I'm Pretty Sure I'm a Zealot

I was going to title this post "Making it Happen," and give some updates and strategies I've used while trying to start up my running (jogging/walking) habit, but then it occurred to me that I'm feeling a little over-zealous about this whole running thing.

zeal·ous

 [zel-uhs] Show IPA

adjective

full of, characterized by, or due to zeal;  ardently active, devoted, or diligent.

Thank you, dictionary.com. I don't know that the word diligent would be the first to come to anyone's mind to describe me, but I do tend to be a little ardent. When I find a new love, I want everyone! to! know! about! it!  And I want them to agree with me and check it out.  Some examples that come to mind that have recently inspired my passions:

• hummus
• exercise DVDs
• my Bible study (BSF)
• my Roku (in addition to running, my latest must-have love)
• my cheap pre-paid cellphone plan
• audiobooks
• podcasts -- seriously, why don't more people listen to audiobooks and podcasts? They are so interesting, a great way to inform or entertain yourself, and utilize otherwise "dead" time like 

Okay, I'll reign in the zeal. But you get my point, right? I fall head over heels with something, and if I like it, shouldn't everyone?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not really zealous about running, like "Oooh, I love it so much and there's nothing I look forward to more than getting out there for my 33 minute workout." No. I don't love it. To be honest, it's a little boring to me.

But what I do like is that I'm doing it. I am actually learning to run. My heart has not once leapt out of my chest, my lungs haven't exploded, and my joints and ligaments are still basically intact.

So, as initially promised, I will offer some of my success techniques:

1. Schedule your workouts --  This goes with any type of exercise plans, but each week I look at my calendar and actually schedule 3 or 4 times when I can run. I don't stick to it religiously, but it helps it happen.
2. Find a plan -- There are billions of Couch to 5K type plans. One I had used that I liked because I could put it on my ipod and it walked me exactly through it is Personal Running Trainer. But what has really worked for me is the plan and great advice and encouragement of Budd Coates in Run Your Butt Off!: A Breakthrough Plan to Lose Weight and Start Running (No Experience Necessary!).
3. No excuses -- just do it -- I write this ironically as I've only ran once this busy and rainy week. It probably means that I'll stick on this week's rotation for another week, but that's okay. Being a girl with lots of hair that requires some maintenance, the "no excuses" mentality has meant getting over the hassle of showering. I still shower, don't worry, but if I can't workout first thing in the morning, I don't let that stop me. I just deal with having to take a late afternoon shower. I learned that when I was working out regularly last Spring. It's sort of a pain, but it's not the end of the world. And is why you might just find in my PJs with wet hair at 5:00pm.

Are you zealous about certain products or activities? I'd love to give you a forum to proselytize in the comments.

Do You Remember the Carpool?

It always went something like this when I was in school: "Mom, B and I are going to hang out at D's house Saturday. B's mom can take us if you can pick us up."

Why does it not happen this way anymore??? Does it happen in your little world, but not mine?

After a year of driving Amanda to her twice-monthly junior high girls' Bible study and then returning an hour and a half later to pick her up, a month or so ago, I said to a friend, "Your daughter goes to Bible study, right? Would you mind taking Amanda on your way, and I'll bring your daughter home after?"

Done.

Because of this amazing deal, I am sitting home writing this blog post, not dropping Amanda off. It's only 10 minutes away (if that), so it's not  a huge deal, but my friend drove right past our neighborhood on the way to drop her daughter off. I have to pass our neighborhood to take her daughter home, but it's only a few minutes up the road and not an inconvenience at all.

Why are we this way? This generation of parents just once removed from our own for whom this was normal? I have contemporaries whose parents loved them very much, I'm quite sure, but who were only allowed to sign up for extra-curriculars if they could catch a ride. Shocking, no? No, not really. This particular friend had 5 or 6 or 7 siblings, and if a parent shuttled them each around to every activity, they would never get out of the car.

I actually have some theories as to why we don't team up like this anymore. Let me know if you see yourself or your crowd in one of these. Or perhaps there's another reason. Or maybe this is all just me and everyone else is carpooling around (Nope -- it's not just me. The absurdity of it all hits me every time I would see 10 or 12 cars waiting for their tweens and teens outside of the house where the Bible study meets. Also, seeing the cars lined up to pick up their children after school or after an event. and seeing one child get in. Don't even get me started on school pickups. . . . ).

1. Our children are so dear and precious to us that we can't stand being away for them for any longer than we have to. Also we don't really trust someone else with our children.
2. Our kids are so used to being the center of attention that it doesn't occur to them that us driving them around might be an inconvenience and that they could ease it by arranging transportation. Yes, we're parents, and I don't mind doing it, but it IS inconvenient.
3. We want everyone to think we are all Supermoms. Ask for help? No can do. I can do it all myself.
4. We are more insulated than our parents were, so we don't consider asking. Then we might owe someone, and they might ask us for something.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to add? I want to know. This has been on my mind a while.

