Fair to middlin'

Yesterday was my 10th race. Tara asked me to race with her and I agreed because it was for a good cause. The Women's Law Society of the U of I Law School sponsored this race to benefit the local domestic violence shelter/organization. Tara is the HR director of said shelter/organization, and they, like all other not-for-profits, are really hurting for funding. I was happy to run this race to support the increased safety and empowerment of women.

For some reason I got VERY nervous before leaving the house. It made no sense to me whatsoever, but then, that's the nature of anxiety. When I got there and did my warm up, it was a little better until I noticed that the mean age of the other participants was approximately 22. Great. I'm going to have a re-run of my first race of this season. The one where I almost finished last.

I didn't care quite so much this time because Tara and I would be running together and I decided since I already had broken my PR TWICE this year, I'd just run and see what happened.

Apparently law students are not as fit as environmental studies students because we both finished in the middle of the "pack." It wasn't my best time, but certainly not my worst either. And, the actual running felt GOOD -- very strong, controlled, smooth and focused. I LIKED that!

Here we are before the race:




And after:





Tara asked me about the trail run coming up in October. She was a little concerned about the distance (5.5 miles) but said she'd start training and give it a try. Teasingly I asked her if she'd run the 10K with me in November. She said "No. Not this year. Maybe next year." I said "Right! That can be next year's goal for you, like the half is for me next year!" She "Sure, but I'm never going to run a marathon." I said, "That's what I said last year."

We'll see.

Down the slippery slope

Being the Mom means managing most of the food intake for the family members. (I guess because I have boobs and have used them to feed my offspring, I'm supposed to be an expert on food an nutrition?) Anyway, I try to limit the junk intake in our house because I DO care about the health and well-being of my loved ones. I also try not to be TOO Nazi-esque with junk food because it can lead to dangerous binging.

I once had a friend whose mother was a nurse and wouldn't let her eat things like chips and ice cream because of the potential damage to her health. This friend admitted that she once snuck to a corner market near her home and bought a can of Pringles with her allowance. She then proceeded to shove as big a stack of Pringles that would fit into her mouth and chew and chew and savor the salty, fatty, crunchy goodness.

My mom was also a nurse and while my Sis and I were growing up Mom was a careful monitor of the family's food intake. We had treats, but they were divied up and rationed out. Mom would put the treats for the coming week into the large freezer in the basement so we wouldn't snarf everything at once. One of the rare times my Sis and I were ever in cahoots was to look for the freezer key so we could sneak some of the treats.

We also got to have a few more treats when we were on vacation. That was definitely a special time. We didn't get to go hog wild or anything, but the restrictions were relaxed a bit.

Earlier in the month ONO and I took the mini-muffins on a little vacation. It was the only official one of the year. We spent a night camping at the Indiana Dunes, a day at the Dunes beach, and then a night in a hotel (ONO is SOOOO smart!) And, true to form, I relaxed the snack restrictions for the sake of the vacation. Being mostly vegetarian, meat is a big treat. So for camping we had hot dogs and brats and for breakfast we had some sausage. We also had those little powdered sugar donuts as well as Smores. How can you not have Smores camping??? At the beach we had TWO kinds of chips and a taco dip and ONO and I each brought along a 6 pack of our favorite soda. His is diet Coke, mine is full-powered Pepsi.

I REALLY enjoyed our get-away -- in many ways. It was a mostly relaxing, fun time with few worries. But, even after a few weeks, I'm still struggling to claw my way back up to the top of the Food Pyramid.

Here's what we all know we're supposed to be eating:



Here's what my eating habits looked like on vacation:



Of course it would be "Pepsi" not "Coke," but still, the image is about right.

The problem with this slippery slope is that it's so nice and squishy (or crunchy, depending on your cravings) down at the bottom. But I keep reminding myself that I really don't need anymore squishy than I already have.

I had floppy jowls!!

You might wonder why I would be so excited about this. Usually I'm bemoaning the "falling" of my face. It's all fine and dandy to have chubby cheeks when you're young. Then, you're cute. But as I've gotten older, those cute, chubby cheeks have started sliding downward like a Salvador Dali painting, or a basset hound's face. See those jowls?!?!

