Today is a run-day (uh-oh).

There is no denying that I am currently in the half-hearted stage of half-marathon training. I still eat too much before I run. I yawn and fall out of bed into my shoes and onto the road without a thought about stretching. I worry about what the dogs eat before I have my own face-off with the breakfast bagel (or even worse, cinnamon toast. horrifying, I'm sure). One of these days I'll have it all figured out. I'll shake hands with my bowl of bran and give a wink to the protein shake on the side. But until then, just slide the chocolate spread and toast and in my direction and I'll figure out the consequences later. You want my melon slices? I'm not in the mood. And put the coffee on would you? I'll be needing it. I always do.

Oh but today I ate lobster. Mainly because I love the word crustaceans. Crusteceans. Ooh.

Day Three. Eat up!

Two months ago there was a heated discussion between myself and the hubby about the purchase of this mug (yes, life is that exciting!). I said '$18 is much too pricey darling honey favorite one, what- are we made of money?' but Forrest insisted 'wifey, treasure, dearest heart, I see what you mean but I really must have it'. I think that's roughly how it went... Well, I relented because I am super-nice. Anyways, two weeks after this item joined our already sprawling collection of coffee cups, Forrest deployed to Afghanistan.

Now I have used this mug every single day since he left. And I enjoy it. So this is me eating my words (which, by the way, taste better with coffee...).

We are going back to Gatlinburg when Forrest is home for R&R in November. I will buy my own mug. It will sit proudly and expensively next to Forrest's, and there will be no more talk of it. (Maybe after an initial personality clash and a few awkward jokes they'll fall in love and get married. It happens to the best of us).

Aside from coffee cups, I had some of my favorite company for dinner. My friend Lesley the worker-bee needs to be lured away from her study-notes with sangria from time to time. I do my best to oblige. Plus, my dogs are in LOVE with her, so it's a win win when she comes over.

In all, an exciting day for food! high fives and a clear-ish conscience. (incase you hadn't noticed, we are ignoring the breakfast cookie and the thirty one m&ms. oh and the sangria. Who mentioned pizza? Yikes)

Foodstuff. Day Two.

We admired the asparagus. It was beautiful. I ate it.

Nashville Farmers Market has a lot to answer for. Purple Peppers. My addiction to handmade soap. A considerably depleted bank account. On the upside, I guess I'm healthier, cleaner, but alas, still poorer....

Felix surveyed unfolding events whilst tap-dancing in the kitchen and staring down the roast beef, eyes as wide as saucers. That was my day. Oh, and learning how to 'stay'....(hooray!)

Every Last Morsel.

Sunday is Day 1.

Give me a game, I will play it. Paper, I will draw on it. Dog? I will walk it. Food, I will cook it (then eat it). I am one of those people....I have to be doing something, always. (I sleep well at night).

I could use a bit of focus though. I need a map. A mentor. a GPS. Something to say go this way for more than 2 minutes. Otherwise you never get very far. Y'know? I do.

So my plan for the week is this: (and oh it is simple. Delicious and simple. Did I mention delicious? And simple. Ok). I'm doing a food diary. Something 1000 people before me have done, but I jump onto the bandwagon with enthusiasm and a shrug. I bet we all eat different things, after all. If somebody else drew 'Betty Jo's Hot Slaw' in their food blog, then knock me down with a feather- and feed me my own words. 'Til then, I present to you Day One of this challenge. And it actually IS a challenge, when I'm faced with a cookie that I want to eat (very badly, for I am a piglet) but must draw it first.....

I'm trying to keep it all about the food, but other things creep in. Hi Bob the Turtle. There was also an interesting storm cloud and I only just managed to hold back on a picture of the dogs.....

So that's day one. Simple, delicious....ever so slightly fatty.

oh, and also.....

The previous post is only half the story. I was very fortunate when I moved to the US a year ago. The very best people chose to befriend me, including my (crazy 'Auntie') Linda- the funniest, most charismatic, caring person that ever there was. She and Rudydog have been the best of friends since the day they met (he was about 12 wks old) and I’m really just a bystander in their dog/human mutual appreciation situation. Auntie Linda wasted no time in inviting me and Rudy and Felix (and my sister, Kate) to stay at her house (coincidentally our old house!) for the duration of our visit to Southern Alabama. I say the duration…naturally we had to nip off to Florida to say hi to the beach, where I sampled my first ever bowl of gumbo, slept for an undisturbed night in a hotel without the dogs (love them, but bliss!) and swam and sunbathed and chatted and giggled until I really felt like I’d exhaled for the first time in a while. The photos sum it up rather well, I think!

