Four Years Ago Today

August 4th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (16 Comments)

I looked at the calendar just now and realized that four years ago today, I quit my day job.

With one month to go until the impending arrival of Thing 2,

Birds Eye View

I swapped out dress slacks and make up and opted for dress up and make believe.

Dancing Girls

This is the longest job I’ve ever held.

Hold On

It’s been the most challenging.

Don't Take My Picture

But it’s also been the most rewarding.

Good Sharing

Some days start out easy.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Some days start out rough.

Bright

Some days get harder later on.

Sleepy Max

It’s not always pretty.

Not Pretty

And it’s not always easy.

Don't Turn Your Back

Every day is not a picnic.

Picnic in the Park

But we’ve definitely had some fun!

Sunglasses

And found ways to keep busy.

Max and the Snow Pony

And haven’t forgotten to have a sense of humor.

Silly Ava

Or how to have a good time.

Ice Cream Rocks

I need to say thank you to my husband, who eagerly handed over the role as stay at home parent and slogs off to work every day to support us.

Peace

I need to say thank you to all my fellow stay at home friends (and their children!) who have helped keep me sane these last four years.

Funny Faces

I need to say thank you to the countless family members who stopped by to visit just to say hi, to give me a break or to help keep us from going stir crazy.

Really Deep

And most of all, I need to say thank you to these girls of mine.

Ferris Wheel

For teaching me so much about myself.

Lilac Festival 2009

About life.

Bike Trailer

And about love.

Bear Hug

About keeping the paint up high.

Thing 2

And keeping our standards low.

Thing 1

And most of all, to just go with the flow.

Anniversary of a Stay at Home Mom

Holy crap. We made it through another day together. Hallelujah.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Ratatouille, Ratatouille

August 1st, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (14 Comments)

Whenever I say “Ratatouille”, I always want to say it twice and then the chorus Rock Me Amadeus starts to play in my head.

What? Is that just me?  Probably.

So… Ratatouille. Yeah. I’m fairly sure “Ratatouille” is French for “what the hell am I going to do with all these summer vegetables?”

My mom has been making Ratatouille and raving to me about it during recent phone conversations.  When she described what went into it, I realized that I had every single one of the ingredients in my overstocked-with-produce fridge.  That’s what I call vegetable fate.

Summer Vegetables

A recipe for ratatouille:

2 medium eggplants
1 giant zucchini (that I used half of)
1 medium – large yellow squash
2 small – medium green peppers
1 large red pepper
1 large red onion
3 tomatoes

Plus garlic, basil, thyme and parsley and the oil of your choice. I’m using coconut oil for cooking these days, mainly because coconut oil whispers sweet nothings in my ear about “athletes” and “beautiful people” whenever I get it out of the cupboard.

I love you too, coconut oil.

First let me say this dish is absolutely not at all what I expected it to be. I don’t know what I was expecting exactly, but I do know it wasn’t a bunch of chopped up vegetables cookin’ together in their own juices.

I think I was picturing a smooth bowl of brownish vegetable mush? That sounds awesome, doesn’t it?  It’s a real wonder I haven’t made this sooner.

Did I mention yet there will be a lot of chopping? Just in case I didn’t, let me say that now.

There will be a lot of chopping.

First up, cube your eggplant. The eggplant gets bumped to the head of the class because it’s going to need time to sit while you are busy chopping all the other vegetables.

Personally, I like to hack into an eggplant and then pretend it’s some jerky dog-walking mortal enemy so I can throw salt on his fresh wounds.

Or maybe I salt eggplant to remove some of the bitterness and excess moisture.

Whatever. Your reasons for salting eggplant are up to you.

Cubed Eggplant

Cut the onions into rings and saute in oil over medium heat until soft. Here is where I would have added a couple cloves of minced garlic if I’d had any, but alas – I had none. The understudy Garlic Powder was very excited to take over the role of Garlic tonight.

Onions

Next up, cube zucchini and throw it in the pot. Cube yellow squash. Into the pot. Add more oil as needed to keep any vegetables from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Dice yuletide (that would be red and green) peppers and – you guessed it! Into the pot.

Tomatoes? Same deal. (Cubed AND de-seeded, thankyouverymuch.)

Put the lid back on the pan between each round of vegetables to help keep in heat and moisture.

So Pretty

The last thing to go in to the mix was the eggplant, rinsed and drained. This would also be where I was suddenly wishing I’d had a bigger pot. Either that or less vegetables.

