Child: What's for dinner mommy? (eats a snow pea)
Me: Chicken
Child: Ew! I dont like meat! (eats a cherry tomato)
Me: Ok, I can rock the vegetarian thing. Would you like a lentil burger instead?
Child: No, I dont like lentils. (eats a carrot)
Me: I have tofu
Child: I dont like tofu (eats a red pepper)
Me: The next time I go shopping, I can get some big portobello mushrooms for you. You could have that.
Child: I dont like mushrooms. (eats spinach straight from the garden. Dont dare put it on a plate)
Me: Well you have to have some protein. What about if I made quiche? Its like scrambled eggs. They serve it sometimes at school.
Child: No, I don't like the quiche they serve at school. I only like eggs when they are served with a dunky yolk* (eats celery)
Me: Then eat the chicken.
Other people have to play sneaky chef to get their kid to eat the veggies. I have to play sneaky protein.
-----------------------
Dunky eggs/yolk: Fried and you dunk your toast in.
"Mommy, why is Daddy home?"
Because he took a sick day last night.
"How many sick days does he get."
I dont know, 5 is normal for most jobs.
"How many sick days do you get?
I'm a mommy. We dont get sick days.
"I think you should. You can have 10 sick days!"
(oh, if only it were that simple!)
We've had quite a few adventures recently and am just getting to download the pictures off the camera. DH had off Good Friday and we went on a family hike on some of the trails around Schunnemunk Mountain (The Trestle if you know the area.)
"Daddy, why do tree roots pop up like that?"
"The dirt got worn away by the people walking and the root popped out."
"Daddy, why are there bones?"
"Do you see all the fur around? I think this is what is leftover after a coyote meal. I think he ate the deer."
"Daddy, why are there nails in the tree?"
"Some hunter used them to climb up the tree to hunt for deer."
(me) "But we are in State Forest. Isnt hunting illegal."
"Look how old those nails are. They are 50-60 years old. This might not have been parkland at that time."
"Let's take a little rest here and check the map."
"Daddy, can I have some water?"
"Let's talk about why these rocks are red..."
"Let me get you a bigger rock!"
"I dont need a bigger rock!"
"Daddy, why does the train need a signal?"
"Its like a traffic light so the engineer knows whether to stop or keep going,"
"I like riding on the train."
(Note: We even got to see a train go by, but I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture.)
"If you look all the way over there, you can see Mount Beacon, which is really close to Tia's house."
"Hey, we should go there!"
(simultaneously) "We'd have to swim across the Hudson River."
Group picture!
"I'll take your picture!"
Yesterday, I ran another 5K to challenge myself.
There were 3 victories:
1) 32 minutes. A HUGE improvement in time over my first 5K in Nov 2010.
2) I Ran the whole way. There was no stopping. Whenever I felt like stopping, I didnt. I explained to myself that it was just a trick of my mind. I checked in with my muscles and they were still doing ok. Checked in with my lungs, plenty of oxygen. So I could just keep going. The course was a loooonnngg gentle uphill until the turnaround and then back.
3) During the race, I would pass this walking girl doing my jog thing, then she would start running and get past me. She couldnt keep up that pace tho, and would drop back to a walk and I would pass her again. After about 3-4 sets of this I finally said "Come on, run with me. I'm slow."
And I got her to run the rest of the race. "You see that pine tree, we'll be able to see the building from there." "Nope, keep running, you've got this." "Its not about speed, its about endurance." "See those flashing lights, that's where the turn in is." "Ok, there's the finish line, now pour on the speed."
Of course I am proud of myself and my new Best Time. But I'm also reserving some of that pride for showing someone the Light of what is possible. There is no doubt in my mind that without me, she would have continued with the walk/ run thing. Now, perhaps she'll realize that she can run longer than she thought and when she puts those legs into speed motion.... zoom!
Although some of my weight/ health problems come from lack of success in other areas, I needed this victory more than I thought. And I'm so happy that part of my victory was from inspiring someone to do something that they didnt know was possible.
Bunny gets baths regularly.
A Brick, as I understand it, is when you go straight from bike to running, just as in a triathlon. It is called a Brick because when you start, it feels like your legs are tied to bricks. Attractive image, no? So I decided my personal strategy for dealing with this transition is to walk first to get the rhythm and then move into running.
The strategy worked well. I felt strong and good on Sunday. It was great. Core engaged, arms relaxed, running easy. Sadly I had to leave before finishing the 5K, time constraints and whatnot. But I was feeling STRONG.