Anywho, I managed to get in an impromptu, sort of longish run today -- 7 miles and some change. By the end, I was feeling pretty great, trucking along and I noticed, to my delight, that my cheeks were flopping!

This has only become important to me since watching the Olympics track and field events and seeing the runners' cheeks bounce as they ran. One of the commentator's mentioned that this was a sign of very good running -- relaxed and smooth, even with the stress of racing in the Olympics.

It's not hard to tell when you're having a good run and when you're not. Sometimes it's really hard for me to switch from the strained, forced running movements during a bad run to the smooth, relaxed, almost sliding form of a good run. But now, I can add my cheeks to the list of the points I focus on to stay soft and loose.

Let's just hope the spit don't fly!

All soccer, all the time

Since the start of the season, Carter has played 11 games and we have watched him play in all but one. He's a starter, a co-captain, and a senior so I made a commitment to try to go to all of his soccer games this year. It's the last year I'll be able to do that and I'm going to take advantage of it.



So for now, until either the end of October or sometime in early November, I'm a mini-van driving soccer mom.

I should get one of these:












That might help me feel like I don't quite fit the stereotype.

Are you a giant?

Here are the lyrics:

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road, turn out the lights, get out and look up at the sky
And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny
In the grand scheme of things and sometimes this terrifies me

But it's only really scary cause it makes me feel serene
In a way I never thought I'd be because I've never been
So grounded, and so humbled, and so one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

Rock and roll is fun but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky
Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye

When I saw Geneviève I really liked it when she said
What she said about the giant and the lemmings on the cliff
She said 'I like giants
Especially girl giants
Cause all girls feel too big sometimes
Regardless of their size'

When I go for a drive I like to pull off to the side
Of the road and run and jump into the ocean in my clothes
*I'm smaller than a poppyseed inside a great big bowl
And the ocean is a giant that can swallow me whole

So I swim for all salvation and I swim to save my soul
But my soul is just a whisper trapped inside a tornado
So I flip to my back and I float and I sing
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything
I am grounded, I am humbled, I am one with everything

So I talked to Geneviève and almost cried when she said
That the giant on the cliff wished that she was dead
And the lemmings on the cliff wished that they were dead
So the giant told the lemmings why they ought to live instead

When she thought up all those reasons that they ought to live instead
It made her reconsider all the sad thoughts in her head
So thank you Geneviève, cause you take what is in your head
And you make things that are so beautiful and share them with your friends

We all become important when we realize our goal
Should be to figure out our role within the context of the whole
And yeah, rock and roll is fun, but if you ever hear someone
Say you are huge, look at the moon, look at the stars, look at the sun
Look at the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the sky

Say I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye
And I don't wanna make her cry
Cause I like giants

"I Like Giants" by Kimya Dawson

A few words about Sarah

Govenor Palin has made a big splash in the political world. Despite our political and fiduciary differences, it does warm my heart to see a woman achieving success in a male-dominated field.

Out of curiosity, more than anything, I watched her RNC speech and I heard her now-famous self-identifying statement:

"What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

Definitely an attention getter.

I can see how a lot of women from a certain generation would find that statement appealing. My mom, for instance, was of the generation that started the first tentative tapping on the glass ceiling. These women had to fight and fight, get snarly, and be just as mean as the men. I really do understand, and appreciate the hard work they did.



That still doesn't change the fact that a pit bull basically can't be trusted with the safety of small children or other defenseless creatures.

And no amount of lipstick can pretty that up.

Birthday season starts today

Between now and Christmas, our family will celebrate 7 birthdays:

ONO's
Bethany's
mine
my dad/Granddad
Logan
Carter
ONO's mom/Grandma

And 3 major holidays which feature high levels of food consumption.

Sugary, fatty food.

So every 2 weeks, roughly, there will be some extra form of temptation in our house -- staring us RIGHT IN THE FACE!! (Note the operative word EXTRA because we are well versed in the sugary/fatty-snack-while-watching-TV-at-night ritual.

SIGH.

Oh well. Who ever heard of birthday broccoli, anyway?

Apparently, these two people:



Personally, I'd choose the one on the right....it's an actual cake. The other one is a meat loaf cake, "frosted" with mashed potatoes, and decorated with broccoli florets.

Now THAT'S a creative person!