The weekend wrap-up....Edition-1

I'm not one to do a weekly recap, or a weekend summary. My life is very fascinating ( to me), but I respect others might not necessarily find it so intriguing.  I'm alright with that. I don't particularly want (or need) to know every detail in other peeps' lives either. 

None the less, this weekend had a lot of less-than-ordinary happenings, so that calls for a less-than-ordinary blog post.

So, where to start?

 Friday was an eagerly anticipated day of pampering...hair appointment! For all of you who LOVE your natural hair color, bravo to you!  Mine is not so attractive...kind of a muddy (medium) brown, a few natural highlights (that are getting more scarce), and dark roots that look like midnight. Granted, I am thankful to not have many grey hairs (my hairdresser says there's an itty-bitty clump, but it's somewhere in the back, and it's hidden underneath...so I have yet to find it on my own). Ignorance is bliss, huh! Every 8-10 weeks, I pay her a visit, she works her magic, and I leave feeling great.

Don't be jealous, not everyone can pull off this kind of look....

This time, though, I confessed to her that I had tried experimenting with a center part...and it was a major fail! Why I did that to myself, all those years ago, is beyond my comprehension. Yes, it may have been "in style" at the time, but that does not mean it looks good on everyone. She knows I'm always open to trying new things, so she offered to "play with a (near) center part" to see if she could make it work for me. Well, it looked great when I left her place, but in the 10 minutes it took me to drive back to work...another epic fail was staring back at me in the rear-view mirror of my car. A frantic search for my emergency hair clip, and all was well.

Ummmm, the 80's called and they want their hair back

Upon arriving home from work, I learned of the tragedy in Paris. All of my hair-style issues suddenly seemed pretty minimal. Another attack on innocent people, throwing all of us into a tail-spin in search of answers, peace, and hope. Truly, I have come to believe terrorism is a magnified version of bullying.....an arrogant attempt to show strength, power and intimidation, but in doing so, the perpetrator reveals their insecurity instead. It makes me wonder if they're trying to convince the world or themselves of their supposed prestige.

What's a runner (and art geek) to do? I did what I do best....I went for a short run early Saturday morning, and had Paris and all its people on my mind and in prayer. I had seen the symbolic logo of the peace sign with the Eiffel Tower, so I created a similar image on my driveway as a tribute. It got quite a bit of attention on both my personal and running pages on Facebook (as well as Instagram), and even had several shares and requests from followers to use it for their profile pic. Art is one of those mediums that enable us to express ourselves, not only in happy times, but also in times of sorrow. I'm thankful to have it in my life.

My tribute to the City of Love...

As is the season, we have a lot of leaves and pine needles in our yard. The husband, my father, and myself worked for several hours Saturday morning (after I returned from my run) to get the yard cleaned up. Several flower beds to rake, piles upon piles of leaves in the front, and a crap-load of pine needles in our back yard. Let's just say, I got some serious core and cardio work done with a rake in hand. Raking pine needles feels like an effort in futility. I think I went over the yard five times, and there are still numerous needles remaining.

Saturday afternoon, we traveled to Ames, IA to watch the Iowa State Cyclones host the Oklahoma State Cowboys. We've had some beautiful, unseasonably warm weather this month. Our oldest daughter is a senior at ISU, so this was the last home game she'd be attending (at least as an undergrad). Did I mention the husband and myself both are University of Iowa Hawkeyes? (yes, some would call that bad parenting)

Tailgating with our favorite Cyclone

Under the bright lights of Jack Trice Stadium

Later that evening, after rushing back home, we had dinner with some friends and watched our Iowa Hawkeyes defeat Minnesota, to extend their winning streak to 10-0! Go Hawks!!!

Sunday morning began with a 5:30AM wake-up,and a trail run with a few local running friends at a nearby nature preserve. The temps were mild (high 30's), the air crisp (and no wind), and the scenery was beautiful. We saw a few deer as we made out way through six miles of rolling hills, dew-frosted grass, numerous downed leaves (with a few hidden walnuts underneath) and plenty of sunshine.

It wasn't planned, but lime green seemed to be the color theme

I love running trails. I find the challenge of the hills and slippery grass (and constant uneven terrain) invigorating. It wasn't until I got home, and was taking off the mud-encrusted shoes, that I realized I had never put the insoles back in the shoes (after taking them out to dry after my last trail run). Oops. That might explain why the shoes felt kind of loose. I'll be curious how my legs and glutes feel as a result of these six miles with less-than-adequate support!

Helpful hint #37, always put the insoles back in the shoes before lacing up

Lastly, let's talk planking briefly. I have been doing the #plankingontheflyCHALLENGE this month. My goal is 200 total November planking minutes, and I'm happy to report that I'm on track for making (and probably surpassing) that goal. I have been planking every day, and continued planking through the weekend. In light of the Paris tragedy, I didn't feel it necessary to be posting about it. But, as of Sunday, November 15th, I am officially at 103 minutes! Although, I probably wouldn't see dramatic results after only one month, I wish I would have measured my waist prior to starting the challenge. I definitely can tell things are a bit firmer.

on the floor, cranking out another 4:30 (minute) forearm plank

So, my first-ever weekly wrap-up. What do you think? Do you like recapping your weekend, or just occasionally? Stay tuned...the jury is still out on this.

*****I'm linking my weekly wrap-up with Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippinPiddlin.
Go ahead, check out their blogs (great reads!!). ;-)