I’ve decided the Great Lettuce Challenge has become Death By Lettuce. Our veggie basket is coming with 4 bags of lettuce, and then a bag of spinach, and a bag of arugula… And my husband doesn’t like the “texture” of the locally grown lettuce, so he went to the store and bought some of his own.
I’m hoping the season will change soon and offer a greater variety of veggies. I haven’t eaten this much salad in my entire life!
OK, I haven’t been pregnant for almost 9 months, so time to get rid of the picture of me and The Belly on my site. Good riddance!
Created by a Facebook app “My Year in Status”. I guess I do more status updates than the average Joe, as it cuts off in October…
Stolen from a friend’s status on Facebook: 20 years from now you’ll be more disappointed by things you didn’t do than by things you did. Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain
We celebrated Father’s Day by going to see a concert on the beach in Tahoe City. Even though it was a bit cool, it was a memorable, perfect evening. We danced, Little Miss played, and we all had a lovely time. Here are a few pics:
The family posing on the beach:
Self portrait with my little ham of a daughter:
Belly pic at 34 weeks. The shirt I wore for this pic is much more flattering than last week’s pic!
They had hula hoops at the concert, and we all three gave it a try. JB was remarkably good at hula hooping. I had difficulties due to my current roundness — it just slid right down!
Little Miss dancing on Daddy’s shoulders:
I title this one, “the view from here”. This pic cracks me up!
Have I ever mentioned I have a celebrity crush on Ryan Reynolds? Poor Alanis Morrisette for letting this one go.
Must plan a girls’ night out to see his new movie!
Of all the people at the gym today, I had to be on the machine that was right next to the guy having a REALLY LOUD conversation on his cell phone the entire time he was on the stair master. I probably did some damage to my ear drums as I cranked up the volume on my iPod trying to drown him out, and he was oblivious to the looks I was giving him. I just don’t understand people that do that… And I wonder if the person on the other end knew why he was so out of breath and talking so loudly.
Once I was done with cardio, I went to the weights floor, where there was a woman working out in sunglasses. I think she wanted everyone to believe she is a celebrity.
Sometimes, watching the freaks at the gym really helps the time pass during my workout.
I am highly tempted to buy the new product that Michael Phelps is endorcing, the H2O Audio, an under water cover and headphones for the iPod Shuffle. I saw him mention it on Facebook today (where I am proudly his fan), and after reading the write up, I’m intrigued. I tried one of the first versions of an under water headset (back then it was with a tape deck), and the results were so hideous, I haven’t even contemplated it again until now.
After watching the testimonials of Olympic swimmers, who spend a ton of time swimming laps, I’m starting to think perhaps the technology has advanced enough for me to try it again. Now if only it didn’t cost more than my iPod did…
I try to avoid working from home with Little Miss around, as I always feel torn, and feel like either work or my daughter are being ignored. Today, my daycare is closed in the morning, so I’m giving it a try. I’m finding that Little Miss is much more self reliant and self entertaining than the last time I attempted this, but I’m also sure there will be some good stories. So, I decided to chronicle her doings as the morning goes by:
7:30 am – 8:30 am — Killing ants in the back yard with a spray bottle of water. I’m amazed at how fascinated this has kept her. After multiple requests for me to refill her water bottle, I show her how to turn on the hose and fill it herself.
8:45 — It’s too quiet. I go outside to find a flood of water on the bach porch, the hose going full force, and Little Miss riding her bike. Oh, and Shadow is soaked as well. Hose turned off, sent her back out to play.
9:30 — Ready for a snack. She’s eating Pirate’s Booty while I work. I look over and she has Booty crumbs on her forehead and in her hair.
9:40 — Done with Booty. Now she wants a sandwich. Killing ants must have made her hungry.
9:45 — Not hungry anymore. Distracted by a toy.
9:50 — Quick break to read. She wants me to read the Christmas Story. Now she wants that sandwich.
10:00 — I’m on a call with Ireland, and she’s outside playing with Rolly Pollies and talking to them.
10:30 — I’m done with my call, and find Little Miss in the back yard with her sidewalk chalk, using poor Shadow as a black board. Who knew a black dog could be so multi-functional?!
11:15 — One benefit of working from home… Love from a black dog.
12:15 — On a conference call with Washington, Little Miss is playing with Play-Doh beside me, asking me to make her a dog and cat. Nothing like multi-tasking with Play-Doh.
