The attraction of Mommy-blogs

Yesterday I was cruising around Facebook and pretty much realizing that I do not really use it the way that I used to use it back when Facebook first started. I barely post anything nowadays except the occasional bit about running, maybe sharing a funny photo and posting the occasional Max picture. What I do use it for are the discussion groups. Primarily the ones I use are related to teaching and babies. The ‘Babies of 2011′ has been a great resource to ask other new Mom’s about things and discuss experiences. Topics of interest that keep popping up are breast-feeding, starting solids, weird poop colours, change in behaviours (especially sleeping) and the sharing of resources like lactation consultants, sleep doulas and that sort of thing.

It could be around 2am and you might ask a question – odds are, someone might answer as you probably are not the only one up!

Mommy-blogs are something a little different though. This blog isn’t too ‘Mommy-oriented’ as I feel like I don’t have too much to say about the whole thing. I just post the occasional update because there are some people interested, but more importantly I am writing things down! When you have a baby you think you will remember everything – well, you don’t! Plus, babies change so fast that it is really neat to read about what poopy-face was doing at 8 weeks.

I have about 15 or so blogs on my ‘reader list’, almost all revolve around fitness/running and parenting stuff. A few have the same kind of focus that I have: running and parenting. It has been really great to be able to read other people’s experiences with their babies who are roughly the same age as Max. Heather’s Zoey is 2 months older than Max, and through her posts/tweets I can see what to look forward to in the future. Fitnessista, and Runner’s Trials babies are very close to Max’s age. I think Runner’s Trials had the same due-date that I had, and Fitnessista’s Livi shares a birthday with the world’s coolest person (me! hehe). Both have blogged about their struggles, and offered suggestions/insight based on their experiences. Fitnessista (obviously) shares fitness information – but she also posts food posts and some of her food ideas have made me drool on more than one occasion.

There are also Mommy blogs that share information or review products. Personally, I am not really into the whole product review blogs, but I like the information sharing (there is a difference). A Little bit of Momsense is a great ‘info sharing’ blog, and the big thing for me is that Rebecca is from Ottawa (actually I think she lives literally 5 minutes away from me). It has been great to get some information about local ‘things to do’

Then there is the ‘funny blogs’. The biggest one to hit the blogosphere is Honest Toddler. If you have a young baby/toddler you NEED to check out the blog, but more importantly the twitter feed. Absolutely hilarious!

Those are the blogs I am for sure checking out almost daily. You should browse them if interested! I know I have enjoyed reading them and feel as if I have some internet-friends out there.

This cracks me up

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Today is commencement day – Congrats to the Grads of 2012!

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Three Things Thursday!

Another Thursday is here! We are sort of busy for the next couple of days. Trying to fit in runs while I can!

Thing #1

There was a photo hoax going around on twitter/facebook regarding a Back to the Future photo saying that yesterday was the day that Doc set the DeLorean to. I fell for it, and so did many other people. The actual date is Oct. 25, 2015.

You know what that means? THREE MORE YEARS TIL HOVERBOARDS

Thing #2

I finally got my $100 gift card from Apple for the iTunes/App store. I’ve already made a small dent in it by buying the new Smashing Pumpkins album, and a few Metallica tracks. I already have the apps I want on my iMac (iPhoto, Pages, Keynote have all been updated previously), so I think I will primarily be buying music with the card, maybe a few iPhone/iPad apps. I also got an email to fill out a survey from Apple – it asked how many Apple products I had……checked off almost every box (don’t have an Apple TV).

 

Thing #3

Remember yesterday I mentioned what I had for dinner on Tuesday? Well the chicken breasts we had were huge and we really only ate one. I saved the other and decided last night to make fajitas for dinner. I made some homemade guacamole, shredded some cheese, got out salsa and sour cream and some tortillas. I sautéed the chicken breast with onions and green peppers and dinner was done. It was really really yummy. Funny thing is – I still have leftovers!

Random Pictures:

Pretty Lily in my front garden

Max can get out of seats now. He showed me how he can get out of his carseat when not buckled in

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Is Healthy Food More Expensive?

I am a bit of a fan of Paul Plakas – Love the show X-Weighted and sometimes his attitude is just bang on with mine regarding food and exercise. He is very much on the ‘suck it up buttercup’ side of things, so if you require someone to hold your hand through training/losing weight – he is not the trainer for you. Not going to lie – sometimes I hear his voice in my head when running. That and Tommy Europe – ha! Also, on another note, I’m pretty sure that I ‘met’ Kristen via a Twitter chat-party when X-Weighted Families was airing for the first time. I think we both wanted him to come to Ottawa. He has since been in Ottawa for a seminar/work-out session, but of course I was busy coaching that day at OFSAA.

