June Coffee Date
It’s June, hooray! I always have a sense of freedom when school is out for summer. I have more time to leisurely sip my tea in the morning and enjoy a coffee date! Thanks to Coco and Deborah as always for hosting. If we were having coffee together… I would ask you how you enjoyed middle school. For me, “enjoy” was definitely not the correct word. Is there a word that means “suffered permanent damage to one’s self esteem”? That’s the one I’m looking for. Seventh grade ties for the worst year of my life (the other being the year my daughter was two, but that’s a whole other topic.) Both my kids loved seventh grade, which boggles my mind. It may partially be because they didn’t have to take PE, which was the worst bane of my existence in middle school. But I also think the schools are doing a much better job of preventing bullying. Do you remember the Judy Blume book Blubber? When I reread it as an adult, I noticed that most of the really bad stuff happened while the kids were unsupervised during lunch. How odd, I thought, that they would allow the kids to eat lunch alone in a classroom. But when I look back on my own middle school experience, we were strangely unsupervised a lot of the time as well. I think the schools now realize that packs of middle school kids are not to be trusted, and have cracked down accordingly. Whatever the reasons, my daughter is actually SAD that seventh grade is over! Go figure. Speaking of books, I just finished this one: WOW. This was fascinating and intense. Dystopian novels aren’t usually my thing, but I read about this on another blog and it sounded so interesting I decided to read it. In the futuristic world of this novel, Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, abortion constitutes murder, and convicted felons are injected with a virus that alters the color of their skin to match the class of their crime. The main character, Hannah, is now a Red after being convicted of murder (having an abortion.). Life for chromes is fraught with danger, and this is a suspenseful story. When I was close to the end my husband tried to start a conversation and I was like “Get away from me! I have to see how this ends!” This book was written in 2011, and it’s interesting that a topic so current in 2022 is part of a dark and dangerous “future” that the author imagined eleven years ago. Thank you to whoever it was that recommended this book- I can’t remember which blog it was (if you’re reading, please let me know it was you in the comment section!) I’m almost through my library holds, and I have another one waiting for me, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. This is another one that got some amazing reviews, so I’m excited to start it. AND, the next Cormoran Strike mystery (by Robert Galbraith, aka J.K. Rowling) comes out in August! I already have a library hold on it and am counting down the days. That’s it for this coffee date! What are you reading now? Ever read Blubber? What was your experience in middle school?
Scenes from a Sunday
This past week, we got some bad news. An old friend of my husband’s, one of his best friends, was diagnosed with ALS. I can’t think of any worse news than that- there are plenty of other fatal illnesses, but the progression of ALS is especially devastating. It’s terrible to think of what this man and his family will be going through over the next couple of years. This situation, combined with ever-present thoughts about the families of the children killed in Texas, threatens to overwhelm me with sadness at times. But then, in the midst of it all, I’ll experience a moment of… clarity? I become hyperaware of the fact that I’m alive and breathing, that my family is safe and healthy, and how incredibly precarious it all is. It’s a reminder that life is finite- but that’s what makes it all so precious. So I present to you a Sunday in my life, filled with mundane but also priceless moments… starting at 5:45 am when my alarm went off. Yep, I got up for an early run from my house to the beach! It’s a run I love but don’t get to do very often. Someone (i.e. my husband) has to pick me up there- it’s nine miles to the beach, but I tack on one extra mile (because why run nine when you could run ten?) One of these days, when my long run is up to 18 miles, I’ll run there and back. To get to the beach, I leave my house and run straight east, which means directly into the sun. Because I got an early start, my first few miles were relatively “cool.” Around mile five I ate a caffeinated gel, and that really pepped me up. Although it was starting to get super hot, the second half of this run felt better than the first. The whole time I was just so happy I was doing it! This was the run I wanted to do on my birthday, but couldn’t because of my foot. So heat or no heat, I was just happy to be out there. When I got to the beach I ended the run the way every hot, sweaty run should end- with a swim in the ocean. The water was cool and beautiful! My husband had just finished his run (he drove to the