A Day in the Life

Baby got back!

2012-02-06T19:29:00.000-08:00

Back squats, that is.

I do not back squat on plastic balls.

A month or so ago I blogged about new exercise adventure, weight lifting. For 5.5 weeks now I've been doing nothing but lifting heavy weights. And so far, that has involved A LOT of squatting. Oh, sure, I've done some deadlifting, cleaning, jerking, pressing of various kinds, pulling up and dipping, but mostly I squat. Sometimes three times per week I squat.

Mondays, there is always a three sets of five adventure. Lately, this has been quite an adventure. In fact, this week was enough of a challenge that I spent much of Sunday worrying about it. Enough of an challenge, that by 7.15 am monday morning I felt like I'd accomplished my major feat of the day. Today's 3x5 weight? 87K (191 pounds). Yes, that is heavy.

Wednesday, if I squat it's usually a fun, light squat - front squats or (my personal favorite) overhead squats.

This is not what I look like when I overhead squat.

Then Friday is the serious day. I do three sets of 1 or 2 or 3 squats. And they are heavy! Last friday I did 3 heavy singles at 97k (213 pounds)!!!!


I do not squat on a chair.

Overall, I am really enjoying all this lifting. It has been hard and sometimes extremely frustrating, but fun to do something completely different from my past exercising experience. However, I will also mention that 'baby got back squat' = 'baby got back'. As in mine is growing and might not look anything like my previous backside. But, even with a big butt, how cool is it to be nearly 50 and squatting more than some boys!

More food fun

2012-01-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Lovely Liver???

When I was a kid there were two food that I absolutely hated; liver and lima beans. A serving of either guaranteed a long painful dinner of tiny bites, lots of tears, serious bargaining and gags. Yes, I couldn't eat either of those food without gagging. My mom claims she didn't actually like liver and only made it because my dad liked it. But, I'm pretty sure the intent was pure (and very successful) torture! The thought of lima beans makes me sick to this day (do people still eat those things)?

So I was surprised when my favorite cook/blogger (the clothes make the girl) posted a recipe for chicken liver. I did a little googling and guess what, liver is hella good for you. With that knowledge and the fact I have loved every single recipe I've made by TCMTG, I decided, with great trepidation, it was worth a try. So, the following week at the farmer's market I scooped up a baggie (yes, it came in a baggie) of chicken livers and a week later I had gotten up the courage to try out the recipe.

Have you ever tried to cut liver? It's crazy stuff. I'll just say this, handling the stuff does NOT make one more excited to eat it!

Anyhow, I did the coconut flour breading and fried it up and well..... hmmmm.... It was okay. And it was maybe a little bit more okay if I loaded it up with homemade mayo, but really I can't say I enjoyed it. So, I ate a couple, gave a couple to the dog and then was trying to decide if I needed to choke down the rest so I wouldn't waste them, when I had a brilliant idea, PATE!!

Here's what I did, cooked 3 pieces of bacon in some ghee, added the liver - chopped up, cooked for a bit, added some parsley and red wine vinegar. I would have added some nutmeg, but I forgot. Then I threw it all in the blender.

And guess what??!!?? SO TASTY. Really, one of the best things I've eaten in a long time.

But really, liver? What the heck is next?

How PHAT is that?

2012-01-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

PHAT

Well, the answer to the above question really hinges on what you think of my gradual drifting to happy homemaker status. If you think the new recipes and crockpot and cooking whole happy chickens and their broth is cool, then I'm totally phat now! Otherwise it's possible coo coo comes to mind.

Fat! I spend way too much time thinking about it. Not the fat on my body, but the fat I put into my body. As I learn more and more about food and the effects on the body, I keep shifting how I cook and what I cook. I think the proper fat shifting has been the slowest. And the issue has really stemmed from not being sure what fat to bake, roast, saute, fry my foods with. I had heard that vegetable oils were terrible. So I cut those out a while ago. Olive oil you're not supposed to use at high heats, but goodness, it's sure easy and tasty to drizzle a bunch of olive oil on some veggies and throw them in the oven for some tasty goodness! I tried walnut oil, that is supposed to be better at higher heats, but it has a high ratio of omega 6 fatty acids to omega 3 and just isn't supposed to be that great.

So the answer, and I've known it for a while but resisted, is saturated fats. Saturated fats include primarily animal fats and coconut oil. The problem is that they are solid at room temperature, so they take a bit more work than drizzle and go! Not to mention that you have to find a place to buy this fat. You will not be buying good quality happy animal lard at Safeway.

So yesterday I did a bit of online research and today when I hit my favorite farmer at the farmer's market (Skagit River Ranch). I asked for fat. And sure enough, they sell it! I am now the proud owner of 2 pounds of pork leaf! I guess you throw it in a crockpot (perhaps overnight to make my sister proud) and hours later you have a bunch of fat you can use to make everything extra tasty! If the crockpot wasn't in use making some tasty pork carnitas, I'd whip some up right now!

In other fat related news, it seems you can also buy organic duck fat at the farmer's market. Which I did, currently eating chicken and chard cooked in a little duck phat and homemade chicken liver pate (which has bacon). If you all aren't jealous, you should be!!!!

Whooo, we're cookin' fat!

Snow

2012-01-18T16:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly would not be a true Seattleite if I didn't a. spend a lot of time worrying about the snow before it happened b. stress about traveling once it did happen and c. post cute pictures of the snow....... Yes, we have had a bit of a snow adventure this week.

This was last night post Monday event and pre Wednesday event. That's a big snow ball!

Uhm, oops. I was walking and not on the bus, because clearly buses were not an option.

Otto is much happier about this adventure than Daisy.

Hmm.

Maybe I'll just go back in.

My mom sucks at playing.

See, cute snow picture!

These kids were trying to sled down McClellan, but the lids they were using woult not slide.

Sledding, kind of.

Cute!

Extra Cute!

My neighbor's snowmen, a wooden sign under the one w/ the gun says 'give me all your ice'. Hmm.

Phew, I've done my duty!!!

And in other Seattle snow news. The Link Light Rail is MUCH too effective. I was one of about 2 people at work. Everyone else got a snow day!

Little Things

2012-01-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

I know the saying is that it's the little things that make the difference. However, that is NOT the theme of today's blog. Today's theme is 'why are the littlest things such a pain in the butt'!

This week I've been a bit distressed about the fact that I have a dead car battery that needs to be replaced (you didn't guess that was where I was going, huh?). I don't fix cars. I don't like the challenge of fixing cars. Other people fix cars and i pay them. But with a dead battery you can't actually drive to get a car fixed, so it becomes more challenging.

So, first thing Saturday morning, I jumped right on the problem, so it wouldn't be weighting me down. I read a few internet articles and headed out to the car with my tools. First step, remove battery, was super easy. I loaded up the (other) car and headed off to the battery store. Other than the fact that I wasn't sure what kind of car I was buying a battery for, everything went smoothly. The store guy was extra nice and helpful. I made it home, loaded up the new battery, tightened it down. And that's when it happened, as I was tightening down the final bolt, almost successfully completing the project I'd been dreading, all hell broke loose!!!

First, as I stood up, I somehow dropped my wrench and it disappeared in to the depths of the car. I couldn't see it. I couldn't feel it. I went inside to find my flashlight which lives in only one place in my house. And of course, that was NO WHERE to be found. So more time outside trying to find the wrench, crawling under the car (pouring rain, freezing cold mind you) and no wrench.

As I was working through the wrench issue, I began to notice that the parking lights - front and back - were steadily blinking on and off, on and off, on and off. So I gave up on the wrench and got in the car, pushing and pressing every button multiple times, reading the manual trying solve my new problem. I finally found a sticker near the battery advising that I need to use the remote control key (which I don't have) or push the Emergency Override Programming Button located under the dash board while the key is in the on position. So, back in the car, searching high and low for this button. NOTHING. Google searching directed me toward two fuses and a button hanging from a wire. Uhm, NO, those do not exist!!!!

Finally, desperate, I got in the car and drove to my favorite car repair place where a very nice mechanic went through the exact same steps as I had (though with a specific car repair internet search) to no avail. We engaged another mechanic who said that only way to fix this, was to have the key in the car in the on position WHILE you attach the negative battery wire. (Uhm, what? The instructions I read warn that you are risking electrocution and fiery death if you even think about looking at a battery while the key is in the ignition!!!)

Anyhoo, it worked. In addition, they had a flash light and a fancy tool with a magnet at the end to rescue my wrench.

2 hours later (.5 to change the damn battery and 1.5 to trouble shoot ridiculously small stupid unnecessary design flaw issues) problem solved. Did I mention freezing cold and raining..... Sigh!

New Cookbooks

2012-01-01T18:14:00.000-08:00


Who needs garlic and onions with these gems around!

A few months ago, I decided it was time to upgrade my cookbook collection. Most of the books I owned I'd purchased as a vegetarian. As a result, they are virtually obsolete in my life. In fact, if I were a person who was capable of throwing things away, I might actually do just that! (Alas, I missed that gene.)

Moving on. So my new cookbooks are of the paleo variety. Grain Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Happy Meat cookbooks. And, overall, my eating has certainly improved with these recent purchases. However, it's really one cookbook that really has made the difference, Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan.

And it's all about SPICES!

In my last blog I mentioned that I have to give up onion and garlic for a while. Now, this is something I really can't imagine. Onions and garlic are in EVERYTHING. And as far as I've known for the last 40 something years, should be in everything! They're what adds the flavor, right? How do you not eat them? Well, the answer seems to be hang out with my new best friend Melissa (see previous blog Cool Kids), and her favorite spices Rogan Josh and Ras El Hanout.

So far I have made six recipes from Well Fed. That is perhaps more recipes than I have made from a single cookbook ever! And if not ever, certainly the first time in the span of a month (I will note that the cookbook hasn't been out for a month, I first pulled some recipes from her blog.) My current new favorite breakfast food (mixed with steak and eggs) is velvety butternut squash and her lamb rogan josh with the beautiful spice above, is umm, finger licking good!

I just tried my latest Well Fed recipe, Chocolate Chili! OMG. I don't even like chili and I can't stop eating this stuff. Melissa had suggested I cook up some carrots and celery and substitute them for onions and garlic. So I did just that with the chili. Woah, Nellie, this chili is good! Though, it has nothing to do with the celery and carrots and everything to do with the cocoa, cumin, chili powder and various other spices that I would never think to add on my own.

Garlic and onion, who?

Trying something new!

2012-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Me pretending to whoop it up on New Year's Eve.

Hello and Happy New Years to all my loyal (and not so loyal) readers. (I'm not picky, I'll take whoever I get!) However, the more loyal of you may realize that I love new year's day! Not new year's eve, that I can take or leave. But New Year's Day is always perfect and beautiful and full of hope. So here's to a brilliant 2012 for everyone! And on new year's day, the upcoming year is always brilliant. (Sorry about the not so brilliant and contradictory use of capitals.)

Anyhow 2012! So, I don't really have any resolutions, I always figure making those is a waste of time and energy. However, I do have a few fun plans for January and February. First, drum roll, NO CROSSFIT. I know. Hard to believe. I LOVE Crosffit. But, I've been doing it for 3.5 years now. And I seem to be tired. I am no longer getting excited for those met cons I love (metabolic conditioning). Oh sure, there is still the occasional work out that will get my heart all aflutter (like friday when we got to do many rounds of 4 clean and jerks, 8 pull ups and 16 ball slams - so fun). But for the most part I just haven't been excited to crossfit.

SO. January and February are going to be weight lifting only. I'm going to go to the gym 3xs per week and pump iron. The other two days my free time will be taken over by an extra hour of sleep. Or maybe if I'm lucky (and feeling ambitious) some stretching and/or meditation. \

The hope is that I become lean and strong.

This

And don't become crazy muscle lady.

Not this

If I start popping out of my jeans in scary ways, let me know.

Part 2 of my new year's experiment is some playing around with food. I am going back on the The Whole 30 (amazing clean out your diet, whole food program, see previous post about The Whole 9). But I'm taking out some extra stuff. I've had stomach issues for years. And I think it's time to finally figure out what those are all about. So I'm giving up some stuff no human should ever have to give up. Things like onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower (all I can say is thank god kale isn't on the list). At the end of the month, I'll start adding things back in and see how my stomach reacts. With luck, the things I really love will be okay.

And now, because it's new year's day and because I haven't done it in forever. Some completely gratuitous Daisy and Otto shots.

You woke me up for what? No, I will not smile!

It's really hard to take a photo of a jumping dog with an iphone. This was cuter in real life. Just imagine it!

Hanging out with the cool kids.

2011-12-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

One of the crazy things about the internet are the relationships one can develop with people around the world, people one has never met. Or perhaps I should say the relationships you think you have with people. Relationships that, perhaps, in reality are only relationships in one's little brain.

There are a few people right at the moment that I have serious internet crushes on!

The Whole 9:
Melissa and Dallas (of course, we're on a first name basis), run a program called the Whole 9 that's all about eating good, healthy, unprocessed food. Actually, their program goes well beyond nutrition, they also write about sleep, a bit about exercise, reducing stress, and generally living the good life in a semi primal fashion. In short, they believe everything I believe, except they have things like degrees in nutrition and physical therapy, so they can actually talk about their lifestyles in an intelligent fashion (when I try to explain why it's good to eat/live how I live, I quickly forget every scientific fact I have read about the issue and end up babbling a bit). In addition, they cool and super cute and do bad ass things like spend 6 weeks in Mexico writing a book. In short, their lives seem pretty dreamy. AND, they post of Facebook all the time. So if you 'like' them on FB their posts show up on your page regularly, adding to the notion that they might actually your friend AND giving the impression that they are communicating with ME!

The Clothes Make The Girl:
Here's what Melissa says about herself on her blog 'I’m on a mission to be a superfit, well-fed, dressed-to-kill, glossy-haired, rock-n-roll, tart-tongued detective.' She does crossfit, she used to play roller derby, she's eats like I eat AND she's a great cook who makes up awesome recipes. In fact, she's such a great cook she just wrote a cook book. (Which, of course, I ordered the day it came out so I could seem cool. Plus, I've made a couple things from her blog and they are truly amazing.) And, she's nice. When you make the occasional comment on her blog or FB page she always responds and she's super sweet.

I'm sure if I actually met these people we'd be best of friends, right? They would quickly see how insanely awesome and cool I am. Unfortunately, at the moment, I merely one of thousands of love struck fans.

Hmm, I wonder how many of my (14) followers are staggeringly in awe of me..........

There's an app for that!

2011-12-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

For a while now I've wanted to try meditating. Everything I read about it, both from the woo woo spiritual angle and from the hard core scientific angle, talks about how good it is for you. Your body is filled with lots of good calming chemicals (hormones) that do wonderous things. It reduces the hard core edgy chemicals that us semi uptight folks typically flood our body with. A quick google search of meditation benefits reveals '100 Benefits of Meditation'. 100! That's nothing to sneeze at.
Some of my favorites:

Increased brain wave coherence.
Mind ages at slower rate
Purifies your character
Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage
produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity

And that's just 5 things I plucked off the list. There are a hundred of those suckers, each one better than the last. You can see why I would want to snatch up this wonder drug.

So, last week I didn't sleep very well and decided it was time to give this meditation thing a try. There are different ways to 'learn' to meditate. You can take classes. You can pay to download meditation sessions. Before diving in to far, I decided to try some free youtube videos. (I wasn't watching, just listening). But before I got too deeply into my first youtube session the nice meditator man started talking about god. And, well, I am not going to talk too much about me and god in my public blog, but I will mention that when someone starts talking to me about god via youtube, the whole meditation thing pretty much falls apart.

And then I had a brilliant thought. There's an app for that. I pulled out the old Iphone. Searched for meditation and virtually plopped down $1.99 for a mindfulness meditation app. I can now meditate in increments of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. My little meditation app man is very hands off. He starts me off getting me all comfy and focusing on my breathing. He talks to me gently about being relaxed yet focused like a mother watching a young child and then pretty much disappears. Except every couple minutes he surprises me and pops out of no where! Usually (magically) just as my brain just begins to wander away from my breathing to some future chore I need to do or thing I need to dread. He pops in and reels me back. He tells me that's just fine, not to change my experience in any way, but gain control of my damn thoughts already.

