The Perfect Day.

What a great day!  I photographed an 80 year old lady.  Her son wanted a portrait of her in their long time home, by the window in an old fashion chair.  I couldn’t help day dreaming when my son might do the same.  Seeing her smile into the camera brought forth emotions and warm fuzzy feelings; I envisioned her as a loving mom, going through all the motions we've all done raising children. The cycle of life.

Post “hypnotic-photo-shoot” came successful errand running to the bank, Home Depot, Costco, gas station...then to SWIM!  I know my lap times & hit the 5:00 open session.  As the sun set around me, I finished my 2 mile workout. 

Last stop on the way home was the grocery store.  I was hungry & my lane-sharing-swimmer had just informed me that sugar and salt were indeed good for joints.  That being true (until I researched it more) I opened a bag of Buffalo Blue chips & feasted on some salty goodness of Kettle Chips.  Then hitting the produce isle, I munched on some fresh blueberries and finally a beautiful cupcake from the Bakery!  I had my appetizers and dessert, so protein and salad would balance out my evening meal when I got home.  I love grazing through the grocery store.  I consider it my duty to amuse the checkout employees and baggers, who laugh at the 3 things I’ve opened and consumed.  Hey, laugh at me or with me, just laugh.

Working, swimming, feeling strong, enjoying great salty and sweet, editing photos, writing, ahhhh, the perfect day.

Lost Sweet Tooth

As family & friends anxiously watched me compete on Wipeout, my son had his own mission.  He wiggled & wiggled a tooth on & off for an hour as he sat viewing his mom on T.V.  Upon the finale, cheers erupted, my daughter was crying & hugging me tightly chanting "I can't believe you won!"

5,6,7 minutes passed & I couldn't even find my son Nate.  Then magically he appeared, grinning as he bounded down the stairs holding his fist out towards me he exclaimed "I lost my 7th tooth!  I got some floss that Zoe used to make your zip-line on the Wipeout Cake & I made a lasso & I just pulled it out!!!" 

He enjoyed licking blue frosting around the smooth toothless space as he savored his successful night.

Wipeout Cake!

For my T.V. debut on Wipeout, my daughter made an obstacle course “cake!”  The Shape Shifter was a modified iced oatmeal cookie & dental floss for the zip line. pop ‘em donut holes were carefully aligned as the Big Red Balls.  Red Kix cereal balls stuck on to a frosted graham cracker for the Sucker Punch Wall.   I love my biggest fan!!!

I can finally say “I won!”  Deciding to keep it a secret from everyone I know (my kids, brother, boyfriend, friends & parents) made it easy to remember!  Man was it hard to creatively not tell the truth, but scarily enough, like anything else I’m channeled into, it got easier with time!  After a few “I did well,” and the inevitable “well, did you win?” question, I began to avoid the yes or no answer:  “It was a great competition, you’ll have to watch it to find out.”

Sweet lifetime friends & family came over to scream at the t.v. with me.  I love this show.  I loved the crew.  While the super duper thick mud was being perfectly prepared, other contestants were so fun to hang out with.  I wish I could do it again & again!  Watching it at home, hearing comments from the two Johns for the first time was hilarious!

I am so thankful for my amazingly thoughtful friends.  I received candy earrings, boxes of odd candy, cupcakes, bags of great bin candy, signs & cards for support.  Thanks for giving me so much sugar!  I am overflowing!   What a Fan-Sugar-tastic experience!

S'more Please!

Nothing better than gathering around a campfire with some s'more sticks! Besides the sweet company of family & friends, my favorite part is that it's perfectly acceptable to repeatedly attempt to roast & consume many, many marshmallows. The great thing about being in the dark & everyone having their own goal, is that... no one knows I've eaten 12 marshmallows!

 

Fear Not...Anything!

Last week I was asked to photograph (my primary career) a skate competition (held today).  I had lots of excuses why I didn't have time this weekend, but in the end, I love sports & being outside, so I decided to do it.