So today (Monday) I decided to go "all in"
Swim: 25 min, 750 meters (I think, I may have lost track at one point so I did an extra 50m, just to be sure, so it might have been 800m) I did crawl on the forward and backstroke on the back.
Bike: The aforementioned 45 minutes on the stationary cycle, which is hopefully 12 miles. Kelly Ripa was looking particularly perky today. I was doing a couple one-leg drills during it, both to relieve boredom and let one leg at a time rest.
Run: 40 min. This is where I ran out of gas. I had a crappy breakfast this morning which may have contributed. I had to walk much more than I would like normally, but this was on the tail-end of the other two so I couldn't beat myself up much more than I already had.
As I'm on the treadmill, the thought kept running/ walking through my mind "you could quit. Nobody would accuse you of shirking. You did the pool and bike. You know you feel this way because of the crappy breakfast. Or possibly because you forgot your water bottle." But no, I decided to be stubborn and finish the 3.2 miles, just to see if I could. No matter how much I had to walk.
From the time I stepped into the pool to the time I wobbled off the treadmill, was exactly 2 hours. I had a 7 min break between pool and bike for a rinse and to put on sneakers. (And a friendly chat) And there was a 3 min break between bike and run to put on my jogging bra. As I type this, I am eating a banana with peanut butter and drinking a glass of water before taking a real shower.
So what have I learned:
1) Yes, I can do this
2) Proper nutrition is paramount
3) Hydration is vital
4) At a certain point, its not about muscle power, its willpower.
Cast of Characters:
Cheese Cousin's two adorable children: The Naturally Caffeinated Kid and Bird Grrl. NCK is a stubborn type A personality. No I did not misspell Grrl, I didnt know this until seeing the two in action for extended period, but the Girl wrestles and can hold her own. I think this is partially because she has the NCK for a brother. Clearly they adore each other, in (like most siblings) small limited doses. And then they dont, and someone ends up in a time out.
First we went to the Chicago Children's Museum:
Where Bird Grrl checked out the Circus exhibit,
NCK Built a skyscraper and put sides on it
And Child Played with Water.
Then we went to Lunch before hitting the World's Largest Ferris Wheel:
Child was not feeling 100% (here he is practically asleep during Lunch) so we went home and played/relaxed until dinner time.
Jet Ski Man, Cheese Cousin's Husband, was at a work dinner, so we got take out-make your own pizza and Child fell asleep on me after only 1 bite.The next day, Child was feeling better and we went to the Shedd Aquarium.
Where apparently, I took very few, very bad pictures. But there were jellyfish and penguins and a beluga whale and dolphins doing tricks. We had tentative plans to move over to the Field Museum (dinosaurs) at lunch time, they share a parking lot, but there was so much else we hadn't seen, it went on the list for Next Time.
The Aquarium was cool.
Outside was a beautiful park and we took a few pictures there too.
Unfortunetly Cheese Cousin looks pained in this picture which we did not realize at the time. She's really much prettier.
Then, yep, you guessed it, headed home and had pizza leftovers for the kids and the adults had some yummy homemade chicken spinach lasagna. Jet Ski Man was at yet another business dinner.
Saturday was St. Patrick's Day and Chicago puts on an epic parade. We didnt go. Oh, I wanted to, but I thought standing in a crowd for hours was going to be a bit much for our group. Instead we went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Not very garden-y just yet, but the bones were there for something stupendous. Still, for what we wanted, unstructured tourist time where the kids could run and play, it was a great thing.
They are doing some kind of pond/lake remediation in the background. Follow the leader in the foreground.
In the Orchid House
Catching some rays
A moment of stillness for NCK.Can you tell all the kids were getting tired??!?
Not pictured, one of my favorite memories from the trip. All the kids were playing in the driveway with scooters, bikes and chalk. Cheese Cousin made some lovely iced tea and we sat & talked as the kids went round and round in a scene of suburban spendor.
So, I'm going to start to troll the travel sites and when the fares get cheap again...we are totally going back!
(Spoken by Cheese Cousin, taken to heart and possibly will make me cry now and a few days.)
“I just want you to know I'm very proud of you. Your problem has always been food, but I've been watching you on this visit, and you are really working on the good food choices. And it shows. You have lost a tremendous amount of weight. You look better than I have seen you in years. And undertaking a triathlon?!? What you are doing is working for you. I am so proud and happy for you.”
