New Schtuff

I have never understood my husband's fascination with Gander Mountain. I mean, how many different kinds of camo does one person need? Or fishing lures. Or bullets. Or things to attach to a bow. I mean, I think fish bite at things when they're hungry (after all, what else is there to do down there?) ... so I just don't get why they'd bite at the fluorescent yellow thingy more than the not-so-different fluorescent green thingy.

But I do know he enjoys having a whole treasure trove of "schtuff" to feed his addiction. When he needs a whatchamacallit, he heads to his stash and finds a whatchamacallit. It makes him happy.

This week I got a taste of the same thing. For myself. And my new HOBBY. (This word still makes me smile.)

I stopped at All Season Runner earlier in the week just to browse. I was thinking my new outdoor running program required some sort of revamp to the current water bottle situation. For the past three weeks, I've just been carrying a normal 16 oz. plastic bottle of water. But my hands aren't really big enough to carry it comfortably. So I'd drink half the water and collapse the bottle a little, making it smaller in diameter and easier to carry. But it still wasn't right.

At ASR, I found this adorable smaller bottle, curved to fit in my palm, with a strap that wraps around the back of my hand. For $15, it wasn't exactly a bargain, but it fit the bill. I also checked out reflective stuff for running when it's dark, pepper spray, compression shirts ... but I left with just the water bottle.

Today, while Jim was at Gander Mountain ... again ... I dashed over to TJMaxx to see if I could find some running tights and a long sleeve shirt that would work. I already have one of each, but thought I needed another set, should I want to run two days in a row without laundry in between. Sure enough, I found upgraded versions of what I have. An Avia pullover and a pair of Brooks running pants ... both with reflective stripes sewn right in and both with POCKETS for my cell phone!

And now I'm totally thinking I need to go back for the pepper spray. After the Zanesville OH wild-animals-on-the-loose thing and the cougar-on-the-trail-cam thing in northern WI, I had a burst of probably unfounded fear today long about mile 6.