Ground Hog?

You can't tell from this picture but what you are looking at here is a ground hog the size of a 30 pound cat who has been living in a hole on the south side of our house. Now that I am looking at this picture I realize that what I really should have taken a photo of, or better yet a video of, was Wade roaming the neighborhood for over an hour with a huge Tupperware container and a broom handle chasing this guy. Now that was funny.

Today

Don’t eat the candy. Don’t eat the candy. This is what I have been telling myself all day and, frankly, it’s only working because I have a phobia of eating food out of the same bag that I have seen other people put their hands in and because the candy machine by my desk has crappy candy and I am too lazy to walk downstairs. I am not sure why I do this to myself. Wake up at 6 am, run for 50 minutes-cussing in my head the whole time about how much this sucks and how is it possible that my weekends fly past me like lightening but this one minute that I have been running high resistance/high incline feels like it has somehow lasted 6 months, come to work and eat a small breakfast, small lunch, have a piece of fruit for a snack and a handful of nuts, and by 4 pm I am drinking buckets of water and gallons of green tea trying to curb the hunger pain until finally I cave in and eat something that doesn’t really taste that good and pretty much negates a good 30 minutes of my morning workout. Afterwards I think to myself, Idiot you could have slept another half hour and not even gone to the gym if you just could stop yourself from eating that. And it doesn’t help that I am on my period right now and so bloated I look like I am 6 months along. Honestly, I am surprised no one has asked my due date.
According to the program I use to track my weight loss I have lost 18.6 pounds. Of course that it total rubbish because for my starting weight on the program I used my Mom’s scale which is always at least 5 pounds heavier than my scale which I used to get my most recent number. 13.6 is probably more like it. And you couldn’t tell it to look at me. Especially now with the water baby I am carrying. But I am not going to give up. I need to figure out something to do to curb my appetite a little and give my brain some relief from the constant “feed me” messages coming up from my stomach. And I probably need to start lifting weights. I know that I should be doing sit ups. I tried to get up from lying on my back the other day and looked like an upside-down bug-my arms flailing around rocking back and forth. After Wade helped me up I taught Henry to sing “Oh where oh where have my stomach muscles gone, oh where oh where can they be?” Yeah, that’s probably going to screw him up at preschool.
The characters I run into in the locker room every day at least keep that part of my morning workout interesting. There is the 40 something year old naked lady that insists on not putting on either her top or her bottoms while doing her hair and makeup. She has tried to make conversation with me twice now, both times while only wearing a small towel on her bottom half. I am sure she thought that I was insane because I barely blinked I was trying so hard to maintain eye contact. Then there is the 60+ year old woman that smells like cat litter and fried food and she comes in with more jewelry on then Lil Jon and her athletic pants pulled up to her armpits. Today I had to deal with two phobia’s—bare feet on gym floor and drains. I never let my feet touch the floor at the gym. I will put my pants on balancing on one leg for 10 minutes if it takes that long (sometimes I don’t dry off enough and have to deal with sticky legs) in order to avoid putting my bare foot on the floor. But actually now that I think about it pretty much any part of my body touching the floor grosses me out a little. I don’t even like for my shower/gym floor flip-flops to touch my sweat covered clothes. Well, today I forgot my flip-flops. I had a choice-shower barefoot or go to work covered in sweat. I almost chose the latter but then my sister Susie suggested that I keep my socks on. Which brings me to my second phobia-drains. I hate drains. I hate to clean them, I hate to touch them, just looking at them gives me the shivers. Especially if they are rusty, have any hair or any other kind of slimy stuff in them and if they are constantly under water. At the pool I will do just about anything to avoid the drain, including not swimming. So today in the gym, stocking feet and all, I went into my shower stall and turned on the water. I didn’t look at the drain, I try not to so I don’t get grossed out. The socks on my feet kept me from feeling the hair/water. The water that was all the way up to my ankles before I noticed it. A huge wad of hair, partially attached to the drain, blocking the water from draining out of the shower and partially wrapped around my foot. I yelped and ran out of the shower: wet, naked, except for socks of course, and with shampoo dripping down my back. Naked lady stared at me and she did not try to maintain eye contact. I think I might have to start going to the gym at a different time.

