1.Proof that I am in some ways a different person than I was 10 years ago, before I started dating the man who would become my husband: last night I watched an entire football game, all by myself, and I was really into it.

Now, granted, it was the Civil War game (for you non Northwesterners, that's the annual match-up between rivals Oregon State and University of Oregon), and this year the winner got to go to the Rose Bowl (That's a really big deal).



I grew up aware of football, to be sure; my dad loves it. But I never undrstood it at all, not even a little bit, until Eric explained it to me. The Beavers are the only team I follow, and I am by no means a rabid fan--but still. The fact that I chose of my own accord to spend an evening watching football--well, that's saying something. As for the actual outcome of the game...when Beth woke up in the morning and I told her the results, she cried, "But I didn't WANT the Ducks to win!" None of us did, sweetie. But we survive.

2. And in a nice segue, here comes topic No. 2. This one will give you complete proof that I am crazy, in case you were wondering: I agreed to run in the Civil War relay, which is a race held every year on the weekend of the Oregon State/University of Oregon football game. This year the route runs from Albany to Eugene, starting at Linn-Benton Community College and ending at Autzen stadium.



It's a relay, so it's divided into legs, of course, and each leg is not too long; my longest leg is only 2.6 miles, I think. But I have to run five legs, for a total of 10 and a half miles. In what's supposed to be 30-degree weather. Gosh, this is going to be SO MUCH FUN, right? So if you happen to be driving on Seven Mile Lane, or through Brownsville, or on Gap Road or Coburg Road tomorrow, and you see an exhausted woman trudging along through the frosty air, smile and wave from the happiness of your warm car. I'll nod and wave and try not to curse out loud.

3. Speaking of running, I've never done a relay before, and it's pretty much an all-day running event. Usually I don't ever eat before a long run, or during one. But there's no way I'm going to be able to go from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. without food. Do any runners out there read my blog? What should I eat that's not going to make me sick to my stomach while I run?

4. Can you tell I'm kind of nervous about this race thing?

5. Let's move on to happier topics: food. I made this butternut squash pasta sauce recipe from Simply Recipes today and it was divine. The butternut-cheese sauce was so yummy, I seriously think that if you made your puree thick enough, it would be tasty enough to eat on bread or crackers, like pesto or hummus. Delicious.

The only flaw in this recipe is that it does not give you an actual amount of pureed squash to use. It just says to start with a 2.5 pound squash. Well, I didn't weigh my squash before I roasted it. But it was quite large--I got it from my friend Rebekah; apparently they grow hearty squash out on their farm. I used about two cups of the puree I got from it, and I still have tons of puree left. But two cups worked well for this recipe. I must say, as I eyed all that bright orange pureed squash, I had flashbacks to the days of making baby food for my kiddos. Oh my gosh, I just dumped baby food into this nice sauce! But rest assured, it did not taste like baby food. It was good.

Oh, and also: I used onions rather than shallots, milk plus a little melted butter instead of cream, Swiss rather than Parmesan cheese (because I ate up all my fresh Parmesan because I love it so), and dried rather than fresh parsley. Does that still count as the same recipe? I think so.

6. Speaking of baby food, let's move on to topic six: babies. My husband sent me a link to what looks like a really cool documentary: "Babies: The Movie." It follows the first year in the lives of four babies, one born in the U.S., one in Japan, one in Mongolia, and one in Namibia.

Here's the trailer. Watch it. It looked really intriguing, and also sort of made me want to cry. Does that sound like a recommendation? Because it was meant to be.



7. Moving from movies to music (I'm all about the segues today), I was reminded by Jennifer and Heather this week that you can get FREE Christmas music from Amazon and iTunes at this time of year. My favorite new download so far? "Why can't it be Christmastime all year?" by Rosie Thomas. I'd never even heard of Rosie Thomas before, but I'm really digging her mellow voice and this upbeat, dancey Christmas song.

Have a good weekend, everyone. More quick takes for your enjoyment, here.