Well, I did it! I Raced for the Cure! I got up early this morning and ran the timed 5k with my lovely 4 running mates, including one crazy pink haired mama

The pictures came out SUPER awkward, esp since I look like I’m doing the pee pee dance. It was cold at 6:30 this morning!

How did it go? I got my period while running, that’s how. By mile 2 I could tell things were, well, uh, flowing. And the pms cervical cramps came right on time too. I think my IUD made it worse, I seriously felt like I was going into labor, lol. So I walked from about 2 miles in for maybe a .5 mile stretch and then ran the last part again, timing around 39 minutes, lol. I’m still happy with it though, it was about having fun and we sure did! Also, I wore a pink sign on my back honoring my friend who passed away. It was sad to see young girls running with “In memory of my mom” on their backs. Though we were having fun, I was sobered by the reality of this disease. It’s heartbreaking.

So here we are, being nerds. (Okay, I’m the only nerd.) After are some other pictures.

Enjoy!

For some reason I want to add that we all appear much thinner in real life. This photo added 20 pounds to each of us LOL

Yeah, that’s me dancing in the background of this accidental pic, with Nicole in the foreground tying her shoes. Sigh. I have WAY too much energy at all the WRONG times.

Misty with her crazy pink hair. Me with my crazy pink face.

Ethan in my “Race for the Cure” cape. (Is it just me or is this pose a little… feminine?)

Verity playing in the kids room at church this morning

Off the needles: Finally finished this Ostrich Plume Shawlet (in wool and silk yarn) for Lacey this week.

Verity fell asleep in the back position in the Ergo while in the back yard picking tomatoes the other day. When I took off the Ergo she stayed fast asleep on my back, so we had to shoot this funny picture.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS. I might be quiet this week as I’m working a TON and flying to Chicago on Wed.

This is an awesome article! I couldn’t agree more with the absurdity of conditional parenting, and I know I have a long way to go before I am really realizing my ideals as a mother but I’m growing more confident in my goals each day. So woot!

You know what else is awesome?! MamaZen. I can’t say enough about the free class I took this morning (they were shooting photos for their website so it was free). Ethan’s old “playschool” teacher was the class teacher and the space and offerings at this place are just amazing. Not to mention the wonderful workout I got, which warmed up and BURNED muscles I didn’t know existed, got my heartrate up, sweat dripping, and I felt all flexible and warmed up by the time it was over. Back pains I’ve been having were almost gone. It was amazing. If you live in the Portland area, please check them out. They’re adding new classes and events all the time. GREAT group of ladies. –> http://www.mamazenpdx.com

Well I’m at it again: researching my brain out for the health of myself and my family.

A few weeks ago I reported on my son’s cavities and what we were going to do to help support him. Since then, however, I’ve been reading and reading and I wanted to share a bit with you readers but I hadn’t gotten on here to formulate the post yet.

Then I also began feeling down about my baby weight. I’ve been running and not one person on our team of 5 has lost one pound. Luckily, I live with some one who was a fitness trainer for 4 years! So last night she sat with a gal from church and I and went over why running alone will not keep you healthy and what to do instead. She talked to us about pylometrics and how to have a workout that is not just going to make you thin, or ripped, but HEALTHY.

What I’m realizing over time is that the best diet and exercise is about supporting the body – about using the body you have and helping it be disease-free, injury-free, agile, powerful and energetic. Who doesn’t want that, right?

I wouldn’t say I have ever “struggled with my weight”, at least not on the outside. Because I am petite and have small bones, my weight usually looks normal on a scale. My body fat percentage, however, is another matter. My cholesterol? Also another matter. The leanest I’ve been and healthiest I have felt has been when I was supporting my body. In my first year married, I remember reading “The Good Fat” book and discovering the benefits of eating nutrient rich foods and good fats like unrefined coconut oil. I took vitamin supplements and mineral supplements of the highest grade I could find, like some special calcium supplement from the sea and fish oil, etc. I learned around the same time of my dietary intolerance to milk, which might have curtailed my further exploration of the road I was headed down towards optimum health.

