Happy Thanksgiving

I was in the mood for a little Adam Sandler.......



Adam Sandler Thanksgiving Song from Jeffrey Mullooly on Vimeo.

Amazing Grass Challenge Complete....for this giveaway, 5 winners!

I officially completed the Amazing Grass The Two Week Challenge to "redefine my health"!

If you aren't familiar, this is the lowdown on Amazing Meal: it's an organic, raw, vegan, soy/gluten/dairy free powder, made from greens like wheat grass, fruits like acai, with 10 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.  Use it to feel good, and reach your daily quota of fruits and veggies.

So how did I do staying away from caffeine, sugar (including chocolate), wine, eating right and having an Amazing Meal Smoothie once each day?

1. I did not have any sugar. Zero. That must be a record for me, so now I'm going to see how long I can keep it up, which may prove difficult when I start baking Christmas Cookies.

2. I did have wine. I had it on the weekends, and the night we got Frank.  I also had beer after getting my tattoo, but I think that was kind of required.

3. I had two cups of coffee, one cup on a Saturday morning when I was up with the birds and had a crappy night's sleep.  One other morning during the week, for pretty much the same reason.  The first two days of no caffeine, I had a slight headache, but nothing terrible. 

4. I loved my morning smoothie.  I used the Chocolate Amazing Meal, blended it with almond milk, and handful of frozen blueberries, and a frozen banana.  My trick with the banana is to peel them, break them into segments, and freeze them. I take some pieces out and let them sit for a couple of minutes, then chop them a bit, then throw them in the blender.  It makes the smoothie super thick, and I eat it with a spoon. That might be why I was able to stay away from chocolate, I was kind of getting my fix that way.

5. The daily emails from Amazing Grass were interesting, they covered topics like acidity in foods, and how they affect your diet, and how we need good, raw fats (pass me an avocado would ya?)

6. I didn't follow the menu suggestions to a T, but I got some ideas from it. They suggested 6 meals a day, so I certainly didn't starve!  One night I made shrimp stir fry with brown rice, another night it was baked chicken and sweet potatoes.  I ate my normal lunches, like black bean burgers with salsa on a roll, or a turkey or tuna sandwich on Ezekiel bread.  I made scrambled egg whites with sauteed spinach, mushrooms, onion and goat cheese, that was really tasty.

I love doing challenges like this, to get back on track diet wise, especially going into the holiday season. I'm going to continue to use the Amazing Grass (been using it for over a year), I do think it gives my immune system a boost.  I did get a flu shot, but with Luke and Eliza coming home from school covered in germs, I need all the help I can get!

Sooooooo, do you want to give The Two Week Challenge a whirl?  Thanks to the lovely folks at Amazing Grass, there will be FIVE winners for this giveaway, which is a bottle of Amazing Meal (a $48 value) in your choice of flavor, (Original, Chocolate, Pomegranate Mango or Vanilla Chai) to use while doing the challenge.  Then when it's complete, if you want to, share your thoughts on your blog. If you are interested, you can check it out here.

To enter, you do need to be a Friend of my blog, just leave a comment letting me know you are, and you're entered!

For additional entries (please leave a comment for each) you may:

1. Follow Amazing Grass on twitter here.
2. Be a fan of Amazing Grass on facebook here.
3. Share the giveaway info in the usual ways.

Giveaway ends at Midnight EST on Monday, November 29. 

Note: I was provided with a bottle of Amazing Meal for the purpose of this review, the opinions are my own.

Meet Frank

He's sitting in my lap as I type this.  He's 11 weeks old, a terrier mixed with who the heck knows, and we brought him home this week.  All four of us have been wanting a dog for a while, preferably from a shelter, and every week I've looked at various websites, trying to find him. 

It was a fluke that we had the news on one night, and caught the end of a segment about a local charity that works with various animal organizations.  I went online and found it, clicked through a few websites, and all of a sudden, there he was.

We were able to name him Frank, he came from a shelter down south, where puppies only get about five days to be adopted, otherwise they are put down.  The organization we worked with rescues dogs from all over the country, even Mexico.  Once I put in the application, then met him, things moved quickly.  I was racing around PetSmart on Tuesday, buying everything Frank would need.  I kind of had an idea of how parents who are adopting a child feel, all of a sudden you get a phone call, and you're off!

We're really lucky to have Frank, and I hope he loves us as much as we're going to love him.

Food. And other random stuff.

I was tagged by ajh at Age Groups Rock, to do this fun post, which is right up my alley. Since it's a food post, I thought I'd include a photo of last night's dinner.....broccoli, spinach, onion and cheddar quiche, with a side salad with a bit of bleu cheese.  Yum. 

Now onto the questions:

1.If you could eat anything without any health repercussions or guilt, what would your meal be?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. NY Style, thin crust, plain cheese, and I'm a happy girl.

2. If you could meet anyone living or dead who would it be and why?

Well, this is a tough one, but I know who it would be.  Before I was born, my parent's first child was born prematurely, and she passed away when she was only a few days old.  This was in 1970, and if they had the technology then, that we have now, she would have been okay. 

3. Why did you start blogging and what did you expect when you started?

I had no expectations at all. I started my blog as a place to dump out all that was floating around in my head. I ended up writing mostly about what I love, my family, running, and food.  As a bonus I now have blog friends who I "talk to" on a daily basis.  Which is pretty cool.

