95.8 Miles to go.

We found a local high school track to run on last night – my feet are happy about that!  Ran 2 miles in 22 minutes and 15 seconds.  That means my time is a little faster – nearly an 11 minute mile. 

My original goal with running was to just RUN an entire 5K by my 40^th birthday.  Well, things have been going well enough that I revised my goal to be to RUN the entire 5K in under 40 minutes by my 40^th birthday.  And I think I’m in pretty good shape to do it.  The truth is, though, that it won’t be as easy as a track run.  The course is on very different terrain where they recommend trail shoes.  There will no doubt be hills.  It is likely red dirt and maybe gravel.  So this weekend, we hope to run at a local lake where it is much closer to the racing terrain.   We bought trail shoes last weekend, so we’ll be taking them for a spin and we’ll see how it goes.

This is a photo taken by Alvin. B, courtesy of Yelp, of the lake where we plan to run Sunday.  Pretty!!

100 Miles to go. Wait, make that 97.8

I am doing a poor job of keeping up with this blog.  Fortunately, the same can’t be said about my running program.  That’s right; I’m still running.  In fact, on Sunday, I ran 25 minutes non-stop!  I logged 2.2 miles in that time and honestly, I think it was a little easier to just keep running (mind you, it was NOT easy), rather than walk for a minute and then have start running again.

G and I also started working out with personal trainers last week.  My trainer is focusing on developing my endurance as well as strength training because, well, that’s my weakness.  She told me I would improve more if I attended a spinning class.  I was not happy to hear that.

Years ago, when the husband was just a boyfriend, he convinced me to go to a spinning class with him.  I. Hated. It.  I hated every second of it.  And I thought I was going to either pass out, vomit, or both!  And I never went back.  Until, that is, this past Saturday morning!  That’s right, on a day when I would have LOVED to sleep in, I did it; I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and went to a spinning class.  And, wonder of wonders, I liked it.  I mean, it was hard, but I kept up.  I totally kept up! 

So now, I am definitely more fit.  My cardiovascular endurance has improved, and I am down more than 14 pounds since May 20 (due in part to the exercise, but also due to the diet program we are on called Medif@st).  I have between two and seven pounds left to lose and then I will start on the maintenance phase of the diet (the diet is a severely restricted diet as far as calories go and it is a restricted diet when it comes to fat and carbs).  I can’t WAIT to eat a piece of fruit! 

Please note:  These are NOT my running shoes, but happen to be the shoes I keep at work for walks at breaks and lunch time.

So now to the title of this thing… 100 Miles to go… I figure I will log my miles (only running miles, not walking) and label my blog posts based on how many miles I have left to have run 100 miles.  Now I COULD go back and see how many miles I’ve done in all my training, but those days I always included walks in between the running segments, so those don’t count.  Since I ran the whole time on Sunday, that’s why I’m including that first 2.2 reducing the number of miles from 100 to 97.8.  We’ll see how long it takes me to reach 100!

Mistakes, Milkshakes, and Macklemore PJs

Tuesday night we went to the gym that we just joined.  We got a tour, and then did our training plan on the treadmills because it was a rainy night.  I don't like treadmills. My foot was striking different, I didn't feel like I should be talking much to George, but that's how I keep my breath controlled.  I ended up singing under my breath -- the only song I could think of at the time was the Milkshake song (True, I don't know all the words.  And, no, I don't want to think about what the song means.  But I had seen a post on FB -- "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard").  I know. Mortifying.  But no one heard me and it did the trick.  And I survived.

Yesterday was an even stormier day and I had to work a bit late.  So we decided G would do his run at home on the treadmill since he would make it home first.  Then I would do mine when I got home.  It would have been fine if I had paid better attention to my training plan.  I mistakenly told G the training plan for NEXT Wednesday.  So basically, we both did twice the duration of running than we were supposed to.  Good news... we survived.  Bad news... for me, I just barely survived and in fact had to jump up on the rails a couple times.  Ugh! 

Today is another off day.  Tomorrow I will make sure we do the right training plan.  Saturdays are always walk days and Sundays are our ramp up days. 

