Oops. My bad.

Today, while I was going for my morning run, I spotted a van leaving our street and turning down the street a block away. I filed it away as a little weird, but kept running. Then I saw it down another street and another, all along my jogging route. The guy in the van even looked at me at one point. I was starting to get a little creeped out by the whole situation. As I turned to run toward the fire station, I see it come down yet another side street. I'm thinking to myself, "What is this guy doing? Trolling for victims??" I am now at this point regretting, not having my cell phone with me. I had only the protection of Samson. What a fierce fighter! So, as I pass the fire station, I decided to go in and see if I can use their phone to call the police. It was pretty early, and I think I woke the poor fireman up when I rang the doorbell. So I called 911 and put in a report about a suspicious looking van driving around and they said they would send the Sheriff's out to check it out. Feeling better, I go back out to finish my run, when what to my surprise!!! The van is there again!!! It was turning into another neighborhood. So I start to pick up the pace so I can get home. Samson, keeps stopping the entire time because he has to poop, but he won't go because he is to embarrassed to go in front of me. At this point I am pretty much dragging the poor dog behind me. Then I see the Sheriff and flag him down and tell him where I saw the van. He tells me to wait at the fire station and he'll check it out. He doesn't end up finding the van, but tells me that if I see it again to call. So I pretty much race back home and get inside. I think I've watched one too many Law and Order's or CSI as I am becoming overly dramatic about the whole situation.

Later, I'm talking with some friends about it and they tell me that they've seen that van before and one girl's husband followed it one time and guess who it was??! The paper boy. Yup, on the morning route delivering papers. Which explains the van going up and down all those streets. So, yeah, I pretty much called the cops on the paperboy. I guess I'm glad they didn't find him. Poor guy gets pulled over and he's like, "I'm just trying to do my job!"

What I'm wondering, is why don't these paper companies give their drivers a magnet with the logo for their car so they don't get the cops called on them??

While I do feel better, I do feel a little foolish. I know they say to call if you see anything suspicious, and in light of all the crime around here lately I took that very seriously. Hmmph. I guess better safe than sorry, right?

Rex turns 1

Rex just turned 1 and we had a fun party with family and friends. My favorite part is when you get to let the kids have at the birthday cake. Rex didn't quite know what to do with his cake, although all the other kids were happy to show him what to do. Abby, on the other hand, HATED her 1st birthday cake.




1st birthdays are the best!!

For my dad

My dad requested some videos of Rex toddling around, and here they are. This was on Sunday. He's wearing his brand new church clothes. Thanks Grandma Marsha and Grandpa Gordon!!



...And walking on his birthday. He's so cute. (Not that I'm biased or anything...)

Take that, 5k!!

This morning was the Idyllwild 5k. I really like this race, because it is really laid back and it's close. This year I got to run with both Katie and Taylor, which I was super-excited about. This year was the best I've done yet with a time of 31 minutes and some seconds (I don't remember how many). I shaved off 6 minutes from the last 5k I ran and I have to grudgingly admit that it was largely in part due to Craig's grueling workouts. In the past, the hills were always what killed me, but this time, they didn't seem so bad. I guess when you compare that to jumping on huge boxes or jumping over hurdles, the hills are a breeze! It also helped that I loaded my ipod with new songs, so I was smiling and just enjoying the run. What a great day!

Beefcake

I told Abby the other day that I was going to make a chocolate beet cake. When I made it today, she asked if I was making beefcake.

If you are ever trying to sneak in vegetables to your kids, this is a good way. I have a recipe for chocolate beet cake that Craig got from one of his cooking classes in college. It uses 1 1/2 cups of beets! I made it today and was pleasantly surprised how non-beet it tasted, although it was a little earthy. It looks really rich, but doesn't taste too chocolaty. I had to add a generous amount of chocolate frosting for it to meet my chocolate needs. If you are feeling adventurous, try this out:

1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c cooked and grated beets
1/2 c water
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350, grease 9x13 pan. Combine sugar, egg, vanilla, and oil. Beat well in a mixer. Add beets and cocoa powder. Beat again. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together, add to the batter along with water. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake 35 min. (makes 8 to 10 servings)