Can every work week be just one day long?  It was strange to get up this morning at 6am after two weeks of sleeping until 8am, but I managed.  Did anyone else have to work today?  I felt like I was the only one, even my one co-worker called in sick.  My boss was nice enough to tell me to go home at 4pm (we normally leave the office at 6pm), so I was able to run a few errands before picking up my hubb and heading home.  One of my errands involved an exciting new purchase which I am sure I will post about this weekend so you'll just have to wait...  :) Breakfast:  3/4 cup Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch cereal from Nature's Path with 3/4 cup Hemp Milk and 1/2 a banana sliced.  On the side, the other 1/2 banana with 1 tbsp almond butter. I'm ready to use up this cereal.  Its good, but it has more calories per serving than I typically look for in a cereal and doesn't keep me full for very long.  I'm getting close...  The hemp milk is really good.  It is thinner than soymilk, and has a slightly sweeter flavor.  I still think that I prefer soymilk but the hemp is nice to keep around because it doesn't have to be refrigerated before opening.  Its my back-up milk. Lunch:  Leftover black-eyed peas on brown rice and the last of the roasted veggies. Mmmm.  Warm and satisfying.  Have I mentioned that my office is freezing?  Actually, we blast the heat, but I sit right by the really old and poorly-insulated windows that let every 35* draft in.  So one side of me sits in a sauna all day while the other side of me turns into an ice cube.  Its miserable, but my boss is working on getting the windows replaced so I'm trying to be a good sport.  There are some days when I never take off my wool winter coat and scarf all day long... Snacks:  I spread 2 clementines and a peanut butter cookie Larabar throughout the day.  I also had 3 brazil nuts and 2 mugs of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea (to try and thaw myself out). Oh. My. Goodness.  Now I know why you all have been raving about the PB Cookie Larabars!!!  I couldn't find this particular flavor for the longest time, but while searching for some gifts the week before Christmas I happened to run into a store I don't visit often and found this beauty on their shelf.  It was amazing!!!  The only ingredients?  Dates and peanuts.  I'm in love.  I had every intention of eating just 1/2 the bar but couldn't stop once I started.  These could be really dangerous...luckily they are good for me! Dinner:  Another bowl of black-eyed peas on brown rice.  Shockingly I haven't tired of these yet! Don't be surprised if you see a repeat tomorrow, but after that I'm freezing the remainder.  They'll make a great lunch in a couple of weeks. I also made a big salad with romaine, spinach, cucumber, yellow bell pepp, green olives and feta cheese.  I added a glob of roasted garlic hummus on the side because it sounded tasty, and drizzled the salad with 1/2 tsp grapeseed oil and 1 tsp moscatel wine vinegar. Dessert:  Our dear friend Kelly, whose husband Steve was the guest of honor at the New Years Eve Surprise Birthday Party we unfortunately had to miss, brought us a plate of leftover birthday cake today!  My biggest weakness in the whole culinary world is cake.  I LOVE CAKE.  Who doesn't?  Cake tops cookies, pies, brownies and ice cream on my list of favorite sweets.   I started off with just the 3 bites you see missing in the photo above.  I promptly put the plastic wrap back on the cake, slid it to the back of the kitchen counter and turned off the kitchen light as I went to the living room to join my hubb for some Friday night t.v. watchin'.  I thought I was safe.  Then, the hubb disappears to the kitchen and comes back with the plate of cake and a fork.  I was powerless to stop him from handing me the fork after every third bite of his.  I just can't help it.  We did scrape off most of the icing because it was too thick and sweet, so I feel slightly better about the whole thing.  But now I have mega motivation to get out the door tomorrow for a run.  :P Exercise:  Before dinner tonight I pulled out my favorite yoga DVD for 30 minutes of intense stretching.  I wouldn't call it a power yoga session because I wasn't sweating, but I was definitely working my whole body and feel so much better now for it.  It had been two weeks since my last yoga practice and I was really feeling the need to get back into it.  Afterwards I did 10 minutes of ab work in various positions.   Tomorrow is a long run day and I feel stretched and ready to go.  I'm nervous because my longest run in the last 3 weeks was 2-1/2 miles while in Florida.  Eek!  I didn't realize it had been that long since our 3-1/4 mile run.  Now I'm really nervous.  We were supposed to run a 5k on New Years Day but weren't up for it after all the traveling and dog sickness etc.  I think I'm going to plan on a 4 mile run tomorrow, a 4-1/2 mile run mid-week, along with a couple more shorter runs and then hopefully be back on track for the 5 mile run scheduled for next weekend.  Scary! Alrighty, I have a date with my hubb and a movie.  Anybody have any exciting plans for this weekend or are you all just recovering from the holidays like we are?