Argh

I suck at blogging these days. I have no TIME for it anymore. I have no time to keep up with it. Apparently, I used to have way too much time on my hands, back in the day. Which is not to say that other bloggers have too much time on their hands, it's just that I am crap at time management.

This weekend has been a Stuck Around the House weekend, because the Big Kid is sick. She is not an easy patient, which is hardly surprising. She hates every form of medicine out there, which makes her totally hard to take care of. I can't give her much relief. If there is something she HAS to take, she makes a huge deal out of it, and throws up a lot when she has a fever or has to take something she finds objectionable. I was able to con her into eating yogurt laden with ibuprofen, which was an enormous and unprecedented victory. She still has a fever, though, so I suppose we're off to the doctor tomorrow.

I'm pretty much giving up on ever getting to yoga again, since I have had one week since school started where they have both managed to be in school at the same time on their regular schedule.

School is a drag. That's all I'm going to say about that right now.

I'm trying to ignore the tickle in my throat and the tightness in my lungs, because I refuse to get sick. I'm too busy and having too much fun to be sick, dammit.

So we stuck close to home this weekend, and I did a lot of cooking Friday and Sunday. Friday I made a chicken in the slow cooker, warm red cabbage salad with pecans, pumpkin pecan muffins, and pumpkin anadama rolls. Today I made hamburger soup (which is a pretty good soup with a pretty lame name), brussels sprouts with dijon/caraway butter, yeasted dinner rolls, and leftover cabbage salad. (I am in LOVE with this warm red cabbage salad, it's so bizarre.) Tomorrow I will probably be stuck close to home again, except for doctor's appointments, so I will probably be cooking my ass off again. I had planned to do more house painting this weekend, but that didn't pan out. Painting is something that's hard to stop and start and do little bits of at a time ... for me, anyway.

Another reason I don't want to get sick is that I'm learning so many cool new things at the dojo! I got my brown belt two weeks ago, and now I'm working on judo throws, a new kata, and bo staff. I don't want to take any time off for any reason. So there.

Stupid school and its stupid germs.

August!

I love August. Not because it's my birthday month, but because it's the start of the harvest season. I mean, what could be better? It's still warm, still sunny, and so many awesome things are now ready to eat. We got our first corn from the CSA last week, and blueberries, and peaches, and these things make me happy. Once the tomatoes ripen, I will be out of my mind with agricultural glee.

Because of the whole CSA thing, and the whole "almost vegan" thing, I've had to be more scrupulous about meal planning. So I'll do Menu Monday!

Monday: Falafel with tahini sauce and mint salsa, tabbouleh
Tuesday: Enchilada Casserole, greens
Wednesday: Ethiopian Wat with Injera Bread
Thursday: Spinach Lasagne, salad
Friday: Takeout Night
Saturday (past): Barbequed Seitan Ribz, corn on the cob
Sunday (past): Green Thai Curried Vegetables, Jasmine Rice, Tofu Apple Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

(I do my actual planning from Sat-Fri, so that's why it's listed like this.)

I wanted to like the seitan ribz, and I want to like seitan on principle, but so far, I haven't been able to. I don't know if it's my inexpertise in making it, or what, but the ones I've made just aren't ... al dente enough, if you can use that expression for a non-pasta. Hubby seems to like seitan, though. The kids weren't enthused, but they ate a ton of corn.

They ate the curry, if only because it had baby corn in it, and they'll eat anything if it has baby corn in it. I loved the spring rolls, and I think Hubby did, too.

The kids haven't liked the falafel I've made recently, but they were mixes and I thought they tasted a little like cardboard. Trying one last mix before I give up on boxed falafel.

Last but not least, though I planned for Injera bread, I couldn't find teff flour. I'm not sure I want to make a trip to the NHFS just for teff, so maybe I'll just make it with regular flour. Who cares.

I don't usually make this many baked casseroley type of dishes, especially in the summer, but I have an ulterior motive. We're going out of town next week, so I'm planning on doubling the recipes for the Enchilada Bake and the lasagne and freezing them to bring.