Jump ahead, oh my, 6 years. Going pescatarian for a year was good for me. It taught me to use healthy ingredients and look more at what I was eating. It’s when I began again to rid my pantry of juices, boxed and canned things, all the processed gunk that plugs me up and doesn’t support my body. Instead we ate lots of legumes and whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, oats, etc) and then I began the adventure of sprouting beans and seeds and soaking grains and WHEW what a rush! lol

I managed to gain 15 pounds less with Verity than I did with Ethan, yet I was eating at least 2 eggs a day, butter, coconut oil, kefir smoothies, occasional meats (usually grass-fed, farm-raised) and so on. I began gaining towards the end and I believe its because I was unhappy internally, waiting around for the baby to come, and not taking my health into consideration. In short, I ate lots of cookies. LOL

Let me for a moment get back to Ethan’s dental issues, which has played in the background of my life these last few weeks.

I would have thought that trying to get Ethan away from anything with sugar would have been hard. Not that he ate candy and junk food, but I’m talking ANY refined sugar in ANYthing. Go out to the coffee shop and you will be hard pressed to find something with no sugars in the bread, peanut butter, etc. At home, he can have plain yogurt or fruit. No breads with added sugar, no cereals, nothing like that (not that we carry those things at the house anyway- except for Seth that is, lol. He has “special” dietary needs that I’m pretty sure includes Kix )

I was pretty inspired by Ethan’s willingness to give up sweets. He would tell some one offering him a cookie, “NO, I can’t have that, I have 3 cavities and THAT is sugar!” LOL

And because I was so aware of the sugar in these things, I began to make different choices too. Why would I sit around eating a sweet in front of him while he eats a piece of meat, or an egg, or a slice of bread with cream cheese? How unfair!

So I started weaning myself off my sweets too. Not even intentionally. I still love me some Coconut Bliss and Immaculate Baking Company, but I could go without it – especially to lose these last 15 pounds of baby weight. (Yep, that’s right – I have not lost ONE pound consistently since Verity was born four months ago.)

Okay, so combine the sugar-weaning with the losing-no-weight-running (that has also injured at least 2 of us so far with rolled ankles and skinned knees and so on! lol) and then my roommate showing me pylometrics and giving me tips about my individual body structure and which muscles I rely on too much (ahem- calves- ahem) and which ones I do NOTHING with (ahem-butt and belly-ahem) and ALL THIS AND MORE adds up to my getting a little more intentional about losing this weight and getting healthy!!!

SO, I leave you with this interview I read recently when doing our Azure Order this week. They interviewed Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions, and includes the basics of the traditional diets studied as well as a lot about tooth decay and flouride and so on. I learned a lot, and hopefully you will learn a lot too!

My plan? I’m going to be following the recommended eating for nursing women on the Weston Price website (including nothing refined and adding cod liver oil to my diet) and doing an exercise regime that supplements the running and yoga with high energy “play” movements in the backyard with Ethan a couple of times a day (the only way I can really find the time to do anything like pylometrics AND be a busy mom!)

On a related note, I can’t really do ANYTHING with my body right now because I have a pretty intense whip lash stiffness in my neck that has been there since I went to bed on Friday night. I feel pretty immobile and ridiculous that even typing on the computer hurts, so pray my neck loosens up SOON!

I love seasons. Love them. And I always get super excited for the next one just when I’m getting a bit bored with the current.

With that in mind, FALL IS ALMOST HERE!!!!

Crunchy, leafy, yummy fall! Oh, Portland autumn is just to die for.

There are a plethora of area events going on, making it really hard to have any down time in order to catch it all. We’ll bypass things like the Pirate Festival (aaaarg.), but we’ll plan to make it to a few others. Many are quickly becoming an annual family tradition:

Evergreen Community Camping Trip
Sept 11-13th
(View my coverage of last years here!)

The Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire
Sat. Sept. 19th
I am SO looking forward to this event as the homeschool group heads out here for the day, and can’t wait to see what bits of history Ethan learns! I need to quickly think of some type of costume for us, though!

Sun. Sept 20th
Race for the Cure!
The gal pal team of Misty, Amy, Lindsey, Nicole and I (wow, do those names sounds like the make of a good cheerleading squad or what?!) will be doing the timed race this year. Donation link is in my right sidebar- I really need a little more funding so if you feel so inclined, please make your way over there!

CHICAGO
Sept. 23-27th
I am WAY excited to spend several days with my friend and colleague while we work side by side instead of email to email. (I’ve never been to Chicago, but honestly I’m more excited about late nights falling asleep to Gilmore Girls after a full days work )

The Corn Maize at the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch
Oct 5th
The homeschooling group will going together this day, and I might try to fannagle some Evergreeners for another one the next week complete with the bonfire rental like last year… we’ll see what happens.
(View our coverage last year here! – same place as the previous link)

Annual Apple Tasting at the Portland Nursery
(See our post about last year’s here!)
“Portland Nursery
Friday-Sunday October 9, 10, 11 2009
Friday-Sunday October 16, 17, 18, 2009
Every year bring in the holiday spirit, turn on the music, and bring out the holiday cookies. Special children’s area with toys and decorations to delight all ages. Our open house is your first chance to see our stores decorated for the season.”

