Daily Walks

BN and I talk a lot about exercise and eating right and our boys are adopting this way of life.  They don't moan and groan when we want to do active things.  They don't cry and gag when I put broccoli and brussels sprouts on their plates.  They are understanding that these things are necessary to be healthy and free of disease.

I wish I had understood this when I was 8 or 12 or 25.  My mom always fed us wonderful meals and we hardly ever ate out, but there was plenty of the bad stuff around.  Meaning man made "food" products.  It wasn't her fault.  The gooberment said it was just fine and for a busy single mom, it was quick and easy.

Recently, Pete asked if he could go on my daily walks with me.  At first I was hesitant because I walk briskly and use this as a main form of exercise.  In the past, when I've headed out on my walks and the family wanted to tag along, it ended up being a leisurely walk around our neighborhood.

I never complained because I enjoyed that family time and cherish that my boys want to spend time with us, but it wasn't my normal workout.

So when Pete asked me this, I told him that is was going to be fast.  He would have to stay with me because I wasn't slowing down and RePete had to use wheels since I knew he couldn't keep up.

So far, so good.  I do make a pit stop about halfway through at the neighborhood pier so they can skip rocks, and watch the water life.

taken with iPhone

~R

Thermograms

I know October was Breast Cancer awareness month and I missed the boat, but I wanted to put in a plug for thermograms.  Last November after my physical, I scheduled a mammogram as per my doctor's suggestion.  I have to admit that other than the wait and having a strange women pull and tug and rearrange my breasts (oh and not being able to wear deodorant) multiple times, it wasn't so bad.  I'd heard the horror stories of the pain and the squeezing and squashing.

A week or so after that I received a letter stating that there was an area of concern and that I needed to come back for a second mammo and possibly an ultrasound.

Even though we have no family history of cancers and even though my gut told me that it was nothing, in fact it was probably just my fibrous boobs (family history), letters like that will make you pause and cause butterflies in the tummy.

So I called and set a second appointment and then my doctor called that same day to make sure I was scheduling an appointment and then I went.

THIS time it hurt.  The area of concern was on the area closest to my underarm but still on the breast area.  It actually made me cry.  And then they did two ultrasounds.  It took FOREVER.

The whole time I kept thinking, this can't be good for me.  The squishing and the squashing just didn't feel right to me and I vowed to myself and my doctor (who called for a follow up and insisted on a six month mammo to set a baseline) that I would never do this again.

So here we are almost a year later and I'm due for a physical again and I thought I'd be proactive by getting a thermogram.

I highly recommend them.  There's no squeezing, there's no squashing and the results are instantaneous.  I'd love to share my results but I've gotta keep things PG on here and am not in the mood for the type of spam I'd get from that.

Anyhoo, it was just fibrous tissue.  Btw, they aren't covered by insurance.  Figures.

Test you breast,
~R

ps here's a link to Dr. Mercola's site with a video that describes it rather well.
pss it cost me about $200 and I'll gladly pay it again.
psss neither procedure is 100%

Workout - Day One

Was a huge success for me.  I didn't get up early like I wanted to but we managed to get to the gym just after 9am and the boys enjoyed their time in the I-Zone.  I had them bring their DSi's just in case but they didn't need them.

I still need to track someone down who can give me the times that the campers and school kids are not invading the I-Zone.  My kids are not able to do anything if those kids are in the room.  It makes it 3:1 on the games.  Not quite sure why they bring that many kids into that small room anyway.  Two thirds of them plus the stragglers have to sit around waiting for a chance to play.

Anyway, I loved the variety in my workout and at the point I would have just stopped if on my own, I kept going to the suggested number of reps.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

~R

It's true. I'm lazy.

I have been sorta, kinda working out.  I've been watching yoga videos.  I go for a walk every now and then.  I've been trying to do Crossfit with BN even though it's too hard for me right now - BN says that's bull and he modifies all the workouts just for me.

But I don't want something modified for me.  I don't want to workout in my garage in this heat.  Spiders and dust and things oh my.

