The plants are confused – they think it is spring. I don’t mind a bit.

The cooler temperatures and the bit of rain has made for a wonderful display of color. I only wish it smelled as delicious as it looks.

Yesterday Peggy and I ran the Tour des Fleurs 20k. It took us a while but we each sweated out the toxins and finished the race. Peggy was fantastic and she could have run much faster, but she was a trooper and stuck with me and my colon. She’s nice like that. I’m okay with going slow for the time being, I haven’t even been wearing a watch because my goal is to just get healthy, have fun and finish. Oh, and as always, we stayed true to the stay cute goal. Look how cute we are in our matchy, matchy TDF shirts:

I really wanted to stay longer after the race and check out the Dallas Arboretum, but our shuttle but was heading out. So, instead I’ll let you tour the RS arboretum. I’ve been making stairs. I put my heart rock collection in the top concreted area – because I’m fancy like that.  It’s only three steps, but I’m so proud of myself – it’s like a staircase to heaven. Except, ya know, it isn’t because they are smack dab in the middle of the gas patch . . . but if I hold my breath and close my ears, I can pretend for just a little while. I should totally take up professional staircase making! Stair making outside the gas patch!! And stair making with extra exclamation points!!!!

September has been massively crazy – mostly due to the stupid bacteria my colon insists on hosting. I just finished my 24th day of medication. The 24th day of what could be the most disgusting medication on Earth. Cross your fingers that it is gone forever. [please. please. please. be gone.]

In an attempt to look better, even if I didn’t feel better, I made a trip to play visit with my twin in Oklahoma.  She gave me a new color and cut and we were super cute and super blonde again! Just look how awesome my hair is! I love it. Michelle’s hair is always cute . . . one of those perks of owning a super-cool salon.

The day after I came home from my much deserved playtime with Michelle, my parents arrived. And I can’t believe I don’t have any photos from their visit. It was nice and relaxed and Kenza got another guitar lesson from Grandpa and my mom and I slaved away at the garden.  I do happen to have photos of the work we did, albeit not sunny ones. More photos to follow in a later post.

And then there has been training. And I won’t lie, it hasn’t been easy . . . the air here has been so bad. Thank goodness Peggy and I head over to the trails to do our long runs. This Saturday we are running the 20k Tour des Fleurs. It is going to be so much fun – just cross your fingers for some cool weather.

It’s been such a remarkably hot August (and June & July) it is amazing anything is alive right now, let alone blooming.

I’ve been avoiding this too long. So, I’m bulleting. Get over it.

• I did P90X for about 2 weeks and then went on vacation to Indiana.
• In Lafayette, Indiana the plan was that Amy and I would do P90 every day.
• Um, that didn’t happen.
• What did happen was a whole lot of drinking margaritas or mojitos in the pool.
• Or both.
• And maybe some wine.
• And hot dog eating
• And playing dress up.
• And baseball games.
• And legos.
• We musn’t forget the legos.
• I love being Aunt Suzie.
• And there was bison and wolves.
• And sushi consumption with friends.
• And Kim remembers me doing cartwheels in the street.
• In heels.
• And, perhaps, some falling on my ass.
• Then I went to Indianapolis to visit my parents.
• No P90 there – only weeding and gardening.
• Seriously, my mom has neglected the weeds for what seemed like 40 million years.
• Don’t tell her I said that.
• But I’m a good daughter. I weed. I mulch. I dig. That’s what I do.
• Which I really didn’t mind because I brought back 3 garbage bags worth of plants for my garden.
• Which really don’t grow well in Texas.
• But I pretend.
• I’m back in Texas for 2 days and we have the mother of all hail storms.
• Followed my a massive plague of grasshoppers.
• Good thing I’m an atheist.
• Those 3 bags of plants?
• Um, for the most part, not so much plants anymore.
• Disastrous, monstrous storm clean-up takes place.
• Turns out the mother of all hail storms was actually a tornado.
• Ever clean a tree out of a pool?
• With a hot flash?
• Fun times.
• And we have to get a new roof. I’m seriously not happy about this.
• For 3 weeks, massive landscape clean-up was my P90X workout.
• Then something cool happened.
• My friend Peggy said she would train for a marathon with me.
• Woo-Hoo! A running partner.
• We’ve been running like rock stars and we are up to 7 miles.
• Then I planned a ShaleTest fundraiser.
• I baked a load of cookies.
• And I forgot to take pictures when everyone arrived.
• But it was awesome.
• Then I got a sinus infection.
• And didn’t do anything for 5 days.
• I blame global warming for the sinus infection. And, of course, gas drilling.
• Didn’t think I’d leave that out, did you?
• Now, I’m feeling better.
• But I still have hot flashes.
• Go antibiotics!
• Oh, and go new fall shoes that I can’t wear yet.
• Shhh, don’t tell Chef.
• But P90 hasn’t been on my schedule for a while.
• I know you all have been wanting to know how it’s going.
• Now you know.
• So, I’m thinking . . .
• Do I start P90X up on my non-run days?
• Or do I do it in addition with the run days?
• I really like the 4 day run weeks.
• A lot.
• But my big surgeryfied-belly says I need more.
• Sigh.
• Being old sucks.