People’s Co-Op Harvest Festival
I haven’t found the dates on this, but its an annual thing and is sure to fall within this time period…
View our coverage of it two years ago here.

The Fall will be a little busy, yes, as ALL Falls are in Portland with young kids, I’m coming to realize. On top of area events, we’ll be hosting a home community at our Kenton House, hosting the homeschooling group here once a month, and my friend/colleague from Chicago will be visiting mid-October as well! I’m sure there will be the annual Evergreen halloween party and trick or treating on the 31st too. In November, I’m hoping to convince the Hubster that a 2 week trip to FL is in order (esp while the tickets are only $188!!!)

I admit, I can’t wait for Fall this year ESPECIALLY because my adorable kids will look so cute in their mama-made knitted hats Tee hee.

I had a rough morning. I rolled out of bed just in time to Couch to 5k it to the bank to deal with bank issues, very stressful. I barked at Ethan nearly the whole time. I couldn’t handle his questions, stopping, complaints. When he skinned his knee, I gave him a quick hug of empathy but that was about the best “mom” he saw all morning.

He’s been so great though today. Helped me load the dishwasher, put on Lost when I told him I was tired of Backyardigans. (It’s a workday for me. Which means, unfortunately, a little extra Tube viewing happens.)

And right now he is laying down on the rocker couch in my room with a blanket over him. He is hiding under it and says he is going to take a nap. I heard him whispering a prayer.

Not to mention, this was the part of the prayer I heard:

“Dear Jesus…. *whisper, whisper* … boat tomorrow …. *whisper, whisper*… oh and a lollipop – IF (he added the emphasis on the “if”, people!) I listen to mama. AMEN.”

He breaks my heart. I don’t deserve his love.

P.S. After the prayer, he sat quiet for a minute and proceeded to question me about the whereabouts of E.T. Does he live on the moon or the stars? Is he from OUR outer space? So then he lives HERE? etc. Could this get any cuter?

Here’s us at the Michael Jackson Remembrance Fest – slash- greatest hits video sing along that was hosted by the gals at our nearby community house (the White House? What are they callin themselves these days?). It was a fun little backyard gathering to honor MJ, filled with, oh, 15-20 Evergreeners primarily. We aren’t really big MJ fans, well, at all, actually! I read somewhere the description that summed it up perfectly; “genius musician – sucked at being a human being.” (Though, well now see, I take that back. One might argue he was great at being a human being, because in many ways we are all pretty much one “bad”, crotch grabbin, skin diseased mess of a species.)

And – yes, okay, FINE… I’ll admit it! I AM trying to dance in this shot…

Speaking of this shot… one of these days I’m going to put together an album of the most random places I have been pictured breastfeeding my daughter. LOL! In front of a waterfall, berry picking, and now THIS!

P.S. We started our 5K Race for the Cure training tonight! Misty, Amy, Lindsey and Vivian: out to heal the world one breast at a time! (Speaking of breasts, this breastfeedin’ mama needs a better sports bra if she plans to do ANYmore running ANYtime soon…)

It’s on, baby.

Since posting will motivate me and hold me accountable, here goes:

My friend Amy and I (possibly Misty?!) have plans to follow the 9 week couch-to-5k program in order to run in the Race for the Cure 5k at the end of September.

YEEK!

I ran cross-country in a past life, but otherwise you’ll find I’m not the most athletic person in the world by any stretch of the imagination. BUT I’m excited to get started, maybe lose these 10 pounds of mid-section pregnancy fat, AND race for a good cause. Since I just found out this weekend that some one who, along with her husband, “discipled” Chris and I during our courtship 7 years ago just passed away from breast cancer /related (the stuff just seems to spread and spread) and left behind 4 beautiful young children, I will be thinking of her the whole time.

The Race for the Cure brochure

The Couch-to-5K Program

Wish me luck!

I can’t wait to have this baby. I need to get back on my poor neglected bike!

As the family weathers its second (mild, Portland) winter sans vehicle, this time rounding the corner into my 3rd trimester of pregnancy, I reflect on a year of alternative transportation in the following long-winded ramble.