Less vegetables? Bite your tongue! (And if you break the skin, let me know so I can throw salt on it.) I cut up all those dang vegetables! They’re all going in the pot and they’re all gonna like it!

I'm Gonna Need a Bigger Pan

Add fresh herbs, put the cover on the pot and let the vegetables stew in their own juices for about 20 – 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

And yes, thanks to the magic of condensation it was possible for me to stir them even though they were initially almost too big for their Calphalon britches.

Serve over rice or pasta if you like, or better yet – no grains at all cause that’s the way I roll these days.

Ratatouille

The eggplant was absolutely the star of this dish, the texture was great and I loved the way it took on the flavor of the other vegetables too.

Close Up

Despite all the chopping (oh the chopping) ratatouille was easy to make. It was impressively tasty considering the simplicity of summer vegetables.

Best of all – it helped me free up a bunch of space in my fridge. Amen to that.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


A dear reader named Kenzie left a comment the other day asking me to do a post about how I make my salads and what I put in them. Turns out I just so happen to have “Big Giant Salad” on the dinner menu tonight! Here’s how I make a salad that will knock your (and maybe even someone else’s!) socks off.

Step 1: Start with a beautiful head of lettuce. Something OTHER than iceberg for crying out loud please. Red leaf is typically my head of choice, but green leaf or romaine work nicely.  Don’t be afraid to throw in spinach, arugula, dandelion or other mixed field greens too if you’ve got ’em.

A Head of Red Leaf Lettuce

Optional Step 1a: If you’ll be photographing your lettuce before you tear it to shreds, take it outside where natural light is abundant. This will be your best shot at getting the best shot of this gorgeous piece of red-greenery.

Step 2: Tear up lettuce to be washed in salad spinner.

Take note! Tear lettuce in large bite-ish sized pieces OFF the spine. You’ll find no spines in my salad. Spines bad! Leaves good!

A Red Leaf

You’ll know you did it right if you’re left with this:

Spine

(Don’t eat that part.)

Repeat.  And repeat.  And repeat and repeat and repeat until you get to the heart of the head.  Coo lovingly at those sweet little leaves in the middle that are so dang cute and tender.  Rinse leaves well in your salad spinner and then start the spin cycle.

It takes me about 10 minutes or so to rip through a good sized head of red leaf lettuce and it’s worth every minute.  I typically tear up a whole head at once and have a nice bowl full of greens for easy salads/sandwiches/wraps for the next couple of days.  This is also the best way to ensure any head of red leaf gets eaten before it’s forgotten and is turned into a head of slimy brown leaf at the bottom of my produce drawer.

Head in a Bowl

Lettuce torn up, Step 3: would be to head out to the garden to fetch yourself a fatty cucumber. (For sensitive, self conscious cucumbers, refrain from calling it a fatty and instead consider the term big boned.)

Big Boned

Step 3a: Try your damnedest not to sink your teeth into that thing as you walk back into the house.

Step 3b: Slice.

Sliced

I don’t peel it – the skin is where all the good stuff is, yo! I’ll cut it length wise and de-seed if I’m in the mood.  Friday night rowdiness around here = cucumbers with the seeds still in them.

Cucumber sliced, the carrot is next on the list to meet it’s maker. Enter Step 4.

Carrot and Shredder

Wondering how I took that pic if one hand is holding the grater and another hand is holding the carrot? I know you are!

Observe

Have someone else take the picture? Psssh – too predictable! What if your husband is at a party and your 6 year old is currently out of your hair and you want to keep it that way?

It’s called your chin and your chest and the timer on your camera.  I do all my own stunts.

Back to Step 4.  Wash carrot.  Don’t peel.  Grate.  Eat the last little nub instead of adding “shredded knuckle” to the list of salad ingredients.

Carrot Shred

Step 5: Half a red pepper, de-seed and slice.

Half a red pepper

Step 6: Fetch yourself an organically grown tomato from your CSA stash.

CSA Tomato

Step 6a: Slice and de-seed.

Cucumber seeds? Maybe. Tomato seeds? Deal breaker. Might as well throw the whole dang salad straight into the compost. Forget it. Go eat a Big Mac, a fake milkshake, let a big ol’ belch rip and go to bed if you’re not going to cut the seeds out of the tomato.