So that’s it. Now I can get back to regular posting. Guilt free. Sort of.

So this is filler. I know it’s been a while, I’m working on it. Garden photos should work to fill the space until my brain is properly functioning again. Although, in this forsaken, stupid hot, gaseous hell-hole called Texas, the blooms (and my brain waves) are few and far between, but here are some photos from the July garden.

All right now. That should sufficiently have my pasty-whiteness off the main viewing area. So, coming soon: summer, Indiana, Gas, P90X, Sinuses, Wine reviews, and most importantly the new & improved Runner Susan. Until then, some wine needs consuming.

all the May garden photos.

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a month since I’ve blogged. So much is going on . . . more about the cantaloupes and baseballs next week. In the meantime, with the help of my ever-so-helpful Aussies, I spent the entire morning hosing frack dust off my plants and I am crossing my fingers that I don’t lose any more. I had to replace several today, it made me sad.

[Insert big fat sigh right here]

Many years ago I remember standing by my Grandparent’s small Christmas tree and studying a particular scary-looking elf ornament.  My grandfather noticed me staring and commented it was Spanking Elf, and if you weren’t good girl or boy, Spanking Elf would come to your house instead of Santa. I wasn’t really sure if he was serious or not, but being the age when one still believed in mythical creatures such as Santa, the possibility of a Spanking Elf was terrifying.  I vividly remember laying in bed on that Christmas Eve, and when all the other kids were worried about getting coal in their stocking, I worried if Spanking Elf was going to make a stop at our house.

Every year Kenza mocks Spanking Elf and she laughs as we decorate the tree – and the funniest part of the story for her, is that kids back “in the old days” actually got “real-life” spankings.

consists of a sharp knife, a glass of wine and a whole lot of comfort food.

Internet People, the worst is upon us. Yesterday Kenza and her friend were playing in the pool and they are all like “what’s that black worm thing?” and OH. MY. GOD. I nearly had had failure. Two oven mitts, some tongs, a 10-foot pool net and I manage to get the thing into a jar.

Do you see what I see, Internet People? It’s a leech. A. LEECH. My neighbor drained his pond and guess what, the leech decided it wanted to live in my pool since his home was gone. I am still having serious some heart palpitations. I’ll take a snake over a leech any day! ANY DAY.

I’m not sure what leeches are good for these days, but maybe we can use them to drain the stupid out of unscientific greedy gas promoting guys?

On Saturday my Chef and I loaded up the car and headed to Oklahoma. The plan: drive 3 hours, run 3 hours. And it happened just as so, and it was a spectacular 50-degree sunny day. If the weather turns out like this on race day, the Martini Twins are going to kick some serious marathon ass. We ran our 17 miles in 3 hours and 5 minutes – a perfect training pace for us. This is the most I’ve run in a long, long time and it made me really happy and really hungry.

After our spectacular run, our wonderful hosts, Michelle and Phillip, fixed us the most delicious meal, which I proceeded to inhale in approximately 2 seconds. Hey, I ran 17 miles, I was hungry. And I proceeded to be hungry for the next 3 days. I normally have tons of pictures from my Oklahoma trips, but this is the only one that wasn’t blurry from my shaky hands from running 17 miles. We took this on Sunday, the day after we ran 17 miles and then proceeded with 17 miles of retail therapy to recover from the 17 miles of running we did.

Did I mention that we ran 17 miles? I’m not normally a beer drinker, but I think that was the best beer I’ve ever had in my life. I needed those carbohydrates for all the shopping we were about to do. And, Internet People, you are going to be so proud: I bargained shopped. And, I got some fantastic deals – for some unknown reason my Chef keeps reminding me about some recession?!?

