Friday Ramblings

Hello Friday!  It's so good to see you!  I feel like it's been a whole week since we have met.

Do you love Friday's as much as I do?  Friday is a half day at work for me.  I get to leave around 11:30 and then I have 3.5 hours ALL TO MYSELF!!!  All you mothers out there know what I am talking about!  Time to yourself is just the best.  I don't care if you are scrubbing the floor or running 3 miles or getting groceries.  If you get to do it all by yourself without anyone bugging you, it is just divine!  After doing some banking, my plan is to head home and get a nice long run in before the kids get off the bus.  It's sunny and 45ish right now so it is perfect for running.  I can't wait!  I've got to make sure I wear my blaze orange though--it's hunting season around here!

So I hear Christmas is only 51 days away.  I hear this because some crazy people have already got X-mas crap in their stores.  We just finished Halloween!  Seriously people!  I hate Christmas and all the excess and consumerism that goes with it now, please don't shove it down my throat any sooner than necessary.  Can we give thanks first??

You tell 'em, Turkey!!

Oh,  one last thing to share before I bid you adieu.  I found a yummy recipe in Women's Running Magazine.  Basically, it was spaghetti and meatballs but the pasta was spaghetti squash.   Here's the recipe:

1 large spaghetti squash
16 oz. ground turkey breast
1 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T Mrs. Dash Italian Medley Seasoning Blend
1/2 T salt
1/2  T pepper
1/2 T onion powder and garlic powder
1 14 oz jar of Ragu Light Tomato & Basil Sauce
1 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 deg.  Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits.  Bake face down on a sprayed foil-covered baking sheet for 50 minutes or until you can poke a fork through the skin.

In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey, Parm, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.  Form the mixture into 16 small balls.  (snicker, snicker  I know.  I'm a child.)  Place the meatballs inot a large saucepan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Saute until browned.

Pour sauce over browned meatballs and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked.

When the squash is cooked remove from oven and let cool.  After it has cooled, use a fork to shred the squash and place into a large bowl.  Cover squash with sauce and meatballs and eat with garlic bread!  yum!
Here's what the squash looks like after you shred it (in case you have no idea how to work a spaghetti squash......  I didn't.  lol)

I hate squash but this was good because it didn't taste like the squash.  It really just tasted like sauce!  What a great substitute for pasta!  I told my 6 year old to try it, it was a new kinda of spaghetti.  He said, mmmm smells good, and tastes good!  Of course, they all balked at eating it again once they knew it was squash!  I'll never tell my secrets again.

Do you love Fridays like no other?

Christmas lover or hater?

Squash or not?

happy weekend!

October Review

Monthly recap, here we go!

Miles Ran:  44.6  much lower than last month but better than what I had anticipated.  With the weather/daylight change and kids sports schedules, I just don't have any time to run at after work like I did all summer.  Once basketball gets going, I'll start running during practices in the field house.  yuck.  But better than the dreadmill.

Miles Swam:  1  Ok, not great but better than the goose egg I had last month!  The new pool at our Y is finished and will open to the public on Saturday!  yay!  I will be able to return to my weekly Friday swims next week.  That will be good to add this back into my routine since my running milage is decreasing.

Minutes on Spin Bike:  185  This is up a little from last month.  Good for me!  This continues to be an easy, convenient way to exercise for me during lunch. 

Minutes Weight Training:  70 same as last month.  Consistent at least. 

Tennis:  7 hours played  This is way up now that my cardio tennis classes are back in swing.  It's not as strenuous as running or spinning, but it is fun and still good exercise.

Races Run:  Maine 1/2 Marathon

Current Overindulgence:  Butterfinger minis from my kids trick-or-treat bags!  Get those damn things away from me!!  I cannot stop putting them into my mouth.  Then I spend the next hour picking them out of my teeth.  Bad for body, bad for teeth!  Just say no!

Current Song:  Still loving LMFAO's I'm Sexy and I Know It.  It just makes me laugh. 

Current Book:  Nothing.  I haven't found anything I want to read so I haven't read anything but the current issue of Women's Running Magazine. 

Current Wish List:  My list is pretty extensive right now.  I need some decent work clothes that fit me, black dress shoes, dress boots etc.  (cha-ching!)  I want (but don't need) some new running clothes.  I want my house to sell.  I want/need a new car.  All of which I will be able to afford if my house sells....

Current Dislike:  This winter that has arrived early and the impending time change this weekend.  yay to the extra hour of sleep, boo to the darkness at 4:30 p.m.

Current Goal:  Try to keep my running milage up despite the weather/darkness and begin swimming regularly again.

How was your month?

Are you looking forward to winter or dreading it?

