Flybynyght

If you would have asked me what I thought pregnancy would be like for me before I actually got pregnant, I probably would have said it would probably look this way:

• Very nauseous and lots of hurling in the toilet
• Sadness over cutting out alcohol, sprouts, sushi, etc
• A lot of weight gain and a lot of swelling
• Excitedly writing detailed posts about all of my pregnancy experiences as the weeks went along

Well, I’m now at 36.5 weeks and can say that absolutely none of those are an accurate depiction of how my pregnancy has been thus far.  I have had a very good pregnancy (IMO) and have loved just about every minute.  I had the type of pregnancy that I would have thought that I’d want to share with the world! …and I do!  I just haven’t had the desire to spend the time writing blog posts about it.  This truly shocks me!  A lot of the time I don’t post  because I seem to have a lack of subject matter.  This clearly isn’t the case right now!  But instead of sitting down and typing, I find that I’m taking that time to read books about pregnancy, birth and parenthood; to research stuff online and to do all of the many preparations that come with a first child.

So although I haven’t been keeping a daily weekly monthly record of this pregnancy as it happened, I can say that I have lots of pictures (although mostly phone/mirror self portraits….lol), lots of memories, and lots that I’d like to share now!

Before getting pregnant, I had read that motion sickness and morning sickness have a lot of similarities and if you’re prone to motion sickness, you’re likely to have fairly bad morning sickness.  Well, my motion sickness is so bad that I have trouble watching someone on a swing (let alone getting on one myself!).  Despite this, I had only minor bouts of morning sickness.  I had a few weeks where I was quite nauseous (and it returned in the beginning of the third trimester), but I never threw up.  Not one time.  Shocking.  I had some aversions (barbecue chicken, leafy lettuce, opening used lunch tupperware containers), but none of them sent me to the porcelain throne either.  I feel VERY fortunate about this.

However, I did deal with several musculo-skeletal issues.  For several weeks I had an issue with my coccyx where it hurt to sit, stand, or even lie down in some positions.  I actually developed this one right before we went to Vegas (at 21 weeks…and I forgot to mention that even pregnant, Vegas is amazing :P) – always great issue to have when sitting on planes for hours on end and walking miles and miles a day…  After that cleared up (after lots of chiro), my sacroiliac joint decided to lock up (at 25 weeks).  This meant that I couldn’t bend or raise my right leg (like when you walk…) and sort of had to shuffle it along.  This took chiro and massage (and I believe, a shifting of the baby) to get this back on track, and although there were several false starts, it finally went away after about 3 and a half long weeks.  And just when I was celebrating that victory, I had another issue!  This time the ligaments in my pelvis had loosened (at 32 weeks) and were aggravated by running (I’ll get to the running in a minute…) and I felt as though I was breaking in half.  I felt as though someone had put my pubic bone in a vice and I was cracking in half.  This took about two weeks of not being able to move faster than a snail before it felt better.  Notice I didn’t say get better.  I still have this and there’s a chance it could continue after pregnancy too :*(  , but it’s just an annoyance now and not incredible painful like it was.

While none of those issues were *fun* I feel so fortunate that those were what my major problems were – quite manageable indeed.  And other than the musculo-skeletal issues, I’d say my worst pregnancy symptom was tiredness.  The first trimester had me in bed by 830 and sleeping like a ton of bricks.  After that, I was able to stay up until 930 (wow!) and that’s pretty much where my bedtime has stayed.  Unfortunately, now that I’m nearing the end of my third trimester I’ve had a change in my sleeping habits again.  I have absolutely no problem falling asleep, but once I wake up, I have a lot of difficulty falling back asleep.  And I wake up constantly – to pee, to attempt to roll to my other side…again.  A couple nights ago I woke up at 3.  And stayed awake.  And had to work in the morning.  It was a ROUGH one, and although the time is a little earlier, it’s not just the exception, it seems to be the rule these days.

But I’ve had some good symptoms too!  In the first 25 or so weeks, my nails and my hair were in great condition!  Longest nails I’d ever grown in my life and nice shiny locks.  Now my hair isn’t quite as lustrous (but still looking great!), and my nails are actually dry and a little brittle.  And my skin!  My gosh it has never looked better!  I didn’t have a ton of zits as a kid, but there’d always be one or two hanging around, now I have clear, very smooth skin (hope it sticks around!).  Although weirdly, from week 10ish-22ish, I had oodles of small bumps on my forehead.  Never had that before, and hadn’t changed anything (like different hats, changing the way I washed after running), but they disappeared as suddenly as they came on!