Wet Horses

When they moved some employees of my husband's company from Houston to Portland, Oregon, they tried to make the infamously rainy Pacific Northwest more appealing by relaying the true fact that it rains more in Houston than in Portland.

Moving to Portland in the middle of the very long rainy season and expecting the worst was actually a good thing. That first winter/spring, there were sunbreaks almost every day, and though it truly does rain more often than not between October and June, it's a fine drizzle that doesn't really impede people's activities. Everyone just slaps on a a rainjacket with a hood and goes about their business.


Houston rain is another issue entirely. When we have thunderstorms, we get inches of rain in a matter of hours. It's the kind of rain that defies the use of an umbrella and a rainjacket.  After a year of the biggest drought in hundreds of years, we've had our typical rainfall this fall and winter. Remembering the drought and the fires makes it a little harder to complain about the inconvenience of the rain.


Driving home from Bible study (past the empty shopping center parking lots, since a really bad thunderstorm is about the only thing that keeps the busy suburbanites home), I drove past this pasture (right in the midst of the suburban sprawl -- yet another unique and interesting Houston fact of life).

These horses were wet. Noticeably really wet.  They had been standing in the rain for 3 hours. But they continued on -- eating, waiting to air dry, enjoying little horsie fellowship. There are times that my plans get interrupted. Lunch dates have to be rescheduled, leisure time takes a back seat to work or meeting others' needs or something. But rain is good. The Maker of man, horses, rain, and even droughts knows this.  I'm trying to learn to be flexible -- to go with the flow. Maybe the next time my fur is ruffled, I'll think of the complacent wet horses, moving on with their life's work after the downpour.

What's on My Nightstand -- January

I made some reading goals along with my other 2012 goals this year: read 12 books "just for me" this year, and keep accurate records of what I'm reading.  I'm doing okay on both of those, having read one book "just for me" (in addition to another one I read in December, pre-goal!). 

Reading breakdown for the month: Read: 1 1/2 adult fiction, 2 YA fiction, 2 1/4 nonfiction. Audiobooks: 1 YA and 1 Nonfiction.

Recently reviewed:

• Steve Jobs audiobook (5 Stars!)
• How to Be a Best Friend Forever (giveaway still open!)
• Crossed (giveaway open through today!)
• Issues-driven historical fiction

Goals for this month:

• Roam: A Novel with Music by Alan Lazar -- carried over from last month
• Finish Falling Together, from last month's list
• Finish Tim Challies' The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion -- from last month's list, not doing very well!
• Also carried over the Middle Grade novel The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
• Amanda and I just snatch a few minutes a day with our read-aloud, but we'll finish this month for sure: Home for the Holidays (Mother Daughter Book Club)The reading of Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent Stingray, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic with Kyle has been slower, because I haven't really been making an effort, so I'd like to finish it.

New on the list -- all for review:

• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
• From Blah to Awe: Shaking Up a Boring Faith
• The Darlings: A Novel
• The Girl Who Was on Fire (Movie Edition): Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Series

Maybe (but probably not!)

• The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels--a Love Story
• The Rebel Wife: A Novel

Audiobooks (getting behind on these as well!)

• Life is Funny -- YA
• They Never Came Back -- YA from Caroline B. Cooney
• The Fault in Our Stars -- a new YA John Green book I'm looking forward to (this month or next month)
• A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Named Trixie, by Dean Koontz, maybe (or next month for sure)

Find out what more people are reading at 5 Minutes for Books What's on Your Nightstand?

Words I Never Thought I'd Hear

The view from my room

I stepped into the elevator ready to hit the Santa Monica pier promenade. A hotel employee was in the elevator as well (in a good hotel, the hotel employees are everywhere, and the Casa Del Mar is an amazing hotel). I got off before him, and as I exited he said, "Enjoy your run!"

Proof -- After!

Who me?  Yes, me. I had my ipod, my hair was in a ponytail, and I was appropriately dressed in my running shoes and capris!  What's even weirder than being pegged as a runner was my mental response to his exhortation: "Yes, I am looking forward to it."

Here I was on vacation a business trip and I was choosing to take up part of my morning with a run. And I was looking forward to it. Yes, I've stayed on track with one of my 2012 goals to start running. I've increased my speed and endurance fairly slowly, but I'm up to running 3 minutes and then walking 3 minutes (which I do 5 times in one session). Next week I'll officially be running more than I'm walking. After starting and failing a few times, I'm amazed (and proud).

The weather in Houston is okay for year-round running, but in Southern California, it's perfect. After I got to the hotel Friday, I did my first exploration of the area. Walking down to the beach, I saw a dude getting out of his BMW wearing a wetsuit (stripped to the waist of course) and unpacking his surfboard. On the boardwalk, people biked, skated, walked, ran -- you name it.

In fact, I found out that this site was the original "Muscle Beach." And indeed there were people using the rings and other stationary equipment to tone up (or show off). A grassy square invited stretching and yoga (and on one occasion when I passed by -- hand-walking).

I did enjoy my run, and I look forward to more runs, in my boring neighborhood, and hopefully in other places as vibrant as Santa Monica. I love New York, but LA has a laid-back comfortable vibe that's growing on me.

