Sunday, February 22, 2009

not feeling it

i have been struggling with sticking to the spirit of this blog and not simply grizzling and whinging about the trials and tribulations of my little life when the mood strikes me to write. therefore, i haven't been writing.

the intent of the blog was to find those small moments of delight and wonder in daily life, to hold them up to the light to be shared and enjoyed and cherished...

and so, i am being strict with myself and reminding myself to stick to it. if i want to moan and complain about stuff, i should start another blog for that. a dedicated "poor me" blog...

***

the sun was shining this morning when i took the dog out for a walk in the park. he's been staying with us for ten days, and since this is not a poor me blog, i won't tell you all the ways in which having him stay has been difficult. instead, i shall tell you that he's been good company and now that he has gone home i will miss him.

having a puppy around means that i have been going for long walks every day. this is good for my mental health. and, it has resulted in me being far less stiff and sore after my weekly long runs than i have been in earlier weeks.

the sun was shining when we went out for our walk this morning. there are snowdrops and crocuses blooming in the gardens at the conservation area a few blocks from here. the daffodils are starting to come up, and the buds on the magnolia trees look like gigantic pussy willows.

having a cute little red dog around is kind of like having a baby... people stop to ooh and aah, they ask how old he is, what kind of dog he is... and occasionally they notice that he has just three legs and remark about the resilience of young creatures... then they wish me a good morning/afternoon/evening and carry on their way. i've talked to more people over the last ten days than i have over the last six months of living here.

it's kinda nice.

***

now that i am running at least 20 miles each week (or more), i am ravenous most of the time. this has led to a burst of creativity in the kitchen.

one can only eat oatmeal with brown sugar so many times... so now i have it with walnuts, raspberries and honey... or peanut butter and mango... or strawberries, sunflower seeds and yogurt.

breakfast eggs are now rarely just eggs, but omelets full of veggies and cheese... or loads of fresh ginger... or feta and fresh mint. i bake bread every week just so we'll have good bread to have with eggs.

a lunch time sandwich is now never just a sandwich... it's a dagwood sandwich, full of cheeses and olives and sweet peppers and crunchy lettuce and hot pickles and stuff falling out the sides.

lunch time salads are salad extravaganzas... full of nuts and cheeses and seeds and herbs and fruit... and they're never small any more.

one can only eat pasta with tomato sauce so many times... now we're having it with sauteed butternut squash, hot chilis, asparagus and toasted pine nuts... or with chunks of feta cheese, garlic, fresh herbs and good olive oil.

we used to have left-overs for lunches... but now if there are left-overs they rarely make it past late evening snack time.

my sweetheart keeps telling me i'm spoiling him. but the truth is i'm being good to me. i'm eating like a runner.

Friday, February 13, 2009

that Romeo stuff

when i was a kid and my dad would tease me about boyfriends i shut him up by telling him i was too young for that Romeo stuff...

now i like the Romeo stuff.

so... for the third year in a row, my sweetheart and i will not be spending Valentine's day together... and for the third year in a row, i'm kind of sad about that.

do we need a special day to celebrate our love? no...
do we need to spend pots of money on flowers or chocolates or lingerie or fancy dinners to prove we love each other? no...

but there's just something about being able to take part in the global annual celebration of love... after many years of not having a love to celebrate, there's that little part of me that longs to get in there and revel in the fact that i am finally part of the love club, that i have joined the world of the loved.

(not that i was unloved before... but you get what i mean)

my husband didn't realise until Wednesday that Valentine's day was this coming weekend. he posted a few items for sale on Craig's List... and when he told the guy that wants to come by on Saturday to buy the kayak that he wasn't going to be here, but that i would... the guy wrote back to say he'd get in touch with me, and ps.. did he know that Saturday was Valentine's day???

(fortunately for me, he can't forget my birthday 'cos it's the day after his...)

he told me last night that he was sorry we weren't going to be together on Valentine's day... so we agreed that we would have a lovely romantic dinner together one night next week. and when i walked him out to the truck as he was leaving this evening, he held me extra close and kissed me extra long and called me his Valentine.

and so, in spite of the fact that once again we won't be celebrating our love together on the 14th... i feel like in talking about it we've been celebrating it for the past three days. i've been basking in the glow of love.

and i like it.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

this hungry heart will not subside

... soon as you start to make room for the parts that aren't you it gets harder to bloom ...

i wasn't a fan until last night. i mean, i liked the couple songs that i had heard played on the radio, but not enough that i would go out of my way to buy an album or plan to get tickets to see her show. but my friend Sarah asked us to go with her, and we'd been talking about how we needed to get out of the house and "do stuff" more often. so, we said would, and then completely forgot about it until Sarah called yesterday afternoon to set up a time to meet at the club last night.