By far one of the best pregnancy symptoms was the lack of symptoms that enabled me to continue running!  I ran quite regularly until about 22 weeks, then switched to basically just running on the weekends (which is all I seemed to have the time and energy for!).  When I ran I had no discomfort with my belly, and was able to continue running until 31.5 weeks!  I worked through the coccyx issue, and the sacroiliac issue (although sadly had to walk a half marathon because I just couldn’t raise my leg enough to run), but it was the pelvic ligaments that were my downfall and ultimately stopped my running.  I’m very proud of all the races that I completed while pregnant, so here’s a recap:

Martian Marathon – Half Marathon: This technically was the day before the first day of my pregnancy, but I’m including it anyway…it’s my list ;)  This race was filled with rain and I had a chest cold, so my only goal was to finish.  I must have taken this goal to heart though, because it was probably my best finish – as in I chose a spot and ran hard until I crossed the finish line – definitely improved my mental game.

Grand Prix Shakedown – 5k: (6 weeks) This race was incredibly hot (think heatwave and a 4 o’clock start time on an asphalt course) and I knew I was pregnant so tried to take it a little easy.  This resulted in my worst 5k (by far) ever, and I couldn’t have been happier!

Moon in June – 10k:  (8 weeks)  This race was still during our heat wave and the first one where I wore a camelbak.  Having access to 1.5litres of water was essential to being able to run throughout the summer.  I was the very last 10ker to come in and the one who probably had the biggest smile :)

Escape to Belle Isle – 10k: (13 weeks)  This race was in July, and I was able to eek out a 20 second better time than the Moon in June 10k, but realized that that no part of me wanted to race in August, so although I continued to run, I took a racing break until,

Run for Heroes – Half Marathon: (23 weeks) This race was awesome for me.  I wore a shirt that said 23 weeks and a baby on board sign on my camelbak.  I finished 10 minutes faster than my goal and the first 10 miles felt absolutely amazing!  I also experienced my first trip to a portapotty during a race (3x) and my first Braxton Hicks contractions.  Todd ran the last quarter mile with me and it was great to cross the finish line with him…even if it was his second time crossing ;)

Detroit Free Press Marathon – Half Marathon: (27 weeks) I was in the throes of my locked sacroiliac pain with this race, and combined with the fact that my OB said I wasn’t allowed to actually run this (walk only because my placenta was low), it wasn’t the experience I was expecting, and was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. 4 hours of pain with every step (my SI joint, nothing to do with the baby) definitely showed me what I could do when I put my mind to it.  I wore a shirt that said Oh Baby on the belly (and my BOB sign on my back)and ended up on the Detroit Free Press website!  (and this race was also special because it was Todd’s first full marathon! Yay!)

Wicked Halloween Run – 10k: (28 weeks)  This was to be my last race of pregnancy, and I wasn’t sure how things would go, having been in such pain the week before during the half marathon.  When I started running though, it all felt perfect.  I finished well ahead of my expected finish time, and that was with having to pull over and completely stop for  a few minutes because my round ligaments had me cramping.  I wore an orange shirt that had a jackolantern face and was tight across my belly…adorable if I do say so myself! The race was so great that I told Todd that I had to run one more 10k (my favourite distance!) before I gave birth.

Detroit Turkey Trot – 10k: (31.5 weeks)  My endurance was definitely non-existent by this race, but the weather was perfect (cool and sunny, although windy) and I was ready to go out (of the running game) with a bang.  The route started out on the Thanksgiving Day parade route, so there were oodles of spectators.  Todd ran the last half mile (he’d already finished…and eaten…and changed, lol) with me and I was so happy he was there!  Although the happiness faded momentarily when I realized they’d run out of medals (pregnant lady needs a medal, dammit!), but came right back when I realized that I’d finished more than 2 minutes faster than at the Halloween race – and I was much bigger now!

But alas, this was my last run.  I actually had to go to work for 5 hrs after this (it wasn’t Thanksgiving in Canada, afterall…) and it was all I could do to get in and out of my car and up the stairs to my desk.  The pelvic pain was incredible (baby was fine, it’s just because during pregnancy the relaxin in your body causes joints to be lose – and the run had exacerbated this).  It wasn’t until two weeks later that I felt comfortable enough to try to run again.  Todd and I decided that I wouldn’t run alone any longer, or I’d only run on the treadmill at the gym.  So at the gym I warmed up a bit, ramped up the speed and within 10 steps knew that running would be done.  Every step felt like I was breaking in two.  So now I’m relegated to walking, and even with that, I have to watch how much I do, my pelvis can get quite sore.

