Day 22

0730h. Indulge in sleep-in courtesy of husband. Greeted by enormous hug by son upon arriving in kitchen which makes waking up always worthwhile.

0902h. Kids are all playing in kitchen sink. Water is splashing on counter, floor, chairs, clothing...

0903h. Enjoying morning coffee while water mayhem entertains kids.

0905h. Interesting articles in the Sunday book section in the newspaper. Periodically pause reading to mop up part of the flood.

0954h. Remove wet sleepers from girls: advise both to go to bedroom and put dry clothes on. N puts on teal bathing suit. So typical for N...

1015h. Make raspberry pecan streusel muffins with 3 little helpers. Direct each to specific task and mess is actually kept to minimum.

1021h. Recollecting first time made this recipe--when T was baby. He eagerly "remembers" liking them. Inform him he was "drinking mama's milk" at that time and was not old enough to eat muffins. T states his love of drinking milk from breasts and how he still enjoys looking at breasts. No doubt that boy is heterosexual.

1022h. Killing myself laughing from T's breast comments...

1100h. Everyone enjoying muffin. Take one into living room with new book and tell kids I am officially on "coffee" ie/leave me alone. Wonder how long that will last.

1114h. Pondering the tail end of this chocolate challenge. Realize that this is a simple challenge; I mean, come on, I fast (denying myself any fluid or food) from sunrise to sunset, for 30 consecutive days every year. Avoiding chocolate for 30 days is not so bad.

1410h. Leave for short run. Immediately feel shin pain. Curse this new addiction to running.

1435h. Marvel at how at this point of run, one feels great. Cursing gray skies and snow flurries.

1457h. Finishing up--sun is shining, no flurries in sight. Think of Melanie Doane lyric: "without ugly, there is no beautiful." And hence, one could not appreciate the bliss of summer without the misery of winter.

1510h. Enjoying date protein shake. Will enjoy making chocolate protein shakes in 8 days.

1632h. Take kids out on walk. Highlights include kids taking in the local sights: such as doggie poo on roadway.

1728h. Dinner time. N having melt down; wants raspberry muffin instead of left-over grilled cheese sandwich. Ignore her whining and eventually whining dissipates.

1850h. Utilize TV to amuse T while registering for lottery for Nike's Women's Marathon. Excited: hope fills me with the possibility of doing my first half-marathon and of course, absolute fear in doing such a crazy thing.

2020h. Returning from quick visit to work. Craving chocolate. Seems to be a common craving time for me.

2104h. Finishing blog. Think days w/o chocolate are becoming less challenging than doing daily blog entry.