Hello Monday

Linking up today for a weekend recap with Holly from Pink Lady and Sarah at Sunshine and Books. 

We had a pretty quiet weekend here, mostly because hubs had a lot of real estate-ing happening, and that meant we needed to stick close to home. He worked with a client all day Friday and I did some things around the house that needed doing, which always feels good. We ate leftovers for dinner and watched the movie Moneyball that evening. It's been out for more than ten years, but somehow I'd never seen it. I liked it. 

In my efforts to get myself in gear this year I've started using a walking app called Better Me. Hello, yes I know it's nearly May but I'm just now getting around to sticking my big toe into 2024. 

Question-does anybody really need an app for walking? 

I mean it seems pretty straightforward, but exercise is such a mind game for me, I find the app helps. It's a series of timed walks of varying speeds, and each walk is broken up into blocks so you change your pace a few times along the way. It took me a couple of days to figure out how much faster fast walking should be than brisk walking, but I've got my pace now and have been sticking with it. Sticking with it is really the thing, right? 

Also I should get extra credit for fast walking in my neighborhood because we've got some hills that make you want to cry. Not just me! I've had runners tell me they won't run in our neighborhood because it's so deceptively steep. The app helps me keep going. 

Back to Friday night's leftovers...I made a knock off California Pizza Kitchen BBQ chicken salad last week and it was delish. 

I had to watch a youtube video on how to cut a jicama but no blood was shed in the process (which is not always the case with me and knives) so whoohoo. 

I followed this recipe more or less. It sounded like a lot of dressing so I cut back on that, and hubs grilled the chicken then just topped it with a little BBQ sauce. 

The salad tasted very much like what I remember having at the CPK restaurant, although it's been more than a decade since I've eaten in one, so I can't say for sure.

Wait!! It's been more than two decades? Is that right? 

Yes I know it's right because my kids were kids last time I ate in a CPK, not grown married women with kids of their own. They weren't even in high school. Gulp. 

Are CPK's still around? There was one in the mall when we lived in Annapolis and we used to go every now and then. Now I'm wondering if people even still go to the mall? 

All that to say I will for sure make this recipe again. And I promise there is grilled chicken under there. My food photo snaps could use some work. 

Saturday hubs had more real estate-ing to do and I spent a fair bit of time on the phone with my siblings and my momma and also caught up on laundry and then took care of some paper work that had accumulated in the office. Why is there so much paper when everything is paperless? 

Hubs wrapped up work on the early side and we decided to go for sushi at a local place we enjoy. An unplanned date night-

My neighbor texted and asked if we wanted to come by for a glass of wine on their patio when we got home, so that's what we did. It was such a pretty evening, the temperature was absolute perfection, and it made me so ready for summer nights, porch sitting, sunset chasing, and al fresco dinners with friends and family. 

Hubs had still more real estate-ing to do on Sunday so we didn't go to church, and I watched online instead. l got all my grocery shopping done for the week, then came home and baked peanut butter cookies for two different friends who've had a bit of a rough time lately. A homemade cookie says someone is thinking of you. 

And just in case you're wondering, the amaryllis king is still in business. This is the same plant my daughter brought home from her classroom five years ago, that she somehow dumped over in her car on the way here so it was a literal stick by the time she pulled in the driveway. She planned to throw it away, but hubs worked his magic and she's still blooming beautifully. 

You'll have to take my word for it. My plant snaps could also use some work.  

Moving Into The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Yep, we're still at this nineteen weeks after I brought it out of retirement to carry us through the mostly at-home time we thought was temporary. Hmmm...not feeling so temporary is it? What a world!

If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post then jump over and leave a comment for the person linking before you on the list. Or everyone on the list if you've got the time. Here we go-

 

1. Last time you moved house? Something you've learned in moving house?

We moved into our current home a little less than four years ago. 

Something I've learned moving house? Well pull up a chair because I've done some moving and I've done some learning. I looked at my blog tags and found I've written somewhere in the neighborhood of 88 posts labeled moving house so obviously a topic close to my heart.

I think the post linked here sums it up quite nicely. 

2. Move mountains, move along, make a wrong move, moved to tears, get a move on, move up, move over, move out of the way, move the deck chairs on the Titanic, move it!...pick one and tell us how it fits your recent circumstances.

Make a wrong move? What is the right move to make in the age of information overload, misinformation, non-expert experts, biased reporting, and so much unknown. 

3. What have you been doing to make yourself move (aka stay fit-active) during these strange times?

Baking doesn't count, does it? 

Yeah. There was a bit too much of that sort of 'exercise' happening in the early days of Corona, but my daughter the bride has us on a plan now and we've been sweating for the wedding side by each on the screened-in porch for the past month. Surely working out in the heat and humidity counts double, doesn't it? It must count double. We're doing a 100 day meltdown via Beach Body and let me just tell you, melt down is an accurate descriptor. 

4. This week's calendar includes celebrations for the following foods-

National Coffee Milkshake Day (Sunday), National Creme Brûlée Day (Monday), National Milk Chocolate Day (Tuesday), National Chicken Wing Day (Wednesday), National Lasagne Day (Wednesday), National Cheesecake Day (Thursday), and National Avocado Day (Friday)

Which one on the list would you be most inclined to celebrate? Which would you be most inclined to skip?

The one I'd most like to celebrate would be National Creme Brûlée Day, but see question #3. If that's off the table I'm going with the avocado because I can make that work with my m.o.b. dress goal. 

I'm most inclined to skip the lasagne. Maybe if you asked me this question in the dead of winter I'd answer differently, but with temperatures near 90 and the humidity making it feel like something more than 90 a plate of lasagne is not at all appealing. 

5. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in August! I know!! Raise your hand if you feel like July flew by in the blink of an eye? Now bid farewell to your July acrostic style. If you don't know what that means click here.

No jetting anywhere, unusual times, loud voices, yearning for hugs and handshakes and in person connections with the people we love...

J-Just
U-Us
L-Loathing
Y-this Yucky virus

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

I am loving this song-

Drop And Give Me Twenty

It's Day 5 in the A-Z blog challenge and today's post is brought to you by the letter E.

