Today we attended a graveside service for my husband's grandmother. It was a brief but very touching service. She was an amazing woman. She raised five children by herself AND put herself through college at the same time.
She was well loved and will be missed.
Wednesday, February 1
NeeNee
Friday, January 27
Jan 27
Today did not start well. We got off to a late start. I knew we were cutting it close with the school bus. The kids jumped in the car and sure enough, we saw the bus leaving as we pulled out of our driveway. Ugh. I missed the school bus...for the third time in as many months. Luckily for me, I can take a short cut and actually beat the bus to the next stop.
After I dropped off the kids off, I pulled back out and followed the bus for a minute before returning to my short cut. (Note to self, if I'm ever really, super late, I actually have one more opportunity to catch the bus. And I would be lying if I tried to pretend that this wild idea didn't just race through my head: we could *always* drive to that stop and it would probably buy me an extra five...or maybe even ten minutes every morning.) Anyway, here I am, following the bus, after having safely deposited my children on it. And because I'm a sucker for wet pavement and big, brooding clouds, I just happened to have my camera with me.
When I got home, I got a lot done but before I knew it, it was time to rush to the gym for my masters swim class. I actually had a pretty good swim. Right now I'm focused on improving my rotation. Last week it was steep and deep. The week before that it was a 2:3 breathing pattern. Who knew swimming was this complicated?! Ha! Although, it's crazy how far I've come in a year and a half! Wait...it's been a year and a half?! Seriously?! That's a pretty long time. Hmm...well...still...today's swim felt good. I think I was a little slower than usual but I think I was nailing the drills. In fact, after the stun gun drill, the coach said my stroke looked perfect...for 25 meters. *ahem* Can we pretend that he didn't add that caveat?! (After typing this paragraph, I went back and read this post from October 2010 and had to laugh. Oh...how little I knew. Not to mention, I'm suddenly feeling less pleased with myself for my little compliment today. Apparently I had a better stroke back then than I do now because I can assure you that none of the coaches since then have ever been as pleased with my stroke as that swim teacher was!)
Anyway, when I left the gym I was feeling good. It was almost 60 degrees out. There was a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds. What a pleasant day! Kardy and I went from the gym to Tysons Corner where we met up with an old friend of mine from way back when my family lived in Africa. And then I came straight back to coaching my Odyssey of the Mind kids.
A busy, full day - as per usual.
I've not been very good about linking up my Focus 52 posts but I have been doing it. This week's prompt is leading lines. I didn't actually know that when I took the school bus pic but...it's the best I've got. (Sometimes I'm a little slow to get to the party but hey, better late than never!) Last week was black and white. The week before that was "I Am ___". I was late with my "I Am ___" photo but I was pleased with myself for doing it all the same. For the first week of the year, I followed the "New" prompt but it was a conceptual leak. I was determined to make a reNEWed effort to update my blog and recommit to Focus 52...and all that jazz. So I actually sat down, wrote what was on my mind and even linked it up. Although in general I'll be more Focus52ed on photos.
Jan 25
So remember how the tooth fairy wouldn't go into Annika's room because it was a mess? Well, as you can see, the tooth fairy wasn't kidding. I'm a little embarrassed to post this photo of my daughter's messy room, but, it is what it is. My mom keeps encouraging me to let them have control of their rooms. Meanwhile my husband's perspective is that we're complete failures as parents if we're not teaching our children discipline. UGH!
I'm *trying* to get them to appreciate the value of an organized environment...or at least a clear walking space...but clearly I've not had much impact on Annika. *sigh*
Anyway, the point of this photo is actually to show her solution for the tooth fairy. She stuck her tooth under her pillow pet and left it here at her door.
P.S. This morning I couldn't take it anymore and I at least threw her dirty clothes into her hamper, when I went to wake her up for school. Annika said, "Wow, I had a lot of clothes on my floor." You don't say?!
Thursday, January 26
Juice Guts
My husband is totally grossed out by the picture of cucumber, celery, banana and apple remains oozing out of the juicer (see below...if you dare). The beets and carrot guts were kinda pretty in my bowl...but yeah...the greens...not so much.
Wednesday, January 25
Juice
A few months ago, my sister-in-law mentioned that she was trying something called "juicing" (which immediately makes me think of a gym rat but no, this is a different kind of juicing). That very same weekend, I was looking for a movie to watching on Netflix streaming and I chose one that Netflix recommended to me called Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. It turned out to be the same movie that had inspired her. After watching the movie, I really wanted to try a cleanse but I was about two weeks ot from a triathlon so it didn't seem like a good time to try it.
In the meantime I purchased a fancy shmancy blender. My hope was to get more fresh fruits and veggies into our diet. (I've already used it almost 50 times in the fews weeks that I've owned it - it keeps track).
Recently my friend Bryan tried juicing and posted about it on Facebook. He's had amazing success and once again, the idea was back in my head. A few years ago my mom gave me a Champion juicer so yesterday I decided to give it a try.
I printed off Bryan's recipe and went to the store. This is the juice I intended to make:
5 cucumber
5 carrots
12 stalks of kale
12 stalks celery
1/2 bundle of spinach
1/2 bundle of parsley
1 beet
1-1/2" ginger root
5 apples
1/4 of a whole pineapple
1 mango
1 banana
In the meantime I purchased a fancy shmancy blender. My hope was to get more fresh fruits and veggies into our diet. (I've already used it almost 50 times in the fews weeks that I've owned it - it keeps track).
Recently my friend Bryan tried juicing and posted about it on Facebook. He's had amazing success and once again, the idea was back in my head. A few years ago my mom gave me a Champion juicer so yesterday I decided to give it a try.
I printed off Bryan's recipe and went to the store. This is the juice I intended to make:
5 cucumber
5 carrots
12 stalks of kale
12 stalks celery
1/2 bundle of spinach
1/2 bundle of parsley
1 beet
1-1/2" ginger root
5 apples
1/4 of a whole pineapple
1 mango
1 banana
Unfortunately, when I got started juicing, I realized that my juicer is missing its tamper, which was a bit of a problem. I tried using a cucumber as a tamper, which worked a lot of the time. But it didn't always work so I was using a wooden spoon to shove stuff down, but unfortunately once it got away from me and I completely destroyed my beloved Pampered Chef spoon. :(
I wasn't able to get all 12 stalks of celery into my juice but I think I got pretty much everything else in there. This was not really a full fledged jump into juicing. This was basically a trial run to see a) how the juicer worked and b) whether the juice was palatable.
The results
It was quite a lengthy process. I think it would have been much easier with a tamper so I've since purchased one online and I'll try it again after that arrives. But I have to admit, the juice was much tastier than I expected it to be. Because of my troubles with the juicer, it was a little pulpy but the taste really was not bad. Having said that, I'm amazed that Bryan can drink it day after day. I'm pretty sure I'd have to switch things up. But all in all, I'd say the experiment was a success and I definitely want to try a cleanse, when I've got all the right equipment.
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