My new love

Homemade soup!  Ever since I watched Emma take a few vegetables, throw them in a  pot and serve up a gorgeous bowl of soup I have been trying for the same magic.  Last weekend I finally got the recipe just right for a potato leek soup by adding a red pepper to the mix.  It is delicious if I do say so myself.  And now this weekend I'm going to try my hand at mushroom soup.  I just adore mushroom soup and I've been reading recipes, so I think I can give it a go.  I don't want cream or half and half in the soup, so that makes it a little more difficult to follow a recipe because most of them do have at least some milk product.  But there are other ways of thickening a soup - a little roux perhaps or maybe a single potato thrown into the mix.  I'll have fun figuring it out, and hopefully fun eating it as well!

It was a stunningly gorgeous afternoon for a run yesterday.  I changed up my route a bit and ran downhill for the first 1 1/4 mile, and then up the second.  It's a little better work out, although the grade is no more than 5%.  They are tearing down the visitor stands in Husky Stadium now in preparation for the remodel and it's so odd to run by that destruction.  It looks like a movie set!  It is going to be a spectacular stadium when it is finished.  Next year the Huskies will play football in the Seahawk's stadium downtown.  I hope I can score some tickets.

And here's the best news of all!  My elbow is starting to feel better, finally.  It's not 100% yet, but I have been doing my evening workouts and they incorporate some upper body and arm exercises and these seem to be helping.  At least I don't feel like it's never going to get any better, which is what it felt like a couple of weeks ago.  Now I am optimistic for a speedy recovery.

I got an email yesterday for the Valentine's Day run -- the Love 'em or Leave 'em 5K around Green Lake.  It is February 11 this year and I'm going to sign up for it.  It is a great event, although sometimes it can be punishingly cold at that time of year.  I want to try to beat my time for the Iron Girl run I did on the same course.  And that shouldn't be too hard.  I will be able to use my music, I'll make sure my shoes are double tied and I'll have three weeks after my meeting to train.  I can't wait.