De-seeded Tomatoes

What? Am I the only one who feels that way about tomato seeds?

If I have an abundance of time and am feeling motivated, I will chop up a ton of vegetables at once to make throwing salads together really fast and easy.  If I’m feeling lazy I’ll just get the lettuce part done and pat myself on the back for being that much ahead of the game for next time around.

OK so where was I?  Oh right.  Step 7.  Dig around for whatever other salad-ish vegetables you have in your fridge.

Green Beans

Step 8: Shout “rock out!” when you realize you’ve got fresh green beans to add to the mix!   Chop up into 1″ (exactly!) pieces, cut off those weird little tail-y and stem-y things and throw them into the compost pile with those shunned lettuce spines and pepper and tomato seeds.

Step 9: Add a couple tablespoons of your salad dressing of choice. Mine might be smashed avocado with salsa if I’m feeling like bottled dressings are the devil (like sometimes you do). If you are feeling less resentful of bottled dressings, a few of my current favs are Organicville Miso Ginger, Annie’s Goddess Dressing or like I used tonight – Good Seasons Italian Dressing made with apple cider vinegar and canola oil.

Good Seasons Italian Dressing

Step 10: Put the lid on that bowl good and tight cause otherwise it’s gonna get ugly in Step 11.

Put lid on tight!

Step 11: [Stock photo] I like my salads shaken, not stirred.

I'll Say It

Step 12: Dump dressing covered salad into a large salad bowl.  Take said bowl outside.  See Step 1 for explanation if you’ve already forgotten why this important.  If you will not be photographing your salad, just eat it straight out of the first bowl you used to toss it in like a complete heathen.

Tada!

Step 13: Bring salad back inside and eat at computer while you write up this post.

Step 14: Hurry and click Publish and go check on your kids cause it’s awfully quiet up there.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Home Field Advantage

July 25th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (7 Comments)

For those of you following along, I read Born to Run a few weeks ago.  This book was awesome and continues to have a strong influence on my running life as of late.  Much of the book is about these ultra-marathoners who run this insane, 100 mile race through the Rocky Mountains in Leadville, Colorado.  One of the runners featured in this story had the bright idea to do his training for the race on the actual course itself.  And what do you know – he ended up setting a new course record that year.

Do you know what I think of that?

I think that is Pure.  Genius.

Racing can be as much of a mind game as it is a physical one, and boy do I know an awesome idea when when I steal one.  It just so happens that our new city residence is about one mile from the last 1/5th of the marathon course – the marathon that I plan to run 7 weeks from today.  And while until now I’ve been doing most of my running through my neighborhood streets, I’ve come to realize it’s time to get my ass on the course and take advantage of my serendipitously strategic living quarters.

I want to be mentally prepared for the end.  I want to triumph over those last 6 miles instead of fighting the urge to just lay down on the side of the road and take a little nap like I wanted to last time.  And while of course I’m gonna have to do a bit of running to get there, the mental prep I can begin to do now is invaluable too.

When I ran this race two years ago, I didn’t know the area at all.  What I saw around every turn was a surprise.  But now, the tables have turned!  I’m getting to know every twist and hill and pot hole like the back of my hand.  I really want those last 6 miles to suck as little as possible.  I want to breeze by people at mile 22 and say “what?  this old path?  oh I run here all the tiiiiiimmmeee.  this is like any other ordinary run for me!  why on earth are you looking so tired?”

I also figure it will be good to know which bushes are best to duck into to when these people are ready to bitch slap me.  And I want to know the best place to stash a first aid kit to bandage up the gash in my cheek when that last line comes back to bite me in the ass on September 12th, 2010.

I’m not just running on the course though, I’m riding it too.  I rode the entire course a few weeks ago and at about Mile 9 I started to realize that “dang. 26.2 miles is far.  what the hell am I thinking?”  What am I thinking? I’m thinking I’m gonna know these 26.2 miles well, that’s what!

If I might now go on record and state my various goals for this race, they would be, in no particular order:

1.  Finish the race in an upright position.  Smile optional.

2.  Beat Alison circa 2008: come in under 4:14:59

3.  Hit the goal of Alison circa 2008: finish in under 4:00

4.  Qualify for the Boston Marathon: 3:40:59

If I were a betting gal, I’d wager on coming in some where between Goal #2 and Goal #3.  Given this Less is More Marathon Training Program touts “running your best marathon ever”, I really want to believe I can beat Alison circa 2008.  Alison of 2008 was a couple years younger of course, weighed about 8 lbs or so less I think, but! was also less experienced and was a little more flighty too if I might say so.  She also had to run the race on a very hot and humid day and therefore walked more than she expected at the end.  Fingers crossed for more cooperative weather this year, and maybe even a mild stomach bug the week before to help drop a little excess baggage.

