Overthinkin' at the gym

A couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday, I awoke to a rainy morning. I love rainy days, so that was no problem. The one problem was that I've gotten kinda addicted to my morning walks. Now that Zane goes with me, yes GOES WITH ME, they aren't exactly the intimate walks with God that they used to be. Now it's kinda like my talking to God on the telephone with Zane constantly interrupting. That's okay, though, because I figure that's just where I am right now.

So after getting a little antsy about missing my walk, it occurred to me that maybe I should go to the Y to walk on the treadmill. I don't like treadmills, and honestly had only been on a treadmill one other time in my life. I figured that I'd give it a try given that I needed to get out of the house and this was a free thing I could do. Free was good. Exercise was good. How could I go wrong?

I poked in my head in and checked with Allen. He was cool with it, and I asked him again how to work the treadmill. See, I was a little nervous. He laughed and said, "Um, you kinda get on it and turn it on..." He saw the look on my face and assured me that I would be fine. I get really nervous about this sort of thing. The ultimate in silliness. What if I get in there and can't get the thing on and everybody is looking at me and I still can't figure it out? It's like being in 6th grade all over again!

So I headed out, only partly daunted, to the Y. On the way to the cardio room, I stopped by the bathroom. I stood, frozen, in the bathroom lobby, because it occurred to me that I could go into the "adult only" locker room. I stood there for a moment, relishing in the face that I could actually venture where I had never ventured before. I am sad to report that the adult locker room is MUCH nicer than the family one. Not that I can blame the Y. My kids are also on a continuous path of destruction, though mostly unintended, to cut a swatch through the world. So I figure the Y is only protecting some investment. I mean, they even had a massaging recliner in there. They were living in up in style over there. Oh well.

After exploring the bathroom further, it was time to go meet the beast. I entered the cardio room trepidatiously. I approached the last row of treadmills, which was empty, and cautiously stepped on. Sure enough, there was a huge ON/OFF button. So I pushed it. Easy enough. No need to flee in embarrassment. I got going a little to get warmed up. I got my music going. I increased my speed a little more and a little more. I got a little incline going. I was starting to get comfortable. I still had to clutch the handrails, convinced I was going to somehow fly off the back of the thing and smash into the mirrored wall behind me. But I was getting comfortable.

Then, it happened.

I realized that I have gym neurosis.

It should have been expected, really. I'm a weirdo. Why would I not be weird at the gym?

As I studied the two people walking in front of me, I realized I needed to see their speeds of how fast they were walking. I had to be sure I was walking faster than they were. Why? Who the heck knows? I also realized that I didn't want to walk on that row of treadmills, because I wouldn't want people looking at my butt while I was walking. Like they would. Then, even though I was the only person on my row, a nice man came and got on the treadmill right. next. to. me. UGH. So then I had to study his workout progress. I kept up with him until he started to run. Then I gave up on that. Oh but I that didn't keep me from trying to see/hear what was on his iPod.

Then, even though we were the only two on our row, another nice man came in an got on the treadmill right next to me on the other side. REALLY? Now I was a little annoyed. I felt a little claustrophobic. And I had another speed to keep up with. Luckily he was a runner and put me in the dirt very soon. So I was back to keeping ahead of the two other walkers in the room. I got a little worried about the amount of sweat falling on the various parts of the treadmill, but was tremendously relived to see that when you are done, you get one of this little antibiotic wipie things and you wipe down the top part of your treadmill. That made me feel so much better. I did wish that I had wiped mine off before I got on it, just in case the person before me didn't do such a great job.

I also got fascinated with this one girl who, when she ran, never ever put her heels down. She ran entirely on her tiptoes. I know this because I studied this for quiet a while. I was mesmerized. Then I wondered if I could ask her to put her heels down so I could stop looking at her feet and wondering about this. It wasn't like I had a whole lot else to do. Then I forced myself to stop thinking about that and move on. That can be done occasionally. And luckily she didn't run for very long. And how could you, when you're only running on your tiptoes?

There are lots of televisions on the wall, but without the earphones, you can't hear anything on them. That's really frustrating, although I'm not putting on those headphone thingies. The very nice people at the Y assured me that they disinfected them, but I'm not sure there's a level of disinfection that I'm comfortable with when it comes to copious amounts of sweat. I stayed obsessed with the workout numbers on my treadmill panel. There's way too much information for a person like me who loves numbers and measuring and all that stuff. I hate that you see how many calories you are burning. On one hand, it's nice because it's a great motivation to keep going. On the other hand, it's depressing how far and fast you have to go just to burn off one Cliff Bar you had with your coffee that morning.

