This week's randomness...

So Rick recently bought a couple Fitbit trackers for us to use -- have you guys heard of these? They not only track steps that you've taken, but they also track flights of stairs climbed, calories burned, and how many miles all those steps add up to. And, you can wear it in a band around your wrist while you sleep at night, and in the morning it tells you how much time you spent sleeping vs. how much time you were awake. (Last night, for instance, I really didn't feel like I was sleeping well... and according to my Fitbit, I woke up 20 times. Which sounds about right...) I have my tracker set with a goal of 15,000 steps a day -- every time I reach it, Fitbit sends me a nice little congratulatory message. So far, I'm really finding it to be a motivating tool -- I actually WANT to walk more, so Fitbit will tell me what a good job I'm doing. Which is sort of weird, but I guess motivation -- even when it comes from an inanimate object -- is always good.

I've been loving the extra light in the afternoons this week. With the disappointing winter we've had, I think I'm just ready to move on to spring now. Of course, this doesn't mean that we couldn't have a surprise April snowstorm. (Which, incidentally, is exactly what happened the first year we moved to New Jersey.) Besides, with spring comes BASEBALL -- I always so look forward to baseball season... even if the Yankees aren't looking so good this year... :)

I've heard from three separate, random sources this week how great cardamom is in coffee. Is this a new thing? I've never heard the virtues of cardamom-infused coffee lauded so passionately as I have this week. It's like all the coffee-loving people in the world had a secret meeting and decided that cardamom is the new "it" spice. Naturally, I had to try it in my own coffee this morning... so I added some ground cardamom to my coffee grounds before brewing. And it IS pretty good... I sometimes add cinnamon to my coffee, but I really do need to experiment with more spice variety. Maybe I'll try cinnamon AND cardamom... yeah, I'm crazy like that...

And back to the spring topic -- how are we already halfway through March?? Sunday is St. Patrick's Day, which means the Chicago river will be dyed green and crazy green-bedecked people from far and wide will converge on the city to wander up and down the streets, patronizing every bar in sight. Seriously -- I've never seen a city get so intense about St. Patrick's Day. They REALLY love that holiday here... I prefer to stay in my condo and avoid the drunk people...

I now have more than 5000 steps completed for the day, but since I need 10,000 more before my Fitbit congratulates me, I suppose I should get moving instead of sitting on the couch typing a blog post. :)