So what do you think, Alison 2010?

Well, I think we can take her!  I also think #4 is a long shot this year without a really strong tail wind or a really good short cut.

Wait.  A short cut?  That is exactly what I should be looking for here!  Pure!  Genius!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


1.  I failed to remember to charge my Garmin before bed last night, thus I ran today with my old school (now seemingly very little in comparison) digital watch that doesn’t tell me anything fun or exciting.

Little Watch

2.  My left arm felt amazingly light with no 3 lb garmin strapped to it.  So light in fact that it kept creeping up toward the sky and I had to hold it down with my other hand lest every person I ran past wonder if they were supposed to call on me to answer a question.

3.  I clung to the right side of canal path like a bad toupee on a sweaty bald head after being told to “stay on the right side of the path, bitch!” by a portly gentleman walking his equally portly dog a couple weeks ago.  Lesson learned.  Jerk.

(Sorry, no pic.  Maybe next time.)

4.  With no Garmin to tell me my distance, I had to rely on landmarks of a known running route to gauge my distance and pace, much like prehistoric runners had to do.

caveman

5.  Around Mile 4 I started to notice that the liner of my running shorts was beginning to chafe me in a very unmentionable “juncture”.

(Again, I’ll spare you all the pic of this one too.)

6.  At some point a bicyclist approached me from behind while simultaneously rustling the branches of a bush as he rode past.  This sequence of events lead to the escape of a very loud (and very girly, I might add) scream as I thought for a moment that some giant, ferocious creature was about to emerge from said bush and do lord-knows-what to me.

godzilla

7.  Around Mile 7 I was feeling like I was not going to make it the next mile and a half home unless I ripped out the liner of my shorts.  I seriously considered this idea, but scratched it when my left hand refused to come down out of the sky to assist my right hand in such a task.

8.  Some how I made it home after a very hot, sweaty, chafey 8.5 miles.  I refueled with chia seeds and water like the Tarahumara peeps do in Born to Run.

9.  The gel like substance that forms around the chia seeds once they get wet made it seem like I was swallowing a glass full of caviar.  Given I’ve never actually eaten caviar, this is really just my best guess as to what swallowing a bunch of of wet, slimy chia seeds might be compared to.

Chia Seeds Chia Drink

10.  I drank my fish egg drink, changed out of my angry shorts and quickly made a voodoo doll of the (nameless) running shorts company exec and stabbed it right in the crotch with a straight pin.  I then liberally applied Body Glide to the unmentionable areas of my lower half, shook an angry fist at today’s humidity and then cursed at myself for not setting out earlier.  Finally, I strapped my now-charged Garmin to my wrist, put on a new, more forgiving and less chafey pair of shorts before setting off for the second half of my long run.  That’s like eight facts all rolled into one, yo.

11. The next 5 miles were a hell of a lot more comfortable than the first 8.5. I think those chia seeds may have played a role in that last fact too, I might add.

12.  I howled like a banshee in the shower when the stream of water made it known that there was more chafe-age on my back thanks to a sweat soaked sports bra.

13. Today’s post-run cold oat combo contained a half cup of rolled oats in unsweetened almond milk, one small sliced banana and one spoonful of almond butter.  Almond butter played the role of Protein! in today’s breakfast show.  A small cup of half-caff coffee with Organic Valley half and half played the role of Antagonist.

Breakfast

14.  Breakfast was enjoyed on the porch in peace thanks to children watching an episode of Inspector Gadget on Hulu.

15.  I am now waddling around the house like I’m barefoot and 9 months pregnant and/or holding a beach ball between my knees lest my third pair of shorts of the day rub against the unmentionable spots outlined in item number 5 above.

Now you know.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Everywhere You Look

July 15th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (6 Comments)

A month or so ago I stumbled upon a blog post about kids learning to ride a bike without pedals or training wheels. The basic idea is that without having to worry about pedaling, they can focus first on getting the hang of balancing on two wheels first. They can just sit on the bike seat with their feet on the ground, move their feet and walk. They’ll eventually start coasting along, balancing with the security and knowledge that they can easily catch themselves if they start to tip. Once they have the balance thing down, it’s much easier to then get the hanging pedaling – instead of doing it the other way around like you do with training wheels.

