Livin' the Dream in Lima

Welp, Christmas break is officially over. Today was our first day back to school, and we were lucky enough to have our very first 2-hour delay of the school year, thanks to some slippery roads. Why yes, I'll wait until 10 o'clock to go into school, thankyouverymuch . Except too bad I didn't find out about the delay until I had already showered and gotten ready for work... but that didn't stop me from changing right back into my PJ's and planting my tush on the couch for an hour and a half. Usually I would take advantage of the extra couple hours in the morning to go for a run, but since I'd already showered and was with wet hair, I decided to wait until after school. (Running with wet hair in 20-degree temps did not  sound like fun.) So I headed to the gym after school to get in a run, and decided to do my 'speed' workout for the week. I ended up running a 4-mile tempo averaging 6:43 pace... just felt super good today! I got in just over 7 miles...

A long, long time ago (ok not that long) when I lived in the grand ole' state of Illinois, once a month during the winter my grandma would host 'Soup Supper.'  The purpose? One, to get my extended family with our busy lives all together for a few hours. And two, to eat soup. Betcha couldn't see that coming. Each family would make a pot of soup to bring to 'Soup Supper', and we would have a feast of soup and cheese and crackers and bread. There was probably a vegetable or two in there somewhere, too. (Like the chopped veggies in the soup. Heh.) I loved sampling all the different soups, but I always left completely stuffed! I guess three bowls of three different kinds of soup will do that to you. Anyways, one night my cousin Charlie brought the most delicious Cheesy Chicken Enchilada soup. It was creamy and cheesy and spicy and chock full of Mexican flavor. I don't think I even tried any other types of soup that night. And I'm not sure anyone...