E is for Exercise

Not going to lie. Delight is not the first word that comes to mind when I think of exercise, but I'm trying this year to find delight where there seemingly is none. Five years ago I got to a place where I looked forward to boot camp every morning. Then we moved and moved again and finding a time and a place and something I enjoyed doing as much as boot camp became a challenge.

Also I'm a little bit lazy when it comes to this particular area of my life because I've just never found it to be particularly fun. The opposite of delightful if you will. Oh I know some of you think working out is great fun but for me exercise has always been more of a necessary evil on my weekly to-do list.

I wish I were more athletically inclined. I wish I were stronger. And hey as long as I'm wishing I wish I weighed what I weighed in 1982, but that's not going to happen watching Netflix on the couch. So here I am still plugging away at the planks and the pushups and the newest thing- pickleball.

In the process I'm learning to find delight. Not necessarily in the doing, but definitely in the result, which I think is true in lots of areas of our lives.

It's taken a few sessions, but I've started looking forward to my M-W cardio-strength-pilates-yoga-barre-core-everything but the kitchen sink-class. It's tough and it's close and convenient and I enjoy the camaraderie with the other women there who are a lot like me.

I feel less clumsy. I am stronger, and pushing myself a little bit more each week has made me see I'm stronger than I think. I'm also intentional about what I grab for snacks, drinking lots of water, and not eating all the jellybeans in the bowl. The struggle is real y'all.

Because what's more delightful than a bowl full of jellybeans?

Toned arms for one. Also the energy to climb mountains, chase my grandson, keep up with my energizer bunny hubs, and wear a bathing suit all summer long.

Now that's delightful!

Thursday Sorts Of Things

That's code for unimportant, only slightly interesting, random thoughts. And since it's Thursday I'll aim for thirteen -

1. I had to buy a new phone yesterday. I've been putting off a trip to the 'phone store' in much the same way I put off a trip to the dentist. Nearly as aggravating.

Here's how it went down-I called the day before and made an appointment. The gentleman confirmed my requested time and asked what I was interested in purchasing. He said I should ask for him by name when I came in (for the sake of this story we'll call him J) and he'd have the phone I wanted out and ready to go. Great! Yay! Perfect!

Also too good to be true.

When we arrived at the phone store nobody knew anything about a scheduled appointment and J wasn't even there. He'd gone home an hour earlier. I feel like this is par for the course when you go to purchase a new phone.

On the bright side, J's stand-in was super helpful and even managed to switch my plan to something less expensive with better service so I guess in the end I'm glad J was a slacker-ha!

2. On the less than bright side I spent an hour today trying to get my screen protector registered. It only required three live chats with the manufacturer and one call to Verizon.

3. Let's randomly change topic now because this is a list of completely unrelated stuff. I recently started an exercise class with some women in my neighborhood.

4. In case there's any confusion, I didn't start the class as in create the class. I started the class as in I attend the class. If you know me you weren't confused. ahem

5. In other activity related news, I've been playing Pickleball. Have you ever played Pickleball? I'm still learning and there are a lot of rules (I think you know how I feel about rules), but I'm enjoying the game a lot.

6. I guess you could say it's a cross between tennis and ping pong. For the record, I stink at tennis but I play a mean game of ping pong. The racket? paddle? is graphite, slightly larger than a ping pong paddle and the ball is similar to a Wiffle ball but its a Pickleball ball. We play on a tennis court with Pickleball markings which are slightly inside the tennis lines so less running. Whoohoo!

7. I still seem to end up running a lot.

8. When I told my Daughter2 I was playing Pickleball and that I really liked it she said, and I quote,

'That's great Mom because you're not, you know...' 

Not what? Coordinated? Ha-she's right! But I am getting a little bit better every week.

9. Course we didn't play this week because it was raining. I mean RAINING!! Again. Still?

10. Boating season is winding down but hubs and I did squeeze in a ride on a sunny 65 degree day a couple of weeks ago.

Yes I'm in jeans and a vest because even when it's sunny there's wind when you're moving. Hubs would want me to tell you he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. 

11. Nothing nicer than leaf peeping from the water on a blue sky autumn day.

12.  I am a fan of the big blue heron.

13. And autumn in general.

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." ~ Stanley Horowitz

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 283

I intended to blog yesterday but had to deal with window treatments instead. By deal with I mean talk hubs down from the ceiling when he saw the proposed cost. We've never done an entire house all at once before, but it sure makes me wish I were an expert seamstress. I'm generalizing here, but I feel like the cost of window treatments is always more than a little shocking to men. Same is true of wedding particulars, highlights in my hair, and decorative pillows.

Anyway, I may put up two posts today because while I'm not a gifted seamstress (drat!) I am a blogger and bloggers blog. In the meantime here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here Wednesday to share answers with the rest of the world. See you there-

1. What would you say is the best and worst thing about moving house?

2. What's moved you recently?

3. Do you feel your life is moving forward, backward, or is on hold? How so?

4. On the move, move mountains, get a move on, it's your move, or bust a move...which phrase best applies to some aspect of your life right now? Explain.

5. What song makes you want to get up and move?

6. Your favorite snack to grab when you're 'on the move'?

7. What one accessory makes your house feel like home?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A Gold Medal Hodgepodge

Welcome to the 276th Edition of the Hodgepodge Games! If you've got a blog you qualify to play along. Also, I might be working that theme a little too hard today-ha! If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post, and be sure to leave a comment for the blogger linking before you. Here we go-

1. Are you watching the Olympics? Your favorite summer Olympic event? I read recently a list of the most iconic Olympic moments in history...what stands out in your mind as a great moment from some past summer Olympic games?

We're watching. Like everything else under the sun these days, there's been quite a bit of controversy, but still we watch. A lot of the events I only half watch. I confess to hiding my eyes when those divers do an inward move or those gymnasts triple flip across a beam the width of a credit card.

My favorite event is probably swimming. I love the gymnastics but I just cannot relax while they're performing so the swim races are more enjoyable for me. 