And once again, A GOOD CHOICE!  It was a blast, the people were awesome, friendly, happy, competitive, & there was good music & food.

But the main thing that made it above my expectation was seeing a friend who exclaimed how her daughter had been experimenting with baking a lot this summer & trying sweet recipes with healthier ingredients.  WHICH IS SO ME!

She got me excited again to finish writing this book I'm nearly done with.  After editing it 4 times, I started to think that it wasn't so special, that all this information is already out there & that I shouldn't publish it.  So after this blog, I'm going to challenge my fear of publishing a book & hopefully you'll see it offered on Amazon Kindle or iTunes in a few weeks.

Rich & Blue & Chocolaty

I'm currently writing a book "How to Have a Healthy Sweet Tooth," & this seems like a perfect example.  Today's creation was due to my chocolate bar melting yesterday & me putting it in the fridge.  Then I bought blueberries at the store, separately.  When seeing them side by side my heart pitter pattered... mmm...quick & rich & chocolaty.  Rich in antioxidents that is!  My perfect bowl of 1/2 of Trader Joe's Swiss 72% dark chocolate bar broken in pieces & fresh blueberries, sent me skipping to the office to write this blog.  It's a good thing I ate up the blueberries because I'd want more of this "lunch bowl!"

Techo Beats

I love techno music.  A stable, monotonous, continuous beat, escalating to a higher level of interest, peaking with great intensity & passion, then coming back down to a more mainstream, acceptable pace.   I seem to be going along in my day to day activities, when the feeling of passion inevitably arises for something - could be a new trick on the trampoline, a new idea to pursue or a new recipe & I run with it...feeling intensely excited & bopping around with great vigor.  After fulfilling my interests & experiencing the rush of breathtaking feelings, I settle back to a normal pace. 

Techno music induces skipping & hopping, leaping & bounding during my run....and making other people smile when they pass me feels good too!

Red Rock Bash

What a perfect day, visiting Las Vegas, to drive out to Red Rock Canyon near Lake Mead.

After hiking for an hour, I lost my footing on a rock & my leg came to a serious halt on a pinnacle of sandstone.  My shin was slashed down to the muscle.  A deep little 2 inch slit that would make us turn back.

No summit, but a blood-dripping hike back down & an new adventure in applying liquid rubber bandage to seal the "larger than recommended" gap with accompanying butterfly stitches, all for sale at the nearest Rite Aid.

Come on mom, keep jumping!

I jump on my trampoline 3-5 x a week with my kids.  As they jump around, I try to jump hard without stopping for 1 full minute, 5 different times.  It's hard!  My kids just keep jumping & jumping & jumping & flipping & it drives me to keep up with them because they are so happy!
 
Jumping definitely helped my endurance & pain tolerance of burning quads when I competed on Wipeout.  (I was able to make a few leaps with confidence after jumping over & under my kids all the time!)

I have to stop & rest every minute...but hearing them say "mom keep jumping with us!" is music to my soul.  Jumping, looking at them jumping, all of us smiling at each other jumping inside this protective net wall around the trampoline.  This is my heaven.

I "Got Sugar" today in a different way ~ sweet, pure love from my kids!

Minute to Win it

Yesterday I got up at 5am (straightened my hair, tried on 4 different outfits & walked the dogs) & drove to Studio City for my 11am audition for "Minute to Win It" Game Show.  I was excited, nervous, sticky with perspiration, felt jittery but pumped & my brain was like a washing machine of ideas on how to "sell myself" to the casting company.  NONE OF WHICH came out of my mouth when they were filming my audition.  I couldn't believe I forgot to tell them I was an event photographer!!!  They asked me about my home town & why No. Cal. was better than So. Cal. (which distracted me & was not what I had planned for my 1 minute of character development.)  Then my 36 cup pyramid crashed partway & I didn't take them down in a "minute to win it!"