Observe.

Balance Bike

Ava’s been riding a training wheeled bike since she was 4 or so. Now at the ripe old age of 6 she’s expressed an interest in taking her training wheels off – especially watching so many of her peers riding without them.

So if you rewind the tape of our life here to a few weeks ago, you’d see an attempt at Ava learning to ride her bike sans training wheels – at her request, mind you. Watch in slow motion as the realization spreads across her face that this is not going to be quite as easy as her fellow 5 and 6 year old friends were making it look. Fast forward through the small melt down that then ensued. Press play as you watch Zak put the training wheels put back on. Roll credits. The end.

But then I saw that blog post. And then training wheels in my head started turning. She needs a small bike where she can easily reach the ground to get the hang of balancing, and then she can worry about pedaling once she’s got the balancing part down pat.

Here’s a video from Strider Sports that explains it all nicely. No, I am not selling these bikes. No, I don’t make any money if you buy one. I sure as hell didn’t buy one. This video just saves me from having to type it all out. Wait, I think I already did type it all out.

So… a small bike, a small bike… what we need is a (free!) small bike. Well ask and you shall receive! Last week at a girlfriend’s house I spotted a small two wheeled bike in their shed. Turns out they weren’t currently using it for their young daughters so I snagged it to give this small bike idea a whirl.

Ava, who is not in the least bit afraid to be disagreeable, was willing to give this idea a whirl too.

Here she is on Sunday.

And within about a half an hour or so she was off and riding!

I didn’t have to run behind her holding the seat. I didn’t have to let go and yell “yeah, I’m still holding the seat!” only to have her look over her shoulder and see that wasn’t in fact holding the seat. She didn’t have realize she was doing it by herself, promptly lose her balance and come crashing to the ground.  She didn’t refuse to ever try again and then give me the cold shoulder for the rest of the night like you might see in some smarmy TV show from the 90’s starring Dave Coulier and the Olsen twins.

Nope. None of that. Instead I sat on my ass on the porch steps with my camera and watched as she figured it out on her own.

And now she’s an old pro!

We haven’t taken the training wheels off her big bike yet as the meltdown alarms for the nuclear kid reactors start to sound at the mere suggestion of it. Soon enough, I’m sure.

The moral of today’s story is: got small kids?  Buy a balance bike. Or don’t. Better yet, save some money and find a small bike on the side of the road or in your friend’s shed. Maybe take the pedals off if you’re mechanically inclined. Either way, I highly recommend doing what it takes so you don’t have to live out a scene from Full House.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


It’s a Phase

July 13th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (6 Comments)

I go through breakfast phases.  Phases where I pretty much eat the same thing day after day after day for weeks on end until one day I wake up in the mood for something different.  This is how it always goes.  I eventually grow tired of the same old, same old, get some new breakfast idea and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now I am in a cold oatmeal phase.  I have been here before and will be here again I’m sure.  This means that my husband and children are also in a cold oatmeal phase.  As the primary meal preparer in this house, they are pretty much at the mercy of whatever breakfast phase I’m in.  Alternate breakfast requests are usually honored provided I have enough notice.

During some phases I hiss and spit and shout obscenities at grains and dairy.  And then other times I care a little less about consuming cow’s milk products or unsprouted grains as long as they are organic.  It those during those phases – like the one I am currently in – where I find myself busting through the door after a run or bike ride, ready to dive head first into breakfasts made from rolled oats and yogurt.

This morning before a speed work session I put together three bowls of oaty goodness.

Three Bowls

That’s right.  Three bowls.  One for Mama Bear, one for Papa Bear and one for School-Aged Bear.  Pre-School Aged Bear would rather hiss and spit at Mama Bear than eat cold oatmeal.  This means that Pre-School Aged Bear gets toast and eggs, a phase she’s been in for about two years now.

Each of the three bowls pictured here contains about a half cup of oats.  That’s pretty much where the similarities end.  You know how the story goes… too hot, too cold and just right.

Ava gets rice milk with agave nectar, a little ground flax and exactly 9 granules of cinnamon.  I counted.  10 granules and she won’t eat it because it’s “too spicy”.

