Home again, home again, jiggity jog

I'm home! I finally have good picture-uploading capabilities, so let me give you a quick recap of Christmas at my parents' house. My mom makes an absolutely killer turkey. We always have our big dinner on Christmas Eve and then eat leftovers so no one has to slave away in the kitchen on Christmas Day.

And here's the Turkey Queen herself, looking rather spry considering she just slaved over a hot turkey all day and had an emergency appendectomy three weeks before Christmas. She's tough as nails.

You may remember that my surprise Christmas gift for my mom to tell her that I was running a half-marathon for her was a mother-daughter set of matching Team in Training T-shirts. Several Kleenexes died horrible, gruesome deaths, and Mom was very touched. This is a couple days later after we've had a chance to compose ourselves.

There were several hotly-desired running-related Christmas gifts for me as well. These Mizuno Breath Thermo pants are incredible. First off, the legs weren't too long, which is a miracle! Every other pair of running pants I have tried on has dragged the ground. These size S pants are the perfect length for a vertically-challenged, short-limbed person who looks nothing at all like those lithe leggy creatures you see on the pages of Runner's World. So yay Mizuno! They are also very warm, so much so that I was sweating inside of 30 seconds when I tried them on indoors. I can't wait to take them out for a run in the toe-curling cold. I'm sure this Saturday's group run will be happy to oblige.

I now also have an honest-to-goodness running jacket! It's more silvery than it looks in this picture, but this NikeFit jacket is incredibly comfortable and has two side pockets and a sleeve pocket--in addition to being so reflective it makes you want to cover your eyes. I have a feeling I'll be wearing this at the group run as well.

And then we came home to...this. That dog bowl is positively screaming, "Go to the gym, you moron!" So I'd better get myself put together and get my two miles in!