I also strive to fulfill the role of a thoughtful wife, and went on an enthusiastic shell-search along the Florida shoreline, so that the desk of my lovely husband in Afghanistan can be brightened up with a jar of said treasures. Found some cool ones too! Check. It. Out!! Paperweight?

So long! Farewell! Aufwiedersehn, Adieu.

Though I feared my sanity was at stake, I decided to pack the dear dogs into the car, have a stern conversation with the GPS and haul my self and 1000 items of luggage (I swear the dogs are like kids, and I was never a light traveler) on an 8-hour drive down to Enterprise, Alabama. After 4 months away, I have been missing some of my dearest friends from our old neighborhood and since one particular family is so inconveniently moving to Germany in a few weeks (boo Army) I figured it was time to show my face again. The sweet wife of this dynamic couple has been sending me care packages ever since I left town, so lately I’ve been racking my brains about what I could do for them in return. I did indeed hit upon a flash of inspiration. Anybody remember Forrest’s and my doggy trays of old? Well, excuse me for stealing my own theme- but …you can guess the rest.

My delivery mission was a success and my old pals seemed suitably charmed by my efforts. (Chad flies Apaches, the two Blondies are Abby and Gracie- their sweet spaniels and the German theme is self-explanatory).

Aufwiedersehn, Temples…miss you already.

Apache patch

Though I don’t entirely count out the possibility of making multi-millions with my savvy business ability and award-winning artworks one of these days (cough)…..I’m still kinda one for doing favors since y’know, what goes around comes around. I try to keep on good terms with Karma. So when one of my favorite neighbors of old asked me to design a patch for his Apache helicopter class, how could I say no? I couldn’t! I didn’t.

There is this crazy thing with Apaches, where the pilots are trained to fly ‘the bag’. That is, with all the windows blacked out. Flying ‘blind’. Talk about a rite of passage into an elite group. I was lucky enough to witness one of these training sessions from the ATC tower one sunny Saturday morning in January. Some of the (often unintentional) Apache acrobatics performed by the flight school students were a bit dizzying, to say the least.

So, these bright young things fly helicopters to keep America safe. I design their patches to keep them happy. Good deal. The design- as I know you have guessed- is an apache student flying ‘the bag’. Your powers of deduction are second to none.

So I approached my house the other day, to a waiting box. The kind of box that says ‘get excited, I am full of treats’. There ain’t no better type of box. So while I didn’t ask for payment, this sweet class of pilots sent me a gift basket full of delights (thank you, I DO like to smell of ‘orchid blossom’ whenever possible!), and of course, one of the patches. I think it’s pretty neat. Glad I could help!

One, Two, Skip a few....(and suddenly it's June!)

Oh I have been a bad blogger. A bad bad blogger......Four short months ago we moved house. And State. The dog, the turtle, ourselves. Hello Clarksville, Tennessee!

Amid confusion and chaos, my Greencard showed up. Irony is....just when I finally get the freedom to be with and stay with my husband, he was preparing to get whisked away from me. The Army can be such a party pooper! Forrest was settling in at work under the expectation of being deployed at the click of somebody's fingers, while I unpacked boxes, cooked meals, promised Rudy that everything was okay (our dear emotional Shepherd!). My family visited (from England!), we acquired Mister Felix (emotional Shepherds: Part II), I started eating meat. I learned to use the lawn mower. The weed eater. The DVD player (I'm still a bit fuzzy on that one actually....).

We met neighbours. We made friends. We went to football games. We drank wine. We took photos.

Then we turned into me. Me and the dogs, that is. The dogs and the turtle.

Now I am a pro at catching mosquito eaters. I am a disaster at swatting flies. I am a wreck at the sight of (HUGE Tennessee) spiders. I'm paying the bills. Watching the news with one ear closed. Getting less sleep. Drinking more coffee.

It's been busy around here....the laundry needs doing and the puppy just sprinted past with one of my slippers. I've missed you bloggers and readers, commenters and friends. This is me making my return....sneaking in the side door. Pretending like I was never gone. How've you all been?! And what did I miss?