I have my annual CT scan this morning, which means no breakfast and NO COFFEE. Actually I am having black coffee, which I do not prefer but it will be enough to keep the caffeine headache away until I can have a DD on the way home.

Anyway, I am trying not to dwell too much on the test today, the good and the bad, and I will make it a topic for blogging next week when I have the results.

Today I will distract myself with one of my universal pet peeves, littering. When I am queen of the world anyone who litters will go to jail (and smot pokers can be free). I have a few memories of being scared to litter when I was growing up. And some memories of tv commercials talking about how bad littering is for the earth and memories of fines for littering.

Do kids these days not grow up with that rule? (I love that phrase "kids these days"!!) I am confused when I watch a car pull out of a parking space and leave behind a pile of trash.

Also, one study (in Northern Ireland) shows that young teenagers will not listen to laws/rules/parents, however, they are influenced by their peers and by their affinity to animals... so, how's this to get kids to stop littering?

Living in NE

Generally, I do not love the weather in NE. I am happiest when the temperature is 85+ and I can be near the beach.
However, there are a few exceptions to that;

I do enjoy running when it is cool outside and this is the time of year when running outside is the most joyful. Last week I went out for a few dinner time runs and came home in the dark, which is really relaxing and meditative. On Sunday I went out for my weekly long run. It had just stopped raining and was still very early and there was practically no traffic and no one else outside, really great. The park was empty,




The beautiful leaves signify the end of summer, which makes me so depressed. The dying trees and the bare branches, just getting ready for winter and snow and cold. Very very depressing,

I spent Sunday preparing for hibernation, getting out the flannel sheets and the turtle necks. I wasn't quite ready to start raking, that will have to wait until the last possible minute. This is the last week of football and soccer, then we start with the winter sports (ugh!).

Everybody hates a bully and loves the underdog. Underdog = popularly expected to lose. I am cheering for the Devil Rays because they are the underdog.. and this has nothing to do with the fact that every time (two times) the Phillies have won the World Series a Republican President gets elected.

I am also cheering for Matt Cassel because the Patriots are finally interesting to watch again. I certainly love Tom Brady but he is too perfect and I wish that he could have lost a few times, (except for that last game last year). There really was no reason to pay attention to the Patriots. They just won every week. This year I am paying attention, similar to the year that Tom Brady took over, I want the new guy to win.

So why is it that the underdog is popular? Does everybody have hidden inside them an idea that they are underrated and they could perhaps be the underdog? Like a sports drama movie or a sports fantasy weekend, we all think that given the right opportunity we could be the come back kid or hit the grand slam to win the World Series.

All underdogs seem to have a hidden streak of self confidence. They all seem to know that they are going to win, and maybe are surprised that other people think they might be a long shot. That might be the difference between and underdog that wins and the regular opponent that loses.

I know that we all like to dream about the day that we come from behind and against all odds, surprise the enemy and surprise our friends with some fabulous hidden talent.

When Josh goes to bed, he likes me to send him off to sleep with a good dream. Generally these dreams have consisted of a sports or music fantasy. He becomes the skateboard/bmx bike/football/baseball hero in the Superbowl. Or he is pulled out of the crowd at a rock concert and asked to play onstage with Axl Rose and then gets to join GunsNRoses for the world tour.

Because it is Friday and I get to rest for a few days, here are a few random things I came across when I was reading the news this morning;

McCain thinks he is the underdog. The New York Times quoted some high ranking Republican this morning saying "the 2008 cake has been baked".

Dr's are giving their patients placebos (vitamins etc..) and not telling them. I don't know what to think about this. It doesn't sound all bad. What are they billing the insurance companies for?

I really like this story; Warm Hands, Warm Feelings. There is a study that says that after holding a warm beverage you are more likely to be nice toward a person. It might be a good idea to hold a cup of hot coffee while you are having a fight with your spouse.

Also, for anyone that has fond memories of Underdog cartoons, here you go..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgG0fhzjRfk&NR=1

No more DC

Two years ago my entire life was changed and some of those most drastic changes were to my diet. Of course I have been "on a diet" forever, except that bc my diet was a bag of Doritos and 3 vodka tonics (20 points in weight watchers).

So, when I got sick I went completely overboard in the other direction. I started eating broccoli every day and even considered wheat grass shakes (yuck!). I stopped using plastic bottles and plastic in the microwave and gave up my beloved microwave popcorn. I gave up a lot and to be honest mostly I don't miss it except for the darn diet coke.

I swore off all "diet" foods that contained any kind of manufactured sweetener - I wanted to stick to the basics as much as possible and diet coke does not have any redeeming qualities.

Very very slowly diet coke has crept back in to my life. Part of the reason is that when I go out I need something to drink and believe me the soda and cranberry thing gets really old.. especially when you are trying to fake yourself into thinking it's a real drink. So, the bad habits of bc are back, right up to having half empty diet coke cans filling the cup holders of my car.

