Save the Planet, Save Lives...no duh!

Attention, Al Gore! I am already doing my part to save the planet, what about you? Doctors and Climate scientists say that if you just park your car and walk or bike half an hour a day instead of driving, you can simultaneously save the planet and your health. And they've even taken this groundbreaking information (ha) and crunched the numbers. Walking just 30 minutes a day (instead of driving) will cut 64 million tons of CO2 emissions, save 6.5 billion gallons of gas and shave 3 billion pounds of weight. Bicycling 30 minutes a day will cut 255 million tons of emissions, save 26.1 billion gallons of gas and folks who ride will lose 6.5 billion pounds...in one year!

The American Public Health Association is seeking to connect obesity and climate change solutions. Reducing car travel in favor of biking and walking would not only cut obesity and greenhouse gases, it would also mean less smog, fewer deaths from car crashes, less osteoporosis, and even less depressions because exercise helps beat the blues. So, Al, are you listening? I live about a mile away from you. How about I jog over to your house and we go for a walk together? You can carry your Oscar and you'd get weight training benefits!

Movies and Football

We decided to sleep in and watch the Titans on TV, even though this was a huge game against Jacksonville, also in our division, only one game behind us, and even though it was probably the last game with semi-comfortable temperatures. I know, fair-weather fans and all that...

It was ugly. I think being there would have made it WAYYYYY more painful. Vince Young is just not looking good at all. He's not scrambling out of the pocket, and his throws into coverage are just becoming the norm. Oh well, I'm just glad we didn't witness it in person.

H had a friend over last night. They went to the movies, met up with a couple of friends, and then came home and stayed up until at least 4:30 a.m., when J woke up to them singing at the top of their lungs, and nicely told them to go to bed (translation, yelled loudly..."Get your butts in bed!" They stumbled out of bed at halftime of the Titans game ready to go get bagels.

The whole, "drop them off at the movies" thing is new to us. Some of her friends have been doing that for years, but we just never felt comfortable doing it. Still don't feel comfortable doing it, but we do it anyway. She has to call us before going in, before coming out, etc., basically just to make us feel a little more in control. Will we ever feel comfortable letting her out of our sight? Probably not.

My first Watercolor Painting...Autumn Still Life

O.K. I'm putting this out there just to document my starting point with the watercolor class. This is the first painting I have finished. I keep messing with it, and I honestly think it was better two days ago. I need to make myself leave well enough alone. It had much cleaner colors and was brighter before I kept trying to add detail and shadows. Next week we get to paint boxes. I wish I knew more about colors and how to make them. She tells us that we should use no more than 3 or 4 primary colors in each painting, and make all the other colors from those. I just end up with different shades of mud.

Oh well, I guess there's no where else to go but up!

I think we're going to apply to the all girl's high school

I think we're going to apply to the all girl's high school. H loved the visit last week. She said all the girls in the classes participate in the discussions, and there were no disruptions from the boys. She loved the campus, the library, the cafeteria, and the girls that she met on her tour. It's a bit of a surprise. She has always loved the school she's attended since kindergarten. Still loves it, but thinks that the new school would give her some different experiences and additional opportunities. We don't know how competitive it will be to get in, but I expect it will not be a piece of cake. Several of her classmates have done the tour and say they will be applying as well.

As I've said before, the administration that was present at the parent's meeting that I attended were strong, confident, happy, well-spoken, sharply dressed...all the things I hope for H as she grows up.

I just listened, sympathized, and bit my lip

Teenage girls...what a bum deal they get. Just at the time that their bodies are being overloaded with hormones they learn how mean some girls can be. It's heartbreaking to see my daughter get hurt by someone. It's such a cliche', the whisper/point/laughing thing that girls do. She has no idea what it was about, or why it happened, but she's been so crammed with schoolwork, basketball practice, and trying to do a project with her study group of 3 boys plus her (which means she's doing all the work), that it hit her really hard. She's been staying up at night to cram for tests, and working really hard in basketball, so she's just physically zonked. All that added up to a major cry fest this afternoon. I just listened, sympathized, and bit my lip so that I didn't tell her what a little witch I think this girl is.

