A Georgia peach is never too sweet....

This afternoon, Kelli, a friend from childhood stopped by The Homestead to visit. We had a great time catching up and remembering (or more accurately, Kelli reminding me) stories from when we grew up together. Kelli's youngest was daughter born and raised in Georgia so it came as little surprise to me that she was totally unimpressed with the non-sweet tea I made. Good thing I held onto some Splenda when I gave it up cold turkey this spring!

Run Happy

My new sneakers are here! I got the call mid afternoon, hopped in the car, drove down to Pennington and had my orthopedic inserts fitted to the cushioned insole of the running shoe so I can start wearing them out. They feel great and it's a good thing, because ever since I ordered them last week I have found my former pair to be less than ideal and a great excuse to ease up on the training for the 5K till the new ones arrived. Well, no excuses now, because according to the Brooks advertising slogan I am now able to "run happy". I find that idea humorous because I am usually happy when I am done running. I truly wish I liked running better than I do - and I am hoping that in training for the 5K I will have a breakthrough of sorts and discover a better attitude about running - but it never occurred to me to "run happy"! Here's hoping "run happy" is like Peter Boehler admonishing John Wesley to "Preach faith till you have it; and then because you have it, you will preach faith."

See - run happy - does that come with a money back guarantee?

AM & PM

AM: I know the blog is advertised to feature happenings around the 5PM hour, but yesterday I officially registered for a 5K as a 'runner' and I need a little help. I've been doing a combo run/walk workout for several years now, but sustaining a single run for any distance more than a mile is something I just haven't done. The event isn't until the middle of September, so I need to get my game face on and keep myself moving if I hope to run the whole way. Curious how the act of registering was also motivating. I thought a little extra bit of discipline that comes with advertising my goals here on the blog won't hurt either. (By the way, I haven't put sweetener in my tea - hot or cold - since the beginning of May!) The picture above is the sight that greeted me during the 5AM hour when I stepped outside for this morning's workout before the sunrise brought too much heat with it.

PM: I could be seen dining at Avelino's with Mom Estelle, Lorraine's mother. She treated me to a dinner of pizza and a salad before I had to dash off to teach class this evening. Good meal, good company and tomorrow I am hoping to keep the routine going (well, maybe I'll have something else for dinner!)

tea, earl grey, hot

I don't limit myself to January 1st for 'new year's resolutions'. I use all sorts of time markers, one of them being my birthday, to try to institute change in my life. During the next year of my life, I am hoping to reduce the amount of sugar and sweeteners I add to and use in my beverages - namely tea. I know plenty of people who gave up their added sweeteners cold turkey - one of them is my dad - and I am hoping to do the same. So today, I took the sugar free plunge and drank my tea sans splenda - all day - even the 5 o'clock cuppa I fixed myself in an effort to find a second wind to get me through the day.
Why am I sharing this information? Because sometimes I find just letting others know what I am attempting just keeps me more faithful to my efforts to accomplish some goals. After several false starts at giving up sugar/splenda/sweetners I thought I'd try a new strategy in an effort for better results.