Good news! We never lost power last night, thank goodness! We did end up with a total of close to 10 inches of snow. Here’s a view from our back deck this morning:

This evening I went for a run with Barry after he got home from work. We drove over to the biking trail in town, and ran 3 miles at a pretty slow pace. The trail was covered in snow (at times as deep as my shins) and had some icy patches, which made it difficult to run. There were also several downed trees and limbs across the trail that we had to climb under/over. Barry snapped a picture of me at the entrance to the trail and we tried to get one of a tree across the trail. It was already dark outside, and we took them with a cell phone, so they didn’t come out very good.

Today I was off work, since it’s a state holiday (Lee-Jackson Day). I had a low-key morning and spent time getting the house clean, doing the dishes, and watching this week’s episode of Dance Moms.

This show is so ridiculous, but it entertains me. I’m pretty sure at least 80% of it is scripted, but whatever. It’s fun to play “rate the crazy” and rate stuff from the show on a scale of 1 to 10. You gotta love those guilty pleasure shows.

I couldn’t go for a run after work today because the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain started up again last night and it continued to rain today until it switched over to a heavy snow this afternoon. It has been snowing hard all afternoon and we already have about 8 inches or so. The dogs are having a good time with it, though!

Hank running around in the yard

Hank and Scout playing on the deck 

It’s weather like this that makes me wish I had a treadmill, as much as I hate them. Since I couldn’t run, I decided to do some p90x. I did the cardio workout, which is my favorite one. Anyone ever done p90x?

Last night we went out to a local, new to us mexican restaurant. They brought out the standard chips and salsa, except the salsa turned out to be freshly made. It was delicious!

I got a beef enchilada/beef soft taco dinner combo and Barry got the enchiladas supreme (one chicken, one beef, one bean, and one cheese). The chicken enchilada turned out to be the best out of everything, and I will be getting chicken enchiladas the next time we go. Barry’s plate was more colorful than mine, so here’s a picture of his.

The power keeps on flickering, so cross your fingers that we don’t lose power! I better hurry up and heat up my vegetable soup (and maybe also grab a shower).

The rain finally relented this afternoon! I was beginning to think Virginia had become confused and thought we were located in the Pacific Northwest instead of on the East Coast. Remember what I said about duck weather? Well I’m surprised we don’t have ducks paying in the pond that has formed in our backyard.

I spent the majority of the day today thinking it was Thursday. In a way it is kind of my Thursday, since Friday is a state holiday and I’ll be off work. That makes tomorrow (Thursday) my last workday. So I guess aside from being disappointed that Grey’s Anatomy isn’t on until tomorrow night it doesn’t matter too much.

It warmed up to 50 degrees this afternoon and I got to run in shorts. I ran 4 hilly miles on the roads around our house. My legs were feeling tired today, but it was nice to be outside since the weather was better. I did hit one really windy section of road, just before my turnaround. For about 4 tenths of a mile I was running straight into a gusting wind. I was so glad to turn around and head back! And then I came home to this:

Courtesy of this little booger:

I guess you shouldn’t leave a 4 month old puppy to her own devices when you leave the house. We have a crate we usually put her in, but I figured I wouldn’t be gone long and she’d probably just sleep anyway. Wrong! R.I.P. Asics…. Honestly the shoe itself is still usable, I just need to get a new shoelace. Lucky I have two other pairs I’m currently running in.

Yesterday and today we have been experiencing what I call “duck weather”. As in “this weather is only good for ducks”. And by that I mean it has been raining nonstop since yesterday. Did you know ducks like the rain? Go find a park that has a pond with ducks when it’s raining and I bet you’ll see them out playing.

In true duck fashion, I forced myself went outside for a 5 mile run after work today, just on the roads around my house. It was 39 degrees, windy, and raining. Not exactly my favorite weather to run in. Can we go back to 50 degrees and muggy? I did run past this sign, but didn’t see any ducks out playing. It’s a little cold for them, I guess.

Do you ever get just one line of a song stuck in your head while running? I often do and today it was the only line from singing in the rain that I know. So for 5 miles I just kept thinking “I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain, what a wonderful feeling”…. repeat x1000.

I am proud to say that I conquered a hill twice today that I have dubbed Tabernacle Hill (the name of the road is Tabernacle Rd., I’m really creative). It’s a dead end road, about 3 tenths of a mile long, with a really steep hill. You run down the hill to the dead end and then have to turn around and climb back up to the main road. It’s pretty hilly where I live, but I guess I’m better off for it. Tabernacle Hill happened at mile 2 and mile 3 below.

  
Also, I think I may need to invest in a new rain jacket for running. The one I have is more of a wind breaker and I was soaked to the bone after about a mile. On a positive note, I can probably just skip my shower, dry off and put on my PJs now. We’ll see what Barry thinks about that.