Good morning!
I didn’t end up running last night, but I met several fantastic people (one at my meeting and the rest at the much-more-fun-than-anticipated social outing). This is only the second run I’ve missed in about 7 weeks, so I’m not stressing about it. Everyone needs a night spent talking about metadata and the need for hierarchical information every now and then, no?
No?
Moving on, then, from my mid-week vacation (I never go out during the week – it was quite a luxury), I’ll note that when I got home I finished the rest of the fasolada from lunch and drank one of these while I watched the last few minutes of Top Chef Masters (why was Gael so uptight about basil gelato? I’ve had garlic gelato, roquefort gelato, tarragon gelato…basil seems both a natural and tasty choice! If she wants lawn clippings, I have some wheaty shots for her to taste 
):
It was very strange for my family to drink water when I was growing up…somehow we survived only on soda and juice (and diet soda to boot, yuck). Seltzer was my early teenage “gateway” back to the normalcy of drinking water.
I much prefer Poland Spring seltzer, but they don’t stock that down here in cowboy country. I purchased some citrusy La Croix a few weeks ago when the grocery store was out of Limonata (so sugary, but I got hooked while abroad) and found it to be super-refreshing. This week I’m trying the new pamplemousse (grapefruit) – it’s a good balance of tart, sweet and crisp.
This morning I added some blueberries to my standard bowl of buckwheat flakes, almond milk and cottage cheese:
and I chugged down most of this:
(two small kale leaves, half a banana, a frozen strawberry, and a splash of almond milk)
I also wrapped up a mystery bundle for this morning’s snack, because I was more interested in reading about crocs and the economy than I was in making some veggie sticks:
I left one minute late. Doesn’t sound like much, but that minute can make or break my morning – if I miss my bus, I miss the early trains; I usually catch the last of the early trains, and all of the trains after about 7:15 are so crowded that there’s barely even any standing room. I had to run for the bus (to the amusement of the city workers who are doing perpetual road maintenance), but I made it!
Even though I was running in these:
I don’t normally think of wedges as running shoes, but they worked this morning!
I had another short sprint to catch the train…I didn’t make it that time, but I realized it was actually the train that leaves before the one I normally take, so I dialed back the efficiency a bit and chilled out with my iPod.
I really do love not having to drive to work anymore! It’s one of the best parts of my day – I can get of the train a stop or two early and have a nice walk to my office (well, a hot, humid walk but I’m a bit of a romantic about even the mediocre outdoors), I can catch up on the news or get a jump start on my to-do list, and I get to connect with people I’d never see anywhere else.
Public transportation isn’t all that popular for commuting here; most professionals seem to prefer their own air-conditioned bubbles (and honestly, the routes and stops aren’t all that convenient since the city’s a sprawling mess). Most of my commute companions are going to jobs that probably couldn’t be more different from mine, and many of the other riders are on their way to the free breakfast at a local church. No job is perfect every day, but I think my daily reminder that I’m lucky to do what I do, have what I have, and be who I am goes a long way toward keeping my head on straight 
While I’m rhapsodizing, I have to note that last night I actually threatened to get high and mighty about healthy living! One of the girls (a few years younger and definitely still figuring things out, which is as it should be) had a cheetos infatuation and it was really making my blood boil. (It was a friendly threat, no worries.) I think the stress of my long day was trying to find an appropriate outlet – and I do feel pretty strongly about living a healthy life. There are so many aspects of health that are difficult (or impossible) to control that I feel like everyone ought to at least take care of the more straightforward parts – eat some vegetables, go for a walk, be more positive than negative.
(Don’t worry, I didn’t lecture. It was more along the lines of “Well gosh, it’s a good thing we’re only having a drink or two because if we were here much longer I’d start playing unregistered dietitian.”)
Now, off my soapbox and back to my inbox.