As far as great moments...I loved watching Mary Lou Retton in the '84 games.  

2. Have you ever been to Rio? How about the place that started it all-Greece? Have you ever been to any of the Olympic Games in person? Is that something you'd like to do? Have you ever met an Olympian in person? 

I've never been to Rio, and it's not necessarily on my list of must-see cities. Sure I'd be up for attending the games in person sometime. I have been to Greece and we all enjoyed the trip so much. One of our favorite family travel memories. 

At the Olympic Stadium in Athens-

c. 2005

I've 'met' a couple of Olympians. Kerri Strug was at one of hub's work events back in the late 90's. She was really friendly, and chatted with my girls. I remember she had a warm smile and seemed so genuine. We also got autographs at Wimbledon one year, Andy Murray and Serena Williams were two of them. For some reason I don't immediately think of professional tennis players (or basketball, etc) as Olympians.

3. The ball's in their court (tennis), cross the finish line (track and field), on target (archery), make a splash (diving), on a roll (gymnastics), out of one's depth (swimming)...which Olympic-related idiom best applies to your life right now? Explain.

The house build is on a roll, finally!! so I'm going with that one. We're counting down the days to completion in weeks as opposed to months now. 

4. What have you earned a 'gold medal' in recently?

Nothing spectacular comes to mind. How about reading? I've read a lot this summer. 

5. What is it (or who is it) that motivates you to eat right, exercise, and do what you can to be healthy?

There are several things that motivate me to eat right and exercise, but the biggest factor is probably my age. No matter how young you feel, there comes a time when you can no longer take good health for granted and you do what you must to stay fit and healthy. 

6. Are you young at heart or an old soul? Explain.

I think I'm young at heart. I'm shocked on a regular basis to realize how old I am. I just don't feel it (most days). On the other hand I've always been a bit contemplative and that lines up more with an old soul. Maybe I'm a little bit of both. 

7. It's National S'mores Day (August 10th)...are you a fan? Will you celebrate with a s'more today? 

I prefer a deconstructed s'more. The traditional s'more is way too rich and sweet. Give me a perfectly toasted marshmallow with a side of chocolate and you can skip the graham cracker. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

The sunlight in Greece is magical. 

c. 2005

Or maybe it was the moment. 

The Post Christmas Post

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the slower paced, relaxed week that follows Christmas. While I love all the activity during Christmas I really love the quieter less frenetic days that follow. I enjoy sitting by the tree, afternoon tea time, and lots of breathing space. 

Daughter1 and her hubs flew back to the West Coast the Sunday after Christmas, but Daughter2 was here and she spent most of the week hanging out in our apartment. Her apartment might be just a couple hundred yards up the hill, but she and her greyhound made themselves at home in our extra bedroom and I loved every minute.  

Daughter2 is a Beach Body coach and she and I went to the gym and worked out which was necessary and fun, but mostly just necessary. ahem. Her aunt had given her the Fixate cookbook for Christmas and we enjoyed looking through the healthy recipes and trying several, most of which were keepers. 

Every afternoon around 3 o'clock we'd make tea have a cookie and play Skipbo or Dominoes or Yahtzee. We cooked dinner together and watched football and had some really good talks. We face-timed her sister in Washington and made plans for a couple of fun things to do together later in the month. 

It felt so good to have a daughter in the house after Christmas. To not have all the family fun come to a screeching halt immediately after the big day. We eked out all the goodness we could and I've tucked it away with the advent wreath and memories of another year gone by. 

Oh, and I didn't take any pictures because I didn't feel like it-ha! I just enjoyed being. Plus when I look at my daughter2 this is still pretty much what I see in my head-

She might now be a quarter century in years, running her own life, and master of her third grade classroom but still... this is her...full of mischief, tender hearted, and the biggest bluest eyes you ever did see. 

Hubs and I welcomed 2016 with friends at their home near Atlanta. I like to ring in the new year in the comfort of my own home or someone elses, and have never been big on being out amongst the masses (and scary drivers). This was perfect. 

Particularly this cheese tray-

Also the company, but especially the cheese tray. It was fab!

We stayed in our pj's all day Friday, or at least until we had to leave the house to meet more friends at a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. I wonder if waiters get tired of 'could you take our picture?' requests. 

Doesn't stop me from requesting, but I do wonder. 

Hubs and I headed home Saturday morning. The sun was finally shining and we detoured past the lot to see how wet is wet. Seriously, this weather is for ducks and fish and loch ness monsters, not for people building a house! 

We grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant on the lake and soaked in the spectacular view and all that gorgeous sunlight glistening on the water, reminding ourselves it will all be worth it in the end. 

Now when that end will be is still a mystery, but that's what keeps life interesting, right? It will be THIS year, and that's good enough for me. Hello 2016! 

Inspire

It's Friday I think, which means it's time to blog. Yes I've become a Wednesday/Friday blogger. Hubs loves to read here, but says lately he's giving it just two stars. Sadly I cannot argue.

We're still at my mom's, still in limbo, still anxious to move on to the next thing, but trying to make the best of our current thing. One way we're doing that is we're walking for miles. Miles and miles and miles. Guess what? I'm enjoying it a lot.

Yes, even nature's stair master.

Two years ago I would not have said such a thing was possible, that I could truly enjoy and look forward to a good power walk, but turns out it is very possible. I've always liked to hike, but this is different. This is exercise for all the right reasons, and I owe my change of heart and mindset to a little big thing called boot camp.

Which I miss a lot. Go figure.

Dragging myself out of bed in the cold (oftentimes ridiculously cold) dark of night to make a 6 AM workout every Monday-Wednesday-Friday changed me, and I like the new me better. I still get my daily email from the trainer and love opening the message knowing it's going to be something positive, encouraging, and helpful. Somedays it's a motivational quote or story, somedays a reminder to stay on track or drink more water or maybe it's a healthy recipe to try. Some days it's a good old fashioned pep talk.

I first heard about boot camp from two people I knew through two completely different avenues (my hairdresser and my dental hygienist), but they both raved about it at almost the same time. Coincidence? They both looked great, really fit and healthy, and they both also shared with me about their very noticeable change in energy level since they started making time for boot camp every week.