Another bad habit that is back (or is a new bad habit) is the vast amount of

chocolate... candy bars, dark chocolate covered almonds, chocolate ice cream....

the chocolate is all over my house... and I really need to get a handle on it.

So, I am publicly announcing that I will not eat a single bite, slurp, lick or nibble of chocolate until Christmas day.

I am not quite ready to give up the dc, yet.

Lee - I would like some Turkey Hill Mint Oreo Chip ice cream to go on my waffles on Christmas morning - thank you!

Makin' Pie

Our usual morning routine took a turn for the better today, Josh was up and outa' bed early so that he could make pie!

Last year Teddy and Josh won the school pie making contest with a chocolate graham cracker crust filled with vanilla pudding and sliced bananas.

This year (at the last minute) Josh decided to compete alone and will be making 7 am pie. The pie will consist of a regular graham cracker crust filled with devils food chocolate pudding and topped with bananas!

Any kinda' cooking that the boys want to do that I don't have to help with, even if it is making instant pudding - then I am all for.

I dream that someday my children and my husband do all the cooking...

I will post the final pie later today. The pie needs to sit in the fridge all day and the bananas will go on at the end,

I love swimming in the early afternoon at the YMCA. I try and schedule my swim for the time when the preschoolers have gone home for their afternoon naps and the school kids haven't arrived yet. Some days I can be in the pool by myself with only the lifeguard in the room with me. It is incredibly peaceful and soothing. Yesterday, I swam slowly and stretched out my sore shoulders - I still haven't figured out why they are hurting so much, but no spinning this week. The only sound that I hear is my breathing (or panting) and the very quiet splashing of my kicking.
It is easy to let my mind wander when I am in the rhythm of doing laps.
I thought about the first time that Teddy and I came to swimming lessons. The pediatrician had given me some ideas of ways to bond with Teddy when he arrived home and I loved the idea of swimming together. (The entire changing room fiasco is a memory for another day!) I remember the faces of all the little babies when they felt the water on their legs and figured out how to splash. Also, how afraid they all were at the loud echoing noises that the voices made inside the huge pool room.

Last week we celebrated Teddy's gotcha day - 11 years that he has been home with us. 11 years is not so long and yet I cannot really remember what Lee and I did before Teddy. 11 years since those first swimming lessons.

Recently Teddy asked if I thought he might be part Mayan Indian (reminds me of when he used to tell people that he was born in a volcano). He is still trying to figure out how to answer the question "What nationality are you?". In school yesterday he didn't know how to respond - is he the nationality of his parents (Lee and I) or is he his birth nationality? I told him he can answer however he wants to, but actually that wasn't really giving him an answer. What nationality is he?

The Heat is on!

Rejoice! I had the best of intentions to wait until November 1 to turn the furnace on, except that I found that I could barely move around my house on Saturday bc I was so darned freezing.
I had read a few articles last month of ways that families were delaying turning the heat on and then only keeping the thermostat at 60 degrees or some other very cold number... and I wanted to be that family. I wanted to be warm in my slippers and sweatshirt and feel good about the crisp air outside and inside. I found that despite my good intentions I could only crawl under the blankets on Saturday afternoon. It truly was too cold for me to move. Ok, so I didn't try jumping jacks and jogging up and down the stairs to warm up - is that a little ridiculous? Or is that the way that we are finally going to reverse global warming?
I rolled over at about 2:30 am and heard a comforting sound, the warm air coming up from the furnace...
It is so easy to turn that heat on and now I am so much happier in my house.

How's your chi?

Ch'i (pronounced "chee") is the Chinese word used to describe "the natural energy of the Universe."

My chi is not with me this week. There is no natural energy going on from within me and certainly no chi is apparent at Teddy's house. This could be the result of traveling all weekend and having no time to organize and relax. It could be the result of the school honeymoon being over and the drudgery of the routine has taken over. The boys have been tuning me out all week - I have turned into the background noise...

I researched Feng Shui this morning to try and learn how to rearrange my surroundings so that Teddy's house can be more naturally peaceful and relaxed. Feng Shui is the idea that you live with nature, in harmony with your surroundings. Fengshuitips.com is a good resource for learning, except that nothing has been published on it since 2003. Is that the last time that Feng Shui was trendy? (In my scattered mind this makes me think of all the web sites and blogs that get started and then drift into the back shelves of the web library and nobody ever checks out those books anymore...)

The website suggests tips for creating harmony in the home - to take all good with gratitude and accept the bad, and then let it go.. that's seems like good advice for me today. It also suggests silly things like sleeping in red sheets if you are feeling sluggish and placing a dragon on your desk if you want to be powerful at work. If only life were that easy - just rearrange your office and sleep on red sheets,

So many things in the last few weeks have upset my harmony - just the stress of watching the news, or if you dare to look, the balance of your 401(k) account. Yes, Lee and I won't be retiring for 227 years. easy come, easier gone.