Once a Runner by John L. Parker Jr

I read a review about a book by a runner from the 70's, John L. Parker, Jr. called Once a Runner. It sounded great, so I jumped on Amazon.com to see if I could buy a copy. The cheapest copy is over $900! So I went to ebay and found it listed in the auction items for the low, low cost of between $130-$330...for a paperback! I'm so amazed that he hasn't re-printed this book. Supposedly he's written another one, a sequel, that will be released soon.

Study: A little extra weight not deadly

O.K. This is the news out today, according to CNN. Being 25 pounds overweight does not appear to raise your risk of dying from cancer or heart disease, says a new government study that seems to vindicate Grandma's claim that a few extra pounds won't kill you.


Generally speaking, if you're 30 pounds or more over the normal weight for your height, you're considered obese.

Released just a few weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday when Americans typically overeat, the findings might comfort some who cannot seem to lose those last 15 pounds. And they hearten proponents of a theory that it is possible to be "fit and fat.

BUT..."The news is not all good:
Overweight people do have a higher chance of dying from diabetes and kidney disease.

And people who are obese -- generally those more than 30 pounds overweight for their height -- have a higher risk of death from a variety of ills, including some cancers and heart disease.

However, having a little extra weight actually seemed to help people survive some illnesses -- results that baffled several leading health researchers.

This is going to do for overweight people what the studies about drinking and health do for those of us who have a couple glasses of wine...vindicate them! What about the thousands of studies which show that being overweight? I can tell you this, my loved ones will take this information and use it to justify their decision not to exercise. I think it's a slippery slope. Once someone starts to gain weight, it doesn't take much to go over the edge to obesity. Technically, that's just 30 lbs. overweight...

Parents of teenage daughters...what would YOU do?

I've been thinking about the incident with H's schoolmate (previous post on Oct. 29th)...I'll call her Sara. She is the one who was with a friend (we'll call her Lynn) and they decided to sneak out of the house and bike across town in the middle of the night, across busy streets and through several different neighborhoods. Sara, the one who tagged along got scared and called another girlfriend(Suzie) , and Suzie's mom got involved and called Sara's mom. But I just found out that Lynn's parents,( the girl who instigated the whole thing) may not know about it. It's happened a couple of times that I know of. If it was MY daughter, I would want to know about it. I found out about it through several different channels, so it's basically gossip. I don't know Lynn's mother, but should I tell her what I've heard? I'd hate to spread a rumor that is unfounded. I've always told H that unless she sees something, that what she hears is just that...hearsay. I heard about this from Suzie's mom, and she asked me to keep the source private, in order to maintain communication with her child.

I don't get a lot of comments on this blog, but if there are any parents of teenagers out there who have dealt with this, I'd love to hear from you.

We had so much fun shopping today!

Another day in heaven, I mean North Carolina. Rosie the dog is limping after our hike to the waterfall yesterday, so we didn't walk her around the lake, but we did take her down for a quick swim. Went to the fitness center to get in a quick workout...it's only open from 9-2 from Nov. 1-March, 2008, so we have to do it early. Went to Cashiers for lunch and shopping. We found a great painting for over the fireplace, and things for the table for Thanksgiving. Cashiers is a cute little town, lots of little boutiques and things and it only took us about 20 minutes to drive there.

