Kathleen's Adventures

A few months ago, Greg and Stephanie Johnson had a few of us over to their house for dinner and a planning meeting for the triathlon. After dinner, Stephanie brought out these cookies that I literally could not stop eating. I think Anna and I easily took down a dozen a piece. They melted in your mouth. I emailed Greg for the recipe and Stephanie forwarded it along not long after. I had not yet tried the recipe until last week. I decided to make them the night before Stephanie's funeral. Kind of weird, but maybe my own little way of remembering her. Well, they were even better than I remember! I got to experimenting as well and made a lower-calorie version that is almost as good. The recipe is below: Ingredients: 1 box butter cake mix (Pillsbury has the least # of calories per box) 1 egg (can substitute 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg beaters) 1 stick butter, softened (can substitute all or part with applesauce) 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (can use reduced fat or fat free) 1...

Tri shorts and bike shorts are not meant to be worn with panties or manpanties. Just sayin'.

I survived the weekend and now I think there is a possibility the race next Saturday might not be quite as ugly as previously thought. It still won't be pretty though. Saturday morning I had a 15 mile run on the schedule. My group was only scheduled to do 10 (thankfully the route turned out to be 11 instead). I set out bright (well, not-so-bright) and early at 5:30 with a big 1 mile run before the group run at 5:45. That first mile hurt, a lot (everything hurt - no specific injury, just overall fatigue). I was a bit worried. No fear - miles 2-12 with the group hurt just as bad. It was beyond humid and hot (thanks Dolly), and no one seemed to be having a good day. I was still able to maintain around a 11:00 pace which isn't awful considering the conditions, but I hurt the entire time. When we finished the 11 mile route, I still had to run a loop of the park to get to 15. Someone was supposed to run those last 3 miles with me, but apparently decided I had taken too long and alr...

Great News!! 1. Little Debbie Nutty Bars now come in 100 calorie portions!! That means I can eat 3 of them before I get to the same calories of a regular pack...that is how it works, right? 2. I just found a $20 bill in a purse I hadn't used in a while! Not-as-great news: 1. One of the 3 buttons on my jeans just popped off...the middle one. Now I'm walking around looking like my fly is undone. No fat comments here, please. 2. My forever-long seeming case of bronchitis may be asthma. Cool. Not. But I have more fun drugs to try out.

Cancer Sucks, Part I Cancer Sucks, Part II It has been a pretty rough week. Last weekend I found out my sister's mother-in-law has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Her father-in-law almost died of cancer 10 years ago, it is a miracle he lived, but today you'd have no idea he ever had cancer. Hopefully Marilyn's story turns out the same way. I also found out yesterday a childhood friend's mom has uterine cancer. It is stage 2, so maybe she will be ok as well. Yesterday I also went to Stephanie's "celebration of life." It was awesome - if that can possibly be said about a funeral. Yet again I am amazed at the courage she showed through the very end and the courage her husband Greg has shown and continues to show. He spoke yesterday at the service and he was amazing. He started by saying he never understood how Lou Gehrig stood up and said he was the luckiest man alive when he was leaving the MLB . Then he spoke of Stephanie and what she was doing in heaven, an...

I was looking online at pictures from the hurricane on chron.com and came across this picture...it happens to be the husband of one of my co-workers...beachcombing in Padre during the storm.

I just found out that Stephanie passed away at 11:05 this morning. Greg says he feels she sent him to work today so he wouldn't have been there at the very end. Please continue to keep their family in your prayers. They have a very tough road ahead, but Stephanie's daughter mentioned that mom was in a better place now so everyone should be happy. Please pray for that thought to remain with the family, always.