12:30 — Lunch time. Time to make my scrumptious chocolate shake. Ingredients: protein powder, banana, vanilla yogurt, coco powder, psyllium husks, flax oil, agave nectar, soy milk and ice. Blend in blender and serve with whipped cream on top. Score points for serving a nutritional lunch that looks and tastes like a chocolate ice cream shake!
12:45 — Off to daycare, which opens at 1. I love my girl, but it’s time for Momma to crank out some serious work now.
Yesterday, a pregnant friend and I drove to and from Pleasanton, CA in the Bay Area to attend the funeral of one of our dear friend’s husbands. Let me just say that going to funerals while hopped up on pregnancy hormones is NOT a good combination. But it was nice to do the drive with a woman in my same condition, as there was absolutely no question that frequent pee breaks were a necessity.
This was the second funeral I have attended while pregnant (the last time being my grandmother’s when I was pregnant with Little Miss), and both times, I was a weeping mess. I probably cried more than was appropriate (if there is such thing) because I couldn’t stop thinking about how my friend felt, what her life would be like moving forward, what it would be like if I lost my husband, etc.
Rod was a wonderful man, and he treated my friend, Susan, like a queen. He was one of the most fun loving people I’ve ever met, and he had a way of making everyone feel like a long lost friend. The service for Rod was amazing. There were hundreds of people there, and many people got up and shared their favorite memories of Rod. It broke my heart to hear Susan read a letter she wrote to her husband. She was poetic, composed, and the picture of grace. I am amazed at her courage and the way she handled herself, when all I could imagine I’d want to do in her situation is crawl up into a ball and cry.
The whole experience has spoken to me, as Rod died suddenly from a massive heart attack, when everyone thought he was in perfect health. I think it has helped me to realize how fragile life really is, and to tell the people I love how I feel about them regularly, to show my affections, and to truly cherish every moment. Since receiving the news, I’m holding my family a bit closer, and have been trying to let go of the minor annoyances and to concentrate on the fact that I’m so glad my husband is alive, that we have a happy, healthy daughter as well, and that I can relish in the regular movements of my son inside of me.
I’ve shed a lot of tears over this. I’m not sure if it’s the hormones, or just my personality, but I truly feel my friend’s pain right now, and am mourning for her. It’s also hard, because she is not in Reno, and I can’t reach out to her as much as I want to right now.
So, to all of you, I hope that you will stop to appreciate the blessings in your life, and to truly show how much you love your friends and family. Meanwhile, I’m praying for Susan, that God can heal her from this life shattering situation.
They read a quote from Emerson at the funeral that spoke to me, so I’ll share it with all of you as well:
Success
To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
This has been a rough week. There has been a death of a friend (a really close friend’s husband to be specific) and layoffs at my company. Forgive me if I don’t have motivation to be witty this week as I try to keep forging ahead.
I’ll be back next week. Promise.
Got one, originally uploaded by Rebellin.
Little Miss and her cousins were so fun at Easter. They totally GOT it this year, and we had a blast! Check out my photo stream for all of our pics!
"I don’t want to work…", originally uploaded by Rebellin.
JB has taught Little Miss one of his favorite songs.
Little Miss’ First Time on Skis, originally uploaded by Rebellin.
And here I am again, back from the dead in the blogosphere. Someone has pressed the fast forward button on my life, and I’m just struggling to keep up. My best way to describe work lately is that I’m drinking from a fire hose. Home life has been similarly hectic.
Last week, Little Miss turned 3. I took the day off of work and took time just to celebrate her. It was a lovely, amazing day in which I felt honored to be her mother. I have more to post from her birthday, but will do so later with pictures. Anyway, that night, I caught a cold and got about 3 hours of sleep. The rest of the week was a blur. I was able to convalesce for a half day, and then had to march myself into facilitating a class for two days. Let me tell you, being sick and pregnant is not so great for performing your best.
I was able to slow down a bit and recover over the weekend. I swear I’m still tired, though. My nephews were in town, and it was so fun to have Little Miss get together with all four of her cousins from my side of the family. Monday was yet another daycare holiday that I don’t get, so I took the day off. Between sick days, personal days, and days leading training, my Inbox at work is about to self destruct, and my to do list trails out the door of my office.
Did I mention I recently got an office? Thank God for doors.
Be patient with me as I get out some pent up blogging.
