M.I.A.

Apparently I went missing again.  Not from the real world, but I've been relatively quiet on the social media front.  I think, as a whole, I'm not very happy with this year.  That makes me sound like a spoiled brat when you read what I've been up to in my absence, but doing things and feeling things are sometimes two VERY different things.  Does that make sense?

October 18th was the last time I blogged.  6 weeks ago.  Bad Blogger.  Here are the highlights of things that happened during my disappearing act...

Painting Class
I bought a Groupon for one of those painting classes at Merlot to Masterpiece a while ago.  It took a bit of coordination to get some friends and fellow bloggers (Kim, Amanda, Marg, and Britt) together, but we finally managed to swing it.  Here is what the "goal" was supposed to look like:

Here was my finished (and framed) product:

The group shot:

Top Row - Amanda, Me, Kim
Bottom Row - Marg, Britt

Vacation
I headed to Chicago at the end of October to hang with family and participate in The Monster Dash.  My cousin Courtney and I walked 13.1 decked out in Angry Birds gear.  It was Courtney's first (and I'm told last) half and I promised her we would stay together.  I never left her side and we finished it.

While in Chicago, I made sure to eat all my favorite foods.  I hit up Portillo's twice - the first time for Italian beef and the second time for hot dogs.  We may or may not have managed to get the car towed while on our hot dog run during rush hour traffic downtown.  =/

I managed to pick-up some of my favorite candies from Fannie May - most notably Trinidads.

The beauty of a Trinidad lies in its decadent layers of rich, creamy real dark chocolate,
covered in a golden toasted coconut shell.

Of course, the best breakfast in the world can be found at Walker Bros. Pancake House.  Carbo-loading at its finest.

Post race, Courtney and I indulged on the BEST Chicago-style pizza EVER - Lou Malnati's.

Although it's hard to beat the BBQ of the South, Famous Dave's is quite delicious especially when hanging out with some wonderful cousins!

While downtown, I got to experience Chicago from the tourist perspective instead of my usual in and out of our designated commitments routine.  It was a nice change of pace.  I saw the famous Forever Marilyn statue (26 feet tall) and the Cloud Gate.

Management Meetings
Not even 2 weeks after my Chicago vacation, I set-off for Chicago again for my company's annual Management Meetings and Award Banquet.  Every year a book serves as the theme for the meetings and the upcoming year.  This year, Ubuntu! was the chosen one.  The basic concept is that "I am because we are" and that "we are all in this together".  In short...teamwork.  I have to say that some of my disgruntlement regarding work this past year has been as a result of a lack of teamwork, so this book and theme were much needed and appreciated (and will hopefully pay off).

After arriving in Chicago on Thursday, 11/10, all the managers (traveling from 12 Service Centers located nationwide) were whisked away to check into our hotel and then managed a caravan downtown to meet up with all the management of our headquarters to the Signature Lounge at the 96th Floor of the John Hancock building for a marvelous dinner (and an open bar).

Friday was filled with various meetings and followed-up with our Award Banquet.  Upper management has been really great about giving us monthly and quarterly statistics so most of us had a basic idea of our rankings in each category, but there is always one award whose recipient is always a mystery - the Service Center (SC) of the year award.  This award originated 8 years ago.  My SC won it for the first time in 2008.  We won it for the second time in 2009 becoming the 2nd SC to manage a repeat.  Then came 2010...we had dreamed of a 3-peat just to end up in 6th place (boo!).  I had a plan to win it back.  I can honestly say I worked the hardest I ever have in all my 12 1/2 years with this same company.  It paid off!  Now the only problem with being #1 is that there is a large target on your back!  =)

On Saturday we spent half a day finishing up our meetings and then it was off to my aunt and uncle's house to hang with family for the evening.  Wouldn't you know we managed to get our happy Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner!


Thanksgiving
Apparently I like to fly every 2 weeks.  =/  I only get sick EVERY time, but no big deal.  So we decided to resume our annual Thanksgiving trip to Vegas despite the fact that younger sister Linda and brother-in-law Craig were not going to be able to join us because of the upcoming arrival of their first child.  Older sister Cathy figured out that this was our 15th Thanksgiving in Vegas.  We spent 14 of them in a row, but detoured to Orlando last year for a fun-filled week in Disney and Universal Studios.

