Books I Read in July

Okay, so I only got around to reading 2.75 books this month - more on the .75 below.  The little family trip took up some of my reading time and Unbroken was a bit long, not one of those books you just can't wait to pick up...

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand

It's such an eye opening read about WWII and what POWs went through.  The amazing story of survival, hope and miracles reminded me a bit of reading In The Heart of The Sea about the whale ship Essex. After awhile, though, I was getting confused as to where a number of the characters ended up in Japan and I wasn't always eager to pick it up, due to the repetitively awful scenes of the prison camps. But it's the part of the story that should be told and what those men went through should be remembered.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Aimee Bender

I certainly enjoyed the fantastical nature of this book - the main character has the ability to 'taste' the emotions of the person who cooked her food. However, it didn't seem to delve deep enough into a lot of the WHY. WHY was her mother so sad?? We come to find that othe members of her family have 'talents' when the story is nearly over, and I wish we could have learned more of their stories and the enigma that was her grandmother. It was beautifully written and I certainly felt the sadness of...I certainly enjoyed the fantastical nature of this book - the main character has the ability to 'taste' the emotions of the person who cooked her food. However, it didn't seem to delve deep enough into a lot of the WHY. WHY was her mother so sad?? We come to find that other members of her family have these 'talents' when the story is nearly over, and I wish I could have learned more of their stories, especially the enigma that was her grandmother and the relationship she had with her mother. It was beautifully written and I certainly felt the sadness of this character's burdens. But, I dunno, I felt like I wanted more from this book...

Fifty Shades Darker, EL James

OK, I'm about 75% done; funny how so many people now talk in percentages about books, ahh, the Kindle revolution...  However, I can already give my full review on it: I feel the same way about this one as with the first one.  Here's a fun little video that explains ALL.  I can identify with all the points of view: it's fun to read, yet it's sorta degrading towards women and I'd be completely embarrassed to be caught reading it...

One Word Wednesday - Splashing

Road Trip and Hiking with the Kids

We took our first real 'road trip' as a family last week, driving more than 4 hours away with an overnight stay.  We've always wanted to get to Olympic National Park and thought it'd be cool to go to the Hoh Rainforest visitor center area and check out low tide at the beaches of La Push the following morning.  It was awesome AND a living hell all rolled into one.  I should know by now to not have any kind of expectations when it comes to the kids: the things that I expected to go just fine, went horribly awry, and the things I worried about were no biggie.  Figures.

The car time had me worried.  We don't have a DVD player in the car and I really don't want to HAVE to go down that road.  We certainly handed over electronic devices from time to time (our shared family Kindle Fire and the kids have a MobiGo), but they also did a good job with sticker and coloring fun packs, books, and SNACKS.  Want my kids to pipe down?  Give them food, especially 'road trip only' food like Twizzlers - ohhh, that was a big hit.  Breaking the trip up into smaller sections was really helpful, too.  We had a nice ferry ride at the beginning, drove for awhile, then had lunch, and drove again.  For more great tips, here's a great post from Modern Parents Messy Kids that I read AFTER we got back.  Figures.

Hiking with our kids is something we do quite a bit, so we were prepared for that and it went great.  In addition to the usual hiking essentials (water, some food, sunblock, bug spray, small first aid, extra clothes, etc.), having big brother bring his own 'hiking backback' and camera always makes him feel like he's helping and gives him a place to put his 'treasures.'  Moveable Mom has some great tips on this post and we're TOTALLY gonna look for magical creature cottages on our next hike; such a cute idea!

Eating was pretty slim pickin' in Forks, despite it's world renowned fame for being the hometown of Bella Swan and the Cullens.  Just for kicks, we looked up where the closest McDonald's or Starbucks were located - at least 60 miles away.  But the Thriftway is always a fun jaunt in any town and they had lots of good deli options to take back to our condo or out for a hike.  The little pizza joint (Pacific Pizza) was tasty, albeit kinda depressing with the ripped vinyl booths and bad wallpapering.  But, for the kids, it could have been Disney for all they cared.  NEW!  FUN! DIFFERENT!