Well, hello there. Anyone still reading this? Sorry for the silence. I guess a summary post is called for…
On Christmas Eve, Little Miss and I did the final grocery shopping and errands in preparation for my in-laws’ arrival. JB, Little Miss and I went to church at 6. That day, we had purchased The Grinch That Stole Christmas (the classic version), and JB made the mistake of telling Little Miss right before church started that we’d go home and watch the Grinch after church. She then decided she wanted to leave RIGHT THEN, and when the congregation was quiet, she said loudly, “I WANT TO WATCH THE GINCH” (ginch is how she pronounces it). They had a cute pageant, and the Mary and Joseph actors sat right in front of us. At one point, Mary turned around and handed the Baby Jesus baby doll to Little Miss, which had her floored that she was holding BABY JESUS!!!
The in-laws showed at the airport without a hitch, right as a huge storm arrived. We had a crazy white Christmas with almost a foot of snow at our house. It snowed all Christmas Day, and was lovely. Growing up in New Mexico, this was a true novelty to me. Little Miss got a doll house from Santa. She had asked for a castle, and I specifically chose a doll house because I didn’t want to encourage the princess thing… Ha! She immediately called the doll house a castle, and got multiple princess barbies for Christmas, so the princess thing is rampant in our house. Oh well, the kid is happy.
She got a baby doll that she promptly named Baby Jesus. When asked what her favorite gift was for Christmas, she said, “Baby Jesus!” Highly appropriate if you ask me. She also got a dress, which she changed into immediately. She then had to twirl in her dress with every present she received. How did I, the former Tom Boy, end up with such a girly girl?!
The day after Christmas, JB and I went out to enjoy the 2 feet of new snow at Kirkwood. The powder was awesome. On our way there, we had to make a pit stop at the coldest outhouse ever. Seriously. Look.
We had to tromp through four feet of snow to get to it, and the door was snowed open, and snow was piled up inside. But it was a truly needed stop!!!
On Saturday, I went snow shoeing with my sister-in-law, CB. We had a lovely time, and even though it was foggy, we saw a great sunset. It was a treat for a girl from New York City.
That night, my parents came over, and it was the first time since our wedding 4 years ago that my parents had been in the same room as JB’s parents. It was a good reunion, and free entertainment was provided by my two nieces and Little Miss.
On Sunday, we did a scenic drive to Lake Tahoe, but I didn’t take any pictures. Monday, we did a late Christmas celebration of sorts with my parents and brother’s family. It was an extra treat to get to see my parents. Otherwise, this week has been quiet. We had a horribly dull, adult New Years, where we stayed in and I read a book while JB researched how to use his new espresso maker online. We spent New Year’s Day lounging at home. Original plans were to go skiing, but we were just tired and were a bit spoiled by multiple powder days lately. So, we lounged in pjs until about noon, and then I took Little Miss to the park. Last night we went out for sushi (yum), and now, here I am, one of the lone soldiers in the office on Friday.
I hope you all had lovely holidays as well.
While at the gym today on the treadmill, there was a young man with Downs Syndrome next to me. He was walking pretty slowly, and leaning on the display. I didn’t pay much attention until I noticed he started going faster and faster, and next thing I know, he is holding himself up on the display as his feet dragged on the treadmill. He didn’t know that he was leaning on the SPEED button.
Thankfully, I caught on to the issue quickly (despite running pretty fast and blaring my iPod), and I reached over and hit the emergency stop button on his treadmill. The poor guy was scared to death. I hate to think what would have happened if no one was there or thought to do the same.
My vacation is now officially over. Why is it that I don’t feel rested?
Probably from traveling 1500 miles with an almost 3 year old. Although she was an angel, I’m still zonked.
ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……..
Ten years ago I…
5 things on today’s to-do list . . .
5 snacks I enjoy . . .
5 things I would do if I were a millionnaire . . .
5 places I have lived . . .
5 jobs I have had . . .
Inspired by Krisalis.
OK, I finally have time to write about my first 10K. I know for many people, a 10K is child’s play (like my brother, sister in law and hubby). For me, though, it was a big accomplishment. I started running for fitness at about 19, where I would repeatedly run 2 miles at a time (not including my record setting 2 week track career in high school, ended early by shin splints).
I have done many 5K runs, which always seemed like a REALLY long run for me, and I remember going out before the race to run 3 miles, to make sure I could actually complete the race. Last Fall, I began trail running, which reinvigorated my running, and I found I was able to start increasing my mileage, gradually. I set my New Year’s Resolution this year (yes, I had just ONE) to run a 10K by the end of the year. In the winter, I was plagued by colds or aching joints, etc., but this Fall, I’ve been able to break through those issues to do my first 10K. It was a big mental barrier for me, as I never believed I was built for running, or that I could run much farther than 3 miles, much less double that.