That definitely peaked my interest because do you know what you miss a lot when you hit middle age? A whole lot of things actually, but near the top of my list is the energy I had before my hormones ran amok.

True confession here-I have never been an athlete. Boot camp sounded like something for athletes or exercise hounds or people who live on rice cakes, the plain unsalted kind. Both women assured me this was different. That it wasn't a room full of athletes, although some certainly are. For the record I am not one of the some, but still it was a very mixed group. Men and women. Young and not so young. Some weighing more than they'd like and some just looking to feel better about their health and nutrition and daily habits.

I told hubs I was going to try it for three months, and he always encourages me to find something I love, but he might have also rolled his eyes a little knowing my level of co-ordination. ahem. I thought I'd sign up for three months because I know myself, and when it comes to exercise regimens the three month mark is about where I lose interest. Not this time. At three months I discovered I  really liked it.

You're never too old people!

I was feeling stronger, had more energy and less jiggle (if you're over 50 you know what I'm talkin' about), and the biggest and maybe most unexpected benefit, I felt more clear headed than I had in a long time, definitely since hitting the M word.  

The trainers who run the program are a perfect team. A little good cop/bad cop, but most of us need a little of both so it works. Plus the bad cop wasn't bad, just honest-ha! When it comes to addressing habits that need changing a little honesty is both good and necessary. And here the honesty always came with a huge smile, a word of encouragement, a reminder that you're not defined by a number on the scale. Most importantly, always a practical plan for how to get back on track and plenty of support in your efforts to do so.

Last week hubs and I were on one of our five-milers in the stinkin' heat and the high humidity, and as we powered on I thought to myself, 'I feel good. I'm glad I'm out here walking.' Now maybe you're one of those people who've always loved to exercise, someone who needs to run like they need oxygen, but that's never been me so these kinds of thoughts still surprise me.

I've learned a lot about myself this last year and a half, and I can't say enough about the trainers who run boot camp and the other programs they've put in place to help us replace poor habits with healthy ones.

I'm physically stronger than I ever imagined I could be. I'm not going to challenge anyone to an arm wrestle or anything, but I am strong and I have never in my life been physically strong. It feels great.

I know what I need to eat and how much, in order to feel good in my clothes. Not saying I always manage this, but I'm definitely on the 80/20 track as opposed to the 40/60. I don't beat myself up over the 20 either. Our health is more about our daily habits and the choices we make regularly over time as opposed to a single day.

You cannot out train poor nutrition. Truth. This is the boot camp mantra and while we'd like to think we can eat whatever we want as long as we work out, we can't. Habits are formed in our youth, so it's best to develop some good ones that don't need breaking when your metabolism slows to a crawl. Ask me how I know.

You can't out train poor nutrition. I think they'd want me to say that twice-ha!

One thing I also adopted thanks to boot camp, was more realistic goal setting. The trainers suggest you try something called 3 in 30, which basically means setting three goals to accomplish in the next thirty days. They usually checked in around day 15 which was a reminder to re-visit those goals and take stock or make adjustments. This was so do-able. Much more so than five big huge ginormous impossible things you say you want to master in a year the way so many of us do come January 1.

I like to look back at this short journey and take note of the timing. It was perfect. Perfect in that I had enough time to develop some brand new skills, make changes to my menu planning, gain confidence and actual enjoyment out of exercise all while in a truly supportive environment.

I try to imagine how this season of in-between we're currently living would play out without the benefit of new habits established last year. Instead of feeling capable I'd feel overwhelmed. Instead of feeling disciplined I'd feel guilty for not doing what I know I need to do, which is eating right and exercising more.

So I'm grateful. Grateful that we're never too old or too clumsy to do something positive for our health. I'm especially grateful for people who live up to their business name-Inspire. Grateful for people who use their gifts to encourage, uplift, and 'inspire' others to do the same.

Silver Linings

Good Morning Afternoon? It's Monday, a fact I am well aware of because life around here today is behaving like a Monday.  That being said, even on a day that feels like a Monday, and is in fact an actual Monday, I think it's good to find the silver lining.

Because there always is one.

That half full glass, the bright side, that thing cynics lack. Sometimes it smacks you in the face, and sometimes you have to look hard, but it's there. On this Monday that is full of small aggravations and problems of the first world kind, I choose to look-

It's Monday-Went to bed far too late last night because hubs and I got all caught up in finishing Season 1 of Homeland.

The Silver Lining-I still dragged myself out of bed and made it to Boot Camp at 6 AM.

It's Monday-We've got Homeland Season 2 on deck, Monday Night Football on live, and The Making of the DCC (don't judge!), The Roosevelts, and Person of Interest on our DVR. 

The Silver Lining-We are not going to get sucked in to the new Season of Homeland until the weekend. 

We're going to try not to anyway. 

It's Monday-Went to bed with a sudden and mysteriously clogged kitchen sink, and woke up to a still clogged kitchen sink. Ugh!

The Silver Lining-I popped down to the supermarket and the hardware store at 8 AM, bought Liquid Plumber (the JUMBO sized bottle) and a plunger, patted myself on the back for developing biceps and triceps in the last six months, and then I plunged and I poured and I plunged.

It's Monday-No luck. Did.not.budge. And now I'm feeling a little woozy from inhaling all those chemicals.

The Silver Lining- A real plumber is sometimes better than Liquid Plumber, and thankfully we have a local plumber we trust who will be out to save the day.

It's Monday-the day he's gonna save will be tomorrow not today, because I have now emptied half the contents of a jumbo sized bottle of the liquid variety plumber into my sink and it needs to dissipate.

The Silver Lining-just texted hubs and told him it looks like we'll be dining out tonight.

So how's your Monday so far? Can you see the silver lining or do you have to hunt for one today?

The Games of the 161st Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along...answer on your own blog, then add your link to the party.  Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. Are we always responsible for our actions? Are there any exceptions?

I think healthy adults are always responsible for their actions. This is one of the reasons parenting is such an enormous responsibility, and cannot be equated to backpacking across China. Oops...that was last week's debate.  