I want a workout that is just for me.  Meaning in a climate controlled room.  So I rejoined the Y thinking I'll just go back to doing the machines since they are dialed into me.  They have the seat height, any leg adjustments and of course the current weight I am able to lift.  And then there's all the cardio machines and cardio classes.  Definitely more workout than I can ever hope to do.

But you know what?  That bores me.  Really plays to my lazy side.

So yesterday I was talking to one of the staff while I worked out and she told me about their newest program called FitQuest.  And not only is it tailored to me, it also switches things up every day.

Every day, I get to do something new.  And it doesn't only involve the FitLinx machines.  It uses free weights - both barbell and dumbbell and it uses the pulley stuff and it uses floor exercises and more.  It's like having a personal trainer without all the annoying pep talk.

I just printed my workout for tomorrow and I can't wait to do it.

I hope I stick with it.  I want my waist back.

~R

Busy times 'round here.

I feel like I have a million things to do, but in reality, I only have a thousand.

First up on my list is to start back with the yoga. My sons and I laid back on the ottoman and let our heads hang to view the house differently. If you look at the ceiling while upside down long enough, it actually starts to look like a floor. Amazing.

But in the course of doing that, I almost couldn't get back up. My back seemed to have clinched itself into that position and while walking around staring at the sky is fun, after a while I think I'd get bored. Or wreck my van. Or get rain up my nose.

So it's time to limber up. Won't you join me?

~R

Depends

on what we're talking about.

I've decided that the real curse of having 9 and 10 pound babies is that I can't workout without peeing myself.

Last night, our Crossfit workout was double unders (jumping rope where the rope goes around twice between jumps) and sit-ups.  50-40-30-20-10

I did the first 50 jumps with no problem, then painstakingly got through my 50 sit-ups.  Then the 40 round started and 10 jumps into it, I peed.  Just a little but had to stop, go drain my bladder again, changed my panties and put on a liner.

Came back and finished the rest of the workout.

Doctor says my bladder has definitely dropped but apparently not enough for them to perform any kind of surgery on it unless I request it.

I'm starting to wonder if that is an option for me.

A few weeks ago, I walked up to the neighbors to get my boys home for dinner and decided to race them home.  We're talking three houses down at an all out sprint.  I won... but peed myself the whole way home.

~R

We'll Die of Nothing

My husband has done it again.  He's read a book, taken it for gospel and now we all have to suffer the consequences.

I've read the book too and as someone holding a degree in nutrition, I see the physiology.  I see the biology happening.  I understand the flow of the food, but damn if I can give up what the book tells me.

The book, if you are interested is The Paleo Solution.

So, as usual, I have to prepare three meals each evening.  Actually, it's more like four since RePete no longer eats anything but eggs, PB&Js and hotdogs.  And Pirate Booty.  He loves Pirate Booty.

I make BN his paleo diet.  No grains, no dairy.  I make the kids something along those lines or sometimes altogether different.  And I either eat what the kids are eating or am forced to make my own meal.

I'm so stressed about it, I'm starting to look into the cost of hiring someone to cook dinner for us.  I can handle the breakfast and lunch, but dinner vexes me.  I think it stems from lack of caring.  Don't get me wrong, I care deeply for my men, but I've never been interested in cooking.  I never cared how my food was prepared when I was young.  My mom is an excellent southern cook and I ate anything she made (within reason).

And although I blame BN, it really is all my fault.

When BN and I struck out on our own, I was so repulsed by the raw meat when cooking that we became vegetarians for three years.

We slowly added chicken back into the mix and occasionally some turkey.  But we've been cow and pork-free since 1992. (although I've been known to partake of a barbeque sandwich)  He doesn't care for fish, so I don't cook it.  But by introducing BN to healthy thinking, I created a monster.

Year after year, he finds more and more things to add or eliminate.

I'm a mess.

I long for a time when meals were cooked lovingly in bacon drippings.

~R

Dental Dismay

I love the dentist.  I'm probably the only person I know that does.