Zak gets almond milk, raisins, cinnamon, flax, agave and absolutely no yogurt lest he hiss and spit and shout obscenities at the sourness that is fermented dairy.

My bowl contained just oats until I was home after a little hissing and spitting and shouting obscenities on the track.

Rolled Oats

Two bowls in the fridge to get their soak on, one on the counter to wait for moisture until I returned.  Time to run.

On today’s schedule was 3 sets of 1600 meter sprints.   Translation: one mile repeats at about a 7:30/m pace with a half mile recovery at 11:00/m pace.  x3.  Might I add here that I was NOT feeling speed work this morning?  Not at all.  But thanks to the Working Out with a Buddy phase I’m currently in (vs. my Working Out Solo phase) I was dragged to the track by my friend and we got the job done despite any early-AM speed work reluctance.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig, my favorite oaty combo du jour is a couple spoolfuls of 2% Fage (plain) with unsweetened almond milk.  As much as I love overnight oats, a brand new aspect of this current oatmeal phase involves enjoying the consistency of oats soaked until the count of 10.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!  Time for a reverse three and a half somersault tuck into my bowl of oats, yogurt and fruit.

Museli

No sweetener is necessary when you’ve got a hearty helping of strawberries and blueberries to load on top.  I am very happy to be at the mercy of this awesome summer fruit phase we’re in!

With Summer Berries

Phase or no phase, breakfast was fabulous today and will be tomorrow too.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


So Happy Together

July 10th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Morning Craziness - (15 Comments)

Barely 24 hours after publishing my review on Born to Run and remarking on the theory that the more expensive your running shoe, the more likely you are to incur an injurya theory I think is right on the money no less – I ran out and spent $80 on running “shoes”. Vibram Five Finger Sprints!

Hypocrisy thy name is Alison.

But CHECK THEM OUT!

Vibrams

And I Love. Them.

You see, it’s all Born to Run’s fault. Reading about these amazing 50, 100 mile and beyond ultra-marathon runners who eat a measly 26.2 miles for breakfast has me pumped to run far and long. I want to eat a marathon for breakfast myself here at the end of the summer! Thanks to Born to Run I have come to see and believe that the form modification that is coming from barefoot running is going to be my ticket to running long with ease. It might not happen overnight, but I think I’m on my way.

Of course though, it’s not exactly that simple.

Because I’ve been modifying my form based on the things that Barefoot Ken Bob preached and all that I’ve been reading… I’m basically in running purgatory.  This in-between-place where I’m not yet really good at my new form and the old way doesn’t feel good anymore either.  I had been wondering if I was just imagining this awkward in-between phase when Born to Run confirmed exactly what I was thinking.  It’s like I’m learning to run all over again.

WELL WHY DON’T I JUST SCREW UP RUNNING FOR MYSELF!

So now, while running in purgatory, my normal runs are fine but long runs are another story.  My toes have been KILLING ME during my long runs, making me miserable come about mile 6 or 8 until the bitter end.

So what to do, what to do! I don’t know if it’s my shoes or if it’s my change in form or what.  Whatever the case, something’s got to give.

Christopher McDougall writes that even OLD beaten down sneakers are better than newer ones, since less cushioning is better.  So in my quest to help me and my toes get along again, I brought an old pair of sneaks out of lawn mowing retirement last week and had them accompany me and my toes on a 15 mile run.

The toes were appreciative and said “thanks for the thought”, but they still weren’t exactly thrilled with this proposed solution and wanted to know what else I could come up with.  They really like being barefoot, so why don’t we just do that?

Well, Toes – it’s a bit more complicated than that!  You aren’t the only ones who have a say in all this after all!  The skin on the soles of my feet have some opinions and sentiments too, especially when it comes to long runs sans leather and foam.

Back to the drawing board, yesterday I sat down with my feet and we went tête-à-têtepied to figure out what to do. Eventually, we agreed that Vibram Five Fingers just made the most sense.  Barefoot freedom with some sole protection.  I do believe we could be on our way to running heaven.

So I bought them!  And I love them!  And after wearing them all day yesterday, me and the Vibrams and my toes and soles all danced around together, holding hands in a sunny field filled with wild flowers, hair blowing in the wind, wearing long flowy skirts and Peace, Love and No Shoes temporary tattoos.

