Heath Crunch Pie

OK, so I found the M&M's. I found them, made trail mix, and managed to eat the entire three cups of trail mix within 48 hours. You know you'd do it too, so don't get all stone-throwy on me. Your house is made of just as much glass as mine. Let's say we call a truce. I won't tell anybody about that half a cherry cheesecake you ate at 3am, and mum's the word on my trail mix. Deal?

So now I've moved on to bigger and better things. Homemade Heath Crunch pie. Oh yes, you read that correctly. AS I SIT HERE TYPING, I am enjoying a delicious piece of homemade Heath Crunch pie. Life certainly doesn't get any better than this. I would sell my mother down the river for a slice of Heath Crunch pie.

Just for the record, I AM KIDDING. My mom is worth WAY more than a piece of pie. I mean, seriously, with her upper body strength and work ethic, I could get at least $500 for her on the Asian black market. Plus, she loves to knit, and I'm sure those knitting needles would come in handy if she ever found herself in the midst of a pack of wild boars. Well, enough about my mother. Clearly, I've been watching too much MacGyver.

Back to the pie... Essentially, the pie is baking schrapnel from the sugar bomb that exploded in my house this past Sunday. Now let's get one thing perfectly clear. Normally, I am a huge fan of sugar bombs, but I was just commenting today that I "just don't understand why I always have cavities when I go to the dentist". Your Honor, may I present to you "Exhibit A".

So I had my twenty mile training run this past Sunday, so some friends decided to have a bake-off at my house while I was out. "Wait a minute, I run twenty miles, and when I return, my house will be full of homemade chocolatey goodness?" I felt like Charlie Bucket holding the golden ticket. I had officially won the chocolottery. Because no matter who loses in a bake-off... I still win.

There was Bailey's chocolate marble cheesecake, Toblerone truffles, vanilla and chocolate cream puffs, and Heath Crunch pie. Oh, and for breakfast, there was quiche. Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man. I couldn't get enough of it.

And this is why I run. It's a good thing that the Chicago marathon is just around the corner. I need to burn off some serious calories. I got new shoes yesterday, and they tore my feet to shreds this morning on my eight miler. But the greatest pain is actually that the only pair of my beloved Saucony's they had in stock were red and grey, which means I have to do a last minute wardrobe change for the marathon. Argh. I guess I really will be wearing that red shirt after all.

So wish me luck on the marathon. I can't believe that this will be marathon number three. It's pretty amazing considering that less than 5 years ago, I was completely sedentary (and as a result, morbidly obese). So you just keep baking and I'll keep running. We'll meet somewhere in the middle.

Mateo

Oh, and just for the record, that MacGyver comment was clearly a joke, since I've never even seen an episode of it. But I know what you're thinking, and yes, my mother could TOTALLY hold her own in a pack of wild boars! After all, she had eight sons!

Lucky

I realized how lucky I am tonight. Well, I always knew I was lucky, but tonight reconfirmed my previous findings. I realized this while I was frantically cleaning the front porch light fixture. It's a long story how I got to cleaning the front porch light fixture, so I'll try to summarize it the best I can.

Basically, my friend Bob was over and he and I had spent a couple of hours trying to solve the world's problems. We didn't solve them all, but we did manage to tackle a couple of them. Well, he had just left my house, and I was craving some food. OK, truth be told, I was craving some chocolate. Before you get all huffy-healthy on me, keep in mind that within the past seven days alone, I've run 30+ miles, biked 70+ miles, and kayaked 10+ miles. I would think that would merit a nifty little chocolate treat.

My snack of choice lately has been trail mix. It's relatively healthy because of the peanuts and raisins, but come on, you eat it for the same reason that I do. The world loves M&M's. I know that most of you are thinking that I shouldn't be able to eat them in trail mix, because normally when I eat M&M's, my OCD kicks in and I have to seperate them out into their respective colors and then eat them in prime numbered groupings. For some quirky reason, when M&M's are included as a part of greater food entity (i.e. trail mix or a Dairy Queen Blizzard) I can blissfully eat them in any crazy order.

So I would love some trail mix, but I can't have any. You read that correctly. I can't have any. Now keep in mind, there's actually a bag of M&M's in my house right now... I just don't know where. It's been hidden from me in an attempt to curb my chocolate consumation... and it's driving me insane. I've been on an "M&M Safari" for hours now. I've looked everywhere, even in the basement. Well, as I was searching high and low, I kept finding little jobs to complete around the house (in an attempt to keep my mind off my choco-cravings). I had dishes to clean, cupboards to organize, lights to replace... you name it.

So by the time I had gone through nearly the entire house, finally getting to replacing the front porch light and realizing how badly the light fixture needed to be cleaned; I also realized how lucky I am to be blessed with such a great home and a great life, especially when much of the world is often in the midst of turmoil. We have so much. Much more than many, and often much more than we need.

So I gave up hunting the elusive bag of M&M's. I grabbed some grapes, and sat down to start my list. Every once in a while, I stop to make a list of all of the things for which I'm grateful. It's a very long list. I suggest you try it sometime. It makes you forget all about your problems and really appreciate what you have.

I know I usually share my various lists with you; however, I think I'll keep this one to myself. It's pretty personal. Much of it has to do with all of the overwhelmingly amazing people in my life and the unbelievable second chance I got with my health. Five years ago, I couldn't have even fathomed a week full of running, biking, and kayaking. So here I sit, counting my blessings... and counting my grapes into prime-numbered groupings, of course. I am a lucky man.

Although I'd be a whole lot luckier if I could just find those darn M&M's...