Enjoying the Moment

Last week we walked out of Willa's piano lesson at 5pm, and stepped out into the most spectacular, fiery sunset. Willa said "Oh, it's so beautiful! We should sit down and enjoy it for a while."

Looking around at the view...the Linn County DMV across the street, the dirty parking lot, power lines all over, I suggested perhaps we should go home and enjoy it from our own front porch.

"It might be over by then." She's so logical. She's so right. We sat down on the curb in an empty parking space and stared at the sky. I'm not sure it could have been more beautiful if we'd been on the edge of the world.

Gratefull-nesses and Upliftingness

I've been feeling a bit low this week; it seems sadnesses are all around us. Our neighbor's 25-year-old brother passed away this week, my BFF's neighbor gave birth to a beautiful still-born daughter, my cousin's daughter was diagnosed with melanoma...the list continues.

To lift myself out of this weighted funk, I'm going to share five things that are totally awesome and that I'm thankful for - I'm going to think about the little things, and know that I'm so wildly thankful and uplifted already by the big ones (healthy family, love, friends that continue to talk to me and inspire me after almost 20 years...etc)

So here's my list in no particular order; I'll try to keep this up until I realize that I'm the luckiest person in the world.

1. I'm thankful I can go out for lunch today with a friend. This covers multiple bases...it means I've got enough disposal income to spend $10 for a lunch out, I've got transportation and I've got a job that lets me have enough flexibility to leave it for an hour at lunch time. I've also got a friend that wants to lunch with me!
2. Despite often being exasperated by the details, I'm thankful that I could answer 14 questions asked by Willa on the way to school concerning the busing/transportation systems for Harding Middle School. 
3. It makes me smile that after a weekend away from me, Jamey called me 5 times yesterday. There were flimsy reasons, but really I think he just felt disconnected after being away from me for three days. First call was 10 minutes after he left the house.
4. While most of the trees outside my office window are now bare, there is one brilliant fire-red bushy tree and one golden yellow one clinging to their leaves. I can see them both together if I lean forward and look right.
5. I got the entire Sister Hazel Digital Collection (20 mp3s) as a free download from Amazon.com. I'm not a huge fan of Sister Hazel, and I wouldn't have bought the album, but I'm enjoying listening to the music at the moment, and it was FREE. I just discovered the free mp3 collection (which changes daily) on Amazon.

Posers.

Halloween 2010: Cam the Viking and Willa the Mad Scientist.
While I hate to carry on the stereo type, Willa made an awesome mad scientist!

Reflection

I've organized and am in the middle of a workshop about ePortfolios. Portfolios are all about reflection. We've been talking about how to make our students reflective...to think about what they're learning, why they're learning it and how it relates to the rest of the universe. Why don't I do that??!?!? Starting today, starting today.

Socrates said it best - "A life unexamined is not worth living."

2nd Grade

Willa started 2nd grade last week. Ms. Deb, her Kindergarten teacher, is now the teacher for 1st & 2nd Grade at Summit. Willa loved Ms. Deb in Kindergarten (everybody loves Ms. Deb). However, when I told Willa Ms. Deb was going to be her teacher, earlier this summer, she seemed less than thrilled. When I pressed her on the issue, she said "I love Ms. Deb, but I've already learned all the Kindergarten stuff and now I want to do 2nd grade stuff!"

I forget how literal her mind is. She associates Ms. Deb with Kindergarten. I explained that Ms. Deb has taught lots of other grades, and she would, indeed, be teaching Willa 2nd grade things, but I know this thought is still in Willa's head. The first night of homework, she casually commented that the homework is "kindergarten homework" (it was sequencing story problems), and she referred to her journal writing as "how we did journals in kindergarten". I suppose it does not help that Ms. Deb kept her classroom, so the kids are back in the room they had as Kindergartners.

In the combined 1st & 2nd grade, our second graders look so mature now, compared to the first graders. I do not remember thinking they looked young last year (when they were on the low end of the combined totem pole). It could be that we have some small statured first graders, or that our second graders had exceptional growth spurts over the summer (or they are just giants in nature!). Hopefully those little first graders will catch up!

RAGBRAI 2010

Today is day two of our ride. So far, so good!