Anyways, he likes to communicate with his fanbase via Facebook. The other day he posted what he had for dinner that night, a yummy-looking salad with lots of fresh fruit and veg. In typical Paul fashion, he also posted his own comments saying that if people ate like this regularly, the obesity epidemic would be over and that it was so simple, but people find it so hard to eat this way. Of course a FB debate happened on whether or not it was cheaper to eat bad or good. Most people were saying that their grocery bills had dropped when they started to eat a more balanced, clean diet while some argued that fresh food costs so much more.

Speaking of Facebook – Have you ‘liked’ my page yet :-)

Obviously there are some reasons why eating fresh (and eating a salad that Paul made) might be expensive. If you live in a remote, fly-in community: your food costs are through the roof. Regardless of where you live – there are some months where strawberries are $5, compared to the average $2.50 that they are now. If you don’t care about looking out for sales or stocking up, of course your bills will fluctuate.

In general however, I firmly believe that eating a “non-processed as much as you can” diet is cheaper than a heavily processed one. I used to work at a supermarket and I can tell you that the customers who had tons of frozen foods in their cart paid over $100. The customers who mainly had fruits, veggies and fresh meat – almost always under $100. In my experience as the sole ‘grocery-getter’, I spend on average $80 a week on groceries. I do buy a mix of organic and non-organic products and in the summer I do shop at my local farm. I do practice a few grocery-shopping money saving ideas that help me stay within budget:

1) Buy in-season or on sale

I will not ever spend $5 on a pint of berries. I generally buy them when they are on sale. Certain produce only hits my cart when it is in season: cherries, peaches, pears, green beans,etc. As mentioned above, I do shop at my local farm in the summer, so I meal plan on what they have available. I have never spent more than $25 at the farm and I always leave loaded with fresh, local produce

2) Check out Sales and stock up!

Remember yesterday’s post on deep-freezers. Well, obviously I use the freezer to stock up on meat! I only buy meat when it is on special. Things like steak, chicken breast and thighs, full chickens, ground beef (pretty much everything) are on cycle-sales and pretty much when I’m getting low, another sale will happen. I buy more than I need and freeze it!

3) I make my own food

I will never ever buy frozen processed food like chicken fingers or pot pie, those kinds of food. If I have a hankering for chicken pot pie, I will make my own! I will use a pre-made pie crust, but the filling is all me! It also tastes 100x better!

——

For a bit of a price example, this is what we had for dinner last night:

BBQ’d Chicken Breast

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Salad with romaine lettuce, celery, tomato, apple and green onion.

The chicken breasts were about $3.50 for both (as I usually spend $7 for a pack of four when they are on sale). The sweet potatoes were $1 for two, and the salad fixin’s probably came up to $2. I spent $2 on a head of romaine, $2 for cherry tomatoes, $2 for celery and 50 cents for the green onion. I made 3 salads out of that lettuce, and still have tomatoes, celery and green onion left over.

Rough estimate of costs for last nights dinner: $6.50

Oh and by the way, we have leftovers for lunch….

I find that VERY reasonable for a dinner for two.

What do you think?

 

 

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Race Re-cap: Emilie’s Run

Emilie’s Run is a women’s only run in Ottawa, held in June at the Aviation Museum. The race is named after  Canadian Marathon Olympian, Emilie Mondor who tragically died in a car accident in 2006. It is a fast-race with cash prizes. Some big names have run this race, including Tara Quinn-Smith (whose record was beaten yesterday by Mary Davies). As mentioned, it is a women’s only race….except yesterday as Max “raced” too, haha.

So, I wasn’t too sure whether I was going to make it to the race or not. We ended up renting a car so I would have a way of getting to the race with Max (if Max wasn’t with me, I could have easily biked down). Having Max in the Chariot was not what I was planning on, and since I haven’t been running much, and definitely not much with Max, I knew I wouldn’t be PBing. Max is now 15+ pounds and with the chariot…I’m pushing 20lbs at least. Also, because of the nature of this race, I had to be in the back of the pack. Normally I stand close to the front for this race.

