stiff feet and beans and rice

Took a lot of stretching this morning before my run, and then it was a very slow one.  That's to be expected - I was feeling the effects of Monday's run after so long off the road.  Still, it was delicious to be out there in the chill.

Navigating the business of these arthritic feet is interesting.  I had to stop and decide this morning - is that pain, or just stiffness?  Loosening my shoelaces helped with the first bit of throbbing.  I remembered the x-ray I was shown, how there is extra stuff grown on the bones on the top of my feet, so it made sense that maybe that pain was just excess lace pressure.  That tactic worked enough to get me out on the street.  Feet were fine for the first 2.25 miles, and for the last quarter mile it went from stiff to OUCH.  So I'll be dragging the bags of frozen peas out of the freezer at work today to ice my feet while I sit there working.  I am NOT willing, at this point, to give up running unless it is made crystal clear that there is no other option.  Just love it too darn much.  

This month and next, I am doing a bit of traveling for love's sake (a visit to my guy in Chicago, and a December introduction to my soon-to-be-born granddaughter, Ms. Eliana Mercy Glenn, in Kentucky).  The travels don't fit in my budget (I have an actual budget now! But that's a whole other blog...), so I'm doing all manner of creative things to make it happen anyway.  On the list:  cutting food expense to as bare-bones as can humanly be done.  What I'm grateful for:  nearly 2 years of letting God teach me to love my body have been a good investment.  I know now how to eat cheap and reasonably healthy, as opposed to cheap and basically ruining my health, one bite at a time.  So from now through the end of 2012, I shall be enjoying the many ways that beans and rice can be concocted.  While I look forward to a time when hopefully I can get back to eating a ridiculous explosion of fresh veggies, what better time than winter to test out this beans and rice business, eh?  IT'S GOOD FOR ME. 

Maybe I'll share a recipe or two.