No complaints

We went to a beautiful wedding this weekend. It was raining and in the woods so some people complained but I didn’t really mind too much. My feet got dirty and I regretted wearing a favorite pair of heals, but it seemed like a small price to pay to be able to sit under the canopy and listen to the raindrops hit the leaves above us. The groom, my cousin Shawn, just bought the property this year. 20 acres with hills and woods and creeks. Wade and I barely spoke all evening, you know how weddings go, but when we did it was always “did you see that?” or “Oh I love this.” It was pretty much our dream setting. Henry played and got completely covered in mud and just had the best time. He is a kid that would do well in the country- boundless energy and an inspired imagination and a constant desire to help out…yeah, he just might be a country kid. Although, I learned in June that he is also a beach kid and I am pretty sure that he could be a big city kid, if given the chance, so I think the future looks pretty bright no matter what path our family takes.
Since our vacation we have been fairly one track minded---move to the beach—move to the beach—but our time in the country reminded us that maybe our focus is off. Maybe there is something that Lawrence could offer us that might keep us here. 20 acres of rolling prairie, yellow and purple wildflowers and the sound of raindrops on maple trees might just do it. The thing about Lawrence is that it is loaded with potential and I do think our family could thrive here. Most people are open and friendly. There are spaces that we could fill individually in this community; unique qualities and talents that we both possess that would be lost in a larger setting. And compared to the places we would like to move it is pretty inexpensive and we already have a house and decent jobs. My parents are close and there is something to be said for being in the middle of the country—everything in the US is just a few hours away on a plane. Besides, the affordability of Lawrence will make it so that we can travel more and see more beaches. Something we maybe could not do if we lived somewhere more expensive. It’s a major shift in our plan but the moment that we both realized it I could feel a calmness come over us, followed by hours of excitedly making plans. Living in the moment and being okay with where we are feels pretty amazing.

On Sunday we took a drive with the windows down to the sunflower field out North of town. The beauty of this time of year captivated me almost the whole trip and what was supposed to be a few minutes for husband and wife to chat more about our new plan, turned into a quiet confirmation for both of us that being here in this moment, in this town, with our little house and our little man, it’s pretty spectacular and it is where we need to be. True, there is no ocean. But there is a sea of yellow flowers out North. There is a field of orange pumpkins to the East. There is a hill with grazing cattle to the South and a purple and pink sunset to the West. And time moves here. From tank tops to sweaters. From sweaters to scarves and mittens. From mittens to raincoats. From raincoats to swimsuits and around and around again. I love feeling the passage of time in nature. I don’t know if I can honestly imagine my life without it.

Other bright spots in my weekend- we found out that my cousin Sean is coming home from Iraq early. End of October/early November. I got to spend Saturday morning getting a pedicure with Annie and we talked when we were supposed to be relaxing and laughed out loud when we should have been quiet and I had hoped we would do that because that is what we do and there are some things that I don’t ever want to change. I already have more to tell. Her visit was too short.

I'm not ashamed

I saw Mamma Mia tonight and loved it. Yes, I admit, I loved it. When it comes out on video I will probably have to buy it and sneak it into my house because Wade has forbidden it. Before I left for the movie I even had to promise that I wouldn't sing any ABBA songs for at least 2 days which is obivously so totally impossible.

Henry and I are moving to Greece to own a hotel on the water with Merryl Streep and Colin Firth. Wade can come too but he has to agree to wear a lot of sequins and randomly break into song at least 5 times a day.

Happy on a Saturday

I've been on the waiting list for the Audacity of Hope at our library for over a month now. Then yesterday, out of frustration I went to the State of Kansas Library online site to see if maybe they had it in KC or Topeka and discovered that I could download the spoken word version of it for free at any time. And there are thousands of other books that you can do the same thing with. If your in Kansas go here, if you are in another state do a google search. All you need is a library card. I'm beyond thrilled...8 hours at a computer every day....so many books...I'm so excited. Now, if I could only find a scratch and stiff sticker that smells like a library book....

