Friday Night Photos #88

I've been in a bad mood this afternoon. I want to get our bathroom done so badly, but I am waiting on my brother to hook up the shower--and I'm not upset with him, because he's doing it for free (beggars can't be choosers). Drywalling the tub surround is going to be a huge pain in the ass and I can't really do much more with the rest of the bathroom until after that is done. Jerry hasn't had time to work on the floors because he's doing a special project at work. Today, I went to Lowe's and bought the green drywall I needed for the tub surround (it's meant for areas with moisture).

I had to cut the drywall in the parking lot in order to fit it in my car, and thankfully it all worked out. But I can't work on it until my brother gets done with the plumbing. 

Anyways! Here are some pictures from this week...

I'm actually sitting in the bathtub right now, writing this post. I used to go in my closet when I needed quiet time to myself, but I think this bathtub (empty) will do just fine!

As I plan what to do with the new space when the construction part is finished, I want to make a little cat haven/ cat jungle gym wall. Right now, they love going on top of the closet I built in the bathroom. Duck climbs the ladder up, and then when he's ready to come done, he just meows until I go get him. He has me trained. (He's actually up there right now, watching while I write.)

Here are a few ideas I found on Pinterest that I am considering to use as a sort of "ladder" for them to climb up and down:

The first one would be the easiest and I like that I'd easily be able to move it around. I also like the second one with all the long shelves. It looks more decorative. But I'll see what I can come up with!

This is the start from our cross country meet last Saturday. I love this particular meet! You can see the whole thing from the top of the hill. It's notoriously cold, though. Every. single. year. This year was probably the coldest yet! It was SUPER windy.

I wasn't surprised that two of our kids got medals. These two are the fastest on the team.

This is very hard to see, but when I was driving home from therapy on Tuesday, I saw a car ahead of me on the expressway that had these decals on the window. I was driving, so I couldn't get a picture. Then, completely coincidentally, I was stuck in line behind this car at the cross country meet! The car is a minivan and on the left side of the window, there is a picture of a minivan that says, "Never say never". And on the right, it says: "Cool minivan" -Nobody.  Hahaha! I thought it was hilarious. (I owned a minivan when my kids were little.)

This made me laugh. I love Joaquin Phoenix. He and Natalie Portman actually narrated the Dominion documentary I saw that changed my life (made me become vegan). 

Duck was so happy sprawled down my legs (he's huge!) and I could tell that Estelle wanted up. She knows that I don't let her bully the other cats to get off my lap for her. So she tip-toed around, watching Duck like a hawk, and finally settled on my stomach. I had been trying to blog, but there was no room for my computer at that point. So I just held out as long as my bladder did.

This was a spicy peanut noodle bowl I made a couple of days ago when I was in need of comfort food. It was so good!

The starting line of our final race! (We have one more on Saturday, but it's optional and I think only seven kids are going.) On Monday we have a Halloween run, and then the season is over. Just like that! Can you believe it? Karen, a blog reader, donated a trophy (it's a runner and the plaque says "future olympian". I brought it to practice and the kids all wanted it of course. So, Renee and I are going to look at things like most improved times, who runs without complaining, who shows up to practice the most, etc. And then we'll award them with the trophy.

I went to the dentist yesterday to have my teeth cleaned, and I was shocked when I saw my hygienist's room! It was totally decked out in an 80s theme. How fun! She even had 80s music playing. (I hate 80s music, but it went along with the decor nicely.) She said they are doing a contest this month where all the hygienists are decorating with a different theme. I think this one far outweighs the others, but they still aren't done yet. They'll have voting starting next week, I think.

She took me on a little tour to see the rest of the rooms: 

Yesterday, on the way home from cross country, I stopped at Kroger to pick up some soy milk. I was in and out in less than five minutes. When I went inside, the weather was perfectly normal. And when I came out, it was snowing! Big fat snowflakes. It snowed even harder on the way home. I couldn't believe it.

We're supposed to have great weather this weekend, though. Tomorrow, I have a cross country meet in the morning and then I'm meeting my old friend Jessica (remember her?! We ran our first marathon together) for a walk at the state park and then Sunday, I'm meeting a blog reader-turned friend, Jen, for a walk at the Metropark. It'll be nice to catch up with each of them while taking advantage of the weather!

And that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

Continue Reading...

Three Things Thursday #3

At my therapy session on Tuesday, my therapist and I were talking about my chronic anxiety. I feel a sense of dread all the time and I would do just about anything to make it go away. Lately, it's been really bad; I have one of the physical symptoms where it feels like someone is squeezing my throat shut. It's even hard to swallow. There is no physiological reason for it; it's just something that happens when my anxiety is high.

