Stormy Night, Lamb Cake, Exercise

There was a thunderstorm the other night. I never really understood why children would be afraid of thunder. This, no doubt, was due to the fact that I grew up in a desert and never experienced a real thunderstorm--the kind with lightning that's almost purple it's so bright, and with thunder that rattles the windows and feels like it's going to knock down the house. That's what kind of storm it was. It was neat :) I had read Thunder Cake just a few days before the storm, and it made me want to make chocolate cake!

However, just the night before the storm (or earlier the night of?) T and I had made our Easter lamb cake (finally!). We are very happy to report it turned out nicely. We had a slice of it and it's delicious. It's somewhat tragic, though, to see an increasingly diminishing little lamb. And I ate one ear, too (as a snack). Poor little lamb...

I went for a run today, too. Actually, it was more a walk than a run, but I did run a little bit (more than I have voluntarily in easily several years). Naturally I'm sore as ever, but it was a good little excursion down memory lane (I did cross-country in high school). I've decided I want to start exercising more. It's certainly more frugal to fit into the clothes one has rather than continually having to buy more. (I hate shopping, too, but that's another story for another time). Exercise can do this for me (I hope). But, when do to it? I know I have it easier than most, since I have no sweet little kiddies to dictate my daily schedule, but it still seems hard to find a specific time I can devote to exercise. It will soon (again, I hope) be getting warmer in Boston and I don't relish the idea of working out in the hot, muggy, afternoon heat. So, morning or evening, right? Well, evenings around the reservoir (where I've thus far done most of my exercise) are usually characterized by clouds of gnats/mosquitoes, and I hate bugs. I hate choking on them, especially, when I unexpectedly run through a hidden swarm of them. :Þ Morning? That seems to be the only viable option, but it would mean waking up earlier. It wouldn't be the end of the world, though, and I could do it. It's finally light enough out at the time when I would have to wake up so as not to be dangerous... The other question to answer, though, is what to do when I exercise. There are so many theories out there for different exercise goals (do you want to run a marathon? do you want to lose weight? how much? do you want to tone your muscles? do you want to slim down all over? do you want to concentrate on a particular part of your body? cardio or endurance? etc, etc, etc.). I guess the short answer would be "yes" to all but the marathon one (T's doing that). GAH! Also, I want it to be an easy-ish program. I don't want to kill myself every other day in a hard work out and be sore and stiff the next day. Here's another problem. My exercise regime seems always to depend on the weather. Summertime in Boston, fine--I can deal with it (by forcing myself to get up at 0:dark:30), but what happens in another 6 months when it starts to get cold, snowy, icy, and windy again? I can't really afford a gym membership, and besides, going TO the gym to work out takes so much more time. Does anyone have any bright (and simple) solutions?! :) I guess I will just have to keep you (that is, those of you who are interested) posted as to my progress in the exercise endeavor. If at first..