So with 3.5 weeks left in my pregnancy (we hope! Keep percolating baby!), I feel the need to reflect on what I’ve gone through so far.  It feels like it has flown by, and who knows if I’ll ever have the opportunity to do it again!

As I soon transition to the next phase of being the Mom of a newborn, I have to say that I feel extremely fortunate to be pregnant and to have had the pregnancy I’ve had.

Here’s to the next part of the adventure ;)

Sincerely,

Fly

***I wrote this post a week and a half ago and had the best of intentions of telling you where we’d be staying, what we had planned, and some of my favourite things about Vegas.  But alas, my days have been so jammed and crammed full, that there truly wasn’t the time to do this…  So hopefully I’ll do a recap or two when I get back, because I certainly love talking about the place ;)  So until then, here’s a, shall we say, mini-post…

Now where was I…  oh, ya – Vegas! 

Why Vegas, you ask?

Vegas is one of my favourite places in the world, there’s something about the hustle and bustle and great times being had, that just makes me feel so comfortable. And that’s why Todd and I have had 6 trips there in the past 8.5 years.  Every time we plan a trip somewhere else (ok, not every time), we seem to say, “but we could do all of that in Vegas, and it would be cheaper!”  And that’s what happened this time, and how road trip to Washington D.C. turned into a trip to Vegas for a week.

Go ahead, try to name something that you want to do in another destination, and I bet you can do it in Vegas!  And at nearly any time of day or night! 

The previous two trips to Vegas each left us with the feeling that it would be the last time we’d be there for a long time (once our to-be-yet-born children were older and we could go on vacation without them), but each time the possibility to go again crept up, we jumped at it.

This truly will be the last time we’ll be going to Vegas (or anywhere else for that matter, lol) for a long time as I’ll be 23 weeks pregnant, and I don’t care what anyone says – Vegas is not for family time.  This will also be the first time in three trips that we’ll be going solo!  Our first two trips were on our own, the next two with family and the last one was with friends.  It’s nice to have extra people to do things with, but there’s certainly something to be said for just deciding between the two of you what you want to do (and at what crazy time you want to do it).

So this year’s trip…

…will now be written about once home – we leave for our Park and Fly in just a few hours!  

The best part of summer – the fact there are so many fun summer weekends to be had!  As much as it sometimes seems to be a pain to be so busy, it certainly isn’t a pain to be busy having fun!  This past weekend Todd and I packed up the SUV and the Monster and headed up to Haliburtan for a long weekend.  We were staying at my friend B’s cottage, which is on an awesome lake and has all of the amenities and peacefulness (mixed in with adventure!) you could want.

In total, we had 6 adults, 2 young kids, a 7-week old and two dogs in the 2 bedroom cottage.  It sounds crazy, but the space is much bigger than it sounds and everyone was comfortable where they were, and everyone had a spot to lay their head.

And fun!  Omigosh, did we have fun!  This is our second annual trip and although it couldn’t have been more different than the first trip, it was a blast nonetheless.

Last year we spent hour upon hour in the lake, swimming, tubing, waterskiing, paddle boarding, kayaking, riding on the pontoon boat and yes, even skinnydipping ;)  This year, there was one trip out for waterskiing, one paddleboard escapade, and the kids took a short dip.  But that was all the lake offered us this.  Instead of being brutally hot August sun and crazy Ontario humidity, we had, wind, cool mostly overcast days and VERY cool nights (like, down to 8 degrees Celsius cool!).

Our days still seemed full and the nights were spent snuggled around the campfire in sweats and blankets (ok, somehow I was the only one that seemed to be so uber-cold that needed a sweatshirt on all day and a blanket all evening…), eating smores and drinking alcoholic beverages.  Well, except me of course.  And Min, who is breast feeding, and had a glass of wine or two over the weekend, but was mainly a teetotaler with me.  While around the fire, I came to a realization – I’m no longer jealous of everyone drinking!  I’m not saying that I wouldn’t down a glass of red in a minute (if I could!), but I’m quite fine with drinking mocktails and water while everyone else is imbibing.  Now, it’ll be interesting to see if that’s still the case when Todd and I are in Vegas in 3 weeks.

Oh wait, did I not mention that before?

That’s right, I’m going to Vegas.  5 months pregnant.

