'Tis the season!

The leaves are officially underfoot. It's crunching season (who doesn't love jumping in a pile of leaves? Apart from the leaf blower man who made said pile of leaves). 

The trees are looking naked, my third Basil plant died, and the temperature has dropped to freezing (although we'll probably be wearing t-shirts next week, knowing Texas flip-flop weather).

Christmas music blares from car radios, giant, Texas-sized baul bauls line the streets, and the shoppers are going nuts.

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, my little slice of Texas became red, green and sparkly. 

My second ever Thanksgiving was awesome. Mainly because we had two. Two lots of turkey, green bean casserole, corn casserole, dressing (aka, stuffing), pecan pie, pumpkin pie and nibbles upon nibbles. And there are still leftovers in the fridge. We should finish them just in time for Christmas (!).

Our recent and continuing festive food consumption is the reason behind our current gym attendance. On most week nights, you can find me and Austin on the treadmills being screamed at by the App Man who is going to take us from couch to 5K in just eight weeks.  

Then again, running on a treadmill is a lot different to running outside. There is no wind (unless you count the air-con blowing in your face), there are no rocks to fall over (unless you count my feet, which are the size of boulders as I have mentioned before), and no people/pushchairs/dogs/skunks/scorpions to dodge. Plus, the surface of the treadmill is merciful in that it gives you an extra spring to your stride with its flexible running surface. You have to work extra hard on concrete. Dang you, concrete!

I'm thinking that when we can comfortably run 5K on a treadmill (if that's even possible), we will probably be able to run around half to three quarters of that distance outside. I know this because when I attempted to run a mile outside last week, I had a billion stitches in my side and was making high pitched wheezing sounds like a leaky balloon. The next day, I ran a mile on the treadmill, and I could still hold a conversation in which I likened my fitness and speed to that of Usain Bolt. 

I have never been a runner. I was never interested at school, and to be honest, I find it quite torturous. But I always feel good after the pain, and I'd love to be able to achieve the title of '5K Runner'. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, our tree is up and the cat has yet to knock it over. Success! Last year, she was in those branches and flicking ornaments to her hearts content. I emptied a whole spray bottle of water in my attempts to extract her!

So far this year, I have only seen her sit at the base and stare wistfully up into the branches. I think she knows that she has grown too big to squeeze among them now that she's left kitten-hood behind. 

In UTTERLY FANTASTIC news, I just arrived home from work to the best parcel ever! My mum has sent a home-made advent calendar, complete with goodies, and the perfect music to accompany me while I set it up. 

(I'm listening to this now. An opera singer just reached a note so high that my speaker went fuzzy. I'm also feeling the need for a cup of tea in a cup and saucer. Gotta love Downton class!)

Have a bloody marvellous week, chaps and chapesses!