Lots Of Love

Ready for a new week?! Here we go!!!!

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day however it is you celebrated!! Even if you totally ignored it, may it have been a fabulous Sunday! It was a fun day around here complete with new, fun little trinkets ...

... as well as our annual viewing of "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown." I cannot get enough of the Peanuts specials and am thankful for a family who supports such a habit!

Pit Crew #2 continued her holiday tradition of creating home made cards, and this year's were fabulous. While I most definitely loved what she made for me and Aaron, my favorite of the three was the one she made for her brother ...

... because it was of one of his very favorite foods:

The Hot Pocket.

That girl has a heart that most definitely knows the hearts of others!

Speaking of traditions, I did ask Aaron to amend my usual gift. For all of our years together (at least, married years), he's gotten me chocolate covered strawberries from a place in town that makes them like no other. They're so good that when I let the kids try one a number of years back, I started getting extra so I had some to share and some for myself (because there was no chance I was sharing much without a bump up in volume). This year, I just asked for the smaller box for all of us to share. It was good to indulge on a smaller scale, and everyone got to partake. That's what I call winning! Seriously ... they're so good ... writing about them is making me think about them which is making my mouth water just a little bit ...

My other gift was just what I wanted:

That's right!! New kicks!! And, not just any new kicks ... I went for an upgrade on the shoes and got a pair of Brooks. I've heard and read more positive buzz about Brooks than any other running shoe, so, I went this direction this time.

Excellent tidbit: So, I saw the shoe on display, but I could not find an associate to help me. The display happened to be my size, so, I tried it on. It felt so good that it was worth pursuing an associate. When I found one, before I said a word, he hesitantly said, "Oooo ... that is the only pair of those we have in." To which I responded, "That works, because they happen to be my size!" While he looked for its mate, I threw out there, "So. Since it's a display, does that also mean big discount?" He didn't even look at me when he said, "No," so I looked at PC#2 and said, "Well. I tried."

The associate finally found the mate and went on about his business while I tried on the whole pair. I loved them and decided to get them. As we were walking through the store to the cashier, the same associate was jogging up to us from behind to let us know he thought we should get a 10% discount since they were on display. Score! Clearly, it didn't hurt to bring up the question!

The cashier had been told of the discount, but she didn't know the reason. So, when she asked (so as to log it into her computer), I said, "Because it was the display pair. I MEAN, to compensate for the pain endured while using them." I live to amuse myself.

I took these babies for my 3-mile spin on Saturday, and I loved everything about them!! They're light with just the right amount of cush ... two attributes not applicable to my recent pair of durable but not good for very long distances Asics. If the toe area of the Brooks is as durable as I'm hoping (and, at this point, it is a 50-50 hope), then I'm pretty certain I've found myself a new brand! Friday's long run will add to the evidence collection.

In the meantime, the week's short runs pick back up tomorrow! I'll be checking in then ...!