If you’ve been following along now, we have yet to have a “normal” week with schedules and workouts this month. This week the culprit was slight injury (me), bad weather and then school opening late (GM) and sickness (LM). Oh yeah, and my birthday — which I guess didn’t impact schedules but it’s something out of the ordinary!
Here’s how the full week looked with everything going on.
Well, I was hoping for a “normal” week with schedules, but due to school being closed two days this week, frigid temps AND snow, it was another somewhat wacky week. I got in my runs in the mornings but the school closures prevented me from doing much after that, so I got in a pretty typical mileage week — nothing close to my 40+ miles last week, and not much cross training. We also had COLD weather – I’m talking single digits and “feels like” in the negatives in the mornings, with snow/ice on the ground, and then we got several inches of snow when it finally “warmed” up to the 20s.
Here’s how the full week looked — warning, it’s pretty boring!
Do you know who Donna Kelce is?
She’s Travis and Jason Kelce’s mom. Which brings me to ask … do you know who Travis and Jason Kelce are?
I understand you may not. If you’re not 1) From Cleveland OR 2) A fan of football OR 3) A fan of Taylor Swift, the Kelce boys may not be on your radar. (And if they’re not – they’re brothers from Cleveland Heights, Ohio who now are in the NFL. Travis Kelce is currently dating Taylor Swift).
But we’re talking about cookies! Not football. Anyway, these cookies went famous after Mama Kelce was seen giving her sons a container of them before last year’s Super Bowl, and also gave the Today Show anchors a sample when she was on air with them. But it wasn’t until my phone sent me a link with the headline to this recipe a week ago that I first heard of them.
My phone suggests links based on my click habits – and surprise surprise, most of the links are baking OR running related. I normally would’ve tossed this recipe aside – who needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe – but I had book club and realized that would be the perfect venue to taste them!
I pretty much made this recipe to the T with the exception of two areas – I didn’t have Ghiradelli chocolate chip cookies (I used a combination of Nestle, Trader Joe’s and Target, because that’s what I had) and I didn’t have cold cream butter – I used Costco unsalted butter. I admit that I was unsure if I’d like them – I’m more of a big doughy cookie fan, and also don’t love cinnamon mixed with chocolate.
What was the verdict from my taste testers – my family and book club ladies?
They were a hit! Some guessed the cinnamon, others couldn’t even tell it was in there. Likewise, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the texture – they weren’t big doughy cookies but they were crispy and chewy in just the right way.
Would I make them again?
Maybe – they were good but there were a few extra steps and ingredients required that aren’t in my typical cookie recipe AND they require time to sit so they may not become my go-to cookie in a pinch. But they were good enough to share and my kids loved them!
Mama Kelce’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
(originally shared from the Today Show website)
We had a wacky week here. First, my car wouldn’t start due to a dead battery. But I had just gotten a new battery less than a year ago, so I was really worried that something else was up. Then, GM got a stomach bug and was home sick. Then, we had workers in our home one day to put in new floors in our basement to hopefully help with some of the flooding issues we have. I know it’s only a few things, but having various reasons to keep me at home and not in the office and not in my normal routine really threw me off this week. Thankfully, I managed to keep up my workouts, which helped me STAY SANE. This week, I even got in some cross training one day, which I hardly ever do (and was one of my goals last year). I’m proud to have done a short kettlebell workout (15 min kettlebells) and row one mile in addition to running. I know it’s not much, but you have to start somewhere, right? I also ended up getting in lots of lunchtime workouts with the lack of a car this week, which meant I had time to get in a few extra miles during my day. I ran 2 miles a few days day at lunchtime, which brought me to 40+ miles for the week, the longest I think I’ve done since marathon training years ago!
Here’s how the full week looked:
Last week I know I mentioned that 2023 was a good year, but so far 2024 is also off to a good start. I entered the year with a slight head cold, but compared to 2023 (where we started the year with COVID), I’m already off to a better January.
This week included a few outdoor runs, a few indoor runs, some sleeping in, and back to the routine. It was nice to only have to get up early two days this week – Thurs/Fri – because even though I was back at work on Tuesday, the kids didn’t have school until Thursday so I could sleep in and run at 6:30. (Sigh – this is me remembering when sleeping in was sleeping until 8:30 or later, ha!) The week went by fast, but I know next week the winter doldrums will hit as I go back to waking up early every day and kid evening activities go back in full force.
Here’s how the week looked:
I am so glad that I’ve gotten back into reading. I used to love reading as a child, but slowed down my reading after college (stressful job where I worked too much) and then when I gave birth to my oldest son. But somehow, reading found me again after I gave birth to GM, and in 2021 I renewed my reading journey. In 2021, I read 36 books, and in 2022 I read 43 (see here for my list of books I read in 2021 and here for my 2022 reading list). This year, my book club reunited and with that plus my own reading, I breezed through 55 books!
This year’s list is relatively diverse – I read some memoirs, YA, historical fiction, romance, thrillers, fantasy and more.
Here’s a look at everything I read in 2023 – in order of most recently read to first read. And scroll down for some of my favorites:
Here are some of my thoughts on the books:
The sequels that were (dare I say) better than the first?
Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros: After being surprised about how much I enjoyed the ACOTAR series, (I’ve never been a fantasy reader) I had to get onto the next fantasy trend and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed reading Fourth Wing, but LOVED Iron Flame (Book #2 of the Empyrean series) and could not put it down. I can’t wait for the next book and have so many questions, theories, and more that I guess will have to wait.
Less is Lost – Andrew Sean Greer: My brother introduced me to Less and I enjoyed reading his story. But the second book was even more entertaining for me. It was a good read, and the characters are so well done that you can just imagine them being your friends.
Surprising reads:
Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt: Oh, I loved this book. Is it strange to talk about reading a book that has parts written from the POV of an octopus? Maybe. But I truly enjoyed this book and the way the characters’ stories come together. I never would’ve thought I’d be so emotionally invested in the life of an octopus!
Better as an audiobook:
Spare – Prince Harry: Having Prince Harry read his own account of his life growing up as a Prince is a no brainer. Listen to this – don’t read it.
Tom Lake – Ann Patchett: I love me some Ann Patchett (if you haven’t read Bel Canto, go read it ASAP), but this book was made for audiobook. It’s read by the amazing Meryl Streep and she truly IS the main character (she even has three daughters in real life!). The story itself was just okay in my opinion, but if you want to feel like Meryl Streep is your mom telling you a story of her life, try the audiobook.
My favorite four I read this year (in no order)
I know not everyone will like these books. Some of my friends thought the Covenant of Water was too long, but I thought it was beautifully written and I loved the interweaving of all the stories (but yes, it’s LONG!). Some people I know didn’t care for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and I didn’t anticipate loving a “book about video games” so much (it’s about so much more!) but I teared up when it was finished because I loved it so much. And The Great Believers and Demon Copperhead. Both were hard for me to read but I loved them both so much! Demon Copperhead took me a little while to get into and some thought it was longer than it should be, but I truly loved the story. If you only read a few books from my list, these are the ones I recommend.
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
Some questions for you:
I Crashed The Web 