My parents stayed at the Venetian while the "kids" resided in my grandmother's condo located a couple of miles from The Strip.  This year was a bit different, though.  Normally we manage a movie or two walking from The Venetian all the way down to the Showcase movie theater by the MGM.  This year, we didn't see a single flick.  I also normally hang out at Casino Royale, but...not this time.  I mostly gambled away at The Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Las Vegas Hilton (because it was located across the street from our condo). 

We did swing a show - taking in Sting at Caesar's Palace.  It was in the Celine Dion theater, so a more intimate setting.  I loved listening to the background story of how his songs were conceived and I have mad appreciation for his violinist who made amazing music!

The ladies swung a spa day!  My mom treated older sister Cathy, sister-in-law April, and me to a spa treatment at the Canyon Ranch Spa located in The Venetian.  I chose a European facial and experienced rejuvenation in my skin!  I literally felt my skin glowing the rest of the day.  Upon completion of our respective services, we spent over 2 hours in the wonderment that is the spa-experience...the Hot Tub, Steam Room, Sauna, Herbal Laconium, the Igloo (yes, as cold as it sounds) Salt Grotto, and Wave Room while sipping on orange-infused water and delicious herbal teas.

Though I pretty much came home a big loser, I had some really nice hits throughout my gaming that kept the days fun and entertaining.  My favorite slot machines this year were Quick Hits and Hot Shots.  I will definitely be revisiting them next year!

And that's about it in a nutshell.  Hopefully I will be posting more frequently since it is now "the most wonderful time of the year!"  I leave you with this pretty dress displayed at The Venetian:

display dress made entirely of paper and ribbons

Where in the World is KIMpossible?

I know, I know...I've pulled a disappearing act.  I'm back, though.  So that's what matters, right?

This is gonna be a hodgepodge of stuff.  Bear with me.

I know I owe y'all (and me) a checkpoint, but well...big shocker here...I haven't been quite as dedicated and diligent as I planned.  Back on the wagon, though, so I guess it can be said that at least I don't give up.  =/

My brother and sister-in-law planned a vacation to Jamaica.  A flight from Los Angeles (where they live) means a necessary lay-over.  They were able to manage an overnight one on Friday, 9/30, which allowed for my entire family to celebrate older sister Cathy's birthday.  We went to Perry's Steakhouse and had a most wonderful meal followed by this:

and maybe a little bit of:

Afterwards, Cathy opened up her presents.  My siblings went in on the gift thing with me, so we were able to get her some Brighton jewelry that she wanted and perfume.  Here is my cute packaging:

Oh and in other news, I chopped off all my hair.

I decided this hairstyle looks better straight than curly, so I've been straightening it daily.  There is the fast way - round brush - and then there is the slow way - Chi.  Nine times out of 10, I do it the fast way.

Oh...and I'm embarrassed to say I blew off my first race.  I did not end up doing the Beach Palooza 5K obstacle course on 9/24.  I woke up that morning and was just not feeling it....the drive all the way to Galveston by myself...the fact that the only friend I knew who was racing it had a time slot a couple of hours before mine...and finally that I want to be able to run a 5K outright again before I sign up for another. 

I have my See Jane Run half coming up on Sunday.  My training has, of course, not been as I had hoped for, but I am still excited.  I will be leaving on Friday after work to enjoy a nice leisurely Saturday meeting up with friends from days gone by (college) and perhaps even a blogger meet-up later that day.  My father's birthday is also on Sunday, so I will high tail it home after my race to celebrate with my family.

I had some Chinese food at family lunch and this was my fortune:

Can I substitute "dogs" in place of "children" since I don't have kiddos yet?  No?  That's okay cuz I don't think I would ever call my dogs the most wonderful - haha!  I do love them dearly, though.

This past Saturday, we all ended up hanging out at my parent's house - swimming, eating, and watching the dogs play.  On Sunday, my dogs were both dead to the world.  Besides breakfast at 6am and a prompt return to bed, Penelope didn't join the world of the living until 3:30pm.  Yikes! 

I have a slight obessesion with Tai Pei's wonton soup.  I eat it almost every day for lunch and I buy it in the frozen section at Walmart.  Don't judge me.

Another slight obsession I have is with dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic novels.  I just can't get enough!

We are planning young sister Linda's baby shower.  It's going to be so fun.  My mom has made a motorcycle "diaper cake".  Wait until you see it!  I've been commissioned to make a watermelon carriage like I did for Melissa's baby shower and I'm also making fruit salsa to be eaten with cinnamon & sugar pita chips.  I love party planning/preparation!  So fun!