beach and did a short run there) so we swam together and then left. On the way home we stopped at Starbucks. At home, I drank my favorite Starbucks Earl Grey tea while eating oatmeal and reading blogs. And then… the Great Kitchen Reorganization continued. In my last post, I shared that my son had bullied us into taking everything out of the kitchen and reorganizing it. This was not fun (I know… shocking surprise.) We tried to keep a sense of humor about it, and laughed at many weird and scary items in the pantry. The clear winner was a bottle of hoisin sauce in the fridge that expired in 2013. Oops. Getting everything put away and organized took all day (with breaks for eating and napping, obviously) and then it was time to cook! My son had promised to make an Asian “feast” and he was true to his word. He made fried rice, a mushroom dish (I don’t like mushrooms so I didn’t eat that one) and Kung Pao tofu and broccoli. I was assigned the task of making an Asian slaw, and I think he included that just to appease my desire for more vegetables on the table. Here’s the difference between a 19-year-old beginning chef and a 56-year-old mom- my main focus is on making things healthy, and his main focus is on making everything as delicious as possible. I get it! When I was 19 I was eating things like Lucky Charms and Twinkies. I certainly wasn’t cooking Asian feasts, so he’s way ahead of where I was. Still… I’d like a little less oil, salt and sugar in my meals. But I’ll admit it was delicious. Then we had dessert! Steamed buns and fortune cookies, all purchased on our trip to the Chinese grocery store. I didn’t actually eat these because I don’t eat sugar (unless someone insists upon putting it in the Kung Pao tofu) but I did open a fortune cookie. I was hoping my fortune would be something meaningful that would go with the theme of this post- “Make every moment count” or “Life is precious” but no. My fortune said “Keep mouth shut- the golden rule.” WHAT?! I don’t want to keep my mouth shut! I feel like that fortune was vaguely insulting. At least it’s better than a fortune my friend got recently: ‘There will be a lot of laundry in your future.” Ha ha… she didn’t appreciate that. Anyway! My Sunday included an amazing run, a swim in the ocean, an afternoon spent with my son, a delicious meal that the whole family enjoyed together…and oh yeah- a beautifully cleaned kitchen. Life is so good. Thanks to Kim and Zenaida! I’m linking this post with their “Tuesday Topics.”
Weekly Rundown- The Week of “AAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Once again, my son’s arrival home caused a huge swirl of chaos. It all started innocently enough, when he announced that he plans to do a lot of cooking this summer. PERFECT! Finally, someone else wants to cook around here. Then he said we would just need a few things- a wok, rice cooker, several cooking utensils, a trip to the Asian market…ahem. So this week included a shopping spree at the Chinese Grocery, a large Amazon delivery, and then oh yes, one last thing- the entire kitchen needed to be cleaned out and reorganized. We spent Saturday afternoon taking every single thing out of the kitchen, cleaning everything and laying down new shelf paper in all the cabinets. Now everything needs to be put back, and I’m filled with despair. I think I would rather just move out of the house than get this all put away and organized. But! You’re here for the weekly rundown, and I did have a great week of workouts! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting. Let’s get into it! Sunday Well, oof. The good news is I ran ten miles. The bad news is that this run was fraught with difficulties. To begin with, it was so hot and humid- 80 degrees already at 6:30 am. I drove to the trail and when I got there realized I forgot my Nathan belt, which is how I hold my phone. Not a complete disaster, because my phone can go in my hydration vest. But that meant that if I wanted to take out my phone, I had to take off the whole vest. Whatever. I started down the trail and it actually felt pretty good for a few miles… because it was cloudy. As soon as the sun came out, I started to get uncomfortable. Right around this time I realized I had forgotten to put LMNT in my morning water, which is what I usually do before a long run in the heat. Darn it! I wish I hadn’t remembered that right then. It probably didn’t make that much of a difference, but it was a little defeating, mentally. I thought about ending the run at seven miles, but had a second wind after I ate a caffeinated gel. By nine miles, the wheels had completely come off. I was glad to stop, take off my vest, and have a short break while I set up my phone for a picture. And then I finished the run, but that last mile was not pretty. No more long trail runs until next winter! There’s just not enough shade. In spite of all my complaints, I was happy I did this run (of course!) Monday Started the week with a 30 minute yoga class, as always on Peloton with Denis Morton. Tuesday I played around with