I think I've done it four times this week and so far I give it two thumbs up! We'll see how long I keep it up. But watch out, I may be perfect soon!

Things That Drive Me Crazy About Myself, part ??

2011-11-27T09:29:00.001-08:00

Baggies!!!!! OMG so many baggies!

Today I am going to do a little adventure cooking. It involves an Indian spice called Josh Rogan which in turn is really a mixture of about 10 different spices. So I made a list and headed off to my spice cabinet to see what I had and what I needed to buy.

And then all hell broke loose. Okay, here is where a picture is worth about 1000 words. The picture that I did not take (because I was not thinking blog when I embarked on this adventure) would have shown 30-40 baggies full of small amount of spices shoved into my spice cabinet. Yes, shoved, because there were so many that any placement action less than shoving would have resulted in falling baggies. The entire shelf was baggies.

Let me step back for a minute and share that years ago (10 or so) my mom recognized this problem and bought my a spice rack with lots of jar and labels just ready for my bulk spices to inhabit. The jars are set up, labeled and ready to go. But WHAT DO I DO????? I buy baggies of spice and don't take the 2 seconds to put them in their jar. Then, for example, a year later on thanksgiving, I bring home 4 new baggies of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves and add them to the pile. Why do I do this when I already own all these spices?? Because the ones I already own are on the bottom of the pile of baggies and who wants to take the time to dig through it all.

Sigh.

So, today I just spend 15 minutes or so (YES THAT'S ALL IT TOOK), emptying the baggies into their proper jar and organizing. I will give myself a slight pat on the back and mention that all the baggies except one or two WERE LABELED! Yes, that is a lesson I learned because back in the day who would have taken the time to write the spice on the baggy. I will also give myself a second pat on the back (woo, my arm is getting tired!) and mention that today I threw away the spices in the unlabeled bags (my tendency is to keep them because who knows when I'll need them, even though I have no idea what they are).


After. Ack, what's that baggy there in the back!

Okay, final baggy gone. Phew! I need a nap.

Thanksgiving Day Treat!

2011-11-26T20:32:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged about Crossfit for a while, so I thought maybe I'd share an extra special workout I got to do this week. I am sure you can only handle the woo woo of the yoga blog for so long, bring back the real Roberta..........

My very very favorite type of crossfit workout is a chipper! In most crossfit workouts you do a certain number of rounds of the same three or four exercises, repeating or increasing the same pain with every set. In a chipper you do maybe eight or nine different movements and you only do them once. They're usually a bit epic and they always rock, though maybe only after you finish. We don't do them nearly enough, but sometimes we get them for a holiday treat. This Thanksgiving we were treated to an extra special holiday chipper.

5 Rope Climbs - 20 feet
10 Heavy Thrusters (40k ie 88lbs)
15 Cleans (also 40k)
20 Ring Dips
25 Kettlebells swings (heavy 24K or 53lbs)
30 Pull Ups
35 One Arm Dumbbell Snatches (35lbs)
40 Wall Ball Shots (14lbs)
45 Box Jumps (20")

All my loyal readers probably remember a counting post a while back in which rope climbs figured prominently. At that time I attempted 2 rope climbs in a row during a work out and couldn't make it to the top the 2nd time. Well guess what, Thursday I did 5 IN A ROW!!!! Yes, I was impressed with myself and feel free to revel in my glory as well.

And guess what else, 5 rope climbs in a row is exhausting! I thought the 10 thrusters would be one of the easier parts of the workout. Sure they were heavy, but only 10. But I was so tired after the rope climbs I could barely get the bar to my shoulders to do the thrusters!

The rest of the workout was just slow and steady and painful. But, the great thing about chippers is that while every exercise usually sucks you only have to do it once and that's it! For example, while there is nothing good about 25 heavy kettlebell swings when you're already tired, you know if you suck it up you can move on to pull ups which are fun! (Special thanks to Tracy and Dina who were cheering me on during the KB swings and made me feel like a rockstar.)

I finished in 34 minutes plus some change. I am pretty sure I could take 3-4 minutes off my time. I had a good 3-4 minutes of completely gratuitous resting. Or time spent dinking around instead of focusing, switching medicine balls and targets, getting distracted by things that were none of my business! But I was only one of two women who did it as proscribed and was faster than most.

And yes, these are the things that I consider fun and for which I am thankful!

Yoga!

2011-11-20T15:50:00.001-08:00

Clearly yoga didn't always make me blissfully happy!

This blog is dedicated to my favorite yogis; my dad who found yoga later in life after he was diagnosed with cancer and became quite giddy with it, Jonna, who taught me the importance of the proper form, and Phyfe, who started it all.

I love yoga. I used to practice yoga regularly, attempting (mostly in vain) to unlock my body from hours of running and cycling. For me yoga was a physical endeavor, an attempt to open hips and hamstrings, unlock my back and neck. I wanted to work as hard as possible and I was always a bit resistant to the woo woo aspects of yoga (chanting and whatnot), but what with all the mandatory breathing practice and ohming, I'm guessing a got a bit of woo woo and stress relief as well.

My not so necessarily brilliant yoga career started in 1996 or thereabouts. A group of us went to India for my stepbrother's wedding and his future wife's family had a yogi come give us daily lessons. I don't remember the poor guy's name, but I do remember he induced endless laughter (which I'm sure he found very confounding). He would put us in corpse pose at the end of class and tell us to 'imagine a dead body', which did little to encourage relaxation, as it was all we could do not to burst into hysterics. A bit of an inauspicious beginning, but it started me off, and for years after that trip I did yoga multiple times per week. But when I started crossfit, that all seemed to drop off as I ran out of time and energy for any other physical endeavors.

But really, with crossfit I need yoga more than ever. But maybe I need the quieter, calmer, gentler, more restorative yoga (closer to the woo woo side of the spectrum) to counteract the crossfit. This week I read the blog of a crossfiter who is starting on a yoga adventure. And it inspired me. So I channeled my inner Jonna and pulled out my Iyengar book and stop watch. I channeled my inner Phyfe and tried to remember where my 'locks' - root etc - were ('apply the locks' competes with 'imagine a dead body' as my favorite yoga quote of all time). I dug around the edge of my brain and found I could still kick the ujjayi breathing. I tried to ignore the two pairs of eyes (Otto and Daisy) who were staring at me with great expectation and surprise. And I was on my way.

And it rocked! OMG, yoga makes you feel so good. I did some twisting and some hip opening and some back bending and when I was done, my back and hamstrings were singing with happiness! I am hoping this is just the beginning and my inner yogi will continue to shine.

BTW, Google roberta and yoga and this is what you get! (A pose I did not do today.)

Playtime

2011-11-12T17:11:00.001-08:00

Channeling Janet Jackson, 'what have you done for me lately?'

Much like his mom, Otto has never really understood how to play. Lately, he's been super antsy and full of extra energy. I'll take him for a long walk after work and then when we get home he'll stand beside me whining and jumping on my chair in an attempt to get me to play with him. Today (a Saturday), he was full of energy. He had three walks this morning (including one extra fun walk in the woods), yet all afternoon he was following me around whining, torturing the cat and acting, well, kind of puppy like.

So, this afternoon, I decided we should go out to the dog park so he could play. Mind you it's 45 degrees and raining, so I wasn't super excited about standing out in the cold. But, he needed a walk so I figured I might as well be miserable at the dog park.

So, we get to the park and I'm patting myself on the back about what a good dog mom I am, and what happens?????? Otto walks around the perimeter of the park peeing, then stands beside me and stares at me with a 'what have you done for me lately' look on his face. Other dogs try to entice him to play and he's having none of it. Quite frankly, he was getting more exercise inside my house. Finally, at the very end, as my fingers are freezing and I'm working on quite grouchy, he decides it's time to run with the pack. Of course, he's not playing, he's policing, essentially attacking the top dog in an attempt to get them all to stop playing. We had to scuttle out of the park with our tails down to avoid being shunned by the other dog owners.

What? I'm playing. My feet are moving so fast they're blurry.

Otto (and mom) stand to the side as the others mix and mingle.

Pre park, Otto attempts to play as I attempt to nap.

Beautiful Squash Soup

2011-11-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

BSS, I love you. (Please note the very fancy and almost professional looking photo!)

As I get old (maybe I can still say older?), I find that I dread the coming of fall and winter. Oh, it's okay when it's a beautiful, sunny, warmish fall day. But when it dips into the 40s, and it's all rain and clouds, drizzle and grey, I say no thank you. Not only is it just depressing, but I get cold. And I feel like I'm cold most of the time during the winter.

I have a friend who is always hot. Even though it was maybe 45 outside, she arrived at the gym the other day in a tank top and flip flops. She had elevated from her condo to a heated garage and driven to the gym. I woke up in my 55 degree 100 year old house, walked the dog, and rode my bike to the gym. I was wearing arm warmers, a wool shirt, a fleece jacket, a cycling jacket, the warmest cycling gloves I have been able to find, and my extra warm bike pants. And I was still cold. My life is not conducive to cold weather. In fact, as I get older, I begin to think longingly of Arizona. Or maybe Florida. And Warmth!

Oh course, there is one amazing thing about the winter. Squash. In particular, my two favorites Delicata and Butternut. I am pretty sure that roasted delicata squash is the most tasty food ever. I'm not kidding. My favorite used to be chocolate chip cookies, but I think RDS may have usurped that spot in my life. If any of you have not tried RDS, Do. Now. You won't be sorry. Add lots of oil. Slice it thin. And let it get a little crispy! You'll say OMG, I love RDS.

Another squash favorite is butternut squash soup, or as my mom calls it, beautiful squash soup. I made my first batch of BSS last weekend. Oh, get this, not only did I make my first batch of the season, but I made it with my very own homemade chicken broth. Really, life doesn't get much better than that. I make my BSS with about 10xs the amount of ginger and lime indicated in the recipe, and let me tell you, it was a little taste of heaven. Actually, to be honest, I tried some right after I made it and was disappointed. It was kind of thin tasting and I thought my chicken broth wasn't holding its own. But the next day, after the flavors had had time to sit, well, it was competing with its brother RDS for my affections.

So, I guess fall and I have a bit of a love hate thing going. Maybe I'll just buy some extra layers and cook up the paleo comfort food.

Drama in Seattle

2011-10-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Phew, I'm exhausted. This week was trauma and drama in Seattle. The Alaska Way Viaduct was closed all week. I believe most of my readers are Seattle natives, whether or not you currently live in Seattle, but a very quick recap for any who are not so lucky. The AWV was built in the early 50s and since then has happily carried cars from North to South/South to North along the water with a BEAUTIFUL view (well at least the upper deck folks get a beautiful view). Anywhoo, AWV blissfulness soured a bit with the after the 2001 earthquake when there was damage and people began to worry about 'the big one'. (People were probably worried before, but this was the first I heard of it.) Drivers now had to fear death if the earthquake hit mid trip. A bunch of downtown Seattle folks happily jumped on the bandwagon with a 'why do we have this monstrosity blocking our view of the water' argument and 10 years and lots of pre trauma drama later, we are starting our new tunnel project. (Lots of pre trauma drama including a new mayor who ran primarily on a 'the tunnel sucks' platform!)

The AWV was not a part of my life prior to moving to Beacon Hill. But, but since moving I have fallen madly in love.

the view northbound is insane
it gets one to Ballard with much less dodging and scooting around side streets than I5
it's consistent. (I5 is very tempermental, sometime it will allow you to arrive in a timely manner, sometimes the traffic is a nightmare.)

So, with the impending closure, all of us South end folks were feeling a little gloom and doom in a 'the Apocalypse is coming' kind of a way. And we weren't disappointed. All week long we were oppressed by the drone of traffic helicopters looking for every traffic hiccup. The first day traffic wasn't so bad, as I think everyone decided not to drive. Then as the week progressed, traffic got worse and worse. By Friday there were 14 mile backups on I5 and trips into the city from close suburbs were estimate at 110 minutes or so. I know this, because after 4 days of waking up early and heading to 7am crossfit, I decided to sleep in and go to evening crossfit. So I got to spend an hour in traffic listening to traffic reports. I guess closing a highway carrying 110,000 cars per day is an issue.

Anyhow, they tore down half of it and opened up this strange detoured version of it that is guaranteed to slow things down and confuse people (I drove on it today and first couldn't find my entrance then missed my exit even though I saw the signs and was looking closely).

Many people seem to be nostalgic. I don't have an sadness, as it is uglier than ugly, but I'll miss the dreamy lightning fast (exaggeration) convenience. Goodbye viaduct.

Sore!

2011-10-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

OUCH!

Halfway through the workout, I knew I was in trouble. I was feeling that intense muscular fatigue that you know will only get worse. As I left the gym and felt my legs spasm and collapse slightly on the TWO steps out of the gym, my brain sighed in resignation. I tried to avert it. Yesterday (the day after) I worked out but took it easy, in the hopes of flushing out my muscles and avoiding the inevitable. But it's, here, the day after the day after and I can't move.

For those of you who don't exercise, a metaphor. It's like getting a cold. That first day you have a sore throat and you're a little tired, you don't feel too bad, but you know you're going to get sick. You can't do anything to stop it and you know there will be days of suffering. Intense muscle fatigue is like that. With Crossfit, I have various muscle aches and pains throughout the week. Fatigue moves around my body as the week progresses and we do different exercises. But usually it's just dull aches. This movement limiting soreness is a different beast.

At various times in my athletic career I have decided to run stairs. Running stairs is great when your body is adjusted, but when you first start it's hell. It always feels okay that first day, while you're doing it, but you know, two days later you won't be able to sit or stand or walk up and down stairs. You'll want to use the handicap stall in the bathroom so you can lower yourself with your arms not your legs. Even if you try to take it easy that first day, you can't stop the inevitable, there will be a couple days when regular day to day movement becomes impossible! That's where I am now.

So today, I'd love to do some yard work. Vacuum. Walk the dog without looking like Frankenstein. Hell, I'd even like to get in and out of the car. Instead, all I can think about is lying flat on my back completely still. I suppose I should look at the bright side, think of how strong I'll be - tomorrow (or the next day)!

Is this my life?

2011-10-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

I'm getting one of these!

The other day I got home around 8pm or so. It had been a day spent crossfiting, working, riding bike too and from work, running errands, A.R.T. appointment, and finally dog walking. Phew. that meant that pretty much I started my day at 5.20 got up fixed lunch and breakfast, walked the dog, rode my bike to crossfit, completed crossfit, worked 8 hours, rode my bike home, grabbed car and dog and ran to my ART appointment (physical therapy but better), walked dog, went to grocery store, and headed home 8ish.

Here's what happened next in my dreams: I walk in the door and find scents of a delicious dinner simmer on the stove, ready to be dished onto my plate while I relax and some gorgeous male massages my feet and whispers sweet nothings about how wonderful I am.

Here's what really happened: I walked in the door already knowing the dog had rolled into something so insanely foul smelling that a bath was an immediate necessity. As I walked into the kitchen, trying to figure out what food could get quickly into my stomach before I dealt with the dog, I stepped on cat poop. Yes, my cat had pooped on the floor in the doorway of the kitchen. Meanwhile, both the cat and the dog were whining/meowing because they were starving. So, clean up cat poop, wash dog, clean entire bathroom because that is what is required after dog washing, do a load of laundry (again necessitated by a dog wash), feed dog and cat. Feed myself.

By this time, of course, it is about 10 and I am past my bedtime because I HAVE to get 8 hours of sleep and I have to wake up the next day at 5.20 so that I can wash/rinse/repeat.

And I don't even have kids! If kids were stacked into the picture. Think how much more complicated all this would be.