I've also made Chocolate Chip Cookies this week (recipe also from Vegan Lunch Box) that the kids loved, and I have a big baggie of shredded zucchini in the fridge, just waiting to be tucked into some quick bread.

Yum.

Almost Vegan; But Will Kill Deer for Tomatoes

No matter how much I feel the need to recoil from wasting time online, I shouldn't stop blogging. At least, for myself. I have tried paper journaling again, and while it might be good for some things too embarrassing to disclose publically -- like my superstitions, or whom I have a grugde against -- my paper journaling is awful. I don't know whether to blame my handwriting, or what, but things don't flow as well, and they can't be easily expunged and rewritten. Somehow, just writing in a paper journal, with my handwriting, makes me feel (and sound) a whiny angsty 13 years old.

(Don't say it.)

So, what has been going on with me? I'm almost vegan. I would say, "I'm vegan," except as a new vegan, there are plenty of slip ups and adjustments. I'm not forcing my family to go vegan; they're still having their organic dairy, though I keep introducing new foods to see if there are any substitutions we can all agree on. So far, Annika is not appeased by any dairy substitutes, but Celyn will happily eat soy or coconut milk ice cream (oh, Turtle Mountain, how I love thee) and coconut milk yogurt. I'm also trying to be quite conscientious with my substitutions or replacements, trying to avoid highly processed stuff and a ton of soy (except for the odd treat like the "non dairy frozen desserts") so it's been quite an adventure. I'm not being sarcastic there, by the way.

The change is helping me use up my CSA share creatively, as well. At the least, it's not more difficult. I'm not entirely happy with my CSA, but that's another post for another time.

My garden isn't faring very well, and I blame myself. I didn't amend the soil from last year, and didn't add fertilizer until it was very late in the season. My lettuce did well, as did my collards, but in the square foot box, that was IT. I planted four tomato plants in the SQG box, and three in my Earth Box, and the Earth Box tomatoes are huge and full of tomatoes, and my SFG box tomatoes are spindly and short and only one has a tomato on it. Lesson learned.

But! Once again, something is eating green tomatoes, whole and entire, off my Earth Box plants. This happened last year, too, and whatever it was managed to eat ALL my green tomatoes in one night. Then, in a horrible coincidence, all the plants died within the week. (Or maybe it wasn't a coincidence, maybe a blighting demon ate all my tomatoes.) Anyway, either it's a demon or it's a deer. Small difference. We're not allowed to shoot guns within the village or the town, so I've been thinking about investing in a crossbow and taking a few out. Maybe not now, but soon ... and ... for the rest of my life?

Seeing as that's not a terribly practical solution, I sprayed my plants liberally with Deer and Rabbit Repellent. Oh, my GOD, it's horrifically repellent. It smells like rotting eggs ... stuffed inside a corpse. Which has been peed on. I bought it ages ago, but was hesitant to actually spray such foul stuff on my beautiful tomato plants unless there was a clear need. Well, seeing as I lost four tomatoes last night, there is now a clear and present need.

There is some sort of crazy irony in the fact that we (not the Royal We) use so many resources producing beef and pork and chicken, when there are approximately 80 kajillion deer and Canada geese running amok, completely unchecked. Am I the only one who sees a paradox here?

So lately, I've been obsessed with vegan food blogs -- of which there are many with stupendous recipes -- Maine, and yurts. I know, I didn't say anything about Maine or yurts in this entry. Don't rush me!

De Feet, Cont.

The doctor wants me to abstain from weight bearing exercise and "cross-train" for 1-2 weeks. Unfortunately, the non-weight bearing cross training exercises he mentions, like biking or swimming, I don't have access to.

It is to cry. I have stripe testing on the 14th! I was really making progress on my kata!

Sob.

The Agony of De Feet

Oh, what have I done to my feet? Alas, alack. Five measly workouts of mostly walking, and a really tiny bit of running, in the Vibrams, and after nearly a week with none of that, my feet and ankles are still messed up. I only went to karate twice last week, to try to baby my left ankle, only to have it swell after Thursday's class, and swell again last night.