So I turned my focus to my music. I started worshiping and praising God, just like in the mornings in the neighborhood. I'm quite sure my neighbors think I'm crazy, walking about, swinging my hands in the air and pumping my arms up and down. I guess I just look crazy, but I don't care much. I did care on the treadmill, although I did get a few clandestine hand raises in. That took me through the end of my workout.

I went back the next day, and found that I had to get on the exact same treadmill. We had a history, he and I. It was another good workout, and I was surprised how sore I was from the day before. I guess I get a much better workout on the treadmill that sauntering about my neighborhood. It was a great way to spend some alone time, and I do want to go back and do it again more regularly. I just don't want people to get on those treadmills right next to me. :)

r

Happy Anniversary!

We had a great 14th anniversary! It was on a Wednesday, and to say that we were exhausted would be a huge understatement. We decided, undaunted, that we were going to have fun anyway! My sweet sister, Anna, came to babysit the kids. Allen surprised me with roses, which was very sweet. I loved them!

We went to one of our favorite locally owned Italian restaurants, Joe's. It's so good. The sweet matriarch takes care of you as soon as you walk in. While we were waiting on our table, she gave us some "Italian Water." This was red wine, Sprite and lemon slices. It was soooo good! She carried around a pitcher and didn't let our glasses get too empty. Also, while we were waiting for our table, one of Allen's friends from high school came in. She's a wine rep and had come to bring some wine. She brought us some samples of things to taste, which is why I have two glasses in front of my on the table. ;) The food was good too! My favorite part was when "Mama" danced a traditional Italian dance with a waiter who was playing the harmonica. The entire restaurant was laughing and clapping. It was so sweet and fun that I laughed until I nearly cried. I so wish I was Italian!!!

After dinner, we went to Book-A-Million and browsed around for a bit. We then gave into our fatigue and went home. It was a sweet night and a great dinner. When we got home, we got another present. Zane had woken up, and Anna had gotten him back to sleep! That was huge! It made me very, very happy!

My gift from Allen is one of my favorite ever. I admit that I found it, quite by accident, on Etsy, but he took care of ordering it and getting it here! When we were dating, I would read poetry to him. ee cummings is one of my most favorite poets ever, mostly because he breaks all the rules, and one of my favorite poems to read to Allen was "i carry your heart." It became "our poem." It surprised us greatly to learn that one of our favorite guitarists, Michael Hedges, actually recorded it as a song with David Crosby singing. Our dear friend Jon sang it at our wedding. So my bracelet is a sweet reminder of our courtship and our wedding. It was a perfect gift!

It was a great anniversary, and I am praying it's a year of our marriage the glorifies God greatly.

i carry your heart with me - ee cummings


i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you


here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqSZzmUMHM&feature=PlayList&p=85BDEA4979685ADA&index=0&playnext=1


(You Tube video of Michael Hedges singing our song!)

The Epic Beach Slideshow! Finally!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New laundry strategy

I really hated my old laundry method. I would do laundry all day on Monday, pile it up on our love seat, and there it would sit until I could have wine/laundry/movie night. I really did like wine/movie night, but when the return to school began to near, I knew I wasn't going to have time for all that. So I decided to try something new. Besides, I hated looking at all that laundry until it could get folded. Worse yet, the boys would pretend it was a mountain and climb it, knocking stuff down and strewing it all over the living room. Quick way to make Mama go crazy.

I waited until the laundry was all piled good and high. Probably 2 weeks worth. Then, what I did was wash a load during the day. I'd hang up what I could and then dry the rest. Then, while the kids were in the bath, I'd take this one load upstairs, fold and put it away. It literally takes about 10 minutes to fold and put one load away. The kids are playing in the bath, so it's the perfect time.

I did this every day for about 10 days. And amazingly I caught up on the laundry. Once I was all caught up, I did a load every 2 days. The hamper was always empty, I always had bras to wear (the thing I run out of first. Wait, was that tmi? I doubt seriously that I have a single male reader of this blog. And isn't it common knowledge that all women wear bras? Oh well...) and I wasn't stuck to a pile of laundry for an hour or longer. That was the very best part.

Laney is old enough now too that I just stick her folded laundry on her hamper in her room. She puts it away. Jude can too, but I usually do his and Zane's myself. Some days, that's just easier. Soon they are all going to put their own stuff away. Man, I love big kids.

Anyway, a load a day. Whew. Little ways to make my life easier!

Let's Eat!