I had glimpses of how much fun I was having ("feeling" things I don't normally feel... giddiness, anticipation, butterflies...)  Then the desire to be chosen & the fear of not being entertaining enough overtook those fun feelings.  But still, this is why I was auditioning, to really feel alive!

3/4 of the way through the audition I was not chosen & told to go "enjoy the rest of my day."  I hadn't eaten all day so I quickly found a Taco Bell to fill my sorrows with 3 crunchy fresco tacos!  If anything, this audition kicked my sweet tooth & it's day 1 of no sugar or high fructose corn syrup (I'm not counting 2 glasses of red wine for dinner).

Monster Pancakes!

Regular pancakes are getting boring.  So the kids & I got creative this morning!

My healthy start was 1 cup "Heart Smart" Bisquick (adorned with a Box Top for my school), 1/2 cup wheat flour, 1/4 ground flax seed, 1 grated apple with skin, 1 egg + 3 egg whites, 1/4 cu 1% milk, 1 pat melted butter, 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt.

Then we added Chocolate Chips & Butterscotch chips & cereal!  Zoe added Lucky Charms & Nate smashed up Chocolate Mini Wheats!  They were lumpy & chunky & the kids picked them up like monsters (no syrup, no forks, no mess)!

A new breakfast favorite with fruit, dairy, fiber & protein!  I feel like Tony the Tiger "They're GRRRRRREAT!"

Getting this apron from Amazon might be in my future~

Ribbit Chirp Chirp

It's like living in the tropics in my upstairs bathroom, the sounds of nature ...well really 30 crickets living in a plastic tub.  We got 2 new low maintenance pets...Chubby Tree Frogs!


They sit sleeping in one spot all day & sit awake in a different spot all night.  They wait for crickets to hop by them to nab for a meal.

I can't imagine such a limited menu!

Grocery Items

After an hour 'strength training workout' in my living room, (while watching my favorite shows "Modern Family" & then "Minute to Win it") I headed out for some fresh groceries.  As I loaded the conveyor belt to the cashier, I smiled at my selections!  Raw beets, cucumbers, carrots, sweet potatoes, organic mixed greens, peppers, tomatoes, fresh strawberries, whole grain bread, oven roasted turkey, skim milk, free range eggs....& 2 tubs of chocolate peanut butter swirl ice cream on sale: 2 for $5, plus 2 tubs of Cool Whip for mixing with my low fat cottage cheese & strawberries...yummy!  Boy do I know good health AND good SUGAR!

For lunch I baked the raw beet - wrapped in foil for 50 minutes at 400 degrees & it was delicious!  It tasted like corn with a firm potato consistency.  I liked it much more than I thought & I didn't need to wear lipstick after it dyed my lips pink!

The ice cream I saved for after dinner (Amy's Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable soup was delicious & spicy.)  Ribbons of peanut butter in the chocolate ice cream felt heavenly in my mouth - definitely worth the wait!

Chocolate Fiber Crunch

Okay, I am on a roll with this healthy chocolate thing & have just melted semi sweet chocolate chips with fiber one cereal to satisfy my sweet tooth & get some vitamins, minerals & fiber!  I remember seeing The Chocolate Bar in Texas sell blobs of Lucky Charms tossed with chocolate, but I'm upping the ante & adding some roughage!  Bon Appetite!

Chocolate Cereal with a bit of health!

One of my daily missions is to find sugar, chocolate & health intertwined & here they are!  Good fiber, whole grain, no high fructose corn syrup & real chocolate!  Special K Chocolaty delight & Chocolate Mini Wheats are good dessert or anytime snacking material!

My Dentist Loves Me

Did I mention my 10 year old filling cracked & I waited just long enough for sugar to decay it MORE.  SO, I just got a new CROWN in my back molar!   But first I have to wear a temporary crown while they officially make my real one which means no eating milk duds for a whole month!