This really sucks. I should go to the doctor, but when? I have no car today, and tomorrow is the last day before we go out of town. I've been resting and icing and a little compressing, but it's not like I get much time to put it up and laze around. I have two kids and a house with six levels. You do the math.

I know it doesn't help anything to be annoyed, but I am Really Annoyed. It strikes me as unbelievably ironic. The running was supposed to be an extra, a little added fillip ... it wasn't supposed to completely derail me off ALL of my activity. And the barefoot thing was supposed to reduce the risk of injury. It's just ... hilarious. My frustration must be quite comic to the universe.

Better'n Barefoot

You walk wrong, says Adam Sternberg in his article in New York Magazine.

When the kids were babies and just starting to walk, I was all over the Robeez and the Pedoodles, understanding that bare was best for the developing foot. Thin clad leather was the next best thing when barefoot wasn't appropriate. I still try to keep them in very soft soled shoes and barefoot, although now that they have opinions on the matter, I don't always get my way.

It never really occurred to me, though, that adult shoes posed similar problems for adult feet. The more I think about it, the more it makes perfect sense. I love to go barefoot, and in my SAHMdom, bare feet are de rigeur. (Sorry, FlyLady.) I do like shoes, I certainly do -- I just scored a pair of Naughty Monkeys off eBay for $0.99 -- but I spend far more time barefoot than shod.

Last year, during a five week dalliance with the Couch to 5K program that ended ignominiously with knee pain despite my fancy-schmancy specially fit running shoes, I did stumble across an article about barefoot running. I thought it must feel fabulous -- under perfect circumstances. I imagined running the roads and sidewalks in bare feet, encountering glass and sticks and stones and garbage, during the six months it's not frigidly cold in this climate, stifled a piercing shriek of horror, and promptly repressed the whole concept.

Then I read Adam's article, and saw the Vibram FiveFingers shoes, pictured above. Aren't they intriguing? Almost ... entrancing? My toes wiggle expectantly at the very idea. I'm no runner, but I imagine even walking with these would be an adventure. Why, I'd even try rock climbing or any other previously inconceivable crazy sport with these super soles.

And yet another expensive frivolity hits my wishlist, to languish endlessly alongside Yoga Sandals and the Backnobber.

Okay, This is Becoming Ridiculous

I feel like a heap of cold dung this week. Monday's class was great, and I was able to do some postures I hadn't done before in class.

Now ... still breaking out. Monday afternoon, I started getting swollen glands under my neck and a sore throat. I had a dizzy headache, so I skipped karate that night.

Tuesday, I went about all day with the swollen glands, fuzzy head, and sinus pressure. Since it was all above the neck, I went to karate anyway. It was fun but totally kicked my ass.

This morning I woke up around 2:45am with facial sinus pressure so bad I had to get up and take some ibuprofen. Then I lay in bed, waiting for it to work, feeling like my teeth wanted to break off. Just around 4am, when I was starting to feel dozy, I started sneezing. And sneezing. And that led to ...

"Mommy? Mommy?"

"Shhhhhh, go to sleep."

...

"MOMMY!"

So I went up to the kids' room to resettle Cel, who did not want to be resettled. She decided to tell me her tale of woe.

"I woke up and I heard a snooze, and I said 'Mommy? Mommy?' but I just heard a shush! I t'ought maybe you was on Annika's side so I yook and I don't see you so I say, 'MOMMY!' again and you come from big bed." Here she paused.

"And dat's my story. Now, 'nuggle me!"

She kept me up another half hour, then I fell asleep in there and missed my subtle 5:30am alarm. So I missed class this morning. Fortunately, there are two classes this evening so I'll try to make up there, thanks to my gracious husband. Now, oddly, especially feeling so crappy, I am craving the sauna-like heat of the yoga studio. It makes all my muscles go loose, like Jell-O.

Normally, I'd assume I have a cold, but everything I have going is a textbook list of detoxification symptoms.

