[+] Four days remain until the Blue Nose half-marathon. I ran eight miles Monday night. Maybe jogged would be a better word. Or "trotted unenthusiastically". It didn't feel very speedy and it certainly wasn't pain-free. My right knee is being a bee eye tee see aytch. Please, little knee, just hold out until the end of this weekend and I promise to give you as much rest as you want. I'll swim and bike and do other things that won't stress you out. Just be good and let me finish my race without too much trouble. The plan from now until then: drinking lots of water, getting lots of sleep, a couple easy little runs but nothing significant, foam rolling with tennis balls stuffed in a sock (homegrown solutions y'all, #poorpeopleproblems) and lots of stretching, and eating good food. Fingers crossed everything is feeling tickety boo by Sunday. I plan on dumping a bunch of Advil into myself before the race and attempting to give 'er.

[+] I was feeling summery the other day, and hungry (what else is new) and made a big pasta salad with veggies. I used this recipe from Pinterest, but altered it a little bit based on what was in the fridge. I ended up using fresh red pepper instead of jarred, green onions instead of red, and no summer squash. It's easy to prepare, and it's pretty and colourful - definitely a good recipe to keep on hand for summer barbecues and pot lucks. Also, it makes a lot. I halved the recipe and it'll last me for at least four lunches. Of course I'm the only one eating it since Peter is allergic to vegetables.

[+] This weekend we got all green-thumby and planted some stuff in the yard. If anyone knows anything about hydrangeas, begonias, dahlias or petunias please holler. Specifically, how to grow them and not kill them within a week. Sidenote: does every flower end with the letter A? I planted my little indoor herb garden too - rosemary, thyme and oregano.

[+] I have been dorkishly watching Property Brothers lately. I love when they take the couple to the ghetto houses full of mouse turds and mold and I LOVE when they show them the 3D renderings of what they're going to do and the people are completely flabbergasted.

[+] Another new discovery: jog.fm. If you're looking for workout playlist suggestions, this is the place to go. You can browse by playlist, by pace or just look at popular music. What I really like is it lists the beats per minute for each song and tells you what pace it matches best, so you can organize your playlist including warm-up and cool-down songs and some good, loud, fast stuff to get you through the tough parts. It also links up with iTunes and Amazon MP3 so you can buy stuff you like on the spot.

[+] Just because every post is better with a photo, here's a picture of my kid in a flower pot.

Happy Hump Day!