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Exercise:  We registered for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon with our friend Heather, and we’re officially halfway there as of today based on training runs.  Brian and I booked 6.8 miles today, our first run over 6.5 miles this season.  It was a bit cloudy but reasonably warm for March.  We’ve been enjoying the hills around the Artichoke Reservoir and back roads of Newbury. Today’s attractions, in addition to a few more hills than last week’s 5.2 mile loop, were hearing spring peepers and seeing a farmer walk his bull up the road.  Yes, that’s right, it was definitely a bull (horns and other anatomy indicative of a male cow) being led and cajoled up Rogers Street.  We mused why the beast was not out roaming the plentiful pastures.  Maybe he’s a show bull learning to be walked on a leash and heed commands, or a stud being loaned to a neighboring farm?

Travel: I had been heading to DC about once a week, then had a break in early March before a week-long trip to Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.  They kept us busy with classes Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm plus two evening networking sessions (the latter one at the golf course – nice!), and a dinner for the BAE Systems group.  After a delayed flight getting in on Sunday, that only left two evenings free!  I was not able to see everyone in SF – but don’t worry, I’ll be back in June and September.  I did manage to squeeze in a dinner with Mary at Andalu and headed to Morgan Hill to catch up with Betsey and the boys on Friday.  She also let our cousin Darren know, so he and his family also joined us!  It was so fun to catch up with them after too many years, to be in the hub of family activity, and to enjoy a delicious and healthy meal together.  The first training session on Converting Strategy Into Action was excellent too, by the way.  I was not used to homework, but the flight delay enabled me to do all the required reading for this round.

Home:  The kitchen has been getting a bit cluttered with all our appliances, and with Brian’s reinvigorated inspiration for cooking, he started looking at additional counterspace and storage for the kitchen.  He did some reconnaissance during the week, but we decided that today’s empty calendar would be a good opportunity to shop together.  After cruising the Newburyport antique stores and mulling over the offerings at Gallagher’s in Salisbury, we found what seems like the perfect piece!  Kudos to the furniture store owners for letting us take it home and see how it fit before we bought it.

You can see our theme of a breakfast space where we can enjoy looking out on the backyard.  Moving the juicer, coffeemaker and toaster allowed us to clear the center island for cooking prep.  We also moved the dish drying rack to the left side of the sink, so the right side near the stove is another prep area.  The kitchen looks a lot neater and more open, and the new cabinet fits perfectly in the space as well as reflecting our eclectic decor!