This morning I had a date with my new “shoes” and planned to take them on their first outing.  We went an easy two miles around the hood to give them a quickie tour, but not too long either because I wanted to save my legs for the long run planned for first thing tomorrow morning. (In the Out of Retirement sneaks… shhhhh, I haven’t told the toes just yet.)

After we got back from our little jaunt, we enjoyed a couple pieces of Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel toast with almond butter and sliced bananas for breakfast together.

Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel Toast

This is where you click play for the soundtrack that goes along this post.

Not wanting our time together to be over just yet, I gave them their second tour of the day after breakfast – out to the garden we go!

We started with the pumpkin plants.

Pumpkin Plant

And then moved on to the raspberry bushes in the back.

Raspberry Patch

We said a little hello to our new strawberry plants.

New Strawberries

Hello!

We nuzzled up with a cucumber.

Cucumber Nuzzle

I introduced them to the cat.

Meet the Cat

We had a little scare among the tomato plants, almost getting lost!

Almost Lost!

After a little nervous laughter out relief, we realized that was actually sort of fun getting lost and went to get lost in the squash plants in the bed next door.

Hide and Seek

Feeling silly at this point, we climbed the lattice with the morning glories.

Climbed the Lattice

Then took some time to stop and smell the sunflowers.

Stop to Smell the Flower

And finally, just kicked back to relax in the grass for a bit.

Grass

We had a good chuckle when we realized they matched my camera case perfectly!

A Little Giggle

But then laughter and grass time turned a little flirty…

A Little Smootching

and well… you know.

Censored

Barefoot inappropriateness aside, the Vibrams and I plan to ease into running longer distances together as it’s important to transition slowly into barefoot running in general.  Just because my soles are now protected doesn’t mean I get to go balls to wall here.  Therefore I’ll be using the old retirement trainers for long runs for the time being and still plan to go completely au natural some of the time too.

Running heaven?  Or running hell?  Happy together?  Time will tell!


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


Born to Read This Book

July 8th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Good Reads - (8 Comments)

Born to Run This week I finished reading a book that has earned itself the well-deserved honor as my new favorite:

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

Born to Run is one of those books that has left me feeling sad that it’s over. It’s also one of those books that is going to prevent me from picking up any new book for quite some time here. I am going to need a little time to recover from its awesomeness and allow a little space between now and whatever I pick up to read next. Any new book right now is quite simply going to suck in comparison.

So instead of writing about what this book is, I’m going to write about what it is not.

This is not a book that is going to leave you feeling like running is something you can’t do or might ever truly enjoy.

It is not going to make you throw confetti in the air when you read about the study that says the more expensive your running shoe, the more likely you are to get injured.

It is not going to make you shriek toe curling, joyous laughter when you think back on all the hundreds of dollars you’ve spent on running sneakers over the last five years.

Born to Run is not going to leave you feeling unmotivated, unmoved or believing that running is just for those with lots of natural talent and grace.

This is not a book you are going to look forward to putting down when you’re forced to break up a fight between your children who probably wouldn’t have even been fighting in the first place if you’d been paying attention to them instead of sneaking off to read.

If I might now impress upon you what this book is and has done for me in recent weeks here, I suppose now is the time to do it.

I’ll start by saying that I have found myself appreciating running even more than I already did.

Born to Run has left me feeling inspired to get out there and improve my form, to work on running lighter, longer and easier.

I have now found myself looking forward to and embracing the fatigue that rears it’s head during a hard work out.

I have started to involuntarily cradle my chin in the space between my pointer finger and thumb as I stare off thoughtfully and ponder the idea that the way to conquer something is to love it.

I am also enjoying the challenge of trying to balance attempts at sneaking in some barefoot runs along side long runs… long runs that at this point my barefoot career require shoes. Yes, those same long runs that I had initially planned to skip this summer! A plan I was forced to abandon when I realized Born to Run had other motivational plans for me.

The concepts found among these 282 pages not only have me paying closer to attention to my own running form, but the form of other runners too. I look on with new eyes as I notice what my fellow runners are out there doing. I find myself resisting the urge to holler out “Dude! Shorten your stride!” or “Girlfriend! Bend your knees! Stand up straight!” or “Way to rock out old man! Nice pace! You’re doing something right!” or “Oooo girl I am loving those shorts but hey, stop landing on your heel!”