To begin with, we never came out to Portland with the goal of being carless. We heard it was possible, but we had a 2002 Altima with great features, and it was completely paid off. Hubby drove with a friend from Florida to Portland in 3 days with the electronics so we wouldn’t have to ship them on the Amtrak (the cheapest way to move cross country!). It was not until 6 months later that we made the decision to sell the car and go without. We had been using the area mass transportation (trimet) pretty frequently in order to save gas money, and we snagged a used 2-seater child bike trailer for 70 bucks to make trips within 5 miles of the house (we live in an Urban area and 5 miles includes a large handful of grocery stores, our church, coffee shops, restaurants, hospitals, etc).

In the beginning: Lil E’ in his sling for walks

When we first sold the car in November of 07, we put the money from the sale towards our debt and began using buses primarily. Hubby worked across state lines, so he had about a 2 hour commute each day, though that job ended not long after we went carless, when the company went out of business. I work from home, so my transportation needs were mostly for errand running and a weekly meeting with a client downtown. I usually used the bus for this, still somewhat unaware of the actual distance between most places I went, which I have come to realize is highly walkable. We found bus trips only inconvenient on the occasion that one was late, or really full, or Lil’ E was acting up, or we didn’t have a few bucks cash for the fare. It took getting used to, immediately requiring extra planning and organization. When you have a car, you can easily decide to leave the house in a spur of the moment, without any planning. Being out of one thing was no big deal, you don’t have to weigh it against cost, time and energy to get the grocery store for one jar of peanut butter. You can commit to plans with friends or to be home at a certain time for a phone call without giving much thought to delays and unpredictable events. Once carless, we realized that our entire lifestyle had to change in many ways: the way we viewed “being on time”, the need to feel in control of how fast and efficiently we went “out” for something and arrived home again, the scope of how far our traveling could bring us (anything passed 5 miles is almost always NOT worth it), how much we could stand relating to each other in an intense situation on the sidewalk, so on. However, the times of stress over carless inconveniences, when viewed against the reality of vehicle stress/traffic/breakdowns/maitenance/cost, were actually pretty minimal.

Neither Hubby nor I ever truly regretted giving up our car, despite what could be viewed as inconveniences. The real breakthrough with living a carless life as a family with a 2 year old began when we stopped relying on the bus system as much and got on our bikes and feet more. Within a month, I’d say we’d built up some basic stamina and could really get up a few small hills and lug some bags of groceries on our shoulders without feeling like we might fall over and die. Neither of us had been athletic or worked out in many years, so it took a bit of getting used to, esp the trips by bike.

On sheer cost, our vehicle (which was paid off) had cost us just over $200 a month in insurance and gas, and when we first went carless, the buses and occasional car-sharing could get us up to around $125 per month (a monthly bus pass for Hubby’s commute is about $80, and the car-sharing was around $8/hr including gas). At the point that Hubby began to plan his bike route to work late this passed summer, the cost savings became much more significant, since he only needs a bus pass in the event of poor weather (once or twice a month on average.) The cost we now spend on transportation now averages 50 dollars per month, including occasional bus passes, rare car-sharing needs, gas money to a friend for carpooling, or replacing things on the bikes that might be needed. For his commute, Hubby uses a large, water proof shoulder bag to carry his meals and papers, and is covered head to toe (almost!) in rain gear for the winter weather, then changes at work (which he says can gross out his co-workers when they arrive in the morning and he has his sweaty shirt drying on the heater! LOL) He’s been a real trooper though. I used to tell Hubby I liked his “chicken legs”, he always had pretty thin little legs. Now, we marvel at how his body shape is changing to accommodate thighs that can bike 9 miles a day, lol.

Lil’ E in bike trailer with groceries

This in mind, I try to keep large quantity shopping or beyond walking distance walking to the weekend, when Hubby can accompany me with the trailer on his bike, and load up a 40 pound 3 year old and 50-100 pounds more in grocery bags and pull the cargo behind him over the Broadway Bridge from Trader Joe’s. Or, now that I’m too pregnant for the bike, we can take the MAX lightrail over and only have about 2 miles of total walking. Our deal is that he carries all the groceries, I deal with the kid

At about 4 months pregnant we came up against a new obstacle. Bike rides to gather things are not possible for me anymore, as the belly compromises my balance and the onslaught of braxton-hicks contractions tend to take over at the worst moments (like going up a bridge). Walking, however, feels WONDERFUL, so I take the hit on the extra time involved and opt for walking 99% of the time. Hubby, bless his heart, walks along, (we tend to go pretty fast and Lil’ E is totally my hero for keeping up – with an occasional ride on dada’s shoulders if he’s super tired.)