I suppose this notion of responsibility becomes a little grayer when we're talking about the mentally handicapped, and also those individuals with serious mental illness, the kind that impedes judgement. 

2. Has anyone from your home town become famous?

If by 'home town' you mean the place I spent most of my growing up years, then yes. I had no idea until I googled it (don't you just love the Internet??!), but evidently Cristin Milioti ( How I Met Your Mother, Wolf of Wall Street) and Ali Larter (she's been in a lot of things, but I know her from Legally Blonde) are both from my home town. 

3. January was National Slow Cooker month. Do you own a slow cooker/crock pot? Did you use it last month? What's a favorite dish you make using a slow cooker or crock pot?

I use my crock pot about once a week in the winter months, sometimes more. In fact I used it just last night to cook a pork roast which was delish. My favorite thing to prepare in the crock pot is beef brisket, which has loads of flavor and is so tender. 

My biggest complaint about most crock pot recipes is they're often a little bit bland, and so many of them call for cream soups, which are not boot camp approved. I don't use the crock pot as much in summer months since the meals I prepare the slow cook way are heavier, and we tend to eat lighter in warm weather. 

4. How do you feel about private companies collecting data about you?

Well, it's 2014 so I'm not sure how I feel even matters. Pandora's box has been opened, and I don't see us going back. I don't really mind the advertising geared towards my interests on Facebook...it's only mildly creepy.  Actually I don't pay a lot of attention to advertising on Facebook, blogs, etc, but I guess it's effective because companies continue to market that way.  I suppose the bigger issue for me is can we trust corporations (and our government) not to misuse the data? 

5. The Games of the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off with their opening ceremony this coming Friday...will you be watching?  Which Winter Olympic event would you most like to see in person? Have you ever been to Russia? Any desire to go, Olympics or otherwise?

I'll be watching, maybe not the whole thing, but a big chunk of it for sure. I'd like to see the ski jumping in person. Absolutely terrifying!  

I've never been to Russia, but I'm pretty much up for seeing the whole wide world, so why not?  Hubs has been...his brother and sister in law and their daughter lived in Moscow for a while, and hubs has been back there for work since then. Incidentally, the man in the photo with hubs is not his brother, but he is a friend of his brother's so he's our friend too. 

6. Share a good or bad sports related memory from your childhood or teen years.

I think I've made it clear that I am not now, nor have I ever been, much of an athlete. A sports related memory from my childhood would be running the 600 yard dash every year in phys ed. Is it a bad memory or a good one? Hmmm...I remember being happy to finish-ha! 

Is dance a sport? I have fun memories of taking dance my Junior year of high school. We could choose which phys ed electives we wanted and I chose dance. The teacher was an older man who was also the school's golf coach, and he had himself some rhythm! He was a nice man, and made the class really enjoyable, which I think is the secret to getting kids moving.  

7.  What's a must have song for you on a work out play list? If you don't work out, run, bike, swim, walk, or anything else that could be construed as 'exercise', then what's a song that at least motivates you to get up off the couch?

I have David Crowder's Undignified on my workout playlist, and no matter how slow I'm moving, when that one starts playing I feel a renewed sense of energy, and always pick up the pace.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I love this P & G ad they're running for the Olympics...



I'll be thinking of those moms in these next two weeks! 

Hodgepodge Questions Volume 161

It's that time again, so here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Skate back here tomorrow to add your link to the games...see you there!

1. Are we always responsible for our actions? Are there any exceptions?

2.  Has anyone from your home town become famous?

3. January was National Slow Cooker month. Do you own a slow cooker/crock pot? Did you use it last month? What's a favorite dish you make using a slow cooker or crock pot?

4. How do you feel about private companies collecting data about you?

5. The Games of the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off with their opening ceremony this coming Friday....will you be watching? Which Winter Olympic event would you most like to see in person? Have you ever been to Russia? Any desire to go, Olympics or otherwise?

6. Share a good or bad sports related memory from your childhood or teen years.

7. What's a must have song for you on a work out play list? If you don't work out, run, swim, bike, walk, or anything else that could be construed as 'exercise', then what's a song that movtivates you to at least get up off the couch?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

The Post Thanksgiving Post

Blogging the Monday after Thanksgiving always feels a little overwhelming to me. It should be a piece of cake given the very full weekend, but trying to condense all the words in my head into something coherent is challenging. And maybe not all that interesting, but here goes.

We had a lovely long weekend with both girls home. In our efforts to outsmart Mother Nature we ended up changing Daughter2's flight, so she arrived in NJ late Monday evening. We're so glad we did, because she would not have made her flight on Tuesday. Some sort of traffic snafu that seriously delayed travelers trying to get in and out of the Charlotte airport. A friend texted her and said he'd driven 4 miles in one hour. Ugh.

Daughter2 had not been at home since May. MAY! We've seen her several times down south, but all mothers of grown up girls will tell you that's not quite the same as having them upstairs asleep in their own beds. Or lounging in their pjs at your kitchen table. Or chattering beside you snuggled up on your comfy couch. There's no place like home.

Anyway, hubs worked from home on Tuesday and Daughter2 and I caught up on life. It was a gross day weather wise, but hubs took us girls out for a cozy lunch in town before getting on a 'nother conference call. Daughter2 napped while I set the Thanksgiving table and did other fun things like laundry, dust furniture, and check lists. It was a low key semi- lazy day.

On Wednesday we did some pre-Thanksgiving prep in the form of baking the cornbread for our dressing, making a cheese ball, and cooking the cranberries for Turkey Day. Daughter1 was arriving late afternoon courtesy of Amtrak so we all trekked back to Newark to collect her. The girls had never been in to the Ironbound section of the city so we ventured there for a fabulous meal at one of the well known Spanish restaurants -Fornos of Spain. Nothing like a big meal the night before a big meal, right? Right!