My conclusion from my brief research and discussion is that you have to balance your chi yourself. If things aren't feeling right then make the moves to work it out. Chi and Feng Shui harmony do not happen on their own, one must make deliberate steps to correct your missteps and deliberate steps to move forward, at home and at work.

I need to start off with dusting my bamboo plant.

Running update

7:05 am
I am proud to say that one year ago I ran my first real "race" - the Tufts 10k. I ran with my very very good friends Michelle and Suzanne and the three of us have continued to run together for the entire year. Suzanne and I made it through 13.1 miles in May and Michelle and I "tri-ed" together twice, with plans for more next summer.

I have so many milestones in the fall - I am nearly two years "cancer free". Last night Teddy and I went for a run together and he kicked my butt and we only went 2.5 miles! He has come a long way in the last month (since joining the cross country team) and I have progressed only in distance and not in speed. I am thinking that I need to find a coach this winter and start working on being a little more competitive.

Walking around Chicago all weekend with runners everywhere inspired me to continue to compete and enter races. All those marathoners look at eachother with a very self satisfied smug look - I am in the club, are you in the club?

I'm not in the club, and I never wanted to be in the club, but suddenly I am thinking about the club...

10:43 am

I am back at my desk and decided to finish up my post for the day.. I just went back and re-read what I wrote this morning.. before coffee and reality had set in...

I do not want to run a marathon - let's be very clear about what I was fantasizing about. I do not want to run a marathon. I think it is very cool that other people (emphasis here) enjoy the silly sport and I enjoy watching them. I do not want to run a marathon.

and we're back!

Had a great time in Chicago. It is a beautiful, tourist friendly city and we went all over the place. Lee had a good run - 58 seconds from his personal record, in 84 degree heat. Of course I had no time to write this weekend (really, what was I thinking? like bringing Beowulf on springbreak). I will try and provide some more details later this week,

C

Off to the races!

So, we leave this afternoon for the windy city. Lee is well trained, well rested and well fed. This should be a great weekend for the family and exciting to watch Lee add another state to his 50-state marathon quest.

I had been considering bringing my lap top because I would love to have time to play with my photographs and take time to learn more Photoshop tricks. But, given the quick trip and the busy days I probably won't have a lot a time to myself.

I am going to try and blog in from my phone, so we will see how that goes. Look for a full race report next week!

what can I say about this?

Josh and Julia have been working all week on Josh's campaign for President of the Street. He is running unopposed and I do not quite understand the election process or the role of the President of the street.

However, it has kept them busy and creative, so I am just going with it,

As a side note regarding presidential elections, last year Teddy had to write a persuasive paper and decided to write a letter to congress outlining all the reasons to change the rule that says that one must be born a US citizen to become president. Teddy and Josh were not born US citizens, they were naturalized (your citizenship lesson for today) and think it is completely rude and unfair when they are told at school that anyone can grow up to be President.

Here is Josh's campaign speech,

Let me know if you would like a poster for your yard , or perhaps the top of your car.

testing...from my phone...

testing...from my phone...

Defragging

Main Entry:
de·frag·ment
Pronunciation:
\(ˌ)dē-ˈfrag-mənt\
Function:
transitive verb
Date:
1985
: to reorganize separated fragments of related data on (a computer disk) into a contiguous arrangement
— de·frag·men·ta·tion \-ˌfrag-mən-ˈtā-shən, -ˌmen-\ noun

Above, is a cut and paste from Mirriam-Webster online dictionary.

This morning I had to "blog" by paper and pencil - because I was defragging (a word that is way younger than me).

I was defragging or my computer was defragging or I (via Lee) was causing the computer to defrag ??
I am not too sure. What I do know is that despite my computer only being a few years old it can have days where it is harder to wake up then nearly-teen Teddy.

It appears that it is just too much of a community appliance - I have an enormous number of photographs, including the many copies of my photos that I make when I am playing around with Photoshop.
Then there are all the Youtube videos that the boys make (incessantly!) and balk when I suggest that once you upload it to to Youtube you can erase it. This is something I just need to do when they go to bed, while I am eating Fruit Loops and ice cream.

I was thinking that defragging would be a modern way to express "spring cleaning".

My house could use some serious defragging right now. I can't go out tonight because I have to defrag. Lee has a list of defragmentation to take care of this weekend. My neighbors are such slobs - they haven't defragged in years...

So if anybody is looking for a new business opportunity -

North Shore Defraggers, Defragger & Sons, Defragmentation Corporation, iDefrag,

Figure in the sweet potato

There has been quite a lot of media coverage this week involving a window in a local hospital. The window has some unusual mineral deposits that appear to look like the Virgin Mary to spectators standing outside on the street.