Hubby carrying groceries

Speaking of Lil’ E: my biggest source of stress when it comes to being carless is when I venture out on a weekday with Lil’ E by myself. Should he begin acting up, getting whiny, dragging his feet, or any other number of normal 3 year old things to do on a 3 mile walk, I panic a bit. I don’t really have ANY other option for him, and I tend to feel helpless and frustrated if he isn’t content. I let him sit, if there’s time. I tell him we can’t do anything about it, we got to get home. If we are being rained on, or if its windy, and he’s not happy about that, we just talk about it and I hope that he’ll just suck it up after he expresses his feelings and continue putting one foot in front of the other until we reach our destination. Sometimes, like if I think he might fall asleep, I bring a stroller, though this can carry with it a set of other annoyances, so you really never know. Being now, what, 6 months pregnant, I bring into the situation my own issues, from fatigue, backaches, hemorrhoids, irritability and impatience, pelvic pressure, etc., but usually its the emotional/mental exhaustion more than the physical ailments, that can turn an outing into a cortisone-filled torture chamber. (This is one major reason that I find it so crucial to get adequate sleep and super nutrition, to keep myself balanced and able to handle this kind of stuff). When, as a parent, things like this happen and you have a vehicle, you can remind yourself that all you have to do is get back to that car, that safe haven, strap them in, blast some soothing music, and tune out until they fall asleep, calm down, or you get home! lol (noooo, I NEVER did that!) When there’s no car, however, you can either A. discipline your kid on the sidewalk for the waiting Portland world to view, B. Take a deep breath (whisper a prayer or a few expletives, whatever works) and sit down with them until the pout is over (and when this works, you are very, very tired but YAY, you feel like you’ve earned yourself a black belt in parenting!) or C. hold their little hand firmer, try to explain that you need them to work WITH you, grit your teeth and keep walking, dragging them crying alongside you. Those are basically the choices, or at least the one’s I have discovered.

Don’t get me wrong, these instances of being a lone parental unit out running errands with an out-of-whack kid aren’t frequent, but when they happen, WHEW – you’d sell your SOUL for some wheels and the privacy of your car’s slightly tinted windows!

Lil’ E gets his bike for his 3rd birthday,
making short trips a fantastic success!

There are many, many more days that I weigh the possibility of this nightmare, decide to leave the home anyway, and with the best of intentions head out with my beloved little one. We have talked before we go, we prepare each other for the day, and we put our trust in each other that we will do all we can to make this outing smooth. And upon the return home, I often look down at that mini-person, consider the outing in retrospect a major success, and with a heart full of peace and gratitude tell him how much I love him, how proud I am, how thankful I am that he was able to get through this without a meltdown. And the little “I love you so much too, mama” and “you’re welcome, mama. I was a really well-behaved boy today, wasn’t I?!” are priceless treasures!

The rewards of going carless do include cost, environmental impact, physical health, and better planning skills. They do include the occasional accolade from some (”how DO you do it?”) as well as the occasional bit of inferiority complex from others (”psssh… you must think you are better than me” attitude), both of which have nothing at all to do with the realities of choosing a carless family lifestyle. The rewards we have found have been more in the little moments in between, the tensions we work through – which every passing car has front row seats to, and the talks, laughter -and sometimes tears- we share (very similar to hour or more road trips with no radio on ).

With a growing belly, and then an infant, to consider, I believe that being carless is only going to get easier with practice. The hardest lessons have already been learned, now we just have to consistently meet them head on, and with an attitude of grace. I’m actually very excited about strapping Verity to my chest in a homemade moby wrap and taking long walks to get around, her little body rarely knowing the separation from mama via carseat. I’m excited to keep her warm in knits and wraps in the bike trailer next winter, while she gets the street level view of the wide world passing slowly by her curious eyes. With barely over 3 months before her “due” date, I catch myself dreaming about her and how she will change this family more and more. I am amazed at how differently Hubby and I are reacting to her impending addition than we were with Lil’ E. Life lately has been so, so good to us. So gentle with us. So has this pregnancy, graciously. Being a carless family is one of the many ways I hope to raise her in a home that values relationships and simplicity. I can’t wait to introduce her to how amazing this life can be.

