Give me your opinion + Tangents

I just needed an extra 5 minutes of alone time on the porch before going inside after an 8 mile run.   It felt good.

I don’t know about you but does it feel like the last few weeks have actually been like a year?  I was reading a book the other day where the girl was going out to dinner with her husband and I thought, wow, I can’t believe their city is still allowing them to eat in a restaurant.  I then remembered that social distancing has only been going on for a few weeks… NOT YEARS.

Some positive messages along the way helped me feel less lonely out there.

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Knox left yesterday morning until next Wednesday.  Brooke has fully understood him leaving and coming back since they met because she does the same thing but I really wonder what Skye thinks about the whole situation.  I’ve tried explaining it to her in the simplest of ways but I’m not really sure what she thinks and wonder when she will understand more.

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Our strawberries and raspberries are officially planted!

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The sweet potato, (salsa) chicken, one full avocado thing is still a big part of my life.

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Time for a few Tangents today:

*I have watched this video of this little girl pretending to like her mom’s cooking way too many times… It just makes me laugh so hard!

*Brooke asked if she could try out the treadmill for a minute the other day and she said it would be really fun if she could watch Disney+ at the same time.  She gets me.  Catching up on your shows while running is a great combo.

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*You know Andrew is bored when he makes every attempt to scare us throughout the day.  The kids and I are so used to it by now it doesn’t even phase us.

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*Which would you choose?  -I would choose house #3 purely for Oprah and Taylor Swift but Tina Fey is really pulling me there too…

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*Our chicks were almost jumping out of their last set-up so Andrew’s brother left a much bigger container for us to use in his yard for us to pick up.  The chicks are already very happy with more space and we need to figure out if we are brave enough to build a coop or if we should buy one?!?

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*Another amazing episode from John Krasinski and if you love Hamilton then you will love this one!

*Has anyone else been seeing talk of redoing the Olympic Trials for the marathon now that the Olympics have been postponed? I’m not sure if it is just a rumor but I’ve seen a few articles and people talking about it on Strava etc.  Here is what Des Linden said about the idea:

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Have you heard this idea floating around? What are your thoughts on redoing the Olympic Trials for the marathon?

Have you found yourself feeling bored or do you feel even busier than normal?

Which quarantine house would you choose?

What’s your good news?  I’d love to hear it! 

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35 comments

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Hi Janae !
your comment about eating in a restaurant is funny. I have the same feeling that social distanciation is lasting for so long. When we are watching a film and see lots of people together, i’m screaming at the screen “what are you doing ? Are you crazy ? Stay home !” Haha !
Garden raspberry and strawberry are absolutely great ! So nice to just go outside and pick it !
I love to see how Brooke seems to love running as much as you do !
Have a great day !

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Hahaha I’m not alone in my panic when I read/see people in groups:). We are so ready for normalcy. Thank you Ingrid and I hope you get some time in your garden today, an amazing movie and maybe some more popcorn:).

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I love that you have chickens! We are dying to raise chickens but we live in an area where we see a lot of bears so we are afraid for them. We are planning to wait for our kids to be a little older so they get some enjoyment out of it too. And so we have time to build a very VERY study coop :)

Enjoy your day!

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BEARS!! Ahhhh Melissa, do you ever get freaked out while you are running? Do you ever see them when you are running? Yes, your kids are going to love them when they get older and that sturdy coop is going to be very important haha. We need a sturdy one for cougars!! Thanks and you too, friend!

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YES I ran into a mama bear and her two cubs while I was running with my son and dog. Super scary! Good speedwork :)

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You are such an inspiration! I just wanted to let you
know that your writing has been so impactful to me. Thank you for sharing your life and wisdom!

My good news…I graduate from college this week. :) No ceremony, but hey, I still get the degree! I’ll take it ;)

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Oh wow, thanks Brooke! I feel like I’m just barely handling this all. Thank you for taking the time to tell me that and HUGE CONGRATS TO YOU! What an incredible accomplishment. I hope you are able to celebrate in some way and keep me updated on everything! So thrilled for you!