I've been watching Medium on my Netflix.  Oh my goodness, it's so very good.  I'm half way thru with season 6 (out of 7 seasons).  I've picked out my next show once I finish.  It's gonna be Friday Night Lights cuz my parent's swear by it.  Have you seen it?

Okay, that's all I have for you for now.  I better start catching up on reading all the blogs I've been neglecting!

cRaZed Hitchhiker on the Loose...or just me hitting the streets at 5am

I went through all the motions of yesterday in anticipation of heading out to do 6 miles once I got home.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  I just could not make myself get out the door...probably because I didn't leave work until 7 and my car was still registering 104 degrees.  =/

I vowed to go to bed early so that I could wake up early to get my 6 miles in. 

Yeah...bed didn't come early.  I got this wild and crazy idea to download an audio book onto my iTunes account.  No, sillies...I didn't pay for it.  It was a "book" from the library, so I suppose I was really "ripping" it (my brother-in-law told me that was the right word).  I chose James Dashner's The Maze Runner.  I then replaced my iPod Shuffle music with the book.  Quite proud of myself, I headed to bed at 11pm.  I still dutifully set my alarm for 4am and hoped for the best.

My alarm went off at 4am and I did what I usually do...I reset it for 6am, BUT...then...I felt soooo guilty.  I just knew there was an imbalance in the world and that only I could solve it by hitting the pavement.  Apparently at 4am I have a whole lot of self-importance going on.

I don't know what it is with me and crack-of-dawn wake-ups, but it takes me FOREVER to get out the door.  So, this translates to I started my WALK (yes, still walking it out vs. running) at 5am.  No 6 miles for me with that late start.  =/

So, I geared up like a superstar - you know with my tunes, my Camelbak (overkill, yes, BUT I'm trying to get used to it for my upcoming The Hottest Half), my Road I.D., my Garmin, etc.  I'm pretty sure I looked like a crazed hitchhiker (who recently escaped from the circus or an assylum - whatever) to anyone who had the pleasure of seeing me.  I pressed PLAY and Chapter 1 started as I struggled through my first mile.

Something weird happened...apparently I didn't turn the shuffle function off, so the book started jumping from this to that.  I pulled over to try to fix the problem, but I couldn't, SO...I turned the whole thing off.  It made me a sad girl to have no entertainment.  =(

My first mile was wretched.  I keep having issues with tight calves no matter how much stretching I do.  I powered through it and eventually gained my momentum.  It's peaceful out there in the dark with very few peeps and very few cars.  I even saw a deer (or a cheetah, it was dark out) in the distance, so that kind of made my day.

When I made it back to my house, I was .10 mile shy of 4.75 miles, so I bypassed home to the end of the street and then came back.  4.75 miles / burned 696 calories / 15:48 pace.  I want to...need to go faster, so I'm hoping practice will make perfect before race day (8/14).

I do not recommend procrastination, by the way.  It is not paying off.

Oh and one last thing.  I HATE when the "terrain" I'm running or walking on changes.  It really messes with my head.  I'm talking dead grass in the street, pine needles, dirt, or just a change in materials - black top to cement.  Am I alone in this?  Please tell me I'm not!  I would be terrible at trail running!

After 4.75 miles (note:  same wardrobe as Sunday, but I promise it was clean when I started and that this is a new pic):

After a shower and some much needed makeup:

Happy Thursday to you all!

book worm

I'm annoyed with Blogger because I had written an entire post about books and my passion for reading and somehow it has mysteriously vanished.  It was only awaiting editing and picture insertion.  RAR!  BOO!

So here goes another shot...

I was saying how while on vacation I got behind on reading my favorite blogs because I was so distracted by reading The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever been so absorbed in a book that everything else ceases to exist until the book has been read from cover to cover?  I have obviously.  Is that weird?  It's not like it happens all the time.  In fact, I think a book has to be awfully special to get the undivided attention of this A.D.D. girl.

Reading has always been a bit of a passion of mine.  It started when I was a child and continued through the years.  I would get hooked on certain authors and read anything and everything they produced and then just wait them out until they released a new novel.  That gets VERY expensive, by the way...it really sucks being unable to wait for the soft cover release.  Sure, I know there are other options these days...you can reserve a book at your local library, you can download on your eReader, you can borrow a friend's...BUT back in the day...well...I was impatient.