So, the one thing that just sucked beyond belief was trying to get our two year old to sleep somewhere other than her crib.  And, as all parents know, lack of sleep makes everyone cranky and pissed off.  She's at the age where she's not quite ready for a real bed and too old for a pack and play.  We got a two bedroom condo with two queen beds and figured we'd put both kids in bed together and just let them stay up until they passed out.  Since our youngest has always been pretty go with the flow, we just thought it'd work out.  Yeaaaaahh, not so much.  We put 'em to bed at 9pm (nearly 2 hours late) hoping they'd be tired and fall asleep.  Bwahahahaa!  They stayed up playing in the bed until nearly 11pm when finally went to intervene.  On the upside, they spent two hours in a queen bed playing quietly together without fighting like cats and dogs.  That's a small miracle right there.  Anyhoo, my husband took a deliriously overtired toddler into our room and got her to sleep on him and then put her back next to her sleeping brother around midnight.  Only to have her wake at 2:30am screaming her head off.  So, we basically spent the night taking turns holding her and trying to get her to sleep.  Kinda like when she was an infant.  At least there was more napping on the drive home and a lot less sniping between her and her brother!  I think if we, for whatever reason, had to get on the road before baby girl has transitioned to a real bed next year, we might try borrowing one of those sleep tent things from a friend of ours and just zip her in there... 

Sleepy girl(s)

Thankfully the beach at La Push was amazing and gave us a little pep in our step.  We had the best time checking out tons of starfish, anemone, clams, hermit crabs, seaweed...  It was a blast for my son who seems to have a penchant for marine biology.

Overall, it was all SO worth it to get out and spend some time unplugged with the kids.  Big brother was so psyched about sleeping in a new place and trying new things, and I know his sister will get there soon.  Now that we've taken that first tentative step into family trips, we're really excited about future adventures.

This Week's Eats and a FAB lunch salad

Ahhh, gotta love the perfect summer weekend.  For me that means getting together with friends, having fun with the kids (instead of feeling like I'm wrangling them) and going out for a nice dinner.  Check, check and check.  We went out for my birthday dinner and I had a LAVENDER martini, er well, I had two.  Sooooo good. 

Since our kids love all things Cars and Hotwheels related, we thought it'd be fun to check out our town's annual car show.  It was, without a doubt, the highlight of their weekend.  After eating their favorite lunch (Jimmy John's which we love, too - reminds us of home and college) we spent the entire sunny afternoon checking out hundreds of cool cars, vendors, and the kids even got to meet the Seafair Pirates and score some 'booty.' 

We also hooked up with long time friends for a BBQ and I volunteered to bring a salad.  I have a few gluten free and dairy free friends, as well as a couple that are mostly eating Paleo (those crazy Crossfit kids!) and at least one vegetarian in the bunch.  I'd been meaning to try this quinoa salad and thought it'd be a good audience to test it out on.  It went over really well.  HIGHLY recommend!  I've been eating the leftovers for lunch, too.  The only thing I did differently was cook the quinoa according to package directions (which called for WAY less veggie broth) and I will for sure add a little crumbled feta or cojita cheese when I make it again, because I love cheese and am an 'everything in moderation' kind of gal.  Unless my doctor tells me to, there will be ZERO banned items in my house.  I want to eat ALL THE THINGS.

Photo from The Diva Dish

Here's what we're eatin' this week:

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - girls night out for dinner, yay!
• Wednesday - grilled chicken with satay marinade, peanut sauce and roasted broccoli
• Thursday - Thai ground beef and veggies - a great old Cooking Light recipe
• Friday - Greek meatball salad (yes, this one is getting a lot of action in our house)
• Saturday - rigatoni with arrabiata sauce (yeah, this is a frequent Saturday meal...can you tell I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the menu this week?)
• Sunday - chipotle chicken chowder, another great old Cooking Light find

Friday Things

So that new location for a ZOOMA run was announced yesterday and, sadly, no resorts in the Pacific Northwest were chosen.  Alas, they did choose a location near and dear to my heart.  They'll be going to Amelia Island, FL in January 2013.  We spent several years going to Amelia as a family.  We even drove down there from Chicago on at least one occasion.  Seeing as how my mom is into tennis, it's a PERFECT retreat for the tennis lover - as well as tons of other activities.  I remember riding rented bikes endlessly around the island and getting lunch (lots of hot dogs and virgin daiquiris) charged to our condo.  Thanks mom!  And when we were in our pre-teen years, there was lots of Tron/Qbert/Ms Pac Man playing in the arcade (OMG that makes me feel like a fossil), driving golf carts 'kamikaze' style around at night without headlights and trying to crash the older kids bonfire parties on the beach.  And now my big brother is about to embark on a vacation there this summer with his three kids.  Full circle...