the scheduling of my runs and lower body strength workouts this week. This morning, I started with a 20 minute glutes and legs strength class with Matty Maggiacomo (again on Peloton.) Then I ran two miles, and then a quick core class. Wednesday Speed work! I did a mile warm up, then ran 8x 400s, again on a stretch of sidewalk, conveniently measuring almost exactly 1/4 mile with no cross streets. I walked for one minute between each interval, and then did a short cool down run. No picture from this day because I didn’t have time to fool around! I had to take my daughter to school at 7:35, and I returned from my run at 7:31, which I thought was perfect. My daughter yelled at me for cutting it so close though. SHEESH! Can’t wait for school to be done. Later in the day, Rebecca Kennedy’s 5 minute core class. If I only have fine minutes, this is the best class! And I did pull-ups. Thursday Okay, my legs were tired. I did a 45 minute yoga slow flow, as always with Denis from 5/22/22. This class was just what I needed- it had some challenging poses, and also a lot of good stretching. My legs were happy. Friday So this was a controversial decision. I decided to start with a 30 minute glutes and legs strength class, again with Matty Maggiacomo, and this class was HARD. Then I did a three mile run. Have you ever done a “brick” workout, where you run right off the bike? Well, that’s what my legs felt like at first. They felt better as the run went on, but this was a tough combo. Saturday I need more yoga! But first, a 10 minute core class with Ben Alldis. Then I did Denis’s Reggae slow flow- good class. On tap for Sunday… Remember how sad I was that I couldn’t do my birthday run to the beach? Well, it’s happening today!!! I’m excited. Then, later in the day, if the kitchen is functional, we’re cooking an Asian feast. Should be interesting. And that’s it! It was a crazy, crazy week. My daughter had several end-of-school activities, but now summer vacation has started. PHEW! Next week should be a lot easier. How was your week? Ate the kids done with school where you live? Does it affect your schedule? If you had a crazy May, do you think things will calm down in June? –Things should be calmer here for a couple weeks, and then camp starts. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!
May Runfessions!
Well, it’s that time of month- thanks to Marcia for opening up her Runfessional once again. Let’s dive right in! Ahem. Remember how we won a stair stepper? The gym at my husband’s school was getting rid of their old equipment, and my husband put his name in a drawing for the stair stepper. I’m actually thinking he was possibly the only one to put his name in for it, but anyway, it is now ours. The problem was, it was a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS to get it home. First, he naively took my car, a Rav4, to work one day so he could “bring home the stair stepper.” Nope- it was way too big. He ended up renting a U Haul and coercing, er, convincing two coworkers to help him load it in, ride back to our house, and unload it into our garage. And here it is… This does not look like a stair stepper to me! I asked him who called it a “stair stepper” and he said, the athletic director. Really? Let’s look at the control panel. Since when can you adjust the stride length on a stair stepper? This thing is like a weird hybrid between a stair stepper and an eliptical. I tried it out, and… I don’t like it. The only way I would ever use it is out of sheer desperation, like if I’m too injured to run and for some reason can’t do a pool run. So now we have a large piece of exercise equipment in our garage that I’m hoping I’ll never, ever have to use. Speaking of injuries… how’s that foot doing, anyway? Last month I “runfessed” that I was upping my long runs with the help of a little Advil. Since then I’ve stopped taking the Advil, gotten my long runs up to ten miles, and started doing speed work. Obviously my foot is completely healed, right? Not so fast! It still hurts, at certain times of the day. Getting out of bed is… difficult, and if I get up after sitting for a while I have to hobble across the floor. But it hasn’t been hurting at all while I run! Running farther and faster were the two things that made it flare up, so I’m super happy I’m able to manage those now. I’m thinking it’s the orthotics? Whatever- I’m ecstatic. So far this hasn’t been much of a “runfession”- more like an update. But I do have one thing to runfess: the heat here has been terrible. This past Sunday it was already 80 degrees at 6:30 am. And extremely humid. I headed out for my ten mile trail run… I’ve never figured out why Florida has NO SHADE. The sun blazes down like it’s trying to kill you. This run was really, really hard, and I remembered that running on this trail just isn’t fun in the summer. Oh well… I’ll find other places to run for now. So that’s it for this month! Question: does anyone know what the heck that piece of equipment is? Have you ever used one? Do you like it? Thanks for reading!