Dear Diary,

8:45am: I woke up later than I wanted to, for I had to be at work by 10 am which is like SO early for a WAHM to be decently dressed and walking 1/2 mile to pick up the #4 to downtown, ready to pull off my first ever Podcasting experience. It was all the windows fault. There was too much light coming in last night and I couldn’t sleep. So I did what all of us po’ folk do- I grab the nearest blanket I could live without and stuffed it up around the top of the mini-blinds so as to create makeshift drapes. That was about midnight or so, I suppose. So in the morning, when I normally get up by at least 7:30, it was nice and dark and quiet (just so happens Lil’ E ALSO slept in … thankyoujesus.)

9:15am: Catch the #6 instead so I can make a stop at the Starbucks for a quick po’ folk 8 oz. coffee, then catch the MAX from the convention center into downtown. Wait for the MAX for what felt like forever, coffee already cold, and a few sightings of snowflakes. It was a very rainy day and I was cute dumb enough to wear little gray ballet looking slip-ons. Real good, Viv, real good.

9:59am: Arrive to the office with one minute to spare, having bounded through the rain and puddles downtown with my purse and digital camcorder on my shoulders and my laptop case trailing behind me on wheels. Office is still dark and locked up- I’ve beat the boss! Dang I’m good.

10:20am: Call my boss. Realize I missed the e-mail that he wasn’t going to be in until after 11am.

10:45am: Finally get my STUPID VISTA OPERATING SYSTEM to connect to the unsecured network of the ground floor’s coffee shop to plug in to work and enjoy some HOT tea while I wait.

11:45am – 3:00pm: Podcasting 101.

3:00pm: Dismissed from work but its pouring. Sit down at the coffee shop once again and have my lunch- I’m told the “Stinky Hippie” is a soy chai latte. “Ah, that’s a wholesome po’ folk lunch”, I think. I order. I taste. Nope, this is a soy latte. No Chai. (You know, if you can’t get a drink right, how about try NOT naming it things like, oh I don’t know, STINKY HIPPIE, when all it is is a soy chai. Might that clear up some confusion? Just a thought.) But I am really a-okay with soy latte’s so I drink anyway. I forget about my problem of espresso on an empty stomach. (And no, I’m not referring to the BM’s… that is not to say this isn’t also a problem, but for now I simply mean the shaky hands and queasy stomach feeling.)

3:45pm: Waiting for MAX again. Once on, I must decide which way to turn my nose… to my right is a man in black leather with a long gray beard who smells something awful of cigarette’s, while periodically laughing at himself for no reason in particularly. To my left: a fairly normal looking, just-over-the-hill-aged man who must have a cat hoarding problem; he smells like PAH-IS! Naturally, I pick the powerfully odored urine man with the slightly less creepy disposition.

4:00pm: Getting more nauseous from the urine smell and praying I don’t pass out completely. Some one has got to guard my purse, digital camcorder and laptop.

4:15pm: Home again, home again, clickity clack.

5:00pm: We needs diapers, eggs and yogurt. What does a car-less family do in such circumstances? Layer up, walk the mile to the grocery store. Dark outside? Raining? Cold? Minor insignificant details. We are tough cookies, yes we are.

6:00pm: Eating a po’ man’s dinner for a family of 3 with no time to prepare a meal: Cheesy bread – $2.99 (an actual pizza is too expensive). Family dinner? Priceless.

6:45pm: Lil’ E to bed. I tried to think of something witty for this one but I’m at a loss.

7:30pm: Yoga night!

8:30pm: Ouch! The Scorpion. I point out to the yoga instructor, “this is the type of stuff they do on the magazine covers”; Little ol’ noobie Vivian cannot do this. But try, little engine, try. Does any one know about this stuff? Why is it that from this position on I have had some crazy lower back feelings of an almost maternal nature? Some powerful mothering feelings, almost like some deep seated tension from carrying a belly with a hyper-extended back for 9.5 months. Who knows.

9:30pm: My new hobby of skyping (and I’ll have to blog about that another time!) with my best friend for several hours, where I get to practice all of my comedic lines to blog about later. If they fly on her, they are in.

12:00am: Shower. Lay down in bed. The whole room is a-quiver with Hubby’s snoring- his body a 215 pound subwoofer.

12:20am: Up again. Grab some rice milk and cookie dough and start blogging.

12:30am: Dang this cookie dough is da bomb diggity. And 70% organic ingredients too!

Yep, that’s right ya’ll: Organic Fat. Only the best fat for this ass.

(Chat-practiced that line too. Might copyright it, whatcha think?)

For the record, no, this is not my typical diet!