Plain is good for something

My sister came to visit me last year. In an effort to help her not be frisked for too much liquids in her carry on, I offered to just have toothpaste, shampoo, etc here. I thought that it would be easy to just pick up a few travel sizes. Well, I learned from my little sister that she does not do well with just any toothpaste. She needed PLAIN toothpaste. Who in their right mind uses plain toothpaste? I'll tell you. My sister. And probably your grandmother. I don't have to tell you they don't sell plain in the travel size. Travel sizes are the hip, new flavors to get you hooked. I bought a full size tube for her visit.

This brings me to today. I uncovered an old silver necklace I use to wear but it was tarnished to black. In an effort to revive this piece of jewelry, I went on the interwebs to discover if there were regular household items that could polish that silver necklace. Did you know that PLAIN toothpaste polishes silver? I didn't either! Sure my hands and neck smell of minty paste, but that silver is silver once again.

That Keri and her weird preferences turned out to be good for something...this time.

One Hundred Pushups

The running community in VAB is both very large but rather small all at the same time. What I mean is there are lots of runners, but everyone has a connection to someone else. Races, running groups, running spots all create opportunities to "know" every one else. I've met several of the local competitive folks only because my running partner's husband introduces me to these people at races. They couldn't pick me out of a lineup. This leads me to today's post. One of these guys that would not remember me but that I recall is Steve Speirs. He's a pretty serious marathoner and puts all of us to shame with his sub 3 hour race time.

A few months ago I learned about his website: one hundred pushups. The idea is to commit for 6 weeks to his program in an effort to improve your pushup count. Last week I took the initial test fully aware of my lack of upper body strength. I'm gonna give this thing a go. Sure, 100 pushups is a rather lofty goal, but so was 26.2 miles.

Today starts day one. Anyone want to join me?

My new addiction

When I was a little girl, my parents called me a chipmunk. Know why? Because anytime I would eat a dessert of some kind and it had nuts in it, I would sift through the yummy cake/ice cream/brownie/etc. and stock the nuts in my cheeks. Then at the end of the dessert experience, I would spit them out into a napkin. My parents loved nuts, so it was my only way of still enjoying sweet treats even though I couldn't stand the nuts.

Oh, how times have changed. I love almonds, pistachios, pecans, and walnuts. Sometimes I enjoy cashews and rarely indulge in peanuts, but I don't stockpile the edible kernels from confections any longer. Which leads me to this recent addiction.

Every week I indugle in a trip to Trader Joe's. I love food and cooking, so it is sort of a fun field trip every Saturday that I cannot wait to make week after week. With list in hand, I always allow myself one "off list" item that I want to taste. This week I purchase Pecan Pralines. OH MY GOODNESS! I have had some yummy pralines in my life made by the hands of Louisianans. I've even had pralines from the famous Savannah Candy Kitchen. Those are all yummy but these are by far the greatest pralines I have ever ingested. My new problem: I just can't stop eating them! Oh, how self control would be good about now.