It’ll definitely be interesting.  And different from every other Vegas trip we’ve been on (this will be trip number 6), which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  We had planned on doing a roadtrip to DC, then promptly changed our minds.  We realized that we could always do DC with a stroller.  We would never do Vegas with kids in tow.  I also realized that I wanted more of a pool and relaxation vacation, instead of the hustle and bustle of museums.  However, the thing that actually made our mind up, was the drive.  Both of us realized that 10-14hrs in a car was not ideal for either of us right now (sciatica, lower back issues, ummm… pregnancy…).  I’d rather do 3.5-4 hrs in a plane.

So Vegas it was.  Or is.  We haven’t gone yet…

Ok, I must sign off now – otherwise I’ll talk about Vegas and won’t be able to stop telling you how awesome it is, and you’ll get tired of scrolling.  So I’ll leave it for the next post ;)

Sincerely,

Fly

It’s been an interesting day today.

Let’s see…

1) I now cry at not just the drop of a hat, but any sort of slightly stressful situation, mention of homeless children, or lost puppies.

2) After 3.5 years of open internet at work, my employers have started to monitor…not that I ever went on sites that weren’t work related ;)

3) I realized that the room booked for vacation appears to be the wrong type.  I had Todd call the hotel and they insisted that it said the proper type on their end.  Something tells me that this is going to come and haunt us in about a month…

4) Discovered the deliciousness that is a brownie in a mug!

5) Did the math for when the sale ends on the chair I want for the nursery ends and realize that I have exactly two opportunities in the next week and a half to purchase it.  Neither of which are ideal.  And one of which I won’t even be there for.  On second thought, maybe that is ideal!

6)  I now despise the words “venue” and “baby registry”

Oh, and as for #2, this means that I’ll have to plan my posts out a bit better from now on.  And speaking of posts, oh how I love writing them again!  It doesn’t quite feel like old hat yet, but after blogging for a whopping 10 years, I certainly can’t leave it for too long without it pulling me back.

Speaking of ten years of blogging, I find it interesting to look back at the transformation my blog has endured.  When I first started out, I wrote an anonymous blog that was mostly about venting about a job I hated and a boss that I sincerely did not like.  When I realized that putting so much negativity out there was just making me re-live it, and put more energy into things I didn’t like, I decided to change the direction.  I then wrote about my daily life, the strange occurrences, things that I loved as well as my hopes and dreams.  During this time, I decided that it was time to leave the world of anonymity behind and be open with all of my IRL friends and family and let them know that I have a blog (and had been blogging for years!).  While I loved being able to be honest, I found that there was a new sense of pressure from people.  I felt that I had to  document every moment of every experience I had.  If I skipped a few days, I had some people that would ask me (in person) why I hadn’t updated, and it drove me bat.shit.crazy.  I hated it!  So of course I did what I always do, I stopped writing for a bit (flybynyght, remember).  When I decided to come back, I decided for the blog to be less of a diary, and more daily/weekly life and hijinks recap.  And that was great, until I found the world of food blogs and decided to transform my blog (and now domain!!!) to be foodie centric.  But of course, as much as I enjoyed this, I realized that food was just a small part of my loves and continued to write about it, but to also write about fitness and running, and general healthy living.  I felt much more free to write and not so boxed in.  And then suddenly, I just didn’t feel like writing anymore.  So I didn’t.  And I felt completely okay with that, as blogging for me is a journey.  And where is this journey now?  Well, we shall see, but I think I’m going to once again write for me, about what I want, and how often I want.  And that sounds perfect to me.  For right now.

Sincerely,

Fly

A new chapter of Flybynyght?  Yes.

A new chapter of Life?  Absolutely.

As normal, my urge to write here ebbs and flows and is what brought me to my moniker in the first place.  But for the past four months I’ve had an incredible urge to write, but knew that I couldn’t.  If this were the non-public Flybynyght of yesteryear I could have, but that’s (happily) no longer the case.  You see, I’ve been harbouring a secret.  A secret that I was afraid I’d let slip if I tried to dance around it and write about other things.

A happy secret.

A secret that will take about 40 weeks to percolate:)

Yup, there’s going to be a Baby Fly!

Now that all friends, family, bosses and co-workers know, I can be free and honest with all of you (Ummm, like I have any readers left, lol!).  So my writing should become more frequent now (again), and although I’d classify my blog as a healthy living/daily life blog, there may be a little bit of a shift toward more pregnancy talk – because that’s clearly what’s on the forefront of my brain!

