8.2 miles and T-T-T

Hi friends! It's Tuesday! WOOHOO! It's so nice to have a teacher workday on Monday, so that even though today is the first day back with students, it's TUESDAY, not Monday! Make sense? Just go with it.

These past few days have been LOVELY in Raleigh! The weather has been warm and sunny, yesterday the high was 78! But hoo boy, it was wiiiiiiindy! We opened our windows to air out our house, and the wind knocked around our curtains all night.

Yesterday, because it was SO nice out, I decided to head out for a really nice run/walk in my old neighborhood. I had to tutor at 5:30, and I knew the route was around 8 miles, so I figured I should give myself a solid 2 hours to do the down-and-back. WHOA it was windy! But so warm, I loved it! I wore my running tights and new champion tank top, plus my running shoes, watch, and ipod with holder. I also stashed my drivers license and car key in my pants zip pocket. I think that if I start running outside more (which I really want to do!), I need to get a road ID bracelet! Safety first!
I ended up running about 2 miles of the 8...my lungs were sore and tired, probably from being so sick last week. I was able to run 5-minute chunks, broken up with minutes of walking. Though I had planned/wanted to run more of it, I am just so glad that I had the time and the route to do 8 miles! When I got home, I google mapped the route, and it's 8.2 miles! No wonder I was EXHAUSTED by the time I got back to my car!
The totals: 8.2 miles, 1 hour, 50 minutes. 
Tonight I'm going to do a part of that big route with my friend, Alyssa. We're not running until 6:00, and I think it will be dusk-dark by then, so we'll probably just do a few miles down and back. We're both trying to up our endurance for outdoor running, so I'm excited to run with her! I haven't had a running buddy since college!! :)

Oh you guys...the pictures are NOT uploading right.
They're all rotated to the side, so you would have to tip your head to the right to see them correctly.
I'm sorry this blog has become picture-less. That was not my intention!
I need to find my real camera and stop taking dumb iphone pictures, so that I can upload them the right way, instead of sending pictures to my email.
I'm sorry. :(

It's Triple Tangent Tuesday!
Here are a few randoms about me and my life...

1. I hate wearing work pants. Not like I don't wear them at all, I just hate professional, career-wear pants. I do love sweat pants, and mostly don't hate jeans. For work though, if given the option, I will ALWAYS choose a skirt or dress. I do like capris, so I think the issue is that I can never find pants that fit me exactly as I want them to, length-wise. I'm 5'7", and am in a weird in-between height...not quite regular, not quite tall.
Today, for example, I'm wearing a bright pink skirt from Old Navy, with a black floral tank top tucked in, topped with my favorite black Banana Republic 3/4-sleeve sweater. And black flats, of course. Because this giant can't wear heels without towering over everyone else.

2. I love watching shows/reading books start to finish. I got the entire set of seasons 1-6  of Sex and the City for Christmas in 2009, and have had a few marathons, in which I hunkered down and watched all BILLION episodes from start to finish. This happened on Christmas break in 2009, and again last summer. Obviously, times when I don't have school! I'm a little creepy about starting and finishing movies/shows/books. If I start a show, I have to watch all the episodes...definitely can't wait until after school or on the weekends! Same with a new book! When the Harry Potter books were coming out every few years, I did some serious reading marathons!

3. Veggies. I love them and I hate them. I love them stir-fried or in a giant made-for-me salad...but I hate to prep them and eat them raw, just as a snack. Carrots with pb? Good. Celery and Laughing Cow? Delish. Salad from Panera? YUM. But at home, making salad, soup, etc....just doesn't get me really excited. I need to develop more enthusiasm about eating veggies. Any suggestions?

I hope you all are having a wonderful week! Pics soon, hopefully! I have a great picture of the eggplant Parmesan that rocked my world on Sunday. :)