Disclaimer

The post that I did about blaming the Olympics and the Chinese people for my laziness was a joke. I wrote it without even considering that anyone might actually take me seriously. If anything I figured people would read it as a compliment-"Hey your putting on such an amazing show that I haven't gotten off my couch for a week..." And I just assumed that anyone who knows me would know that I just being silly. But, I was thinking this morning that I should probably not assume that everyone that reads my blog knows me...and I don't ever want to say anything that might be offensive to any group of people or inadvertently represent myself as a person that is bigoted-something I consider to be totally despicable and unacceptable. And truthfully I have never filtered myself in that way because that kind of thinking has never been something that even crossed my mind. So, when I wrote that post I just wrote it lightheartedly, to make people laugh, the idea that someone might read it as something else was not even in my thoughts and now that I have thought about it, it turns my stomach. So apologize if I offended anyone with that post and want you all to know that I take full responsibility for my laziness. That is unless I can find a way to blame it on that Phelps kid. ;)

Hello 31. I’m so glad you’re here

31 things to do in my 31st year

1. Learn to cable knit
2. Visit Jason and Mandy
3. Make a collage every week
4. Write in a journal
5. Plant a vegetable garden and can extra veggies
6. Take a photography class at the Art Center
7. Do a painting with wade for outside our back door
8. Go on another road trip, maybe even back to the beach
9. Make weekly deposits in Henry’s college fund
10. Plant 2 trees
11. Send my sisters care packages
12. Spend the night at the circle S with Wade
13. Make a Christmas gift for each family member
14. Send birthday and Christmas cards to all my family and friends
15. Use my swim cap
16. Compost
17. Plant blubs in the fall
18. Make a new friend.
19. Record my parents telling a few of their favorite childhood stories
20. Learn how to screen print
21. Take Henry sledding
22. Brush up on my World Geography
23. Read 3 classics and 3 new authors
24. Sell some cupcakes
25. Get back into my size 8’s
26. Take Henry to see a waterfall
27. Take 2 classes at KU
28. Make lunches for all three of us every morning
29. Learn to make wheat bread, tamales, pita, and a really good pizza dough
30. Get 8 hours of sleep every night!
31. Buy a bike with a basket to ride with Wade and Henry (Henry is getting a bike trailer for his birthday…shhh…)

Blue

The verdict is in and by an overwhelming majority (11-1, sorry Babe) the blue table won. I’ll need to get more paint but I will post photos as soon as I can. Let’s hope it looks cheery and fun and not tacky and crazy :) Thanks for your input guys!

It is 100 degrees outside

Easy Fruit Ice Cream (Adapted from Debra Murray)

2 cups soy milk
1 box instant pudding mix
20 ounces frozen mixed fruit

In a food processor, add soy milk, pudding mix, and frozen fruit.

Pulse 3-4 times and then let run until desired consistency. If you want to have a slightly firmer texture, scoop into another bowl and freeze for about 20 minutes.

The person that made up this recipe is quick to point out that it isn't really ice cream but I think that is what makes it so great. It isn't loaded with all the fat and calories of regular ice cream and it tastes soooo good. Oh, and it takes about 4 minutes to make. I have made this with vanilla pudding and white chocolate pudding and it was great both times. You can use any kind of fruit you like although I have only tried it with berries.

House numbers

Well, I finished painting the house numbers last night. My little sister Kelly had picked this blue for some furniture in her house and when I spotted it I knew that I had to use the leftovers for my house numbers. I can't wait to put them up.
The color that Kelly picked it almost the exact color that I was thinking for the walls in my kitchen. Now that I have it in my kitchen, on my numbers, I am thinking that it is a little too bright for the walls. But it could be perfect for my dining room table. The fabric I am using for the chairs in underneath the numbers in this photo and I think I love it. If I do this then I can paint the walls a nice neutral color, which will make the mister happy and will not require a ton of primer when we decide to sell our house. What do you think? A blue dining room table is pretty bold and not all that serious...but then again, that sounds a lot like us.

Get Healthy

2 weeks down. It's been a bit of an adventure dealing with constantly changing gym hours but we survived. I can't believe it but I feel my like endurance had improved in just 2 weeks. I am going to do 2 more weeks of just cardio and then start incorporating some weightlifting. I've lost 4.2 pounds but I am trying not to get on the scale very often because as motivating as a loss can be, a gain can be a routine buster and I don't want to do anything that would discourage me from this pursuit. I'm thinking of having Wade take a before picture of me because I have such a strange body imagine. When I look in the mirror I see a person that is a few pounds overweight not someone bordering on obesity. I think the photographs from our vacation helped me realize that maybe it wasn't that my jeans were shrinking...besides those before and after photos are always so fun. :)

Working out with my sister has done more than just improve my fitness. Being around Susie almost every day is so great. Even at 6:30 am she is just delightful. I love that kid.
Anyway, just wanted to do a quick update.

