Yakkity Yak

Yesterday Luke had school in the morning again, and Eliza had preschool at the same time. So after the drop offs, I realized I had two and half hours...alone!!! I thought of going out to cross country ski, because I haven't gone at all this year. But then I spied my Yak Traxs sitting alone in the closet, and decided to take them out for an inaugural run.

The temps were in the high 20's, and there was a good amount of snow covering the roads and trails in my neighborhood. It was nice to not have to rush out for a run, then feel pressure to run home to the kids, I just relaxed and went with the flow. I had a spring in my step (pun intended), and my ipod lasted for a staggering eight songs before the cold turned it off (in the middle of Temple of the Dog). I chose a six mile loop that includes several different types of hills. I'm starting to do more inclines in my runs, to prep for two very hilly races I have coming up, the Shamrock Run four miler, and the Mountain Goat ten miler.

I had to go onto the road for one part of the run, when a car turned onto the street going a bit too fast, and started fishtailing toward me. I was all set to hop into the woods, but they got control and stayed away. It's a good thing Mike doesn't read my blog, otherwise my days of running in the snow would be over.

I made it home in 58 minutes. Then I threw together a bit of summer in a glass, a smoothie made with Amazing Grass, Chia seeds, banana, strawberries, and milk. I also had a bunch of water with lemon. I had a dream the other night that I worked out with Jackie Warner, which my friend Jen did for real. According to Jackie, if you add lemon to water, it helps burn calories. I wish she would do another season of Workout.

Speaking of television, I'm not really loving the new season of Lost. Spoiler alert....I'm not digging how they're alternating between the two realities. I want to know what Juliet meant when she said "it worked." I bummed she got killed off, poor Sawyer, love him.

I've decided it's genetics

I realized that whenever I do a recap of a run, there is always a sentence about how I missed out on looking at my surroundings, because I was too busy looking at the ground. This is so I don't trip and fall. I'm always stumbling, and I usually have a couple of bruises somewhere on my body, so there is a definite risk in falling. I don't think its me, I think I only have my family genes to blame. Just to give you an idea of my clumsiness:

I once fell off a bike, that was not in motion, and gashed open my leg. Still have the scar.

I've stapled my finger twice. Twice.

I once dropped a razor in the shower, and cut open my toe.

I was walking down a hill to make the school bus, slipped in my gold penny loafers, and ripped open my green stirrup pants, and knee. It was the late '80's, hence the color combo.

Once at a high school football game, I was getting off the school bus with the rest of the band (flute, in case you're wondering), and I fell down the stairs. I sat the entire game with my foot up on a base drum, covered with a bag of ice.

I had a pocket knife close on my pinkie during a camping trip. Still have the scar.

In college I:

1. slipped on some ice coming out of class, then fell down the stairs. I had a bruise the size of my roommate's head.

2. tripped on a hill, and sprained my ankle. Back at the dorm, they called the EMT's since I couldn't walk. Per school policy, they strapped me to a chair-like contraption and carried me down four flights of stairs, in full view of everyone. Dork.

3. at a party, I went down a staircase too quickly, and broke my ankle. Mike and I were dating. We got a ride to the ER, and he went in to get a wheelchair for me, and proceeded to wipe out into the sliding glass doors. One fell and glass shattered all around him. Jinx?

4. walked into the living room of my apartment, and broke my toe on the couch.

One New Year's Eve, I was waiting tables. I fell down the stairs (shocker) carrying a full tray of champagne filled glasses. I had a bruise on my thigh the size of my head, and I think I did some deep tissue damage, that sucker didn't go away for weeks.

Another night, coming home from waitressing, I wiped out on black ice, and the entire contents of my purse scattered in slow motion across the dark parking lot. I called out to a non-existent friend that I would "be right there" in case someone was in the bushes waiting to kill me.

I was coming out of a bathroom in a bar in New Orleans, and I slipped on a weird step, and.....broke my ankle.

My sister A has a problem with doors. She walked into a plate glass door because she thought it was open, there was a perfect rectangle on the glass where her forehead hit. Another time she walked into a screen door, then kept walking, and broke the entire door out of the frame, just like the Hulk.

I could go on, but I won't. I think I have my parents to blame for all of this. My dad once put his hand through a window while trying to open it, fell and broke his wrist while going down a flight of stairs, then broke his collarbone falling off his bike while training for a triathlon. My mom broke her ankle, walking into a room.

I don't know. I hope L&E get Mike's genes.