We're continually amazed by our daughter...she's perfectly happy just hanging out with us. It might be an only child thing, but as much as she loves her girlfriends, when she doesn't have them around she doesn't whine and pout like other girls her age. We had so much fun shopping today. She now wears a size 9 shoe and she is so excited, because now we wear the same size. Her shoe wardrobe has now increased since she can borrow mine! We bought her the sweater "ugh" boots, which are so comfortable and cute, and it was an easy decision because I can wear them, too! It's like getting 2 for the price of 1! (Nashvillians....do you remember Family Booterie shoes? The commercial "2 for the price of 1 plus a dollar...") We also found a really cute shirt and fur vest for her. I didn't find anything I liked, which was fine, but H tried to get me to buy something. She's like J...when she gets something for herself, she feels guilty, so tries to find something for me to buy. I'm starting to push things for her that I like, too, since we're almost the same size. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes we like the same things, like the blue faux fur vest she got today...I've got my eyes on it!

crimson, yellow, apricot, orange...absolutely breathtaking

I literally feel like my heart is 20 pounds lighter. That's what the mountains do to me. We didn't get to Lake Toxaway last night until after dark (days are getting shorter, and we ran into traffic outside of Asheville, so we cut through Pisgah National Forest...a beautiful drive, but windy roads so it takes longer). When we woke up this morning, it was like someone spilled a tray of watercolors all over the mountains...crimson, yellow, apricot, orange...absolutely breathtaking. When you add in the lake which gives a mirror image of all the colors it just multiplies everything. I don't know if this is the usual time of the colors, but I have a feeling that the dry warm weather postponed it this year. We just lucked out being here this weekend, because I think in a week or so they'll start falling. By Thanksgiving we'll probably have very few leaves. The bright spot is that we'll have an even better view of the lake.

Something tells me I shouldn't be biking

O.K. Something tells me I shouldn't be biking. My last three bike rides have been disasters. First, a flat on the trace in the pouring down, 50 degree weather (that felt like 30 degrees), then Mary's dog bite, and today, on mile 7, on a hill, my chain broke!! Luckily there were no small children around to hear the string of profanities that came out of my mouth as I pulled the chain off and threw it into the woods. I pulled out my phone to call Jaz, anticipating his response to leaving work to come pick me up. Then I started thinking about the time it would take him to get me, plus the time it would take to drive me to get my car at H's school, and I realized I could just walk the 7 miles back in the same amount of time, plus I'd get the exercise while I was doing that. I'm sick, I know. I was the crazy lady walking her bike (in clip on shoes, not an easy task) down Granny White and Belmont Boulevard.

Halloween again! We were thinking that since we moved to a busier street we might get more trick or treaters, unlike our old street which no one came to. We were lucky to get 2 or 3 sets of kids. Well, it's 8:20 and we've had a grand total of 3 sets so far. I think that these days, kids are doing the neighborhoods where the houses are on smaller lots and much closer together, or doing the mall or church parking lot thing. H didn't trick or treat this year. I just think 14 is too old, although she may have been the only one in her class who didn't go.

Nashville is the Fattest City

Today in Forbes magazine, their "most Sedentary Cities":

Nashville
Nashville is branded the unenviable distinction of being the heaviest city on our list. An astonishing 68% of the city's population is either overweight or obese. A contributing factor to the city's weight problem might be the 32 hours of TV Nashville watches per week. The city's promotion of opportunities for outdoors parks and trails might be an effective approach, since only 22.5% don't exercise regularly.

So, in addition to being the 9th most sedentary city in the country, we're the FATTEST!! The author of the story said we're probably the fattest because we watch so much TV. Maybe I should thank H's school for giving her so much bloody homework. She can't get fat because she has no time to just sit on her butt and veg out. Although, I guess she is sitting on her butt doing homework...wait, now I should BLAME the school if she gets fat!

Maybe it's because we grow up eating everything fried and cooked to oblivion, in gigantic portions big enough for 3 people. It all tastes the same anyway. Fried anything (any meat, fish, vegetable, even bread), vegetables cooked for a few hours with butter or bacon grease, or with sugar added and ice cream on top! At my family's annual Christmas party with cousins and grandparents, one clue about the eating styles of southerners is the directions for the potluck dinner contributions. One sweet thing, and one "salty" thing. I think the salty thing is supposed to be lunch, and the sweet thing dessert, although with my family it's all the same thing.