So I got to the Aviation Museum in plenty of time. I had to pick up my bib number and t-shirt. This time the race kit came with goodies, including a Camino chocolate bar and Werther’s Original chocolate caramels (my fave of the Werther’s brand). The t-shirts this year were white, pink and blue (better than the yellow last year). That all happened fairly quickly, so I had enough time to feed Max and sit in the shade while waiting. I ate a Cliff’s energy bar (Mint Chocolate, yum!) and drank some water. I then went to investigate the washroom situation, and after that promptly turned around as there was a massive line.

When it got close to race-time I headed up the hill to the start line. So much fun with the chariot! I got Max somewhat settled (he loves to pull the stupid UV shade on his chariot). I stood waaaaaay in the back with some of the walkers/slower runners. The main pack of runners was just way too squished. Plus, Once the race gets going, I find it difficult to not run into peoples feet :-)

The gun went off and we were outta there pretty fast, unlike the bigger races where you spend 5 minutes walking to the start. Only took me about 3 seconds to get to the start. I did wear my Garmin watch this time, but I turned it around so I couldn’t see the pace times. I only glanced at it during the KM markings. I ended up doing something to it that turned off the time-counter, so I really didn’t know my exact time until the end, but I knew a rough idea due to my KM times.

The first KM for me was pretty slow for this race. I was definitely lagging behind with the slower group. Last race, I flew down the hill with Max, this time I couldn’t really do that. I did start moving past some people though. First KM was easy and was done in 6:15, almost a whole minute slower than my 5:20 first KM in the Mother’s day race. I thought to myself ‘oh well’ and just trucked on.

The next KM, the sun was bearing on me and I started to get a little overheated. I did have a couple of conversations with people, mostly about the chariot. Max was up and just looking around. I saw the lead girls whiz by at one point, including a 13-year old girl! Some other people yelled at me ‘go mama!’ at some point. I got through KM 2 in 6:20. I go to the water station/turn around point and quickly dumped some water on my head. When I turned around, I grabbed another water to drink. I did not stop this time for water and just kept going. My legs were feeling fine (yay no more shin splints – thanks new shoes). However, just before the 3K marker I had to do a full-on dead stop and adjust Max. He started whining and that UV screen was literally on top of him. I had to stop for about 40 odd seconds there (KM 3 was 6:56). Boourns!

After stopping, this group of ladies who I passed earlier had gone past me. I spend KM 3-4 catching up to them, and finally doing so just before the 4K marker. My goal was to not let them pass me. KM 3 is slightly downhill so I started to pick it up a bit. I did take a very short walking break (about 40 seconds) at one point to catch my breath.  I did KM 4 in 6:33. KM 5 was pretty quick. I took another short break (another 40 seconds)just before the short incline that I knew was coming up. If I didn’t have the chariot, it wouldn’t have been an issue – but pushing the chariot sucks hardcore.The first 2.5 KM of this route is downhill…and since it was an out and back race, you have to go back up it.

I charged up the hill and then decided to pick out some runners to pass them. There was this one lady who I’m pretty sure said to herself around KM 2 “I’m not letting baby pass me!” and zoomed away from me. I ended up passing her and a few others. I was trying to catch this lady in baby pink, but she was just about out of reach. I finished the last KM in 6:16.

I finished the race in 32:35 Garmin time, but 32:46 race time. That is a quick steady run pace for me. Normally I do my 5K steady runs with the chariot between 33-34 minutes. Not bad, considering that I had only gone out running a handful of times after my 10K.

My goal was to simply pass as many people as I could. I started in the back with maybe 20-30 people behind me, and according to results – I passed about 70 more people. I wasn’t tired after the race (ok – I was at the finish line…but not after) nor was I sore or anything during the rest of the day. I had zero problems with my shins and only a bit of tightness in my ankle. I think the big goal for my half-marathon training will to take it slow. I’m not running the half to PB/race, I’m running for completion! I really need to look at my pacing time and do some slow runs :-)

So when looking up Emilie’s last name, I noticed that the Ottawa Citizen had some pictures up from the race. Well it seems that the chariot got a little attention, and I am in one of the pictures. Take a looksie at the pictures via this link:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Photos+Emilie/6831507/story.html

(ha, you can just see the lady that tried to not let me pass her behind me)

Next race is the Warrior Dash – Which is just for fun!

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Day before Race Day

I wrote most of this entry earlier, but now because of a scheduling thing, I may not be racing tomorrow. Our jeep needs to be fixed (google death wobble if you want to know why) and P wants to get started on it early tomorrow AM. If I didn’t have Max, I could just bike down to the Aviation Museum and run a slower race, but he can’t go in the Chariot attached to the bike yet :-(

So we will see….