We talked about where it stemmed from, but I'm not going to get into that--it's a long story. But one of the things that we talked about in order to get more comfortable with certain topics is to think about writing about them. She said I don't have to write them on my blog, but one of the exercises she gave me was to think about things that I would like to do but haven't done because of anxiety.

So, I thought today's "Three Things Thursday" would be a good post for it! I haven't thought about this before, so I'm just winging it as I write. Here they are--three things that I would like to do but won't do them because of anxiety...

1) Be a running coach.

Technically, I already am--I am RRCA-certified--but I've never used my certification to coach people. (I obviously coach cross country to third-fifth graders, but I'm not counting that.) I would like to work one-on-one with people to help them either start running or to reach certain goals while running. I've gotten countless emails from people who have successfully used my running plans, and I love hearing the feedback. But since the running plans are free, I don't feel so much responsibility. If someone was paying me to coach them, I would feel like their success rests on my shoulders.

I think I would be very good at coaching, but I have too much anxiety to actually do it. I would worry too much about whether my clients were meeting their goals and if they weren't, I would beat myself up, thinking it was my fault. I'm a perfectionist, so I would spend way too much time trying to make everything perfect.

I've had several people email me and ask if I take running clients, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I would want the experience to be perfect for them and if it's anything less than, I would feel responsible. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but it definitely causes anxiety.

When I got my coaching certification in 2013

2) Write a memoir.

I can't even count the number of times people have told me I should write a memoir. I actually had written a first draft several years ago! But I knew I would never attempt to publish it because I would have constant anxiety about reading reviews. I know that not everybody loves every book they read (I'm certainly one of them) but reading criticism about something as vulnerable as a memoir would just be too much for me. I take everything to heart and reading criticism about my insecurities would really make me want to crawl into a hole and hide forever.

This is similar to writing whatever I want to on my blog. There are a lot of things I'd love to write about or that would feel therapeutic to write, but unfortunately, I worry about the reaction I would get. They might be no big deal, but for some reason, certain topics or ideas make me extremely anxious to write about. Perhaps it's because there are people I know who read my blog, or because I know I will get negative comments that make me feel insecure, or maybe another reason.

Writing vulnerable posts always makes me feel anxious, regardless of the topic. Usually, I feel so much better when I see that nothing horrible happens, so I don't know why I have such anxiety about it. And most of the time, I get a very positive response from people who may be going through the same things. A lot of people tell me they are grateful for the vulnerable posts I share. I just wish I had the nerve to share more!

I really like this little philosophy below, but it's hard to imagine feeling such at ease with criticism. Maybe someday!

3) Go on a cross-country road trip all by myself.

This one isn't so much due to anxiety as it is practicality, I guess. If I didn't have any worries at home and if money wasn't an object (ha!), I would love to drive all the way across the country all by myself. I would stop wherever I felt like stopping, and see whatever sights I felt like seeing. I wouldn't have a phone except for emergencies (and a camera). I would talk with locals and hopefully meet some interesting people.

I wouldn't share about it on social media or anything like that. I'd just keep a journal and write about what I did each day. I would even pick up hitchhikers (this is a theoretical trip, so don't lecture me!) and listen to their stories. I would take all the back roads to enjoy the parts of the country I would never see otherwise.

Seeing Seattle from the Space Needle (not a road trip, but definitely fun!)

Wow, writing about this theoretical trip makes it sound so romantic--I wish it could actually happen! But I would have way too much anxiety about what's happening at home and how much money it would be costing me, and I would feel guilty doing it without my family. It's just a dream that I never really knew I had until I started listing it out here, haha.

Well, there it is--three things that I would like to do but can't or won't because of anxiety (and practicality). One of the major reasons I started seeing a therapist again is to work on my anxiety and start doing things that "normal" people do without feeling so nervous about it.

I'd love to hear what some of you would like to do but just haven't had the nerve. Are they rational anxieties? Do you hope to do them someday? Please share!

Continue Reading...

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 73

I'm not really sure where to start my post today. The week has been very uneventful as far as weight loss/maintenance goes. Jerry and I went out to eat at a vegan restaurant in Detroit called Chili Mustard Onions. It's basically vegan junk food--chili dogs, fries, burgers--stuff like that. My therapist is the one who recommended it to me.

I had only gone out to eat twice since becoming vegan--once at Red Robin with Jerry and the kids, and once at Panera when we took Luke and Riley. Both of those were a big "nope" from me. At Red Robin, the only thing I could get was a vegan burger patty wrapped in iceberg lettuce with broccoli on the side. Meh. (I later learned that their fries are vegan, but they are cooked in the same fryer as non-vegan food--so Red Robin cannot call them vegan.) And Panera was the other restaurant; that experience was unbelievable, and not in a good way. (I wrote that story on my blog, in case you missed it.)

