Summer is here

I don't know if all that many people would agree with me on this one, but summer has arrived.

How can I tell? When I walked out of the store I work in yesterday it was sprinkling a little, not pouring down rain, but a soft kind of rain. Not unpleasant in general unless you've had a crappy day already and the rain is just one more thing on top of it. I put my coat on, figuring it'd be chilly out, and... it wasn't. It was a 65 degrees outside. And humid. The humidity is back. I am not excited about that.

But, on the upside, if summer really is right around the corner, then that means I don't have to worry about missing a run because of a blizzard again. And I'll be able to plant flowers soon. I've been itching to get out and try to create a garden in front of our house. I have no idea how well that's going to work, but I'm going to try. I'm tired of being just another ugly gray house on the street. I want SOMETHING to set us apart!

As for running, I'm starting week three of the Couch to 5k program today. I've done the program once before and it worked really well for me, though unfortunately life circumstances had me sidelined not long after I finished it. This time around I've got a plan for continuing afterward, since the half-marathon is my goal. The first time through  I used Robert Ullrey's C25K Podcasts and while they worked, he and I obviously have completely different tastes in music. I used it for the first 5 weeks or so until I was getting into longer stretches of running, then I switched to just my iPod and my watch. This time, I found Chris' Christian Indie C25k Running Tracks. The quality of the music varies, as you usually expect with Indie stuff. There are some songs that I can't wait to get through until the next week because I won't have to hear them anymore, but there have also been a few gems. Run by After the Chase might be one of my new favorite running songs ever. Unfortunately, it was only in week 1, but I can add it to my own running mix and run to it after I get done with the C25k program.

I have today off and I think it might be another day of baking adventures since it's still raining out. We're supposed to get some thunderstorms later, and I'm really hoping for some good thunder though. I miss the thunderstorms of the South. But it does mean that yard work is not on the top of my list. I've got a couple things that I want to play with today, but we'll see how it goes. Right now I'm just enjoying spending the morning hanging out on the couch with my dogs and not having anywhere I need to be!