——————————————

 

So tomorrow is Emilie’s Run. I will have absolutely no problem running the race, but I am unsure whether I will be ‘racing the race’ meaning going all out. I think it will be a race-day decision on how I am feeling. This week I haven’t had more than 5 hours of sleep and I’m pretty tired. Also, thanks to the heat wave, I haven’t been able to go out running other than on Tuesday. Not sure if the humidity will be over with by Saturday – It is still supposed to be sunny and warm. I’m not worried or anything, just don’t know if I will be getting a PB or not.

Kinda wishing it was going to be cold and rainy….

 

This race is the same as the Mother’s Day Race that I ran last month. This is the 3rd time I’ve run the course as well (Emilie’s Run is the same). So the benefit is that I know the course. This race is a fast out and back route and features cash prizes for the top runners (so not me!). The first KM is wicked fast as it is downhill (which includes an on-ramp type deal). The majority of the race is flat, minus the one part at the end where it goes up the downhill portion you started off with. The trick this time is that I need to get going on that last 500m or so a whole lot earlier. During the Mother’s Day Race I started my sprint at the end way too late and felt like I could have gone faster much earlier. This time I will start to increase my speed as soon as I hit the outer boundary of the Aviation Museum.

Predicted Time? I’m thinking 29 minutes again. If my legs hold out I *could* do a 28 minute 5K, but we will see.

Changes? Going to run without the chariot, we will see if I still ‘fly’ during the first KM (the chariot pulled me last time). I’m also going to bring my iPod tomorrow and run with music for only the 2nd time this year.

 

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Three Things Thursday!

Happy Thursday everyone!

For those in Ontario and Quebec, hope you are staying cool with our lil heatwave! I’m glad I am not working right now so that I can wear my gym clothes all day :-) Today I think I am heading to the Ikea to basically look around, eat meatballs and take advantage of some powerful A/C action.

Anyways, three things Thursday

1) Da da da daaaaa

New iMac!

 

It finally came in yesterday after waiting about a week. Yes, I know I could have just gone to the Apple Store at Rideau and bought it last week, but I wasn’t in a rush. Plus, I would have had to drag Max there, shuffle around with a 16Kg iMac box and would have paid for parking (and gas). Since I already knew what I wanted, I ordered it online and it was shipped for free. I got a little educator’s discount, as well a free $100 gift card for the App/Music store. I’m thinking Aperture, but $100 is a whole lotta music too!

Yes, I do have a ‘wired’ keyboard. But I really really like having a numeric keypad on my keyboard and I missed it on the Macbook (my old lappy had one). When you are a teacher and do marks, it is handy to have one (as well as for doing financial stuff). I know Steve Jobs would be all ‘wahhh a wire!’, but I really don’t care. I did get a trackpad as I already have the newest Mighty Mouse. So far the trackpad is easy if you are used to using a laptop already.  I will miss using my thumbs to move the curser when typing

2) There was a sale at The Bay for the Olympic gear, so I bought matching T-shirts for Paul, Max and myself. That may be a bit lame, but again I don’t care :-) We be the cutest family on the block, haha! So looking forward to the Olympics!!

3) I was supposed to get my hair done on the 1st, but I honestly thought I had scheduled it for the 15th. I, of course, failed to schedule it on iCal and in the weekly part of my written planner. So I didn’t show up. I would have had to re-schedule as I was away that day with track. I saw my hairstylist yesterday at the mall and apologized. She said not a worry and she figured something came up with Max (nope….just me and track *sigh*). So I have re-scheduled for July and you bet I have already put it in iCal.

By |Random, Tech|0 Comments
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Hot Humid Days

If you live in Ontario/Quebec you obvsiously know that there is a bit of a heat wave going on right now. I think this is the first heat wave (more than 1 day of heat) of the season. Is this going to be a sign of what to come during the summer? Lots of humid days? Yuck! I hate humidity with a passion. It makes me uncomfortable, sticky, and I feel like I am always sweating (why do I always sweat?!). Right now it is 23 degrees right now, but it feels like 31. But the ‘feels like’, is just one problem with humidity. When we have humid days, I find it harder to breath and the air feels thick. I can deal with the heat – but the heaviness sucks!