What Not to Wear

I will have an end of month report tomorrow.  I forgot to bring my log book to work with me so I have no idea about my totals for the month.  I'm sure you all will be sitting on the edge of your seat until you can read my blog tomorrow.  ha.

Anyhoo, I have a few things to blabber about today so here goes.  I woke up this morning and went into my closet to find something to wear.  You can probably figure out where this is going......  Well, now that we have jumped head first directly into winter, it seems as though I have nothing but clothes from 1980 to wear.  When does that happen?  One day your clothes are normal, if not cool, and the next day they are outdated and frumpy. 

Cool:

Frumpy:

(I suppose that didn't happen in one day, but it seems like it!)  I have plenty of summer wear items that look newer and somewhat trendy but really nothing in the winter clothes department that even resembles hip.  I need a "What Not to Wear" intervention.  It seems as though almost all my clothes were purchased anywhere from 5-7 years ago.  Oh right, that was just about the time I had my second then third child.  I guess that explains a lot.

I went from at least monthly trips to the mall or outlet stores to bitching and moaning about heading to the mall once a year.  Only to further bitch and moan about the cost of things and how we have oil to buy and mortgage payments to make.  Because going to the mall means this:

$60 gas to get there and back
$60 at least for lunch out for 5 people (unless you eat at the gross food court, then it's only $30)
$80-100 dollars of stuff for the kids
kids hiding in the racks or running through the store while I try to find my size, all the while saying, Mom are you done yet?  I want to go to the Apple store!

which then in turn = $0 of stuff for mom.  And here we are at the reason for frumpy mom clothes.

There just doesn't ever seem to be a good time to go blow $600 on trendy decent work clothes.  Not to mention I am so over wearing heels and nylons.  It just isn't practical in Maine winters to wear heels and a dress with nylons to work, schlepping through the snow and ice, only to change at lunch and workout and get all sweaty to come back to work and put on the nylons and dress.   Yuck. 

Even still.  I think I need an intervention.  I believe it is time for me to purge my closet of anything older than my youngest and bite the bullet and get some new things. 

Cripes.  When did I become so cheap?  Being an adult stinks.

Do you have frumpy mom clothes?

How often do you splurge on new things for yourself? 

and I'm not talking about running stuff!!!

Friday Ramblings

We went shopping at the mall this past weekend with the whole family.  This in itself, is a huge event as the mall is about 75 minutes away and we are always jam-packed with activities on the weekend that we just don't have time to go that far.  Cause we need to be home for football at 1 or 4, you know.  Well, thankfully, the Patriots had a bye week so that left us free to head to the mall on Sunday.  All this is not the point of my story.  The real story is the shopping for clothes with the almost-12-year old.  Lord, have mercy.

We venture into American Eagle to search for things she might like.  No, I don't like that, no, not that either.  The neck is too deep, that is for girls with boobs.  (what??)  I don't like that color, there is too much stuff on the front.  Holy crap.  We spend 30 minutes looking through things that she ultimately does not like and then move on to the next store.  Aeropostle.  Here we have a little more luck.  She find some t-shirts that she likes and that are on sale.  Score!  Next she wants a pair of jeans.  Mind you, we are in a teen-agers store which uses women's sizes and Sissy is a size 10-12 in girls size.  We try size 0.  Yes, there is such a thing.  Nope, way too big.  No, mom, that color is too light, they are too long, too big around my waist.  ugh.  After another 30 minutes, we locate a 00 skinny short pair of jeans that fit her and she likes them. 

Can you imagine there is such a thing?  00 skinny short.  Sounds like an order at Starbucks....  I guess that equals a girls size 12.  Seems like it would be easier to just say that.  Whatever.

But the real news of this trip is that I found a pair of jeans at American Eagle that fit me perfectly!  woot!  Size 8 skinny boot is my size!  Hell ya!  Now I want 10 pairs.  :)

One last little item of interest--I read a news article that in Connecticut they are trying to change the day that we celebrate Halloween to be that last Saturday of October rather than 10/31.  This is so the little kiddos don't have to go trick-or-treating on a school night.  IMO that is stupid.  Heaven forbid kids might have a little fun on a school night.  I do agree that Halloween is more convenient on a Saturday night, however, to change the day that we celebrate it is just dumb.  We manage to go trick-or-treating and be home to get to bed by 7:30, I can't imagine why anyone else would have a problem doing the same.  Also, I would think that weekday celebration would cut down on the 'trick' part of the holiday.

00 skinny short?  Ever wear that size?

What's your take on moving the day we celebrate Halloween? 

Have a spook-tacular weekend!

Three Things Thursday

1.  We have definitely seen a change of the seasons here in Maine.  On my way in to work this morning there were wet flakes hitting my windshield.  Not to mention it is dark as a boot at 6:30 a.m. when I have to try to get out of bed.  I guess I don't mind the cold so much as I mind the darkness.  I hate getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark.  It just sucks.  I don't know how anyone could stand living in Alaska in the winter.  Dark all the time would just send me over the edge.  I'm close enough to the edge already.  Don't push me, Mother Nature.