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I cannot watch that video with John Krasinski and the Hamilton cast enough- they are so talented! And so sweet for the whole cast to call the little girl!

I would pick House #2. Book club with Reese Witherspoon, cooking with Chrissy Teighan, singing with Lin Manuel Miranda. All the quarantine activities you need!

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Luckily, we all have enough time to keep rewatching that Krasinski’s video:). Seriously, so sweet. Oh valid point about House #2. Have the best day Mariah!

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From a purely logical standpoint it would make sense to re-do the trials closer to the Olympics. We want to send our best athletes, and so much could change between now and then. But it would just be too unfair to the athletes who already made the team, so I don’t think they should do it. Des is a classy lady! But we already knew that. Have a great day Janae!

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I totally agree with you Jenny and I hope they keep it the same. Thanks friend, you too!

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I had read about some people clamoring for a marathon redo after the Olympic postponement, but I agree with Des. This was a very unforeseen (and hopefully one time deal) with the delay of the games – it is not the athletes fault and they did what they needed to do on the day it needed to be done. Honestly, I bet they are grateful the marathon trials were able to be run when they had peaked. I know they will want to do well at the games, but at this point, at least they have made the team. However, all those other sports – they have another year to wait on their trials (track&field) and that is a lot of time for things to happen (injury, age, etc…). That one extra year is what could be bumping them out of contention. All that said, delaying the games was definitely the right decision.

Choosing one of those houses is hard! They definitely put polarizing choices in there – I think I would pick house 5 though. House 2 was a second pick.

Being home so much has not really been too boring, though not really that busy either. It has been nice though to be able to get things done around the house with the extra time and not feel like you are “giving up” something else in order to take care of whatever those things are.

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I agree with Des; However we may end up having to pull the runner up, the one after that, etc., depending on injury, pregnancy, etc. with the long wait.

I feel busier than normal. The other day I spilled some salt on the kitchen floor and got a white paper towel set to clean it up. It can up white! Not dirty! My house has never been so clean! And I am getting really caught up with my gardening.

I would choose the house with Sally Bergesen of Oiselle, Kara Goucher, Shalane Flanagan, Paula Radcliffe, and Deena Kastor. And Lauren Fleahman! And you!

We are starting to get a schedule down with home school, exercise, and work. And all of my seeds have sprouted!

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I don’t know if I could choose between those houses…Tina Fey, Ellen, and Oprah are all big draws for me. In truth, I just want to hug my children and grandchildren again. At least, we had an in-person visit from across the driveway this weekend. Such a strange time. Thank goodness we can still run outdoors. Take care of your cute family and stay safe!

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Redoing the Olympic Trials would be extremely stupid. I hope it does not happen.

I would go for House #6, but just because Chris is outnumbered.

I feel bored mainly because my job in the factory crawling around airplanes so dynamic and now I’m working at home like a desk job.

Good news – I am really learning more about my body since I have extra time to study up on my injury. If you have an extra hour give this a watch. Then you and Andrew can evaluate each others feet!! Lol… I don’t understand why my doctors did not know this stuff. She mentions that it a patient has joint pain the first thing you check is to see if they have an arthritic big toe! i even told my foot doc I strained my peroneous longus, which she talks about at length here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLQbvpzxlc

She has a bunch more videos on her YouTube channel.

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My husband built our chicken coop, but we had all the materials leftover from other projects. I am not sure what chicken coops cost, but it might just be cheaper (and way faster) to buy one. I could be wrong, I know absolutely nothing about DIY.

Brooke has the right idea on how to pass time on the treadmill!

I find myself busier than normal from 9-1:30 (helping kids with school). From 3-9 I am bored. I supposed I could do something productive, but that hasn’t been happening.

I think I would pick house #1 purely for the fact that I think it would have the least amount of conflict. Plus we would come out of the house being more self-aware people because we had Dr. Phi to give us therapy!

Good news–it is finally warm enough that I can wear shorts and a t-shirt on a run! My husband found out that he gets free hot lunch at school. We will ignore the fact that if he would have paid attention to the e-mails, he could have had free lunch for the past 3 weeks;-).