So, for the pertinent information…

Todd and I were fortunate to conceive quickly.  We wernt being careful for the 3 months before, but did nothing else to quicken the process.  In April I bought an Ovulation Prediction kit and found out that I ovulated much later in my cycle than I would have thought!  That month we began officially “trying,” and that month we actually conceived!  Talk about a surprise!  I figured that being 33, it may take some time!

At 6 weeks I had a prenatal exam with my medical doctor and she did bloodwork (to ensure I was pregnant).

At 14 weeks I saw my OB for the first time.  They tried to let me hear the heartbeat with the doppler, but my placenta was loud and the nurse was concerned that I couldn’t hear the faint sound of the heartbeat – even though I could!  Soooo, I got to have my very first ultrasound!  Now, it was maybe 10 seconds long and there were no pictures or measurements.  But I got to see my baby (looked kinda like a sweet potato, lol) and I got to see the heartbeat.  This meant that I was, indeed, pregnant.  It all seemed so unreal up until that very point.

Today, I’m 17 weeks and can’t believe that it has already been that long – it’s gone so quickly!  Next week I have my first real ultrasound – anatomical – and couldn’t be more excited.  I’m also excited that Todd will get to be there to see the baby, because he missed the first one (I told him there was no need to go, it would just be history, pee, weight…but, surprise!).

I’m due January 21, 2013 and although in a way that seems quite far off, it also feels like it’s just around the corner.I know these next 5 or so months are just going to fly by (haha) and can’t wait to share the experiences with you and to log them as a reminder to myself!

I am so looking forward to this journey…

Sincerely,

Fly

This post is a little heavy, but written to make you think, not ruminate.  It’s not about healthy living, but at the same time, it’s the epitome of healthy living.  If you’re having a good day, read it.  If you’re having a bad day, read it.

It is very interesting how time is completely relative to the person.

I mentioned to a coworker that I was thrilled that the week flew by, that it was Friday, and the workweek was nearly over.  She exclaimed that she couldn’t believe that it was Friday already either, and that the week went by too fast.  She said this with a little sadness.  This perplexed me for a moment, until I realized that she was over 60 and doesn’t see the end of a week in the same way that I’ve chosen to see it.  She sees each day as one to take hold of and live fully, no matter what the day entails, workday or not.

This really got me thinking.  I truly LIVE for the weekends.  I get through the workweek but I feel like I do my real living during those few hours where work isn’t an issue and I can more or less do as I please.

I need to stop this.

I need to choose to stop doing this.

I see that I need to embrace each and every day.  I need to enjoy what each day brings, even if it is 9 hours of work, a trip to the gym, tidying up and a short time of relaxing before going to bed, getting ready to do it all again the next day.

I need to stop being focused on counting the days until the weekend (0), until vacation (7), until a friends’ wedding (148).

I need to try to live in the moment, and fully live the moment.

I need to see the joy and the satisfaction in a job well done, in having the ability to go to a gym to workout, in having a husband to share the seemingly banal with and I need to be thankful that I go to bed each night with a clear expectation of waking in the morning.

The old saying goes, “Life is what happens when you’re busy trying to plan for it.”  …or something like that…   Planning is good, but not to the exclusion of living.

My Grandmother lived until she was nearly 98.  Her sisters who all lived to see adulthood, all lived until their late 90′s.  On the other side of my family, my Grandma is a very spry 82-year-old, who was married to my Grandpa for 60 years, before pancreatic cancer struck him down.  I have a full expectation of living to a ripe old age.  And I’m doing my best now to make sure that it’s a healthy one.

However, I must remember that I’m not guaranteed this time. The key is to LIVE each day you are given.

Today I’m reminded of this, as my small hometown is mourning the loss of a teenager in a horrific 4 vehicle accident at an intersection known for being dangerous.  I feel for his parents and the community.  The loss of a young life is not easily dealt with.

Todd and I have each lost a cousin to tragic car accidents while they were in their early 20′s.  I think this has changed us and the way we look at how people can be taken from us in the blink of an eye.

I think we sometimes forget that we could be the person that could be taken away.

Today I choose to fully LIVE life, and not merely be a participant.

Sincerely,

Fly

Well, hello.

It’s been a while.  To say the least.  A lot has happened in the past, oh, YEAR!  My hiatus from blogging certainly wan’t planned (they never are…) but I enjoyed my time away.  About once a month I’d yearn for detailing my life with my legions (*ahem*) of fans.  I believe that I may just be down to one fan now (Hi, Mom!).  However, I’m completely fine with that.

