Granny's Gadgets #5

I can't believe no one even tried to guess this one!

Y'all are a bunch of chickens!
buck-buck-buck-bawk!
At least four of my facebookers took a stab at it...

Speaking of chickens... that's a hint...

Here is the gadget

in

action:

This gadget really worked!  I rarely am able to get an egg peel off cleanly.  Usually the egg ends up looking chewed on and very gross, with bits of shell and raggedy membrane all over the place.  Big yuck.  I will now be using this gadget regularly!  

I have always done these in one take, but my 5-year old started chiming in ... and it wasn't cute... so I did a re-take.  The initial attempt at turning the water on with the egg jammed into that rubber thing was truly comical... lots of spurting water and exclamations.  Bummed you all missed it :(




How do you like your eggs?


– me... I am very moody about my eggs... sometimes I love poached and sometimes they gross me out.  I guess I hardly ever go wrong with scrambled :)

A Lil' Granny's Gadget Teaser...

I assure you this is a kitchen gadget!

It is made of soft rubber... very pliable.

I figured out what it is about a month ago... only because I finally saw that it has the dang name on the side!  

not so sure how i missed that!

But I'm not telling you what it is... 

you have to guess 

or wait until it comes out 

on video tonight!

And even though I now know what it is and have seen a drawing showing how to use it, I am still not entirely convinced I can make it work.  We shall see....

Hilly Goodness!

Running hills for the first time in 9 years!  Sooooooooo fun!  Here is where I went.

I know, you think I am crazy.  Well, most of you anyway.

But I haven't been able to run since November of 2001... until just this past September.  I couldn't even run to get out of the way of an oncoming car or to beat out the meter-maid over an expired parking meter... or to chase down an escaping child bound for a busy street.  It sucked.  When you sit out the game for that long you really learn to appreciate it ALL.  Running in the pouring rain.  Running hills.  Running alone.  Running in the dark... alone.  Running in bad pants.  Time trials.  Speedwork.  Racing drunken bums.  How badly you smell when it's all over.  EVERYTHING.

I am working on being even in my 'easy' runs.  Here is how it all went down yesterday afternoon:

9:36  first mile
9:36  second mile
9:37  third mile [there is a little bit extra to add in (see below)... needed to do 25 minutes out n' back]

• 4:43  from 2-2.5 mile marks painted on the ground
• 2:56  little extra at the turn around because I was supposed to be running 50 minutes
• 4:54  from 2.5-2 mile marks  ... return trip

9:34 fourth mile  (4:41, 4:53)
9:29 fifth mile  (4:48, 4:41)

total  50:47 for 5.3 miles


The funnest part was that I dragged the family along.  Bikes, scooters, strollers.  Everyone came.  No one complained... that was the bestest part of all!  They even said they had fun... all of them!  I think this was the first time ever in the history of our family that this has happened.

***********

Groundhog Day is coming!!!!  

Be sure to enter my giveaway 

here 

to win your copy of that awesome and hilarious movie!

GREAT GROUNDHOG GIVEAWAY!!!

With Groundhog Day fast approaching, isn't it time for another giveaway?

This GREAT GROUNDHOG GIVEAWAY is....


Groundhog Day... the MOVIE on regular DVD.  Still no Blu-Ray, fellas... I love ya and all that, but just ain't rollin' in dough.

If you aren't familiar with this movie, google it.  There are so many synopses and analytic interpretations and even some clips available that will make you want it.

There are a myriad of ways to enter this GREAT GROUNDHOG GIVEAWAY:

1. let me know you are a follower (and actually be a follower)  OR
2. share with us your favorite quote from the movie... or any quote from the movie... OR
3. tell us which is your favorite part of the movie  OR
4. recommend another Bill Murray or Andie MacDowell movie that you have enjoyed OR
5. relate a Groundhog Day experience of your own (worth 3 entries)  OR
6. link the giveaway on your website, blog or facebook page (worth 3 entries).

Lookie, lookie... 

TEN possible ways to win!  Stack the odds in your favor by exercising all 10!

Even one entry is enough to win!  But....

you gotta play to win!

Contest closes at 12:01 a.m. on Groundhog Day (Tuesday Febuary 2, 2011) and winners will be announced by noon that same day.