The design of molars have two important features: the trigonid, or shearing end, and the talonid, or crushing heel.  And people say I shouldn't annihilate my suckers - I have the tools!!!

Dark Chocolate RULES!!!

I forget that chocolate is derived from a plant (the cacao plant).  It contains cell-protective phytochemicals, more commonly referred to as "antioxidants." Researchers have discovered that a standard dark chocolate candy bar contains about twice as much antioxidants as a glass of red wine. This is great news!!!

Chocolate contains a surprisingly big quantity of heart-protective antioxidants, most notably plant phenols, procyanidins and catechins. In recent studies, these compounds have been shown to increase HDL (good) cholesterol, reduce blood clots that can cause heart attacks & strokes and may even lower blood pressure. As an added bonus, the phytochemicals in chocolate may also prevent cancer.

Here's a link to Hershey's research: http://www.hersheys.com/nutrition/antioxidants.asp
Data from the recent study sponsored by The Hershey Company and previous data from USDA and others indicate that dark chocolate is one of the most concentrated sources of flavanol antioxidants among plant foods. The antioxidant capacity of 1 serving of HERSHEY'S EXTRA DARK dark chocolate (37g) is equal to 3 cups of tea, 2 glasses of red wine or 1 1/3 cups of blueberries.  Hip Hip HOORAY!!!

Swim when ya can!

Driving home from L.A. I passed a public pool at 6:15pm.  I pulled in and asked when lap swim times were & got LUCKY, 5-7pm! 
Moral of the story: ALWAYS carry your swim suit & goggles in the car.  Even though I only swam for 35 minutes it was rewarding & breathtaking to see the sun set around me!  Swimming always clears my head ~ counting laps, practicing techniques & rhythmic breathing.

Candylicious

The annual trip to Texas to see my brother is only complete with daily visits to Houston's 2 finest stores (thoughtfully side by side):   The Chocolate Bar & Candylicious.

If you want any candy, foreign or domestic, retro or hot off the press, it's at Candylicious.  A framed newspaper article stated that M & M's are the best candy (health-consciously speaking), which couldn't have made me happier since I consume them regularly.  The Chocolate Bar's homemade ice creams, gorgeous cakes, desserts & every kind of item attached TO chocolate are pure extacy.  I'm not kidding.  Each bite I felt the love of that Chocolatier carefully hand crafting my item. 
Who doesn't want 11 vitamins & minerals with their chocolate cereal "bon bon"!!!

Did I exercise?  Yes I did.  YMCA family membership came in handy!

Ordering, finding & tasting all the new products would be the best job!!!
 
http://www.theoriginalchocolatebar.com

Vegas Buffets Rock!

12 friends met in Vegas for 2 days to celebrate my college roommate's 40th Birthday!   On the flight there I customized my cell phone settings, changed it's display & finally read all the "tips" in its manual!  I'd been stuck in my 2007 habits & now I'm in the 2010 decade of shortcuts.

While IN Vegas I was impressed & pleasantly surprised how much our large group of girls did in a weekend!  ate, drank, exercised, spa, craps, watched & bet on The Jets game then The Saints playoff game, ate late dinner, drank, danced, blackjack tables, slots.  Day 2 Repeat, but we included a BUFFET! 

Now, I grew up going to Vegas once a year doing the buffet thing with my blackjack playing dad... it was a special treat to pay $20 for casino buffets.  The girls were hesitant to pay $32 but agreed to try a buffet at The Wynn.   It was unbelievable how much delicious, fresh, gourmet food was offered.  Japanese - sashimi, Southern -shrimp etuffe, Thai -grilled beef salad, Indian - lentils & curried chicken, Chinese - Potstickers, Italian cuisine - fresh butternut squash gnocci & imported olives & cheeses - mustard seed sharp cheddar.  But the icing on the cake were the desserts.  Gelato bar, Perfiterols, peach cobbler, coffee mouse, chocolate souflee, lime tart with fresh rasberries, OMG!  I'm sitting on the plane ride home very satiated, very happy.   On my "50 things you must do before you die" list is: a high end buffet at a big casino at least once, maybe annually, and THE WYNN was outstanding! 

