Glad I'm not the only one

Actually I'm sorry any of us has to deal with fruitflies, but it does help to know I'm not alone.

I spoke with my self-sufficient friend (one of these days she's going to start a blog and then I'll link to her) about the subject yesterday. (I never had fruitflies until this year. And I haven't had a garden here until this year. Coincidence? You make the call.) She said Hot Shot Flying Insect Killer works very well.

Denise's sticky tape suggestion also is a good one. Our Amish neighbors have clear pieces of plastic, sticky on both sides, adhered to all their window panes, which do a great job of catching all kinds of flying insects. When I asked Mrs. Yoder where she bought them, she said – are you ready? – Wal-Mart!

I'll be near a Wal-Mart on Saturday and I plan to buy all the insect ammunition they'll let me carry out of the store. Heh.

When I started my walk yesterday, I knew I wouldn't be walking the whole way. Indeed, I started running halfway down the driveway. I do my hill workouts backwards; Runner's World suggests running up the hills and walking down. I'm so not there yet. Yesterday I ran all the flats and downhills and felt great!

Until I walked into the house and started swatting fruitflies again. Grrr.

We had a great dinner last night, a simple curried squash stew served over rice from the current issue of Martha Stewart Living. I can't find the recipe on the website, though. There are tons o' butternut squash recipes, but not this specific one.

I didn't use butternut; my friend's (see above) husband gave me a couple of beautiful orange turban-shaped squashes, the name of which I conveniently forget (they were French, I remember that). I feel funny (as in I don't want to violate copyright laws) reprinting the recipe here. If I ever find it on her website, I'll be sure to post the link (looks like they archive previous issues when the new one hits the newsstands). If you have the magazine, it's in the Healthy Living: Fit to Eat section.

The recipe says it has 279 calories. You can deduct 200 from that total after you've wrestled with the squash. Cutting a hard-shelled winter squash should count as aerobic activity. By the time I'd cut, peeled and seeded them, I'd worked up quite a sweat! Fast food this isn't, but it was definitely worth the work. And it's better than sitting around eating bon-bons and watching soap operas. Heh.