Ever the disclaimer... same as the last one:  no compensation for, no benefits derived from, no favors in exchange of this giveaway have or will transpire.  And if you don't want to play but you want the dvd, then you can go to Target and buy one yourself for only $5.00.  But if you enter and win, then think of the hassle and gassle you just saved yourself ;-)

The Human Metronome

Really feeling like I am finding my running groove again!  Yay!  Still pretty slow but not doddering or slogging or trudging.  Extra yay!

Tonight was just an easy-ish 40 minutes.  I figured out a route inside The Gate wherein I could take 1/2 mile split times to keep tabs on how evenly things were going.

4:52  (warming up a bit...)
4:35
4:29
4:35
4:35
4:29
4:34
4:33
and then the little bit extra to total 40 minutes... 3:23 for about 0.3 miles.

Hard to get much more even than that :)

so
much
FUN
!

Vecchio Venerdì

Here is something really vecchio having nothing to do with running or momming...

well, not entirely true...

this photo was taken in 1910 and is of my great-grandfather (who I actually remember very well), my great-aunt (who I remember a little) and my grandmother... the baby (for whom I am named and loved and remember vividly).

My great-grandfather carried the same name as my oldest son, Big G (well, he wasn't called "Big G" but they share what the "G" stands for ;-)  ).  My father also had the same name.  So Big G has this big joke going:  A "G" had an "M" who had a "G" who had an "M" who had a "G"... and he wants to have a little girl when he becomes a daddy so he can name her "M" (well, what the "M" stands for).

I tried letting him know that it is a really hard name to carry through childhood... lots of teasing and misspellings.  He doesn't care.  I wonder what his wife will think.

Week of Wunning in Weview...

I used all 'w's to go with Wednesday... just in case y'all didn't catch that ;-)

I've been neglecting the running component of my blog... not because I haven't been running (well, actually I did have to take some time off because of puking my guts up) but because things have been rough around this neck o' the woods and I used the ol' blog for a little levity in my life.

So here's what happened on the running front:

I ran last Wednesday during the day!  It was a 'speedwork' day.  Warm up, drills, a mile@10K pace (1:30 jog); 2x800@5K pace (2 min jog); a mile@10K pace (1:30 jog); cool down.  Total of 5 miles.

It is clear to me that I need to slow the heck down.  That first mile was faster than the last mile time trial I ran in early December.  So to run a mile as part of a workout faster than my bust-a-gut, keel-over-when-you're-done single mile... ummm... so I am getting faster, but there is no way I could sustain that pace for 10K... even if being chased by a frothing doberman toting a plastic bag.  The times were 8:10 for my first mile (pretty even splits of 4:06 and 4:04).  The first 800 was in 4:05.  It was then I knew I didn't have enough in the tank and needed to rein it in.  The second 800 was 4:16 and the second mile was 8:49.  Much more realistic and reasonable for what I was supposed to be doing.

On Friday night I did an 'easy' 2 miles... 10-minute miles.  It was pretty easy.

I was really looking forward to my long run on Sunday and had prepared my family for the event.  I was going to make them all come with me to the hilly run.  They could walk or bike or scooter or whatever.  Dad would keep an eye on them while I ran until I couldn't see straight (about 8 miles).

But I awoke at 4 a.m. feeling a might peaked.  (pronounced pee-kid... means 'not so good').  At 6 a.m. it was imminent... I ran to the bathroom.  I did it.  The nasty.  I hate vomiting.  I protest.  I resist.  This time, I couldn't.  And I discovered something else about our super sucky toilets.  In addition to being the biggest water-wasting, plunger-hungry low-flow toilets in creation... this particular one has what I'll call a very shallow "drop".  This means that it isn't like a bowl full of water.  It is more like a oval platter of porcelain with a small teacup of water at the far end.  This makes for lots of splatter.  Really gross.  Sorry... oversharing.

No run on Sunday.

I was still recovering until today.

Tonight's run started at 8:35.  It was supposed to be a bunch of 400's.  I have realized that I can only do speedy stuff every other week.  My hip is just not strong enough to hold form and not tighten up yet.  I will get injured.  My old mentality is just too ingrained... "kill the workout! kill it!"  So instead I did a relaxed 4.5 miles.  It took just under 43 minutes.  I do a 0.75 mile loop inside The Gate for my longer short runs.  My splits were 7:29, 7:24, 7:09, 6:53, 6:55, and 7:03.  Pretty consistent once I got loosened up.