If you go at 11:30 am, you'll be set with breakfast & lunch items, & one meal lasting ALL day.

Dieting

Dieting was the topic on the Today Show this morning.  The Cookie Diet, currently popular, spurred me to go get an apple fritter at Starbucks.  I liked the diet strategy of "portion size" & Starbucks' "Nutrition by the Plate" brochure confirmed my doughnut was NOT even the worst food there.   WHO KNEW that a zucchini & walnut muffin (vegetable & nut) had more calories & fat than my fritter!  This was great news!  Also worse was banana bread, every type of scone & all egg sandwiches.   For years I assumed a blueberry scone or vegetable muffin were healthier than a doughnut...THANK you Starbucks for relieving my restriction of doughnuts.

I love sugar no doubt, but I know I can't perform solely on it.  That whole day I ate on the run - the fritter then a candy bar for lunch & pizza for dinner.  BUT the next day I pulled a 180: 2 fried eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch & fish/veggis & potatoes for dinner.   I savor the days of orgasms in my mouth (fritters, cheesecakes, mixed drinks) as well as the bland calorie reducing days so my body never gets used to anything.  I couldn't have one without the other.  Embracing my busy life (accepting I'll eat un-nutritiously for a day or 2 & knowing I'll flip back to health) has made me mentally comfortable.

And I actually work out harder & better when I've eaten poorly, so junk food fuels my fire!

Mad Libs

Coloring books, maze books, flash cards, chapter books & Mad Libs adorn the back seat area of my vehicles, but with so many options for my kids, it usually looks like a tornado has whipped through. 

Last week my parents visited.  In an effort to show 'my daughterly respect' & to show I'd grasped onto any bit of tidiness my mom tried to instill, I cleaned out the backseat so she could sit with the kids.   As a busy mom, I always choose to exercise for an hour, over cleaning the car.

Since she's really into grammar & verbs etc..she'd be so proud of me she'd be for having backseat entertainment involving education as well.  I decided to open the Mad Libs book - I remembered them giggling a few days prior - & this is what I saw.  13 pages of them filled with verbs like "pooping, peeing, nose picking, farting, boobing,"  nouns like "butt crack, crap & doggy doodoo,"  plural nouns such as "peanises, boobs, bugars, testikals, turds."  And adjetives like "booby, peanisy."  On one Mad Lib they used peanis, peanisy, peanising & peanises for every blank spot!

That was a good laugh!

I gotta work on their spelling.

Manners

I try to model, practice, teach, preach & exude BALANCE; who knows how out of whack I'd be if I didn't have kids!  My goal being to nurture their creativity, enjoy their stages through childhood & simultaneously to introduce manners & useful tools that are accepted by most people so they can be confident, capable adults.

Raised by very mannerful parents, I was forced to regularly practice eating dinner very formally, no elbows on the table, certainly no burping.  Now a mom of 8 & 9 year olds, I was having so much more fun NOT enforcing those rules that I gave up & accepted our playful goofy dining experiences every night.  We laugh a lot & it feels really good.

I taught them once how to eat properly & thought they'd understand when to use it (with Grandma & Grandpa.)  But that isn't happening; my parents are appalled at their animal-like, hyper demeanors.  I'm so bummed to have to be strict like my parents were with me. (I was so sure I could accomplish the same results without being serious, but they don't take me seriously unless I'm really serious.)  So I've got to balance out their hyperness with some emily-postness.

I'm glad to have the foundation of proper etiquette & know it's beneficial in life.  So here I go, trying to halfway undo the years of burping & spinning & joking at the dinner table.  Maybe doing every other night serious & silly will work.

Most importantly what's for dessert?  I guess we'll have to stop squirting whipped cream into our mouths some of the time too.