Day One: Sioux City to Storm Lake. We had an almost 70 mile day today - with over 3500 ft of elevation. Jamey and I really felt our lake of training on this day! My legs were sore and tired by the time we got to Storm Lake. Jamey commented that today's mileage probably topped what he'd ridden all year! We're doing something different this year and just going with the RAGBRAI sag. It's sort of liberating...but I really appreciate having someone find a nice location for me and having iced beverages waiting! Storm Lake was beautiful. We camped right on the lake (crowded, but scenic). The day was perfect weather-wise! I kept waiting for the humidity, but it was pleasent. Sleeping in a tent was nice, too!

Best Food: found Pizza on Wheels, twice! The first location had a line that was probably 45 minutes long; then we rode on, and found them again and waited only about five minutes. Jamey was overjoyed.

Day Two: Storm Lake to Algona. Longer mileage, but much flatter! We rode 79 miles today. Walked through the amazing grotto in West Bend. Some priest built it - first spending 10 years collecting rocks, shells and other interesting things, then spent 40 years builting them all into this grotto.

My legs are much more refreshed tonight...not really sore at all!

We saw a family with a triple-tandem, a tag-along and then a trailer (with two kids...a baby and a toddler!). I think I love my kids TOO much to do that! But it does make me think about when it will be right to take them on this ride. Jamey and I decided we'd probably do something a bit more mild, like TRAM or SAGBRAW or Tour D'Kota with them rather than RAGBRAI. This year seems particulary crowded and congested.

Best Food: monster cookies in Varinda.

Tomorrow - short day on to Clear Lake.

Summer of Food

Two books are pulling me in this week:

Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" (acquired from the Cedar Rapids Public Library) and "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver.

These books are working in tandem, challenging my assumptions and thoughts about food. Even what I though was good food. In an early chapter of "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" Kingsolver says we (Americans) "like the idea of vegetables" more than the actual things themselves. I find myself reading this book late into the night, and thinking about ways that I can adjust my families food consumption to follow more natural growing seasons. I am also starting to figure out how I can get more foods that are locally produced. Obviously farmer's market has gone a long way in our raw foods intake: I've totally eliminated fresh vegetables from the grocery store list. Now I'm working on fruits. We love fruit. Sure, I'm starting to get the early Muskatine melons, and local blueberries and soon we'll start seeing apples. But it's hard to resist the bananas, grapes, avocados and pears that I know travels thousands of miles to reach the Target grocer.

I'm on my second recipe in "Food Revolution". I think I'll need to buy this book myself. I want to actually get into the revolution - to get the two friends to try a recipe (who will them get two other friends...etc until we've changed the world! eradicated childhood obesity and diabetes! eliminated HFCS from our daily intake! put MacDonald's out of business!)

As for the recipes; two thumbs up for the two I've tried. We had delicious banana-cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast a few days ago. Quaker Oats is only a few miles from my house, but I love that my oatmeal contained five ingredients, all recognizable in that natural state, rather than the 26 ingredients listed on the back of my box of pre-flavored oatmeal packages.

We also had meatballs & sauce (I choose to serve on rolls with fresh mozzarella made at Acoustic Farms in Springville, IA). The meatballs were delicious - made from a combo of ground sirloin (red meat is a rare ingredient in my house) and ground pork (also picked up at farmer's market). It was the marinara that blew us away though. We have become entirely too reliant on marinara, and her relatives, from jars. While this recipe still relied on canned tomatoes, it tasted so fresh and delicious that I might not be able to open a jar for a long, long time. And since it was relatively quick, I hope I don't actually open a jar for a long, long time. I love that I walked out to my herb patch and plucked out some basil, oregano and parsley, walked back to my kitchen, rinsed the leaves and tossed them into saute. Onions and garlic were picked up at market. I made enough to keep a bit out for tonight's menu (flat bread pizza) and to freeze about a pint & a half for future use.

I haven't decided what to try next, but I'll post pictures. The marinara, with it's purple onions, red tomatoes and bright green basil was not only delicious, but beautiful!

Run & Ride

I meant to get to the pool yesterday, but time got away from me (at least the time that the pool is staffed) so I had to change my plans. Instead, I decided to run to Summit to pick up Willa, and then make an attempt to take public transit back home. We tried this once last fall after running club, but we missed this bus.

This time, we made it work. I find the bus schedules and maps difficult to decipher, but we now know the Route 3 bus hits Old Marion Road/Regent Street stop around 4:40PM. Unfortunately, this is an outgoing bus, so we ride the route all the way up around Target before heading back downtown. It was about a 20+ minute ride to get back to the stop at Franklin/27th, about four blocks from our house. Willa loved it!

