February had a good, long streak in it…then I started to get sick and had to back off. Not exactly the numbers I wanted, but better than last month! Monthly stats for February 2010:
Monthly Miles: 37.95
YTD Miles: 60.22
Oh…and Rockacito J…nice job getting some miles on our shared training log this month!
It’s been a really long time since I’ve written about…shampoo.
With the economy the way it is, I simply couldn’t bring myself to not finish a bottle of something unless I totally hated it. I found ways around my silly little rule, like using waaaaaay too much product each morning to get through them faster. Oddly enough, in the process, I actually found a few things that I like. I also found out that I like them more if I don’t use the same thing day in and day out. It’s like I have shampoo ADHD.
Now I’m happily keeping a couple of different options in the shower and using whatever I feel like each day. As if my choice of shampoo will set my mood or something. We’ll see how long this lasts. I still think life is too short to use yicky shampoo.
Yet another sign that my little girl is growing up…she is now opinionated about her underwear.
Over the last few years, we’ve tried tons of styles and brands and fabrics and patterns and although many options looked great in the store, my munchkin was constantly tugging at her underwear and saying she was uncomfortable. This photo includes about 40-50 pairs we’ve bought in the past months that have been worn maybe once or twice, tops.
A couple of weeks ago, we were out and about and out of nowhere, my munchkin tells me that her underwear are really comfortable. I watch for the inevitable tugging and…nada. As soon as we got home, I was checking out those chonies and I bought a bunch the next day.
So what did we do with the remaining pairs? You guessed it…we sent them to Haiti. May my munchkin’s pantypalooza cover many tushies of kids there.
I’ve been sick for about the last week. I was supposed to have lots of rest but between my munchkin getting sick and some pressing items at work, I didn’t get as much as I would have liked for all the time I was home. I did, however, manage to get in some movies.
Sunshine Cleaning. I generally like Amy Adams and Steve Zahn and was looking forward to seeing this. I enjoyed it, but wouldn’t say it was great.
The Hangover. Let’s see. I’m sick…I feel crummy…but…I can stay in bed, watch Bradley Cooper and laugh? Sign me up! This was pretty hyped up as one of the funniest movies ever by the time I saw it. I didn’t think that, but it was a good one.
Love In The Time of Cholera. Hmmm…I think this is what happens when people don’t feel well, can’t sleep and try to put on something that they’re hoping will put them to sleep. I thought it was ok, but really am not sure how much of that was the Theraflu talking.
Barbie and the Diamond Castle. Bet you didn’t expect this one, did you? Well, when my munchkin got sick and needed to stay on the couch and rest, this is what she wanted to see. I didn’t have enough energy to try and talk her out of it…the first time…or the second time…or the third. At one point, I wanted to poke my eyes out, but I just gave up. It’s not that bad…if you sleep through parts.
Gran Torino. Get off my lawn! Wow…I loved this movie. Even my hubby stayed awake through this one.
Pearl Harbor. In all fairness, this wasn’t the first time I’ve seen this movie and I’ll admit, it’s pretty bad. There’s just something about it though. Must be Josh Hartnett and his boyish charm in this one. It certainly isn’t Ben Affleck and that horrible accent!
Now…if only I can finally get around to seeing Avatar while it’s still in the theaters…
Ever since I can remember, we have had our munchkin join us in the kitchen. When she was little, it was simple things like pulling grapes off the stems. She graduated to cutting up pieces of fruit with a plastic knife to a regular table knife. She helps with baking, picks produce at the grocery store and everything in between. She loves to cook and bake and she really loves to help. Sure, it takes longer when she helps, but it’s fun.
This week, I decided to add something new to the mix. I wanted to get back into my habit of trying a new recipe a week. Well, I upped the ante. Now we’re trying two new recipes a week – and my munchkin gets to pick one. She has many great kid-friendly cookbooks. I explained the parameters to her – each week, she can pick one recipe and it can be anything she wants to try to cook (except, for now, desserts or sweets). She picks the recipe, she helps cook. Main dish, snack, side dish, breads, whatever.
So…she starts going through the books and the first thing I did was shoot down the recipe she picked. What was I thinking? I tried to explain why maybe that wasn’t the best thing to start with – it would take over two hours to make and honestly, it wasn’t something I usually eat.
Then I wanted to slap myself upside the head. I took a deep breath, looked at her, and apologized. I was wrong…I did say she could pick anything except a dessert or super sweet item. So now today…my munchkin is making her first attempt at…glazed baby back ribs with homemade sauce. I don’t normally eat meat on a bone (yeah, get over it). When my munchkin asked if I would try it…I briefly hesitated and then told her yes, of course I would. She looked at me, smiled, and then told me maybe I should take the meat off the bone first and then eat it. That’s my girl – already appreciating my quirks.
So…if we have any really interesting great recipes or holy crap what did we try to make moments, I’ll be sure to share them. It’s going to be one hell of an adventure!