So here is how the menu turned out for this week. I know there is lots of chicken on there, but we ate lots of ground turkey (ie, Nachos and burgers) at the beach because that was easier stuff to cook than other stuff. And there are two fried items because summer seems like it's coming to a close, and I want to eat our "summer" foods a lot this week. See, I'm weird with food. I overcame the "soup is only for fall/winter" this year thanks to my beloved Heather, and that expanded my recipe base tons this summer. Allen was glad too. He loves soup. But I still have some weird food things that remain. Fried green tomatoes just feel mostly like summer. Fried okra too. Good grief... So, here it is, in all its glory:

Monday: The rest of Sunday's lasagna
Tuesday: Crock Pot whole chicken with new potatoes and carrots. Also fried okra.
Wednesday: Homemade Chick-fil-A soup with the rest of the chicken and the stock from the Crock Pot.
Thursday: Salmon Croquettes, fried green tomatoes and baked yellow squash. Brown rice, too, for the kids.
Friday: Homemade chicken fingers, organic boxed Mac and Cheese and steamed frozen broccoli.
Saturday: Homemade chicken wings and Alexis frozen waffle fries. Sliced carrot sticks are the veggie ;)
Sunday: The much anticipated chicken picatta. I'm scared. Hold me.

That's it. I spent approx. $140.00 at Publix, which is more than I usually spend, but I bought the chicken fingers and the wings, which I usually don't buy, along with a coupole of other meats for breakfast or "reserve." I also splurged on some yummy chips and caramel popcorn stuff that we love. I wasn't ready to completely give up the vacation eating just yet!

I have budgeted $150.00 a week on groceries (well, 4 weeks' worth) but I try to stay close to $100 because I usually hit Costco once a month and Whole Foods once a month. I also don't mind going over budget a bit since we aren't eating out at all. Well, actually we may run by the Chick on Friday, but that's it!

Whew! Off to cook up my soup!

Dinner Options

So I listed everything I (know how to/can/the kids like me to) make for dinner. My goal was to get 31 things, so I can fill up a month's worth of dinners and then we only have to eat one thing a month. I tried that for a month, and it was good in theory. I like having a grain/veggie night one night a week, in effort to cut down on our meat consumption. I am also adding a fish night into our weekly rotation, again, in order to get down our meat consumption. (The Mediterranean diet is the most healthy, wonderful way of eating out there. I'm trying to edge us closer to that life way of eating.) So figuring in the weekly grain/veggie night and the weekly fish night, it wasn't too hard to come up with other things to fill in with to round out the month.

I do want to find and try new recipes. Allrecipes.com is my life saver there. I just go peruse until I find something I want to try. This week, it's Chicken Piccata. I am going to make it on Sunday, so I have lots of time to work on it. Some things I've tried and the family didn't like them, so I knocked them off the rotation.

I print out a calendar off my computer, and I pencil in a week's worth of dinners. I'm doing better with only a week at a time, since a whole month can get overwhelming. So on Monday morning, I sit down and plan out my menu, and then I go to Publix on Monday afternoon while Laney and Jude have art. I take my menu with me, and that makes it easier to look at, along with my list for the week too.

So far this has really been a blessing. I don't have to wonder at 4 o'clock what I am going to cook, and all the ingredients are there already. We aren't eating out on the weekends, because the menu is planned and ready to go. I try to have something on Friday night that can carry us over onto Saturday night. Or I'll so something fun, like buffalo chicken dip and salad. The planning is truly the hard part, so with some time and a little effort, this has made my life so much easier!

As I find new recipes, I'd like to knock off some of the more boring or simple dishes and use them as reserve dishes. But for now, here is my dinner option list. No laughing or pointing, please. ;)

Hamburgers
Sloppy Joes
Hamburger steak (with brown gravy)
Roasted chicken (which is always followed by a chicken soup of some kind)
Chicken noodle soup

Chicken gumbo
Chicken burritos
BBQ chicken sandwiches
Nachos
Chicken and dumplings
Chicken pot pie
Salmon
Snapper
Chili
Taco Soup
Tacos
Spaghetti
Lasagna
Stuffed shells
Chicken Parmesan
Breakfast for dinner
Italian Crock Pot Dinner
Veggie and grain night
Shrimp pasta
Baked Chicken Spaghetti
Chicken quesadillas
Chicken with rice/mushroom soup
Chicken fingers
Grilled chicken salad
Salmon croquettes
Potato soup
Broccoli, rice and chicken casserole
Chicken Piccata

So there it is. We'll see if the Chicken Piccata stays on the list after this weekend! I am going to add recipes too, hopefully this month. My new hobby is to get cookbooks from the library and find good recipes from there. I just love the feel off a cookbook in my hands!

Whew. Off to plan my week's meals!

I've seen the future...

How I hope to be... Maybe