I ran like it was a summer weekend

I'm wrapping up a great week running wise, as well as cross training. I logged 19.75 miles, I'm still friends with my resistance band, and Mike and I have been tossing the medicine ball back and forth while we make dinner. It's been chilly, but I made it outside twice this weekend for runs.

Saturday I met Jeannine with the Lake Effect crew, and we pounded out 6.5 miles in a hilly neighborhood, in preparation for the Shamrock Run. It was about 18 degrees out, but it felt colder. About a mile in, we finished up a long, steep hill, which everyone dreads, and my ipod turned off, AGAIN! This time it was in the middle of a T.I./Justin Timberlake song, which really pissed me off. I must be getting used to not running with music, after a few minutes I just got into a good pace and stayed with it, and we ended up doing the scary hill a second time. After we headed inside for coffee, my ipod suddenly turned back on, so I think the cold weather is messing with it.

Today was the Chilly Chili 5k, in Cazenovia. The temperature got colder the closer we got to the race start, I think it was about 15 degrees, and a light snow was falling. We had group of 7 family members running, and walking, and I ran into some Lake Effect friends. The biggest surprise was seeing my college roommate!

I lined up in the 8-10 minute group, I didn't want to have a repeat of the last 5k I ran and get caught behind some slower runners. My 12 year old nephew was with me, but when the gun went off, that was the last I saw of him, he ran it in 26 minutes, speedy boy! The course went through the village, which was pretty, then looped around a residential area. I was warned about the steep hill at the end of mile one, but I nailed it. I wanted to look around more, but there were some patches of ice, and with the snow falling, I kept my head down. With my history of broken legs, the last thing I need is to fall and hurt myself.

The race went by quickly, I kept pace with a woman about my age. She told me that she was trying to keep up with me, which I thought was funny, I said I was trying to keep up with her! I finished in about 31 minutes, which was fine with me, I didn't have a goal for this one.

There was a beer tasting and chili cook off at the finish, but by the time we got everyone over there, most of the chili was gone, but I did try some beer. We have a pot of chili on the stove for the Superbowl anyway, and beer. Which I am going to help myself to right now. Go Saints!!!

change happens

We're up a bit earlier than usual today, and it's giving me an idea of what my mornings will be like next year. Luke goes to kindergarten in the afternoon, we're probably the last school district in the county that doesn't have full day yet. Today the school is having an outdoor winter Olympics, games in the snow, so he's going in the morning with everyone else. Sounds like fun to me, I want to go play games!

I'm winding up the week with mixed feelings. On the running front, I'm doing well so far for February, I've logged seven miles, and I plan to run on the treadmill after I post this. I have a six mile run planned for Saturday with the running group, and on Sunday I have a 5K. So I'm on my way to making up for miles lost in January.

I found out this week that my Mom is putting her house on the market after living there for 32 years. Yes, the haunted house. My siblings and I are bummed, it's the house where everything has happened for us, and now its time for a big change. My mom is looking at a condo in a 55+ community, which is what she needs, she's alone quite a bit. But I'm so sad to say goodbye to where I grew up, when we moved upstate, I always knew I could go back to visit, get my dose of NYC and the beach. I knew the sale would happen eventually, so I'm going to let myself be a bit sad, but also know that it's best for my Mom.

This is a photo of Eliza getting ready for beach day at school, note the snow outside the window. I love it when they have theme days at school, I'm already looking forward to being the room mom for St. Patrick's Day!

Newman's Own Organics, Take One

When I received the package from Newman's Own Organics to do a review, Mike said "oh it's organic, so we can eat all we want, right?" I reminded him that we're trying to be about "balance" in our diet, including snacks, so this was a great area to start.

I wrote a bit about Newman's Own in an earlier post, they are about "great tasting food that happens to be organic", products we loved as kids, but better. Everything they use in their line is organic, including Palm Fruit Oil, which has no trans fats, is not hydrogenated, and is used in Europe as an alternative to partially hydrogenated oils. If you aren't familiar with hydrogenated oils, they are added to processed foods to prolong their shelf life. They cause a myriad of problems to health, and have been called the "silent killer" because it damages the body over time.