4. What is the one book you could read over and over again?

There are so many. I mentioned recently how much I love Catcher in the Rye.  But I could re-read Bridget Jones's Diary any day.

5. If you could travel anywhere, where would it be?

It would be Japan.  I've been to Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and would love to go to the Far East.  My Great Aunt Betti traveled to Japan when she was in her seventies, so I know I'll get there someday.

6. If you could have a TV show on the Food Network, what would it be?

It would be me and my husband.  It would be called Mike and Molly (I can't tell you how many of our friends emailed/facebooked us this fall saying, "Did you know there is a show on CBS called Mike and Molly?????")We love food, we love to cook, we love to eat.  He's more of a grill man with his bottle of Labatt's, I'm more of the home cooking gal with a glass of vino.  That would be a fun balance of both.

7. What was the best meal you ever had?

The best meal I've had was the simplest.  We were in a restaurant in Utrech, outside of Amsterdam. The meal was a wonderful combination of being on vacation in a place full of in history, with great company, great wine.  I chose a pasta tossed with salmon, with a very light cream sauce.  It was a new take on salmon for me, was cooked perfectly, and of course, delicious.

8. Who has been the greatest influence on your love for food and learning to cook?

My Grandma Sleeper.  We lived a plane ride away from her when  I was little. I can't even remember what she used to make, but I have memories of her always being in the kitchen, doing something.  One thing that sticks out is her cinnamon bread. I've tried to make it, but simply cannot replicate it.

Now:

Copy Chic at Triathlon Training for Book Smart Girls

Jennifer Leah at Miles, Muscles, and Mommyhood

and

Amy at Amy Runs a Marathon

consider yourselves tagged!

Black Knight Army Virtual Race

I made my To Do List the other day, and these next two weeks are going to be a wee bit busy.  So this morning I figured, why not get off to a good start with a Virtual 10k???

This is Stefano's race, from Run With The Black Knight, and wearing black was required.  So I donned my long sleeved black shirt for Battle. I don't know how some of you can take a full picture of yourself, after several tries, this was my best effort, and my face isn't even showing.

This is the farthest I've run since healing Hammy, it was going to be an Epic Battle between the two of us, to see if it would let me do the distance.  It was a cloudy morning, but as I set out, the sun broke through the clouds, the sky was blue, and the Game was on. 

I turned on my ipod, and listened to an odd mix of Erasure, Amy Winehouse, and the Dixie Chicks, as I navigated through the paved trails of my neighborhood.  Chaos almost erupted, when a large stretch of the path was torn up, and being repaved, but my quick thinking allowed me to just back up, and go in a different direction. 

I did have a moment of pain, when my foot brushed my newly inked ankle, but it was no match for my determination.

I was at mile 5.20, when Hammy asked me "What do you think you're doing?" I slowed a bit, then responded with a laugh, "Winning!"

Before I knew it, The Battle was complete, and I ran up my driveway, Victorious!!!!

The technical results of The Battle:

And since Stefano seems to receive wine at every race he participates in, I thought this made appropriate race swag:

The Battle was won.

Take that Hammy.

Who put that there?

Yup, I finally got my tattoo!

I've wanted one for ages now, and this summer my BFF Dawn and I were talking about how we should just suck it up and do it.  I decided to wait until after the marathon, as some kind of reward, so we went to LoveHate Tattoo Marathon weekend, and made our appointments.

I planned on a tattoo of a Celtic Cross, but they need to be really big for them to look right.  Since I planned on putting it near my ankle, it needed to be smaller.  I'm not artsy at all, but I doodled a little cross, and hoped they could work with it.

We went on Saturday, Dawn was really bugging out, I was nervous, but excited.  We met Newt our artist, and he was very mellow, with 15 years experience under his belt.  I wanted to go first, and it only took 20 minutes.  It was really painful at times, oddly it hurt more when it was on my muscle, but I was happy with the end result.

Dawn's tattoo took longer, it went almost all the way around her ankle.  I kept yapping away, trying to distract her, to help her out with the pain. 

When we were finished, we both felt hyped up, I've had runners high, but there must also be some kind of tattoo high.  Before we went back to the husbands and kids, we made a quick stop at our friend Brant's bar and pizza place, The Dragonfly, for a beer, and enjoyed our festive mood.

I've already been asked when I'm getting my next one, but I think this is it......

At least I've got the photo picked out in my mind



I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas Cards.  

My thing is, I want them to look festive, but not too Christmasey.  I know some of my relatives keep the photo from the card around well after the holiday's, so I tend to dress the kids in something simple, and put the emphasis on them, on their faces, so you can see how they've changed during the year.    

But that doesn't mean I don't want a cool looking card.  This is the one we used last year, from Shutterfly, which I chose after I spent I don't know how long looking at their cards.  I remember playing with the fonts, the spacing, the wording, the layout, matte or glossy, until I finally just hit "place order."  The arrived quicker than I thought they would, which was a nice surprise. 

This year, I'm thinking about making a wall calendar, but for my cards, I already have in mind who I'm going to have in the picture (more on that later).  Now it's just a matter of choosing which Christmas photo card.  I know I'll drive Mike nuts saying "this one? or this one?" but I love it, it's all part of the fun.