I went through a short time where site views and comments seemed oh so very important.  I’m glad that that phase was short.  I also realized that although I love to post about the recipes I’ve made – I really don’t like to read other peoples’ recipes in their posts.  The food, yes – the recipes, no (sad, but true).   Because of that, I think I’ll cut down on the number of full on recipes that I post.  Or post the dish and link to the recipe on the Recipe Page for easier reading (although this may be more work – so I wouldn’t hold your breath…).

I also want to post more about me (hello, egocentric blogger here…) and my thoughts, opinions and dreams.  I think I will always be a healthy living blogger (not a food blogger, not a fitness blogger, not an everything-I-do-every-second blogger) but with a big emphasis on sharing my life experiences, healthy or not.

The thing I love about blogging, is that it can ebb and flow with my life.  If I am all about fitness, I can gear my posts toward that; if I am all about black quinoa (yum, by the way), I can gear my posts toward that; and if I’m all about cats, well, someone shoot me.  I also love that I can come and go as I please and not answer to anyone for lack of posting or the content of my posts (more or less, I’m not really rockin any boats here…).

So herein lies another chapter of the ever-evolving flybynyght.com

My first order of business will be to update last years’ Commitments to see how well I did, then a recap of the year, as I did last year  (although I took so few pictures this year, it could be mostly text and oh, so thrilling…).  Then I want to outline what my Commitments are for this year and finally bring you back into my daily life!

I look forward to the journey, and hey, this blog isn’t called flbynyght without reason :)

Sincerely,

Fly

So I appear to have taken a blogging break. I don’t think that it was entirely intentional, although I must say that I have felt that there were two things keeping me from updating:

- A big backlog of posts to catch up on – all which seem very long and involved

- The injury I alluded to in my last post :(

First off, I’d like to say that my Recipe Challenge is going swimmingly and I’m enjoying creating and following recipes each week. I’ve definitely tried a lot of different dishes that I haven’t either cooked before, or in some case, even eaten before! I had someone ask me, if that’s all I cook during the week, my one (or two, or three) recipe for my Challenge. Ummm, no. I make all sorts of things! Some of which is just all thrown together so doesn’t seem recipe worthy to me, and some are recipes I’ve been making for forever (or, re-making the same one’s I’ve already discovered through this challenge!).

The one thing that I didn’t think about when committing to this challenge, was just how much time it would take to blog about the recipes! Perhaps I’m too involved in my descriptions and instructions? Although I no longer blog my daily eats, I like to blog about any new recipes, whether for the Challenge, or not. With the amount of time I’ve set aside for blogging, this just hasn’t been working! …And part of this is that I’ve been in kind of a funk lately, which brings me to point number two.

4 weeks ago I hurt my foot. I went for a run and oh, how it was a great run. That run and the one before were the first runs where I felt that I was finally starting to feel my mojo come back. They were the type of runs where you got in your groove and it just felt natural.  I haven’t felt that way in MONTHS.

Anyway, I got home, took my shoe off, and immediately felt pain.  I knew that there was something wrong, but not sure what, or why.  I hadn’t undone my tightly-laced, doubled-knotted shoe to take it off (nature was calling!!!) and thought that perhaps I pulled something in my foot, by pulling my foot out of the shoe.  The pain would come and go as I walked on it – the further I walked, the more it would hurt and I would limp (ridiculously, I must say.  I looked so silly!).  However, I continued to run on it for the next week.  I know this sounds crazy as I was a limping mess, but I didn’t find there was really any pain when I was running on it.  The consequence though, was that walking was starting to become quite an ordeal and very painful.

And then everything changed.  I went to a park that had a nice walking path that would be very snow-covered, but a traffic light-free place to run 6 miles.  By mile one I knew that things with my foot weren’t good; my foot was VERY sore (it hadn’t really hurt running on it until now…).  I managed to finish up one more mile on sheer determination, but was in severe pain, so called it a day.  I know that this sounds a little crazy, but at the time, I was pretty sure that I hurt my foot by not untying my shoe before taking it off…

The pain was intense enough though that I went home, looked in the phone book for walk-in clinics that had on-site x-rays available and went straight to the one I found. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that being a Sunday, their x-ray wasn’t open (burn!), so I just left and decided to go after work on Monday.

Well on Monday, I waited an hour to see the doctor and it was a complete waste of time. SERIOUSLY.  When he came into the room, he asked what happened, had me walk 3 (3!) steps, declared that my feet are ‘flat’ and I needed orthotics. “Get orthotics, take advil and come back in a week if it still hurts.”  And then he left the room. !!!!

Excuse Me???   Seriously, what just happened?