No wonder I'm a little compulsive about exercise....

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Dog Bite in Williamson County

Today I started another watercolor class. It's been a few years since I tried to paint, so I'm a little rusty, to say the least, but it was so much fun. Three hours went by like 3 minutes! I don't know what it is, because I'm really not very good. I try to make my colors bright and clear, but they always seem to turn into mud. I usually end up spending more time removing the paint than I do putting it on, but it's very relaxing. Luckily we didn't have to finish today. We're working on a fall still-life (pumpkin, gourd, squash, corn, etc.), and we'll finish it up next week. The only part I don't like is that after we finish she has us hold it up to show the class for critique. Not that anyone says anything mean, I just never have liked showing anyone my work. That's why I have never painted in public.

After class I raced over to Leiper's Fork to meet Mary for a bike ride. The streets in Williamson County and surrounding areas are nice and quiet, not much traffic, and in good shape...especially Gray, a street that until recently was all torn up. It was just paved so we turned onto it to cut through to another street, and out of the blue these two dogs (a jack russell and an Akita...huge, scary, big teeth) came out running, nipping at our feet and running all around our bikes. We both started yelling, trying to scare them away, but the big one took a huge chunk out of Mary's leg! We got far enough away to feel safe to get off our bikes, and Mary pulled her shorts away and there were four pretty deep puncture wounds. She called 911 and they sent a policeman, a paramedic, and animal control. They wanted her to go to the hospital, but they didn't want her to drive. She didn't want to 1)go to Williamson County Hospital because the wait would be terrible, or 2)go anywhere in the ambulance. I told her I'd take her wherever she wanted to go, but after the ambulance left she decided she was fine to drive. She went to an outpatient place close by and they took her right away. I felt bad for the dog's owner, but she really needs to make sure the dogs can't get out. That big one was SO scary. Turns out, when animal control came out they said they'd been called out before because the jack russell bit someone. The owner said they normally keep the gate closed, but an employee had left it open. She was very apologetic, and cried a little bit. Luckily, she had all the papers showing rabies shots and things so Mary won't have to go through all that.

Michael Jackson "Beat it" video

Once upon a time, Michael Jackson was a cute African American and he still looked like a human... I so remember running the loop around UT Knoxville to this song on my "walkman". It was the perfect tempo for my pace, and Cindy and I would sing it together while we were running.




Remember?

I am officially freaked out

Well, I am officially freaked out. Had an interesting conversation with some other parents today and found out some things that have been going on with some of Hannah's classmates. I knew about some of them, but did not know all the details.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine who has a 9th grade boy at another school, woke up to find hundreds of plastic forks stuck in her garden. After she made a few phone calls she found out two other boys, both at Hannah's school, also got "forked". Seems this is the new equivalent of "rolling" that we did when we were that age...different time, different world. Go to www.urbandictionary.com to find out all the meanings of "forked". Pretty unsettling. Anyway, it happened sometime in the middle of the night (between midnight and 5 a.m.). Through some detective work and questioning of the boys, they figured out who did it...girls in H's class at school. We've been wondering how they got there, since they're 13 or 14 years old. We live in Nashville, where communities are spread out all over the city. They had to have been driven, we thought, and narrowed it down to older siblings, which made the most sense. Well, today I found out that one of the girls involved has also been sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night, on her bicycle, to bike 6-8 miles away to meet up with a boy. Maybe I'm just naive, but I really didn't think these things happened (yet) with our kids. They're pretty sheltered. Being out in the city, after legal curfew, on busy streets...just gives me the creeps.

Also, there was a sleepover with several boys. They decided to smash up some benadryl (I heard 4) and put it in another boy's drink. Of course, he passed out, and they wrote all over him with sharpies while he was sleeping. Luckily he woke up the next day! Yikes! Any boy who will do that to another friend, would probably not think twice about doing it to a girl. So H and I had the discussion about never drinking anything that is open, etc. I had hoped I could put off THAT conversation for a year or two.

