Loading ...Mind you, with the exception of the pasta (with which I am entirely uncreative and my “planning” involves jarred sauces, occasionally with vegetables added in), I have no specific plans for any of these. Any ideas will also be appreciated in the comments. These were the front runners; they beat out stew, pork chops, and Leftover Bonanza.
We now enter a second solid week of Sam dressing to the nines for school. Today it was a black dress shirt and tie. This girl must be exceptional (though now he’s suggesting that there may be a second girl catching his attention, the little player). Of course, the alternative is that he’s enjoying the attention he gets from adults in the school for looking like this, or that he’s relishing the role of “boy interested in girl.” He tried to insinuate that I was proud of him because he “finally found a girl to like!” but I shut that down in a hurry. 
Good grief, Mister Seven Years Old. On Friday, he went with his dress shirt open at the neck, with a hematite cross pendant around his neck; he looked like a member of a church praise band. I’d take a picture, but I don’t know how much I care to encourage this. On the other hand, he did choose to dress like a complete slob all weekend long…
Eric has taken to heading to the gym on a regular basis! He’s going in the evenings, which works nicely with my morning running preference. He’s actually doing a walk-run thing on the treadmill, and he’s musing about possibly eventually working up to being able to do 5Ks. It’s a struggle, now, not to want to talk about running ALL THE TIME with him, which would be a complete turn-off for him…but, like I said, it’s hard not to. 
He does need new shoes, fitted properly, so that lines up nicely with my desire to get up to one of the big running stores soon and check out fuel and hydration systems for the marathon. My Crush Fuel Belt isn’t going to do it, I think I’ve decided. Just too much of a pain to get the bottle in and out; once, this past run, when I tried, I managed to accidentally rip the whole belt off my waist. Suggestions for an alternative, and one that hopefully carries more than a single packet of something besides the bottles? (I hate gels, so need to carry Beans, Blox, etc.)
Been running a smidge earlier in the morning than I have to, so that I have time to sit and eat breakfast with Eric in the morning before he heads to work. (Meaning that he, too, is rising before he had been, so he’s not rushing and eating a few bites while standing over the kitchen counter.) It’s nice – so much more satisfying than an extra 15-30 minutes of sleep time would be. 
For a change, try adding some heavy cream (or really, whatever you have, but preferably over 10%) to your jarred tomato sauce (right at the end) to make a tomato cream sauce. A little change, but makes the tomato sauce very luxurious!
PS: condensed milk might work (basically, you don’t want the acid in the sauce to ‘break’ the dairy… the more fat/less water in the dairy, the less likely it is to curdle).
If you convert Eric, I’ll consider it.
Do you hear that, Eric?
I would never turn down shrimp. Since I’ve become allergic to all fish, shellfish, etc., I dream of eating seafood all the time.
Dinner. My vote is for whatever is the quickest to prepare. You could have steak with pasta on the side? or Pasta with shrimp or chicken.
Have you checked out Amphipod fuel belts? I will admit it takes a bit getting use to getting the bottles in and out but so far it’s the only one that I’ve found I could purchase a bigger pouch for. I use the 4/20 oz bottle belt. You can remove the bottles if you decided you only wanted to carry 2. I looked at fuel belt but their pocket was too small and I have a two bottle Nathan so I knew their pocket was too small for a marathon. Good luck with your search.
Perch sounds awfully good! I miss the Friday night fish fries back home in WI. Of course, you’re probably NOT going to deep fry yours and serve it with french fries, cole slaw, and buttered rye bread…
Oh, I forgot. About hydration belts, from what I’ve seen, most people use either a Fuel Belt or a Nathan. I love love love the Nathan Speed 4. I added two additional pockets so I can carry my digital camera and spare socks and Body Glide.
Just a note of caution: screw the Camelbak backpack system. It’s cumbersome and you don’t want it on your back for the entire.freaking.marathon. For a 10k perhaps, maybe a half mary. but you’ve got the right idea with the fuel belt.
My concern with the Camelbak is mostly that it would be tricky to get into the storage parts without completely taking it off. I don’t want to stop running unless I absolutely must, y’know?
I bought the Nathan 1.5 back last spring. It carries 2 bottles (10 oz and 5oz) and it has a small pocket for misc stuff (I carry Luna Moons-watermelon-YUMMY!!). It also has clips for your race number. There are other ways to add fuel packets/bloxs–sew them on with light weight thread that will hold them, but still be able to be pulled out. After almost a year of running, I will be registering for a half marathon in Houston–January 2010–just a month and two days after I turn 40!!! Excited, but scared–all at the same time. I have a 5k this Sunday…hoping for a PR after being sick! Good vibes for your training in that icky weather!
Barb, how many pouches/packs would you say fit into the pocket?
I would say I could fit 3 in there…normally I carry my cell phone/ID/DL with me and one packet of moons. I know with the Nathan brand, you can add on pockets which makes it very versitile as far as training/racing.