I don't love the dentist for my kids and I don't mean a specific dentist, I just mean dentists in general.  There's a reason a pediatric dentist's office is almost always connected to an orthodontist's office.

Pete has never had a cavity.  He's never had fluoride.  His teeth are strong like mine.  His are also big which makes sense, since I'm pretty sure he'll hover around six feet tall when all his growing is done - he's going to need big teeth.

RePete's mouth has a been a mess since he was about two.  Even though I nursed him for nine months, even though he only drinks water and takes a good multivitamin and even though he has well balanced, nutritious, organic foods to eat, his baby teeth didn't calcify completely.  They have been very susceptible to dental caries and we haven't been able to do anything to stop it.  He's had four fillings so far and is set to have a fifth.

We found out about the fifth one at our checkup visit today.  The dentist also informed me that his permanent teeth were HUGE and he would need to have some pulled to make room for them all.  When dentist tell me things like this, I just nod my head and eventually leave having no intention of allowing them to pull my six year son's teeth.  Because I know that in two years time, his mouth will have grown and he'll have more room.

Will his teeth be perfectly straight?  Only time will tell and really, are we that vain?  Pete grew into his teeth and his are straight (no braces).  I grew into my teeth and they are straight (no braces) and BN grew into his teeth and his are mostly straight.

What is up with these professionals thinking it is okay to just pull teeth all willy nilly like that?  I'm sure there are plenty of moms and dads out there that trust these professionals and allow all sorts of things to be done.  I'm sure they trust that these folks went to school and know what they are talking about.

But not me.   Without giving me a specific VALID medical reason, there isn't one single thing that anyone can say to me to make me think this is okay.

Based on RePete's growth charts, he'll probably end up around six feet or more just like his brother.  And he has big teeth for a reason...he's going to have a big mouth just like his mother.

~R

Our 2010 Garden

This is our second year growing a garden.  And while this year hasn't been anymore profitable in terms of vegetables consumed, I think we are learning bit by bit as times goes by.

I did not start the composting bin as I wanted.  That's still on my list of garden-type things I want to do. We did change the location.  Last year's site was constantly in peril.  Boys, basketballs and gardens do not a stocked pantry make.  And that ancient Chinese proverb, out of sight out of mind, er, okay so maybe the Chinese didn't say it, but not being able to see the garden from the house made it easy to forget watering on the super hot days of summer.

But not this year.  This year, I can see the garden from both kitchen windows and the rear glass door.   With that door right off our laundry room, it is no wonder I can never forget the garden.  I spend a lot of time in the laundry room.  sigh.  Anyhoo, we can also see it from the upper deck and the lower deck.  Here's how it looks from both angles.

You are welcome to biggen these, although the lighting was horrible when I took these with my point and shoot, but please don't leave comments about the sad grass.  This is the first year we've had grass since we cut down a buttload of trees last fall and we are proud of it, no matter how pitiful.

I know there is some other proverb about not airing your dirty laundry but since this is clean, I'm free to share it with the world.  We also switched from untreated lumber, which the termites LOVED! to concrete blocks, and weed paper and chicken wire for the base.

What we're growing:  (all seeds are from Heirloom Acres Seeds)

• Eggplant - currently growing, no fruit.
• Watermelon - many fruits growing, none edible yet
• Cucumbers - haven't had to buy one since the first of July - yipee
• Zuchinni - RIP
• Broccoli - RIP
• Roma tomatoes - one tomato so far, bushes are beautiful and flowering
• Cherokee purple tomatoes - no fruit, but beautious and flowering
• Cantaloupe - currently one fruit on the vine - anticipation!
• Asparagus - shoots above the ground, have no idea if anything below ??
• Lima beans - huge flowering bush, one bean, was so excited and then it turned brown and fell off

We also planted strawberries, lettuces of all kinds, spinach, green beans and peppers all of which never showed up for the party.   We'll try the cold varieties again soon when we plant the pumpkins.

Tomorrow, I'll show pics of some of the fruits of our labor. 

~R