It's a different world now. As much as I would like H to stay sweet and innocent and sheltered, if she is going to continue to socialize with her classmates, she's got to be aware of a lot of more adult type dangers. I still think it's a small minority who are doing these things, but it's out there.

More of a chic flick, but J liked it, too

Saw "Dan in Real Life" last night. I LOVED it. It's been a really long time since we've been to see a movie. J would have preferred we go to some foreign intrigue, war, car chase, mystery, fighting, gunshooting kind of movie, but luckily he decided this would be O.K. It's about a 40 something widower (Steve Carell), with 3 daughters, 17, 15 and 10. He goes to his parent's beach house somewhere in Massachusetts to help them close it up for the winter, along with his brothers, sisters and their families. If you've seen the previews, you know he meets this amazing chic (Juliette Binoche) in a bookstore, and even though he hasn't dated in years, since his wife died, he really gets excited by her. Only problem is, his brother (Dane Cook) is dating her, and is crazy about her! So they spend the weekend in the same house, basically falling in love with each other without acknowledging it to themselves or their families. It's funny and sad and touching. Of course, it is more of a chic flick, but J liked it, too, so that's usually a signal that it's going to do o.k. Go see it!

In one more week we get to watch the sunset in NC!!

Single-sex education?

Single-sex education...I hear it's better, mostly from either all girl's or all boy's schools. I'm reading a ton of statistics about how girls in single sex classes score much higher than girl's in coed classes (75% vs. 59%), and boys (86% vs. 37%), Girls’ schools help counter gender-stereotyping in subject choices, girls in single-sex schools perform better than girls in co-ed schools, regardless of socio-economic and ability levels, and “When girls go to single-sex schools, they stop being the audience and become the players.”
H is entering high school next fall and even though we thought she would stay at her current school for 13 years (K-12), she is starting to think about possibly making a change. It's a difficult choice for all of us. Our family is very loyal...to friends, to businesses we frequent, to family, to vacation spots, to pets, and to H's school. It's been a wonderful experience for her. We love the education she is getting, which I believe to be the best in Nashville. She has some great friends, good girls who are good students and athletes, and have great parents, so we've gotten to know them pretty well over the last 9 years. So thinking about leaving is difficult. The great thing is that if she does apply to another school, and doesn't get in (it's very competitive, with lots of students applying for very few spots), she could stay where she is and be perfectly happy.

I went to an informational meeting at the all-girl's school here in town, with no preconceived notions. I just wanted to get some information. I was very impressed. The women who represented the school (administrators, parents and students) were confident, poised, successful and strong...all things that I hope for H. She'll do a school visit and see what she thinks.

Sports for girls is good on so many levels...self-confidence, teamwork, exercise, etc

Basketball tryouts are today. This morning, J asked H how practices have been going, and she said, "Fine, but you know, I probably won't be starting for the A team this year." Knowing her as I know her, I think she said that because she's preparing herself, "just in case". It's a protection thing. If people think she's not expecting it, they won't feel sorry for her if she doesn't start. J had an extended conversation with her (making her late for student advisory meeting) about not sitting back and accepting disappointments. He wants her to figure out ways to make it happen, not just sit back and accept it. She got a little bit emotional. This sport is the one thing she really enjoys, and is fairly good at. She could be even better with better coaching and more focus, but she's the one who has to decide whether she wants to put in the time. She does go to a private coach on the weekends as well as "open gym" whenever she can, which has increased her confidence and skills tremendously. Of course, it's got to be balanced with school work, family time, and social time with her friends, so it's difficult. Two girls who have been on the team for the last 6 or 7 years decided not to try out yesterday. They haven't put nearly the amount off time into it as most of the rest of the girls, so they've decided not to pursue it. It's kind of sad, really, that in 8th grade they have to make choices about sports. So many kids do the off-season, travel ball thing in soccer, basketball, baseball, even volleyball. Makes you wonder if they'll be able to continue at this rate or get burned out early. Sports for girls is good on so many levels...self-confidence, teamwork, exercise, etc... I just hope H will continue through High School.

