Oh mighty food processor!

My birthday is coming up. Usually I buy myself some clothes, but this year I decided to buy something that I could really use. I have wanted a food processor for a long time. I don't really like to cook, but out of necessity I cook nearly everything from scratch and I spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen. I decided to go all out and buy the best one I could afford, one that would be able to do all the things that would really cut down my time in the kitchen. I recieved it about 2 weeks ago, and I can honestly say that I have used it nearly every single day since then. I have sliced potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, shredded cabbage, carrots, onions, cheese, I have made butter, and I have made apple sauce and pie crust. I LOVE this food processor!

The verdict is in

And the mystery green egg layer is....drumroll......Sugar!!
This is really exciting because we expected Sugar to lay brown eggs. Her father was our White Rock roo, and her mother was an Easter Egger. Her mother laid green eggs, but my research last year (NOT scientific by any means) led us to believe that the male determines the egg color of their offspring. So the fact that Sugar lays green eggs blows this theory out of the water. Sugar's eggs are a dark olive green. The darker the egg is, the more brown-eggs layers the hen has in her family tree. So I would say that Sugar is pretty far removed from an Americauna chicken, but she still lays pretty eggs!

Here is a picture of Sugar's egg (in the middle). On the left is Penny's brown egg, she is also a pullet which is why her egg is small. For comparison, I put one of our White Rock's eggs on the right. The pullet eggs will grow in size as the hen matures:

A little time correction

Well, it looks like I didn't break 23:00 after all. I was able to access the official race results a few days ago, and my official time was 23 flat. I started my watch a little late at the start, and I was sure than since I timed myself at 23:00 that I would have at least one second taken off of my final time. No such luck-I'm stuck with 23:00 as my seasonal best.

However, Felix's final time was something else! He ran a 26:16!!!! The time I had for him before was based on my family's recollection, but goodness, were they off. He was a speed racer on Saturday!

I have a 10k (thank goodness no more 5k's for awhile) in two weeks that I am looking for.

Oh, and a little post-script on the orthotics-obviously they did not hinder me in the 5k, I am thinking that they are pretty fantastic right now.

All in the Family

Saturday I ran a last-minute 5k. My Mom had a little family reunion of sorts and my anut and uncle from Michigan and my aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania came in to visit. My Uncle Tim (Michigan) is a long time runner and triathlete who inspired me when I was younger(and still does), and we have run lots of races together. He found a local race near my Mom's, and he ran it, along with my other aunt and uncle, me, B., and F.

This was F.'s first 5k ever. He has wanted to run one for awhile, but I didn't really just want to turn him out completely unprepared. He runs with me or B. once in awhile, but he has never run more than a mile and a half at one time. I told him that he should just take it easy and if he felt very tired or worn out he should walk. Well, he shocked all of us. He finished in 26:37-he ran the whole thing, and he beat his dad!!! I had already finished and I was walking down to where my family was standing on the sidelines when I heard "Here comes F.!" I turned just in time to see him booking it in to the finish. My heart almost burst with pride.


As for me, I ran a pretty good race. I started out fast, my first mile was about 7:30, so I knew that if I wanted to break 23:00 I would have to keep up the pace and even pick it up a little. It was hard for me because I didn't have anyone around me to pace off of, but I managed to finish in 22:59. I FINALLY broke 23-my goal for the season. The funny thing is, I should be ecstatic, but really, I am just relieved that I don't have that goal hanging over me all winter long. I did manage to win first overall woman, and I got a $50 gift certificate to a running store near my Mom's. That is really cool, especially since I am in desperate need of some new tights.

Here are some of us after the race, F., my uncle Tim, me, and B.

At 23 weeks we have another layer!

Another one of our pullets began to lay yesterday. We had some friends over, and C. and her friend came to tell me that they discovered a green egg in one of the nestboxes. I ran outside, and sure enough, there was an olive-green egg nestled in the straw!

This is really exciting because it could be the egg of our new easter-egger (who is supposed to lay blue or green eggs), OR it could be the egg of the white rock/easter-egger mix we hatched out ourselves this spring. If it is her(Sugar), she will prove wrong our theory that egg-color is a trait carried by the male. Our rooster was a white rock, which is a brown egg layer breed. So according to our theory, Sugar should lay brown eggs. This olive green was so dark, that I could tell that whichever pullet laid it had a lot of brown egg layers in her family tree. I am going to be stalking the nest box the next couple of days, because I really have a good feeling that this is Sugar's egg!

Orthotics update part 2

Well, after a week with the orthotics, I must say that so far I am very pleased with them. I have not had any notable soreness or pain in my ankles, knees, back, or any of the areas that my chiropractor alerted me to. Yesterday I wore my running shoes all day running errands and the like, and I realized that I hadn't thought about the orthotics all day! So that must mean that I am used to them :) After a 4 mile run today they felt fine, so I am thinking that the breaking in period is about over. The real test will come in how they perform over time and once I start really increasing my mileage. If my feet can handle it I will be ecstatic! I do still have a little mental hang up about them being "heavy". I know that I will get over this once I stop thinking about them being in my shoes during my runs, but right now I am so acutely aware of them that I almost feel them slowing me down.

I will get to see how these things work during a race this weekend. My mom called me today and asked me if I wanted to run a 5k with some family this weekend. I said sure, but honestly, I am not thrilled about running another 5k. I am so sick of them-I really would prefer not to even think about 5k's for a good long time. But, it's for family, so what the heck. Maybe I can rustle up a little excitement :)

Breaking in the orthotics

This is day 3. Sunday after my race I walked around in them a bit. They were stiff but not majorly uncomfortable.
Monday I ran 1 mile. Yes, you read that right, 1 mile. I walked in the orthotics a bit before and then headed out. At first they were a bit annoying, it felt like I had rocks under my arches. I stopped to stretch out my calves (the hamstring stretch also stretches the achilles and helps with PF)and on the way home the orthotics felt just fine.
Today I did 2 miles. I had a bit of soreness in the knees today, but since I am completely changing my gait and the way my body is held that is expected. The orthotics themselves feel okay.

I actually thought I would have some real muscle and joint pain while adjusting to these things, so I am pleased that so far my body seems to be adapting well. Tomorrow I am planning on wearing them for most of the day. I can't run on Thursdays because of schedule issues, but on Friday I will head out for a 5k and see how I do. I have a month to break these things in before my next race, and I want to do it the right way.