April has been a wild month for me. Let's review:

- Gave up dairy and red meat.
- Gave up coffee. (Coffee, can you effing believe it? I mean, come on!)
- Started Bikram.

And this is the list I console myself with when I feel slightly bitter that most of my class buddies graduated to green belt last weekend, and I didn't, because I missed one single stripe testing week waaay back in November. Now they're not in my classes anymore, they're in the intermediate classes. Hopefully, May will be my month for green belt.

I have some potentially interesting -- and not totally health and self oriented -- posts in my queue, if my brain ever clears enough to write them.

The Toxic Avenger!

Today wraps up my ten day introductory special over at the Bikram studio. I managed to do four classes within that timeframe. I had hoped for five, but I fell asleep putting the kids to bed on Sunday and forgot to set my alarm for the 6am Monday class.

I love it. Love love love. I could do more this morning than I could last week, or even just on Saturday. I love the 6am classes because they're not jam packed. Saturday was crowded. So crowded that I had to really be aware of the people around me to avoid brushing them when extending my arms. Blah.

I can't believe how many guys take this class! This morning, there were only three women to seven guys. They struggle just as much as anyone else. There are people of all shapes and sizes, although you can tell the long-timers by the depth of their poses, and they tend to be lean and lithe.

I really enjoyed today's class, because it felt more like effort and less like torture, and I was able to do more poses, and hold them better, and felt pretty accomplished. Hey, I did a tree pose without falling down. Go me.

I have noticed some changes since starting. Karate feels easier, cardiovascularly and in terms of balance. My midsection feels different. My posture feels better. I'm also breaking out, though. I asked the instructors about this on Saturday, and they said it was a good thing, it was "toxins escaping." Okay, I guess, but you know, I do plenty of other excreting. Can my stupid toxins find a more convenient escape route? Like hitching a short ride on the 2L of water I'm trying to choke down a day? Why try to force their way up and out through my friggin' chin?

She said to wash with witch hazel. I haven't gotten any yet. It does seem to be tapering off, thankfully.

Notably, last week, I did a total of 7.5 hours of exercise. Three 90 min Bikram classes, one 90 min karate class, and two 45 minute karate classes. One day, I did one of each. And I didn't die! Not only did I fail to expire, I wasn't even horribly tired or sore. I did take a few naps last week, but they felt well deserved. Getting up at 5:15am is not my strong suit.

Now that my intro special is up, I have to buy either a membership or a class card to continue. I can't believe I'm going to spend so much money on exercise (since I already pay monthly for karate), of all things, but I've discovered I don't work out well on my own. I can either keep bashing my head against that particular wall, or I can just pay the money to continue to exercise regularly AND enjoy it to boot. Taking exercise classes feels a little bit like cheating, because I don't have to organize the time myself, or figure out what to do. The times are non-negotiable. I show up, they tell me what to do, I do it.

If only I could find a similar way to manage housework.

the best diet with the worst name

I ordered this book about three weeks ago, while coiled up on the couch in pain. I've had IBS since I was a teenager, got an official seal of approval diagnosis in 2003, and continued to have frequent and random difficulties ever since.

Seemingly random.

I found this book while surfing around for information on IBS, because I was getting desperate enough to make a doctor's appointment, and I knew that there was a high probability that it would be a useless waste of time. I thought I'd give the book and the eating plan a try before I went that route again.

The gist of the plan is as follows: avoidance of red meat, egg yolks, dairy, high-fat foods, caffeine, carbonation, and alcohol.

I know what you're thinking. But wait! I have more things to say!

The good -- nay, fabulous -- part is the list of things that are good, happy foods for your fussy digestive system. After years of indoctrination to the contrary, I was a little bit scared to start eating white bread, white rice, pasta (not whole wheat) and all these other delightful foods you're told are completely useless nutritionally and will make you fat. You are also told to eat lean proteins, like (white meat) chicken, fish, shellfish, and egg whites.

