It's just a phase, it's just a phase, please let it be just a phase!

I don't feel like cooking. For those of you who are strangers, reading that sentence probably seems like no big deal. For my friends, whose jaws have dropped or who may be just picking themselves up after falling off their desk chair, well...it's true. I haven't felt like cooking for several weeks. I still don't feel like it.

What is wrong with me? I am the woman who reads cookbooks for fun and inspiration. I walk down the grocery store aisles and formulate a spectacular dinner in my mind. I watch the Food Network as often as possible and search recipe sites for whatever grabs my attention. I read a recipe and know how it will taste. So why don't I feel like cooking??

Obviously this is just a phase. This is a slump. Maybe my cooking was falling into a rut and my subconscious has performed a system shut down. I need to be rebooted. This weekend I am going to visit Central Market and Whole Foods and wander around in the hopes of being inspired again. I'm going to dream up some yummy meals and then set out to make them. Right now I can't even be inspired enough to go get some hot water for my herbal tea. Something must be done!

I may need to fall back on some comfort food recipes from childhood to kick start my culinary life again. Maybe a nice pot of chicken & dumplings or crispy chalupas topped with refried beans, shredded cheese, guacamole, lettuce and tomato. Perhaps I need to make the cobbler recipe that's been in our family for generations. Or start working on my tortilla making skills, which are terribly rusty. I might have to roast a chicken, and serve it up with whipped sweet potatoes, dressing and giblet gravy. A thanksgiving for the return to the epicurean lifestyle.

What are your ideas? How can we "fix" me?

Frank & Hang Rock it Hard on Race Day!

"To give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift."

(Steve Prefontaine)

I had a terrific time at the Rock & Roll Half Marthon. The weather was outstanding, a high of 80 degrees with almost no humidity. Frank and Hang averaged a 9:20 minute per mile pace to finish the 13.1 miles in a PR of 2 hours and 2 minutes. Wooohoooo! Jason and I were good cheerleaders, seeing our runners off at the start, then at the 9 mile mark and finally meeting them at the finish. We enjoyed the after party on the beach for a while, listening to the live music and cooling our feet in the ocean...I played massage therapist and gave Frank's legs a rubdown in an effort to appease his loudly protesting hamstring before walking the 30 blocks back to the hotel. Yes, I got some exercise as well! Jason and I figured out that we walked 7 miles that day. Not bad. But our runners did their half marathon and then a 5k back to the hotel with us. Now that's a long cool down!

Virginia Beach was packed until Labor Day, when everyone cleared out. It was so nice to wake up and see the sunrise over the ocean, hear the surf crashing on the shore. We spent the majority of the weekend eating seafood and chilling out. We did visit the Marine Science Museum for 3 hours, learning about endangered sharks, turtles local to the area and more. They had a nifty harbor seal exhibit and another one with two Kemp's Ridley turtles, two loggerhead turtles and a green sea turtle. They were in a big tank with a huge grouper and other fish. The sharks were interesting, too. Some of the fish in their tank had bite marks.

Frank and I had the layovers from hell on our trip. Luckily, the first one was 3 hours in Orlando, where my sister Sherri joined us with her grandkids. Sherri and I caught up while the kiddos played with Frank. It was so great to see her! Coming home we had 3 hours in Baltimore. Neither of us knows anyone in Baltimore, so we used the time to eat lunch and stretch our legs before cramming ourselves into our seats on the packed flight home. I felt like a squished pretzel by the time we got off the plane in Austin.

The next trip is in October to El Paso...we're going for Elena's christening. Frank is her padrino (godfather), so there's no way I'm missing this trip. Besides, I have a hankering for green chili and cheese tamales from Lupita's, the best tamale place in the world. Mmmmm! I brought back both red and green (red chili and pork/green chili and chicken) tamales in August and shared with my workmates. They had been skeptical of my claim that these are the best in the world but after only a bite they were convinced. Lupita's are fabuloso!

How was your weekend? Anything fun, unusual or exciting in your world? Anyone want to run a half marathon or a full marathon in the spring? Frank will be doing the marathon again. There is more information on training groups at Austin Fit's website and it isn't too late to join.

Blogging For Relief Day

The devastation of New Orleans and the surrounding area, along with Mississippi and Alabama makes my heart ache. Luckily for me, my friends are safe and sound and accounted for since they evacuated before Katrina made landfall. The fury of Mother Nature is both terrifying and amazing. And now it's time to clean up. There are countless numbers of people needing to be rescued, in addition to the homeless who have evacuated with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. Please donate to the Red Cross or another charity listed on FEMA's website.

As far as the reports we're getting on looters...if they aren't stealing food in order to stay alive prior to rescue or a pair of shoes necessary to slog their way out of the affected region without cutting up their feet on debris, then they need to be treated with the maximum force necessary to restore order. Looting after a disaster is pathetic and the worst kind of greed.

Spinning the hottest hits, all night long...

By request, here is a Top 15 Songs posting. It’s a lot harder to pick favorite songs than movies or books. After all, I hear probably close to a hundred songs a day, depending on how often the radio station I listen to rotates their lineup, but I watch only a few movies in a month and read about a book a week. So…I’ll give it a shot but include my usual disclaimer: Even with making it a top 15 list, I’m sure I’ve left some out. I didn't include any Led Zeppelin or Eagles or Stones or Cyndi Lauper or Madonna or Aerosmith or hell, even the entire "Thriller" album....

1. "You May Be Right" (Billy Joel)
2. "Come Together" (The Beatles)
3. "Cold as Ice" (Foreignor)
4. "Killer Queen" (Queen)
5. "Fat Bottomed Girls" (Queen)
6. "You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morissette)
7. "Let's Go Crazy" (Prince)
8. "Son of a Son of a Sailor" (Jimmy Buffett)
9. "No Rain" (Blind Melon)
10. "Santeria" (Sublime)
11. "What's Up" (4 Non Blondes)
12. "T'aint Nobody's Bizness if I Do" (Billie Holiday)
13. "American Pie" (Don McLean)
14. "Wonder" (Natalie Merchant)
15. "Happy Together" (The Turtles)

Drop me a comment with your fav's and raves!