Happy Tuesday!!!

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I love the idea of fresh eggs but I don’t think I’m cut out to raise chicks. True story: last summer I was asked to pet sit chickens. It would have been 2 visits a day and I could also keep the eggs in addition to being paid. I just couldn’t do it. (Someone else in the pet sitter group did though).

I don’t think the trials should be redone. People trained and qualified, period.

Most of my health coaching and social media work has stopped temporarily. Pet boarding has stopped but I am busy with walks for essential workers and those who have high risk autoimmune disease. (I maintain social distance, wear a face mask to protect others, use disinfectant wipes and use a lot of hand sanitizer).

I am freaked out when I see people in groups or walking really closely near each other or letting their kids run around the playground. NYC just closed playgrounds and removed swings, basketball hoops, and blocked access to swings and play sets.

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Hi Janae! They say it takes two weeks to build a habit so I’m sure gonna come out of this with lots of habits! I’ve definitely been cooking healthier and from scratch now so that’s a plus. And I read that by staying in we are doing well by the environment! So that’s a plus. Happy Tuesday!

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When I saw the picture of the chicks in their new home, it reminded me of ours. When they were in their awkward teenage phase, I went out to the garage and they were roosting around the edge of the enclosure! And one was on my car! Oh, the kids and I were laughing so hard. They were moved to their coop soon after.

We built our coop, I wanted them to have a good big space for their run. It’s cute that they will put themselves to bed when the sun goes down.

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Funny. It does feel like so long, but when I think that I’m starting my 4th week without work…I also feel like time flies and what the heck have I done or achieved in this time? Hard not to get down. I don’t think anyone can be bored – there is always something to do: read, watch something, go for a walk, do yoga, clean the house, phone/video friends, start a new project (or think on it). I think the boredom comes in in sometimes not having the clear headspace to do some of those things? Like I would love to read all these books I have…but I find it difficult to concentrate to sit down and read – maybe it’s worry or anxiety? Or maybe it’s feeling guilty that it’s not productive and I’m wasting my time? Wonder if anyone else struggles with this as well

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Oh my goodness Janae!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THE SGN VIDEO. It made me so so so so so so so so so happy in to the depths of my soul. LOVED IT.

I hope you and the family are having a great week!

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I am against redoing the trials. However, is there something in place where there are alternates? Just in case health or injury happens? Just wondering if there are plans already in place for that.

My friend turned her son’s outdoor wooden slide playset into a chicken coop by enclosing the sides with screen and adding a door. It was pretty easy it seems.

None of the quarantine houses, ha, I don’t think I could handle many of those folks for that long! Maybe a house with a good country singer, a runner, and an amazing chef, that would be the best combo.

have a great week!!

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Hi there! I would choose the Tina Fey house because I think her sense of humor is much needed and appreciated during a time like this!
Whoa you got chicks? I’m so far behind in my blog reading! How are you liking the experience? When are you getting a duck? You gotta have the chicks and the duck #friends
I love Jim Halpert’s Instagram! I’m hoping you’ve watched The Office ?
I do think the trials should be be redone because of what the world is going through right now!
I feel bored and busier than ever haha. Does that make any sense??!
You shared my favorite good news story! Did you know on Friday the original cast of Hamilton is Donny a YouTube live performance? ?

What is the best show you’ve streamed lately? I’m running out of ideas and ohhh I watched Tiger King. Not even sure what to think of that one hah.

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Doing. A you tube performance

Doing

Not Donny!

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Wouldn’t it be GREAT for you to do an Olympic Trial race again now??? Go, H-R-G.

Knox looks so big next to Skye by the chicks. So big!

Opinions: Yes, the world slowed down for many of us in recent weeks in many ways. #lockeddownfiredup Does Andrew feel the slowness esp. working in the ICU? He may since he appears to be on the same schedule and he’s providing scare moments all the time. Build the coop! Put Andrew to work. Then again, his ICU might pick up this week and next. You Utes! Plus, if you want to upgrade the coop in a couple of years, you already invested the time. House 1 for me. I saw the key the other day. Ha! You are brave and honest for putting it out there. I’m appealing to you, now is the time to whip the key problem and whip it good.

