No sleeping in this Sunday morning. We were up and running…well, I was since the dogs had to go out.  Zoey and Shane went a couple of miles before Ted and I hit the road at 6:30 am to get to Schenectady for the Stockade-Athon, a 15K road race.  It was raining and it wasn’t SUPPOSE TO BE RAINING!  We kept checking the weather in hopes that 50 degrees with clear skies would set in by 9 am.

It was an important race since it would give us an idea of where Ted was in his training for the Disney Half marathon.  I wasn’t going to try for any time goals in this one, just stay at pace with Ted. That turned out to be more difficult than I thought due to my competitive nature but I did it, crossing the line with the hubby and loving every minute of it.

Supporters put up signs ..

“Come Back Soon For a Walk…..

comeback

“When You Aren’t In A Hurry!”

nohurry

The last time I ran this race was in 2010 so I didn’t remember the original route. It was changed this year and, although the long challenging hill at 5 1/2 miles was cut, there still seemed to be some considerable elevation changes.  As tough as the hills might seem during a race, I’ve learned to appreciate them as a long, straight, flat course gets boring.

There was scattered crowd support and, in some neighborhoods, absolutely no one.  But the runners were chit chatting and enjoying the mild weather.  There was one last considerable hill to tackle at about the 7 mile point.  As Ted and I made our climb we passed a guy struggling up the hill.  All of a sudden he let out a yell “SH*T!”  Hmmm… having a tough time?   As we approached the top of the hill, we heard once again “SH*T”!   We laughed as did a few other runners.  There is no sympathy on the course especially since the expletive was obviously working to get this guy up and over that hill. Good for him!  Whatever works, right?!

At the 7 1/2 mile point I asked Ted if he had a little left for a push to the finish, he said his foot was aching and he had a blister so I continued to allow him to set the pace.  We approached the finish line and I said “Doesn’t it feel good at this point?”  He agreed and we crossed the finish line for Ted’s First 15K Finish in about 15 years.  YAY TED!

We look a little goofy but we weren’t going for “glamour couple of the year”. We were running a race to prepare for the “Goofy”.

stockade athonstockade

The weather finally turned and the sun came out. Temperatures hit 62 degrees.  Soon we’ll be able to put the cars back into their newly painted garage!  We had the walls, ceiling and floor redone. Ted thought it was looking scrappy.  Personally, I don’t care what the garage looks like because I don’t spend much time in it.  To Ted, it was a disaster so we had it painted.  The walls are brighter and the floor has been epoxied so it smells really bad but looks nice. Our cars will be so happy when they can finally go back into their warm home.

Nice spotty, newly epoxied garage floor – we like it!

Open-mouthed smile

Floors Soup and Cookies5

Now it’s time for CNYEATS  BUTTER BALLS!

Floors Soup and Cookies1

It’s that time of year when all of us who love to bake start loading up the freezer with all sorts of goodies we plan to offer on the holiday table. 

This recipe from Pat Austin and posted by Rainie Piccione out of our book A Taste of Utica, page 192 is one of my holiday favorites. So simple.  So easy to pop in your mouth and feel the sweet, buttery flavor melt down your throat. 

When you read through the recipe, notice how simple the ingredients are: No eggs. No sugar until you roll the baked butter balls in a little confectioners sugar.

Floors Soup and Cookies6

You will need…

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup chopped nuts
  • 1 TBS water  *I didn’t need the water.
  • confectioners sugar for rolling after baking

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Cream the butter and add the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and blend like pastry.  Roll into small balls.

Place each ball on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. 

Remove from oven and allow to set for a few minutes.

Roll each cookie in the confectionary sugar.

You better freeze these beauties in an air tight container really, really quick otherwise you won’t have any left for the holidays.

Floors Soup and Cookies2

What cookies are you baking now to prepare for the holidays?

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