I remember somewhere around 5th grade, I went on a desperate search throughout our home for something...anything to read.  I ended up with Of Mice and Men.  No joke.  So, at the ripe old age of 9 or 10, I took on an American Classic because...it was there.

I remember reading under my sheets by flashlight when I was supposed to be under my sheets asleep.

I remember my obsession with the mysteries/thrillers even at a young age.  I still own the two scariest books I ever read:

What young girl didn't love Nancy Drew?

Pretty sure I then played around with the young adult thrillers like Christopher Pike and Richie Tankersley Cusick while still maintaining a healthy balance of Sweet Valley Twins and S.E. Hinton.  I just counted up my Christopher Pike  novels as I mentioned them in my 30 Factoids post and discovered I have 34 books in my collection. 

In high school, I moved on to V.C. Andrews, Stephen King, Dean Koontz.

In college, I moved on to ... romance-ish novels written by favorites Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.

Post college, I've jumped all over the place.  I discovered non-fiction, BUT probably not the genre that most people opt for as I have a bit of a morbid mind.  This means I've been fascinated by Ann Rule's novels - she researches and writes about serial killers.  I also jumped on the Harry Potter and Twilight bandwagons.  I mean a girl needs to keep up with pop culture!  Of course, other authors of interest include Dan Brown, John Gresham, Ann Rice, Jodi Picoult, Iris Johansen, Tami Hoag, Jennifer Weiner, Barbara Delinsky, Greg Isles, and Lisa Gardner...just to name a few.

So, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of my favorite books of all time with you.  These are in no particular order, by the way.

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer - an oldie, but goodie.  This is an epic novel that chronicles two men born on the same day as their lives are destined to cross...at some point.

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner - the only book I've ever read that made me both laugh out loud and cry.  

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - bought this book not knowing a thing about it since I saw that my friend Sarah was reading it.  The story is told in a series of letters back and forth amongst the characters in this quirky novel.  It's a quick, heartwarming read.

Paradise by Judith McNaught - steamy book with a great storyline

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb - This book took the author 10 years to write and it's no wonder considering how many directions the reader is taken.  No worries...it's all worth the roller coaster ride (and the 1000 page journey) as you read this fascinating tale that weaves historical events into a fictional story.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - yeah, yeah...I know they just released the movie.  Wait a while before reading the book if you have seen the movie, though I will say that the movie was one of the best book adaptations I've seen to date.  This is another great book with wonderful characterizations.  If memory serves me correctly, this was the debut novel for this author, as well.  Impressive stuff!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - another debut novel and another one made into a movie.  I must confess, however, that I have not yet seen this movie.  The book is wonderful...beautifully written, in fact. 

Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz - yet another roller coaster ride of a book. I'm fairly certain I held my breath during certain parts because of the level of intensity.  This is a unique Dean Koontz book and while I have enjoyed the majority of his novels, this one sticks out above the rest.

Now...give me a favorite of yours!

Vacation Recap: Spring 2011

Let's talk numbers.

I was gone for 8 nights. I traveled on 4 different flights - Houston to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Chicago, Chicago to Greenville (SC), and then Greenville to Houston. I read 4 books - The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins and The Search by Nora Roberts. I saw 3 movies in theaters - The Conspirators, Something Borrowed, and Water for Elephants. I participated in 1 half marathon - The OC Half. Wowsers - I was a busy girl!

I don't want to bore you with all the sordid details of my vacation, so I will hit you with the highlights.

I left Houston on Saturday, 4/30, Los Angeles bound. I chose L.A. as the beginning of my adventure because my brother Eddie and sister-in-law April live in Huntington Beach and because I could coincide my visit with The OC Half Marathon.

Eddie picked me up from LAX and took me to Pinky's. He assured me it was an L.A. staple. So, hot dogs we had.

Eddie's on the left and mine on the right.

Next, we happened across the Hollywood Forever cemetery. Not to be all morbid or anything, but we were kind of looking for celebrity graves. We managed to find Estelle Getty and Johnny Ramone and, of course, the lovely peacocks you see pictured below.

After a crazy turn of events which were detailed in my race recap, we ended up arriving a bit late to our dinner reservation at Bandera's. We met up with our friends and coworkers (from New Jersey) Joe and Carie. I somehow never did manage to get pictures with them or of them (bad blogger). Joe and Carie's son and daughter-in-law just so happen to also live out in HB, so they came along to dinner as well so that Eddie and April could meet them.