Woven between a great story are smaller stories and tidbits about well known and lesser known athletes, amazing coaches, scientists and researches. It was an entertaining and funny read. It had me nodding my head in agreement, scooping my jaw up off the floor in disbelief, laughing out loud and snorting grapefruit seltzer out my nose.

In short, it’s easy to say that Born to Run has most definitely had a positive impact on my running life and a book I would recommend to runners and non-runners alike. It has unfortunately has put a damper on my reading life for a next couple of weeks here, but no big deal – I’ve got some running to do anyway.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.


A New Era

June 30th, 2010 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting - (32 Comments)

The time period of our lives before now will be referred to as “Before the Haircut”. The time period from this point forward will be referred to as “After the Haircut”.

A couple of weeks ago Maxine decided to cut her own hair.

Cut Her Own Hair

Notice the missing bangs and partial mullet on the left side of her head?

When I asked her Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing? she responded that she wanted her hair to look like Ava’s American Girl doll “Elizabet”.

(That’s right, ElizaBET, as in no “h” – AKA “Kit Kittredge” to the rest of the American Girl Doll loving world.)

Kit Kittredge

Umm, not exactly kid, but I think you’ve got potential.

My mom asked me if I was going to take her to the hairdresser to get her fixed up. At first I thought, “Yes, definitely.” But then enough people said to just let it grow out, you could hardly notice it, it sort of looked as though she had her hair tucked behind her ear, maybe she’ll start a rockin’ new half mullet hair style trend.

So I decided to leave it.

Apparently though, Ava had her own opinion on this issue and quite literally decided to take matters into her own hands. Yesterday while I was taking a shower (YES I REALLY WAS TAKING A SHOWER ZAK) Ava decided to play Barbie Hairstyler Magic with Maxine.

Cut Barbie's Hair!

Except Maxine’s hair doesn’t grow back with the click of a mouse button like Barbie’s, does it? click click click CLICKCLICKCLICK

Cut

Nope, it doesn’t.

Chopped

When Maxine walked into the room before I knew she’d been to Ava’s Magic Hair Emporium, she was sort of lurking in the shadows. I could tell something was “different”.

From the angle I was at it in my dimly lit bedroom, it looked as though her hair was very neatly slicked back. Cocking my head slowly to the right and then slowly to the left, rubbing my eyes and then squinting them, straining my neck forward like a mother snapping turtle ready to bite the off the head of her offspring, I asked her to come a little closer.

Mullet

Ohnoyoudidnt.

My mouth dropped open and I said nothing. She immediately said “Ava did it!”

And I still said nothing. And my mouth still hung open. I raised my hand to cover the gaping hole in my head as to not catch any flies.

It was at this point that I requested Ava’s presence upstairs.

When I asked Ava Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing, she replied that she wanted to “even out” Maxine’s American Girl Doll styling attempts. When I said again Why On Earth Would You Do Such a Thing and the followed it with a What Did You Think I Would Say If You’d Asked Me First, I sent them both into their rooms to get their piggy banks before she could reply.

Girls, I think an impromptu trip to the hairdresser has just been added to today’s agenda.

Nine

Ava, being 6 years old and knowing better, was fined $6 to help pay for Maxine’s repair hair cut.

Maxine, being 3 years old and with the vocabulary of an adolescent, surely could have said “No Ava, please don’t cut my hair.” was fined $3 to also help pay for her repair hair cut.

Me, being 31 years old and foolishly thinking I could run off and leave my children unattended while I saw to my own personal hygiene like I have countless times BtH, was willing to pay up to $31 to pay for Maxine’s repair hair cut.

You know, for $40 I could have just bought them Barbie Magic and saved us all a lot of heartache.

heartache

The hairdresser said “This has been my challenge of the day!”

You know, I could say the exact same thing myself.

He also commented on the “very strong lines” of Ava’s attempts to fix Maxine’s ‘do, as he did his best to blend those “strong lines” in.

We returned from the hairdresser mostly unscathed,

The Perp

but still feeling pretty defeated.

Pixie

Oh well, onward an upward.

Onward

Life goes on, AtH.


Please know that links to Amazon are affiliate links. It doesn’t change the price you pay, but if you buy something from Amazon after following one of the links in my posts, I earn a percentage based commission from Amazon as a part of their affiliate program. This is one of the ways I generate revenue from the posts that I write here. I promise that I only link to items that I truly endorse. You don’t ever have to buy anything, but if you do, thank you for supporting the site and the work I do here.