Red Shirt Fridays

Got an email today about red shirt Fridays. It said that Americans who support our troops have been in the silent majority too long, and those of us who want to show our support should wear red on Fridays. Here's a great clip showing a wonderful picture of those who are over there fighting for us.

The roaring thunder of J snoring...

Last night it rained all night! Should have been a great night's sleep, except for the roaring thunder of J snoring. I love him dearly, and don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have him sawing away than not have him there at all. But I was tossing and turning most of the night. I think I had to ask him to roll over at least 7 or 8 times! If I'm calm and don't smack him in the face he's good about rolling over, which stops the snoring for about 30 seconds. Hopefully, time for me to get back to sleep. I wouldn't say that I stay awake that long, but waking up several times each night can't be good, can it? I mean, how much REM sleep could be going on? I've been taking half a Children's Benadryl for a couple of years on most nights, which I feel like helps me to get back to sleep much more quickly after being jarred awake. But I read in the NY times this morning that most doctors don't recommend taking Benadryl to sleep. Granted, I take 1/4 of an adult dose, so it's not much, but I do feel sluggish sometimes the next day. The article said that studies show that you don't really get that much benefit from any kind of sleeping pill, and sometimes the side effects (drowsiness, constipation, liver damage) aren't worth it. Hmmm. Maybe I'll experiment and stop taking it for awhile.

Too much homework?

Thank GOD for the rain today! I almost forgot what it's like to have rain all day long...makes me want to hop in bed and curl up with a good book. I don't even know where my umbrellas are...it's been so long since I've needed one.

Back to school and H has a ton of homework already. Having the weekend off was so nice, but then getting hit with the normal amount of homework today is more of a bother. Now that basketball has started she's getting a later start, which means later bedtime and more tired the following day and it becomes a vicious circle. We're supposed to be keeping a log of the amount of time she spends on homework, because supposedly the teachers are evaluating the level of homework. I don't remember ever having the amount of homework she has...even in high school! We'd go outside after school and play before and after dinner...maybe a little homework sprinkled in when we had projects or papers due. H's school prides itself on college placement, AP courses, etc., so I guess that's the price you have too pay for that kind of success. I just wonder if it's all worth it...missing out on just being a kid. Although, maybe being busy keeps them from getting into other kinds of trouble. There's no time to do anything else!

I keep waiting for her to think it's not cool.

After we got home tonight, H had to re-connect with all her "girlies"...friends who went on their own fall break trips with their families. It was a very rare Sunday night...since they had no homework for a change, they were able to IM freely.
We didn't see her all night, I kept hearing her chatting on the video chat thingy, and had to IM her myself to get her to come to dinner and later, to take a shower. She's not happy with her bedtime. We've found through trial and error that she does much better at school with a good night's sleep, so 9:30 is our target time. Of course, her friends don't have to go to bed that early, so tonight, with no homework, she wanted to stay up and socialize. But she's pretty good when we don't cave in. She kept saying she was sorry (IM language: IM SO SRY!)

We are still amazed that she likes to spend time with us, still. This weekend, without a friend with us, she stayed up and talked with the adults until midnight!...I am still amazed that she enjoys that. I keep waiting for her to think it's not cool.

Leaves changing before your eyes!