My prep for the next treadmill run will be to have a CD player nearby to play upbeat music that I know the words to so I can sing along.  If we do it at the gym, I'll dig out my iPod and have it charged up to do the same.  Oh, and I need to get that Thrift Shop song, too... makes me smile every time (I know it has a lot of bad words in it, but still... )!  Macklemore was totally singing about my flannel zebra jammies (not from a thrift shop, mind you! And yes, the feet have zebra faces!)! 

See?

Running is hard.

I tip my hat to all the runners out there! 

I really want to like it.  But running is HARD. LOL.  The hardest part (other than breathing) is admitting that I am in such poor shape.  3 minutes. That’s how long I had to run; followed by 2 minutes of walking and then repeating that sequence four times.  The entire workout was a total of 20 minutes.  Seriously!  Just 20 minutes.  And yet today, I am sore.  It is an “Off” day, so fortunately I only have to go to belly dance class tonight.  And it’s a good thing, because I am tight everywhere!  Any flexibility I once had is long gone.  I really need to work on that, too.  Sheesh. 

Running is hard, but I’m not giving up.

Here's a running quote form my dear friend, Anonymous:

 
"No matter how slow I run, I'm still faster than my couch."

Ain't that the truth?!

Hit the road running...

Yep, once again it has been months since a post.  And a lot has gone on.  Most of it boring.

I have not been to Bikram Yoga since October and the 100 pushup challenge ended shortly after that last post due to an untimely sneeze during pushup #7 that injured my shoulder.  Bikram, while a fantastic form of exercise, is just not a great fit for my life due to the time requirement (basically 4:30 PM - 8 PM on yoga days, which they want to be every day). 

So... on to the new thing.  Running.  My baby sister and my mother both decided to start running this year.  I figure, if they can do it; I can do it.  Well, I jumped the gun a little and George and I tried to run a 5K at the National Harbor.  Without training.  Without even doing basic exercise for months leading up to it.  Okay, so truth be told, we really didn't PLAN to run... but we got there late due to CRAZY traffic and wanted to try to catch up with friends. 

At the Glo Run at the National Harbor in DC

So now I am starting a 5K training program.  I know, I am shaking my head at myself, too.  How could I have gotten so out of shape that I have to TRAIN to run just 3.1 miles? But the reality is, I have NEVER run... like, ever.  Except when playing flag football in college, but that was sprinting very short distances. Oh yeah, and it was more than 20 years ago.

To do this right, I am being guided by a pro.  My trainer is Carrie Grote of Oliverunning.com, and she just happens to be a dear friend from college.  We had lost touch, but reconnected a smidge via FaceBook (meaning I read her posts, and look in awe at her beautiful family photos).  Carrie looks amazing.  And she is a remarkable woman.  And I really hope we get to truly reconnect soon.  But back to running, because Olive it. hee hee.  Carrie has developed a training plan for me so that I can run an entire 5K before my 40th birthday in August.  Race Day is July 28.  Training starts tomorrow. 

The thought is that I will post a little here and there about how it is going.  Wish me luck!

Yoga Lesson

I went to class last night at 6 and it was great.  James led us through a wonderful 90 minute moving meditation and I realized how unfair I had been to go into a yoga class with expectations of anyone other than myself.  I still hold that perhaps he shouldn't have positioned himself as close as he did, but I should never have expected anything of his practice.  That's not how yoga works.

The reason last night's class was so good, I believe, is that James really kept us focused on our breath.  He was patient, encouraging, and focused.  And no, I don't think he ever opened the door, but I didn't notice the heat as much as usual and I didn't drink as much water throughout the class as usual, nor did I douse my towel with water to cool myself (both are habits we are encouraged to let go of).  So there it is, I learned one of the lessons of yoga.  Let go of your expectations -- even expectations of yourself... the only goal you should have when you practice yoga is to be present and do your best.  Not a bad goal for every minute of each day, whether practicing yoga or not, wouldn't you say?

And yes, I completed my 100 push-ups yesterday.  Two days down, 98  to go.

Since I have no yoga-related images, I'll show you a pic of the kitty we adopted about a year and a half ago to torment Hans and Tinka (ok, not the goal, but he's awfully good at it!).  Here he is... our little Gatsby when we first brought him home in May of 2011!