Ummmm, you think I have this major limp because I need orthotics? Ya, I already have them and that’s irrelevant, I can tell you that….

*Run and tell dat, Homeboy, homeboy, homeboy….*   oh how I love Antoine Dodson  :)

He actually didn’t touch my foot at all and barely looked at it.  I was so shocked that I didn’t know what to do.  I ended up going home and then decided that I’d give it a couple more days to heal; if it was still a problem by Friday, I’d go to a different clinic. Well, by Thursday I realized it wasn’t getting better and I couldn’t wait any longer.

This time the doctor actually listened to me!!!!   Yaaaayyyyyyy!!!  He said that he thought it was a stress fracture.  Booooooooo!!!  I asked him if he really thought that it was necessary to get x-rays and he was pretty adamant that it was.  I think that in my eyes, if I didn’t get x-rays that it meant that I was really ok and that there wasn’t really a possibility in the fracture department.

The Doc sent me down the hall for x-rays and when I came back, actually read them with me.  Unfortunately they showed a stress fracture on the head of the fifth metatarsal – exactly where my foot hurt – imagine that…

This isn’t my foot, and actually it’s a right foot, and my issue is with my left, but to give you an idea as to where the stress fracture is…

Night and day between the two Doctors, I tell you. So 6-8 weeks off of any weight bearing exercise. Boo. I’m glad that I hadn’t signed up for my next Half Marathon yet, because it’s on April 2 and clearly that’s out now.  Maybe I’ll be able to do a couple of 5ks in the spring before the humidity gets to be too gross.

I certainly won’t ever take being able to run for granted anymore…  I miss it so much!

I started  writing this post 2 weeks ago and just haven’t felt like blogging.  I’ve had a running injury and just haven’t wanted to be sit down to write.  I’ll let you know what’s going on with my injury in the next few days (I’m going to live…).   But without further adieu:

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This started out as a post about some Jalapeno Black Bean Patties and as you can tell by the title, it didn’t finish up that way.  Not to say that I started to make them and they suddenly morphed into ravioli, but I made two recipes this week and chose to use the ravioli one as my recipe challenge entry this week  ;)

The patties and their story will appear on the blog soon, but until then, let’s get onto the much delayed (as in, I actually made this January 26th!) Butternut squash ravioli!

Last year around this time (coincidentally), I made a butternut squash ravioli recipe of Bobby Flay’s, but it involved chipotle peppers and hazelnuts, so was nothing like what mine was.  Therefore, this qualifies for my recipe challenge :)

Since I made Bobby Flay’s recipe, I’ve been wanting to make something similar to it (meaning ravioli and butternut squash involved), but not that same recipe or ingredients (waaaay too rich).  And here’s what I came up with…

First up, let’s make the ravioli dough.

Now this is a very hearty pasta (which I love, more bang or your buck), if you don’t want hearty, sub out the whole wheat flour with AP.

Put your eggs in the middle…

And be sure to rescue any that run away!

Beat the egg with a fork (or just use your hands) and slowly incorporate all of the flour bit by bit.

Once you have incorporated the egg, add your water small amounts at a time, until the dough comes together, but isn’t sticky.  If it feels sticky, just add a little bit more flour.

Speaking of flour, lay some down on your counter in order to roll out your dough and not have it stick to the counter (duh.)

Roll, roll, roll your dough.  You want to make it as thin as you can.  Remember that it will be ravioli, so it will be twice as thick (top and bottom) around the edges.

Find something to cut out your ravioli circles.  Todd and I have found that this little tupperware dish is the perfect size for making large ravioli.

Oh, isn’t that pretty…

Now put it aside and let’s get the filling started…

Mash your roasted and peeled butternut squash in a bowl.

Take your onion slice and mince it.  You want the onion flavour without the chunks.  To do this, I diced my onion and then ran it through my garlic press.

Add in your Italian seasoning,

2 pinches of salt (note that this is only about 1/8 tsp!),

And your crumbled feta.

Mix all together well.

At this point, fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil (for the ravioli to eventually go in…).

Meanwhile, grab a ravioli circle and turn it upside down (the underside will be more moist) and place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the middle of it.

Continue this for half (duh) of all of our circles.

Use a little dish of water and your finger to moisten the edges (all areas not covered by filling).  Next take another ravioli circle and stretch it a little (in order to fit over the filling) and place on top.

Press the edges of both pieces together, using your thumb and forefinger to pinch the dough together.

Do this around the entire ravioli until you have this:

And continue until all of your ravioli look like this,

Place your raviolis in your pot of boiling water.