Wednesday

This meal is really a celebration of July in Kansas. I improvised a little because the original recipe has shrimp on top. But I couldn't do that because shrimp is full of cholesterol...oh and it's not vegan. This one is better anyway and there is no risk of finding a poop vein.
Corn Cakes with Black Bean Salad and Mexican Rice
Shit. I will post this one later. I didn't realize that it is already after 11:00. I love you guys but I love sleep more....

Tuesday

"You could wrap a toenail in puff pastry and it would taste good." That's what the 16 year old kid at HyVee told me when I asked him where I could find puff pastry. I am going to use that quote in the hopes that it will make you want to try this recipe despite my pathetic attempts to photograph it. Because that kid is right...although the thought of it turns my stomach a little. These are Veggie Wellingtons. I have never had Beef Wellingtons but I can promise you that you will not miss the beef when you eat these. Vegetable Wellingtons
Serves 4
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. olive oil,
divided1 lb. asparagus, trimmed, and cut into thirds
2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch wide strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (1 1/2 cups)
1 5-oz. package prewashed baby spinach leaves
Pesto
14-oz. pkg. frozen puff pastry dough, thawed
16-oz. jar tomato sauce (Ragu Pizza Sauce is really good too)
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Heat 1 Tbs. oil over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, asparagus, and onion, and sauté 5 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables begin soften. Add spinach, remove from heat, and stir until spinach wilts. In the pan split the veggie in half. Then split the halves into halves again. And again. This will leave you with 8, fairly equal piles of the goods.

Lay puff pastry on well-floured work surface. Cut into eight squares, and line them up in two rows of four. Scoop sautéed vegetables into center of four squares, keeping edges clear. Take a small (very small) amount of water and gently brush the edges of the squares. Spoon about a tablespoon of pesto on the other 4 squares, keeping it off of the edges. Set the pesto puff pastry squares on top of vegetables, stretching dough gently by hand to cover entire surface. Press edges firmly with fingers or fork to seal tightly. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. You will need to cook it for less time if you have a dark coated pan. Just watch for the dough to turn a golden brown and then pull um out. Meanwhile, heat tomato sauce in saucepan until warm.
To serve: Use the sauce as a dip for the Wellington. Then call me and tell me how freakin fabulous they are and how much you love me.

Monday

I have several friends that seem almost fascinated by the food we eat. I don't know if it is because it is not typical or if maybe they are not very adventurous with food but whatever the reason a couple of them have asked me to write about our dinners more often. So, I started the week with every intention of posting a photo and recipe every night. Ahem...sorry about that. I need to play a little catch up.
Monday we had General Tao's Tofu and a spring roll. The recipe is here. The photo above is a little deceiving because I forgot to put the sauce on the food before I took the photo. This is what it looks like with the sauce.
This is the perfect recipe for people who are afraid of tofu or haven't really ventured out into making Chinese food at home. I love to fix this because it tastes like take out without all the fat and sugar and MSG. I do make a couple of changes to the recipe though-for starters I double the sauce. I like my rice to be saucy too and so will you. So double it. BUT don't double the sugar. It doesn't need it and neither does your body (or your very energetic 2 year old boy's body). Also you can use any veggies you like and you can put it on rice or noodles. I recommend brown rice because it tastes great and is better for you.
If tofu scares you I have a little advice. If you live in Lawrence buy Central Foods Tofu. They have it at the Merc and HyVee. Squeeze around until you find one that is firm. Take it home and put it in the freezer. The morning of the day that you plan to fix this dish take your tofu out and let it defrost in the sink. That night open up the package and give it a good squeeze. The more water you can get out of your tofu the firmer it will be and firm tofu is a good thing. Don't buy the silken tofu. That is for desserts. Oh speaking of that I have a great silken tofu dessert that I will post about this weekend. Anyway, don't buy the silken or you will never want to cook with tofu again. And that would be a shame.

In the works

I found new house numbers last week. I have been searching for new ones since we first moved in. The ones we have now are just boring old black ones like every other house on the street. I was hoping to find some at an antique shop but after a year of searching I have pretty much given up. These are from Paper Source and I really like the font and the size. I think they are going to be orange or maybe blue. Oh it' so hard to decide. Well, for now they are primed and ready for what's next. Check one more off the list.

Whew

Happy Friday guys! Have a good weekend.

