Coffee...coffee....

I'm really dragging today, and I'm not sure why, but I've got my 2nd mug of coffee + chia seeds at my side, and I'm sure to be at normal operating levels soon.

To warm up, though, I think I'll share my weekend top 11. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I didn't upload them from the camera yet.

11. I got in a nice stationary bike ride on Friday night, when I had lost hope of getting any exercise that day. Mr. Handsome & Handy went on a real bike ride, which inspired me to hop on the in-house bike, since the kids were occupying themselves. (Can't believe I made it a whole half-hour without being "paged.") (Forgot to mention that Thing 2 trotted in at the 30 minute mark, urging me to ride longer and lending me her tunes--mainly from "Phineas and Ferb." She no doubt took pity on my taste in music, although I find Django Reinhardt wonderfully peppy.)

10. Bacon. 'Nuff said.

9. I had a craving for a cheese souffle this weekend, and I actually had time to make it. And it didn't "soufflop" until it cooled, and even then it was still nice & puffy. I made Mr. H&H come and see it when I pulled it out of the oven, it looked so pretty. I even took a picture. I will post it later.

8. It rained! We can always use rain.

7. But it didn't rain the whole time, and it was dry at key points, like when we were bringing stuff in and out of the party place (more at #1).

6. Successful shopping trip at Target with Thing 2: we found pants that she liked. Thing 2, unlike her mama, is quite slender. I was worried that her preferred pants would feel too tight--they seemed kind of snug to me--but she liked that they didn't feel like they were going to fall off. (I had been trying the "buy it and have her try it on at home" tactic, but that's not working so well lately. She hates trying things on at home, but loved going shopping and using the dressing room. Ruh roh....Although I think it was her anticipation of selecting her well-earned "staying in my OWN bed all night" prize that helped also.) I made her sit and run and jump in them to make sure they felt good, and verified that yes, she would wear them to school, so I feel like I did due diligence. Here's hoping they don't shrink too much in the wash....

5. We also found her Halloween costume. She wanted to be a "cheetah princess" this year, and we found a pink leopard outfit that was just the thing, for $20 less than in the catalog. (Cheetah, leopard...close enough for 5 years old, thank goodness!) I enjoy making costumes, too, but I don't sew, so this one seemed more like a "buy it" one. The kids like playing dress-up, so they do use the costumes after Halloween. (Also, in our pumpkin-festing area of the world, Halloween is more of a "season" than an individual day, so there are many opportunities to sport one's costume.)

4. We didn't have to clean our house once, let alone twice (see #1).

3. Mr. H&H found a free iPhone app, "iMapMyRun." I'm looking forward to trying it; it uses the iPhone's GPS to track one's run. I will definitely review once I have a chance to give it a whirl. The reviews on the App Store were mixed, but we'll see. (I also found some interesting fitness DVDs at the library, including a couple of kid ones...hoping to have time to review those, too.)

2. We had a mix-up on IM regarding the day of Thing 1's party, and our dear friend "twriter" showed up at our house on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday. So we thawed some steaks and had a little impromptu birthday celebration that day as well, and Mr. H&H had company for enjoying college football while Thing 2 and I finished our shopping trip.

1. Thing 1's most excellent 8th birthday party at the local gymnastics place! Oh, it was too fun: they had a zip line, and the swinging rings (the kids swung out and kicked over a tower of huge foam blocks), obstacle course, trampolines, and the "air track," an inflatable structure that they could climb, slide down, and then bounce along to the end. We had a seriously sweaty group at the end of the gymnastics portion, all the better to feed pizza and cake. Several parents hung out to watch the fun and offered critical help at key points (like passing out the cake). And the staff complimented us on how well-behaved our group was, so there was much parental kvelling. (Coincidentally, "kvell" was the M-W online "word of the day" on Thing 1's birthday *last* year! Still appropriate, both Things 1 & 2 make us kvell on a regular basis. Although it's MizFit who deserves the credit for adding another wonderful word to my vocabulary. :-)

Signing off until the weekly update on Wednesday....

P.S. Congratulations to Christie O. on completing her tri-turned-du last weekend!!!