SUPERBOWL!!

This weekend it was like I didn't even know me. I enjoyed all sorts of things that the previous me would have looked at with disdain. I also threw in plenty of classic favorites to round things out.

I've determined how to make New Year's Resolutions stick. Often, people make resolutions that may be good for you, but they will suck to actually carry out. Examples include losing weight, saving money, spending less time watching TV, etc. If you make resolutions to do more of things you like to do anyway, it's pretty much guaranteed success. One of mine was to FaceTime with my newphew Harrison at least once a week, so he can learn who we are even though we don't see him often. We joined him for bath time Thursday night, and I FaceTimed with him again Sunday morning.

Horrible screen shot of FaceTime, but still cute.

Another one of my resolutions was to eat more and cook more meat. So far I'm nailing it, and made even further strides this weekend.

On Friday, I was due for a 14 mile run (9:46 pace), which meant I needed to begin prior to 5am. I did 4 miles, then Lily came and met me for the next 7, and I finished up the last 3 by myself. The run wasn't bad, especially all broken up like that, but as it got closer to sunrise, the temperature kept dropping and the wind was picking up. When I finished, it was 24 degrees with 15 mph winds and my hands felt like useless icicles.

 On Saturday I met a friend from Dailymile, Jen, and Lily for 18 miles (9:37 pace) downtown on the water. It's amazing what a difference the sun being out can make. I love getting to know new people on long runs - the entire thing seemed to fly by.

I was pretty much psyched out of my mind that after my run I could go home and relax and not have to spend the next four hours punching things, like I did the previous week. Saturday night we went on a double date with our good friends Carolyn and John, and I ate my weight in froyo. 

Sunday was a big day - first and foremost, it was my rest day, which is always something to celebrate. Second, it was the last playoff game for the Baltimore Ravens, and if they won, they'd be in the Superbowl. Normally this is the type of thing that I probably wouldn't even know about and if someone tried to tell me I'd tune them out and fantasize about chocolate. But this time I not only knew and cared, I also painted my nails AND toenails purple. 

Fun Fact: Eric and I went on our first, second, and third dates on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr's birthday in 2006. 

This was taken in March 2006. If you can believe it, we didn't take any pictures on our first dates.
Instagram didn't even exist! Not such a bad thing since as you can see I was 10 times bigger.

It only took us 7 short years before we could enjoy a football game together.



We are hosting a SuperBowl party, and will be serving fried turkey, courtesy of Eric's Christmas gift, an indoor turkey fryer. We treated the playoff game as a trial run.

Yummm....raw bird dripping with marinade.

We have the world's smallest kitchen, so we had to completely rearrange in order to fit the fryer.

Here we go!

So dedicated to the cause

We invited Carolyn, John, and Lily over to help us eat our little 8 pound bird. Cooking turkey made me feel like it was Thanksgiving, so I went a little nuts and cooked enough food for approximately 14 people.

Corn bread, blue cheese bacon mashed cauliflower/potatoes, and cheesy broccoli orzo. Plus, we had chips and salsa, crackers and cheese, and pita chips out for appetizers.

Here's the really shocking thing, even more shocking than me actively participating in football watching.

I don't mention it too often, since it's not a popular sentiment, but I HATE dogs, like with the passion of a thousand suns. But, Lily's little puppy is pretty cute and was wearing purple, so I invited her over and even pet her. Eric was talking to his parents on the phone during the game and I overheard him say "Alyssa likes dogs now" and I was quick to correct him: "No, I like DOG. Singular.". I may have pet this dog and a very, very select few others that trusted friends own, but I will continue to:

• disdain the entire species in general
• be terrified of and actively avoid all unknown dogs
• be disgusted and mystified by the fact that anyone on earth would intentionally choose a lifestyle that involves picking up poop on a daily basis

So yes, the meat eating and football fandom are lifestyle changes that I hope to continue, but make no mistake, I am most certainly not a dog lover, not a dog tolerater, not in any way a fan of dogs. I will make a limited number of exceptions on an individual basis.

I know most people won't care for that statement, so let's end on a high note. Actually two high notes. The Ravens won, which means they will be in the Superbowl! Also, I made brownie pudding for dessert. It's like a cross between brownie batter and molten lava cake. I highly recommend making this immediately, and topping it with vanilla ice cream like we did.

That's all that was left.

Have you ever suddenly enjoyed something that you formerly hated? The football thing is so weird for me - it's like I had a lobotomy or something!