Got home a little while ago. It was SO hard to leave...the weather cleared up and the temperature dropped so the last two days were absolutely GLORIOUS!!! You could almost see the leaves changing before your eyes. I met a life-long Lake Toxaway resident who owns the cute little coffee shop with homemade pastries and breads and daily New York Times and Wall Street Journal (what a relief...we can at least get daily news, if we want it!). She said that as soon as they get rain combined with a drop in temperature the leaves start turning very quickly. I'm hoping that when we go back in a couple of weeks there will still be some color. Yesterday we took a boat out on the lake to show B&B the views from the water. It's quite different than from the streets, because the homes are mostly hidden from the street. It was so nice. Even though it was chilly (62 degrees), the sun was out so it felt perfect. Then last night we loaded up a cooler with champagne and snacks and drove up to the top of Meadow Ridge for "Music on the Mountain". They do that once a month on Saturday nights, and this was the last one of the year, until they start back up in the spring. It was great. Bluegrass music, not my favorite, but it was really good. They even did some old time gospel kind of stuff that made me think of the Lefevres (my mom's family, who are in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame). Rosie went with us and had a blast, got lots of attention, and lots of "big dog" "chubby dog" "blockhead"comments (which drives Jeff crazy-I think he takes it personally, like we should have a thin dog!) I think we're almost ready for our Thanksgiving trip...just need a few pillows and things are shaping up quite nicely. Now it's back to reality...yuck.

Ahhhhhhh......

Well, another glorious day in paradise! We got here Wednesday night after the sun had already gone down, so we didn't get to see the beautiful view that always welcomes us from the balcony. But we had a wonderful dinner of pizza from the Brown Trout (the best pizza, EVER, according to J), unpacked all the stuff and slept like babies. It started raining in the middle of the night and it is just so cozy with the windows open, listening to the rain and wind blowing through the trees. Yesterday it was still sprinkling, so our view was hampered a little bit due to the clouds and haziness, but it was still so nice. The smell of the rain and the pine trees was intoxicating. Took Rosie for a walk around Lake Cardinal, finishing with a swim in both lakes. She was so happy.

We were expecting the new mattresses to be delivered at noon, so we drove down to check the little shops in Lake Toxaway for rocking chairs for the porch. We found a couple that were nice, but too "finished" for the look of the patio furniture for a mountain home. So we drove a little ways down and found a consignment furniture store, full of cheap, pressed board, 70's kind of furniture. But sitting on the front porch was the perfect, unfinished, handmade rocking chair! And inside he had just one more...so they were perfect, and 1/3 of the price of the other ones! We loaded them in the back of the SUV and picked up sandwiches and got back to the house in time to meet the delivery guys, so it was a perfect start to the day. I went for a run (or slow jog, if you can call it that, on the roller coaster hills here), and when I got back, B & B (our friends from home) were just getting here. We had the perfect evening and a fabulous dinner, then another wonderful night's sleep listening to the rain!

Today we worked out in the gym (first time as "members", not "guests"), then lunch and hike with Rosie to the small waterfall. Now, J and B are playing golf, and B and I are sitting on the porch, reading, and looking at the perfect, cloud-free, view of the lake and the granite faced mountains. Ahhhhhhh......

Pasta and Meatballs

We're busy busy busy this week, getting ready for our first real trip to the new house in the mountains. This weekend is fall break, so there is no school on Thursday and Friday. Last night we had to finish packing and then try to squeeze in all the stuff we keep finding to take with us into the car, and still leave room for Hannah and Rosie, our 95 pound lab. Got home at dinnertime (since I had to backtrack to school yesterday to pick up the friend I forgot), and I didn't want to do takeout. Where we live, if you want to have food delivered you're limited to pizza or greasy chinese food, and neither sounded appealing. Here's what I make when we don't have much time, and J and H love it.

Pasta and Meatballs

First, boil water for pasta (whatever we have on hand, but the smaller noodles like angel hair or mini bowtie tend to cook faster). While pasta is cooking I chop up an onion and maybe a red pepper. I take a spoonful of chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil (which I buy in large quantities at Costco and keep in the refrigerator), and heat over medium in a large saucepan. The oil from the tomatoes is usually enough for sauteeing the onions and peppers. When they're soft and onion is almost translucent i add a chopped garlic clove or two (also already chopped in jar in fridge). If I have a small bag of baby spinach, I'll add that until it wilts down, then a small jar of prepared tomato sauce or petit diced tomatoes. Add whatever spices you like (basil, oregeno, salt and pepper), then a package of Aidell's chicken meatballs (which I keep in the freezer to have onhand). While it's all heating together I set the table and drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Then it's ready to serve. Usually takes me about 20-25 minutes from start to finish and it's so delicious. Makes the kitchen smell good, too!