We awoke to positively frigid weather on Thanksgiving day, with snow flurries blowing in the icy cold air. And oh yeah, we'd signed up for the Turkey Trot, aka 5K. I'd registered back on one of those glorious October days where the sky is full of sunshine and the temps hovered around 50, so guess I should have thought that through a little bit more.  Hubs said he'd go alone, but I zipped up my layers and my big girl panties, and braved it too. I thought I might die waiting for the race to begin, but once we got moving it was better. I know that sounds dramatic, but seriously I thought I might keel over from the cold.  People die from cold weather sometimes, don't they?

I didn't, so whoohoo!

We caught the tail end of the Macy's parade on TV, had a big late breakfast, and then spent the next few hours hanging out in the kitchen making the three hundred sides needed to go with our Thanksgiving turkey. My girls enjoy cooking too, so everyone helps. It's one of my favorite things about the day actually, all of us in the kitchen laughing and chopping and being together.

With a break only every now and then to talk to boyfriends many states away via text or facetime.

I remember spending Thanksgiving away from the hubs when we were dating. Five whole complete entire days apart, and we had to use an actual phone on the wall to connect. My heart could hardly take it.

We ate later than normal this year, since the race threw off our usual timetable, but it was all so delicious. Who doesn't love Thanksgiving dinner? There was lots of football, more napping, and pie at 9 PM. Good thing we'd begun the day with a 5K!

I woke up Friday feeling happy. It has been too long since I've had both girls in the house, hubs at home not checking work emails, and a completely blank day on the calendar. We all went to an afternoon showing of Catching Fire and loved it.  Hubs hadn't read the books, so I think the ending surprised him a little, but we're all excited to see Part One of Part Three (Mockingjay) a year from now.  Who else finds that annoying?

Hmmm...there's more, but I think I'll go all Hunger Games on you and make you wait til Thursday for Part 2-Ha!

Hey, somebody's excited.

Eight on the Eighth

There's only so many ways to say Friday Fragments.  Here's hoping I actually have eight things to say.

1.  I was having just a so-so day yesterday, when hubs phoned from work and asked if I'd be interested in seeing The Eagles at Madison Square Garden this weekend. Um, yeah.

2.  The Eagles are probably my all time favorite band. U2 is second. I wrestle with who should get third, but Marshall Tucker is definitely in the running. Does anybody need to know this?

3.  I haven't been to anything at Madison Square Garden in a long time. Before moving to the UK hubs and I saw a production of A Christmas Carol in the theatre there. The lobby had been decorated to look like a Dickens village, and when we came out of the show snow was falling from the New York sky. 'Twas completely magical.  

4. Yesterday was Billy Graham's 95th birthday, and last night I watched what was billed as his final message to our nation. The short film is being replayed on various stations over the next few days, but wow...what a remarkable man. He's lived a long life with the utmost of integrity, has never allowed himself to be sucked into the vacuum of fame, and has never deviated from his calling of pointing people to the cross.

5. If I were to describe November in a single word, I think that word would be brown. I don't dislike brown, but it's not autumn gold, or fiery red, or sunlit orange, all words I might use to describe our October.

What a difference a month makes...

The seasons, they go round and round...

6. I'm starting to plan and look forward to the holidays. Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year with Christmas Eve coming in a close second. My daughters will be home in 18 days. Whoohoo! I haven't seen Daughter2 since August 11th, which in case you're wondering, is too too long.

Hubs and I are signing up to participate in our tinytown Turkey Trot (5K) on Thanksgiving day. The girls are maybe not quite 100% fully on board with joining us, but I've registered them anyway. Hi girls! Hey you get a t-shirt so that's something, right? They know forced family fun is kind of our thing, and we haven't had any of that in a long while so bring on Thanksgiving!

7.  I leave you with this. A woman in the UK has created a five foot tall Johnny Depp cake as part of a baking competition. I'd post the picture, but it's courtesy of the BBC and I'm not sure that's okay. You can see it for yourself and read the full story here.  He's very life like, and it's only a little bit creepy.

8. Actually I leave you with this...one of my favorites by one of my favorites.



Have a great weekend everyone!

Five on Friday

Trying something new today, and linking up with Five on Friday happening over at The Good Life .  My Daughter1 links up here most Fridays, and I'm pretty sure I can come up with a list of five somethings, so here we go-

1. Boot camp. BOOT CAMP. Oh my word. I want it stated for the record that I pushed one of those horrible awful ridiculous weighted sleds back and forth across the room at 6 AM today, and I did not die. I thought for a minute I might, but here I am so it's all good.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about you'll find a photo here.

No, that's not me in the picture-ha!

I have no idea how much the sled weighs on it's own, but the instructor added 165 pounds to it, plus if you happen to be in tip top shape, she hopped on top of the sled, and you had to push her right along with it. Since I'm not in tip top shape (yet!), I just had the weights and trust me, it was enough.

I'd arrived a few minutes early and saw the class before mine moaning and groaning, and my heart started beating fast. Who needs a workout when you've got the worry gene. I can usually be counted on to get my own heart pumping.

But y'all! I did it!

2. Gourmet Lunch. An unfortunate segue from the fitness piece, but such is life. We have our first gourmet group luncheon of the year today and we're doing a harvest theme. The recipes all use fresh ingredients easily found this time of year like butternut squash, apples, beets, spinach, sweet potatoes and pears. I'm making chicken with a butternut squash and Gorgonzola sauce that sounds interesting. Always lots of wonderful foods, new recipes to try, and a great way to usher in the weekend.

3. Sometime last week I wrote my 1000th blog post. I thought I should mention it, maybe say something deep and meaningful, but it's Friday and did I tell you I pushed a weighted sled and did 100 planks and bounced one of those insane weighted balls at 6 AM this morning? It's made my brain a little fuzzy, so I'm afraid I can't do deep right now.

4. This post needs a picture, don't you think? I've been saving this one because I wanted to give it a post of its own, and I think I will still do that,  just not today.

I had a custom sign made for my family room by the wonderful Dee at Red Letter Words. I'd seen one on Lisa-Jo Baker's blog, and The Nester has one too, and if anyone needs a sign reminding them of all the streets and cities and countries they've resided in through the years, I'd say it's us.

