I want to say that I’m pretty excited and proud of myself. I was given the highest compliment that anyone can bestow upon a Proverbs 31 lady of God. I was told that I display none of the typical mid western bloat/swell and that I look like I’m from the west coast. I only had to run 530 days in a row to warrant such a compliment, so it’s a pretty big deal.

I frequently encounter wildlife on my outdoor runs. Between the deer population, wild turkeys, and Canada Geese, I have my fill of beauty to behold and pests to ignore. Bugs, snakes, worms, and birds all fill my day. To be honest, this was shocking to me at first because I live in a metro area not the country. Jonathan has even been attacked by a pack of turkeys one block from my highly populated neighborhood.

Even an avid pet lover could fill with disdain if they frequently worked out outside. I promise you every pet owner thinks that their pet is the cutest and most friendly little thing in the world. Today I encountered not one, not two, but three unleashed dogs. All three owners were grinning from ear to ear as they strolled down the sidewalk with their pet untethered at their side. One of the dogs nipped at my ankle for an entire quarter-mile while their owner stood, unmoving, in the driveway simultaneously grinning and yelling at me about how their dog is just having fun and means no harm. I had to literally stop, turn around, and run that dog back to its owner (.25 miles back and then .25 back to where I was to start with) just to be told that my running was the cause of the situation. I will tell you that as someone who is definitely not an animal lover and, is in fact apathetic about pets, somebody on their daily exercise routine is not at fault for making your animal run. They are animals. That is what they do. They may be cute. They may be trained, but deep down inside they are wildlife and should not be allowed to roam untethered and free while you stand totally still laughing about it. If this was still 1990 you may have been the unwilling star of “Animal Attacks” on Fox.

This has been a public service announcement. No animals or humans were harmed during the recreation of this event for your consumption. My God promises me that the lion will lay next to the lamb, because if not, I don’t want to take a victory lap on that side of glory.

Today was day 530 of my Run Streak and an absolutely gorgeous, sunny 7 mile run ended with a 1 mile walk. I read in Hal Higdon’s book that adding a walk to the end of every medium to long run will help you avoid injury. I read that book when I could hardly even move because I was suffering from Achilles Tendonitis. My expert opinion is that this works. It just gives your muscles and body a chance to cool down and process all the blood and oxygen through the system and gives you a minute to return to normalcy. You only need to walk .25 miles at the end of a medium to long run to see the benefits. I swear by it. In fact, when the weather is decent, I will gladly run 14 miles just to be able to stroll 1 mile at the end of it. I love to walk and it is usually during this .25-1.5 mile walk that I have my deepest and most amazing thoughts of every day.

Reese and Gentry chilling on a Saturday afternoon. I definitely think Gentry has a career in fashion design. Look at the amazing outfit he chose and his color blocking skills.

This is a nice lady that I saw while out today. It may be difficult to see, but she is wearing a full blown surgical mask. Unless there is a new style trend that I’m not aware of, I’m thinking that if you have this large of a germ phobia, a kids play area is not the place to hang out. Play places are the giant bacterial petri dish of God’s science lab

Reese taking a break during extreme dodge ball at Karate this morning.

In closing, Saturday nights always give me a rush of excitement and adrenaline. Not only can I never sleep because I know the hope and potential of every service, but I can’t wait to get to The Bridge Church and hear this hottie preach tomorrow! Not only is he an amazing pastor, but he is easy on the eyes.

Is there a night of the week that you can’t sleep? Why?

What is on the docket for your dinner tonight?

I am back to clean eating today, sorry to disappoint all of my fans who thought for a moment they could be eating french fries, giant sandwiches, cake, restaurant food, and all of the other random things I’ve blogged about and be able to maintain a fit, healthy body. Remember, I’m a daily work in progress. I will never gain the 55 pounds back that I lost and that takes focus, dedication, commitment, and throwing away all clothes that give you room to breathe. Knowing I will have no skirts to put on for church tomorrow if I have one more bad eating day motivates me to put a stop to the birthday week celebration train! One day a week where you indulge, and one weekend or week here and there will not kill you, it is the daily and overall habits and choices that will.