Hmmm, there might be more to solving this dilemma than a dog washing machine?

Last Garden Update of 2011, I promise!

2011-10-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

I actually grew this!

I know, I know, most of you read 'garden update' and our eyes get heavy. But I had a request, so what am I supposed to do? For you non garden peeps, I promise another blog soon. I have multiple topics written on my bamboo 'white' board so I won't forget. And if those of you non garden folks are patient, you may be rewarded with a joke or two and at the end of this blog with some extra cute Daisy and Otto photos!

Overall, I'm going to rate Garden Project 2011 a success! There were some challenges:

Peppers - So tiny they aren't even worth discussing.
Broccoli rabe - nothing, but it's quite possible I was not patient enough with these. They bolted and I pulled the damn things. That was in the early days. Do you remember those very sad days of summer 2011. There was NO sunshine and everything was NOT growing and I was getting frustrated. Perhaps they just needed time and space and not to be yanked from the ground.
Beets - They flowered pretty quickly and ended up being very fibrous and not very good.

But, let's not dwell on sadness and tragedy, let's jump to the good news.

Onions - I grew some kind of onion from seed and I haven't tried those yet (they are small and were slow), BUT the walla walla sweet starts I got from PCC have been insane! I think I only have about two left and will be very sad to see them go. Though, maybe my co-workers won't mind, as I tend to eat copious amounts in my daily lunch salad and may be fragrant post lunch.
Basil - Mmm delicious salad addition
Lemon Cucumbers - They were awesome and cute. Though stressful because there were just too damn many of them! And how many lemon cucumbers can one person eat?

The remnants of lemon cucumber (with a basil leaf thrown in), cute!

Broccoli - nothing to say but awesome! Oh, wait, I just remembered the aphid crisis, it was rather brief an did not effect the overall crop! Though I did spend lots of time murdering aphids.
Purslane - Ah purslane. It finally grew, but unlike the succulent lemony stuff at the farmer's market, mine was completely bland and tasteless!
Kale - kale was my super star. I ate (and am still eating) lots of my kale. There was an aphid thing for a bit (the aphids moved from the broccoli to the kale), but overall a success.
And finally, Squash! I am finally eating my squash; delicata and spaghetti. OMG, so good. Even the animals eat them. (BTW, special shout out to Tracy and MB, the spaghetti squash was purchased with a gift certificate from them!!!!)

I know, my meals all look the same, but kale, broccoli and spaghetti squash fresh from the garden, how could you not eat that every day, all day!

File under, completely gratuitous. As promised, this was Daisy and Otto hanging on the porch in the sun yesterday. Even cuter than a lemon cucumber!

So that's the garden story. Until next spring when I get to bore you all again.

Keeping Up (or not)

2011-10-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

As all my regular readers will no doubt remember, almost a year ago when I got the new Iphone 4, great amounts of stress were undergone when I had to upgrade the operating system on my computer - http://rcarlsini.blogspot.com/2010/10/yes.html. Since then my computer has been slow and I promised myself that next spring I can upgrade and get a new computer.

Then on Friday I get a call - out of the blue - from my internet company and a nice electronic lady tells me that my modem is really old (that would be 6 years old, since that is when I moved and got hooked up) and that it's probably effecting my service and internet speeds. Oh my. Things I have never ever thought about or considered. Maybe my modem is making my computer slow, not my computer?

So for the last hour I have spent my valuable time pouring over Amazon reviews of two modems from the same company (one a slightly newer version than the other). Mind you these two modems are virtually exactly the same, both are considerably newer and more advanced than my current modem, and I haven't given any thought to any modem ever before in my life. And suddenly I'm reading reviews to try to decide which of two virtually identical modems I should buy. Goodness!

Anyhow, after way too much time, I decided and a new modem is on it's way promising me lightning quick computing speed. Hopefully, not so lightning quick that I will decide a new computer is not necessary.

But me being me, now I start to worry. What about my wireless device? Is that now too slow? Too old? What else needs upgrading?

#muchtoworryabout

(By the way, update to last week's post, homemade coconut milk yogurt is the best thing EVER!

The Happy Homemaker

2011-09-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

All I need is the hot guy out front polishing my car!

After all the talk this year about cooking chickens, making broth and growing my own veggies, I am sure you are all dying to hear about my next homesteading adventure. Well, wait no more......

As I learn more about food and health I spend more (too much) time thinking about how things are effecting my body. And more (way too much) time thinking about what makes up the things I am buying/eating. But, it seems there is actually a plus side to this obsessing. It seems it is actually very easy to make things yourself AND these things might actually taste exponentially better than the crap you buy at the store.

I had some free time this weekend so, in addition to writing TWO BLOGS, I did a little food experimenting.

Mayonnaise. Anyone who knows my family, or at least has eaten fish with my family, knows about our love affair with mayonnaise. Next to popcorn, it was my dad's favorite food. He always 'fixed' his mayonnaise. This involved lots of lemon juice and spices. And then he ate it, lots of it on crackers, on potato chips, with cottage cheese. A reunion of his family this summer involved large vats of tartar sauce (essentially fixed mayonnaise) on fish. And it was mighty tasty.

But, have you ever actually read the ingredients of a mayonnaise jar? Most of the stuff in there you just do not want to eat. Even the happy 'healthy' kinds from the expensive yuppy stores. Well, it seems you can make olive oil mayonnaise in the blink of an eye! Olive oil, egg, mustard power, lemon and a blender and pow (or whirr)! Delicious! (The only catch was waiting for the egg to reach room temperature. After my waiting patiently for 4 hours, my egg calmly rolled itself off the counter rather than be a part of my culinary adventure. And neither Otto nor I nor all the king's horses could save that poor egg. )

Yogurt. Many of the books I have been reading lately tout the benefits of fermented food. But, much like mayo, if you go looking for yogurt in the regular stores you get.... Well first of you get dairy which I don't eat, but secondly you get lots of words that I don't even understand. And I'm tired of eating words I don't understand. But fortunately, it seems if you want to eat fermented food you can grow bacteria in the comfort of your own home.

Coconut milk yogurt was today's adventure. And I wish I could tell you that it was delicious, but unfortunately, yogurt is a painfully slow adventure. My bacteria are currently duplicating in the back room. I can tell you my genius for of the day. It seems to grow cultures properly you need to keep them at about 110 degrees. With that news, I was about to give up my yogurt plans when suddenly I realized that the 'professional greenhouse' I used to grow my plants this spring might be the perfect tool for yogurt. So my coconut milk is sitting on the plant heating pad. (I think this ingenuity probably multiplies my homemaker status). Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed!

If it looks anything like this, I'll be in heaven (and probably ready to quit my day job)!

Double dipping is just rude!

2011-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

An expert concerned about the double dip.

Well, much to the excitement of all of you, today we are going to be talking recession! I seem to have some confusion I need to work through. I spend time listening to NPR and trying to stay up on world affairs. And everything sounds terrible. But are we in a recession?

Here's what the news tells me. Every time NPR mentions recession, they quickly pull out an expert. This expert always has one of three opinions.

We are already in a recession (Yes, the dreaded DOUBLE DIP is always mentionned!)
We are not currently in a recession, but we're our the way there (NO, don't DOUBLE DIP).
Things are bad, but we'll pull out. (This is the one I always tend to believe.)

So that's the 'truth' according to the experts. But, as you can see, it doesn't actually tell me anything.

Here's my layman's view point. Every time I go out to eat in Seattle I am amazed by the number of people out spending lots of money. Restaurants that I consider expensive are packed. In fact they are so packed that for the first time in my forty plus (ack) years in Seattle reservations are required. I kid you not. I have never worried about reservations in Seattle, but suddenly you need them or you're not eating. And I'm not necessarily talking a Friday or Saturday night, these places are packed all week! Does this sound like a recession?

So then I think, maybe Seattle is just lucky. But, I work for a large national retailer and sales are great. Sales are great not just in Seattle, but all over the country. Again, confusion.

So, I don't know the answer. But I've been thinking about it a bit lately. If you listen to the news, we should all be saving our pennies and stocking up on ramen. But in life, well it's just regular life. So, double dip? Will the 2008 crisis be back soon? Or maybe I should just go spend some money and help the US avert the worst. But, I am pretty sure, if I hear the expression Double Dip on more time, I just might scream.

Counting to Ten

2011-09-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Happy and healthy (or something)

Just for the fun of it, I thought we would do my week in numbers.

One. The number of times Daisy got bitten by another cat. I think cat bites/fights are pretty common for those of us terrible pet owners who let our cats wander outside. But Daisy always been a pacifist. And I think on Sunday she wasn't fighting, but running for her life. Post bite, she spent the day lying in one place panting and hissing at me if I came within sight. It was very sad and traumatic for us all and led to .....

Two. The number of times Daisy went to the vet this week. This would also be the number of times Daisy has gone to the vet in the last 11 years. This I distinctly remember because in 2000 I broke my collar bone and something happened to Daisy. I had to drive her to the vet with my broken collar bone and my non power steering/manual shift car. Then, I had to give her daily medicine with one arm. Again, traumatic for all. Daisy doesn't go down often, but when she does she goes big. Oh, but current vet trip. She's been on antibiotics and possible surgery watch if infection set in, but seems to be healing nicely. Phew, only $150 and not $$$$$.

Three. Moving off Daisy for a minute. There are other events in my week. Three is not only the magic number, but the number of birthday parties I am going to this weekend. What's up with September and Birthdays? Oh, New year's eve?

Four. This is an exciting one. The number of folders I set up on my IPhone. My apps are now carefully organized. It doesn't get any better than that.

Five. The hour during which I have been waking up all week, whether I need to or not. Now that I regularly crossfit in the am, my body (and pets) seem to have decided that 5-5.30 is the perfect time to get up. But you know what, it's NOT!

Six. This is a big one. SIX is the number of days I managed to not eat (not even taste) and barely even think about an open and 1/2 eaten bar of chocolate that was sitting in my desk drawer at work. I am sure this is some kind of record and I should probably call Guinness.

Seven (ish). The number of rope climbs I did early one morning. Really, nothing says good morning like a 20 foot rope climb. The workout actually called for ten rope climbs, two climbs in each of five rounds. I was fine doing on the first climb but then would get about 3/4 of the way up on the second and decide it was time to come down. I was pretty proud of the 7 (ish) but next time it needs to be all 10!

Eight. The number of times I rode my bike to and from work.

Nine. I am sure I did nine of something this week, but I can't think of what that might have been.

Ten. One a scale of one to ten, with one being deathly ill and ten being bright eyed and bushy tailed, ten is how Daisy looks today compared to a week ago.

Are You Kidding Me???

2011-09-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

This blog could also be titled, it's way too hard to be me.

I'm reading a new book about primal living and how to keep it real like our ancient ancestors. It's an interesting book, though I think the author has hyped things up a bit. Every chapter she brings up a new topic - gluten, soy, fats etc etc, - and talks about how terrible each is, all the crazy things it makes your body do, and all the ways it will kill you. And while I personally believe most of what she is saying, I think the tone of her book would probably turn most people off pretty quickly.

Anyhow, I'm not going to spend the ENTIRE blog just writing about a book none of you have read. Instead I'm going to talk about gluten and my hair (or I guess more specifically my scalp). Hello!

So, about three years ago I stopped eating gluten. I'm not sure I'm allergic, but definitely 'intolerant'. And over the last few years I have found my body is much happier without a daily chocolate chip cookie fix. So I figured with gluten (and various sundry other things) gone, I was happy and healthy.

About a year ago I found out all the terrible things (toxins, cancer causing drugs etc) that are put in many sun screens and cosmetics products. I promptly went to ewg.org and looked up all my products, only to find out that most of them are leeching terrible toxic sludge into my body (your skin being the largest organ absorbs all kinds of shit it is exposed to). Some things I adjusted. Some things I decided I couldn't care about and life when on (and I mostly blissfully forgot).

And then I'm reading this book - all cocky because I'm thinking I don't eat gluten, so I'm good - and come to find out that beauty products have gluten in them and if I'm sensitive to gluten, well guess what, MY SHAMPOO IS KILLING ME. Yes, I jumped out of bed, and looked at the labels on my conditioner and shampoo and they BOTH have wheat protein. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep so well that night.

The next day I rushed to to Whole Foods and Madison Market, thinking they'd have happy shampoo bottles, sparklingly label 'gluten free'. But no, not only are there no gluten free labels, but all the shampoos there (the ones that I can actually read the ingredients) all have wheat in them too! And half the stuff in those bottles, who even knows what they are. And yes, you can go online and find gluten free hair care products, but who even knows what else I innocently contact on a daily basis that is killing me through my skin! Car exhaust (duh), clothes?, computers?, the new rubber strap I bought to help stretch, the water Otto drinks from the street after a rainfall?

Holy Guacamole! What's an overly conscientious, health obsessed citizen to do?

Back to School

2011-08-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

And what new boy in class wouldn't find me smashing in this ensemble?

Every August I get nostalgic for the time when fall meant 'back to school'. When you're in school, every year you get to start anew with a new school, new teachers, new friends. It's a time of shiny school books (unless you had to buy the slightly different, used version that didn't quite match the teachers copy) and fancy new clothes and shoes (that two weeks later your mother was bribing you to wear because somehow what you thought was extra cool in the store was actually less cool for school). It's a time of new possibilities. Maybe you'll be in the cool kids clique (even though later it turns out maybe they weren't so cool). Or maybe that extra cute boy will decide you're extra cute and ask you out (even though the previous year you were too scared to even look his way and probably wouldn't know what to do with a date anyhow). In any event, in the days leading up to Labor Day, the school year is still open to possibility, unjaded by reality.

This year I didn't have the best summer. I guess I can't really complain about June or July, except the weather extra sucked. But August, I don't know, I was just grouchy and not very happy with myself - for various and sundry reasons. Anyhoo, I have decided that this year I'm going back to school. There won't be an huge external changes, but internally I have some ideas for shiny shoes, crisp clean smelling books, and maybe hanging out with the cool kids!

It's going to be a good year. Happy studying! (What would this be, 40th grade or something?)

This isn't back to school, but pretty cute! I think I would have had more luck with the men here than my actual back to school look.

Ottoman!

2011-08-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

For today's blog, a poll.

As I've mentioned before, when I first got Otto he was a sad, sad dog. He'd been abused. He was scared of my back bedroom and his own shadow. And he had no idea how to relax and/or enjoy life. All he wanted to do in those early days was lie on the couch. And he was so sad and pathetic, well, who was I to deny him his one pleasure. So, the couch became his home. In my house it is perpetually covered with a sheet and dog hair. I never sit on it!

I'm new and scared!

Lying on my dog bed makes me very unhappy (even when I'm surrounded by toys)!

Ahh, much better.

So, at our cabin we have a bit of an issue. Otto really wants to sleep on the comfy new futon, but it has a light colored cover and my mom, for some strange reason, doesn't want him on the futon. So, the result is that Otto sneaks on the futon and then gets confused when he gets yelled at. It's very sad.

Well, my mom just got a new chair for the cabin and it came complete with an ottoman. Yes, an OTTOman. If that isn't a piece of furniture with his name all over it, I don't know what is.

Unfortunately, and very tragically, my mom doesn't agree. Poor dog!

Please vote, Otto on the Ottoman, yes or no?

This and that

2011-08-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today we get to talk about some exciting updates in my life (you'll soon see how 'exciting' my life is).

Appliances, new ones!

First there is the fancy stove. It actually doesn't look too bad in the ancient kitchen, though I could use an entire remodel now! And it works like a charm. Well, actually the oven works great. And it's got this cool feature where you can actually fit two pans in the oven side by side! (My old oven was very narrow as much of it's 36" was taken up by a warming drawer I never used). Not to mention that I've actually got two ovens and convection so you could stack everything up and and down and it would still work perfectly. The stove top and I haven' t quite figured each other out, but we're talking. And there is this large oval burner in the middle that I really don't know what to make of. Perhaps one buys an oval pan?