2.  So Princess had her first dance recital last weekend with her new dance studio.  It was a Halloween show.  What a great show the girls (and a few boys) put on!  The high school level pointe dancers are just unbelievable.  I was blown away by all of their abilities at such a young age.  Princess' group was the youngest dancers from the studio to be in the Halloween show and they had one dance.  They were monsters (duh, obvious choice for 8 year olds....) and danced to Calling All the Monsters.  Yes, the Disney girl's song.  Here she is with a few of her friends.  Princess is the devil.  Duh again.

Flash photos and/or video were not allowed during the recital so that they can gouge you of $30 you are able to purchase the professional DVD that is made of the show.  Hopefully, I can post some of that video when I get the DVD.  Pretty sure it will be coded somehow so you can't copy it. 


3.  Something happened this week to me that I never in a million year would have thought could happen.  I mean, really!  I've lost 10 lbs and I'm the most fit I've been since before kids.  What was it, you say?  Well take a look at this:

Yes, you are seeing correctly.  That, my friends, is a broken toliet seat cover.  No, it wasn't an elephant that sat on it or a 300 lb linebacker, or even my son jumping on it.  It was me.  Just sitting down on it.  How to feel fat?  Break a toliet seat cover just by sitting down.  In my defense, it was lined up a little crookedly so those feet things weren't resting on the toliet seat and it kinda slid sideways as I sat.   Now I've got the embarrassment of visiting the local Lowe's with a broken toliet seat cover so I can buy a new one.  If anyone asks I'm telling them my son broke it.  So there. 

Could I have diabetes with that please?

I found this article on another friend's FB this afternoon and just had to write a post about it.  It is basically about how states are trying to put a tax on sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and how the soda companies are fighting it. 

I am not sure how I feel about the tax idea.  One side of me says to tax the hell out of anything that is not good for us like cigarettes and soda.  If it becomes expensive enough, maybe people at risk (children, teens, those living at the poverty level) will end up choosing a more healthy (less expensive) beverage.  Over time, this could reduce the number of obese and diabetic people in this country.  It did work with cigarettes, and it could work with soda/gatorade etc. 

The other side of me says that the government shouldn't be telling me what to eat or not to eat via a tax.  That is a weak argument given all the benefits of less SSB consumption.  There would be money generated by the tax that could go towards programs for children, poor whoever.  Healthcare costs would go down as more Americans lose weight and less children become obese. 

I, too, probably wouldn't drink as much soda if it cost a lot more.  (Not that I drink that much, only 1 each day.  I guess that is a lot of wasted calories over time.)  Or at worst, I might have it as a treat once in awhile.  I definitely don't let my kids have soda and thankfully, many of the coaches of our sports teams are discouraging SSB on the sidelines and instead pushing water. 

How do you feel about a SSB tax?

Good-- let's force us to eat healthy?

Or bad--govenment stay out of my grocery shopping?

fit to fat to fit?

In my internet travels yesterday I happened upon this personal trainer who, on purpose, is making himself go from fit to fat.  As in, he is in the process of gaining over 70 lbs in a 6 month period. 

Why in the world would anyone do this to themselves?  He says he wants to show others how to get fit and to experience what it feels like to be fat.  There is no way in hell you could get me to gain weight and get fat on purpose.  No freakin' way.  I would be so worried about what it was doing to my overall health that I just couldn't do it.  Not to mention, what if, by some freak of nature, you couldn't get the weight off and back to your previous self?? 

He has a blog which chronicals his journey.  The strange thing is, if you look at a sample of his daily food intake, that diet is not really that off the wall.  Here's a sample from his blog:

8:00am – I big bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and few small sips of my wife’s spinach shake!

10:00am – 2 handfuls of goldfish crackers and 1 large glass of Pepsi Max

11:30am – 1 big bowl of white angel hair pasta, with 4 cheese marinara sauce and 1 small glass of Pepsi Max

12:00pm -1 small package of swiss rolls

3:15pm – 1 peanut butter and honey sandwich on white bread

6:00pm – 1 large plate of white rice and bbq chicken

7:30pm – A few pieces of licorice

9:30pm – Small bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Except for the total lack of vegetables and fruit, it really isn't the gorging amounts of food that you might expect him to be eating to gain all that weight.  I mean, it is a lot of food, but I'll bet it's pretty average compared to the average American man's diet.  I am really anxious to see what his diet is when he goes from fat to fit.  I know that I can make changes to my diet to eat better than I am. 

What do you think about this challenge?

Would you ever gain weight on purpose?