No Yo

I didn't go to yoga last night.  I know.  I'm a little disappointed, too, even though it was my decision.  It's just that I am SO tired at work because I don't get home from yoga until 8 PM or later, then I have to change clothes, eat, take care of laundry or whatever, prep my meals for hte next day, wind down and hopefully get to sleep at a decent hour.  Which I don't.  Especially on nights (like Tuesday) when my husband works until after 11 PM.

SO instead I got on the treadmill.  I had to do SOMETHING, but I just didn’t want it to eat up my whole night from 5:15 PM until 8 PM, like yoga does.  And I accepted a 100 push-ups for 100 days challenge by Commit and Conquer in Pueblo, CO.  I used to go to C&C for Boot Camp classes, so when I saw them issue this challenge, I was excited to sign on for it.  Now every day (starting yesterday), I will do 100 pushups.  By the time January 17 rolls around, I will have done 10,000 pushups! Pretty cool, huh?  Let me know if you want to join me!

Unfortunately, while doing my second set of 25 push-ups, I sneezed and tweaked something in my neck.  Between yoga tonight and the massage I have scheduled for tomorrow night, I figure it’ll be feeling much better soon, and it didn't keep me from finishing my 100 push-ups.  Tonight’s 6 PM yoga class is with the guy I was talking about yesterday, so maybe I’ll go to the 8PM class since I can sleep in tomorrow if I want. 

Hmmmm… What to do? What to do?

He sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star…

and I couldn’t stop laughing.  Seriously.  During our first Savasana (dead-body pose where you lie on your back, very still, for about two minutes after the end of the standing series before the start of the floor series of postures), Reggie, the instructor I would have previously characterized as stoic, sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  He was a totally different guy last night, cracking an occasional joke about how much water some of us were guzzling, the temperature, etc.  So there had been laughter in the room (a first for me during a Bikram Yoga class), so when he started singing… well, I couldn’t stop giggling.

No one else seemed to be laughing.  Too bad.   It was funny.

Okay, something else.  I get there early and put down my mat in a place where I will have clear view of myself in the mirror (totally necessary for Bikram Yoga).  Invariably, someone will come in and put their mat right. in. frontofme.  So, I have gotten more strategic and now I only place my mat when there is a spot back a row from where 2 mats are already placed so I can slip in the gap.  Sometimes that means I am looking into a seam in the mirrors… Last night, I put my mat down in a spot where I was a row back from the mirrors between two others AND no seam in the mirror.  I thought I was GOLDEN.  But instead, another of the instructors situated himself  thisclose to me on my left side.  Annoying.  He could have shifted, but I guess he didn’t because he didn’t want to be on a mirror seam, but seriously… kinda rude.  Especially for an instructor.

Here’s the thing, though, I thought, hey, this guy is an instructor!  I will be able to see precisely how to do these poses correctly, because, if I haven’t mentioned it before, the instructor leading the class doesn’t actually do the poses – he/she just guides you through them orally.  Guess what?  This guy totally doesn’t do the poses right.  Now I admit, he is older and maybe be has some limiting conditions, but he didn’t even do the pranayama breathing right – his head hardly tilted back and his mouth was barely open AND he closed his eyes!  He didn’t keep his arms by his ears in half-moon pose, or balancing stick pose.  And then, when it was time for Head to knee pose with intense stretching posture (Janushirasana with Paschimottanasana), he was so close that I had to move to the front of my mat so my leg could extend.  Now, as I was set up first AND he is and instructor, shouldn’t he have been the one to shift?  I know… why does this bother me?  Who knows… but it did.  And I guess it still does a bit.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect that just because a person is an instructor that they can do every pose perfectly, or even do ANY pose perfectly.  BUT, Bikram Choudhury stresses that you do it right if not completely… that is, you attempt it in the right sequence getting each element right before you try the next part.  That is, if you are doing Standing head to knee pose (Dandayamana Janushirasana), then you don’t even attempt to pull your “up” leg in front of you until your standing leg is “locked, lamp-post, you have no knee.”  It just bothers me a little… makes me want to not go to his classes.  Which is fine, except, I want to go every night and invariably, he will be teaching some of the 6 PM classes.  I am just going to have to let it go… because honestly, when I’m in there, I’m the only one I should be focused on anyway, right?

“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.”

Author Unknown

Namaste.