Vacuum! After I saved a bunch of money on the stove (on sale + floor model) I told the sales person to sell me a vacuum. He wasted no time and I left with a shiny blue vacuum. Miele. It's growing on me. I think I had this expectation that if you spend money on a vacuum it should be magic. You should plug it and and ZIP all the dirt and pet hair in your house immediately is gone and everything is shiny clean. There seems to be a little more sweat involved than that, but it does a good job. And it's got this cool hose extension feature that is sucks in those spider webs that had been taking over the crevices of my ceiling.

Old stove. It seems the company I hired to fix the old one no longer has the $375 I gave them as a down payment. The owner got quite indignant when I got upset because she told me she needed to pay her electric bill and rent instead of giving me back my money. It seems my expectations were way too high! She ended the conversation by telling me I could take her to small claims court. Hmmm, she blamed her problems on the economy but I'm thinking a bad economy should actually be a good time for appliance repair??!!?? Perhaps her personality is the issue. (My credit card company has promised to get me back my money!)

What else? Family in town? That's a loaded topic that perhaps should not get public attention. It seems my 16 year old self can surface at any time!

New pet food? I've been buying Otto this fancy raw food and although he has been eating raw food ever since I got him he seems to only want to eat this if I hand feed while coaxing him or cook it. I'm about ready to pull out both his hair and mine! Ingrate. Fortunately, I've got the new vacuum if much of our hair ends up on the floor.

Veggies? It seems I'm supposed to plant fall crops now but I might need a vacation from gardening until next year. There is a lot of work and emotion that goes into this gardening business.

Okay, that's all I got, something fascinating next week, I promise!

Food and cooking.

2011-08-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Oh shit, Roberta is blogging about food and her garden again. Can't she find anything more interesting to talk about?

No, it seems that this is the only interesting topic I have in my life at the moment. Well, maybe I'll expand and rant on the other TOI (topic of interest) in my life.

Mmmmmmm

1. Food from my garden. I just wanted to mention that roasted broccoli and onion greens is the very best food item in the entire world and I eat it at least once a day. When the sun is gone and there are no more onion greens or fresh broccoli from either my garden or the farmer's market, life will be very very sad.

Bye bye.

2. I'm getting a new stove. According to a post on my Facebook profile I have not had a stove (oven actually) since June 8! Despite numerous internet warnings, I managed to hire the world's very worst appliance repair company. (Just say no to Jimmy-Z Appliance). After many moons and many many phone fights with the appliance company, I threw in the towel and bought a new one. (Actually, they are mainly fights with the appliance company voice mail, because they pretty much avoid my calls at the moment. And requests to speak to management are unheeded!)

Here is a partial transcript from my most recent call (after 6 weeks of nothing but promises that never came true.)

me: Can I speak to your manager?
appliance company employee (ace): she's speaking with the owner.
me: don't you think a customer is more important (I didn't actually say that, but wish I had),
ace: Can I leave a message?
me: Um yeah, HAVE HER CALL ME!!!!!!!!
ace: I'll try
me: what does that mean? she won't call me?
ace: oh, i'll give her the message

NO CALL and they haven't answered the phone or responded to emails since.

Anyhow, enough ranting. I'm a bit sad that I will no longer have the cool vintage stove that fits perfectly in my kitchen. In fact now that I'm sitting in my kitchen looking at a picture of the new stove, it is looking very out of place. I will have a crazy looking modern stove that is too narrow for the space and will probably make my entire kitchen appear to be in dire need of a remodel.

Sigh

But, I WILL have an oven - actually two of them (and convection no less). I will have 5 burners (god knows 4 was never enough). And maybe someday I'll get back the $400 Jimmy-Z owes me!

Things I will be eating in the next 24 hours.

2011-08-01T18:30:00.001-07:00

BOOM!

As in the garden is booming.

Some onions and beets!

Check it, it looks like real live grocery store broccoli! *

Purslane, yes some purslane grew. It isn't super tasty and lemony like the stuff I buy at the farmer's market, but I'm sure it's healthy. (Off to the side is kale which you've already heard about.)

Basil finally decided to show up as well!

This squash I will not be eating in the next 24 hours, but I'll be eating it someday!

*For those who are interested, after a sad week, the aphids ditched the broccoli and went flying on over to the kale. For the most part the broccoli is but free. But some of the kale is kind of a disaster. Better the kale than the broccoli in my opinion!

Cricket Saturdays

2011-07-24T13:12:00.001-07:00

Bad photo of cricket playing.

Every year it surprises me, but there is cricket in Seattle. There is a Samoan cricket league and every summer they play cricket up at the Beacon Hill Community Center. Every Saturday there is a series of games - men, women kids. And all week long they have practice every night. Even after walking by them multiple times per week for five years, I don't understand the game at all. Here's what I know. There is a lot of throwing to someone holding a battish thing. Lots of attempting to hit (it looks like it should be easy, but maybe not so much). An occasional hit. An even more occasional run (hitting doesn't seem to automatically equal run). And a very occasional catch. All genders wear skirts. They are not small people.

I'm not sure how many Samoans live in Seattle, but I'm guessing a good percentage of them come out every weekend it's pretty cool. Though really hard to capture in picture.

In other news, for you sizzling hot midwest and east cost suckers, it's amazingly awesomely perfect here today - high 70s and slightly breezy. However, so you don't get too jealous, it was 55 all week. I woke up every morning listened to news of the heat wave on the radio then my confused brain remembered to don my fleece pants, long sleeve wool shirt and fleece jacket to ride into work. I am pretty sure the weather has become the number 1 and possibly ONLY topic of conversation in this city!

That's all I've got today. Well, except for some cuteness, Otto and Daisy enjoying the day!

Choices

2011-07-16T15:27:00.001-07:00

I do the majority of my shopping for food and the basic daily necessities of life at a local co-op. It works out well. I feel like I'm doing good, supporting a local business and, best of all, I know exactly what I buy and where it's located. The thinking involved is minimal and could probably be mapped out in a very simple flow chart (we auditors like flow charts) - do I need more broccoli? yes/no. Chicken or fish? If chicken.... Should I buy this bar of chocolate? etc

Unfortunately, life is not always so straightforward. Sometimes I venture into real stores - grocery or drug - and my poor head explodes. The other day I needed to get a tube of toothpaste for work. So I headed off to Bartells (yes, this is a locally owned business as well, but on a slightly larger scale and shopping there has a slightly lower level of smug self righteousness built in). One would think that buying toothpaste would be an easy adventure. Typically it's just Tom's. Most of us 'mid 40s liberal do the right thing' people buy Toms (even though they sold out years ago). But somehow when I buy work toothpaste it's like being on vacation, I don't have to do the right thing, I can buy something sexy.

But W-H-O-A. Somehow when I wasn't looking the array of toothpastes became dizzying. There are toothpastes for whitening, freshness, tarter control, with various types of mouth wash built in (scope or listerine), root cavity protection, regular cavity protection, enamel strength, extra whitening (better than whitening) and for those with sensitive teeth. Yes, whoa. In addition, there is every possible combination of the above. And in case that wasn't enough, there are some which make even bigger claims: power smile, pro health (yes, your tooth paste can improve your health), extreme clean, dry mouth (why drink water just brush your teeth) and (my very personal favorite) AGE DEFYING. (That's in capitals in case you had stopped reading, I didn't want you to miss age defying tooth paste). Let me add a little disclaimer here, I did not make any of these up, I was in such awe, that I stood there with my phone and typed the descriptions in.

The choices were over whelming. I actually gave up on the project. Instead I went elsewhere in the store and bought a mini trial size. Why trial size you ask? Because there were only 10 or so trial size options, instead of 50 or so regular size options. Why, you ask, didn't I just buy Toms? I have no answer for that.

I will tell you what I bought, Arm and Hammer Advanced White (I don't think there was a non advanced white, but whatever) with Baking Soda and Peroxide. Here's what it does:

3 Shades Whiter, Fluoride Anti-Cavity Toothpaste Tartar Control Gently Cleans Away Surface Stains Penetrates Tiny Crevices to Clean Away Deep Stains Safely Lightens Tooth Enamel For Whiter & Brighter Teeth. Contains Fluoride For Cavity Protection

Yep, penetrates tiny crevices better than any other toothpaste and makes them 3 SHADES WHITER (maybe non advanced is only 1 shade whiter)!

And, for you marketers out there, why I chose this out of the 50-60 options I had, different size and shaped bottles, different descriptions, different colors? Well, duh, the box was extra cute with gold and silver sparks. Nice job Arm and Hammer!

Pretty!

Cute Kids!

2011-07-10T12:38:00.001-07:00

I am quite possibly the cutest child ever, and even cuter in a cape!

Uhm, no I'm the cutest child.

Many of my friends who have blogs are able to depend on the cuteness of their children when fascinating blog topics run dry. In fact, in many cases capturing every moment of cuteness is the sole purpose for the blogs existence, as loved ones who live afar need to track all stages of growth. As you well know, sometimes I try to fall back on Otto when I'm desperate, but quite frankly, I'm really the only one who is very enthralled by blogs that are solely Otto (so sad). But, last weekend, I got to hang out with the insanely cute and sweet Erbeck kids, so I am going to take full advantage of this opportunity and make this the cute kid blog. (It's either that or whine about the aphids who are devouring my broccoli and moving onto my kale!)

It seems that life gets much more fun when you put a cape on, who knew?

It also seems that when wearing a cape, it's important to reach out your arm and point, imparting a spell on the one being pointed at, I'm sure!

Hey, what about me???

Yes, Otto was forgotten. Hiding in the closet in an effort to escape sure death from fireworks, Otto was out of site and out of mind, poor guy. No cape wearing or fighting for cuteness points.

Ack, Aphids!

2011-07-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Mmm, tasty.

Dear Aphid Colony,

I don't know where you came from or who informed you that you were welcome to snack on my broccoli, but I don't like you. That's right, we're not friends. It's MY broccoli. And I am the only one who can authorize snacking on my plants. And quite frankly, the broccoli (and the kale too) are for me, and me alone! I would like to ask all of you and any other slimy family members who are on their way to pack up your bags and head on to some other poor sap's garden. You are not welcome here!

Love,

Roberta, (and Otto and Daisy - though I'm not sharing broccoli with them either)

Brown Shoes

2011-06-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

I'm strictly a black shoe kind of a gal. In fact, I'll step back a bit and mention that I am pretty fond of black clothes as well. It's not that I'm scared of color, but I like to balance out my color with black. I can wear a colorful skirt, but it will almost always be balanced by a black top. Color on color makes me nervous. And so for shoes, black always seems the safe choice. It goes with everything and I always feel like there is slightly less chance that black shoes will spend their life hiding in my closet (ie I might actually wear them).

When I saw the above pictured boots, I fell in love. I promptly tried them on and equally as promptly asked if they came in black. They did, but they were sold out. So I did not buy the boots. Weeks went by and I kept thinking about the boots and how perfectly they would fit into my wardrobe. I planned my outfits and then was sad the boots couldn't contribute. I tried to find black ones online for a reasonable price. Finally, I threw caution to the winds and decide to BUY THEM IN BROWN!! And guess what, I love them. They go with everything, even black and they have become the perfect addition to my wardrobe.

But then summer came around. Well let me just stop right here and say that summer has not really come to Seattle in any shape or form, but it is sort of warm enough to no longer want to be wearing boots with cashmere socks. And suddenly I realized that without a brown summer shoe to wear, my life was not complete. I needed a summer version of the brown boot. And voila, my new brown wedges, again the perfect wardrobe addition that goes with everything!

Who said I can't be flexible.

More photos from the photo shoot.

Daisy practices her model walk, she's got the tail down.

Otto ruins a shot, hey buddy, we're on a tight budget.

Daisy's working on her lean, sultry model look. Otto practices the look away.

My First EVER Haiku.

2011-06-20T20:07:00.001-07:00

An ode to my home grown kale.

Kale, a hearty feast

Grows eagerly in the cold

Morning eggs rejoice

Sundays with Otto

2011-06-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

I've been trying rather unsuccessfully to come up with a blog topic for this week (if you haven't noticed I've been trying to blog at least once a week). So, I decided to look no further than the title of my blog for inspiration. A day in the life. Sundays. Here ya go.

Seattle is awash in farmer's markets. Every year that goes by there are another 2 or 20 farmer's markets. I think there is one in every neighborhood. Well, except, of course, Beacon Hill, my fine neck of the woods. We have no farmer's market. However, in the winter, the market's are few and far between. So about 4 months ago when I decided I could ONLY buy meat from a happy farmer, I started heading out to Ballard every Sunday. Ballard probably has one of the oldest, most established markets. It happens every Sunday rain or shine, whether or not there is a single vegetable to be dragged from the ground. And so, every Sunday Otto and I head out, Otto pees and I buy meat at my favorite meat producer, The Skagit River Ranch. Occasionally a vegetable is purchased. Hippy candles, soaps, and other hand made knick knacks are never purchased.

Here's the skinny.

The very first thing we do is head to Cafe Fiore. Otto stands in the doorway looking forlorn, which usually gains him a treat or two and I buy a delicious green tea matcha latte. Yummy and very green. Not only tasty but WARM. For the last four months I think there has been one warm day at the market.

So, I got a little carried away taking pictures of flowers. The colors at the market were crazy this week. We actually had some sun for a day or two (yes temperature is a theme in my brain at the moment as it was nice every day as I sat at work and it's been freezing all weekend), so the flowers must have gone crazy. They were all amazingly bright and vibrant. The upper part of the bottom picture is some very cool garlic.

Oops, only one picture of veggies. This week was the first week I started to get excited about spring/summer vegetables. So far it's been just kale and beets, the hearty early spring/winter fair. But it's time to get ready for veggie heaven.

Mmmmm meat!

The Skagit River Ranch booth is really not very photogenic, but their meat is 100% grass fed and the bomb!

Veggie starts! This is where I got every thing from my garden that I didn't start myself - kale, cukes, squash, broccoli.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, the market from Otto's perspective. Two words, pee fest.

We spend most of the trip with Otto dragging me off to the side so he can make his presence known.

Really, the better two words are olfactory frenzy!

Occasionally some tasty food will be dropped (there are lot of kids). Mmmm ice cream! Mom, want some? (okay, I'm sure he was not thinking that last sentence)

At least he's not the only food obsessed hound at the market.

The Garden

2011-06-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Art Shot

I had a request for a garden update and because a. I've been meaning to do it anyhow and b. I would NEVER want to let a loyal reader down, here goes:

As my regular readers have probably guessed from the purslane blog, this gardening thing has been an emotional roller coaster. Highs and lows, sadness and happiness, glory and despair. I guess you can sum it up by saying the the movie review would be, "I laughed, I cried'. And of course, 2 thumbs up. This stuff is fascinating!

Bed #1

Beets, planted from my seed by ME! This is my most successful crop. Most are very happy with a few little stragglers there in the middle that can't quite seem to get their act together. I've eaten some of the greens and they're very tasty. I have no idea how I decide when the beets are finished.
Onions, the ones on the right I bought from PCC one little box for $3 or something. And they are growing like gang busters. Again, I have no idea when I might pick and eat them. Mixed in and probably not visible in the photo are some really small measly onions I grew from seed that were knocked over a couple times by the animals before they made it outside.
Way up there in the upper left corner are some not so happy broccoli rabe maybe? Again started by me, knocked over by animals and never very happy.

Bed #2

Bottom of the photo, basil. Some I got for free and some I planted myself. All was very happy before it made it outside. They are all growing (or should I say not growing and) increasingly unhappy.
On the left hand side is some lemon cucumber (MMMM). I bought one set at the Ballard Market and it promptly died within a week. So this is the second set. I wasn't supposed to separate the plants and I'm supposed to weed out of a couple of them which is very hard for me (talk about emotional, that's just murder)! So there are probably too many in a little bunch to really thrive, but they look pretty healthy.
Above that is a mixture of broccoli and broccoli rabe some grown by me, some purchased, and some knocked over by the animals (yes, there is a theme here. I put the plants in the sun in the window sill which is also where the animals like to lie when the sun comes out. It seems the plants were not the alpha dogs) . All in various degrees of healthy and vitality.