I was very glad that we went to a vegan restaurant this time, because I could order anything on the menu and not have to make substitutions or modifications. Even dessert was vegan. I wrote about this on Friday Night Photos, so I won't get into the whole thing, but the loaded fries were amazing. I wasn't crazy about the wrap I got because it was very heavy on the cumin, but I ate the entire plate of fries.

I was curious how the fried food would affect my body (stomachache, indigestion, etc.) since I hadn't eaten fried foods or much junk food at all this year. And it would be interesting to see how much water I'd retain after a restaurant meal. Later that night, I had heartburn--and I'm guessing it had to have been due to the food. I never get heartburn! My weight was up 2.2 pounds the next morning in water weight, which wasn't surprising. It was worth it, going out with Jerry to a fun new restaurant, but I definitely don't want to eat out very often.

I don't know if it was the fact that I ate a plate of fries and an oatmeal cream pie for dessert, or that my body is finally catching up for the amount of weight I dropped over the past couple of months, but I had the biggest appetite this week. My stomach felt like a bottomless pit. (It also could have been from the iron supplements, which made my stomach feel crappy in general.)

I stopped taking the supplements for a couple of days because I just needed a break from my constant headache. It was so nice! Two glorious days without a headache. Then I tried a new iron supplement, which is supposed to be better on the stomach, and I was glad that it actually was better. My headache is back, but thankfully it's milder than before. I'm going to try to ride it out and see if it goes away after I get used to the iron. But I am *not* a fun person to be around when my head is killing me--I get super irritable and I can't concentrate on anything.

Anyway, after a week of eating much more than usual (mostly apples and bananas, haha--it's just what sounded good) I wasn't surprised to see my weight was up a couple of pounds:

I think I was at 125.4 last week. I'm actually kind of relieved to see the gain this week. As odd as it sounds, I was getting worried that I'd continue dropping weight without trying to. I remember when I was losing weight back in 2009-2010, there was a point when I got to about 140 pounds and I kind of freaked out. I can't really explain why, but I was scared at the amount of weight I'd lost and scared of trying to keep it off. It was a very panicky feeling. This time hasn't been nearly as bad, but I was starting to get kind of nervous about it.

Anyway, I'm happy with my weigh in (I never thought I'd be happy to gain weight!). I've been thinking about maintenance and what my plan is... I didn't really have one. And I still don't! Haha. But I think I'd like to try to keep my weight between 125 and 135. That's a broad range, but I like the idea of having a range rather than trying to stay close to a particular number. It will allow for my appetite changes; I went several weeks with practically no appetite, and now it's come back to make up for lost time, apparently.

Since I'm not counting calories, I'm not sure how to try to maintain my weight. It's such a weird problem to have! (Well, for me anyway.) I'm just going to listen to my appetite and eat how I have been ("normal-sized" portions of vegan food). If my weight gets below 125, I'll add more food; if it gets up to 135, then I'll cut back.

It sounds so simple when I write it out like that, but that has never been easy for me! So, I guess I'll see what happens from here ;)

Continue Reading...

Too Much Like My Dad (a writing prompt)

I wanted to write about something light-hearted today and as I was reading through some writing prompts online, there was one that sparked a recent funny story. The writing prompt was: "Have you ever been embarrassed by something your family did? Why or why not?"

First, I have to give a little background info about my dad. He's always been thrifty, creative, stubborn, and most certainly a DIY'er. I can't remember him ever calling a plumber or carpenter or anything like that--he likes to figure things out himself. (And yes, I definitely take after my dad!)

I asked my dad to show me how to change the oil in my car

On Father's Day a few years back, I wrote out a list of some "life lessons" --dad-style. 

There are so many things my dad has taught me over the years: 

-Eating carrots will make you see better.
-Garbage disposals are not to be used for anything! EVER!!!
-Shoes don't have to be worn in matching pairs, as long as each shoe fits.
-Same goes for socks. And gloves.
-Eating walnuts will keep you warm when ice fishing.
-Maxi pads (or Super Glue) make great bandaids.
-When you're a kid, you're on-call to bleed brakes whenever Dad's working on a car.
-Real fishermen don't use gizmos and gadgets; they just know where the fish are.
-All the radiation from Fermi (a nuclear power plant that we live very close to) means you have to talk twice as loud on a cordless phone so that people can hear you.

While I wrote this tongue-in-cheek, these are all things that have stories behind them. Here's one...

Jeanie, my sister, is eight years older than me, so we weren't very close growing up. This story went right over my head when I was younger and I had no idea why it was funny. Jeanie was in high school at the time and she had a group of friends over one day. My dad was playing baseball and he wound up with a large abrasion on his leg after sliding into second base.

Ever the creative DIY'er, rather than get bandages for it, he took a maxi pad from the bathroom and pressed it over his wound. He secured it with tape, and voilà! An instant bandaid for a large abrasion. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense--maxi pads are meant to absorb blood, after all--but it was unconventional and kind of funny.