Day 1: Get Healthy

I forgot how much I love sweating. This morning I got up at 6:00. I took Henry to my Mom's house and headed for the gym. I felt nervous. I don't really know why it is that I get nervous every time I do something new, even when it isn't actually new. I exercised every day before I had Henry. And yet I still felt my stomach flip as I handed the girl at the desk my I.D. Last night I packed my bag. I had a system 3 years ago; I was able to fit everything into a small bag. I couldn't figure it out last night. My shampoo bottles wouldn't fit in the side pockets, my flip-flops stuck to the towel. By 11:00 last night I quit trying to remember how I did it and just squeezed it all in. This morning I ran for 40 minutes. I did a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. I ran a total of 4 miles. That is a 10 minute mile, which I don’t think is all that great, but I was practically giggling by the time I climbed off that machine because I didn’t think I would last 20 minutes, let alone 50.
The rest of today has not been as easy. The only bad thing about morning workouts is that I feel crazy hungry all day. I have been drinking green tea and water like a crazy person but I can’t stop thinking about dinner. Veggie lasagna. With garlic bread.

Doing my homework

Earlier in the week a coworker of mine was complaining about gas prices and she mentioned her frustration with the fact that we are not doing offshore drilling. Of course I totally disagree with offshore drilling but didn’t feel I had enough information to explain or debate with her. I decided to educate myself on the subject and thought you guys might be interested.

-Currently there are 33 millions acres of land, offshore, that is open to drilling and has not been explored.
-In addition to those acres there is 68 million acres of land in the lower 48 that is open to drilling and has not been explored.
-The majority of that acreage has been environmentally approved for exploration.
-The acreage that George Bush and John McCain want to open up is areas that are environmentally protected areas.
-If we do start drilling in those areas it will take at least 10 years before that oil shows us as gas at our pumps
-It will reduce the cost of gas by 2 cents per gallon.
-Bush has filled the Strategic Oil Reserve to 97.5%, approximately 700 million barrels, and refuses to open even a small percentage of the reserve to the public even though it has been paid for by the taxpayers already. The SOR is the fullest it has ever been in US history.

Think about who stands to benefit from the price of oil being so high.

“We have two oil men in office so of course the price of oil is going to go up. If Coronal Sanders was the president and the price of chicken went up we would know why.” Bill Maher

Obviously we cannot count on the government helping us out of this crisis. Alternative energy sources is really the only long term solution. In the mean time here are some tips to save on gas-

-Fill up in the morning. Gas is denser when it is cool so you will get more for your money.
-Stay above a half tank. Gas evaporates so the more air in the tank the more evaporation.
-Keep your tires aired up to maximum PSI. You will get better gas mileage.
-Remove non-essential items form your trunk. Weight increases the amount of gas you use.
-Keep your engine tuned up and replace your air filters regularly.
-Drive slower and avoid quick starts and stops. Don’t floor it.
-If you are close to your destination ride a bike or walk. With the money you save in gas you can buy an ipod which makes walking much more fun.
-Carpool
-Combine errands into one trip.
-Take the bus. It’s cheap and you can read a book while someone else deals with the driving.

Healthy

I’ve spent the last 6 months “planning” to lose weight. So far I have put on 6 lbs. Ehem…clearly “planning” isn’t helping much. I signed up for the gym on Monday and made a plan-

-M/W/F mornings at 6:30 my sister and I are going to the gym.
-Run: I used to be able to run for 45 minutes. My goal is to get back to that. I think I will start at 30 minutes now because I haven’t exercised for almost 3 years.
- Lift weights: just machines to get started. And some sit ups at home.
-Salads for lunch. It is all I really want anyway but I never take the time to plan it out and make them in the morning. I had one today for lunch and it was great.
-Eat 2 snacks during the day.
-No Friday doughnuts (at work…they do it to me every week)

I know reading about someone trying to lose weight isn’t very exciting so I will try to name all my posts about weight loss the same so that you can skip them completely if you want. Wish me luck.

WIsh List

Wade asked for a birthday wish list and I realized that the older I get the more expensive my wish list becomes. Oh well, here it is
letters::flats::cute tops::purse::another cute top::birthday cake::cake stand::cruiser bike::mixer::SLR camera (and 60 mm lens)::chi::rotating cake stand

*sigh* Sometimes making a wish list isn't that fun. Like when you have no money :)