A friend recently sent me a link to Velo Routes. This is a great site! Plot your bike or your run; or like me, plot it afterward to see exactly how far you ran (now I know that it was a 2.6 mile run from my house to Summit). You can save your routes, or you can download them and import them into your GPS unit if you're lucky enough to have a toy like that.

Now that Willa and I feel like city bus experts, we're excited to do it again. I'll plan at least one more run there before the end of the school year.

Bike Route: North

I've been riding the Cedar Lake Trails as my training route. On Monday, I took the route South, starting at Coe, and turning around a few miles past C Street. Yesterday, I went North, starting at Coe and turning around at the head of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. Here's the route I took with my commentary about the route (click the pin icons, zoom in to see the route):



View Bike Route North in a larger map

Training and Temptation

Yesterday, I did some interval training. The track was open and empty. Intervals on the track would do two things for me, 1) ensure even intervals (sprint the straight-away, walk the curve...no slacking!) and 2) the rubber track would give my knees a break from pavement. So I proceeded...

Hurdles. Set up in lanes 4 & 5 for 400m hurdles. Set up in lanes 6-8 for 100m hurdles. It has been 17 years since I've competitively hurdled, or stepped over any hurdle for that matter. Oh, but the temptation was so great, I so wanted to run them. Just one, even. My body could feel the stretched extension of the lead leg,
the tight tuck of the follow leg,
the quick downward spike of the lead leg as it cleared the hurdle,
then the stretch of the follow leg...stretching for the next step.
Yes, this is what my body could feel, but my head, my head was another story.

My head said "don't do it!
Don't be ridiculous.
Don't blow out a knee for a small moment of flight.
What are you thinking?
That leg won't pop like it used, that knee won't follow as high as it should...you'll end up on the ground."

So, I listened to my head. But my body continued to protest as I passed every single hurdle. I think for now I'll avoid running on the track until the hurdles are put away.

No More Boboli

As it turns out, our Spring Break's never align. Coe takes spring break early, because we have a May Term, meaning we end our Spring Term during the first week of May, then have a three-and-a-half week short term (usually reserved for travel abroad courses). Summit, on the other hand, follows the CR Public Calendar, and since their school year doesn't end until mid-June, spring break is later.

So, while trying to balance work, Jamey and I must also balance Willa. This year Jamey and Willa road tripped to Colome, SD to visit Jamey's family for a few days. Before they left, however, we had plenty of fun in Cedar Rapids. First, Willa attended an art camp at "The Shop Next Door" - she loved it! Watch their site - Heather says an art class for "mother's day creations" is in the works and will be scheduled for May 1.

My favorite activity with Willa, though, was a flat bread making class we attended at Prairie Woods. To be honest, I almost skipped it. We'd been out at Wikiup Hill with the Bickels, hiking all afternoon. It had been cool and windy and we hiked quite a ways. We got home at 5pm, and the class started at 6, plus it was a three hour class (all standing) and Willa usually goes to bed by 8pm. But she was so excited for it, and insisted she wasn't tired. And, I thought it would be fun...turns out I was right!

Our instructor teaches at the Kirkwood Culinary Arts Program and also did breads for Blends in downtown Cedar Rapids (before it closed). She was incredible! And best, she was great with Willa and Reddin, the eight-year-old attending with his mom. We made two foccocias, two types of pizza crusts, and five or six varieties of crackers. All were delicious! I even sampled the crackers with sauerkraut, and while I will never ever make these myself, I'll admit that there weren't awful (can't quite say 'good').

Now, I'm convinced I need a big mixer. I'm sure my breads could be just as good as Jean's if only I had the big mixer. In the meantime, though, I'll keep trying and keep experimenting. And no more packaged Boboli crusts at our house!

Let the training begin

This blog originally started out as a place to ruminate on my training efforts, so I'm going back to those roots.

According to Eric Harr, in "Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week" the first step is tell everybody you're doing it. So, I'm doing it. I've signed up for the Pigman Sprint Triathlon. This will be my fourth. I skipped last year, feeling much too insecure about my body after Cam's birth in late January. This year, there was no excuse.