Are you bored yet? Have you stopped reading? don't worry, I'm almost done and we're saving the best for last!

Bed #3

The unmentionable purslane.
Kale! Lots of kale. It happens to be my very favorite vegetable. Tasty. Chock full of nutrients (most nutrient dense vegetable per calorie). My #1 favorite thing to eat with eggs in the morning. The big stuff at the end I bought at the Ballard Farmer's market. I have eaten it a couple times and it's might tasty! The other stuff I started myself and it's been slow to get going, but I think it will live to be a tasty additional to my eggs.

Bed less

Squash. I was going to grow delicata squash from seeds, but you're supposed to start it in the ground in June when it gets warm and that hasn't happened yet, so I just bought some. I've got 2 spaghetti squash and two delicata. It's possible Daisy (the cat) has decided this is her new litter box. So if I invite you over to eat squash, beware!

There ya go! My garden. Not bad for a first time I guess. We'll see how it all pans out if the sun ever comes out. Oh, and not so confidential to the person who commented on my purslane post, I got the seeds from Wild Garden Seed in Oregon. I just found them through a google search - oregon tilth certified and organic - and possibly guaranteed NOT to grow.

The next blog will be a fascinating one for non gardeners, I promise.

The Deadlift

2011-06-03T21:51:00.001-07:00

Warning, most might find this too much detail! (But it's my blog)

I have been working on my deadlift for 2.5 years now. I remember at my old gym, when I was first learning, deadlifting my body weight and thinking that was good and enough. My coach at the time explained that usually people can deadlift more than their body weight. So I went a little heavier, but didn't really push it. At my current gym, there is a focus on weight lifting, particularly heavy weight lifting. So the days of lifting just my body weight were long gone. I remember one workout when I first started at my current gym with 70K (154 pounds) deadlifts that was absolutely impossible!

Since then, my deadlifting has had its ups and downs. I'd get stronger. Then I'd get injured. Then my brain would have deadlifting strikes. It was a roller coaster, at least as sad as my purslane misadventure.

About 3 months ago we did a 1 rep max. I managed to deadlift 107K and then tried 109K about 3 times and couldn't budge it. I decided that 107 was probably a good number and I didn't need to go any heavier - EVER. But my coach kept inching up my 5 rep max and trying to get me to try a 1 rep max again. And then something clicked. It was actually one off hand comment my coach made that adjusted my form a bit. I did a 5 rep max at 108k and finally felt strong. I finally felt like I was in control of the bar, instead of the bar controlling me.

So today, when Craig asked me to try a 1 rep max I said okay - though my brain was still doing some 'heavy deadlifts are too hard' moping. I warmed up to 108 and then he said 113. I was a little dubious, but I tried and it felt easy! Then 117, then 120, finally 122 (268 pounds, almost 2x my body weight). And it was still easy (ish)! I guess next time I go heavier.

Not bad for middle age!

Purslane Blues

2011-06-02T18:55:00.000-07:00

Happy purslane!

You may think you're looking at dirt, but this is my purslane crop!

A year ago when I was contemplating my gardening project I was buying a lot of purslane. I went to this farmer's market regularly and one of the farmers sold purslane. He advertised it as a 'superfood'. Never one to pass up on magic food that can cure all ills, I decide to give it a try. And fell in love. It's got a bit of a lemony crunchy taste, it's great in salads (I eat lots of salad), plus, it's a wonder food. It has more omega-3 fatty acids than any other green leafy vegetable. It's also chock full of vitamins a, c, some bs, iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. And if that wasn't enough, it makes your brain happy. One website claims purslane has 'positive effects' on the brain. Possibly combatting depression, bipolar disorder, alzheimers, autism, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. And really, whose brain couldn't use a little extra help.

The farmer told me that purslane is a weed. So I did a little research and it was the first plant I decided I wanted to grow in my garden. I was so excited that I added a 'note' on my phone so I wouldn't forget about it. I was also excited because it's a weed. Who can't grow a weed? I figured it was a shoe in!

So, when I started my garden, the first thing I did was go online and order purslane seeds. When they arrived, I added them to the 'professional greenhouse' (see previous post) and waited and watched. And nothing. The purslane all popped their little heads up, then nothing. After a while they just died. All the other vegetables did something. (Some of them didn't do anything very exciting, but everyone did enough to make it outside, except the purslane.)

So I went with plan B and just decided to throw some seeds in my new garden beds. So far the outside purslane is giving me about as much love as the inside purslane. It popped its head up and then nothing. It's so sad, as I have been awaiting this event for a year now! If anyone has any sway over the purslane gods, please put in a good word on my behalf! I'll invite you over for salad!

Louisa Boren Lookout

2011-05-28T12:59:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a week post rapture and we're all still here for another 5 months at least, so I guess it's time for some new blogs.

If I go to Crossfit on Saturday mornings, I like to take Otto on a 'adventure' walk afterwards. An adventure walk is really nothing more than a walk that is different than the walks we take every day, twice a day, ad nausea. Today I decided to take him for a walk around the civil war cemetery on Capitol Hill. Yes, there is one. It's officially called the Grand Army of the Republic Park and full of civil war veteran graves! (Howe and 12th Ave E). As I drove up, there seemed to be a 'happening'. Oh, Memorial Day. Hmmm, some people actually find more ways to celebrate memorial day than just getting excited about a day off work. There were lots of people milling and planting flags.

Adventure walks aren't much fun with lots of people around so, Otto and I went for plan B. Just down the street is Louisa Boren Lookout, which has a pretty view, a cool (though muddy) trail, AND happens to be on the street where I grew up. I can't remember what was originally on the Louisa Boren Lookout site. A few Facebook friends seem to be remembering some type of old house. But, at some point in the mid 70s someone decided it needed to be a park. It's a cool little park with an amazing view of Lake Washington, the 520 bridge and the east side. In a cooler fun fact, my mom was on the committee that named the park AND actually came up with the name. The park is on top of a ravine and it seems (even though I am guessing no one in this city knows this but me) the ravine is called Louisa Boren Park (Louisa Boren being a Seattle early/founding resident). Anyhow, my mom thought it would be snazzy to call the park on top of the ravine Louisa Boren Lookout and others agreed. Of course, when I was growing up, no one actually knew it was called Louisa Boren Lookout. Everyone I knew called it either Hi Park or High Park. Actually, I thought everyone called it High Park (because teenagers, well, you know), but it seems people my mom's generation called it Hi Park because it contains a statue that looks like a 'Hi' when viewed from the right angle.

Hi Statue

So Otto and I hiked down the trail, heady from memories of childhood (well, one of us was heady, one of us was more muddy). And at some point I decided to 'check in' on Facebook. I mostly wanted to see if Louisa Boren Lookout was thing on Facebook. And guess what, it is. It was the first place my phone found as a check in location! So Otto and I checked in at Louisa Boren Lookout. So Facebook can locate a tiny little park named by my mom in the 1970s with a name that no one uses. I just find that amazing. Back when that park was named, no one would have even fathomed such a thing!

Some photos.....

Maybe it still is High Park.

Happy Memorial Day. Flag man looking at the view from Louisa Boren/Hi/High park!

And finally, just for fun, this is my house.

Well, of course not my house, but the house my parents purchased in honor of my impending birth for $22,500.

So, it will always be my house.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

2011-05-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

2011 AD—On May 21^st, Judgment Day will begin and the rapture (the taking up into heaven of God’s elect people) will occur at the end of the 23-year great tribulation. On October 21^st, the world will be destroyed by fire (7000 years from the flood; 13,023 years from creation).

If it wasn't for Facebook I wouldn't know most of what is going on in this world. For example, I probably would have completely missed the rapture. Fortunately, my Facebook friends have been posting and commenting on this life changing event for days now. There is even a Facebook 'event', "Post Rapture Looting", in which many of my friends seem to be ready to participate. Being rather naive about such things, I have spent the last couple days assuming the rapture meant the world was coming to an end. It wasn't until I took it upon myself to do a little Google research that I found the above and figured out that I actually have a few more months before my world is thrown into upheaval. I mean it's possible that I will be plucked up into heaven on Saturday, but it's likely that I will be left to slog out the last few months on earth with the other heathens.

Before I found the true meaning of rapture, I did some considering of what I might do if the world were in fact coming to an end in a mere 4 days.

Here's the list:

Eat sugar, lots and lots of sugar. Chocolate, baby cheese cakes from Whole Foods, milkshakes, soft serve ice cream with lots of toppings.
Fool around. Okay, I realize this is normally a g rated blog, but I'm just saying, if the world were coming to an end I might try to get a little action (not telling who).
NOT go to work.
Go shopping and just buy everything I like regardless of the cost, maxing all my credit cards. (This one might not actually be very interesting and there wouldn't be time to use/wear everything, but in the movies when they go on shopping sprees and end up with lots of pretty bags and boxes it always looks like fun.)
Take a nap every day.
Throw dinner parties every night with various people I really like (many of whom I am possibly to shy to invite over otherwise).
Drink lots of wine at the dinner parties and maybe a Manhattan or two.
Do lots of Crossfit (yes, I love it that much, though with all the sugar eating and wine drinking it might not actually be that much fun).
Take Otto for long walks in the woods.

And that might be it! The good news is that I did many of those things on my staycation, which clearly means I'm living the dream. The bad news is that now I have to wait for October to carry out the plan.

Oh, and I hope our 6 months after the rapture aren't filled with storms, famines and other disasters, natural or otherwise.

Hood Canal, New and Improved

2011-05-15T18:03:00.001-07:00

New paint + fancy porch that goes around the front of the house + new metal roof.

It now has a foundation, turns out it didn't before.

I have had some requests for pictures of Hood Canal. Well, not the canal, but my family's cabin on the canal (in my family we refer to the cabin as 'Hood Canal', as if we own the whole thing, really the Gates (Bill and family), 10 or so miles down the road, probably own a good bit more than we do). As some of you know my family's cabin suffered a major catastrophe a year and a half ago. This catastrophe involved a lot of warm water spewing into the cabin for 6 weeks or so, a very high electricity bill (much higher than the water bill), AND an insane amount of mold which resulted in the entire cabin being gutted. Now, a year and a half + a huge amount of work, decision making and trips to Seattle on my mom's part + some major amounts of stress and strife, the cabin is almost done. Here is yet another photo montage. (Some day soon I will once again think of a blog topic and stop with the photo montages!)

Shiny kitchen! Fir floors recycled from some floor somewhere.

Walls are recycled wood too, from wood that was logged in the early 1900s(?)

and had been sitting as logs for about 100 years. The project had to stop for a couple months while it dried out.

This isn't a very good picture, but this is in the living room looking up at the new attic room.

To the left is a very steep stair way which has a name (that I can't recall at the moment). Again, recycled wood walls. Light is from a schoolhouse somewhere, recycled.

Mom on the stairs, still can't recall the name alternating tread?

Otto checking it all out + new stove!

Bathroom, the walls are the small amount of wood that we

were able to salvage from the old house.

Tub is original, everything else new.

Otto moping in the closet, probably staking his claim for a 4th of July hiding place.

On demand hot water heater!! Let me tell you, doing anything the environmentally sound way is super expensive and lots of extra stress. In 2011 you'd think these things would be encouraged.

Mom obsessing over details, Otto and I hard at work as usual.

Back door.

We're now working on furniture. We have exactly what you see in these pictures.

Oh, and nice work Mom!!!

Mom

2011-05-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

Mom and me, 1966!

I think I'll just jump on the mother's day band wagon and do a little photo homage to my mom. I don't acknowledge it enough, but my mom is awesome. Professionally, she has dedicated her life to improving education and schools. Mom wise, she is the most supportive person in my life, dedicated, always loves me unconditionally (even when I'm a total pain in the ass) and always willing to jump in and help. Socially she has much more umph and energy than I could ever imagine having!

My mom on one of our family 'excursions'. Mom would decide we would need to take an excursion and we would head out to Foster's Island or some such place (for some reason, I can only remember Foster's Island excursions, there must have been others). I didn't realize my mom had a special yellow leather coat she wore for the events.

(Note provided by her when she added the picture to a photo album. I think it's actually referred to as her 'cool' leather coat.)

This has to be one of the cutest pictures of all time. My mom, sister and me.

My mom is super good at jumping in and helping, particularly when I take on the most frustrating of tasks. I decided to dig a drainage ditch in my back yard. It sucked and then involved a $2000 sewer replacement. Here my mom had just helped dig the trench underneath the cement pathway. I can't believe I managed a smile during any of this event. (Note the sexy flannel shorts, circa late 1990s and Clayton helping as usual!)

My mom likes to commemorate events and even non events with pictures, frequently when I look like hell. I like to respond with a face much like this!

Again, mom helping out. In 2005 I decided at the spur of the moment to sell my house in a week. My mom flew out. Here she is helping Rosemary write the listing for the house. She also cleaned the refrigerator!

She does Crossfit!

Doing two of her favorite things, eating food out in the sun on hood canal and wearing lavender.

Mom and me strutting our stuff in Spain!

Getting Carded

2011-05-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have gotten carded TWO TIMES in the last week. The first time it happened I was annoyed, I looked at the woman thinking, why are you bothering me with this nonsense, clearly I am over 21. But then I decided it was kind of cool. I mean, I don't think anyone actually thinks I'm under 21, but maybe they think I'm some age that should still be carded - 30ish? Early 30ish? Maybe?

As many of you know, it was my birthday last week. I turned an age that, well, maybe needs to be considered middle age. According to Wikipedia, the Oxford English Dictionary defines middle age as "the period between early adulthood and old age, usually considered as the years from about 45 to 65". Others classify it 40-65. Both would be me (46). But, I don't want to be middle aged. I have very negative connotations of middle age women. When I think middle age I think suburban, over weight, a couple kids (not that kids is a negative thing), mini van, polyester, not very happy, helmet hair. None of these are things that I want to be. Actually, I think I can say pretty safely that none of these are things I am.

Here's what else wikipedia has to say "Physical fitness usually wanes, with a 5–10 kg (10-20 lb) accumulation of body fat, reduction in aerobic performance and a decrease in maximal heart rate. " Okay, so none of those things have happened either. Maybe one is only middle age if they gain weight and get lazy and out of shape. Maybe one in only middle age if they DON'T GET CARDED TWICE IN ONE WEEK.

Last week. I squatted 176 pounds 15 times. I deadlifted 200 pounds 24 times. I cleaned and jerked 77 pounds 91 (yes 91!) times (that's 7007 pounds from ground to over head in 17 minutes). And I bench pressed my body weight. So, maybe I get a couple more years before I turn middle age.......

We'll talk next year.

The Staycation

2011-04-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

Is there anything more brilliant than being on vacation? I've been taking a the day of my birth off of work forever (why the hell would you work on your birthday?). But about 4 years ago I started taking time off for my birthday. For the last few years this has involved some type of trip, but this year I decided to just take a week off. I have been extremely excited for weeks now and yesterday was the first day.

And it was absolutely perfect!

