Wrong turn on the Monarch Trail

Good evening, friends! What's new? How's your week going so far? Good? Good.


Where to begin... thanks for your awesome comments on how you like your pancakes. Whether they're peanut butter-y, buttermilk 'cakes made by someone else,  or of the pumpkin or sweet potato variety - I love that with the right ingredients, pancakes can be a healthful meal (in cake-form), and fun to prepare.


So, I've got a spooky story to share with you!


Last night I had a Lakefront Marathon planning meeting to attend (yes, I'm running this year and still volunteering as marketing manager - phew), at a different location than usual. The new location is about 3 miles from my home, and I thought it might be close enough to bike to. However, I miscalculated my route, which winded through the Milwaukee County Grounds - aka a lot of open green, natural prairie-like space which earlier this century, held the Milwaukee County Almshouse (asylum) and various medical complex buildings. I'm a nature-lover, and history buff, so this all sounded great to me. The Monarch Trail, doesn't that sound lovely?

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The miscalculation of the route brought me to two dead-ends. One of which was literally a dead end. A seemingly in-the-middle-of-nowhere cemetery: Potter's Field.

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Picture yourself biking at about an hour before dusk, on a remote road surrounded by prairie, and coming across this creepy sign. 

I'm not usually phased by cemeteries, but being alone and stumbling upon this gave me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies. The cemetery is interesting, because it's a field without many markings, since most of the people buried there were institutionalized and didn't have money for grave stones. Do you have any cemeteries like this in your community? I definitely wasn't aware of this place before last night.


I eventually found my intended route and got to the meeting without incident, but after the meeting I had Zak come and pick me and the bike up :-) There was no way I was riding home through the same area, in the dark!


On a side note, life and work (mostly work) continue to get busier, but I'm determined to handle things like a pro, making time for myself and home life a priority. After all, this will be my 9th fall concert season and 'rock'tober. I've just never attempted one while training for a marathon. Yeah... more about that later.


Next week around this time, I'll be packing my suitcase with gear for the Pikes Peak Challenge. I can't believe it's coming up so soon! 


You do the talking: How do you weather the busy seasons of your workplace? Any tips? My advice is to approach each week in advance, get as many tasks completed in advance as possible and to be anticipate the worst-case scenario whenever possible. There's no such thing as being too prepared!