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,

he found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Here’s the thing:  I have scoliosis.  My scoliosis was diagnosed as a mid-back C-curve caught as a part of a Girl Scout Camp physical when I was 10 years old.  Within 6 months, my spinal curve progressed from about 12 degrees to ~ 32 degrees.  I wore a back brace starting at age 11 which helped with the mid-back curve, but as I was out of the brace by age 15, it may not have been enough. 

In my early/mid-twenties, I started having back pain… sometimes so severe that I would lie down nearly in tears, pressing my low back into the floor to relieve the pain.  I had spasms that would make me suddenly bow forward, unable to stand up straight with pain so sharp it made me wonder at times if I was having a heart attack.  At age 24, my primary care physician put me on Celebrex which he told me I would be taking for the rest of my life.  I wasn’t really cool with that though, as there are a lot of issues with taking that kind of medication long-term.  At one point, when even the prescription wasn’t working, a friend at church gave me a gift certificate to see a chiropractor.  Since then, chiropractors and physical therapists have helped me significantly over the years and allowed me to quit taking prescription pain-killers altogether and only occasionally take a mild muscle-relaxer and over the counter pain relievers instead. 

My adult spine:  I still have a mild curve in my cervical spine (neck area) with mild osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis.  I also have a curve in my lumbar-sacral (very low back) region, with spinal stenosis which is all compounded by the fact that I have a naturally-fused vertebra in my sacrum.  AND that particular section of my spine is also twisted, which means it pulls on one side and pinches on the other. 

The icing on the cake is that in February of 2010, I was in a car accident where the car did a ¾ barrel roll landing on the passenger side of the vehicle where I was seated.  That served to increase my back and neck issues and seemed to cause me to start getting migraines, too.

Now to the topic of yoga…

I have now taken 14 classes in 21 days… not bad considering I was out of town for three of those days.  I had been seeing my chiropractor and physical therapist on a weekly (and sometimes twice-weekly) basis, but, having attended Bikram Yoga classes for these past three weeks, I have not been back to the chiropractor or physical therapist since September 20^th because I simply haven’t needed to.  I did feel quite tight Sunday after the drive from NC to VA, but I went to yoga Sunday night and last night and I am feeling good again.  My hips are better aligned than they have been, I haven’t had any migraines, I have more range of motion than I’ve had in years, and my body is shaping up, too. 

So, am I now addicted to Bikram Yoga like I had been accused of being addicted to my chiropractor?  Perhaps… but the benefits have been extraordinary so far and I just don’t see any down-side.  I’m even going back for another Reggie class tonight…

So, despite the heat and the sweat and the discomfort of being in a room that hot and that humid for 90 minutes with a bunch of other drippy people all contorting their bodies this way and that, I think I’ll be visiting my studio as much as possible for as long as possible.

As Bikram Choudhury says, “Give me 30 days and I’ll change your body.  Give me 60 days and I’ll change your life.” 

Namaste.

So last night was day 2 of Bikram Yoga for me.  For those who read my last post, the best thing I could say was that I survived.  Last night was different -- last night I felt GREAT!  Not that it wasn't still super hot and super hard, but it was different for three main reasons:

1.  I knew what to expect.

2.  A sweet girl stayed after class Tuesday to give me some pointers:  Breathe in and out through the nose ONLY except during the opening and closing series of breathing exercises (esp. when you feel dizzy).  And, keep your eyes open until the final savasana -- esp. if you feel dizzy.  (This helped SO much!  I did every pose at least once -- only 3 times did I not complete all the poses in a series!)

3.  The instructor -- her energy was so positive and encouraging!  I was able to "hear" her instructions better since I wasn't focused on not passing out, and frankly, she was just amazing.

So, I will give my first instructor another try in a week or so when I feel stronger.... but in the meantime, I'm going to check out a few more classes with female instructors -- I have been told that, in general, the female instructors are more encouraging and nurturing (esp for new students), and frankly, that's just what I need right now.

No Bikram tonight as I have chiropractic and physical therapy appointments, but I'll be heading back to class tomorrow!

I tried Bikram Yoga and survived!

I know, I know, it's been 4 1/2 years.  I'm giving this a teensy little shot.  If anyone out there checks this out, there is no telling how long it will last.  But as I have recently tried something new and my husband is working too late to listen to me yammer on about it, well.... here's my other option.

