Cookies, Sunflowers, and Running

Today was a mash-up of oddities. 

A bit of a flour mishap...

I decided to bake cookies for work, to encourage the staff and to thank those that have subbed for me. (Gotta show the love!) I made oatmeal raisin, by request of Maddie and Zach, the two coworkers I probably spend the most time with. I was pretty proud of the delicious recipe I found, and the first batch came out great. 

While the dough was chilling, I went out to the garden to look at the new growth. I was elated to find a sunflower that had grown spontaneously in the garden, and was now nearly as tall as myself. I also admired the tomato and rhubarb plants, and got really excited for homemade strawberry rhubarb sauce. I checked out the four tiny eggplants that have begun to grow, a new addition to our garden this year. I think its the vegetarianism that inspired that request. My mama's garden makes me so happy, I just hope I can one day find the time, energy, and inspiration for gardening like she does. 

After baking the cookies, it was time for my run. It would be my first time running in about a month, so I was nervous to say the least. I tried to have no expectations for myself, as that would just lead to frustration, but it's impossible to go out on a run expecting nothing. So I laced up my shoes (it felt so good to have those back on), grabbed my ipod, put on some Justin Bieber, and set out. I felt ten pounds heavier. 5 pounds I blame on my newfound baking addiction and all of the tacos I ate in Texas. 5 pounds was fear. But, as life sometimes goes, it really wasn't that big of a deal. I ran a mile. Stopped. Ran a half mile. And walked the rest of the way home. No big accomplishment, no big failure. 

Grocery shopping!

When I got home, my dog had managed to eat 25 of the 40 cookies. Good job Chaya. I whipped up a new batch in record time so I could bring them to work. Then I went grocery shopping for all of the delicious fruits and veggies I would need to start my juice cleanse tomorrow. (I have no idea if these have any actual benefits, I'm just doing it because I like juice and I like a good challenge.)