It’s date night and I have no date.  My wife is on a business trip to D.C., so it will probably be chicken pot pie for me tonight.  I did cook last night but had to remake the glaze for my flank steak, after burning the first batch.  The whole house smelled like burnt garlic, so it wasn’t one of my better efforts in the kitchen.  I should probably stick to the microwave, but I would really like to become more proficient with my cooking.  I don’t feel comfortable around the oven yet, and one night a week may not be enough to build confidence.  It’s been very stressful finding my way, and I’m lucky that I haven’t burnt or cut myself yet.

My wife woke me up at about 5 a.m. in anticipation of an 8 a.m. flight.  I was not motivated to run, so it was a slow process getting up.  With the cancellation of Pints to Pasta and the $250 price tag to run the Portland Half Marathon, I’m currently without a goal.  I am sitting at 3,181 consecutive days and counting on my running streak, but that only gets me out the door each morning and through the first mile.  With all those extra miles that I ran to get ready for the Hood to Coast Relay, I need to maintain this new level of fitness.  I had already run a 10-mile training run last week, and felt ready to do more distance, but the fires affected the Pints to Pasta course and they were forced to cancel.  I got a notice today for the Shamrock Run, but that isn’t until March, so I need to make a firm commitment to Run Like Hell or the Holiday Half.

I don’t plan to leave the house again today, with the exception of a couple of short dog outings.  I’m stocked-up on Diet Coke, peanut butter, and bananas so there’s really no need to leave.  i may do some more travel planning for 2018, since flights, hotels, and rental cars have all been secured for the remainder of this year.  My wife is chained to the office for budget planning in January, but in February we’ll go to Phoenix for her annual meeting.  Baseball schedules for 2018 were just released yesterday, so I’ll plan to attend some White Sox or Cubs games in L.A., Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Miami, St. Louis, San Diego, Denver, Washington D.C., and Seattle.  Opening Day is March 29th, the day we return from our overseas adventure to Amsterdam, Venice, Croatia, and Athens, part of which is a Viking Cruise.  In April, we’ll attend a wedding in Hualtulco, Mexico, and perhaps extend that weekend to include Puerto Vallarta.  There will be at least four trips into Chicago next year, a long weekend in Vancouver to see the Gardens, a French Laundry dinner, Broadway Shows, and at least two get-togethers with my grandchildren.  It will be another busy and expensive year of travel that will require a lot of planning.  While we don’t have a date tonight, there are certainly many ahead of us!