Jeanie, however, did *not* find humor in it at all. As a teenager with a bunch of friends over, you can imagine how horrified she was when her dad walked back out with a maxi pad taped to his leg! She was completely embarrassed and told him to go inside and take it off.

Somehow, this story gets brought up once in a while when my family gets together. As an adult, I can definitely appreciate his creative thinking; but I am thankful that it was Jeanie's friends who saw it and not mine at that age!

A couple of weeks ago was Eli's homecoming dance at school. He and his girlfriend had broken up just a week prior, so he wasn't sure if he was going to the dance. I really wanted him to go because it would be good for him to do something fun after the break-up. Even the morning of the dance, he said he wasn't sure. (That's Eli, though--he's not very good at planning.)

In the early afternoon, he announced that he was going to the dance with a few (male) friends. (Is it still a thing to call it "going stag"?) I was SO happy that he was going; I told him to have fun and if he wants to do something after the dance, that's cool too.

He called me toward the end of the dance to ask if his friends could come back to our house--they could play the Xbox and just do whatever it is that teen boys do. I said sure--I hadn't heard him sound that happy in a long time.

Meanwhile, Jerry and I noticed that Joey had a hot spot on his back (a raw patch of skin caused from him scratching and chewing there--I'm not sure what caused the itching). We didn't have a cone to put on him to keep him from making it worse, so I was trying to come up with something. He had a hot spot a while ago, and we put a t-shirt on him--it worked great! But the location of this one couldn't have been more inconvenient (on his back, about six inches in front of his tail).

Being my father's daughter, I had the brilliant idea to put a panty liner on it. Then I wrapped an ace bandage around and underneath him, placed so that he'd still be able to go to the bathroom. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

You can see where this story is headed...

I was in my bedroom, which is right next to the living room. I heard Eli and his friends come in after the dance, and Joey was super excited to have new "friends" petting him. Then I heard one of them ask Eli what was wrong, and why did Joey have a bandage on his back.

I was horrified--not for my 40-year old self, but for 16-year old Eli, hahaha. I hoped that the ace bandage covered the panty liner enough that they wouldn't notice what it was. After the boys went out to the garage to play the Xbox, I checked on Joey and it was clear as day (to me, anyway) that it was a panty liner.

I started laughing. I realized then that I am most certainly like my dad. I am all about practicality, and the older I get, the less I care what people think. When I start wearing mismatched shoes on purpose, it may be time to rethink things ;)

In all seriousness, I'm lucky to have a pretty cool dad. He's an expert fisherman and car mechanic; an extremely talented artist; a drill sergeant of a baseball (and softball) coach ("perfect practice makes perfect"); a very funny story teller; an old-school-but-still-cool dad; and the most amazing "Pay" to my kids. If I share some of his traits, well, I'm not complaining!

With my dad and Jeanie

Continue Reading...

Deep Thoughts With Jerry #7

I have been driving myself crazy over the last couple of days while trying to transfer pictures to my new computer from an external hard drive. I'm trying to clean up the mess that is my 50,000 photos, and I can't seem to keep them organized while transferring. Anyway, I am so tired of looking at the computer that I asked Jerry to share his "deep thoughts" today. I didn't give him any writing prompts--he just chose these ice breaker questions.

I also didn't give him a lot of notice, so if these aren't interesting... it's my fault!

Showers... do you prefer morning or evening?

I think maybe both. I love taking showers! I will stand in a super hot shower all day long. Katie can attest to this... I take notoriously long showers. There is something just so relaxing about them. Katie, on the other hand, hates showers. 

What's the worse style-choice you ever made?

There's been so many. A mohawk, pink hair, bleached hair, clothes that were too tight, Crocs... the list could go on. One that comes to mind though is when Katie and I were dating and I wore a pimp costume on our anniversary date. It was purple with black and white polka dot trim. How we made it past that date I will never know. Maybe it was my pimpalicious charm and my playa swag that sealed the deal. 

So much cool happening in this picture

If you had your own late night talk show who would be your first guest?

There would have to be two, because  they work best as a team... Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. The chemistry those two have is undeniably awesome and they're hilarious. They've done multiple movies together and when they do the promotional pressers for an upcoming flick they just constantly roast each other and it's epic. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to support my claim. 

If you have to sing karaoke what song would you pick? 

There are two songs that come to mind, 'Mr. Jones' from the Counting Crows or 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins. How embarrassing. LOL. I picture myself dressed as Bruce Springstein singing 'Danger Zone' and the whole bar singing along with me. If it's not obvious, I've thought way too much about this. 

What fictional family would you be a part of?

Who wouldn't want to be a Pearson? 'This Is Us' was such a powerful show and the family dynamic was awesome. I wasn't a big Kate fan, but to be the sibling of The Manny or Randall would be pretty sweet!