*****

I posted some more pictures of this beautiful hotel and told why I think that the Casa Del Mar is a great Readers' Hotel over at 5 Minutes for Books in the On Reading column today. Please check it out.

Lunch for/with the New Mother

A dear friend of mine recently had her second child. Last week I went over to her house (making it easy for her -- keeping her baby and toddler in their own setting), but I brought the lunch and I also brought her dinner for that night.

It was all a big hit, and I got all the recipes off the Hidden Valley Ranch Recipes page. I'm really proud to be on the parent panel again (changed from the "mom panel," since we have two dads contributing this year!), and one of the things I hope to do is to try out some of the recipes and share the ones I like.

Double Onion Quiche, Hidden Valley Ranch recipe

For lunch I made the Double Onion Quiche. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Angela and I both loved this dish. I'll definitely make it again, and she thought it was the kind of thing she could make and serve on a mom-friend playdate.  On the side, I served the veggie-filled Crunchy Pea Salad, another total keeper. Her two-year-old enjoyed this as well.  This made a great ladies' salad lunch, but I think it would be a good side salad for any meal.

Hidden Valley Ranch Smoked Sausage Mac and Cheese

The dinner I left her was the Smoked Sausage Macaroni and Cheese. I had also made this for my kids the weekend before when my husband and I went out to dinner. I'll be honest -- it's very very Ranch-y. If you don't like Ranch, you won't like this**. When I made it for Angela (after verifying that she and her husband did indeed like Ranch dressing), I used slightly less than the cup called for, and I increased the milk.  I also used half Bacon Ranch and half Hidden Valley Ranch Light. I think that this made it a much better dish because the flavors were more complex.

Both times I used regular smoked sausage instead of the mini smoked sausages called for. I used small shells one time and rotini pasta another.  It's a very kid-friendly meal, so I think it's a perfect meal to give to a new mom with other young kids at home.  My 13-year-old daughter really liked it, and asked me to make it again soon. My 7-year-old son, who probably eats more Ranch than the rest of us, wouldn't really try it, because "You know I don't like macaroni and cheese," and he was reading the recipe on the computer as I was making it, so once he read the title, he decided against it. I told him it was more of a Ranch sauce, not mac-and cheese (and that's true -- it doesn't have the consistency of a mac-n-cheese dish either homemade baked, or out of the box), but no go. I'm hoping that he might try it the next time.

I'm excited about mixing up our mealtime over the next couple of months.

**My husband doesn't like that creamy Ranch taste, so recipes using the bottled dressing aren't probably going to go over well with him. The recipes that use the dry seasoning are fine, but I'll have to be cautious with ones using a large amount of the bottled dressing, such as the mac and cheese.

What Friendship Means to Me

"I got it for you with extra pickles, because that's how I like it. I hope you like it with extra pickles."

My second pregnancy ended early in my second trimester. I had to go through labor and delivery, which I wasn't looking forward to. I was in a drug-induced haze much of that morning, but I remember things very clearly from that day over 9 years ago: Terry's concerned face, nearby the whole day, our pastor and his wife and my Sunday School director there praying with us before the procedure started, my best friend holding the tray when the drugs made me sick, and Allie's sandwich. She brought Terry and me some Chick-Fil-A for dinner, infinitely better than hospital food, which was nice enough in itself, but what struck me was that she wanted us to have the best chicken sandwich that she could order.

That was obviously a low point in our lives, but the outpouring of love and concern -- the way people went out of their way to come alongside us, the phone calls and notes I received from others who had gone through similar ordeals -- all of that sweetness made the bitterness much easier to swallow.

In How to Be a Best Friend Forever, Dr. John Townsend explores friendship, and one of the things he opens with is friendship in crisis. Yes, I like to laugh with my friends, I like to travel with them, to celebrate with them, but knowing that my friends are there for me when times are hard bonds us together in a way that a good time never could.

When there's conflict in my marriage, when my kids disappoint me or I blow it as a mom, I have friends I can turn to. I know that they'll listen, I know they'll understand, and they'll support me -- or if necessary, tell me that I need to modify my thinking.

One of the qualities of a best friend is being there. Last week, one of my best friends told me that she had committed to spend significant time last week to figure out a direction she should go. I called her towards the end of the week and asked her about it.

"I was hoping you'd call," she said as she shared what decisions she had made.

Was she testing me? Not really.  By telling me her plans and asking me to pray for her, she showed her trust and expectation for me to follow-through. She was expressing her need that I as a friend express my care by remembering.

GIVEAWAY: I really enjoyed this slim volume that reinforced what I know I do right in friendship and challenged me to go even deeper. If you read my full review of How to Be a Best Friend Forever at 5 Minutes for Mom, you can leave a comment and enter to win (U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses are eligible). You can also leave a comment here for an extra entry (but you must leave a comment on the review post).

You can also get an additional entry by reading and commenting the Five Friendship Rules to Live By excerpt from the book on 5 Minutes for Books.


I'd love to hear about a special friendship memory you have.