So, humor me while I’m in the mood to ramble.

Our first stop was at Tuesday Morning where I procured a Spiegelau wine decanter for $5.99 and another wine decanter for $16.99. Now I have a total of four wine decanters. Which is good, because they are so pretty and for some reason wine decanters don’t last very long in our house.  I also got a set of nested mixing bowls, which I need because since I’ve met Michelle, I’ve been inspired to cook stuff that tastes like real food. FYI – I’m still in training and have a long ways to go.

Our next stop was TJ Maxx where I got an adorable sofa throw and some salt scrub – I also had a really heated love-hate relationship with a gorgeous Steve Madden handbag that I reluctantly ended. I still haven’t recovered from that break-up. Then, we headed over to Ross where I found some really cute salad servers – and the most amazing thing happened as we were walking to the check out line – I found a salad serving dress. And for only $19.99. Is that not amazing? Because I totally did not own a salad serving dress of any way shape or form. Now I can toss salads with reckless abandon. I’m such a lucky girl.

(I feel a salad making picture going right here in the near future.)

I also ended up with a bread basket from Target, and a pepper grinder from a different Tuesday Morning. Do you see the trend in kitcheny stuff? I’m almost a full professional now – or, at least I look like one. I don’t think I spent much over $100, which makes the Chef me really happy. And all that after running 17 miles.

We headed back to Michelle’s house and had another better-than-gourmet meal, drank some good wine while we watched the Olympics with our husbands. Our husbands who bought us flowers for Valentine’s Day.  A lovely, lovely weekend.

We had a blast. Chef Nicole took over my kitchen and taught me some awesome things! The wine was fabulous, the food was fabulous and the company spectacular.

I interrupt your regularly scheduled blog with a little maniacal organization and a massive purge unlike any other in Runner Susan history. This is what travel does to me, I can’t help it – a little late to call it spring cleaning – perhaps mental breakdown would be more accurate – but late is better than never, I reckon.

I’d post the before pictures but some might say they look the same as the after – I assure you there is a difference, maybe not in neatness but in quantity. It’s called minimalizing for Napa.

And yes, I own TWO shiny red bags – it’s my birthright as a woman. Bite me.

Coming soon the new and improved running closet and the ever-so-thankless office reorganization.

Well, it’s thunder storming again. No bike rally for me this morning. How about some garden photos? It has rained so much in May I haven’t been able to spend too much time working in the beds. Or make a vineyard. Grrr!

I know it’s horrible, but when I cleaned off the mower I found part of a snake and it sort of made me happy. Now I feel guilty. There are good snakes, this I know – but it seems the only ones I come across are copper heads. Copper heads with only one purpose in life: to freak me out. I know I’m a little obsessed with the snakes – but heavy rains have washed them out of hiding and they are EVERYWHERE.

Obviously, today is yard work day and as I type this it will amuse you to know that I smell like fish emulsion. I used the last of my chemically stuff, like Miracle Grow and Round Up, and have switched to Weedigar and fish and seaweed emulsion. We’ll see how it goes, but I can tell you it certainly smells like it’s working. Also, I have good green signs like ladybugs, lizards, frogs and worms. Ick. I don’t like worms but I’m getting better. Just call me Runner Mother Nature from now on.

I’m going so green I have requested a compost tumbler for mother’s day. I am somewhat traumatized by this decision because I’d really rather have new, pretty shoes. It seems criminal, but sadly, I’d use the compost bin more – although I hear you can’t put snakes in compost bins.

Enough about snakes. Let’s talk tomatoes. I’ve been trying to grow tomatoes ever since I moved to Texas. Nothing has worked because the weather gets so hot so fast they split before they ripen. So last year when my mom was visiting she brought me an Earth Box – but it was too late in the season to plant. So this year I planted two tomato plants in it. And wouldn’t you know, I’m growing tomatoes like a professional. I’ve yet to see any red ones, but the little green ones look promising and I should have real edible tomatoes in no time. But pretend I didn’t just say that so I don’t jinx myself.

I’ll have new pictures of the garden soon, but since it’s been raining forever and ever I haven’t had a chance to take pictures. Okay, so I need to go and shower or cats are going to start following me.

April on the left and May on the right.