There ya have it... Wednesday's wunning weecap ;-)

Ut-oh... she's at it AGAIN!

Bahhahhahhahahahahahhaha!!!

I have been asked by one of the funniest people I have ever had the good fortune to stumble upon... Kelley over at Kelley's Breakroom (she'll even give you a Coke after you take a seat in her comfy orange chair)... to bombard you all with yet seven more stupid fascinating facts about moi (french theme today).  If you missed (or need to review) my previous narcissistic diatribes random facts posts, just look to the right in the side bar

1. I over-use the little semi-colon/hyphen/parenthesis combo... I just LOVE the little winky face it makes ;-)   see?  so if you read my blog or my comments on your blog (or the blogs of others) and wonder "what is up with that?"... no need to wonder anymore!  ;-)
2. I love Barney.  The big purple dinosaur who sings and dances.  Love.  He tells us to eat healthy snacks ("have a snack.  have an apple or an orange.  have a snack.  broccoli is neat....when you want something crunchy, when you want something sweet... fruits and vegetables are always fun to eat!").  He assures us that we're growing taller, bigger and stronger... everyday... even when we're sleeping and even while we play.  He is so nice and kind and understanding and imaginative and supportive and encouraging... what's not to love?  But I cannot stand Baby Bop or BJ (BJ... for real?  I don't understand why they named a character BJ... just asking for ridicule).  Those two should be extincted.
3. I am totally skeeved by just the thought of cleaning up after a dog with a plastic bag.  Weird, I know, given that I have changed a bazillion poopy diapers and toilet-trained 3 kids and so have, on occasion, practically been up to my elbows in human excrement.  But there's something about putting my hand in that plastic bag and then grabbing on the steaming hot dog poo... will it be squishy? will it be hard? will it fall apart? will it hold form? is there a hole in this bag?  I just don't ever ever ever ever ever want to do that again ever in my life.  
4. I believe in miracles.
5. I love busting on people... just for fun... I don't hardly ever mean it to be mean.
6. I am often very irreverent and totally un-PC... all in the name of fun.  I try to not take anything too seriously... except the job of shepherding my kids into adulthood in one piece and at least semi-equipped to take on this big beastie we call 'life'.  This irreverence doesn't go over too well in my super-dee-duper (thanks, Barney ;-) ) PC community, and the humor of it is often lost on the area natives.
7. I am as absolutely astounded that anyone reads my blog (let alone likes it) as I am that I can ever cook something without burning it... or the pan it was supposed to be cooking in.

So thanks to everyone who comes here ever.  

And extra thanks to those who return.  

And super-dee-duper thanks to those who leave nice comments ;-)

Musique pour Mercredi

Les Barbapapas... the quintessential French cartoon... so weird, yet très cool...






Which Barbapapa is YOUR favorite?  lol

Click here and here to find out more about these fascinating creatures.

Granny's Gadgets #4

Here we are again... Monday.

And time for Granny's Gadgets!

Today's tool is super cool.  It makes you want to whip up a bunch of ginormous pancakes as soon as you figure out how to work it.

Looks very ordinary until... you slide the lever...

It's sort of like something you might expect in James Bond's kitchen... right?   Ha!   But it's in mine!

Always one for full disclosure, I have to admit this is the first time I have ever made such a large pancake.  They are not as good as regular-sized... bigger does NOT always mean better.  It is really hard to get the temperature of the griddle correct to nicely brown the outside and thoroughly cook the inside.  One or the other is easy... but gettin' both going on at the same time... not so easy.  So this particular gadget hasn't gotten as much play as its coolness might warrant.  


I did not achieve a perfectly cooked pancake tonight :(  But it did get eaten :P

Fearless...

things I am not afraid of:

smoke detectors

they just are like an extra loud timer going off...

veggies are done!

aliens

though they might seem scary at first

they eventually start melting in our atmosphere

until they are like a blue pancake on the counter

or a nasty puddle of goo in Darth Vader's Jedi Fighter.

dive bars

especially ones that open for biz at 8 a.m.

Captain Hook

even if he's toting a sword AND a gun.

... and sporting Buzz Lightyear socks. 

marrying a man with 6 kids

the more, the merrier... right?

the eye of the law

'cuz I know that as soon as the eye slips, law will be blind.

Looking foolish in the name of fun (or any other time for that matter...)

be it dressed as BatMom...

chewing bones as a pregnant (no, I am not just fat) dominatrix...

or parading around in my wedding gown with the price tag still attached ($9.99, baby!) while pushing a baby cow around in a stroller.