Let's get to the good stuff, I'll start with the organic mints, which includes peppermint, wintergreen, cinnamon, and ginger flavors, in rolls, and tins. Mike brought some to a business meeting to see what people would say (he didn't mention my blog review), and I passed some around to the crew when we saw Wicked. We noticed right off that there was no chemical taste, it was a pure, sweet flavor. The cinnamon had a nice heat, and the ginger was actually spicy! The roll candy did not have a hole in the middle, but they didn't last very long once you popped them in your mouth. The tin mints on the other hand were interesting, they had a rough surface, unlike other tin mints, which made me think that they weren't as processed, which is a good thing. Overall, thumbs up on the mints.

Now onto the cookies, oh the cookies made us happy: first up, Newman -O's sandwich cookies, in ginger/cream and chocolate/chocolate cream. The ginger cookies were crisp, like ginger snaps, and the cream was really creamy. I loved the chocolate chocolate, it reminded me of dessert. Again, there was no chemical taste, unlike other sandwich cookies, which to me have a kind of waxy texture to their cream.

Next, we tried Hermits, soft cookies made with raisins and molasses, in cinnamon, and ginger. I have to say I was surprised at the variety of ginger cookies in the line, I don't often see ginger as a main ingredient in other brands. These reminded me of oatmeal bars, soft, with crystallized sugar sprinkled on top. Both had a nice smell, although I preferred the cinnamon, as did Eliza.

Last up for cookies (although I have more cookies to write about in my next post) were Champion Chip Cookies, in chocolate chip, and chocolate chocolate chip. They came in a bag, and I liked how they had a tape on the package, so you could reseal after opening. These cookies are on the small side, Mike thought they tasted like his Aunt's cookies, and that's saying something. The chocolate chips were the best part, I thought the cookies could use a few more of those. The chocolate chocolate cookies were a bit dry, but still had a great chocolate flavor.

I'll switch gears to one more product for this post, the Soy Crisps, in Lightly Salted, and Barbecue. I'm not a fan of rice cakes, they don't fill me up, so I don't see the point. But these crisps are made from rice and soy, and have seven grams of protein in a serving. They were surprisingly filling, I've been snacking on them in that hungry time between feeding the kids and having my dinner with Mike. I liked the Lightly Salted better, the BBQ flavor was a little sweet.

So far, I'm really happy with the Newman's Own Organics. I honestly can say that everything has a cleaner taste, you can tell the ingredients are a high quality. Stay tuned for part two of my Newman's review, where I tackle dried fruit, pretzels, more cookies, and.....I don't think I can stand it, their line of organic chocolate bars.

Tweet Tweet

Well, I decided that blogging, facebook, foodbuzz and two email addresses weren't enough, so I joined the world of Twitter. I'm still figuring it out, so far I've found the real Twitter accounts of Demi Moore, John Mayer, and Sara Snow. Sadly no Nigella Lawson. So this should be fun. I've gone through and followed as many of you blog friends who Tweet (or is is Twit?) so let me know if I missed you.

You can follow me by clicking on my Twitter bird on my sidebar, and I wanted to say thank you to my blog friend Sophia's Mom at Wannabe Blog Design for the button!

accountability time

January went by so fast. I like how February first is a Monday, which I always think is the real start of the week. Day one of a new month, with a new set of goals.

I'm behind on my 1,000 miles in 2010 challenge. To be fair, I planned on keeping my runs to one or two a week, so I could really focus on other parts of my bod. Plus I got sick. I logged 31 miles, but I have gotten better at planks, and I can do the Sun Salutation pose like a champ. It's weird how on some of the exercises on Wii Fit, I'm a four star rock star, but others I'm a one star fitness newbie. I'll keep at it this month, and run as often as I can, I have a 5k this Sunday, the Chilly Chili. Any race that ends in a chili cook off is my kind of run. I've got to try and get out for some cross coutry skiing too, I haven't gone yet this year. Oh, and ice skating never happened yesterday, we didn't have time to make it to open skate. So we settled for a walk at Beaver Lake instead, which was great.

On the food front, I lost two pounds, not five like I hoped, but hey it's still a loss. And I fell off the chocolate bandwagon a few times, those Newman's Organics are hard to resist (more on that later).

On the parenting front, all of a sudden Luke is asking us the "hard" questions. He's been curious about death, who dies, if kids die, and if he's going to die. The weird thing is I think it's coming from Michael Jackson of all places. Mike sat him down and was straight forward with him about it, but in a sensitive way. I guess it's better to be honest about it, while it's a lousy topic, I don't want him to be confused about it.

Then it was my turn. Yesterday Luke asked me "how the heck do babies get out of the mommy's belly anyway?" and I said "who wants cake?!"