And here's what I'd like to share (not to worry, most posts won't be this long):

Tuesday, September 18:
I first heard about Bikram Yoga (or Hot yoga) some time ago.  It sounded interesting, but I didn’t think it was for me.  Well, I decided after we moved from Colorado to Maryland this past April (and then 4 months later, Virginia) that I needed to DO some things.  We lived in Colorado for 5 years and only went skiing one day, whereas we used to go for a week at a time.  In Colorado, we never went on a single hike, though we used to do that, too.  We spent most of our vacation time flying back East to visit family for weddings, births, funerals, and general holidays (we love visiting family!).  And I let that be an excuse for not joining a gym (we’re already going to be out of town a lot), or planning weekend getaways (at some point we have to clean the house, do the laundry, work on projects).  Enough!

I went last night and tried Bikram Yoga.  For those unfamiliar, this is a 90 minute yoga class held in a room that is maintained at 105 – 108 degrees F with relative humidity of 78-82% (or so said the instructor, Reggie).  The heat of the room is to really warm up your body and muscles to increase your flexibility and range of motion (something my body could really use). 

The website said that newcomers should get there about a half an hour early to get signed in, etc.  So I did.  That took about 5 minutes.  And then I was told to go change if needed, and get set up in the yoga room (where, once you enter, you must maintain complete silence).  I was already changed, so I headed in.  I think I should have just set my stuff up and left until closer to class time as, whoa, nearly 2 hours in a room with 105 degrees and outrageous humidity was a bit much!

The class itself:  I repeat the most important part; I survived.  Yes, I got light-headed a few times.  Yes, I felt like throwing up a few times.  But I made it through. 

(Okay, I confess, I tried to leave at one point when I thought I would pass out and I was chastised a bit – the instructor had failed to mention at the beginning of the class that the biggest goal any newcomer should have is just to STAY in the room the whole time.  So, upon being told to go sit back down on my mat, I did.  And I just breathed and tried not to die.  I was successful.)

Every Bikram yoga class apparently takes you through the exact same series of breathing exercises and poses.  The poses early on were not terribly difficult, although I wasn’t as steady as most who have achieved better balance.  I was okay with that.  I really started struggling about mid-way through.  After my failed attempt to leave, I sat and just tried to breathe until I wasn’t so lightheaded and then I’d try whatever pose they were on.  For a while, I did at least one of each cycle or series.  Then, towards the end, the lightheadedness was hanging on a bit more, so I missed a couple poses altogether.  At the very, very end I joined in and gave it my all.  And then a lovely gal came around with towels soaked in cool water and lavender or something totally refreshing and I just lay there and didn’t die. 

I am really proud of myself for getting up the gumption and going.  I am more proud of myself that I made it through the class.  I am relieved I had enough left to hold on to the steering wheel to make it home.  And I am planning to go back tonight.  Crazy?  Perhaps.  But I am determined. 

Thoughts?  Recommendations? Cheers are welcome, too! (Encouragement goes a long way!)

Hans -- poor fella

Mr. Hansy-Wansy has an ear infection. We noticed it Sunday -- poor guy's ear just wouldn't stop twitching. And it was oozing. And he was shaking his head a lot. And oozy stuff was shaken this way and that. Poor fella. Being a Sunday, we couldn't get him to the vet until this morning. So bright and early (for me), I got up and got him into the crate (not fun!) and shuttled him over to the vet's office. He is now on two antibiotics -- one is topical and the other is oral and both have to be administered twice daily. The topical one he gets for 2 weeks, and the oral for 1 week (it's double-strength amoxycillin). So that's that.

Oh, and G finished installing the kitty door on Saturday - now we just have to convince Hans and Tinka that they really can push through the two flaps to get to the other side. Hans is getting better -- I only have to push the first flap back a little and he'll go through. Tinka is a big baby -- she finally got through and out to the sunroom yesterday but when she wanted to come back in she just sat on the step looking through the door waiting for G to let her in. He finally crumbled -- she has him so whipped! Little does she know that tomorow SHE is going to the vet to get her nails and paw-fur trimmed. And then in April, both kitties are getting their teeth cleaned. Im sure they're going to be just thrilled with me after that!