************************************

Add to the list of things of which I am, generally speaking, unafraid...for the most part...are:

hard work,

confrontation,

adversity,

sadness,

pain,

financial insecurity.

Sure, there is more... but I'll stop there :)

There isn't a whole lot that really scares me.

One of the things I am most afraid of is swimming in the ocean.  Really.  

What are you afraid of?

What are you not afraid of that other people tend to be afraid of?

Vecchio Venerdì

forty years vecchio, actually...

sorry I got nuttin' else today, folks...

all that throw up clean up and exploding toilet mayhem have tapped me out :)

somebody throw me a lifeline...

Just when I thought it was safe...

to go to the bathroom...

If you've been around Taking It On for awhile then you are familiar with my nemesis... the Low-flow Toilet.  We rent or we'd change those suckers out in a heartbeat.

There are three toilets in this house.  They all clog at least once a day.  Two of them super suck and one is The Good Toilet... where we go if we can make it when real business is at hand.  Know what I mean?  Not only do they all require multiple flushes per "go" and at least one sound daily plunging, but two of them were also constantly very slightly running due to bad seals in the tank.  One of these perpetually running commodes is The Good Toilet.  

We had the property manager's o-so-handyman come take a look at this issue.  This guy is the face of not-the-sharpest-tool-in-the-shed.  

His name is Brruuuuce.

And he is the farthest thing from a Great White you could imagine... 

he actually reminds me a lot of a Sea Monkey.

So Brruuuuce comes to fix the toilets... not the flush-power part but the running part.  He replaces the flaps inside the tanks.  But he puts in a faulty flap on The Good Toilet... thereby rendering it no longer The Good Toilet.  The faulty flap now gets stuck every. single. time. you flush. Everytime.  It never doesn't get stuck.  So not only are you needing to flush at every stage of evacuation, but at every flush you need to remove the top of the tank and fish around to make the flap cover the seal.  Nice.  

Well, I fear I am losing the Toilet War.  The Good Toilet upped the ante today in the War of the Flush...

After my invigorating and cleansing ;-) run today (woo hoo... I got to go running in the day!)  I ran upstairs to  the commode-formerly-known-as-The-Good-Toilet (and you know why).  I did my "post-op", "prelim" flush and carefully poised myself as I removed the tank lid to fix that flap.  I completed my mission, flushed and left.

I was puttering around on the computer when the smoke detector went off.  I am generally not surprised by the smoke detector going off... given my track record in the kitchen you would understand this.  My husband hollered out... "BABE....?"  as if it were again one of my culinary mishaps.  I ran downstairs, bewildered as to what I had left on.  Was I really losing it that badly that I couldn't even remember if/what/when I had been cooking?

I got to the bottom of the stairs and was greeted by not only a blaring smoke detector, but an indoor shower!  Water was pouring out of the smoke detector!  Isn't that weird?

I shouted out an expletive (the "s" word... and not 'stupid' or 'shut up') and ran to the kitchen just to make sure we weren't dealing with two issues... we weren't (so at least I wasn't losing my mind).  And then ran back upstairs to grab a towel to wipe up the water pouring out all over the hall floor whereupon I saw the totally flooded bathroom!

The flap had gotten stuck AND my final flush had proved to be a latent clogger.  *expletive*  And that perpetually running water was just flowing over the edge of the toilet bowl.  FLOWING.  A quick flip of the flap put a stop to that, and 14 beach towels were enough to sop up the water which, miraculously, didn't get any of the carpeting wet upstairs or down.  Three big plastic buckets caught most of the water that was pouring not only through the smoke detector but also through a recessed lighting fixture next to it as well as a weird little pinhole in the garage.  No real damage.  Whew.  But what an ordeal.  These toilets totally have it in for me.  I think they are part of a Stephen King novel.

So the story gets better...

Remember I've used ALL the towels cleaning up this toilet fiasco.

At one o'clock in the morning (of course) my 5-year old comes into my room... "mommy... I just threw up in my bed..."  So I go in to clean it up and clean him up and assess what more is needed.  I send him into the bathroom to wash his hands and take off his shirt and direct him to puke in the toilet, should he have the urge again.  He goes into the bathroom and vomits all over the floor, the vanity, the step stool, the door...  We have no junky towels to clean this up!  They are all in the wash and soaking wet!  So I start mopping up chunks with the "good" towels (which are actually pretty ancient and frayed anyway).  My husband comes in and takes over the cleaning of the inanimate objects while I tend to Q-man.

