Exercising: back to the old grindstone

As you all know, 4-0 lurks just around the corner. I am excited by the fact that I have a "milestone" coming up and of course, this prompts that old "look back at my life". 

As far as my life goes, it has been a pretty good one. While I get mired down sometimes in the monotony of daily life, I do tend to be a glass half full person. There are times when I look back and am sad/mad/regretful, but mostly, I am happy. I am in a good place, both physically and emotionally. I love my family, husband and my location. So, what's  not to love?

Well, love handles, that's what!  I am a bit out of shape.  And that's what not to love. During the past 10 years, winter is when I get fit. I work out regularly, run, hit the gym, etc. About the time spring hits, I lose my momentum and bathing suit season brings on a general malaise.
I get lazy. I turn into a lizard, laying in the sun and soaking up the rays.

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Except this past year. I was motivated until about mid January. 

Then my lizardness kicked in. Except it was cold and I wanted to hibernate.

Don't get me wrong, I still hit the gym, but I was mostly going through the motions. I ran occasionally and started walking/training for a half marathon. But really, I was lazy. Part of the reason was I was bored and the other,a recurring pain in my knee when I run longer than 3 miles. Sad. 

Last week, though. I turned the page/corner/leaf. I started P90X seriously.

I have a new goal: pull ups.

I started running: ran four times last week for a total of 12 miles.

I am working my way up to 30 miles a week by June 25th.

Then I start training for the Ragnar relay with some friends. 

Click here for details

This will  not be a lizard summer for me. Unless lizards do pull ups and run lots of training miles

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So, here I go. Getting back in shape. Just in time for my 40th birthday. Coincidence? I think not!

Reading: take a leap

I know you are not suppossed to brag about your children. Whoever came up with that rule must have had a friend who was mega competitive about her own kids and so the rule maker got fed up. Rather than being rude and saying "Shut the H#$% up about your D@#$ kid!" they made a rule for it. Sounds like a first born....

I personally think we should brag about our kids. Not in the "my kid is better than yours" way some parents fall into, but with great pride in their genuine skills and achievements. I love hearing about kids who work hard or are naturally gifted and whose parents are somewhat amazed at what their offspring has created/achieved/participated in.

But I digress...

My kids are amazing. They really are. Both are happy being dirty and  stinky, playing in the dirt and climbing trees. They are not snobs about other people and for the most part are very kind and often are awkward. They are super sarcastic and have excellent senses of humor and use it inappropriately at times. I love it!

They also are amazing readers. That is a great source of pride for me. I love to read and have been since a very early age. (Most accounts put it at three, but I distinctly remember being able to read at 4). Curiosity can be fed, boredom can be cured and brains will be strengthened by reading a book, all the way through. At their age, my preference was to read laying down with my feet up on something, like the back of the couch, a wall, a tree.

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My oldest followed in my footsteps and was reading at 3. Her sister finally was able to allow us to know she could read at 5, but her teachers said she had been reading for some time. She's a little competitive and must master something before she can show that she knows how to do it. Walking made it's debut at 17 months. And I threatened her to get it done then.


My girls read like crazy.I find them sprawled everywhere in my house lately. One is rereading books that she read in 3rd grade and is venturing into that no-man's land of "books my sister read". The other is stealing my books to read. Which is fine, if she were reading Hemingway. But she wants to read my Christopher Moore books which are more like frat humor for intellectuals.

 I have the task of being her censure. And so,  I am looking into more mature books. Without graphic sex or frat humor.  We have had the birds and bees talk, but I am not ready to go into more detail yet. She recently read True Grit and To Kill A Mocking Bird and while both have violence, I felt that it was age appropriate for her. (That is a sentence I never anticipated uttering! Appropriate violence..?)

 Here is a list I have compiled thus far of books that I have read. Any suggestions for additions would be greatly appreciated!

The Da Vinci Code

The Secret Life of Bees

Fried Green Tomatoes

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (not sure about this one)

Help a sister out!

Cooking: the food of our family

It is no secret I love to cook. That is a lie. I love to cook fun things. 

Dinner six days a week is really monotonous.  However, I do it  because A: it is cheaper than going out and B: it is healthier than going out.  Most of the time, I have six things we eat and I rotate it. Since the new year though, I have tried to do one new ethnic food a week. Sometimes, I fall short and we have tacos. No one complains. We are really boring!



All of my personal obligations have cleared the calendar. I have nothing to train for, no soccer to drive to, no plays to review ( last one was lacking, but a few of the actors, mine included were fabulous and showed their Bolden training) and most of all, no parties to plan or attend.  Now I can get back to the business of looking for a job and working on my home. Notice I said " home" not "house".  I am working on the house side doing such things as cleaning and painting baseboards and rehanging art, etc.  But, I am also working on the home things. Better planned meals, back to sitting down as a family and watching movies and hanging out in the yard playing cornhole and hopefully putting up a tether ball stand. Fun stuff that make our house a home.

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 So, on the meals note...here is our menu for the week and a recipe for super easy, super yummy soup.

Casa Swann 15 days til summer countdown menu

• Ravioli soup
• BBQ chicken in the crockpot, strawberry and greens salad, baked sweet potatoes
• Coconut curried shrimp
• Fish tacos with slaw
• Grilled chicken/vegetable pita sandwiches with tzatziki sauce
• Grilled chicken salad

Recipe of the week (new thing I am starting). This recipe was originally a weight watchers diet recipe that I lost the recipe for and then just made up. It is easy because it takes very little time and the ingredients can be found in your pantry/freezer for something quick and yummy. Also really, really good the next day, but the broth is absorbed so it is more like pasta with spinach. Also, I don't measure, so this is all ballpark...especially the garlic!

Ravioli Soup

1 large or 2 small onions, diced

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 package frozen chopped spinach or 1 large container fresh, chopped

1 container of vegetable broth (I think it is 4 cups)

2 packages frozen ravioli or tortellini (you can also use the shelf stable kind, it is delicious) *

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 2 tbl. dried Italian seasoning (I use Alchemy Mediterranean or Italian)

heat about 1 tbl. olive oil in a pan. Add onion and cook until softened and turning desired shade of doneness.  Add garlic and seasoning and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and broth and  reduce heat to medium/low and cook about 10 minutes or until tomatoes start to break up. Add spinach and cook an additional 10 minutes. Reduce heat and add pasta and cook about 3 minutes or according to package directions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Yum.

*We don't eat much cheese and try to eat really low calorie, so I usually get the vegan ravioli. However, I have made it with cheese and it is great as well. The beauty of this recipe is that it is easy to change up. Chicken broth, beef ravioli, etc. can be substituted for a delicious change. I think black bean ravioli and Mexican seasoning would be good as well!