65-70 degrees. WARM. It was warm. If you don't live in Seattle at the moment you cannot truly understand the brilliance of this. It has not been warm in Seattle this year. Even if it happens to manage to be sunny, it has been COLD! I can't tell you how many times I have gone outside in normal spring time clothes and nearly frozen to death. Really! All 'spring' if I haven't had a down coat and gloves on I've been cold (and, of course, grouchy). But yesterday, all one can really say is OMG. We all lay in the sun and just felt warm.
Crossfit. Have I mentioned I LOVE Crossfit? Yesterday morning I arrived at Crossfit with low expectation after not sleeping properly for 3 nights. All my favorite Crossfiters were there including some very strong ladies. Typically these women are just a little bit faster than me (especially if there any jumping involved - as my legs are virtually fast twitch free). Yesterday, we did a lot of running (starting with 1200 meters), pullups and thrusters (heavy bar held at chest level, squat down and stand up thrusting bar overhead). I decided I just needed to go at my own pace and not worry about trying to keep up with the fast ladies. So at the end of the 1200 meter run they were well ahead of me. Jump ahead a few levels of pain later to the second set of thrusters, I pulled ahead and never looked back!! Fastest female at proscribed weight, second fastest overall!
Spring greens = the best salad ever! I forgot about farmer's markets and really really fresh light FLAVORFUL vegetables. Yes I have been going to the farmer's market all 'spring', but heavy root winter vegetables are not the same as a truly fresh, light salad mix. I can't wait for the real stuff to start (strawberries, raspberries, peaches, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, broccoli that taste like candy!).
8pm bed time. Yes it was Saturday. And yes it had been sunny all day so everyone in the city was probably out having an incredible amount of fun. But I'd been out two nights in a row and hadn't been sleeping so at 8 I got in bed to read and the next thing you know I'm sound asleep -- for 10 beautiful glorious hours of rest!

I'm trying to think what else made yesterday so awesome. It's not like I did anything outstanding. I think it was the summer break feeling. You know when it's warm out and you know you're going to be free for a long time. So the first couple days (before the 'mom, I'm bored' sets in), you're just happy!

South Lake Union

2011-04-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

See how happy SLU people are!

Any of you who have driven in Seattle have probably at some point been plagued by traffic on Mercer Street. It's a mess. And now that Amazon has moved their head quarters to the area, it's only getting worse. The city has a plan to make this better, they're making it two way, instead of one way. I'm really not sure how a two way street is going to improve things, but, I digress. The real point is that yesterday Mercer was closed in preparation of it's new bi status, and I had to detour into the heart of South Lake Union to get myself up to Capitol Hill.

So yesterday, I had a little impromptu tour of South Lake Union. And let me tell you, it kind of rocks! There are lots of fancy new condo buildings (filled with Amazon working hipsters), tons of restaurants including a new Tom Douglas hot spot. There is a fancy new park (with the extra fancy title of Lake Union Park) that has a toy boat pond and a bunch of cool old ships. There is a pea patch! A street car name SLUT that people actually ride (it seems like it doesn't go very far, so I'm always surprised when people ride it). Not to mention, massage, yoga, martial arts, coffee shops, a hardware store, whole foods! Seriously it's all there.

As I drove through, I saw lots of smiley people in restaurants and people meandering to places they needed to be. I guess you could say it looked very self contained without being in the middle of downtown.

So, I think that's where I want to live. Not now. Now I have my house that I love. I have my own personal green space. I have lots of cute little sprouting plants that need a place to live. A dog that lives only to lie in the 'sun'. But, I think that might be my 10 year plan. In 10 years, when I get sick of taking care of my house, buying new roofs, weeding the endless blackberry, dandelion and ivy sprouts that will not stop cropping up. In 10 years, I will buy a cute little condo in walking distance of everything. Of course, in 10 years I will be the old lady in a sea of old hipsters, but as long as I'm still doing Crossfit, at least I'll be able to kick their butts!

'Please please, don't take me away from my sun spot!'

Updates

2011-04-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm guessing you all are dying to hear updates on project homesteading. I believe someone made a Portlandia comment in regards to my new meat requirements. Yes, I have become just like the Portlandia 'Ordering a Chicken Episode' and it's a bit ridiculous. But let me just state for the record, that I DO NOT go to restaurants and ask where my meat came from. I may worry about it, but, really, that would be embarrassing.

Anyhow, I have been (well, twice now) cooking whole chickens. The first chicken was good. The second chicken was pretty much amazing! (It was so good, I had to hold my mom back, as she was trying to deprive me of leftovers).

And, twice now, I have made chicken stock. The first time it's didn't work so well. I ended up feeding the stock to the dog until it went bad. Then I threw it out. The second time, I actually followed a recipe and then froze it (yep, the happy homesteader). Last night I made soup with my stock. Yes, soup from my very own stock!! It is the first time I've ever made soup without dumping stock out of a can. Last night I thought my soup was okay. But I forgot that soup gets better. Today, my soup was the very best thing ever eaten on this planet. Can I mention that cooking a whole chicken, then making stock, then making soup is essentially 3 major projects. This takes a lot of time and effort. It's a good thing the food is tasty. As I told a friend this week, I will make someone a fine wife. (Well, at least I would have made a fine wife in the 50s - well maybe 1850s. Now guys will probably just think I'm crazy.)

In other exciting news, the vegetables are growing. Well, most of them are growing. The beets are on the back porch and they are just starting to sprout. The walla walla sweet starts have survived the deluge of rain we had this week and seem to be doing quite well also. Everything else is inside in the 'professional' greenhouse and doing okay. The broccoli family (kale and broccoli) grew a bit too quickly and are now all droopy. The purslane, which for some reason I'm extra excited about, is doing a lot of nothing. Pepper, onions and basil are good. Everybody is getting excited about their trip outdoors. However, given that I am still wearing down coats and gloves, it may be a while before they get that adventure. Though they did move to the window today.

That's all I got.

A rather blurry picture of Daisy guarding the veggies in the glory days,

before the broccoli family got droopy.

Droopy Broccoli in it's new home.

Complete gratuitous but insanely cute picture of my friend's

new puppy, Penny (+ tween hand).

Things About Myself That Drive Me Crazy

2011-04-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

This could be an extremely long (endless?) blog post, but I'll just keep it short and start with the current item of dismay, my complete inability to throw something away until it is COMPLETELY empty. One would think I had grown up in the depression, or at least raised by people who grew up in the depression. But neither is actually the case (I am much to young for that).

That case at hand, you may not be able to see it from the pictures, but these dish soaps are basically empty. There is a tiny bit of detergent in both of them. Any normal person might decide they are finished and throw them away (I have already purchased their replacement). Unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to do that. This means two things. First, when I try to get soap out of the bottle it takes lots of time and shaking. And secondly and even more vexing, bottles with very little content do not stay upright. So I am continually knocking both of them over, which is extremely annoying. Not to mention the fact that I have two bottles sitting on my counter at all times.

Not to embarrass them unduly, but my family does this as well. Well probably not my brother, but I know my sister makes sure she finished every drop. The other day my mom offered me some soap she had saved from a hotel. I'm afraid I reacted rather strongly. You see, I have my own little soaps that I have been unable to leave at hotels and am desperately trying to get rid of. I cannot take on anyone else's soap guilt.

Project Vegetable, Part 2

2011-03-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

PROFESSIONAL Greenhouse!

Garden beds.

The first one has tiny onions planted in rows that may not be far enough apart!

I know you have all been waiting on the edge of your seats for an update on the vegetable project. (Actually, I thought you had all been waiting on the edge of your seats, but it turns out my mom hasn't even managed to read 'Project Vegetable, Part 1'. If my mom isn't keeping up, it's possible none of you are. But I will carry on as if you're dying to hear anyhow.)

This was a big week. Seeds were planted. Planters were built (thanks Seattle Feed! I highly recommend them is anyone wants planters or chicken coops, http://www.seattlefeed.com/). We're off and running. There are now at least 216 more beings alive this week because of me - though a caveat is that probably 1/2 of those will be killed off before they make it outside to the garden (survival of the fittest and all).

I bought a bunch of seeds and was going to start them inside, because it seems that is what you do when you live in Seattle. First things first, I read all the instructions on the packets and was a bit dismayed to find that each type of vegetable has a different set of rules for growth - time you plant, where you plant, temperature etc etc. It's almost enough to make one want to throw up one's hands and give up. But, no, I was not deterred. I was, however, concerned because these little plantlets wanted to be warm. My house, though warmer than outside, it not warm during most of the day or at night. So, I went shopping. At Lowe's I found the Jiffy Heated PROFESSIONAL Greenhouse. Yes, foks, this is what the professionals use. I reached a new level in my gardening career in my one trip to Lowes.

And, guess what, it worked. A week out and my little plants are has happy as can be. I am sure there are many more hurdles to jump over. But we'll take this project step by step.

On another note entirely, I was doing some work in the garden and when I finished, Otto was sitting staring at the garden beds and would not come in. So, I left him out. Ten minutes or so later when I went out to take pictures, he was just sitting by the Subaru. He wouldn't move until I finally enticed him inside with food. Crazy dog!

???????

Happy animals, revisiting my food obsession!

2011-03-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm talking about happy food again. I have fallen further into the food deep end. You all have witnessed my slide. A quick recap, two and a half years ago I was a vegetarian (20 years), then no wheat, no dairy, then no soy, which led to meat eating (at some point, you’ve got to eat something). Then I went paleo (no grains). And don't get me wrong, paleo is a great place to be. I'm very happy with what I eat (and feel great). But I’ve been researching food, its origins and its effect on the body. And it’s taking me to a new scary place. No longer can I buy organic chicken breast from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Turns out, that poor mass produced chicken really doesn’t have much better of a life than its antibiotic filled counterpart. These days my chicken has to have spent its life scuttling about the fields eating bugs out of cow manure. To find that chicken, you have to buy the whole damn chicken and not just the breast!! Which, really, is a completely new level of commitment. (I know I talked about making that commitment before, but I hadn't actually done it.) I knew that I had totally lost it last night. I finished pulling the meat off my happy chicken and promptly felt compelled to drop the carcass in a pot of water to make broth. Yes, I’m cooking chicken broth so I can use the whole damn chicken.

Now, I have a huge pot of chicken broth sitting in my refrigerator and I have no idea what to do with it. Yes, I can make soup. Or it seems (according to Google) that I can freeze it. But picture this, I will probably be eating a chicken a week. That is A LOT of broth. I can just imagine the little baggies of chicken broth multiplying in my freezer - never to be heard from again. Currently, the dog is enjoying chicken broth with his meals.

And then there is beef. I've started eating more of it, after becoming fully enamored with the description of happy cows living in harmony with their roaming chicken counterparts. But it seems that one has to be even more careful with one's beef. Beef is frequently touted as 'grain fed' or 'grain finished', as if this is the best thing ever. Unfortunately, in the world of omega 3s and happy cows, this is no good. One needs not just cows that were happy most of their lives, but 100 percent grass fed cows that have lived blissful, stress free lives (it seems stress is bad in something you're going to eat) and never so much as thought of a piece of corn.

And what's next? What happens when I decide I need to buy the whole damn cow?

YES!

NO!

Project Vegetable, Part 1

2011-03-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Otto decided he could be most useful by grazing on the grass around the rose bushes.

I have wanted, considered, talked about, talked myself out of, tested with tomato plants, growing vegetables for many years. I have grown flowers since I have owned houses, but never vegetables (except for the failed tomato attempts I have documented in this blog on previous occasions). Vegetables are scary. I don't know why they are scary compared to flowers, but they make me nervous. The probability for failure seems much higher!

Last year, I hatched a vegetable garden plan. First I thought I'd plant veggies in the back yard, but the backyard gets no sun, so that seemed a bad idea. Then I thought, hmmm, the best place for sun is the parking strip in front of the house. As anyone who has been to my house knows, that parking strip has been full of rose bushes since I bought my house. But, the more I thought about it, the more that seemed the only acceptable, sunny place to plant vegetables. Now, the roses in front of the house are the wandering beach kind, they send out little runners and pop up everywhere. So removing them seemed a daunting task, but none the less, I began to talk about my new vegetable garden and the raised vegetables bed I was going to build.

Okay, so let's stop here and mention that while I was thinking/talking about all this, I couldn't really imagine it actually happening. Last fall I tried to remove one of the rose bushes and it was a ton of work and ultimately unsuccessful (partly because my shovel had vanished so I was attempting it without). And building raised beds? I know it's probably easy, but really, me ever actually doing it? And making it look nice? Probably not. So I had this idea, but really didn't think it would actually happen. I thought it would just fade away.......

Then, I was walking Otto on our regular daily walk by my nice vegetable planting chicken owning neighbor's house. Outside my neighbor's house was a truck with a logo of a company called seattlefeed. When I got home and googled, it turns out my neighbor recently started a business that builds chicken coops and raised flower beds. It's a small (perhaps micro) business they used reclaimed materials when possible and they're all about producing your own food in a sustainable manner. In no time at all, I decided I just needed to jump right in, support the business and pay to get beds made. If I pay a. they will actually get made and b. I will feel obligated to actually attempt to grow food.

So I made an appointment and my new beds are being installed next week! The Seattle Feed folks are oh so nice. They (okay, she) will, of course, remove the rose bushes as well. But that was at an hourly rate and seemed unnecessary. I can certainly handle some manual labor. So today I went to Lowes, rebought a shovel, and went to work. Three hours later I'm exhausted and thinking of the many many hours of work, plus months and months of time before I taste even one vegetable (currently existing as seeds in packets on my counter). BUT, I'm very excited. I am going to try to have no expectations. I'm going to do a little research, throw a bunch of stuff in and see what takes. And you all, my lucky, loyal readers, get to be there with me every step of the way! Whoop, whoop!

My beautiful new shovel, mid shove.

Almost done! Well, almost done with the pre phase. Many more to go.

Vacuum

2011-03-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

First, can I mention, I hate the word vacuum. I can never remember if it is two Cs or two Us.

And before yesterday I had never heard of the word Dyson. In fact, yesterday when a friend posted on his facebook page that it was a good day for Dysoning I wasn't sure what the heck he was talking about. Then today (yes two days in a row!), another friend posted a link to a Dyson vacuum asking if they were really that great and if she should get one. So, since I am sitting in front of my computer doing a very good job of avoiding exactly that very thing (vacuuming), I took a click on that link as another excuse to procrastinate the house keeping that is desperately calling my name with increasing volume and intensity. And now, after that click, it seems as a pet owner my life will not be complete until I spend $500+ on a super cool new vacuum.

There were hints that I needed a new vacuum a couple months ago. I went to a friends house for thanksgiving and they have a robot vacuum. It's a little disk that you turn on and it runs around the house (by itself) and vacuums your floor. Suddenly I realized that vacuum technology had left me far behind!

I bought my vacuums at the Central Vacuum Service in Seattle. It's a cool, locally owned, super lo-fi store. It's been in business for 35+. They fix vacuums. They sell used vacuums. They will let you take home a vacuum to test without any deposit. I have purchased two vacuums from them. The first (a used vacuum I bought 17 years ago now) when, I realized that the old Hoover that I had inherited from my mom was doing nothing for the pet hair in my house. The second when I finally realized that perhaps a vacuum that was designed for rugs would work better on rugs than a canister with no rug attachment (hmm).

And now it's finally sinking in that there are even further stratifications of vacuums. I have always just thought of a vacuum as a vacuum as a vacuum. But maybe you don't have to be extra frustrated when you vacuum because the hose is not properly attached and falls out multiple times as you move around the house. And just maybe, some vacuum that pet hair a little better than others. Is this the type of thing you need to get married for, or do I just buy one. This might be the first thing on my registry. Hello fellows!

Blogging

2011-03-09T18:51:00.001-08:00

A friend just started a new blog and it reminded me of how much I love both blogging and reading friends' blogs. I check my friends' blogs regularly and get very excited anytime one of them has an update. I find them fascinating, it's like reading a public diary. I love seeing the public face people present. With some friends I get a detailed view into their brain - thoughts and feelings that I might not normally see. With others, I see a very positive public image different that what is expressed in my day to day interaction with them. In either case, I learn new things about friends, things I would never learn chatting at a party or in an email.

And I find the process of blogging interesting as well. For me, I will having nothing to blog, nothing to blog and then suddenly the perfect blog. And it's hard to even know why something will be the 'perfect blog' in my head. It's usually something pretty mundane, but something about it just resonates. I hate coming up with the 'perfect blog' when I'm away from a computer and will be for hours. Then the blog becomes almost painful. I begin to dread the process of writing it. Over and over my brain runs through all the insightful, illustrative, witty things I want to say in hopes that I won't lose them all before I sit down at the computer. Sometimes the weight becomes so heavy, that the blog never happens. The act of writing it down becomes too much of a burden or I talk myself out of it.