I am getting him situated in a clean bed with a giant bowl beside it when Baby X starts moaning.  I go in.  She joins in the fun.  Poor girl.  Thankfully we had braided her hair before she went to bed!

By two o'clock, all is quiet ... except Big G who is yelling at us to keep it down because he is trying to sleep.  Then all is quiet for real.

Today I am doing lots of laundry and changing videos and buckets for sick kids.

And wishing I had a portapotty in my backyard.

Indoor plumbing is overrated.

Awards are just rollin' in...

Jen at Setting You Free pegged me with yet another Stylish Blogger Award!  So instead of repeating everything from before, I am just going to refer you all to this and this.  But if you want MORE, just let me know in a comment and I'll happily tell you more weird fascinating things about me!

I don't have enough active followers to pass this award on again... so if you are reading this mess and are willing to share your own wildness and wackiness I would LOVE to read your comments!

Musique pour Mercredi

For your listening pleasure... this kid is amazing!






He was in the movie "Les Choristes" which is fantastic... if you're looking for a great film to watch... has subtitles, just so's ya know.

Granny's Gadgets #3... with a recipe!

This week's gadget is not a mystery.

It happens to be my current favorite and most-used gadget of the bunch.  This one is really old.  Really, really? Yes, really, really.  My mother-in-law is 87, and I'll bet that this was a wedding gift back in 1950 or that she even had it before she got married.  The wooden handle is no longer painted, and the metal rivet attaching the blade to the handle is very... ummmm... "flexible."  But the blade is still sharp enough to do the trick.  It does it very well, I might add.  Just watch:

Honestly, I didn't know what this gadget was until about a year ago.  I was seriously inexperienced in the kitchen... remember?  When I went off sugar I started using this apple corer nearly every night to make awesome baked apples.  And here is that recipe:

Oooooooo... yes, I, the culinary magician, am posting a recipe...

Get ready...

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Wash and core however many apples you are planning on eating.  Use a knife (be careful!) to score the skin all the way around each apple's circumference so that they do not explode while baking (super drag to clean... trust me on this... good thing to never learn first-hand).  Arrange in baking dish and stuff raisins down the empty middle (where the core used to be... but you've taken it out!).  Dump a whole lot of cinnamon on the top of each apple (if you like cinnamon).  Bake in that preheated oven for one hour.  Remove from oven and top with cashew butter.

Y.U.M.

My personal favorite apples to use are:  Stayman Winesap, Cortland, Rome, Macoum, Golden Delicious.   Sometimes Pink Lady apples are good, too.  Gravensteins are pretty good, too.  

I didn't know there were different kinds of apples other than 'red' and 'green' until I went away to college.  It had an Ag school part and an apple department!  Pomology.  You could major in pomes!  Who knew?

What have you learned lately that you realize others have probably known forever?

Having four kids in the house full time is really hard :P

Do you like to cook?  Do you like what you cook?

I like to cook now... sometimes.  I like what I cook for myself!  But I am not always crazy about what I cook for my kids.  lol

The Double-Diaper Run... fun...

Did you know that running beside a bay when it is low tide is like running with a fully loaded baby's diaper strapped over your face like a surgical mask?  Stifling.  Disgusting.  So glad it wasn't hot as well or I probably would have died vomited fainted.

So.... no.... the Big Hill Run didn't happen today :(  Too many family things squeezed that puppy right out of the schedule.  The hilly place is about a 20-30 min drive each way and some kids had soccer this morning and we needed to do some paperwork (like, needed) together and my husband had afternoon/evening plans and, well, we didn't get up early enough *that's the lame part*.  I would have done it by myself, but it is in a somewhat remote location and I am not entirely sure how safe it is to go to the end of the trail alone.  I was planning on having my bicycling family circus accompany me :)  But we slacked.

Instead I ran 7 miles next to the bay, which is a 2-minute walk from the front door.  It is where I always go *sigh* when I am not running loops inside The Gate *sigh*.  It is where I raced the drunken bum.  I need some variety.  I need some real life running buddies!  However, had I run the hilly run I would not know first-hand about the whole diaper-surgical mask thing.  Putting a positive twist on it... a learning moment ;-)  Need to start checking the tide charts.

