Week 15 – New on Scene

A Week Full of Goodness

 

This was a big week in oh so many ways.  We had a surprise visit with my brother and his family and an overnight at a place I had not been to before, Jekyll Island Resort which is about 2 1/2 hours from us.  An easy drive there and back.  The resort is an old style family vacation resort and at this time of the year it was full of families, including their dogs.  The hotel is definitely of the old style but still elegant in its own way.  Rooms were small but very comfortable and we had a lovely view of the Intracoastal Waterway through the trees.  I was able to get a walk in with my brother and his wife when we walked from the hotel down to the beach where his son and family were staying.  The beach is beautiful and that day turned out to be perfect.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Lots of sand castles were built and even a very impressive trench.  What a fun, early spring for them, catch up and a wonderful surprise.

The Cooper River Bridge Run

Since I have been training for this run for the last six weeks I was ready for it.  We drove up to Charleston where we had packet pick up at The Coliseum.  I had no idea of the size of this event but I was beginning to get a hint when I went in to get my bib and t-shirt.  That’s the only reason to go into these races for the t-shirt and the medal, not really but it is kind of funny.  John was even able to find a parking spot and he came in to see if he could find me.  No luck, just too many folks around but we ultimately found each other using text messaging.  Wonder how we functioned before that became such an integral part of our lives.  We meandered downtown to our hotel and then went out shopping.  I had great luck and found my dress for the upcoming wedding.  It was clear right away that there were many, many tourists in town.  We started hearing that Charleston expected 250,000 visitors over the weekend and 40,000 of them were there for the Bridge Run.  Now, I have done quite a number of these over the past year but up until now the largest was the Rock & Roll in Savannah and I believe that was around 15,000 but I could be wrong about that number.  Until you see the management of 40,000 people it is hard to believe.  I had imagined that I would be trying to find a bus from downtown that was to be at Calhoun and Anson and it would be there at 6AM for pickup.  I was totally wrong.  There were over 50 buses, I don’t know how many volunteers shepherding us through lines to get on the bus and they just kept coming.  I barely slept from 2AM on because subconsciously I knew that I had set my alarm for 5:30pm and not 5:30am.  After all this I did not want to sleep through the race!  As it turned out I got to my corral, which was the letter I, by 6:15 and the race didn’t start until 8:00AM.  After some more texts my walking pals found me patiently waiting by the fence.  We couldn’t even come close to seeing the start as there were eight corrals plus the one for the elite runners in front of us.  Here’s the fact:  the first runner across the finish line did so before we even got to the start.  The mass of humanity that moved through the start and through town up to and over the bridge was something I will never forget.  It truly was a sea of people.  John found me at mile 6 and I was absolutely thrilled that he came out to see if he could see the finish.  Too many people to actually get to the finish but he told me he was at mile marker 6 and my face just beamed when I saw him.  I didn’t slow down though and kept on going to finish the race in 1:43:03 which was definitely a respectable time.  Whew!!!

Please Welcome Miss B

After the bridge run and a wonderful, restorative lunch at Husk in Charleston, we drove up to Camden, SC where we had been a few weeks ago.  We were finally picking up our newest family member, a tiny white West Highland White.  We stayed at our new favorite B & B, Bloomsbury Inn and I slept like I hadn’t slept in months.  A one hour nap and then nine beautiful hours of sleep.  After a super breakfast we went to pick Miss B up and drove back to Beaufort to pick up Wyke and introduce him to his new sister.  She got to meet some puppies at Wyke’s camp and we could tell that she is quite a self-confident young lady as it didn’t phase her one bit.  She was great in the car except when we stopped to help a young man who fell off his bike in a rather dramatic spill.  He was shaken up and scraped but nothing major.  Another couple turned around to help too and between us we got him warmed up and gave him some water, checked the bike and after a little while he was able to assure us the bike was fine and he could ride it home.  Hugs all around and we were off again.  Miss B thought this was awful that we left her in the car and made more noise than I thought a little one could make until we came back.  I reassured everyone that she was fine just lonely.

Introductions went well and our young lady seemed to pick up almost immediately that she was home and she knew where she was.  She figured out the water fountain immediately, ignored the cats who think she is a toy to play with, and even started to play a bit with Wyke.  If we can get her to sleep at night and to become house trained we will be in great shape.  I am about to buy a playpen for her but something tells me she is going to complain and want to be free.  She already has had the run of the side yard and loved it.  

A Recipe For You to Try

Again from my favorite site, Blue Zones, comes Tex-Mex Bowl with Avocado and Chunky Salsa.  If you don’t want to go to the site, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/4 avocado
1/4 cup brown rice
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 medium red pepper
1/2 cup green cabbage
2 1/2 cups kale
1/4 cup + 1 1/4 tbsp low-sodium salsa
1/4 can no-salt canned black beans
2 tbsp Pumpkin seeds

Directions:
Cook the brown rice according to the directions here.  Rinse all the produce. Rip the kale leaves off by hand into small, bite-sized chunks. Dice the stems. Steam the stems and the leaves for just a couple minutes, until lightly wilted.  Heat the corn until room temperature. Dice the red pepper and mix it in with the corn. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Dice the green cabbage into small strips. Cut the avocado lengthwise around the pit. Twist to open. Cube the avocado.  Drain and rinse the beans.
Add the steamed kale to a serving bowl. Pile on the rice, beans, and veggies. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds and optional ingredients on top. Add salt and pepper to taste with a scoop of salsa.

We learned at school to massage the kale to break down the fibers in it that often make it tough.  Give it a try.  Hope you enjoy it!