What is in a Name?

A rose by any other name. . . would probably still smell just as lovely. Regardless, someone probably took some time into figuring out that a rose should be called just that--a rose. Similarly, I took time in determining what to call this blog because I wanted it to reflect myself and what I would be writing about. Now, as I am pleased enough with my holiday creations (suspense building yet?) to put my name on them in the form of a label--the dilemma of a name haunts me. As a result, I am soliciting the help of my followers (assuming anyone out there reads this). The labels I like have room for two lines so I could have a title and then my name under it. For instance: A Running Stitch with my first initial and last name below it. Then again what about MJ Designs? MJ's Private Collection? MJ's Creations? Please, please let me know if you have ideas. Here is a webpage that specializes in these labels with examples: http://www.wevelabels.com/order1.php
Also, here is a friend's label to view as a sample:

Holiday Snow

Since I can't post photos of my December projects until after Christmas (just wait for that post), what better than some fun photos of our recent snow--mind you it is still snowing. It appears we have about 10 inches or so of accumulation, but we can't tell due to the 35 mph winds. It is certainly a high mound of snow with the snow is up to Otis' belly. He LOVES the snow. If he isn't romping in it with his friends, he is chasing snowballs and questioning where they go (throw it Dad throw it), or eating it (note the mustache). HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Break on Through. . .

Ah, I believe I broke on through to the other side of winter today. After days of rain and cold temps in New England. . . I crashed through an iced over puddle early into a morning run resulting in filthy lake filled shoes and freezing toes for another hour and twenty minutes! Luckily, my running club companions also had cold wet feet and kept on going with me so we talked and got our mind off our feet.

I hope to knit under a huge pile of warm blankets the rest of the day taking a break to work on some Christmas presents at the sewing machine. The scarf I am knitting is a redo of a merino wool scarf that just wouldn't stop curling into a tube scarf and is coming along nicely. More details on the Christmas presents (and photos) once they are delivered:)

Here is a photo of the annoying curling scarf that I "frogged," a.k.a. ripped out, and the progress on the new scarf:

Mill City Relay Race

With the first snow/winter mix in the area occurring today, I also enjoyed my first relay race--The Mill Cities Relay (http://www.millcities.com/). My running club was able to receive an invitation (yup, this is only for running clubs and by invitation only) and had 8 teams out of 193 teams!! The race totaled 28.3 miles, covered two states (MA and NH), had five legs of different lengths (2.5-9.5 miles each), and took place in slick and snowy conditions this year. I ran the 9.5 mile leg of the race along the river and crossed multiple towns--so fun running by those town signs. Total time for the team: 3 hours and 50 minutes. My leg: 1 hour 22 minutes (8:38 pace).

The 40 Wicked runners headed out of town at 5:45 am and started the adventure(s) at 8:00 am. We managed to fishtail our runners from one running exchange to the next with tons of laughs. My team of 5 ladies, a.k.a. the Wicked Good Glendas, certainly shared many laughs and Dunkin Donuts stops for coffee (seriously, these New Englanders drink Dunkin like water:)). Each leg was successful and we each ended with a smile after running on highways, though small towns, and even on a quaint stretch along a river with a beautiful dam/waterfall. Did I mention the snow??? What a pretty run until you were wet, cold, and freezing when you stopped running:)


I will definitely run another relay race with this team and especially these four amazing woman. One teammate's daughter even circled back with water for me after she drove by cheering me on and I asked for water--what a great group of people.



Lessons learned:
1.)spread all amenities between all cars involved
2.)have good maps for routes from any 1 leg to another
3.)notify each other when handoffs occur for better timing estimations (and to avoid running out of a port-a-potty to start a leg of a race)
4.) Thank my Dad again for teaching me to drive any car--including manuals and in any weather

Most Memorable Moments:
1.) Watching people slide down the hill in front of the starting area and questioning our sanity (what does it take for a weather delay?)
2.) Watching my teammate turn the bend like lightening in a tiara fully sporting the Wicked Good Glendas!
3.) Having people drive by screaming your name and "Looking Wicked Good"!!
4.) Getting to know new friends through car rides and fishtails



Who says Winter in New England keeps people inside?

Thanksgiving 2008

My entire family has much to be thankful for and if you are reading this--you are certainly included as someone dear who we are thankful for having in our lives. Myself and two good friends I often run with started off the holiday early by participating in Salem's 5 mile Wild Turkey race along with 992 other runners--what a great turn out for a Salem race. It was a great race day with weather in the mid 30s and sunny with very little wind (what kills me out here in New England is the wind). All three of us had great races and I was tickled pink to have finished in the top third with a time of 41:57 (8:24 pace). I ran this race last year (as my second race ever) in 50:25--I shaved 8 minutes and 44 seconds off my time!!!! Something tells me these huge improvements can't continue much longer:) It was also great having a volunteer I knew chear me on at the mile 3 marker and having the lead racers loop past the rest of us so that I could chear on my friend Jason who was quite close to the front---he managed to finish 28th. Oh course, I am always thankful for the wet kisses from Otis and congrats from Justin at the end of the race.



After the race, and some relaxing, everyone chipped in to cook a great dinner. We managed to cook the following:
-turkey breast on the grill (Justin of course)
-cheese tofu streudel (my racing gal pal is a veggetarian)
-green beans
-a huge salad with fennel and beets
-mashed potatoes with roasted garlic (not Thanksgiving without mashed taters!)
-whole wheat dinner rolls with cranberries and walnuts
-cranberry sauce, and

another friend joined us and brought dessert after visiting her nearby family
-pumpkin bread (like banana nut bread)
-pumpkin cranberry bars

We even somehow managed to get all the timing right which is my downfall!

We of course finished off the night with the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Charlie Brown Mayflower story before snuggling up for well deserved sleep!!!

Finally, I'd like to add proof that running and sewing go together. I got an awesome athletic shirt with the "Wild Turkey" on it in a men's small which is well-way too big (why they don't give out smaller sizes at races is a whole other blog topic). Anyway, today will be spent at the sewing machine taking 4 inches out of the seams of the shirt!!!

New Find--Portsmouth fabric store

I traveled with Justin and my in-laws, Sandi and Daniel, today to the quaint town of Portsmouth New Hampshire. One of the first stores we walked by was Portsmouth fabric (www.portsmouthfabric.com) and I FELL IN LOVE. Even Justin immediately recognized a good fabric store and realizes the difficulty in finding them so he didn't mind me spending extra time trying to find that perfect combination of materials for a project. Needless to say I picked up enough fabirc for three projects--two for Christmas presents so everyone will just have to wait to see these creations:) The fabric is Amy Butler(amybutlerdesign.com) and I am already dreaming of other projects.

Breakheart 5K

Enjoyed a free, yup, free 5K (3.1 miles) race today in nearby Saugus, MA through Breakheart Reservation. It was a whopping 25 or so degrees and windy, but sunny and beautiful all along the course. In true family oriented turkey trot race fashion, there was no official time kept, but the clock read 26:10 (as did my trusty Garmin watch) when I crossed the finish--a personal best 5K time and a pace of 8:25. The second helf of the race was full of steep hills and resulted in me questioning the sanity of running 16 miles of hills in January!