11 January 2014

January

Ok, January.

Holidays are over, traveling is over, taking care of my two nieces is over.

We're home for awhile.

Whew.

Except, well, baseball starts on Monday.

Thanks, Florida!

So while Matt is busy filling our garage up with baseball crap equipment, I'm doing what I do this time every year.

Trying to figure out how I'm going to fill my time from now until May, when I'll see my beloved again.

Except, well, for summer ball. Then fall ball. Then...

You get the idea.

Several things are happening:

1. My parents are coming to visit! The last time they were here was in 2012, because someone just had to have two adorably cute babies and my parents magically turned into SuperGrandpeople overnight and choose to use all their time driving back and forth between Missouri and Georgia. Further proving my point that the baby of the family - in this case my little sister - is always the favorite. Sick.

Just kidding. I know they love me. It's not their fault we moved seven million miles away into the depths of Florida.

So yay! They'll be here in February. Matt's parents will be here in March. I have a cousin who might also spend her spring break down here in March. No matter who comes between Monday and May, you won't see Matt at all, which everyone has been told and warned of ahead of time. But on the other hand...

2. They might get to meet a new addition to the family! We're currently in the process of adopting another husky. The Siberian Husky Rescue out of Tampa has a six-year-old girl available, and we're interested. The group takes adoptions very seriously...our references and vet check checked out, so today was our home visit. A volunteer came here to make sure our house is safe and pet-friendly.



Um, do you think there will be a problem? Bunch of lazy dogs...

We kind of have a special-needs dog home going on over here anyway. Suka has been blind with cataracts since he was six months old (unfortunately common in huskies), and Knuke is somewhat neurotic and scared of EVERYTHING. This new girl is six and is missing an ear from trying to fight off something from taking her babies...the babies, of course, got adopted quickly but not many people like an older, damaged dog. We do! We do! Plus she's already housebroken. Bonus.

If we pass the home inspection, we'll get to drive up to Orlando to meet her. I keep calling her "her" and "she" because the rescue has currently listed her name as "Precious," which will not stay with her if she becomes a part of our family.

Matt probably wants a name like Shaq or Dirt or Cleat or something. I'm thinking something more like Loki or Juneau.

3. New Year, New Me - back in October I quit CrossFit. It was my addiction of choice at the time, and if you haven't read my post about why I quit, it's probably for not what you think. And I miss it. I think about CrossFit a LOT. A LOT A LOT. But I'm getting back to what's tried and true for me - running. My first love. This girl has three marathons and four half-marathons under her belt, and it's been years since I've seriously ran. The pounds have snuck back on and it's a struggle to get 3-5 miles done.

Who am I kidding? 2-3 miles is a struggle. For shame. 


This is the face of a hard three miles this morning. We shared some ice cubes post-run.

My neighbor is an avid (and I mean avid) runner - she's in her 60's and runs multiple marathons a year - and mentioned to me that the Runners Depot here in Vero has training sessions that go on a couple times each year.

Today I signed up for the spring group - we start January 28 and train through April. I'm very excited about this. I'll get matched with people who run my own pace, we get custom workouts and create goals, nutrition coaching, running coaching...just like when I started training back in 2004 with Team in Training. I'm looking forward to seriously hitting the pavement again and getting back in shape.

4. My friend Marilyn took me to the coolest place today. I love little local gems like this.

The White Rabbit Organic Farm.

It's a family-owned farm that has a co-op of other local farmers, all organic produce and other such items.


Their store is on the honor system - you go in, find what you want, measure it out or weigh it, fill out your ticket, put your money in an envelope, and drop it in the drop box. 


I picked out some heirloom tomatoes and some local raw honey. 


It's a place my mother-in-law would love.




We also went down the road to Schacht Groves, another local, family owned place that is, obviously, local citrus groves.

Marilyn introduced me to one of the owners, who I was happy to discover is originally from Clayton, Missouri. Yay STL! She liked my Cardinals iPhone case.

I ended up getting some grapefruit, and Marilyn traded me one for some honeybells, which are apparently the equivalent of crack down here this time of year. They're pretty much deep orange oranges that taste like candy.

I'm ok with that. 


Have I mentioned how much I love Florida in the Spring? Wait. I mean January.

Same thing.

And seriously. Lots of baseball stuff in the garage. True story.


Today I love: Discovering funky local places and free samples of orange juice straight from the grove in the backyard.