I just wanted to send this out to the universe for everyone who ever had someone say “Hmm, putting on a few pounds?” When you take them off, people notice too.
More about my Chicago trip later. It was so AWESOME! I love you Cheese Cousin!
Recovered Meat Product aka “Pink Slime” is getting a lot of coverage nowadays. I recently read an article on CNN “Clarified: Much a goo about 'pink slime' Out of curiosity, I checked out the comments. One particularly struck me:
Walter Prout :
Boy, there sure are a lot of experts on this issue who know or seem to know more about something the rest of us don't !
Bottom line is, this stuff is and looks NASTY !
Anyone who tries to rationalize that this stuff that's said to be SAFE and COST EFFECTIVE to consume is not going to force their own children to eat this stuff ! Just because we had consumed this in the past doesn't make it mean it's OK to consume it today !
WHY DON'T WE ASK THE OBAMA'S IF THEY CONDONE THEIR CHILDREN EATING THIS NASTY STUFF !
If the USDA get's away with this, What's next ? They sure can't Guarantee that a Low Wage Worker at a Meat Plant is not tossing RATS or anything else in the vat, now can they ?
March 11, 2012 at 10:48 am |
And now, this is the part where I get my Ranty-Pants. Ahem:
Hey Walter! Of course the Obama's don't eat this stuff. They are the First Family. There is probably a Secret Service assigned to the cow that eventually becomes their burgers. No, this stuff is shipped to the cheapest bidder in an attempt to squeeze more money out of the same miserable feedlot cow. For those of you that think Business is the answer and there are too many Regulations, may I present Exhibit A: Pink Slime Beef. When you cut taxes and shrink the government, there are pitiful few voices around to protect the people who dont have the money to make other choices. So Business says “Yeah, we can get you some beef, 100%. Just dont look too closely about where we got it from.” And because these poor people gotta eat, they buy it. That's what business does, it makes and product and finds a market for it. Government is supposed to protect the people. But if you hamstring the government and say “Nope, Business should not be hampered by regulations. Let the Free Market rule!” well, you get Pink Slime. Because there is no regulations against it. And the rats, well, since we couldnt pay the Health Inspectors, because we wanted to shrink government by cutting taxes, the rats might be in there too. This is the stuff that McD and other fast food businesses recognized was not going to be palatable to the public, especially since a large portion of the Fast Food market is parents with young children. (Their spokesman is a clown, for God's sake.) But Business still has this Pink Slime stuff, and its still 100% beef, so where is is going to go? Oh, here's another buyer, the school lunch program. Also hampered by tax cuts and still trying to produce a hot lunch for every student at less than $3 per serving. And they will eat. So they are going to shop around and go with the lowest bidder. That's the Free Market. So where does the Pink Slime end up? Lunch trays around the nation. Parents who care will be disgusted and start complaining. School boards with money will remove the product. School districts LIKE MY OWN with 70% of students on Free and Reduced Lunch, will still have to serve it. And there will be kids who eat it. Gratefully. Because it's the only meal they get that day. So our poorest and most vulnerable will be getting the worst of it.
A few more rants that originated from this comment:
Rkottme*
“Ammonia is used in all sorts of healthy products like bread. It has been since 1979 and all it really does is change the Ph just enough to lower the bacterial count. E. Coli is nasty stuff so protecting folks from it with GRAS ingredients works for bread and meat.”
March 11, 2012 at 12:47 pm |
*Exerpt
Ok, so now you are telling me that this meat, the stuff destined to become Pink Slime is so contaminated with E. Coli that you have to douse it with ammonia to make it safe. Hmm. Let me think, where would E. Coli be in the cow...the intestines and colon. Fecal material. So this is meat contaminated with poop and you think by dumping some ammonia on it, its going to make it better??!? All we have now is a population of DEAD E.Coli on the meat. I still dont want this! Again, this is Business's answer to the problem of E. Coli. No, we dont want regulations. We'll regulate ourselves. Really. Bacteria on the meat? No problem. Give it a chemical shower. Clean as a whistle! No thank you. The Government Inspection system isnt perfect, FAR FROM IT! But, I'd rather pay someone WITH TAX DOLLARS or better yet, with heavy fines against violators.
Tell me you dont want a nanny state? Fine. But I want to know that somebody is watching Business on my behalf and on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable, those with the fewest options. Because you can trust business to make only one decision right: which choice will earn me the most dollars.
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