The race was early Sunday morning. I had been having asthma issues when I ran the prior week, so I doped myself up with Singulair and multiple hits to my inhaler. JB went with me, and we met up with a friend of mine who was visiting from Colorado. I kept telling my friend that I run slow, and to not feel like she needed to stay with me, but we both got into chatting, and she stayed with me for 3 miles. During those 3 miles, I was definitely pushing at a faster pace than I would have without her, and she was running much slower than her normal pace. Anyway, at 3 miles, she decided to break away, and I turned up the iPod and got into my normal running pace.
The race was sponsored by my company, with 50 of my co-workers volunteering, so every mile or so, there would be a rest station with a bunch of my co-workers cheering, which I think made me push harder, as you don’t want to look like you’re hurting in front of your co-workers!
The race was at Damonte High School, which backs up to the Virginia Mountains, where wild horses frequently graze. They made an announcement prior to the start that there could be wild horses on the course, and to watch out for horse dung. And what do you know — I saw many piles of horse poop, but the majority were on the sidewalk… I thought it funny that the horses have been using the sidewalks.
The race was rather uneventful. I ran with inhaler in hand, but luckily didn’t have to hit on it. As I came to the finish, I saw a 10 year old boy running beside me for the last 50 yards. I looked over and said, “race ya”, and we sprinted into the finish. Now I’m not much of a sprinter, so he was pulling ahead, but slowed down right before the finish line, where I then sprinted past and said, “shouldn’t have stopped”! I’m sure he told his parents about the old lady that beat him. I’m hoping the race photographer caught that, as I think it’d be a really funny picture.
So, I’m proud of breaking down my mental and physical barriers, but know that I’m still on the beginner end of the spectrum of running. My average pace was 10:45 per mile, and the woman that won my age group, well she was doing 5:45 per mile. But hey, it felt good, and I have two more 10Ks planned before the end of the year, with the goal to break an hour, shaving at least 6 minutes off my time.
I’ve been toying with the idea of a half marathon in my future. I’ll keep you posted with that!
My shiny new computer that I got last month died. Now I’m back on the machine I call “The Beast”, and I’ve been watching it clock all day long.
But the good news is that I finished the 10K! More on that later… Must try to get work done on this dinosaur of a computer…
I’m back from spending yesterday at the Squaw Valley Ropes Course. It was AWESOME. So awesome that I’ll call it my second best day of work, as the first best day was our ski day at Squaw a few years back.
Anyhow, we were split into groups, and my group decided I’d be the first person to climb. We were harnessed in, and then a man offered to be my belay… He was a tiny man who was LITERALLY FROM ETHIOPIA. I told him, “I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to make you fly when I try to rapel down.” He argued with me, saying he was sure he weighed more than me, and I had to be adament… I didn’t want to be the person that made the Ethiopian launch 5 feet off the ground!
Anyway, I did four of the courses.. The first one was a wire bridge, which was really easy. The next one was a climb up a 200 foot (at least) tree. It was like my childhood fantasies come true. I was so happy to keep climbing and climbing, and then you ring a bell when you reach the top. Another fun one was climbing up a telephone pole, then standing on top and jumping to catch a trapeze. The standing on the telephone pole got me so worked up with adrenaline that my hands got sweaty and I fell right off that trapeze when I caught it.
So here are my pictures. Wow. So cool. I’m totally taking people up there next summer with me!
(I used the multiple upload tool in WordPress, and it evidently didn’t like two of my pics, and then doesn’t provide a way for me to delete them… Sorry for the broken images below. Each picture can be expanded if you click on them.)
My, how the time flies. We spent Friday through Sunday in Palo Alto, CA visiting JB’s parents. It was a nice, relaxing weekend with perfect weather and fun outings. I have pictures to post later from our visit to the Palo Alto Zoo and a local pumpkin patch.
I’m ramping up for my first 10K run on Sunday. Unfortunately, the combination of allergies and running has been triggering my asthma lately, so I may have to run with my inhaler in hand! It’s frustrating to have my heart rate pretty low, but not to be able to catch my breath!
This afternoon, I’m headed to Squaw Valley to do the ropes course with co-workers. Should be a blast!
More later!