And...
I had to pee
the.
whole.
way.

And being an older mom of four kids makes that potentially very problematic.  Add to the scenario that it's a very exposed trail... and paralleling a major highway and next to Costco and a very popular dog park. It was a little tense here and there, touch and go, no... no... no... whew! no major catastrophe.  But close.  A diaper would have come in handy.

When I walked in the door after my 6.8 miles (after looking at googlemaps I saw that I had miscalculated... but I am checking my OCD at the door and feeling great about my 6.8-instead-of-7 miles) I was greeted by a man who recoiled and did the p.u. stinky wave thing in front of his face.  Yes, I have some vicious pit-stank.  It is not like normal b.o., it is like cat pee... or sort of like Nikes that you have worn while running in wet grass.  You know you want to run with me now!  And I am wondering why I can't find a real life running buddy?


Well, I fixed his wagon... let me tell you!  I made a bee-line for the potty... and didn't have time to close the door.  Not only do my pits stank, but apparently so does my ...

Nothing like a morning run ;-)

I want to run the Dipsea Race

Am I crazy?

The Dipsea Race just sounds like so much fun!  After reading the course description, that statement really pegs me as insane.  

But I want to do it anyway.

Too bad it isn't simply a matter of signing up... *sigh*  Rigid participant-limit makes it kind of hard to actually get in.  Well... I'm going to try.  I'm thinking that training for the Bay to Breakers will really help... both are a bit over 7 miles and have hills that kill.  And the Dipsea is harder and a month later... extra training time... if I get in.  Think good thoughts for me!

Anyone out there reading this mess ever done it?  What was it like?

Tomorrow I will be attempting 8 miles ... with hills.  I haven't been near a hill in my running shoes in seriously 9 years.  NINE years.... YEARS.  I may turn it into 7 (which would mean turning around right before the really big hill... the top of which is the 4-mile turn around) and not feel too much like a wimp because even 7 would be farther than I have run in those same NINE years!

Whose rooting for me?

Who can I root for?  Who's doing a long run tomorrow?  Who's doing something else challenging?

Who will be lying around, sleeping in?  

Who will be crashed out on the sofa all day eating yummy things made for them by someone else?  

In other words, can I be envious of your Sunday?  lol

Vecchio Venerdì

Making this whole retro deal a regular thing...

can you place a date on this picture?

I am sure the hair helps... and to know that this was at my college graduation might help narrow it down even more... but the hair definitely will place you in the right decade ;-)  oh, and if you look closely, the cars in the background are a big clue, too

And then let's travel back to that fabulous family trip to Sicily... since were being all Italian tonight...

I am so happy that my kids all love to read and are so fond of books!

Did you ever sport BIG HAIR?  Was it Farrah-esque?  Or modeled after some other trendy celebrity?

What was the best trip you ever took as a family... whether the child or the parent?  What made it so special?

Fast Train to Bedtime

And with a cry of 

"As fast as possible!"

They're off...

 

The other night I drew inspiration from my children.  I put them to bed and set out for my 'tempo' run.  I am following an Automated Training Program, and it was Tempo Night.

That morning my fabulous and thoughtful husband picked up a watch for me.  A running watch.  So that I could time myself without getting hurt.  I'd been using my cellphone for music and timing... it is rather large and I carry it in a protective, velcro-fastened pouch so I don't break it.  I usually run in the dark, and when I fumble around while getting the phone out of the pouch, sometimes I trip and I always slow down and it is just a drag.  So now I have a groovy watch!  I spent 5 minutes reviewing the instructions and another 15 trying to fold the 'manual' back up so that it would fit into the little watchbox, stretched out and away I went.

While I am apparently really crappy at figuring out how fast I am running overall, I am really good at maintaining a steady pace.  I used to have that knack even in rowing... the Human Metronome.  My Automated Training Program wants me to run this 2-mile tempo run at "10K pace" which they have determined to be 9:30/mile.  The bad news is I did not hit that number.  The good news is I did the 2 miles in 16:50.  And it felt like a push but definitely not like all I had... it felt right.  So I am getting faster.  A month ago, my mile time-trial was 8:17... and that was a balls-to-the-wall, haul-ass-fast, kill myself for that mile kind of feeling.  Yay.