Crash & Learn

The morning was fast - kids to school, run for exercise, bank, pack, check-in online & print boarding pass, then airport bound to Vegas by 10:45am.  As I drove to the airport a "center-yellow-line RE-painting" truck headed towards me, hanging a few feet into my side of the highway.  Suddenly I plunged forward as I was rear ended. Miscellaneous console crap bumped to the ground around my feet.  Reeling with adrenaline, I impulsively swerved into the vacant oncoming traffic lane & missed hitting the truck in front of me.  SHIT!  I'm going to miss my flight! 

I've never been in a car accident until this.  I was surprised how jittery I felt, like ants crawling under every inch of my body.  I shakily checked my rear bumper, wow, barely any damage, just a few scratches & a busted trailer plug... I think my tow hitch saved me!  Then I glanced up & looked at the car behind me...hoooooooooly moly!  Their hood was smashed up to their windshield, car scrap metal scattered the highway like a garage sale & the driver & passenger were hidden behind airbags.  In disbelief I pushed & pulled on my bumper & looked underneath my car.  Go Volvo!!!!

2 ambulances later loading in 3 other people, I felt no worse than I did after competing in Wipeout.  And luckily the Highway Patrol officer was amazingly efficient with paperwork; I was the first to be released.  

I arrived at the airport, miraculously found a parking spot within 10 seconds & charged directly for the moving security belt (checking in on-line had never proven so handy until now).  I was the last to board, my insides stirring like a swarm of bees. 

Today as I write this I'm relieved & glad to be reminded how lucky I am.  My life is full, one adventurous day leapfrogging the next.  

Rainy Day Recess

Huge thunder & intense flickering lightning woke me at 5am!  It's been hard consistent rain, cracking sounds of trees falling & no power for 10 hours since!  15 streets are blocked in my neighborhood alone from trees uprooting & falling across them, power lines entangled.  

It's rainy day recess at the grammar school so I ventured out into the storm to relieve teachers in their classrooms (with a hidden agenda to plug in my laptop).  It was invigorating to dodge fallen tree parts & rushing rivers that engulfed my town's small, dirt rutted roads; I had to re-route 3 times on woodsy side streets.  I was one of the only drivers out & about - I know because I stopped at a 4 way intersection to take a photo of the mess in 3 directions & no one drove by me for minutes.  

At the school, kids begged to go out in the rain, they wanted to feel the feeling of cold rain & blustery wind!  They compared it to poprocks on their faces!!!  It's funny how as we grow up, we become cautious & practical!  

Back at my cold, dark house, it turned out to be a good day to organize all my tax paperwork & I had to eat the ice cream before it melted in my powerless freezer.

Going...Going...Crash

3 day weekends = we're going somewhere.  This time we drove to the Sierra Mountains with a 2 day window for good weather & we nailed it!  Sunny on the drive in, snowing on the drive out.  I thought stuffed animals, role playing, singing & reading wouldn't last 4 hours, but the 3 kids laughed through it all in the back seat with no DVDs.  Their happiness filled me, pure & simple & of course there was intermittent bickering.

We skied all day, breaking once mid-day to build a snowman adjacent chair lift 2.  We ended with a long top to bottom run, envisioning watching t.v. that night together.  But our cabin was the truest sense of the word, no microwave, toaster or t.v.  The only option was to play the games I brought & perform tickle torture, & have fun we DID! 

In the morning the kids collected icicles from ours (& random neighbors) cabins, made snow angels & slipped around the icy areas on-purpose.  We skied again, each chair lift I'd hold my breath that they'd make it, each run down I watched them improve.  I was so giddy & proud!  Until the worst..."MOMMMM... NATE'S HURT BAD!!!!!" exclaimed Zoe.  I sped away from Logan who had needed help up above & found Nate crying loudly.  "It hurts so bad!  It hurts, my knee hurts!!!"  Shit. I held back tears, told him how brave he was. My heart ached horribly, I hadn't been able to protect my baby.  Watching my child in excruciating pain flooded me with uncomfortable emotions & self doubt.