On a brighter note, I am getting a massage today. My masseuse is fantastic -- her name is Venus and she is a certified masseuse and calls herself a healer, too. I got a massage from her on Friday, although it was kind of a massage and kind of physical therapy. I've been getting knots behind my right shoulder-blade again, but evidently there are other things going on as well. After my massage Friday, G's office had a bowling tournament and he and I bowled (Venus had asked me to take it easy and go home to an epsom salt bath, but I was already committed to bowl on the team). I must say I am pretty impressed with myself. It has been AGES since I bowled and we bowled 3 games and each of my scores was over 100. My high score was 134. Out of the five of us on the team I was pretty much tied for second. Not bad considering I was the only girl on our team! G did the best and it was his boss that I was neck and neck with -- we really had a good time and I am hoping maybe I can convince G to go again soon. I'd love to break 150!

Picture pages Picture pages...

Do you remember that song?

Time to get your crayons and your pencils!


Did you check out Picture Pages? And Electric Company?
How fun was that little trip down memory lane? You can find anything on youtube!

Okay, so I told you there would be more photos, so here they are:
The first is little Cason with Autumn -- I love the funny faces he makes! The second is my mom playing Merry Maid with a hot pink feather duster. The third is a picture of Cason after Autumn had to give him his first (and only, so far) suppository -- I guess you can tell what he thought of that! He posed all by himself -- although to be honest, it's not that finger anyway. Funny though. Fourth is a profile of A with little Cason -- I though it was kind of neat.

And here is a photo-collage I put together as a screensaver for us -- top row is our niece Bridget (that's me holding her in the middle pic), then Cason, and the bottom row is our niece Katlyn (and her parents).
I'm hoping my sister sends more photos of Cason soon as all I have are the ones I took while I was there and a few from my other sister and a friend who were there at the same time I was.

Now I must go try to re-light the pilot light on the furnace -- again. Brrr...

Happy Thursday

I know it's been a week and this is my first post, but I've been semi-busy and semi-just catching up on not doing anything. I admit, I still haven't unpacked my bags from my visit to TN -- maybe if I don't unpack them then I didn't really leave my wonderful little nephew and little sis way across the country -- actually, I'm just chronically bad about unpacking. Always have been -- probably always will.

Oh, and Monday I interviewed for a job. And Saturday is an important job fair. Perhaps soon I will once again be happily employed -- I MISS IT!! I know a lot of folks would think I was very lucky not to 'have-to' work, but for me it is misery. Okay, misery is a bit strong -- but not too far off the mark. I just love to work and be a contributing member of a successful and reputable organization. Since I don't like to post identifiable information about myself, I won't say more about the jobs, but I will ask that you wish me luck or say a little prayer for me. I'd appreciate it tons.

So here is my picture post for today. I took this while in Tennessee from inside my sister's kitchen -- through the window and the screen. It was an overcast day with snow flurries at the time -- all that said, I think it's a pretty good shot and it makes me happy!

I just love bluebirds!

More of my angel...

I can't get over just how much he changes every day!
Yep, that's me, Auntie Tonya with Cason and his proud parents, Autumn and Mike!

This is my baby sister and Cason's Auntie Robyn.
Here he is with his great grandmother -- we were all so glad she could make the trip!
My parents with Baby Cason. They'll go by Grandpaw (or Granpaw -- not sure which)
and Bubby!
And here Autumn is with Auntie Jenny holding baby Cason, and Uncle Brian.

This is baby Cason sleeping on the chest of my big brother Bart, a.k.a. Uncle Smoove.

And this is my baby brother, D.J. who will go by 'Uncle Dirty' (they came up with the names -- we'll see if they come up with something better by the time little Cason can talk!).

And Cason with his Beautiful mama!

It really was incredible to be there when Cason came into the world, and to be able to spend the first 2+ weeks of his life! Oh, and it wasn't all play, mind you. I did more cooking for them than I have the entire year we've lived in Colorado. AND, I changed Cason's very first, and very dirty, diaper in the hospital that first night (at 2:12AM). And I did it by cell-phone light!

Soon I'll get back to blogging more about my own life, but since my life for the past few weeks has been wrapped up in the lives of Cason, Autumn, and Mike, well, you're just going to have to bear with me. And besides, who doesn't like looking at beautiful baby pictures?!