I have been thinking about it at random times all week.

Is it like cloud watching, and you can make various pictures appear to suit your vision, while staring up at the sky on a cloudy day? Can you find a picture in anything, and then using the power of suggestion relate your picture to someone else, until you are all convinced that you are seeing a miracle? Or, is this truly a sign of the Virgin Mary - and if so, what is that all about?

I was peeling potatoes for dinner last night and I saw a manatee....

This is not an online photo album, but for a few days I have been quite nostalgic for a time when the boys were young and cute.

Please do not confuse this with a desire to go back to a time of toddler-hood.

I love having older children and I love the more active life that we currently have. For example, we went on our annual pilgrimage to the Topsfield Fair yesterday. (we don't really make it every year, but annual sounds better).

This is what we did,

(ok , I lie - I didn't do this, but Josh did it twice)

(bad picture from the camera phone, but the ride is called FREAK OUT - yikes)

Instead of this,

Lee and Teddy did this;

instead of this;

and we all left happy and not crying and kicking the stroller - how 'bout that?

She looks so happy!

Yes, it is a commercial and she is supposed to be cheerful, but it does make me think that there are actually some women (and some men) that actually enjoy being in the kitchen...hmmmm...

I feel like I am always in the kitchen, but I am never there because I want to be there or because I am doing something enjoyable. I am there doing bad things.. washing dishes, making macs and cheese, making cereal (haha, couldn't resist that one), washing dishes, and pushing paper around on the "mail/junk counter" (you know what I mean bc everyone has one of these!)

In Teddy's house it is never Teddy who is in the kitchen... King Teddy prefers to sit at the counter and say things like "I wish I had more milk". He says this bc then he knows that I will stare dumbly at him for a few seconds and then with a look of incredulity pull the milk jug from the fridge and with great dramatic flair proceed to fill his empty glass.. while he tries not to laugh, and all the while knowing that once again, King Teddy is being served.

King Josh however loves the kitchen. I have no doubt that this goes hand in hand with his love for food. He likes to be involved in putting groceries away and he looks to open the cupboards and stare at the food. He also (ugh!) likes to bake and make things. This happens often when he is bored or when his friend Julia comes over. They so enjoy getting out the flour and the baking trays to make bread...edible only after Josh completely covers it in butter or sugar or honey or syrup...

One of those things that I would do if I ever won the lottery - I know I don't play the lottery, so I am never going to win - but just say that I did play and I did win, I would so get a personal chef and they would have to think of what was for dinner and make my specific food craving every day and I would never ever go in the kitchen. I would not even know how to get to the kitchen.

There are some things that I can remember very distinctly (the other 90% is part of the whole NARFiness problem). I really really remember "cereal battles" with my brother. A cereal battle can be a few different things, but generally it is a battle for control of a box cereal.

It is very important to be the one that gets the first serving of a new box cereal. So, if you know that there is a little bit left in the box, you let your brother help himself first and he would have to finish the old box (yucky) and you could be the first one at the new box (taste better - don't know why). Also, if there is an old box of cereal, even if it is your favorite cereal, after a few days it cannot be consumed, too stale, too yucky. You would have to leave the old box in the cupboard with 1/2 serving in the bag and move on to a different box.

I clearly remember the lecture that my mom used to give (that I am practicing to give to my boys any day now) "I will not be buying new cereal until the old cereal is gone!"

I also remember my mom eating a mish mash of all the cereals just to use up the old boxes and clear the shelves.. guess what my late night snack was last night?
Honey-Puffins-Flakes-O's with raisins...

Joyful!

Private Joy

A good friend of mine called me last week and the subject of her hubby's new found happiness came up, his girlfriend. The girlfriend is a motorcycle and it seems that this hubby has been quiet and complacent for many years.
He stood by and let his wife direct the family and dutifully went to work each day to pay the mortgage and the vacation bills. However, it seems that he had a secret passion for motorcycles. Apparently many years ago, when his children were babies he discussed the purchase of a motorcycle and was easily talked out of it...however, he never let that quest disappear.
One day this summer he quietly made the deal and with very little fanfare came home with a motorcycle and began to ride it to work everyday. My friend had little to say about this, because her hubby was suddenly joyful. He didn't mind so much going to his job; a job that was not very fun or exciting.
He had happiness in his voice when telling his wife about having to ride home in a sudden downpour. And my friend really understood that everyone needs a little private joy, a little something to look forward to outside the regular life that we all have.
Mothers can find their joy in the faces of their children. I am still smiling at the memory of Teddy's face when he came across the finish line at his cross country meet this week, and Josh's face when he is on his skateboard or coming home from football practice.
Without a little joy there is no doubt that the incredible monotony of life would sneak up and get you and then you would really have no reason to get out of bed,