What is your best scar story?

My dad was in the Air Force and he was stationed in Sacramento for a couple years. Because of the dry fields that surrounded the base, tractors would disc the perimeter of the housing areas. The cultivated dirt acted as a fire break in case of any sort of wildfires. The discing would bring up a bunch of big rocks and bricks.

A friend of mine and I would go out and pick through the rocks and start throwing them in the field. One day, while we were doing this, my friend yelled 'DUCK!'. I looked up and said, 'Where?'... then everything went black. A brick had hit me square in the left side of my forehead and knocked me out. If you need a visual of what it might have looked like, this gif pretty much sums it up. 

What is the last TV show you binge watched?

24. And it's the third time I watched the series. I love it. If you have never seen it or heard of it, it follows a day in the life of a fictional federal agent that works as part of a counter terrorist unit. Each episode represents 1 hour in the day and usually involves a nuclear or biological threat. It's so good. And so worth the time.

Currently I'm catching up on The Blacklist. Speaking of binge watching things... I have a habit of rewatching movies in a series before a new installment comes out. For instance... Black Panther: Wakanda Forever comes out November 11th and I plan to watch all 29 movies of the MCU before seeing it. Seems like overkill but I like to think of it as dedication. I'm dedicated.

---

Katie here. It's true, I do hate showers. They're only warm when you're in there and then it's twice as cold when you get out. But I shower anyways, because hygiene. And speaking of, I'm going to go take a shower now and get ready for bed. It's only Monday... this feels like it's going to be a long week!

Continue Reading...

VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Pasta e Fagioli

I've been posting a lot of tofu recipes lately, and since not everybody likes--or is familiar with--tofu, I figured I would try out a recipe that uses ordinary ingredients. I still like being somewhat adventurous, though, so I chose to make a chickpea loaf (similar to a meatloaf, only using chickpeas in place of meat).

I made the chickpea loaf yesterday and uploaded the photos to my computer... 

And you know what? I just now searched my blog for "lentil loaf" because I was sure I reviewed lentil loaf for one of my first vegan recipes. It turns out, I had actually made Chickpea Loaf in March! It was the same exact recipe that I made yesterday. Hahaha, I'm cracking up! My memory is horrible. Interestingly, though, I really didn't care for the chickpea loaf this time, even though I loved it before. Maybe now that I've tried so many other amazing vegan foods, the chickpea loaf is just meh. 

It's so funny--all that I just read in my post from March is pretty much what I was going to write today, except that I didn't care for the loaf this time.

Thankfully, I prepared another recipe today and I took photos just in case I wanted to use it for a recipe review. Today, I made Pasta e Fagioli. I have been making my own recipe for years, and my whole family loves it. However, it's not vegan. I could easily make it vegan, but I thought it would be fun to try something completely new.

I picked Pasta e Fagioli by Cookie + Kate (I'll link to it again at the end of the post). The ingredients were simple enough. The only thing I didn't have was the kale. I wasn't a fan of kale the last time I had it, but I found "baby kale" and it looked better.

Ingredients: olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, white beans, pasta, parsley, kale, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, oregano, vegetable broth, water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. (I don't buy vegetable broth; I make a bouillon powder and mix it with water to make broth.)

This recipe took me a while because I prepped everything first instead of doing it as I was cooking, but it was easy enough.

First, you heat the oil in a pot, then add the celery, carrots, and onions. I always like how pretty the three look together.

Cook until soft (it took about five minutes) and then add the garlic and cook for another minute. I meant to take a picture, but forgot until after I added the tomatoes (the next step).

Cook a few more minutes, and then add the broth, water, and spices. At this point, it looked very watery, and I hoped that the end result would be thicker.

Simmer for 10 minutes or so, and then comes the scary part. I didn't read this ahead of time... but you have to add 1-1/2 cups of the hot soup to the blender with 3/4 cup of the beans and then purée until very smooth. Well, remember what happened when the bullet blender nearly took my head off? It was because I wasn't supposed to blend hot liquid in it--when the seal is airtight, the pressure builds up and causes it to explode.

I carefully put a cup and a half of the soup, along with 3/4 cup of beans, into the blender. The Ninja blender I have has an airtight seal, but there is a pouring spout on one end--so when the spout is open, it's obviously not airtight. I opened it up and then covered it with a towel (to avoid spattering) before blending. Thankfully, it worked out just fine!

Then you pour it back into the pot. The soup was still very watery, but I know that adding pasta really thickens up soup--even if there isn't a ton of pasta. After you pour it back into the pot, you add the beans, pasta, kale, and parsley. 

Bring it to a simmer and let it cook for about 20 minutes. I hoped it wouldn't make the pasta soggy by cooking it for so long, but I was glad to see that it had thickened up quite a bit!