I have 4 months to be able to run 8 min miles for 7.46 miles... with hills ... in order to match my fantasy goal.  Sometimes the process is just too slow for impatient me!

Musique pour Mercredi

This week's musical selection that has french in it...




Hope you enjoy it!

Stylish Blogger Award? lol

I know it must have been the snot-sleeved little black tee I wrote about here that got me 'nominated' for this dubious honor!  lol  Stylish, indeed.  *snort*  don't they know who I am?  

But I love this tag game.  Because I have so many stupid erroneous facts to share!  So... many thanks to Amanda@Runninghood for giving me this opportunity to spew forth present a few interesting tidbits about meeeee!

In case you are unfamiliar with how this goes down, here's what needs to happen for this to work:

1. I must make a post linking back to the person who has nominated me for this prestigious award.
2. I must share 7 things about myself.
3. I must pass on the honor to 10 new bloggers I really like.
4. I must contact these bloggers and tell them they've been awarded this Stylish Blogger Award.

Whew!  What a lot of work!  I don't know if I am up to the challenge... especially after my tempo run ;-)  but I'll give it a whirl...

Got #1 out of the way... thanks, Amanda!  On to #2...

I've done this before here and I just put a bunch in a comment here on Diary of a Midlife Cruiser, but as I said I have a lot to share!

1.  I liked being pregnant!  yes, it got very, very old toward the end... ready-to-do-anything kind of old...

 even ready-to-end-it-all kind of old...

but I found that making a whole person inside of my own body to be just about the coolest thing imaginable!  I will forever miss the feeling of a baby moving around in there...

2.  I love Halloween... or any excuse to be in costume!  My most memorable costumes have been... oh, wait... this is a 'family' blog  ;-)  oh, heck... why not?

Pregnant dominatrix

(but must admit the previous year's was the best of all time and I can't find the pictures)

3.  I have breastfed all 4 of my kids.  I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding... but do not pass judgement on those who prefer not to or can't or whatever.  I have been a human dairy bar continuously since September of 1999.  And that may skeeve some people out... but hey, that's me ;-)  I will feed my baby whenever hungry and while that may sound awfully 'in-your-face', I am not like that about it.  I am not a flasher... I am discreet... sort of.

(not entirely sure how discreet this would be considered... on the Seine right across from the Musée d'Orsay... no benches so I just sat in the stroller... but you can't see my boob, so we're good, right?)

4.  I really miss real treats... especially ones with wheat.  Something has happened in my body and I now can't eat wheat without becoming cranky and getting a 2- or 3-day migraine.  Not worth it.

Eating the yummiest pastry known to the human race... a Réligieuse... cream puff-like base filled with chocolate custard, coated with chocolate glaze and topped with a smaller cream puff thing also filled with the chocolate custard and the two are attached with whipped cream

(and I look greasy and spacey because I am severely jet-lagged in this picture... nearly 24 hours in transit with 3 kids ... just eat the dang thing and crash)

5.  I was a really messy kid.  (my husband would argue that nothing has changed)  So I am not too terribly particular about how my kids keep their rooms... most of the time...

6.  You all already know about this:

from that last '7 random things' tag (see link).  Me, Fidel and my rowing partner... 1991 PanAmerican Games held in Havana, Cuba.  We came in second to the Canadians.  Bummer.  What a blast that was!

(what I am not showing you is that we were also in People Magazine... my partner was a big story... 42 and the mother of another competing athlete... it was the same issue of People that featured Jeffrey Dahmer... nice....and we were also on Wide World of Sports)  but this is such a fun one and everyone always gets a kick out of it... so I'm showing it again :P

7.  I am way smarter than I seem ;-)  and you'll just have to take my word for it!

Crikey!  Now to pick some other bloggers...

1. Kelley from Kelley's Break Room
2. Lee on the Run
3. KD from Life-Inspired by the Wee Man
4. NattyBumpo
5. Danny
6. Elkton Runner Girl
7. Table for Seven
8. GetRealMommy
9. Krumpledwhiskers
10. Catey

These are all people I want to know more random things about.  So if you are on the list and it is overwhelming to you to participate... fine... be that way (pout).  Nahhhh, I totally get it.  Don't sweat it.  But if you are cool with being a Stylish Blogger, please let me know more about you... either just in the comments here or in a post on your blog.

Pretty, pretty please!

I'll need to notify them all tomorrow... I need to go to bed... New Year's Resolution and all ;-)