Saturday was half marathon day. After the race, we met up with the gang at their hotel for breakfast. It just so happens when we finished that Muscle Milk decided to stop right outside their hotel and hand out free bottles, so I had myself a bottle of Muscle Milk Lite - mmmmm....tasty.

Later Eddie and I went to see The Conspirators. I knew nothing about it and found it fascinating. I was so exhausted from the day, however, and couldn't wait to crash and burn that evening.

On Monday, April and I got foot massages. $25 for an hour - awesome!!! Just what a girl needed post half marathon! We also hung out at the beach for a while.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with Eddie and then later April and I took their dog Roxie to the dog beach. so much fun!

I enjoyed my visit and can't wait to go back to sunny beautiful Cali!

Wednesday was a day full of travel. I headed out bright and early for my first flight of the day to Chicago. Unfortunately I ended up delayed once in Chicago for an extra hour above and beyond my layover. =( Ultimately it took me 12 hours to get to Greenville, SC.  Factor that in with a 3 hour time change and I was beat!

My friend Dana had to work a half day on Thursday, so I decided to power walk the hills - yes, my little lamp chops, Greenville is one hillatious city. yikes! I managed 6 miles and I was one sweaty mess! I got cleaned up and once Dana got home, we decided to get pedicures. Next up was our little Cinco de Mayo celebration at Senor Salsa's.

Dana was able to take Friday off. We were lazy bums half the day. yay! Then we went to lunch and saw Something Borrowed.

On Saturday, we had a picnic in the park. It was a beautiful day and downtown Greenville was having a Duckie Derby. It was fun to people watch! Later we went and saw Water for Elephants and then headed back to the house for a cook-out with some of Dana and Michael's friends.

We convinced Dana's parents to come up to Greenville on Sunday. I had not seen them in 3 years (since Dana's wedding). We had lunch with them and it was great to catch up. Before you knew it - my vacation was over and it was time to come back to reality.

My next vacation won't happen until AFTER the summer craziness that is my job.  Hopefully this one will carry me through the rough days ahead. 

Second day SUCCESS!

I promise you that my intention was never really to go day by day to report to you my successes and/or failures. not really anyway.  I prolly won't.  maybe.

We know Monday was a fail.  kinda.  I mean I ended up getting a really yummy quiche and great asparagus soup out of the night, so that's something.  I just didn't nail my list.

Tuesday, on the other hand...well that was a success!  Redemption is mine (um...at least for the moment).

Tuesday's goals were as follows:  up at 5:45am, play my games for 1 hour, clean the floors and guest bathroom, watch two TV shows from my DVR, do kettlebell DVD, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 9:30

Since I went to bed at 10:15 last night and woke up at 5:45 this morning, I actually got 7 1/2 hours of sleep.  This is a rarity!  After work, I came home and dealt with my beasts dogs.  I then reheated some quiche.  I didn't end up eating my soup because I ate half a bag of steamed brussell sprouts for a late lunch so I was kind of all green-veggied out.  I then played my games for an hour and watched one more episode of Modern Family from my DVR.  Oh then guess what?  It was time for Glee - yay!  So I watched that and then changed into my running gear and headed out the door after taking some glamour pics.  There was to be no kettle bell workout for me since I had a make-up run to take care of.  The plan was 3, but secretly I knew my route would give me about 3.5 miles.  I was not feeling intervals for whatever reason, so I decided to just run my mileage outright and see what happened.  Up until this run, the most I had run outright since my injury was 2 miles.  I did 3.5 last night - no intervals - no walk breaks!  Can I get a "whoa"?  I consider that to be a win!  The best part was that I maintained the same pace I had been running at the 2 mile mark without intervals and the 5 mile mark with intervals.  weird.  So...I don't know what I'm going to do with regard to my 5K coming up in a week and a half.  I guess I will wing it for the time being.  Either way it doesn't look like a PR is possible, but then again...my game face hasn't been on either.  A race + spectators + competitive Kim = all kinds of crazy!

I came home from my run and cooled off.  I then cleaned my floors.  Didn't get to the guest bathroom, but I'm not gonna beat myself up over that one.  Next up was my Epsom salt bath.  It was awfully nice to soak in that puppy while catching up on my book - I managed 3 whole chapters in my book - "Such a Pretty Fat" by Jen Lancaster.  I may or may not have gone to bed a bit on the late side, but hey...I ain't perfect....I'm me.