Finally, you add a little more olive oil, the lemon juice, and salt. I couldn't wait to eat it! Lately, I've been making dinner super early in the afternoon, which isn't ideal. I like to eat dinner late (like 7:30 ish) but Jerry goes to work before then. So I cook dinner, and then he takes some to work and I save some for later. So we are both reheating food, haha. 

We tasted the soup when it was done, though, and it was SO good. Absolutely perfect for a fall day! I added some vegan parmesan that I made a couple of days ago (also a recipe from Cookie + Kate). Jerry and I both agreed that the soup was delicious. The pasta e fagioli that I've been making all these years has sausage in it, but this vegan one is so flavorful that it doesn't need meat. And I like the addition of the kale!

The kids weren't here to taste it, so I can't write their opinions, but I am fairly certain they would like it. Eli would probably pick around the kale, but there aren't any "weird" ingredients, so I think he'd give it a chance ;)  (ETA: Eli just came home as I was writing and he ate a whole bowl--so he likes it!)

Overall: I'll definitely be adding this to my collection of "make this again" recipes. If the kids don't eat the leftovers, I'm going to have it again tomorrow.

Here is a link to the recipe for Pasta e Fagioli from Cookie + Kate.

Continue Reading...

Wordless

I have written SO much this week and I've had an exhausting day. So I'm just posting a photo from our cross country meet this morning. I love this particular race--there is a huge hill! And this fun fact about Robin Williams was from late September, but it made me so angry for him. I would be furious if someone did that.

Continue Reading...

Friday Night Photos #87

I was so excited to have today "off" of stuff to do--no appointments, no cross country practice or meets, nowhere to have to be. It's rare to have days like this! I was super bummed that I couldn't really enjoy it, though, because these stupid iron supplements have been making me feel like crap. Since I started taking them, I've had a non-stop headache (literally over a week now) and my stomach constantly feels like I have a hangover (even though I don't drink). I really hope these aren't permanent side effects!

I didn't take very many pictures this week, and I didn't even realize that until I started this post. We carved our pumpkins a few days ago, which was fun. We laid paper bags all over the island and used whatever knives and utensils we could find to carve them.

I decided to try doing a cat face and once I started on the eyes, I realized it wasn't going to look very much like a cat! Haha. I just used a paring knife. Jerry and the boys used steak knives and they said it was so much easier because they were serrated. So we agreed not to look at each other's pumpkins until we were completely finished and then we'd decide whose was best.

Noah's been growing out his hair and he's finally ready to get it cut the way he wants--his appointment can't come soon enough!

Naturally, Duck had to see what was going on. He knows he's not allowed on the island, and as soon as he jumped up there, he looked at me, waiting for me to tell him to get down. But he was drawn to my cat pumpkin, so I let him check it out, since he was my inspiration and all  ;) 

In the end, all the boys said my pumpkin was the best (I kind of agree!). Eli's is on the far left and he was finished before I even finished scooping out the seeds from mine. Jerry's is next to Eli's. And then Noah's is a Star Wars thing. 

Jerry had been wanting to go on a "date" for a while; and even though a date doesn't have to involve dinner, I knew he'd been wanting to go out to eat. I much prefer to eat at home, but I decided to look for a vegan restaurant in Detroit or Ann Arbor--it would definitely be more fun to try something new. My therapist (who is actually vegan as well) suggested a place called Chili Mustard Onions in Detroit.

They have a very small menu, but it looked like just the type of food Jerry would be into. It's kind of a coney island-type place (a few different burgers and wraps, chili cheese dogs, fries... you know, the good deep-fried junk food!) I'm not at all picky, and the food did look good, so that's where we chose to go.

As soon as we walked in, I really loved the atmosphere. It was small, with probably only about eight tables, very cozy looking and super laid back. There were only three people working--a hostess, a server, and a cook. They even have a little table with a basket of folded slips of paper and a sign suggesting to leave a nice note for somebody (and to take one as well). Such a cool idea!

Right away, the hostess said, "I love your shirt! Where did you get it?" I was wearing the Sober AF shirt that my sister bought me. Her name is Darla, and she looked very young (I later learned she's 24); she said she's been sober for two years and four months tomorrow (if I remember correctly). She knew right down to the day, which made me believe that her sobriety was very important to her and she'd probably worked very hard to get to this point.

Jerry and I sat down to eat, and I had a hard time deciding what to order. I wanted to try something that I would likely not make at home, so I picked the Spicy Pepper-Nell--spiced "chickun" strips, vegan pepper jack sauce, "bacun" bits, pico de gallo and green onions in a pita with loaded fries on the side. I had no idea it was going to be so much food! Jerry takes flattering photos of me, doesn't he? Haha. 

