The week started off slow, relaxing, and productive. Due to some early morning rain on Sunday our scheduled get together with some friends to let the kids play outside had to be postponed. This was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because daylight savings time had messed with Cece's sleep schedule so she was ready for a nap much earlier than normal. A curse because we didn't get to hang out with some of our closest friends but I'm sure we will sea each other soon.

I took advantage of the time on Sunday by doing some cooking for the week. This week we are having winter squash macaroni and cheese. The recipe called for some thawed out winter squash puree. We figured instead of using a frozen winter squash puree from the grocery store I could grab a few from the farmer's market and make our own puree. That is exactly what we did but what a pain in the ass. I had no idea that winter squash was essentially a pumpkin. The rind was hard as concrete and it took me forever to dig out enough of the actual squash to make the puree. In the end I'm glad I did because the mac & cheese turned out great. It was delicious and made with fresh squash which always makes me happy.

After some lunch at a Mexican restaurant (Rizzo had a craving), some shopping at the mall (Rizzo needed some new pants), and a nap for Cece (during which I cooked our dinner for the week of chicken caprese), the family spent some time outside enjoying the wonderful weather. I had winterized the yard the day before but didn't have time to clean out the gutters so while Rizzo and Cece played with Bellie I climbed up on the roof to scoop out some nasty gunk from the gutters. Good thing I did because they were filled up as the biggest tree in our back yard had lost all it's leaves over the weekend.

Early Sunday morning, the time changed resulting in most people getting that delightful extra hour of sleep. That wasn't the case in our household as a toddler doesn't understand the nature of changing times so instead of waking up at her normal 6:30am time she was waking up at 5:30am or earlier. This was resolved by Thursday but it still made for a few tired days for the parents.

Poorly light face of a guy running in the dark

While we are on the subject of daylight savings time, am I the only one that doesn't enjoy that it gets dark between 2:15 and 2:30pm every night? This makes it really challenging to go out running. Not that I haven't gone running in the dark before. In fact, it is a pretty common occurrence on those nights that I have to get out after Cece has gone to sleep. However, there is something about it being dark and just a bit chilly at 6pm that makes it so much harder to lace up the sneakers and go for a jog. That might be why this week I felt like I was running in concrete shoes. I didn't cut back on my workouts but I didn't get nearly as far as I had been in the summer. That's okay because I still pushed through and made sure to get out and jog on Tuesday and Thursday night.

Saturday was an extremely busy day but I made sure to get in a good workout. The day started, as all Saturdays do, with a trip to the farmer's market with Cece. We went to our normal coffee shop so I could grab some coffee and so Cece could sit down and enjoy her breakfast of cottage cheese and grapes. After we got back from the farmer's market I laid her down for a nap just in time for Rizzo to get home from her workout. That gave me the time to hit the road for what has become my weekly long run. Since I only get in 40-45 minute runs on Tuesday and Thursday I get to go out for a good 60 minute run on Saturday mornings. It was exhausting but it felt great to stretch my legs for a long period of time. However, it did start raining 18 minutes into the run and by the end I was soaked to the bone.

Sunday morning represented the weekly day of reckoning with the weekly weigh in at Weight Watchers. I got up at around 5:45am as per usual to get in a run before weighing in. I didn't have the motivation to go for a long run so on a whim I headed over to the high school for a one mile timed run. Back when I restarted this blog in August I did the same thing and was excited that I ran a mile in 9:33. You can read that again if you like at Topless Pics and Running. I didn't have any expectations this time so I just went at a good pace to see what, if any, improvement I made. After the four laps I had completed the mile in 8:52! About three months ago I had run a sub-10 minute mile for the first time in my life and now I have run the first sub-9 minute mile of my life. At this rate I'll be in the Olympics for next year.

After that run I felt like I had done a pretty good job during the week, sticking to the meals Rizzo had planned and the regular workout routine. All the hard work paid off because I was able to lose another 3.8 pounds bringing the total weight loss up to 56.4 pounds and the new weight down to 211.

I hope everyone has a great week and make sure to keep on the lookout for something special coming over the next week. Here is a hint: I pretend to be a reporter.