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Hmm. I think those who qualified at this years trials should be the ones competing. They earned their spots.

Not bored because working from home but not really having access to our mountains and all these closures and missing in person contact has been tough! Thank goodness for Zoom and also Houseparty (a video virtual hangout my girl friend introduced me too).

I don’t think I would choose any of the houses to he honest haha!

Good news is that working from home is going smoothly and I have been getting lots of sleep. I fell asleep before 9 pm.last night by the fire place!

Have a super day Janae! PS you have the cutest kids!

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I have thinking about the trials, and I HOPE they do not redo it . . . they already have people who have officially qualified, who earned it, and they can be just as ready and fresh in 2021 as this year. I’m glad Des is speaking out about it!

Have you shared a recipe for your salsa chicken? Sweet potato and avocado are two of my favorite foods, and I think I need to try that combo!

I’ve been getting really bored, especially in the afternoons, because I’m pretty productive until then and then find myself with nothing to do. My good news is that I made granola and it was the best granola I’ve ever made! https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/best-healthy-granola/ I made a few substitutions based on what I had: I used pecans instead of almonds, and olive oil instead of coconut oil (you couldn’t taste the olive oil!). Easy and delicious!

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_I totally agree with you, I hope they keep the 6 that qualified! For the salsa chicken I just put in about 4 chicken breasts and a cup of Costco’s Jack’s Salsa in the crockpot and let it do it’s magic. I hope you try the combo, it is so good. Those pictures of the granola made me drool… I must try it. I hope this afternoon you have some things to look forward to. Have a beautiful day Kristin!

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Hi – I have a question is your new house on an acreage or do you just have a relaxed home owners association? I grew up on a ranch and so we had chicks every spring, but most were raised for fryers not layers.

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Hey Shannon! Growing up on a ranch would be Brooke and Andrew’s dream. SO cool. We have about a half an acre and I don’t even think we have an HOA! I hope you are having a great day and share any chick tips you have with us.

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The idea of another Olympic Trials marathon has been floating around ever since the postponement of the games. I, too, think it would be a terrible and unfair idea. The ones who qualified are qualified for this particular Olympiad. Shouldn’t matter if it takes place this summer or next.

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That salsa, avo & sweet potato combo looks YUMMMMMY!!!!!!

I’ve heard the idea floating around but I’m with Des. Anything can happen in a year and a half but anything could’ve happened in the six months in between too. I love that she is standing up for them!

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Ok, so maybe its the quarantine/extra time we have at the moment but I feel like we are doing the same things.. lol we planted a garden not too long ago and over the weekend my husband decided that we should finally get some chickens like we have been talking about for months. We had the debate too of whether to buy or build a coop, we ended up building our own and it worked out really nicely and is now home to 4 1.5ish month old chicks. In the end, for us it was cheaper to build one than to buy one. Plus, my husband LOVES wood working/building things. Best of luck with your chicks and their coop! :)

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I don’t think they should redo the Olympic trials. Those who qualified should still go.
I am currently still working my regular 8-5 just from the comfort of my own home (which I am actually loving). I can do laundry mid day, take breaks to clean up, etc. I honestly feel way more productive. Then in the evening I still have my online classes as usual. Spring semester is almost done then a short 2 weeks off before my summer semester begins.
Also I am totally with you on the house with Oprah. I would love to meet her. Though the house with Reese Witherspoon is tempting. I just got addicted to her new series on Hulu, Little Fires Everywhere. I may have watched 3 episodes today.
Also Thursday is my 30th birthday. I originally had plans to travel and get together with some family and friends but obviously that was canceled. Still ordered a cake locally though and will just celebrate with my husband. Hopefully I can plan another party in summer maybe.

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I would feel so sad for the runners who placed if they re-did the trials. I also think that most of the top athletes would stand by them as well… and if the IOC actually did that, can you imagine the heartbreak for the athletes who spent the last month thinking their dreams came true, just to have it ripped from under them? I couldn’t imagine! Fingers crossed it stays in their favor!

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