I had to get a Faygo soda (it's made in Detroit). I loved the grape flavor when I was a kid. It was nostalgic, but waaay too sweet for a whole bottle!

The fries were absolutely amazing. I would have really liked the pita sandwich, but the chickun strips but the cumin in the spice blend was completely overpowering. I love cumin, but it was definitely too much. I only ate a few bites, but I ate the whole plate of fries.

Jerry got the Big Moc (haha) with chili cheese fries. He loved both and said he wants to try to make the Big Moc at home.

When we finished eating, our server told us that Darla wanted to buy us dessert! I was so surprised. I asked our server what his favorite dessert was and he said he loves the oatmeal cream pie. So that's what we got (we brought it home because we were stuffed).

This was SO SO good. I haven't been craving sweets, but when I tried this, it was heavenly and I'm glad I got it. (I shared it with Jerry, I promise)

I went over to thank Darla for the dessert and she told me a little more about her sobriety. I would have loved to be able to sit down and have a real conversation with her, but the restaurant was getting busy, so I thanked her for the dessert and she commented again how much she liked my shirt.

I loved that it was a conversation starter, and she was so nice! When we got in the car, I immediately looked for the shirt online (it was on Etsy) and I bought one to have shipped to the restaurant for her. I hope she gets it! It was energizing to see how proud she was of her sobriety, especially being so young.

There was a Whole Foods right around the corner, and since we never go to Whole Foods (we don't have one near us) we decided to go in and look around. I liked this painted sign--Detroit is such a great city!

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Definitely more writing than photos, but my interaction with Darla was probably the highlight of my week. I'm so glad we went!

Continue Reading...

Three Things Thursday #2

I have actually really been looking forward to this "three things Thursday" post idea that had randomly popped into my head last week. It's such a broad writing prompt, and I can make it into whatever I want. I love writing prompts when I'm not sure what to write about.

Today, I thought I would write three things that I love about coaching cross country. The season is almost over already! This year, I realized that I definitely missed it; maybe it was good that I took two seasons off, because I found this season to be really fun.

However, it is stressful, too. If I didn't have so many other things going on over the past couple of months, I don't think I would have been stressed about it; the timing of everything was just bad.

But anyway... here are three things I love about coaching cross country:

1. There is always one kid that really tugs at my heartstrings. Usually, this kid (boy or girl) is super enthusiastic about running, doesn't complain, wants to get faster, asks me questions, and does what I have planned for the day (running easy on easy run days, really pushing themselves on speed work days, running long on long run days).

All of the kids have something unique about them that I find endearing, but there is always one kid in particular who I see so much potential in and I hope that they continue to run through middle school and high school. I like to tell the kids that cross country is such a great sport because distance running is something they can do forever; it doesn't end after high school, like most sports. I'm always so sad when they move up to the middle school and I can't coach them anymore!

There is usually one kid that drives me crazy, too, but in an endearing way. There was one boy that I coached for three years and he had an excuses at EVERY SINGLE PRACTICE why he couldn't run. But he always had a big grin on his face when he told me! And he knew I would tell him "Too bad! It's cross country. Now go run."

This year, I see him at practice frequently because I coach his brother. I always tell him that he can run alongside his brother if he wants, but he gives me an excuse why he can't run. Hahaha!

2. Coaching really brings me out of my shell. I'm a very quiet, shy person in general; but when I coach, I feel confident and I get loud. I talk probably way too much, I joke around with the kids, and I refuse to accept excuses for not running. I feel authoritative and respected. It gives me a boost of self-esteem. I think the kids can see that I really care about them and that when I push them, it's *because* I care.

My very favorite part of the races is the final kick to the finish line. I stand in a spot where I would like them to start their kick (running a full-blown sprint) and when I see them coming, I yell as loud as I can, "Cheetah! Now--fast as you can go! Pass him/her! Someone is right behind you, go! Everything you have!" And I almost get choked up when I see a sudden spark in their eye and they immediately pick up the pace to full-Cheetah (our word for "sprint"). When they pass someone at the very end, I get ridiculously excited.

And then they usually walk past me when they are finished. I always ask how they feel, and if they say anything other than "Like I'm going to puke" or "I'm going to pass out" or something like that, I tell them they didn't run hard enough ;)  (They've come to expect it now, so they know the "right" answer!)

3. I really love to push the kids to do more than they thought they were capable of. On long run days, I give them rubber bands to keep track of their laps, depending on their ability (some kids will get 12 rubber bands while some will get 7 or 8). Each week, I try to increase it by one; the kids will look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them how many laps they have to do, and their jaws usually drop. When they tell me they can't do that many, I tell them yes they can, now go do it! (And no walking!) ;)

A lot of times, they will choose to run extra--and I LOVE that attitude. There are always a few kids who are like energizer bunnies and they just want to keep running and running. I've stayed after practice a few times in order for them to run more laps if they want.