This morning I registered for The Woodlands Half Marathon which isn't until NEXT March 3rd (you know...2012).  I'm sure you must be thinking I'm a little premature (which is better than immature,  so I'll take it).  I'm just sure they will fill up their 7500 slots fast, so I'm not taking any chances.  Part of me soooo badly wanted to sign up for the full, BUT without running my first full until January 2012 (Houston Chevron), I just can't commit to another one. 

In other news, I've been working on coming up with my outfit for my brother-in-law's 80s-themed birthday party at the end of this month.  I finalized my masterpiece, y'all.  Wait until you see.  It's gonna be RAD!  That will be such a fun blog post!!!

That's all I have for you for now.  Have a good day, party peeps!

First day FAIL and some recipes

First day FAIL!

You know that path I walk on - the one paved with fantastic intentions?  Yeah...that's what happened yesterday.  I bit off more than I could chew.  See, Monday is my cooking day.  I go to the grocery store during my lunch break and buy all the ingredients to make my "big meal for the week".  This means I have to go home and make said meal and then clean up the kitchen after the making of said meal.  Some meals are messier than others.  This meal was one of those (South Beach friendly, of course).

What did I make?  Asparagus soup and Greek yogurt chicken quiche was on the menu.  I got my basic recipe ideas from ol' faithful known as allrecipes.com.  The links to the originals are below.

Asparagus soup
Sour cream chicken quiche

Kim's Asparagus Soup (Phase 1, 2, 3)
1 lb asparagus spears, chopped
1 small white onion, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP pesto
1 TSP minced garlic
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
white pepper to taste
salt to taste
cholula to taste

In a microwaveable bowl, heat the onion, garlic, olive oil, and pesto for 2 minutes.  Add in the broth and asparagus and resume heating in the microwave for 10 minutes, covered.

Puree in the blender.  Put the soup back into the microwaveable dish and add in the milk and your seasonings.  You may need to heat it up some more in the microwave.

Kim's Crustless Greek Yogurt  Quiche (Phase *1, 2, 3)
1 cup shredded chicken
1 TBSP  olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 TSP minced garlic
10 oz. package sliced mushrooms
*1 TBSP whole wheat flour
3 eggs
3/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain)
3/4 cup skim milk
1 3/4 cup 2% cheese (I used cheddar-jack)
nutmeg
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Saute garlic, onion, and mushrooms, then add in 1 TBSP of whole wheat flour (this knocks out Phase 1, so to maintain Phase 1, don't do this step).

Boil and shred your chicken.  Combine the two components adding your seasonings - nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  In a separate dish, beat the eggs.  Add in the yogurt, beating thoroughly.  Add in the milk, beating thoroughly.  Using a deep dish pie dish (or a casserole dish), put the chicken/onion/mushroom component in the dish.  Add the cheese.  Pour the egg component over the top.  Cook on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 350 degrees for another 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool before eating.

Of course the cool thing about quiche is you can add whatever ingredients you like to it.  Next go around, I will add broccoli or spinach.  I just forgot to buy some while at the store.  I saved calories/carbs by not using crust, but I don't judge if you choose the crust route because quiche is even tastier that way!  =)

Okay, but back to business...

The plan was:

Monday - make/prep my meal for the week, clean the kitchen, play my games for 1 hour, watch one TV show from my DVR, run 3 miles, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 10:45pm


With all that cooking and all that mess (cuz two dishes made a whole lot of mess TRUST ME), I got finished way late in the evening.  What did this mean for my plan?  It meant that I got in my 1 hour game time (God forbid I were to give that up).  I got in my one DVD tv show (Modern Family from 1/5 - hilarious, by the way).  I went to bed around 10:15pm.
 Since I didn't get my run in, though, I should have gone to bed at 9:30 to wake up this morning at 4:30 to do it this morning, but I didn't.  I figured I needed the sleep since I've been at such a deficit lately. I WILL RUN TONIGHT!!! Do you see the domino effect, though?  Oye!


No run.
No bath.
No book.
Only positive thing is that I actually got 7 1/2 hours of sleep.


Day 2 and I'm already on a modified schedule!  Welcome to Kim's world.  =/