He has arrived! February 7, 2008

It's true, he's here. But one must begin at the beginning -- well, not THAT beginning. But the beginning of baby's arrival. So... we're off -- driving to the hospital!

It's early morning and we all figure a bite to eat would be a good idea, so M. fills the tank and buys us all breakfast biscuits. This turns out to be A's last meal before Cason arrives -- she got the chicken biscuit -- Yum!Many calls had to be made...
and then we get there, just in time to ... wait.
Once we get a room, it's time for a few laps:
The sign read: Lap 1. We didn't count. Even if we had, I don't think we could have counted the million and one laps we took. It's a good think I had on my tennies!
SO, many hours later...

My first nephew, and the first grandchild on my side of the family, arrived!

Baby Cason made his debut at 7:51PM on Thursday, February 7th weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches!

He's perfect!

The happy parents with their healthy baby boy.

Here I am with the sweet angel!

A very proud papa.Unfortunately, this outfit swallowed him whole.


So there you have it... our blessing, Baby Cason.

I'm back in Colorado now and you can bet your bottom dollar that you will be seeing more of the 300+ photos I took during my nearly 3 week stay.

Quickie

These are, we believe, the Kissing Camels at Garden of the Gods

I'm supposed to be packing for my trip to Tennessee, but I just had to throw in a couple photos from our weekend with Sarah. We went to the Garden of the Gods on Saturday and walked around a bit. It was very Brrrrr outside. And even more Brrr when we got to Manitou Springs! And strangely enough, we arrived in Manitou Springs to find the town celebrating and enjoying the annual Carnivale! I wish I had some photos of some of the oddly dressed folks wandering the streets!

Instead, here are Sarah and me, and Sarah and G!

We finished the evening with a fondue dinner at the Mona Lisa -- we had a great brie fondue and a fantastic chocolate (and Gran Marnier) fondue for dessert. I had planned on eating my chocolate twinkie last night, but after the chocolate fondue (and a superb wine), I decided it should wait.

Today we rode the train through the Royal Gorge -- really beautiful, although I bet it is even more amazing during the spring or fall.

Pretty smile on Sarah!

And tonight Sarah cooked for us! She made a lovely salad with cucumber and avocado and a creamy lime vinaigrette and teh entree was a penne pasta with vodka cream sauce. Oh, and to top it all off, she made (from scratch) amazing chocolate sour cream cupcakes with semi-sweet chips in it and a cream cheese and orange icing.(And I haylped-- accent intended). Wow! I should have taken pictures before we devoured the meal. Oops.

The cupcakes were delicious -- though the altitude may have messed with their rising a bit -- they rose well, but fell. Didn't bother me at all though -- chocolate with more chocolate with cream cheese icing -- can't go wrong with that.

And before you remind me that I'm supposed to be on WW, not to worry. I have trackers packed and healthy low-fat recipes to make in TN. I'll be back down to goal by the time I get back to Colorado.

Fairy Godmother

Okay, she's not a fairy, and she's not my mother, but once upon a time in a land far, far from here when I lived in a little apartment in Georgia, she visited. You see, I am a messie. Piles o paper, mountains o books, boxes o stuff, collections o this'n'thats -- these are the inhabitants of my home. I am much better now than I was then, but I have to be. You see, I married an even-messier messie.

But I digress. Once upon a time... in that apartment in Georgia...she visited. My place was a mess and I was overwhelmed -- not knowing where to start or how to finish. So I went to my first job that day, left that, and went to my second job. Upon arriving home, there was a note upon my door that read:

Tonya

I prayed today: Please let Tonya find some release from this stress!! Awesomely enough, He worked through me; however even God can't help that Bedroom!