And onto the sauce!

This looks like a lot of butter, but it’s only 4 tablespoons worth, and it’s for alllll of the ravioli (and I actually reserved some for leftovers…and used some for some garlic shrimp!).  Melt the butter over medium heat.

Add your veggie stock

Stir in your parmesan, oregano, garlic and pepper.

Mix well and turn up to high heat.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Make sure that your raviolis (Ok, I was wondering if it was ravioli or raviolis, but spell check didn’t pick it up, so I guess this is right!) aren’t sticking together and stir occasionally while they’re cooking.

Once your ravioli has been in the pool for about 4-5 minutes, you should be good.  Remember, you’re cooking fresh pasta here – not dried – and it’ll still be going in the oven.

Drain the ravioli, but don’t rinse it!  The starch on the ravioli helps the sauce stick! (If it takes you more than a couple minutes to complete your sauce and start assembling, you may need to check that your raviolis aren’t sticking together, or to separate them)

Speaking of starch…  Add in cornstarch to thicken up your sauce.  Add your cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water and stir well, before adding to sauce.

Turn heat off and stir, stir, stir.  The cornstarch will work its’ magic and the sauce will be much thicker.  Take off the burner, once the sauce sticks to the spoon liberally.

Look at that gorgeous sauce!

This is a good time to preheat your oven to 375.

Spoon a little bit of sauce in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish, to prevent the ravioli from sticking.

Place your raviolis in your dish, spooning a bit of sauce over each one.

Offset each ravioli layer, so that sauce will drip down :)

When I had all of my raviolis arranged, I still had this much sauce left.  You could just pour it over top, but I don’t think it needed it.

Cover your dish in foil and place in your oven for 20 minutes, or until you see the sauce bubbling…  mmmm…. bubbling sauce…

And serve!

I wish I had a better picture of the finished product, but I just wanted to dig in at this point….   *drool*

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Pasta

• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 Cup water

Filling

• 1/2 Medium butternut squash, roasted, peeled and mashed
• 1 1/4 inch slice from a medium white onion
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 pinches salt
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup crumbled feta

Sauce

• 4 T Butter
• 2-3 Cloves minced garlic
• 3/4 tsp oregano
• 1.5 T grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 T Cornstarch
• 1/4 Cup water
• 1/2 Cup vegetable stock

1. Place your flour in a mound on a flat surface (countertop).  Make a well in the middle of it and crack your eggs into the well.
2. Use a fork (or your fingers to mix the egg, incorporating the flour as you go.  Once the egg and flour are mixed, add in your water, bit by bit, while kneading together.
3. Once dough comes together into a firm ball (too sticky, ad some extra water; not holding, add extra water), your dough is ready to roll out.
4. Flour your work surface and use a rolling pin to roll out your dough as thin as you’re able to.
5. Use an implement or cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough approximately 3.5-4 inches across, using all of the dough.  Put aside.
6. In a bowl, mash the roasted and peeled butternut squash.
7. Add in the minced onion, Italian seasoning, salt and crumbled feta.  Mix well.  Set aside.
8. Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil to cook your ravioli once they are assembled.
9. Meanwhile, grab a ravioli circle and turn it upside down (the underside will be more moist) and place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the middle of it.
10. Use a little dish of water and your finger to moisten the edges (all areas not covered by filling) of the ravioli circle.
11. Take another ravioli circle and stretch it a little (in order to fit over the filling) and place on top.  Press the edges of both pieces together, using your thumb and forefinger to pinch the dough together.  Continue this process for all ravioli circles.
12. place ravioli in pot of boiling water, cook for 4-5 minutes and drain.  Do not rinse starch off (in order to encourage sauce to stick to pasta).
13. At this point, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
14. In a saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat.  Stir in vegetable stock, garlic, oregano, parmesan cheese and pepper.  Bring to a boil.
15. Mix together the cornstarch and water and pour into sauce.  Turn heat off and stir until sauce thickens.  Take sauce off of burner.
16. Coat bottom of baking dish with sauce.  Place one layer of ravioli and cover in sauce.  Place another layer (offsetting from bottom layer), and cover in sauce.  Continue until all raviolis are in the dish.  You may not use all of the sauce.  This sauce is rich and should be used sparingly (I reserved about 1/3 of the sauce and used it when heating up leftovers).
17. Cover with foil, place in oven until heated through and bubbling, approximately 20 minutes.

Whew!  That was a long one!  Next week’s entry will be a much less involved one – I need a break (if only from the posts!).