This morning I met up with Kim for a long run. We ran 10 miles on the Dora and New River Trails. It wasn’t hot outside, but it was really humid and I was sweating buckets by the end of the first mile. I actually drank close to two water bottles full of water during this run, which is more than I drink during a long run when it’s in the 80’s but not humid. Thank goodness for the water spigot at the head of the New River Trail.

I got all of my chores done yesterday so that I could just relax today after my long run. I have a bunch of TV shows to catch up on, a good book that I’ve been reading, blogs to catch up on, and a Netflix movie. The movie we have right now is “Rise of the Guardians”. It’s a kids movie, but I guess it looked good and/or funny when I saw the preview, so I put it on the list. I often put movies on the list if the preview looks good (before they’re even in the theater) and then when they finally come in the mail months later I can’t even remember what they’re about.

As soon as I got home from my long run I dumped the ingredients for cream cheese chicken chili into the crock pot for tonight. Don’t you love meals that you just put in the crock pot and forget about until dinner time?

Crock pot liners are the best invention ever. I’m also going to make cornbread to go with the chili. I use Jiffy cornbread mix, and in my opinion it’s the best kind.

I had wild woman hair during our run, thanks to the humidity

Do you use Netflix?
We just have the basic DVD’s in the mail plan

This week’s Chick Days post is up today because I have to work (boo), which means no long run until tomorrow. I have to work on Saturdays periodically from May – October. So enjoy one day early!
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Not a lot happened in the world of chicks this week. We were out of town last weekend and then Barry came down with a stomach bug on Monday (he’s feeling better now, though!). Most of the tasks we have left are not things I can do myself. So I thought instead I would share a bunch of pictures showing how they have grown since the day we brought them home.

I picked up our chicks when they were 4 day old fuzz balls:

At two weeks old they had grown enough to need a little more space, so they moved into a Rubbermaid tub:

We had some warmer weather during their third week so they got to experience being outside for the first time:

The chicks changed a lot by the time they reached four weeks old. They started getting more feathers and started doing lots of growing:

At five weeks old they had grown enough and had enough feathers to move outside to the chicken coop:

Once they moved out to the coop, we got to work on their chicken run area. This is a fenced in outside area attached to the coop . The chickens got to test out their new run when they were six weeks old:

And now they are on seven weeks old. They continue to grow and explore their new home place:

Five of them are red, like the chicken pictured above, but one is more white. Remember how I said they are named Lady, Dolores, Agnes, Cecilia, Beatrice, and Reba? Well, the white one is Agnes:

Don’t ask me who is who with the other five red ones, because I don’t know. But I do know which one Agnes is!

1. Look at what I found when I took one of my hanging baskets down this morning to water my flowers:

I hadn’t watered it since last Friday (before we went out of town), and apparently that was enough time for a mama Robin to pick that spot to build her nest and lay her eggs. I still watered my flowers because I don’t want them to die, but I was really careful not to get any water on the eggs. I also put the basket back up on the hook exactly the way it was. Hopefully mama didn’t get scared off.

2. I decided to take a rest day from running today, and instead did a level 3 Jillian 30 day shred workout this evening after work. I’m hoping this will let the blisters on the bottom of my feet toughen up a bit so that I can run tomorrow. During level 3 there’s a part where she has you doing a minute of traditional sit ups. This is my view during that minute:

Scout likes to stand over me and lick my face each time I get to the top of my sit up. It makes me laugh, which I’m sure adds extra difficulty.

3. This evening I am making best friends with my foam roller and stick.

I am hoping to solve all the problems in my lower legs that arose after Saturday’s long run and rolling my ankles multiple times during that run. My achilles and ankles are still very tight, but getting better.

Have you ever had a bird make a nest near your house?

Do you use a foam roller or “The Stick” or something like them?

The random:

Not the actual bear I saw, but this is what he looked like

Have you ever encountered a bear or other wildlife?

Did you have summer weather today?

Who else loves The Breakfast Club (and Sixteen Candles and Weird Science)??
I love the ‘Brat Pack’ and I think John Hughes was a genius.

I was feeling exhausted today, so I decided to swap my track workout for a 6 mile easy run. After an 8 hour workday turned into a 10 hour workday and driving nearly 300 miles during work, I just wasn’t physically or mentally up for a track workout. It was definitely the right decision.
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This past Sunday we celebrated Hank’s third birthday! I cannot believe we have already had him nearly three years. On July 4, 2010 Barry and I were driving back from our honeymoon and we picked up 7 week old Hank on our way home (this was planned, not spur of the moment).

He turned out to be a very good rider (and continues to be today) and pretty much slept with his head in Barry’s lap the whole way home. He was just 19 pounds when we brought him home!

The first thing we did was give him a bath, because the had fleas. He looked at me like “why are you doing this to me!?”

That little face melts my heart. He still gives me that look today, albeit a bigger version of it.

Hank is the first dog that’s truly mine, so naturally I have way too many pictures of him.

Some of his hobbies include riding on equipment:

Taking naps:

Playing fetch:

Taking naps:

Escaping:

Riding in the truck:

Napping while riding in the truck:

He doesn’t even mind if someone sits on his head while he naps:

Dressing up in costume:

Taking naps:

And of course running:

And tracking:

Hank is also a proud graduate and holds a degree in Puppy Kindergarten.

He recently acquired his own puppy, who he named Scout. So far he has done a good job training her and teaching her the tricks of the trade.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hank! You’re the best dog a kid could ask for!

If you have pets, how old are they?

What do you do to celebrate your pet’s birthday?