And sometimes my blogs turn out great and sometimes, to reuse a word from last month, meh. Sometimes I become so enamored with my blogs that I read them over and over again, fascinated that I could have turned out something so clever and entertaining (perhaps a case of 'a face only a mother could love'). Sometimes, I get a little embarrassed about my blog and don't want to share. ( I think I have really good blog phases and not so good blog phases. I'm still in love with the Guilty Pleasure series.)

In general, I think have a blog makes me better - smarter, cooler, hipper, more cutting edge. I like saying 'I have a blog' and meaning not only that I have a blog, but that I blog regularly. Somehow, having a blog, even a blog that maybe 10 people (mostly relatives) read, makes me a part of something bigger. Somehow I put myself in line with the bloggers who do it for a living with millions of readers, they, like me, are bloggers.

Funny story, once I was conversing online with someone I had met through an internet dating site. He was an artist or designer or some nonsense, and wanted to know if I was creative. I replied no, not remotely. When that was clearly the wrong answer, I remembered my blog and directed him to it. Suddenly, it seemed I passed the creative test. My blog did make me more fascinating, cuter and more cosmopolitan. Of course, we never did meet. Somehow in the next set of emails he decided I was very narcissistic and canceled a date we had planned. (Yo buddy, if you're reading this blog, just so you know you missed out big time! Though of course my a. thinking he might be reading my blog and b. thinking he missed out, will probably only strengthen his belief in my narcissism.)

Anyhow, the weight of this blog is now off my shoulders. Thanks to all my friends for writing your blogs, I eagerly await your new posts. And thanks for reading mine!

Make that extra salty, please!

2011-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

Salt Soup!

So for some unknown, very annoying reason, Seattle had decided that it's still winter. Yes, I know officially it is still winter, but it's almost March. In Seattle, the flowers are starting to bud and it's time to start thinking about spring. Except, not now. Snow, temperatures below 20 ARGHHHHH!!!!

So all week long there has been lots of talk about snow. In fact, that's pretty much all anyone has been talking about all week. The snow that was falling, the snow that wasn't falling, the snow that might fall etc. I think actually there was a lot of snow in surrounding areas, but in Seattle we didn't actually get much snow. What we did get was salt! So here's the seattle salt story. A couple years ago we had a really big snow storm. The Seattle powers that be decided that they didn't want to salt the streets. I guess salt runs off the road and gets in the water and is bad for the environment. So Seattle leaders decided no salt, but lots of dirt (oh, maybe sand). So it snowed, they dumped tons of sand on the street, the snow didn't melt, driving wasn't any easier and we just had lots of very dirty 6 - 12 inch mounds of snow all over our streets. It made driving very nearly impossible and cycling absolutely impossible. So, as people will do when the weather has the audacity to impact their lives, they complained. A lot. The politicians got nervous. And, now we salt. (Okay, there were actually quite a few reasons to legitimately complain about how the city handled that storm, salt may or may not have been one of them.)

So, all day yesterday there were warnings of snow and the city went crazy with the salt. I was riding my bike home thinking, oh, it must have snowed, but then realizing I was actually crunching on salt not snow. Last night it finally did snow. It was kind of warm when it snowed, then quickly got cold. Usually, that is a recipe for ice disaster. And sure enough, in the morning, there was a thin layer of ice on everything...... EXCEPT where it was salty. Guess what Seattle, unlike, sand, salt actually MELTS snow and ice. So, on the salted roads NOTHING. Totally clear. And guess what, it was awesome. I got to work easily. I didn't have to worry about near death from slipping on ice. And now the streets are completely clear.

Now, I don't know what the environmental argument is here. I am not so sure that dumping tons of sand on the streets is really any better for the environment than lots of salt. They probably both suck and kill plants and wildlife and fish. And I'm sure the steel on my bike is developing rust right as we speak. But, personally, I'll take salt with my snow. Thanks Seattle!

The Bike Lock

2011-02-16T19:23:00.001-08:00

Out with the old.

I believe I purchased this lock in 1989 in honor of the purchase of my first ever, shiny new road bike, the Specialized Allez Pro. The Allez Pro needed all the protection it could get, as it was very cutting edge for the time - 8 speed handle bar shifters and clipless pedals and who knows what other fancy innovations. Those may be nothing now, but in 1989, they were the bomb. (On a side note, the handle bar shifters did wonders for my bike handling, but the clipless pedals not so much. They were a tight and many a stop light involved slow motion crashes when I was unable to get my foot out of the pedal.) The Allez Pro is a little less shiny today, but it is still my daily commuter bike and is still being locked by the above vintage Kryptonite ulock. (No, I am no longer falling down at every stop.)

There is a slight possibility this lock appeared in my life in 1996. In 1996 I was riding my GT Karakoram. Ah, how I loved that bike. Unfortunately, I would leave it outside Seattle Central Community College where I was taking night classes. One night I came out and the bike and the cable lock that was attaching it to the bike rack were long gone, never to be seen again. Very sad. It's possible I bought the ulock in response to the theft, but the more I consider it, the more I'm thinking that I had the u lock, and I just used the cable lock because it was so much lighter.

So, we're going with 1989. That means I have owned and used this lock regularly for about 1/2 my very long lifetime. At some point, 2005 or so, Kryptonite came out with the announcement that these ulocks had a fatal flaw. Essentially they could be jacked open with the end of a Bic pen! At the time I thought seriously about replacing it. But just never did. I think I even went into bike stores to buy a new one on multiple occasions, but some how always talked myself out of it. I also meant to test the Bic pen trick, but never did that either.

But today was the day. I went into a bike store to buy brake pads and walked out with a new bike lock! Good bye old lock!

Whew, what a week. A new recycling bin and a new bike lock. Who has time to be depressed about Valentine's day!

In with the new!

Love is in the air, or not.

2011-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

Ah Valentine's day and the single life. A day of watching frenzied flower shoppers. A day of smiling couples walking hand in hand. A day of super sweet facebook posts between husband and wife. A few weeks ago, I had some hope that although my valentine's day might not be all romance, candle and flowers, perhaps it would be, well, neutral. Unfortunately, in the last few days a couple events occurred that downgraded the day from neutral to 'meh'! Fortunately, a wonderful company named Green and Black, makes an absolutely amazing 85% dark organic chocolate that can put a little pep in the step of even the most lovelorn (and I am certainly not the most lovelorn). And while, I did have to buy that chocolate myself, it is on sale at both Madison Market and Whole Foods. So there's that.

And don't get me wrong, I am 100% in favor of the romance and the uber sweetness! And can certainly be happy for those who have it. May you all have a fabulous Valentine's Day full of lots and lots of love and satisfied expectations!

Look What I Got Today!

2011-02-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

It's new and it's blue and it's going to roll like crazy!

Big excitement in my life today. After 5 years of using a broken recycling bin (wheel that didn't work), I just got a shiny new one. And not only is it shiny and new, but it's blue!

My recycling bin was broken when I moved into my house. I didn't do anything about it, because, even though it was kind of a pain to move every time I needed to take the recycling out, the bin never went very far (about 5 feet) and was never very heavy. But then two weeks ago, it was gone. Poof! Disappeared! Stolen? Absconded by the recycling bin fairy? Sold on the black market? Taken by a stalker? Who knows, but I'm pretty happy it got lost!

I'm not sure which is more pathetic, the fact that this is all I can find to blog about. Or the fact that my life is so dull that this is a semi exciting event.

I've Been Searchin' High

2011-01-27T17:30:00.001-08:00

Okay, bonus points to anyone who can get the musical reference in the title. I'm guessing my sister can. Anyone else? I actually heard this very song just this week. As I was cruisin' the Vegas strip in my snazzy (shall I say glitzy?) Ford Focus. And I will admit publicly, I was kind of excited to hear it and sing along. Hopefully, you all either don't know the song and/or aren't too thoroughly disgusted by my admission.

But, moving on to the real topic of this blog, my new shoes! So, I have been searching for the perfect pair of shoes. I knew essentially how I wanted them to look, even if I did not have the exact details. But unfortunately, these shoes were proving very elusive, for months. I have searched the internet. I have searched pages and pages of shoes on Polyvore (and actually found some that would have worked, but they were always either extra expensive or old and no longer in stock). I have searched every store I have been in since November. Nowhere.

Basically, I just wanted a really basic pair of oxfords. Not the current trendy laceless ones. Not the small heeled 80s dance shoe style that seem to be 'en vogue'. Not sparkly. Just basic, solid oxfords. I actually bought a pair in Vegas that, though not actual oxfords, I thought might fill the void, but alas, after 100s of try ons and obsessing over them in the Westin mirror, I decided they just wouldn't work.

So today, I was in Nordstrom for something completely different, stamps actually, and I decided to just swing by the shoe departments. After a quick futile review, I was ready to walk out in defeat, when an associate I know said hi and asked what I was up to. I replied that I was looking for the perfect shoe. He as asked if it was something specific and when I said oxfords, he said that they were just about to get a bunch in. Then he thought for a minute and said, but we have one pair......

So, he started leading me to a fixture. Now, I knew this fixture. Moments before I had seen lace up shoes on that fixture and taken a look. My quick glance had reveal the...., okay, I will stop myself and not say ugliest, because they weren't as much ugly, as practical. They are what my family might call 'orthos', which stands for orthopedic shoes. Basically, a pair of extremely comfortable shoes that should never be worn by someone under 70 or so. As he led me over I was dismayed, did he really think so little of my fashion sense that he thought I might want those shoes? But guess what, nestled in between the brown and black orthos, was the most perfect, beautiful pair of oxfords.

And the rest is history!

Faux(,) Glitz, and Glitter

2011-01-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

AKA Vegas Baby! I went to Vegas for the first time ever this week. Turns out, I probably could have gone my entire life without Vegas and not missed anything. I was ready to leave after an hour or two. And dark sleep, forget about it!

Perhaps a photo montage will suffice.......

Me ready for my hot night out on the town (by myself)

I'm sure I'm supposed to look at this and be awed by beauty and inspiration, but really,

how much electricity is being used! Oh wait, too curmudgeonly?

Paris? No Vegas!

Venice?? Oh wait, still Vegas.

Barry Manilow and Cher were there, who knew they were still singing.

Michael Jackson is ALIVE!

Glitz, glitter and an INFINITE number of photos and photo ops!

Rabbits and China. Seems it's Chinese new year and the year of the rabbit.

So all the hotels jumped on that band wagon.

Many super fancy malls, very expensive stores, and few shoppers.

This was inside, it only pretended to be outside. It came complete with a thunderstorm.

The 50s are back.

Cool walkway, just because.

Even the UGGs were a little glitzier.

My breakfast came with its very own, brand new condiments.

Thank god we weren't reusing the ketchup bottle.

The dogs poop on astroturf!

There were hundreds of these very annoying card slapping guys. I think they were naked lady cards.

The birds poop in garbage cans.

My glorious trip, 3 days too many in vegas, ended with a 12 hour nightmare trip home, a broken down plane and missing luggage. That event was only slightly improved by this lady and her bird. Here she is holding it over a garbage can urging it repeatly to poop!

I'll take mine pitch black, please.

2011-01-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

I am reading yet another book about why living like our ancestors is healthy and how our modern society is killing us. This book, The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf is pretty cool because it describes the science (chemical processes) behind his claims. Which, despite the fact he's not actually quote any studies, certainly convinces me! (He certainly sounds good and he actually does site sources, probably with studies, in the back of the book.) And this is probably a sign of my slightly obsessive, neurotic nature but after reading the chapter about sleeping in the dark, I'm out shopping for a blackout curtain. Blackout curtains sound like something you'd get in the middle of a war when you're bombed nightly, but it turns out they're a thing. I google 'blackout curtain' and find that Target, Walmart and overstock.com are all selling them.

So here's the thing about sleep. I guess it's not good enough to just sleep 8 hours. He recommends 8-9 and never waking up with an alarm clock. Unfortunately, even if I could manage no alarm clock, I have a regular 'dog alarm', which when snooze it hit, activates its back up 'cat alarm'. And beyond lots of hours asleep it needs to be pitch black when you sleep. This includes no glowing clocks, no tvs, no computers. This very brief explanation is, any light in your room is translated back to your body, proteins and nasty hormones are released, and you age, get/stay fat, and then get lots of nasty diseases!

Whoo. So I unplugged the alarm clock. And started sleeping with the doors closed. It's much darker now. It's actually a little scary! I haven't slept without a glowing clock since, I don't know, never??? Red glowing lights can't be good, right? So far, two nights in, I'm not sure my sleep is that much better (it wasn't bad before) but I'm positive the chemical balance in my body is much better. Actually, I think my real issue, once I get everything dark and cosy, will be the animals. Otto sleeps outside the room but wakes up EARLY (he, of course, is on the 20-22 hour per day sleep plan). Daisy sleeps with me and has to be touching body parts. This results in waking up more frequently than I would like. But, I will persevere. Off to purchase my blackout curtain, NOT from Walmart (which I am sure would release many nasty hormones and kill me quickly!).

Is this my life?

2011-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Before

This morning I was trying to find a plastic container to put some salad in. I found the plastic container no problem, then proceeded to pull out about 10 or so lids. Lids that appeared to be the EXACT size of the container, but did NOT actually fit! This, of course, ended with many plastic containers and lids on the floor and me trying to convince the dog that I wasn't mad at him, but myself. It might be hard to tell from the picture, but the ratio of LIDS to containers is probably 20 to 1 and still none fit!

Anyhow, I'm now mid project 'plastic clean up and recycle'. I need maybe two of these in my life.

After! Recycling the black bin occupants.

And, just as an added bonus to this blog. I realize I have been light on Otto photos. Well, fortunately for all of you, there just happened to be some really cute Otto photos left over on my camera that downloaded when the plastic pictures did.

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ahhh, the cutest thing ever!

Shopping Haulers, Part 2

2011-01-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that today we get to talk about another kind of shopping hauler. This shopping hauler is not of the cute and slightly precocious tween/teen type. This shopping hauler is of the evil, insidious criminal type. Specifically, this is the person who decided they needed to start using my debit card!

I should start out by saying this has never happened before. I have never had my wallet stolen, my identity compromised or my card numbers used. Of course, in my last job I heard about and tried, with limited success, to fight it. I sat in on meetings with banks talking about the millions of accounts compromised when the Hartford credit card processing company was hacked. I heard about investigations of gas station account number scammers. I talked to countless victims. But somehow I was personally unaffected.

Until yesterday that is. I got a call from a company hired by my debit card bank to suss out criminal charges on their cards. They wanted to check to see if I had been making some purchases. Specifically a purchase at Walgreen's in Indiana. Come on Mr Criminal. You can be a little sexier with my card than a $62 purchase at Walgreens! It seems that this fraud finding company has some pretty good algorithms, because, as far as I can tell, Mr Criminal only got away with a $34 charge at 'speedway', the above mentioned charge at walgreens, and a $1 test charge at some online store (that is probably right before he was about to go really crazy). And I must say I am mighty thankful, as this was a debit card Mr. Criminal is taking money directly from my checking account.

My actual debit card, of course, is nestled comfortably and safely in my wallet right where it belongs. And it's a funny crime, because it feels so personal, this person is stealing money directly from my account and me, but it is SO impersonal. Who knows where my account number came from? I know I've never seen the person who used it or stole it. I don't enter it online much, but maybe I paid for something cyberly and someone got it there. Maybe (probably most likely), there was an account number capture device attached to some gas station pump I used. Maybe a restaurant worker took it. Or again a little piece of scandalous plastic was attached to a restaurant register to capture my number. And most likely, Mr. Criminal who used my card didn't actually steal my number. That was a different Mr. Criminal. Mr. Criminal #1 probably purchased my account number from one of the many websites that sells compromised account numbers and, if they are lucky, names addresses and pin number. (The prices for a stolen charge number varies, depending on the amount of data that comes with it.)

