raisins. Then, back to the program again. It occurred to me later that the 2 1/2 pounds might well have been muscle, since I've been getting in some consistent workouts for a change. Let's give it a month to see whether I can chip away at my badonka-donk on this diet, and if not, I'll probably switch to something else.

The exercise program has been terrific. Some neighbors (not the bike riders next door; other neighbors) turned me onto a half-marathon training program that they did last year, which takes you from novice/5K runner to half-marathon in 12 weeks. They said it was really good, and another friend at work also did it several years ago and vouched for it as well. So, I'm on it as well, with a little adaptation...

He assumes you're starting from 5K. At one time, 5K was no big deal -- the typical morning jog to work was about 5K, and the afternoon jog home was 10K cross-country on hills.  Oh, to be young and invinvible and elastic. That was 4 years ago. Since then, I've alternated between being a little out of shape and just plain lazy. So, I'm taking 2 weeks to get to the base level of the program, doing basically the first week of the program but with shorter running distances.

For starters, I ran 2 miles on Sunday. I went early to beat the heat. HA! It was hot, it was muggy, there was no breeze. My heartrate wasn't very high but I could not push my body to any kind of speed and the whole time I felt like I was going to just keel over with heat exaustion.
Monday is a "stretch and stregthen" day, so I did the Yoga DVD that PIC loaned me. That was great! I did the warm up and level 1, so it was just 30 minutes, and it felt so good to do deep stretches and hold poses that made my muscles all warm and tingly. It was refreshing. I especially like that the instructor reminds me of Neil Patrick Harris, and all I can think of are the Harold and Kumar movies, and Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and that just makes me smirk and giggle the whole time. I also like that the models in the DVD are not skinny. I hate skinny models on workout DVDs.
This evening I ran 2 miles in light rain, cool air, a little breeze, and it felt SOOOOOO GOOOOOD. I could push the speed further, enjoy taking deep breaths (instead of feeling like I'd suffocate from the heat), and afterwards, I did 30 minutes of Yoga for a cooldown and stretch. E-baby even did some yoga with me, but eventually decided she would prefer to do pilates, so she did a pilates workout alongside my yoga. You go, girl, do your own thang. I like both.

NON-WORKOUT UPDATES-- In just the last week, Jambuca's been really working hard at talking. It's mostly words that only a mother can understand, but for example, yesterday in the hour of getting ready for work in the morning he said six different words that I noticed. For the record, they were fish, flower, milk, bowl, bear, bird, and food. Or approximations thereof. I'm so delighted. It will be really fun to have little tiny 1-2 word conversations with him.

Garden's go lots of big melons, some of which I did not know I planted. I have no idea what they are. They are probably the seeded pollinators that are required to accompany a seedless melon variety so that they'll pollinate, but they sure aren't watermelons! They're light green and football shaped! I'll keep you posted as I learn more.

The tomatoes we have are delicious served in thick slices, topped with sizzling-hot turkey bacon and melted cheese over that. Mmmmmmmm.

That's all for now. Have a great week!