I cannot tell you how much I love this sign and all the feelings it brings to the surface every single time I look at it.

5. How about we wrap this up with a random, but informative, fact that I wonder about every time we drive into city via the Lincoln Tunnel.  As you approach, there's a big banner on the overpass above your head, which you have plenty of time to read because you are generally at a crawl miles before you get to the actual tunnel, and it says,

"Welcome to North Jersey-Embroidery Capital of the World since 1872'.  

See, you always learn something when you read here.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Just Do It

So I thought I'd write today about one of my absolute least favorite topics -exercise. I know there are people out there who looooove to exercise, and there are also more than a few people obsessed with the topic. We probably all know someone who talks endlessly about how far they ran that day, or how many carbs they did not consume or blah blah blah.  I'm not taking anything away from their sense of discipline or their accomplishments as athletes, but it's just not my favorite thing to talk about.  We all have our little obsessions and I'm sure I could bore you to tears talking about some of mine.  If you read here regularly, perhaps I already have-ha!

Anyway, I've always been a pretty healthy person. I was the girl with the toothpick legs and the concave stomach who could eat anything she wanted any time of the day or night. My mother was and still is a good cook, and I grew up drinking milk, eating breakfast even when I didn't want it, and having a salad for dinner pretty much every night.  I imagine my mom made salad in order to fill up a growing teenage boy (my brother who made himself a milkshake every single night), but I could eat two bites of anything and be full.  Except fruit.  It used to make my dad a little bit nuts when my mom would come home with tangerines or plums and I would eat three right on the spot. I still love fruit, and now all veggies too. No more hiding peas in my napkin.

Hi Mom!

I never 'officially' exercised as a kid, and honestly none of my friends did either. Children didn't participate in a lot of structured exercise 'back in the day' partly because we didn't have the availability of sedentary activities to distract us that kids have now, and mostly because we wanted to play outside.  We wanted to run around our neighborhood organizing big groups of friends into teams for hide and seek or kick the can, to join in spontaneous games of HORSE, and Around the World using a neighbors driveway basketball hoop, to race, swing and play tag . We jumped rope, hopscotched, and rode bicycles for literal miles, and played games like dodgeball and 'chase' during school recess.

Of course we did have organized P.E. and there were units I loved like dance, gymnastics, crab ball...did you play crab ball? A ginormous semi-soft ball was thrown into the middle of two teams and you had to crawl around on the floor like a crab and kick it with your feet trying to score. I'm fairly certain more than one of us took a foot to the mouth in that game, but we loved it all the same.  There were certainly parts I hated too like the dreaded rope climb and the impossible (for me) chin ups required for the yearly fitness test.

Today I still love to swim and hike, but those activities are not available to me on a daily basis. I take advantage of them when I can, but at the age of 53, that isn't good enough. I don't care how healthy your diet is, for most of us in the throws of the dreaded M word, unless you exercise regularly, you are never going to feel the way you want to feel. I'm young. Really. I still feel like there is so much life to be lived, and I want to feel good living it, which is why I decided to give boot camp a try.

Boot camp. Sounds awful, doesn't it? I have a friend who's been going, and then last week when I got my haircut, my stylist mentioned she's been going too. She talked about how great she feels, and how much stronger she's grown since she started. That. I want that.

Hubs has his own little boot camp happening in our basement, and he's always trying to get me to join him, but eh. No.  First of all, he does the Insanity workout, and it truly is insane. Hubs is probably in the best shape of his life right now, and he loves jumping higher, hitting harder, and sweating more with every workout. True story-he recently went through airport security, and the agent tapped his stomach and asked him what he had under his shirt.  He said, 'Those are my abs" and the agent said, 'Wow-good for you!'  Pretty much made hubs year week day.

No agent would be mistaking my abs for anything other than what they are, which is not a six pack.

Also, hubs works out in our basement, and I'm sure it dates back to some unresolved issue from my childhood, but I just do not like basements. Creepy. Even ours which is practically empty, super clean, and has no hidden corners where humongous spiders or the criminal element could be lurking.  Don't tell me you've never had the same thought when you've been down in a basement. My sister and I absolutely hated hearing our mother ask one of us to 'run down in the basement and get xyz from the freezer'.  We always went together.  Hubs thinks it's crazy, but he didn't have a basement growing up so he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Boot camp.  I gave it a try on Monday morning.  6 AM.  To some people that sounds insane, but I'm a morning person and I need my mornings to get things done at home. I was back in my house a couple minutes after 7 so whoohoo! And you know what?  It was a little bit fun. Not all fun, but some fun.

Do you watch The Biggest Loser?  Have you seen them working out using those big ropes, where they have to shake them and make them move?  I did that.  Not as easy as it looks, and I'm sure it wasn't pretty, but I did that and more.  Course I can hardly lift my arms today, and I feel certain it's going to get worse before it gets better, but I sort of, kind of, a little bit, liked it.  Even though the guy beside me probably did 20 reps for every one I managed, it was still okay.

Today I walked/ran three miles because the trainer running boot camp told me walking would be good for my in between days, plus it was supremely gorgeous outside, so not a tough thing to do on a blue sky day in October.  Ask me again when there's two feet of snow on the ground in January.

Listen to me telling you how far I walked!  At least I didn't mention the fact that I ate turkey, lettuce, and tomato, hold the bread for lunch-ha!

As an aside, my hubs says as much as I love to think he can't understand why I'm not a marathoner because of all the time and space distance running provides. I tell him that yes I love to think, but when I run the only thing I can think about is how much I dislike running. Truth.

I'm famous for trying lots of somethings (exercise wise) and then giving up before I reap the benefits, but I'm committing to this for the full month, and paying too, which is a little incentive.  My goal is to boot camp three days a week, lose a little around the middle, get stronger, and most of all not hurt myself or anyone around me.

That last bit is ambitious. I told my daughter one of the stations involved grabbing a ring in each hand and then leaning back into a squat, and that I managed it all without falling.

She was impressed.
And relieved.
And probably a little bit surprised.

I was too.

The Hodgepodge-Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Welcome to October and another week in the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along-just answer the questions on your own blog, then come back here to add your link to the party. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. What's one thing you learned in September?