All of the pictures surfacing on the web today from the opening ceremonies of the Olympics are making me SO ANTSY.  I can't wait to park myself on the couch tonight and watch.  And as much as I love to run, I'm so glad that swimming gets underway first - it's my favorite to watch, not gonna lie.  After our fancy dinner out tomorrow, we're coming home to watch Phelps vs. Lochte battle it out for the 400 IM. 

Also, if you've heard the term 'blackout' bandied about in regards to the athletes sponsors and aren't sure what the heck they're talking about, PLEASE read this blog post from Oiselle about what a bunch of crap it is and how we can do our small part to help the athletes and their sponsors.  Another good article here on Forbes.

Enough preachy preacherson, here's the latest admission of my top 40 listening habits...  YES I have some Pitbull on my playlist, OKAY?  This may have to inspire me while running in the wee dark hours...

("We Run the Night" by Havanna Brown feat. Pitbull)

Happy weekend!

What Next...(and a few race entry codes)

I'm almost glad that I didn't meet my sub 2 hour time goal for the See Jane Run Half Marathon, because then I'd be somewhat clueless about what goal to set for my next race.  I haven't followed any kind of training plan since early March and I kind of miss having someone telling me what to do a set schedule.  So, I'm starting a new plan on Monday - I'm gonna give the Train Like a Mother 13.1 'Own It' plan a go.  I really like how they've indicated which workouts are 'essential' that week and which ones I can ditch, if necessary.  It's a 14 week program that will perfectly segue into what looks like a nice little PR type race: the Snohomish River Run!  The only fly in the ointment is that the weekly long runs start right off at 8-10 miles in the first weeks and I can't fit more than 9 miles in at the Y, due to the (very reasonable) 90 minute time limit for the daycare.  So, it's either get up at a crazy hour of the morning (for 14 weeks rather than the usual last 2-3 weeks of a plan) or give up my beloved one day to 'sleep in' each weekend.  I'm leaning towards getting up super early one day during the week, but a bit worried about running alone at the crack of dawn...  I'm partial to running on the trails, but might keep to busier areas and just deal with ugly scenery and stoplights to be safe.  Blargh.  But, to have the workout done before the kids even get up?!  That'd be pretty nice... 

Any local yokels wanna join in?  If you do, Super Runner Mom has a code you can use for $10 off the entry fee!   'SuperRunnerSRR12'  I love that it's on a Saturday and within easy driving distance, too.

Speaking of codes...  I've got one for y'all to use for the inaugural Seattle Hot Chocolate 15K, as I've been selected as a 'Chambassador.'  Yes, you read that right; it's their way of callin' me a chocolate ambassador.  Woohoo! 

Go 'Like' them on Facebook now!

The race isn't for awhile yet, but save the date and mark your calendars for March 3, 2013 and use the code: HCSEAHAT1 for a free hat in yer goodie bag.  Don't worry, I'll remind you repeatedly about the code as winter rolls around.   

I'm SO excited for this race, for so many reasons.  A 15K is a long, yet fun and doable distance.  Proceeds go to the local chapters of Ronald McDonald House.  It's a national race with locations across the country, but it's run by RAM Racing which is based out of Chicago; and we all know I love to support my hometown.  And, really, who wouldn't want to eat chocolate fondue after a race???  I hope to see lots of familiar faces there!

mmmmmm (pic stolen from the Hot Chocolate website)

Aaaand, back to the subject of discount codes: I just got one for $10 off the Eugene Marathon for next year.  Hrrmmmm.  Anyone wanna help me run my first marathon there?  I'm seriously considering it...

One Word Wednesday - ZOOMA!

(okay, some extra words: fingers crossed for Seattle-ish area!  Video by Lindsay)

http://zoomarun.com/2012/07/wherewillzoomago/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wherewillzoomago