the concert was in a funky little club called the birchmere, which you would never stumble across by accident unless you lived in the neighbourhood. the set up isn't ideal for actually seeing the performance, but it is a very intimate venue... and ideal for an acoustic concert.

so i didn't see much... but her voice ripped out powerful and beautiful. her humour was... shockingly rude... not what you'd expect from this sweet looking young woman. at least, i'm sure it was shocking for the mother of two little girls who were sitting a couple tables over from us. the band plays well together, laughs well together, makes music well together... and as i listened to her lyrics for the first time ever, i realised i really do like her stuff.

i like Sara Bareilles... there, i've said it.

we bought her album after the concert, and i'm listening to it as i type. it's good. but not as good as her live show. so, if you're sitting on the fence over whether or not to go out to see her perform... do it, because she's better in person.




Tuesday, February 3, 2009

random

I've been tagged, and tagged, and tagged again... I've been tagged so many times now that I feel a certain responsibility to pony-up with 25 random things about me that people may or may not know or find interesting.

plus, I'm procrastinating and this will distract me from what i really should be doing for some time.... so, thank you.

***

25 Random things about me...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. Then you're supposed to tag 25 people to do the same. But I'm not going to do that.


***

1. I don't really consider myself to be terribly athletic, but i find myself drawn to endurance sports.
2. My greatest weakness is cheese.
3. I met my husband online (and still have a hard time saying those words out loud when asked how we met).
4. Even though I used to get annoyed by her tagging along when we were little, my sister is my best friend.
5. I'm getting "crafty" in my old age, but kind of old fashioned crafty. Learning to knit and bake bread, that sort of thing...
6. My most affectionate friend in the USA (aside from my husband) is a three legged dog named Bailey.
7. Even though most people who know me don't believe it, I have always been painfully shy... I've just gotten better and better at hiding it.
8. I have never owned a motorized vehicle (car/truck/scooter/motorbike).
9. I love the taste of coffee, but I can't drink it too often as it makes me go kind of squirrelly (agitated, scatter-brained, fidgety, etc).
10. My favourite article of clothing is the orange scarf that I bought with my friend Christoforos in a funky little coffee shop/boutique in Paris.
11. I"m a little bit afraid of drowning.
12. Without my contact lenses, I cannot focus on anything more than a couple inches past the end of my own nose.
13. I have five brothers and one sister.
14. I am an Aries. People who know about these things say that I most certainly am an Aries.. I don't really know what that means.
15. I've tried haggis (more than once!), and liked it.
16. I am fascinated by bees and bee-keeping. I think I'm going to give it a try some day when I own land.
17. I know how to make a comet, and a volcano... in my kitchen. And on purpose.
18. My prize possession is a tattered and slightly moldy copy of Dennis Lee's "Alligator Pie" given to me by my grandparents for my fifth birthday.
19. My favourite flavour of ice cream is Tiger (which is a delightful combination of black licorice and orange)
20. I feel most alive in the mountains. But it seems I am a bit of a mountain snob, as the mountains within driving range from me now don't seem to appease my mountain cravings.
21. In the past I have dyed my hair red, blue, and blonde. Now that I have a few grey hairs showing through, I am tempted to dye it again, but don't know what colour to choose.
22. My husband is a Sci-Fi movie geek... And he loves kung-fu movies too. I never would have imagined it possible, but I am learning to like them too.
23. No matter how many times I try it, I just don't like beer.
24. I love my nephews to distraction, and am looking forward to the day when I have kids of my own.
25. I'm glad this is done now.

Monday, February 2, 2009

i think i overwhelmed myself...

i've found it very hard to get myself motivated to complete the Mondo Beyondo... and so i've been avoiding my own blog.

so, i'm going to put that idea on a shelf, and come back to it when i'm ready.

***

i'm listening to some lovely music from the Beyman Bros new album "Memories of Summer as a Child." it's very peaceful.

***

i've been busy with fundraising for my upcoming marathon (aka trying to sell obscene amounts of donuts)... and training for it. it feels good to be active, and to be meeting people.

want to know the caloric breakdown of America's favourite donut? you'd be suprised to know that more people were willing to buy a box of Krispy Kreme glazed donuts when they heard that each one was just 200 calories each. or maybe you won't be surprised.

***

i went snowboarding in Pennsylvania yesterday, for the first time in a couple of years. i missed my girl friends tremendously... but, it was wonderful to be out in the spring-like conditions... sunny, blue skies, warm... and snowboarding :-)

***