People want to know they matter.  

It's not that I haven't always known this, but I've been reminded of it in a real way this month.  

2. Acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zucchini squash, or blech! hold the squash!...what's your favorite squash?  Your favorite way to prepare your favorite squash?

I love them all, but I think my favorite is the yellow summer squash. If it's just the hubs and I eating, I'll sprinkle the squash with lemon pepper and saute it along with some onion. My favorite recipe though, is Paula Deen's squash casserole. We make it for most holiday gatherings and it's delish.

3. The older I get the ______________________________.

...easier it is to focus on what will matter for eternity.

4. What's your favorite television theme song ever?

Probably The Mary Tyler Moore Show, because that song and the opening credits made me want to be a television news producer living in a cute apartment in Minneapolis. Instead I'm a middle aged mom of two living in the NJ suburbs.  

I need a theme song.

Another song that popped into my head was from a program called Here Come the Brides. Does anybody else remember that show? It was set in Seattle in the late 1800's, and was the story of three brothers who brought brides from Massachusetts to Seattle in an effort to save their mill. My younger sister and I loved that show and its theme song, and especially Bobby Sherman. I found a clip of the song on YouTube and I guess it doesn't really stand the test of time. Definitely dated, but still it reminds me of Friday night television viewing with my little sis which makes me happy.



5. What do you wish you'd spent more time doing five years ago?

Blogging. Really. I started my blog four years ago, about the time we found out we would be leaving the UK. I've written in hindsight about many of our experiences there, but oh how I wish I'd been blogging the years as they were lived.  

6. What item do you most need (or want) to add to your wardrobe this fall?

I need new blue jeans and a super cute pair of ankle boots (brown) to wear under them. Do fashionistas still call them ankle boots? I think they call them booties now, but since I'm not exactly a fashionista I'm going with ankle boots.  

What do I want?  Something in the must have color for fall-cobalt blue. I love it, and it's a good color on me, so a cute coat or a pretty scarf like this one would be fun.

7. On October 2, 1950 the Peanuts cartoon was introduced to the world.  What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?

Looney Tunes, especially those featuring Bugs, Wile E. Coyote, or Foghorn Leghorn were my absolute favorite, but I also loved The Jetsons, and Johnny Quest. Back when TV viewing wasn't available 24/7, and most people didn't have multiple televisions, let alone the capability to record programming, Saturday morning cartoons were much anticipated and such a treat.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm trying a boot camp for the first time today. It starts at 6 AM, but I figure if you're going to be miserable might as well get it out of the way first thing, right? I'm not really a boot camp kind of girl, but this waist isn't going to shrink itself, so I'm diving in and just hoping I don't embarrass myself.

I'll let you know. 

Friday Fragments

I thought I'd link up with Friday Fragments today.

Because it's Friday.

And I've got some fragments.

How do y'all like the many rules of grammar and punctuation I bent in that first little blurb?  I bet some of you are twitching.

Normally that sort of thing would make me twitch too, but there are days I feel the need to make my own rules on this blog.  And sometimes a thought is better expressed in something less than a complete sentence.

And sometimes I need to begin a sentence with the word And.
My editor says its okay.

On to my Friday Fragments...

Hubs has been faithfully working out to the Insanity program and is quickly seeing results.  I figured I'd give it a try too, and now that I have there are some thoughts I need to share-

That name is no accident. 

Jillian Michaels has nothin' on Shaun T.  

For those who don't know, he's the host of Insanity.

I use the term 'host' loosely. 

Speaking of things that are insane...airline tickets.  What in the world?  I booked a flight for daughter2 for the Thanksgiving holiday and the cost was positively astronomical.  I realize flights are always higher around the holidays, but this is the most I've paid since my girls went off to uni several years ago.  I suppose the price of fuel contributes to the higher costs too, but still...its insane!  And it doesn't do a thing for your abs.  

I had an online conversation with my daughter1 yesterday that at one point was so technologically challenging, she said ever so sweetly, 'Let's just move on from that topic because I have no idea what you're talking about.'  How in the world do I have a blog?  

You may recall the weather at my house on Halloween of last year.  It looked like this-

A literal foot and a half of snow.   That's one of our large plum trees plummeting to the ground under the weight of the white stuff.  It created a huge mess, not to mention the expense.  

Word on the street is we're in for some delightful weather this Halloween too.  They're calling this one Frankenstorm and it's supposed to bring high winds and torrential rain to our neck of the woods right around Halloween.

Did I mention we're in the middle of a landscaping project and there is mega dirt involved?  Yeah. Well we are and there is. Really hoping it all stays put.  

You're invited to spill your random thoughts today too...click here to add your link to Friday Fragments.   Enjoy your weekend!

No one was hurt in the making of this blog post

Note: if you are looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions, they are in a separate post here.

I feel like I need to tell you about my very first Zumba experience since I had quite a few comments about it yesterday. Many of you said you were thinking about giving it a try and a few of you had no clue what I was talking about. Zumba is an aerobic dance program done to a Latin beat. A loud Latin beat. And, if you've been on the fence about giving it a try perhaps my post today will convince you to be like Nike and just do it. Here we go-

1. 'Everyone leaves smiling'.

I'm pretty sure what they meant to say was everyone leaves sweating.

2. I lack rhythm.

3. Its true-nobody is paying any attention to you and your two left feet so no need to worry about how you look.

4. That's because everyone is concerned with shaking their own booty in the right direction.

5. There is much booty shaking.

6. I enjoyed that.

7. I had no unintentional solos.

8. Did I mention you sweat a lot?

9. The 20-somethings sweat too.

10. The class lasted one hour and fifteen minutes.

11. I thought the class was one hour.

12. Fifteen extra minutes is a lot of minutes people.

13. There were no breaks.

14. Not one.

15. Oh my word, the sweat.

16. My ears are ringing.

17. It was fun so I bought ten passes and am going back on Friday.

18. They took my picture for my id.

19. They took it after class.

20. My cheeks are red and my hair is sweaty...but I am smiling.