I immediately changed my diet. I dumped the coffee for teas, mostly herbal. I started baking bread several times a week: white, Italian, and sweet breads. I lowered the fat in all recipes as much as possible by using nonstick cookware and the oil sprays. I got a rice cooker and we've been having white rice with almost every meal, unless we're having pasta.

I switched to soy milk for drinking and recipes, and since my oldest is allergic to egg whites, all my baking is now vegan. I've been making banana bread, orange cranberry bread, chocolate applesauce bread, and this unbelievable lemon sticky bread -- all recipes from the book.

Almost immediately, I improved. Every day I stuck to the diet, I had no problems. Every time I weaseled in a bit of dairy, I felt it. I'm amazed at how much better behaved my system has been these past three weeks. I haven't had to make any unexpected changes in my day or schedule because of GI issues, and that's been a real problem lately.

And frankly, I'm in total bliss over being given the green light to eat white foods again. I haven't gained any weight yet on all these carby carbs (I'm crossing my fingers, though), and my next focus is to start carefully working in more insoluble fiber foods (raw veggies, pithy fruits, etc.) to see how much I can tolerate. I'll happily continue to eat within the diet's structure if it means I don't have to deal with pain and bloating and other unmentionables.

If you have IBS, I highly recommend the book. She's researched the hell out of IBS, and to this layman, the science behind her diet plan seems sound. Anyway, the proof is in the pudding.

The luscious, dreamy rice pudding.

hot yoga

I took the plunge and went to a 6am Bikram Yoga class at the new studio down the street.  I hydrated all weekend like a ... crazy water swilling person.  I chronically have issues with water drinking, and therefore I suspect I'm always flirting with dehydration.  It's a really long standing bad habit.

I fretted over my attire.  Everything I'd read, including the studio brochure, said to wear a sports bra or tank top and form fitting shorts.  Now, my wardrobe is woeful in every department, but those are things I don't own.  Well, I mean, I have several sports bras, but I'd never wear them as tops.  I ended up wearing some loose cotton shorts and a nursing tank I had from Target.  It wasn't an ideal outfit, but it was the best I could do.

I really will need to buy something more suitable if I keep doing this, though.

We were to bring a sticky mat, a bath towel, and a bottle of water.  The studio room was heated to 105°F.  I walked in and instantly began sweating.

I knew it would be tough; I was amazed at how tough it was.  Even the opening breathing exercise got my heart rate going and the sweat pouring.  The class was 90 minutes, and I had to stop four or five times to just sit and catch my breath.  At some points, I thought, "This is kind of awful; why I am doing this?"  One pose had us lean over our extended leg and touch our forehead to our knee.  Okay, let's be honest: with my forehead on my knee, I had about a fifty percent chance of smothering to death.  From what I can see, most practitioners of yoga do not have this problem: the self-smothering killer boobs of doom.  So they can be forgiven for not anticipating the potential lethality of the Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose.

The pace felt fast to me, but I appreciated that the instructor kept tabs on people and corrected our posture when necessary.  She told me later I was flexible, but maybe she was being kind.

I got through it, and as soon as I started to cool down, I felt the afterglow hit.  I felt bathed in a giddy, silly state of bliss.  The bliss lasted a good couple of hours.  It might have lasted longer, were it not simultaneously a Monday (read: weekend chaos recovery efforts) and another damn day off from the regular preschool schedule (read: fiesty and bored four year old.)

I have a ten day introductory special, and she advised going as often as I could during those first ten days to really see the effects, but I can't sneak in much more than maybe three in the week.  Four would be pushing it.  Only two classes per week are at 6am, which is the most ideal time because it doesn't really interfere with the family or karate.  I have karate tonight, in fact, and stripe testing to boot, but I feel great.  The only thing that might interfere with my performance tonight is that I dropped a bedrail on my big toe this afternoon, moving furniture around.  *eyeroll*

I can't wait for the next class.  Whee!  I'm obviously insane!

Edited to fix numerous mistakes that are the result of SO MUCH EFFING NOISE AND BICKERING.