The Pigman is one of the earliest outdoor triathlons in the region and it's a qualifier for bigger competitions, so it usually fills quickly. It is, in fact, already filled for this season. Luckily, I sent in my $60 registration about a month ago, and secured myself a space.

Now, the hard part. I've been running inside and have started a weight lifting routine (using the suggested lift-stretch routine outlined in Harr's book), but have yet to get in the pool for laps. I got near the pool once a few weeks ago, does that count? I actually got my suit on, got my goggles out, and walked into the natatorium. I sat on the deck trying to find a lane. The pool was busy; a class plus quite a few swimmers. There was only one lane with less than two people in it and I knew the single lane swimmer would find my slow laborious laps a real pain. So I walked back out and went to the fitness center instead. Now it's spring break on campus, so there is NO ONE in the pool and I've convinced myself that I will get it in tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow I will swim laps, pretending it's the splashy, cold water of Pleasant Lake.

Signs of Spring

Today when I woke up it was ZERO degrees; which seems about as far away from spring as you can get. However, I am starting to see the signs. Perhaps it's because I'm just so tired of everything winter (snow, colds, boots, hats, ice, chapped lips, etc.) that I'm quite open to seeing anything different.

Here's what I've observed that gives me hope for a change of season:

• three students in the past week wearing flip flops on campus
• two bikers (self-powered) on the way to school the past two days
• swim suits and shorts in the stores, winter stuff on deep clearance
• absolutely NO snow mittens to replace a lost pair for Willa
• distance track runners out on the street rather than on the indoor track

I know, not much, but I'm clinging and hoping.

365 Days of Cam

I'll repeat the mantra of every parent (or anyone, really, enjoying life): 'I can't believe how fast it's gone!' Tomorrow we will celebrate 365 days of Cam. 365 days ago tonight, I was sitting on this very same green couch, but much less comfortable. More than ready to meet this new little combination of Jamey + Lisa.

I try not to make broad comparisons between Cam and Willa, but often it's just so blatant that I have to acknowledge. Cam seems so violent with his toys - beating them together or throwing them on the ground. Willa clopped toys together, but it seemed more in the spirit of making music than destruction. On the other hand, at this age, Willa went until she crashed, while Cam finds moments of calmness. I turned around last night from cleaning up dinner dishes, and he'd drug a blanket into the dining room and was just laying there quietly resting. Frequently he walks up to me, and just rests his head on me - anywhere, as long as we're touching.

Living in this house is like constantly being in the middle of some type of psychology experiment. I'm looking for the two-way mirrors or discrete video cameras. I am waiting for the psychologist to come out and explain that Cam's behavior is normal for a one-year-old male, that Willa is going through a phase clinically labeled the "seven-year bipolaritis syndrome' and she will soon grow out of radically shifting moods and easily bruised feelings. The professional will also tell us that we are model parents and he/she would like to feature us in a book about his/her research. Yes, that's what my fantasy's are now featuring!

On day 354 I will dream about my babbling, wobbling, beautiful boy. Tomorrow we will put a chunk of sugary cake on his high chair tray. He will either smash it into his face, savoring, finally what has been withheld. Or he will simply throw it, just like everything else.

Having Our Cake

Things don't always turn out like I plan. Actually, things rarely turn out just as I plan them, but almost always things seem to turn out OK or better.

Cam and Willa both have January birthdays. Considering we live in the midwest, I should count it lucky that this is the first time we've had weather-related issues surrounding a birthday.

Our original plans involved meeting up with Gramma and Grampa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelly and the boys, at a water park near Minneapolis for a weekend. We'd celebrate three birthdays: Mom, Willa and Cam are all within seven days.

Instead, Mother Nature intervened. SD had warnings for freezing rain and ice. We had rain, rain, rain. Despite my disappointment, I couldn't blame them for not wanting to drive in those conditions.

I think I was more disappointed than Willa. She was awesome. Cam didn't seem to mind one way or another. We went to "Plan B" & met some friends at a new local aquatic center, went out for pizza, then back to their house for cake. I'd ordered this cake from Jules Bakery last week, and was so looking forward to her delicious cake. Even though I knew we'd be eating it all week, I couldn't bring myself to cancel the order. It continues to be DELICIOUS!

Of course the birthday celebrations continue...Willa has a party with school friends at a local gymnastics center on Saturday. And we'll have to let Cam smash cake into his face on Thursday. Mmmmm....more cake.