I'm losing it.

I picked H up from basketball practice today and was halfway home when we remembered we were supposed to pick up her friend and take her home! Yikes. Turned around and it took 30 minutes to go 5 miles because of the traffic around Vanderbilt. Luckily, friend was very understanding and wasn't upset. She didn't have any idea how she was supposed to get home so she was just hanging around. I'm losing it.

I actually feel the pain.

A girl at H's school had a surprise birthday party this past Friday night (well, her parents threw it for her). She and H are not very close, although they have a lot of the same friends. The circles of friends just seem to overlap quite a bit. When H found out she wasn't invited it was not a big deal at all, since they're not close. However, over the weekend she found out that most of her friends WERE invited, and she was "left out". That made it a bigger deal. I could tell she was trying not to make it a big deal, and shrugged it off to me and J, but I could also tell it bothered her a little bit. She rationalized it to herself that since the girl's mom did the inviting, she just didn't think about inviting H...I thought that was pretty mature. I personally was more upset than H was-why is that? It's not that I wanted her to go. Maybe I have memories of being left out of things when I was younger, I don't know. I just hate when she gets her feelings hurt. I actually feel the pain.

mapmyride.com

There is this really great website, www.mapmyride.com. It's like google maps, and you can click on any point and map out bike rides/runs anywhere in the u.s. It's so cool. It's very easy, and when you click "follow the road" you can click on the beginning of a road and the end of the road (or wherever you turn off the road) and it automatically follows it, instead of you having to click at every curve. I used to go back after I went for a run so that I could drive it and see how far I'd gone. I LOVE doing this. Especially for biking, because I'm exploring areas that I don't know very well, so I can map out in advance where to go, and hopefully, not get lost!

I really love the weather this time of year!!!

Another wonderful weekend. I truly love weekends...H gets to relax a bit, we can have people over, sleep a little late, watch football, get outside (since the weather has been truly fabulous!). I really love the weather this time of year. I hope it lasts a while...cool mornings and evenings, and just perfect during the day. I'm having to get used to biking in cooler weather. I don't like being cold. I bought these cool arm/leg warmers that are like tights. You pull them on and when you warm up, you can just slide them down so you don't have to disrobe. That's the biggest problem about biking...it takes so much longer than going for a run, so you're out there through several temperature changes, as well as your body temperature changing as you work harder. It's an expensive sport. You have the bike, the tubes, then computer for the bike, the shoes, the padded "diaper" shorts, the special shirts with pockets in the back for your stuff, the gear bag for the seat, the extra air cartridges and tubes and tools for flats, the helmet, and now with the cold weather you've got to buy all the warmer clothing and things. Oh well, I guess I'm lucky I can still do it. Tomorrow we're going to do about 40 miles out in the Leiper's Fork area. Pretty roads without much traffic.
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H and I visited a new church today. Our old church has been going through some changes: the pastor left (was fired), and we really loved his sermons. He was a very gifted speaker and was the reason I joined there. When he was let go it was very sad. He had some management issues, long story, and probably needed to leave, but I still hated to see him go. The new pastor is good, but just not the same. So we're looking at a few other churches that are a little closer to home. We liked the service today. Very similar to our old church, just smaller, which is kind of nice. Seems a little more personal.
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In the Sunday paper today there was an article about Hasbro's "Life" game...they replaced the play money with a Visa-branded credit card! As if our kids don't already have a problem understanding about credit. Now they play games with a pretend credit card. They don't even have to count the money, add or subtract...the players just insert the credit card into a gadget where points are electronically added and subtracted. Kids already think credit cards are like magic...hand them to someone and get what you want. They don't see that you have to earn the money that you spend or pay the bills for what you charge. It's crazy.