Anyhow, it could have been much worse. I am very thankful my criminal was thrifty! I would offer sage advice, but I don't know what one could do aside from never using credit cards. With account numbers flying around the cybersphere ripe for the picking, this is only going to keep happening with increasing frequency. Maybe some day, we will all have some secret code attached to our person, and only we can unlock our account number. Until then, the criminals will keep winning this game.

Shopping Haulers

2011-01-08T12:00:00.001-08:00

So NPR had a story this week about shopping haulers and I thought it was so bizarre that I needed to check it out. I guess YouTube is the number 2 search engine. That means Google is number one. As every fool in this country goes to google every time they need to find out something, that's pretty obvious. But YouTube? I guess I'm just not cool enough or haven' t figured it out. I go to YouTube and after about a minute I run out of things to search for or I've watched a minute or two of a video and my very limited attention span and interest has run out. But, I guess that is not true for most people. They searchin' and watchin' like crazy.

And I guess haulin' too. It seems one of the things people are searching for are shopping haulers or haul videos. And it seems that there are hundreds of thousands of these videos on YouTube. These are people that go shopping (I guess mostly tween and teen girls) and then come home and video themselves describing, in GREAT detail, what they bought. Yes, this happens! And the videos are long. Most of the ones I saw are over 10 minutes long. And they get watched, thousands of times. Shoot, one very popular shopping hauler has videos that have been watched over 600,000 times - I kid you not. Wait, some even over 1 millon times! In fact, it looks like she has gotten so popular that the news media has picked up and she's been on good morning america.

So I watched a couple of these and they are really not so interesting. Yes, I get very excited when I get a deal on something new. And I think once I even went so far as to blog about a very fiscally sound flax oil purchase!!!!! But, video taping my excitement? Or caring about anyone elses excitement? One girl went to walmart and target and blogged about staples she got there. Then she went to some store called Joy Joy (or something) and was all excited because she got 30 things for $49.25. I lasted long enough for her to show me a $1 brush and four pairs of super cheap earrings that will probably be discarded as trash quickly, before I decided I really didn't care and was wasting valuable minutes of my life.

Oh and can I just mention, that all these vloggers spend their entire video looking at the camera self consciously and straightening their clothing and hair!

Anyhow. I just thought all of you would want some help staying as cutting edge as possible! And me, now I am cutting edge as YouTube has pegged as a hauler lover. When I pull up Tube all that pops up are hauler videos!

I'm so Tween!

Thank Heaven!

2011-01-01T10:26:00.001-08:00

Before we wax poetically about the new year that is now upon us, let's take care of some business. Today is 1/1/11. I really just wanted a chance to type that out and this is probably the only chance I'll get today. Of course, soon we will have the very similar 1/11/11 or in many months, the best of all, 11/11/11. But anyhow, it's my blog so, I just wanted to get that in.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 to the whine of the dog. He likes to do that when I'm not waking up appropriately. Usually this happens sometime between 5.45 and 6.45, so I was pretty happy with 7.30. I opened my eyes and out my window was this amazing, beautiful pink sunrise band through the trees in the green space. I have now decided that this portends peace, harmony and happiness for 2011. So, we have that to look forward to. Of course, this beautiful peace, harmony, happiness sunrise was followed quickly by some guy going out of his way to walk across the park to yell at me for having my dog off leash (yes, that's the same whiny dog who incidently was not bothering this man even slightly!). But I digress, I will not let that mere blip in my new year day to ruin the whole year.

Thinking back on 2010, I realize that major things happened last year - new jobs, major relationship changes, just to name of few of the many. As a result, there was some stress flowing. But, it was stress that should lead me to better happier places. And, so far it seems to be good. As regular readers will know, December, not so much for me. But this December, shoot, I was practically cheerful most of the month!!

I know, how is that possible. Anyhow, between that and the sunrise, well, we're expecting big and great things from 2011 here in Seattle. I'm hoping that proves true to me, and for all of you as well.

Happy happy!

Gloom and Doom

2010-12-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

Buying less this year!

Most who know me, realize that December is not my favorite month. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 12, with 1 being 'best' (April) and 12 being 'why bother', December would probably rank a 12 most years. One of thing things I particularly dislike about December are the endless news stories about the economy and Christmas and black friday and how the holiday shopping season is going to hell in a hand basket. Blahblahblah. It seems like every story is about how this retailers has done this particular markdown or is open these hours and that means this terrible thing. Or someone sneezed just a little funny and it caused them to drop something they were going to buy and now they won't buy it so the entire retail holiday shopping season has blown to hell. Each data point feels over analyzed and blown out of proportion.

Take for example the NPR story I heard this morning. The story was about what current gas prices (I guess they have gone up, I didn't notice) may mean for holiday shoppers. So they talked to some industry expert who was all freaked out. Then they interviewed one (YES, ONLY ONE) holiday shopper. She had just walked out of Costco and had a cart LOADED with toys, food etc. She went on for a while about how gas was $3.20 and how high that way. Then the interviewer asked her if that was going to effect her holiday shopping. She said, no, that she had saved money and that she was buying everything she had planned to buy for her kids. Then she said MAYBE she and her husband would buy less for each other. Maybe, mind you. And she did not sound very convinced. However, the interviewer was. He then concluded that the high gas prices were indeed effecting holiday shoppers. Implying by extension, heaven help the retailers.

Now, I'm not sure a woman who just walked about of Costco with an entire cart full o' crap saying she might buy less for her husband is really a sign that gas prices are hurting the economy. And maybe, just maybe, she (we) should be buying less crap! And maybe, just maybe, high gas prices are okay and they will make us drive less. Which just may be a good thing?

Or maybe I'm completely ignorant and unamerican!

Going Viral

2010-12-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Will this be the death of the insanely cute Otto and Daisy photos?

I have been doing a lot of research lately on Social Networking and its effects on business and marketing. People can and clearly do write about this at length, but the nuts and bolts is that for a business to be competitive in today's market place they need to be active on the internet. And not just actively selling, but they need to find ways to communicate and interact with their customers via the internet. Customers now want to be engaged by businesses. They want a business to be part of their social network.

And beyond that, businesses now need to be more attentive to their customers. In the past, if a customer was upset or received bad service, they might write a letter, make a phone call or tell a friend or two. Now, they can post a comment on facebook that ALL their 'friends' will see. Or they can go to the company's Facebook page and all the business's 'fans' can see the comment (and if you're someone like Starbuck that's over 18 MILLION (yes MILLION) people). Or perhaps the complainee has a blog. They can blog about the bad service. If it's a blog with many followers, it could get passed around. Or maybe it's a tweet, that gets retweeted adnauseum. Stephen Colbert had the most retweeted tweet of 2010 - 44,000 retweets! Something retweeted 44,000 times is probably seen by over 6,000,000 people.

What I have been learning, is that all of this will completely change the way we do business in the future. Businesses will no longer be able to push products or services out to customers. Instead, the customers will speak and businesses will now need to find them and listen and adapt to their desires, if they want to keep their business strong and profitable.

Let's view a micro example. A couple weeks ago, I became completely enamored with a bamboo 'white' board and blogged about it. So that company got free advertising amongst my 100s of (okay 2? 3?) blog readers. And, this is actually better than advertising, because my regular blog readers know me and my opinions and presumably trust them (right? I'm the bomb). So, they are more likely to take my advice than that of a regular ad.

Then, I posted a link of this blog on the bamboo board company's facebook page. Additionally, the company's owner gave a shout out about my blog on the FB page. So now, not only does the company's product get an endorsement that all the company's FB fans will see, but my blog gets a little what what, twice! Then, if anyone who is a fan of that company likes or comments on my link, then all their friends will see my blog and that product. So far, two likes (not including me and Otto) and one comment. The average FB user has 140 friends, the business has 646 fans, so, if you're doing the math that's over 1,000 people (1066 to be exact) potentially exposed to my blog and a positive review of that product. Going viral baby!

Woah Nellie! That's a lot of people exposed to my blog. I'd better work at making it not just something my mother would love. Oh, lord, can I only blog about pithy matters? What about Otto and Daisy? Oh, so much stress!

The Deluge!

2010-12-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

It has been raining in Seattle for 40 days and 40 nights! Okay, well not even remotely. Actually it was nice last week (nice not meaning it didn't rain, but meaning it didn't rain when I was out on my bike, walking the dog etc). But, it has been raining so hard for the last 18 hours or so, that it feels like it's been raining 40 days and 40 nights. Today I heard my first ever real radio emergency broadcast. You know they always have tests. You hear the loud scary blare blare blare, and then 'this is a test......'. I thought they only had real broadcasts for huge things like nuclear war, locusts or the plague. But it seems our deluge warrants an emergency broadcast. The radio is abuzz with talk of flooding and land slides. Daisy and Otto are getting into the excitement too. I caught them this morning whispering about what they are taking with them on the ark. I tried to explain that they are a. too old and B. STERILE, but they are still waiting by the phone for the call.

So, I have gotten caught up as well. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a strange thump. So I had to lie awake for a while wondering what terrible tragedy had befallen my house and property. This morning, my hypochondriac self rushed outside with the dog and carefully scrutinized all the cracks in my retaining wall. Certainly, they must be bigger. As I'm mulling over this, I head up the street to walk the dog and whoa! The neighbors retaining wall is down.

Bigger? Bigger!!!

Pre blog (was there really life pre blog), I had a little tragedy involving my neighbors yard.
Their retaining wall proved quite ineffective as three of their trees were knocked down in a huge wind storm. The downfall of these three trees left me without electricity for 10 (yes, that's ten) days one very sad, cold winter!!! Since that wind storm I had become obsessed with their fourth tree, its impending fall from grace and my life coming to a cold standstill. In subsequent storms I have spent hours (well long minutes) watching out my window, waiting for their fourth tree to fall. The fourth tree is huge and leaning at angle against a cracked retaining wall, just waiting to take my electric lines down. But, I should use past tense here, a month or so ago THE TREE CAME DOWN. Actually, they had it taken down. After three years of waiting for nature to bring it down, the home owners finally had it removed!

The tree was right here (when this was upright)!

And clearly, just in time. If that tree hadn't come down a mere month ago, life would now be at an end. I would be without electricity. You would be without this blog (no electricity no blog). And my neighbors would be without a truck. So at the risk of this being premature, as some huge rain related tragedy may still occur in the next few hours, I would like to give a huge shout out of thanks to my neighbors, the universe, and anyone else who had anything to do with the tree removal.

Oh, and note to Noah, you can't have Otto and Daisy!

Canine vs Feline, part 2

2010-11-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

In honor of Thanksgiving, I give you part two of the dog vs cat contest. Dogs are not winning this contest! Today Otto got all mopey because he is invited to a party this afternoon so I had to give him a bath. Post bath, he has insisted on going outside where he is sitting in the snow, wet, whining, and staring at the door. Daisy, well she isn't going to a party so she didn't have a bath but a. she doesn't need one b. staying home should make her extra mopey. But she is curled up in, cozy as a clam, the comforter and sleeping bag I have been sleeping in all week.

God my life sucks!

Mmmmmm, perfect, warm and cozy!

Me, I'm somewhere in the middle. My life is warm and cozy. There is really nothing wrong with it and have I a ton to be grateful for. And still, I do some sitting out in the cold whining. I think it's time to be more cat like - with a little crossfit and making sure I take those challenges thrown in.

Happy thanksgiving!

Smarter species?

2010-11-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

I am 100% a dog person. Ask me any dog vs cat question and dogs will come out ahead just about every time. However, I think today the feline species would win a higher IQ battle.

Warmest spot in the house!

Perhaps you're wondering why her nose is burrowed into the gas range?

Well, it's essentially a vent of warm air!

35 degrees out! Nice day to lie in the 'sun'.

It's Bamboo!!

2010-11-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

A year or two ago an acquaintance of mine felt his life had no real meaning. So he sold all his stuff (all his stuff including house), packed his bags, bought a motorcycle and headed out to ride the motorcycle around the world. So far he hasn't made it out of South America. And while there, he has scouted out a couple organizations that help kids, kids in really desperate situations. He then formed a non profit and is now raising money to help out these groups (as well as volunteering his time).

Whew!! Me, I sit on my ass, obsessively check Facebook and watch stupid TV shows. However, I did have a spurt of do goodyness a few weeks ago when I attended a fundraiser/auction for his fine organization. I both gave money AND bid on some of the auction items. Mostly, I succeeded in merely driving up the prices for others, but I did win one thing, a bamboo 'white' board. Now this is just about the coolest thing ever. It is, yes, essentially a white board, but it's made out of bamboo so it's cooler and good for the environment (making me an even bigger do gooder)! It is now mounted and ready to house my to do list.

So now, I can sit on my ass, obsessively check Facebook while watching stupid TV shows and simultaneously, glance at my 'to do' list and see what I am NOT doing!

Oh, and if anyone is interested for doing good without getting off your ass....www.writearoundtheworld.org and www.threebythree.com/dryeraseall.php

Living in the Moment

2010-11-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was leaving my house to walk the dog (7 am or so), a taxi pulled up on my street. Turns out it was my neighbor returning from 'Girl's Night'. I, of course, was awake at 7 because I'd gone to bed super early, tired because I'd been waking up at 5.30 am all week to workout. I find it astounding that an adult could stay up all night voluntarily! And I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not a gene I got. I have zero ability to stay up late, let alone all night. This was true even when I was young and hip (was I really young AND hip?). Maybe in my next life....... Or maybe I already had that gene in a previous life and you get more conservative as you go?

And while we're on a woo woo subject like reincarnation, let's stay new age. Living in the moment. I seem to be thinking about it lately. Back when I took a lot of yoga, living in the moment was much discussed. Okay, perhaps not so much discussed, as 'lectured' to us by yoga teachers as we lay in corpse pose dreaming about what we would have for dinner, who our current crush was, or whatever else might be going on the second we were released from corpse pose to our life.

The theory is that in order to really enjoy life, you need to be fully present in everything you're doing. That you need to enjoy life - the process of life - as it's happening, both the good and the bad. And I completely agree. I spend lots of my time dredging up the past or worrying about/excited about the future. Sometimes I feel I spend so much time living in the past or anticipating my better future self, that I don't actually enjoy what's going on. And the thing is, there is only what's going on. You're always in the present. And if you don't live in the present, you're not really living your life.

And now we'll talk about my very favorite thing, crossfit. It's been a while since I've waxed poetically about crossfit. You all probably thought I fallen off the crossfit wagon.

Crossfit + Living in the Moment. One thing I love about crossfit is that it forces you to live in the present. I will ride my bike to workout all grouchy about something that happened, something someone did, having to go to work all day etc. Then I get to crossfit and all that is gone. For an hour there is NOTHING but exactly what I am doing. There is no way to think about anything else when you're trying to lift an extra heavy weight properly. Or when you're trying to push yourself to go just a little faster. Or when you're in so much pain you just want to collapse on the floor. Or, even when that beautiful moment comes, you yell 'time' and you actually do get to collapse on the floor. And it feels so good!

I always get a little surprised after crossfit. I get back on my bike and I remember what I was thinking about on the way there. Or I remember that I'm about to go sit at work all day and I realize that I have thought about none of that for the last hour. And I realize how refreshing it was (IS!) just to be!

WOO WOO

All About Daisy

2010-11-09T20:59:00.001-08:00

I'm cute!

One might forget such things from reading my blog, but there are two pets in my household. Otto, of course, is insanely cute and it's very hard to stop photoing and exhibiting him regularly (and clearly hard to not speak of him, as this is Daisy's blog and I have only discussed Otto so far). Moving on, Daisy, is the cat. She's been around much longer than Otto - 10 instead of 5 years. And she's pretty cute herself, in a cat kind of a way.

For some reason, lately, she's been upping the cute ante by squirreling herself in cupboards and drawers! I thought I should share so she doesn't feel left out.

">Mmmm, bleach and Bon Ami!

Comfy shirts!

Okay, enough with the camera already! I'll just go elsewhere.