Well, January was off to a good start, then I got sick. Damn. Oh well, time to get the monthly stats postings going again. Monthly stats for January 2010:
Monthly Miles: 22.27
YTD Miles: 22.27
Oh…and Rockacito J…if you’re reading this…I think you have some catching up to do. :-)
In my younger days, I was a pretty decent supporter of Greenpeace. After a recent incident outside of my local Whole Foods, I can tell you that Greenpeace will never get so much as a penny from me again. Ever. Sorry Greenpeace, but your verbally abusive representative said some very inappropriate things even though I was trying to politely decline. Say what you want to me, but don’t say it in front of my kid. Oh, and Whole Foods – I’ve stuck to what I emailed to the store. If I’m going to go shopping and see Greenpeace peeps outside, I leave and shop elsewhere. I’m not really sure that either will miss my money.
However, in our family, we believe that it’s important to help others. We give in a variety of ways – some organized, some not. Whether it’s time, goods, or money – we like to do what we can. When my munchkin had her cookie decorating party during the holidays, it was her idea to add a mitten drive to help local kids. Her birthday party included a blanket and towel drive for the animal shelter where we adopted our cat.
Here are some of our favorite charitable organizations, in no particular order.
Second Harvest Food Bank – we have been supporters of the Food Bank for a very long time. Throughout most of my career, I have initiated and/or managed company holiday food drives and have participated in countless others. My munchkin and I spent a morning working at the Food Bank working on a program that helped kids and had a fabulous experience. People should not have to go hungry. Period.
Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority – we adopted our cat here a few years ago. Since then, near the anniversary of his adoption, my munchkin empties the “donate” section of her bank and we take it to the shelter. This is where we took the 48 blankets and towels she gathered as part of her birthday party.
The Gabby Krause Foundation – my friend Rockacita Keli is very involved with this organization, which is named after her dear friend’s daughter who died from cancer. This is a group I would like to get more involved with.
FARA – this is a group I learned about through a company I worked with. I have a girlfriend with a daughter that has FA. It’s a great organization working to fight a terrible disease.
Although it is not a charitable organization, one thing that deserves consideration by everyone is inlu. I’ll fess up and admit that I’m friends with one of the co-founders, but it really is a superb idea. Their site explains it all far better than I could here, but you should check it out.
Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, but we do try to do something to help others, even if only a little bit, each day. Isn’t that really the type of world we want for our kids?
I haven’t written in months. Oh sure, I’ve thought about it and I’ve certainly had plenty of topics, but I just never got around to it. It seems like there were a lot of things I didn’t get around to last year. Rather than provide a summary of all kinds of things, good and otherwise, I’m focusing on moving forward.
Over the holidays, I was so thrilled that Rockacito J was able to spend some vacation time with us. We got to relax, play in the snow, take lots of pictures, drink even more wine, and yes, talk about training for 2010. My running fell apart last year. In 2008, I logged 291 miles – in 2009, only 148 miles. We pulled together our new, revised training log for 2010 and have recently finished our training program for the year. It will be interesting this time next year to look back and see how we did.
I decided that to get focused again, I needed some new running shoes. Yes, I’m still an Asics girl and being a Pisces, I love the island blue color.
Of course, along with new shoes, I needed a new playlist. I still like the ones I have for 60 and 90 minute runs, but decided a 45 minute-ish playlist was in order. This playlist is a bit more mellow, which comes in handy when it’s 6am-ish and I’m on the treadmill in the dark.
This month is off to a good start. I’m excited about the goals I have for this year. Let’s see how it goes!
Last week I kicked off a new training program for the SJRNR half. It’s based mostly on a Jeff Galloway plan – love him! Anyway…the first few weeks are pretty easy, which is a good thing after last week. I decided that a new training program needed a new running playlist, and one that’s a big longer too.
That said, here’s the new list.
I’ve been working for a winery for a little over three and a half years now. I’ve learned quite a bit about wine during that time, but wouldn’t call myself a wine geek. I still have a lot to learn. I’ve known the most important thing for awhile though – and that’s what I like and what I don’t. In the end, if you don’t enjoy a glass (or bottle) of wine, then why drink it?
I’m not saying every glass has to be from an expensive bottle. I’ve had some less expensive wines that were pretty darn tasty. I’ve also had some pretty expensive wines that made me wonder what all the fuss was about. And while we’re at it – if you wouldn’t drink a wine, then please don’t cook with it. Do I really need to explain that logic?
We are in the process of temporarily downsizing our wine cellar at home. We’re moving our 300 bottle cabinet, which has never been really full, up to our vacation home. So, I decided to move what was left from our 300 bottle cellar to our new 50 bottle fridge. While reorganizing our wines, I found several bottles that were likely past their prime, so I set those aside. From now on, I’ll call them the nasty nine.
As I opened each one – with the exception of the one that had mold growing on top of the cork – I was treated to skunky bottle after skunky bottle. If you’re not sure if you’ve ever opened a bottle that was past it’s prime, I’m pretty sure you haven’t. Think wet dog or wet cardboard that makes your nose crinkle. Got it? Now, in all fairness, we’ve likely had some of these for 5-7 years, so some of them might have been reasonably good if we’d consumed them shortly after we got them. When I looked at the bottles, I was 95% sure that we had not purchased a single one of them. I’m certainly not saying our friends gave us crappy wine, either.
So what’s my point? I’m not sure. Other than, well, if it’s from the 80’s, just because it’s from France doesn’t mean it will rock. At least not in a good way.