An hour later, iced & splinted in a "to-go" cardboard box, we headed down the mountain.  A stop a taco bell got us all laughing uncontrollably at each others tacos "pooping" out the back side as we crunched into the front side.  "Unless you turn & become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven." -Jesus (Matthew 18:3) is a quote I read daily posted in my bathroom.  I got it, I was in heaven with them right there eating fast food, right then, in our present moment of silliness. 

"What's for dessert?" as they consumed their final bite.  Definitely my kids.

Naked

My small town, although abundant with road & mountain bikers, is not swimmer friendly. There is no lap pool.  So, twice a month I drive 40 minutes & pay to swim in the next big town's lap pool. 
 

Feeling confident, I joined in a "workout lane." I hit my anaerobic threshold pace just to keep up in the warm-up portion, which wasn't a good sign, but I committed to what I started.  I fell behind every 400 yards we swam, my arms ached, I was impressed with their consistent speed, I felt humbled.  In the end, even though I was lapped multiple times, they all socialized with me & hoped I'd come back.  As we walked to the shower room my lack of confidence was about to be trumped by my lack of planning.   I'd forgotten a towel.  I'd have no choice but to pat myself off with some paper towels. 

The great thing about womens shower/locker rooms is that everyone is naked; skin & hair & bones, in front of lots of other naked shapes & sizes.  Naked women make eye contact & smile, maybe it's the endorphins kicking in since we've all just exercised, who knows.  But we were all there to feel cold, invigorated, challenged, exerted, proud, then hungry.  And that may be the main reason I exercise, I love apple fritters.

Road Trip Gems!

Gas stations make me smile.  While the gas is pumping I get to check out the latest gum flavors!  Today I spotted a new Trident...Orange Swirl - creamsicle!!!  Quickly opening it in line I grinned widely -  even the cashier felt my excitetment of trying something new!  Then I started my 3 hour road trip.  For awhile I chewed it slowly, then I played games: how many chews could I do in 1 mile? or in 1 minute?  I made a flat patty with my tongue onto the roof of my mouth, I rolled it into a thin snake, then stretched it over my front 6 teeth.  And it was as good as I'd have hoped - it lasted 2.5 hours & was still really soft.

On the way back home, I stopped again, strategically in a different city.  Different cities & different gas stations have different brands.  THIS station had ANOTHER new gum!  Stride "Mega Mystery" in a tie-dyed package.  It tasted like fruit stripes (no mystery THERE for a gum connaisseur) but sugar FREE (better for the teeth - alrighty!)  It didn't last as long as my Orange Swirl, but it satisfied my goal of finding a new gum at every gas station on my road trips.   Then I grabbed 2 new pieces & chewed both together & THAT was great!  The orange was soft, the mystery one was firm & together it was perfect! 

New Ideas!

Talking to 3 friends about this blog was a huge hit tonight.  I got font color ideas, new title ideas, new theme ideas & content ideas.   I wanted to improve my blog site for their visual enjoyment & also (secretly) in hopes of capturing a few more "followers" (which would make me try harder to write better).  

My brain works best by setting & achieving small goals & trying not to consume too many sweets each night (which I achieved tonight by only eating 3 See's nuts & chews.)  So my goals are to attract 20 blog followers by the end of 2010 & finish eating all the candy in the house & NOT buy any more!

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."  Edmund Hillary (New Zeland mountain climber and Antarctic explorer famous for being first to successfully climb Mount Everest)

Basketball Present Moments

Tuesdays I teach 30 minutes of P.E. to my daughter's 4th grade class. Today I tried to divide the class into 3 teams. They lined up & I counted off 1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3... Instead of 3 groups of 10, 12 Ones stood socializing, 13 Twos and only 5 Threes were together. It's crazy how sneaky & cliquey kids are. With several bullies & a few more emotionally charged classmates, they know who they want on their team. We had to re-line-up & count off 4 times before everyone finally stuck to their numbered team.

