Christmas Eve Santa Hustle with IKEA Furniture and Christmas Pizza

Santa Hustle Christmas Present

Look at all the goodies!

 So you may have heard that the Santa Hustle was cancelled after that extreme cold front moved through last week.   Well!   The race folks felt so bad about it that they mailed her stuff and information for her to complete a "virtual" Half-Marathon on her own. With a break in the weather today, we chose Christmas Eve because this way I could pretend that this was my Christmas Present.... so I would not have to get anything else.  Not that I ever have any money anyway.

Time to dress up for the Race

Bearded lady looks Super Sexy!

We started out at the Kewash trail.   Cheryl put on the required hat and beard and prepared for the start.   I sang the national Anthem.  (most of it anyway) And Cheryl made the horn sound and launched off.

Beard didn't last long

Now it rotated to the back!

I have to say, this was a GREAT half marathon for me as a spectator and photographer. I could easily find Cheryl in the crowd.   I also volunteered to be a race pacer AND a race official.   It was an easy gig...since I was the only one around.

Cheryl at the front of the pack!  

She is Still first at the half way point.

The path started out snowy but became muddy late in the race.   I met her at the turn around and eventually met her at the finish.   It was almost like being beside her the entire way.

It's a sprint to the finish!

So fast she lost the beard AND the hat!

Cheryl had a pretty good race.  Even though she turned in a rather disappointing time,  she managed to come in first not only in her age group;  but also in her Gender and OVERALL.   I should point out that sweeping the categories is much easier when you are the only one in the race.

Final stats. Overall place: 1 out of 1 runner(s)
Age group: 1st out of 1  female runner(s) age 40-45
Gender place:  1st out of 1 Female runner(s)
She set a new PR for Virtual Half-Marathon.

The Santa Hustle Official Finishers Medal

She looks happy.

But she is still happy with her medal.   This medal completes 2016 and ties 2015 for overall medals achieved.   Even though 2016 was a rather dud running year,   most of those medals were gained in the fall and early winter.  Perhaps 2017 will offer better terms in the running world.   Boston will be a big boost...  so here's to hoping!

Time for Christmas Pizza!

Super thin crust is a challenge to handle

After the run,   we whipped up a Christmas Pizza and pigged it down!    Nothing like a pizza with seafood on it.  Salmon, shrimp,  pineapple, and Sarana  peppers. Lots of Cheese and Broccoli.


  

Unless you use a fork....

like civilized people. 

Cheryl has figured out how to make the pizza crust paper thin.   The catch is to cut the pizza in small sections.  I found eating with a fork works well.

IKEA build time

Kitchen BEFORE

Cheryl does the heavy lifting.

And finally,  I put one of the numerous IKEA furniture pieces together.   I'm getting pretty good at these.  I didn't even need the instructions!   I also put it together in a record time and with no "miscalculations".   In other words,  everything fit together nicely.   Cheryl baked cookies and moved the new piece into place.

Task complete.

Kitchen AFTER.

There is still a few items left to put together in the shop.  Perhaps we will take a stab at that tomorrow.  For now,  I plan on being a bum for the remainder of the evening.... and possibly having a slice of Cheesecake or Pumpkin pie.  ( or maybe both!)

Cookie Baking Time!

Hope everyone is having a wonderfully Merry Christmas.  Things look pretty good so far.   Only a few Stockings trickle in, but Cheryl says we won't work on them until after the weekend.   (Not really any point with the Post Office closed until Monday.  So looks like some more lazy time for us.  I could use a week of sleep, I think.   Cheryl says she feels the same way. We shall see.

A Passion for Pizza? And Big Editing Finish!

Another Cheryl Creation

Cheryl's Sushi with no job.  Pretty!

 With Cheryl working and my novel editing over,   I have discovered I have lots of spare time on my hands.   What better way to invest that time, than to work on my cooking magic!

Cheryl's Sushi with job...Gross!

Not that Sushi is boring,  but we have had a lot of it lately.   And,  ever since Cheryl took that menu over,   it has been a challenge to keep things up the way they were....Namely,  she is tired after work and ends up making something ....different.

Like a modernist painting!

So clean.  So neat.  So plain.

Not to mention I get hungry if I have to wait until 5 PM for food!  So,  say goodbye to Cheryl's pretty paintings and say hello to Ethan's Splatter Fest!

Like a Van Gogh Painting.

Get it?  The painting reverences?   Cheryl is a sleek Modernist Minimalist and I'm a Vincent Van Gogh. It's a comparison to her Sushi vs my Pizza dinners.
 Of course,  I could attempt to make sushi as well.  It's not like it is impossible for me,   But Cheryl does not like the way I do things.  Her Sushi has to be "just so".

So messy, So random,  So chaotic

Ok,  So the first couple of attempts at artisan pizza need a little polish, (not the sausage...)   that is why we experiment in the Kitchen...Right?

Feeling better about this dough

  I have better expectations for this next round.   The wheat flour did not rise as I had hoped and the bake time was skewed because Cheryl came home exactly when she said she would.... TOTALLY screwing me up and throwing off my "later than expected" prep time.   This time,    I started over with new dough,  which is rising nicely on the kitchen table as I write this.

This dough is Rising on my list.

As for the old stuff,  I tried to play around with it this afternoon seeing if I could get it to work out better if I tried different baking methods.  

Time for taste testing.

In the end,  it was edible...but not the gourmet stuff you read about in Rachel Ray's Magazine.

As for the Novel....240 pages 81,157 words total, out the door!   I guess I added a few words during the editing process.  There were far fewer problems with pacing or grammar than I had first thought. I'm quite pleased.

Over all opinion? Not to bad!   Better than my early attempts at pizza anyway.   Perhaps in the hands of a real editor,  it could actually be really good.   I doubt it will ever be required reading in some English Lit' class.  They have to keep those things pretty "G" rated  for all those college students, after all.   Mine has all the bad stuff.....things every Parent or Born Again Christian hates:   Drugs, Sex, Harsh Language, and Dragons!

Monty Python and Spain....Loves Dungeons

Seriously,  why do Christians hate Dragons so?   Ok maybe just us Lutherans.....( I should point out I deviate from the faith a little here...)  I think Dragons are cool!   We used to play Dungeons and Dragons and the S.O.P. for the W.E.L.S. was D&D was B.A.D!   And I doubt it was because of the Dungeons.....(Hello.... Spanish Inquisition.   We Christians LOVE dungeons!)
But no...Dragons = Devil somehow.  Last time I checked,  I have not been riding goats  ( or dragons)  towards the apocalypse.  ( Ok,  maybe in a video game....but not lately)

But...Where is the Pepperoni?

Other than that,  I currently await Cheryl's arrival so I can begin a new masterpiece of Italian Culinary Artistry.  This time I'll be able to put on more toppings and hopefully the crust will not end up like a cracker.   Thin and Healthy Pizza Crusts traditionally suffered from a lack of flavor.  If I can at least make it less like cardboard and more like ....pizza crust,  Then I will consider this effort a success....even if it is minimal.