:), Jodi

In this case stress totally = mess. She cleaned and organized Everything -- except the bedroom, as you probably guessed. And it was Wonderful! I was overwhelmed with gratitude. But fairy-godmothers don't visit everyday and sometimes they even move far, far away (like MinneSOta). So I had to learn some of my own tricks. Here they are:




1. Wear a tiara -- mine is from my wedding -- when else am I going to wear it?
2. Wear an apron with pockets.
3. Fill pockets with m&ms.
4. Pour glass of wine.
5. Wear fun rubber gloves.
6. Put on upbeat music.
7. Get to work!
8. If someone rings the doorbell and you decide to answer it, realize that you are wearing a tiara -- whether or not you leave it on to answer the door is up to you.
9. Keep moving!
10. Let m&ms melt one by one in your mouth -- use the hand that's not scrubbing the toilet to get it there.
11. Sip wine.
12. Wear an earpiece so that, should you recieve a phone call, you can keep working.
13. Stay away from the computer!
14. Sing outloud to the music -- and boogy while you clean!

Wish me luck, there's a lot to do before driving to Denver tomorrow to get Miss Sarah!

Also, if you are like me, check out FlyLady, she's quite helpful!

Heaven is a place on Earth

I began this post with a different title:

Get Thee Behind me Krispy Kreme

OR... The Makings of a Behind. Mine, that is.

But when I saw this photo-illustration, well, it just about says it all.

It's true. I LOVE Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Specifically the chocolate glazed and chocolate glazed creme filled varieties. And that's bad. And I know absolutely how bad it is. You see,

I used to make the doughnuts.

Okay, not KK doughnuts, but the very same kind of fried, glazed doughnuts. Oh yes. Back in the summer of '94. What can I say, I was trying to earn $$ for college.

I worked at Pizza Hut in the evenings until about 11:30 or midnight, would go home for a few hours, and then go make the doughnuts at about 3:30 AM. I still love Pizza Hut pizza, too, and believe me, I ate a lot of Pizza Hut pizzas back then.

So here's the scoop: I worked at a 24 hour Winn-Dixie on Fury's Ferry Rd. in Augusta, but there weren't many folks around when I came in. So I'd go back to my little corner of the bakery and get to work. The fryer was noisy and I couldn't hear the piped in music, so I'd sing to myself. I'd sing hymns or tunes from Annie, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera or Nat King Cole --these are the songs for which I knew all the words. Only occasionally did I find I had an audience. One fellow in particular seemed to catch me singing -- he'd come in at about 5:15AM to pick up a dozen or two doughnuts which were scheduled to be put out at 5:25. If I was working, he'd wait and watch me decorate them and chat with me a bit. If the other gal was working he'd go to the end of the aisle where the day-olds were. She was pretty crabby -- and SO not a morning person. Once I caught him peeking around the aisle near the bakery -- he was checking the terrain to see which one of us was working -- too funny!

Anyway, here are a few little pieces of info. on our friend, the glazed doughnut, and his associates:




1) There's no such thing as a doughnut hole, although it is true that doughnuts do have holes. To make doughnut holes, one must cut up the uncooked doughnut dough that is preformed into the doughnut shape.
2) If one tries to apply the glaze too soon after frying the doughnut, or if one slings the glaze-applying trough too hard, allowing too much glaze to come through, the doughnut will deflate beneath the weight of it.

3) Each doughnut absorbs about, oh, 1/4 cup of 100% vegetable oil shortening -- and that's before the glaze goes on.

4) Doughnut holes and long doughnut twists are exceptionally difficult to make, as doughnut products go. Twists are the worst. First of all, they are shaped by hand. They must be twisted just the right way or there will be problems in the fryer. As the tray of twists/holes is submerged, the twists/holes float on top of the oil, absorbing it. Once it is a golden brown, one must quickly and expertly flip each and every twist or hole. If one waits too long (or if the twist was top-heavy or side-heavy), they won't stay when they are turned-- they just roll right back over. If that happens, one must then use one of the long wooden stick-like 'flippers' to turn it over and then hold it there, upside down, to cook the other side. If it is undercooked it will likely deflate when the glaze is applied, and of course, the other side will be overcooked and very tough.

5) Knowing all that I know about them, they still taste really good to me!


Holy Cow! In searching for a photo of a doughnut twist, I found this! It's a website featuring a 60 second video of doughnut-making and a whole lot more. Just look at them floating in the grease! It's a beautiful thing!


And for those of you who enjoy a good parody, check these out:
To the tune of:
O Christmas Tree/ O Tannenbaum
99 Red Balloons
Requiem for a Kreme -- this last one is a silly video some boys made. Skip the first minute thirty or so, and enjoy the rest. Oh, and don't cry over spilled milk, k?