After that it was a blast! They cheered passionately for their teammates as they played the basketball drill/game....until one player kicked a basketball too hard into someone's head, then one tripped another resulting in scraped knees & tears, then a bully said to another boy "a girl beat you!!!" which sent him off crying & most the class tattling on the bully for saying it, then a kid pouted & held onto his ball running away which stalled the game & got everyone crazy upset for wasting time. I had to be quick, put out the fires, keep the game going while hopefully teaching a life lesson to the assailants. But they played so well in between incidents, forgot about the drama within seconds - such good role models for me.

Hanging out with kids refreshes me! Interacting with their different personalities keeps my brain in the present moment. And staying present is all I want to do. I came home really happy because a few kids thanked me for coming to play & didn't care that I hadn't showered. And now I love writing about it with my tea & pop tart; it's kind of present moment but kind of reminisent too. Just what I need before bed.

The positivity blog has a list of 8 things to bring you to the present moment.

Flat tire fun!

My boyfriend bought me a motorcycle for my birthday 2 years back, which is in November. This meant learning to ride it.... in the winter. Every time Sean said "let's go for a ride" my first thought was 'it's cold', but I'd agree. That was 2 winters ago. I'm happy to say I LOVE riding it even when my hands are freezing (because leather gloves look cool but aren't fleece lined).

60 degrees & sunny yesterday when we rode our familiar route up highway 1 & back. Side by side we smiled at each other on the single lane road. It was perfect, but damp cold along the ocean. I've done this ride at least 50 times. My mind wondered...how many more times can we ride this stretch... 200? 300? we have the next 10 years living here? But it's never the same ride, ever.

30 minutes into the ride Sean's tire was hissing from a nail puncture. We pulled into Ragged Point, where I photograph weddings & the event coordinator walked by. "We were just talking about you Debbie! Hi Sean!" She helped us park the bike in a safe garage around back. "Are you available to video the grounds for some new marketing next week?" Wow, did I just get a potential job from Sean's bike having a problem?

Then I got to ride Sean home on my motorcycle! It was scary at first - stop signs & merging made me so nervous with the extra weight, I nearly tipped over several times. But by the end I felt good, empowered, exhilarated, giddy from the unexpected adventure of the day.

Life's short, so we had a big bowl of ice cream together in honor of my safe navigation home!

Running

I fled town & immediately felt relaxed as I drove away. My kids went to their dad's for 8 days after Christmas & if I stayed home I would've kept busy for sure, that's what kind of mind occupies my body. I'd have engaged in whatever "thing" was right in front of me: cleaning Christmas mess, purging some the toy room (but not finished it), organizing & filing somethings, facebooking, emailing. But I didn't want to do more of that stuff. I wanted to drive. Driving makes me thankful for my family & friends & I usually call them as I reminisce to catch up & tell them I'm grateful.

I went to visit my dear friend Joan up in Mendocino. She set me up on a running date, a very thoughtful thing to do for me, knowing I love to run & she doesn't. Within a minute of running with her friend, her dog stopped to poop. "Oh man I'm jealous!" She smiled & laughed out loud how her morning coffee hadn't "moved" her yet either.

It reminded me of when I started to run with my marathon training buddy. She was as beautiful a girl as I'd ever been friends with; gorgeous teeth, skin, nails, makeup & hair, wore pearls & beautiful clothing, kept her home & car immaculate. Within a month of 2x weekly running/talking we were hacking, spitting, snorting & farmer johning side by side. The second month as the runs got longer, we were peeing & pooping trail side.

I usually run alone, but having a running buddy reminds me not to judge anyone by their looks.  I gotta go when I gotta go!  And it helps make room for more treats when I get done running!