I never give them more than I think they can handle and it's so fun when they do what they told me just an hour prior they "couldn't do". Their confidence grows throughout the season and they look forward to seeing their race results (I always stress to them that it doesn't matter what place they come in; they should just try to beat their previous times. They are competing with themselves.) They have plenty of time to worry about placing in races once they're in high school; at this age, I just want them to learn to enjoy running so that they'll want to continue.

Okay, so there are three things I love about coaching cross country! I wish the season wasn't so short. I feel like as soon as I learn all the kids' names, we only have a single race left. (I'm notoriously bad with names; Renee is a teacher and can memorize 120 kids' names in two weeks, where it takes me 6-8 weeks to remember 17 names!)

Continue Reading...

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 72

I wish I could say that I am wearing the athletic top because I'm going running, but really it's just for cross country practice. Running remains on my to-do-asap list.

I'm not sure how long I should keep the "Week X" on my Wednesday Weigh-In posts; I'm done trying to lose weight. I thought about quitting the weigh-ins, but I really feel like they help me stay accountable. While my actual weight isn't super important to me anymore, I don't like hiding from it.

This is the longest I've ever gone with my weekly weigh-ins; usually, I quit as soon as I start seeing the scale go up. The transparency of the last 72 weeks--whether my weight was up or down--has helped me to keep my goals in mind. Maybe someday I'll quit doing them, or even just switch to once a month  or something, but right now I feel like it's helpful.

I was kind of relieved when I got on the scale today and saw that I hadn't dropped a lot from last week:

I was at 125.4, which is only down 0.4 from last week. I was actually getting a little worried when I was losing so quickly over the past couple of months. That's never happened to me before, so I hoped nothing was wrong.

I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday for an annual wellness visit. I had asked ahead of time if I could get some extra blood work--iron, ferritin, and vitamin D, in particular. It wasn't because of my vegan diet, but when I did a lot of reading about vitamins (to see if I would need to supplement things) I thought it would be good to get them checked. I've had symptoms of low iron for at least 10 years, but my iron level has always been "normal". It's been on the low end of normal, but still normal.

When reading about that recently, I saw that I should have my ferritin level checked as well. Ferritin is more of a long-term indication of iron levels, where looking at the actual iron is more of a short-term snapshot. I also have symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, which is super common (especially living in the northern U.S.). I also had some other stuff checked (a lipid profile, blood sugar, vitamin B-12, a CBC and metabolic profile).

Everything was normal (again, my iron level was at the low end of normal) except for two things: ferritin and vitamin D. I wasn't even a little bit surprised!

I was really angry that nobody ever checked my ferritin level--with my iron-deficiency symptoms and the borderline low iron, why not check my ferritin?! When I mention my ice-chewing addiction, people always ask if I have low iron. I always assumed it was fine because my blood work showed that it was in the normal range. But the ice chewing, my easy bruising, constantly freezing cold (no matter the temp), fatigue, unexplained weakness, dizziness... all of those are symptoms of low iron. Yes, they are kind of vague and can be attributed to a number of problems, but the ice chewing is a big factor.

The standard range for ferritin is 11-307 ng/mL--and mine was at 8! I started taking an iron supplement and hopefully I will notice a difference in my symptoms relatively soon. I would be THRILLED if I can just get rid of being constantly cold. It's embarrassing to go places wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath a hoodie and tights under a pair of jeans when everybody else is in t-shirts.

I have Raynaud's phenomenon too (my fingers and toes turn translucent-white when they are cold--it's creepy looking!) and it's completely miserable. They feel both numb and painful at the same time. But I still craved ice! Even when curled under a pile of blankets.

Also low was my vitamin D. The symptoms for this are even more vague, so I never gave it much thought. The standard range is 20-150; mine was 19, so it's not terribly below standard, but I started taking a vitamin D supplement as well. The last time I had it tested was in 2018 and it was at 20.

And finally, the fun stuff! My lipid profile. I've been very curious about my cholesterol since becoming vegan. I'm super bummed that I didn't have it tested in 2020 (the insurance didn't require it that year because of COVID); when I had it tested in 2021, I had already been losing weight and running for five months.

Anyway,  I was pleased with the results!

My total cholesterol was down by 48.
My HDL ("good" stuff) was up by 8.
My LDL ("bad" stuff) was down by 57.

My 30-year risk of cardiovascular disease is 5% (I don't know what it was before, but I'd say that 5% is pretty good, considering I'll be 70 in 30 years.)

So, other than my ferritin and vitamin D, I am in great health (according to my blood work). I feel a million times better than I did last year when I was in pain all the time and had no idea why.

Well, I'm going to try to go to bed now--long and busy day tomorrow!

Continue Reading...