So Max and I will not be running for the next couple of days. We set out for a short run yesterday at 10am and halfway through the run I could start feeling the humidity start up. I planned on just doing a 5K, and I did do my 5K route. I did walk the last KM though as I felt like crap. I also started to feel that spot in my ankle that I can’t for the life of me figure out what is happening there. With the new shoes my shin splint problem has disappeared, but this ankle thing is still there. I will see how this race goes on Saturday and perhaps it is time for a doctor’s visit to figure out what is going on. Also, it doesn’t really hurt yet – it just feels a bit tight I guess?  I’m worried that it might really start to hurt and don’t want to over-do it.

Other than the Warrior Dash, I have no plans for any more summer races, so I think a good rest is in order (I have run 4 races in May/June). Technically I am supposed to be starting my training for the half…but honestly I already have a bit of a base, so I might start at the 12w mark rather than the 18w mark. But looking at the “Half – To complete” training schedule – First couple of weeks are 3K runs anyways.

Running Pet Peeve: When a random black fly finds you and then decides to chase you for quite some time. Nothing more annoying than a buzzing insect flying around your head trying to bite you!

———–

To escape the heat for the next couple of days, what can you do?

- Go to the mall

- Go see a movie

- Sit in your basement (if you have one)

- Go to Ikea and eat meatballs and test out furniture (no joke, this is on my agenda for tomorrow)

- Go Swimming

- Eat lots of popsicles/eat a DQ ice cream cake for dinner

Stay cool everyone!!

By |running, Uncategorized|2 Comments
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What’s on the Burger?

During the summer months, I probably eat burgers at least once a week. BBQ’d of course, they are pretty much a staple. They are so easy and tasty. We generally make our own burgers around here. Actually the next time ground beef is on sale, I should pick up an extra pack and make a whole load of burgs to throw in our freezer.

Making burgers is a pretty easy thing to do. It requires little to no ingredients, and with them, there is a little wiggle room for some creativity. Of course there is lots of creativity when it comes to toppings. If you have ever been to The Works, you know how many combinations there can be!

 

Burger Patties 

- Medium Ground beef.  You want juicy burgers? You need some medium ground beef! You can mix in half and half if you wish. But since I’ve used medium, lean and extra-lean, I can tell you that medium is the best for juiciness!

- Onions. Chunky or finely chopped, your call. I personally like my onions to be in chunks

- Worcestershire Sauce. Got me a giant bottle of this stuff from the Costco

- Coriander, Salt and Pepper for your spices

- Fresh chopped garlic – or garlic powder if that is all you have on hand

**Some people add bread crumbs and eggs to their burgers. I do not anymore. I find that if I pre-make the burgs and throw them in the fridge for an hour there is no ‘breakage’.

———–

My Ultimate Burger

- Mayo

- Ketchup

- Mustard

- Dill pickle slices

- Onions

- Tomato

- Cheese

- Salsa

- Avocado

YUMMY!

What do you like on your burgers?

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Manic Monday

After a pretty busy weekend, this Monday isn’t as crazy as it usually is. But that isn’t really a bad thing. This week is a slower one – but I do have some things on the agenda. Today I applied for a pile of jobs for September – so much fun to play with baby and write cover letters at the same time :-S

On Saturday I have Emilie’s Run. Due to Track, a slight injury and yucky-hot weather, I’m not sure whether I will PB or not. I have gone on a few runs though, and plan on doing evening runs this week. I’m pretty sure I can do a sub-30, but we will see. I don’t want to aggrevate whatever is going on with my lower heel and risk screwing up my half-marathon in September. Once this race is over, I am on rest for a few weeks I think!

—-

The Farm has opened! First thing up for this year’s harvest is Strawberries! I picked some up yesterday and they were super juicy! Might make some strawberry crisp or something for dessert tonight (like I need more dessert….)

—-

I go back to work in a couple of weeks for summer school, which means it is time to get organized and ‘lesson plan again’. So far all I have done was take out my ‘office in a box’ and made folders for each day. Hopefully the more organized I am, the easier this will be. Last year I probably did 12 hour days, every day for 3 weeks straight. This year I don’t have to make a website, create lessons from scratch and I am NOT taking an online grad school course at the same time. I should be in much better shape!

—–

I am adding to “my collection” this week.

Still waiting for it to be shipped….

What is it?

 

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BBQ Salmon

I enjoy BBQ season and we tend to use the BBQ for half of our meals during the summer months. Even sometimes we BBQ in the winter (depending on the snow).

One of my favorite treats for the BBQ is Salmon and Rainbow Trout. There are only a few ways I know how to cook a fish fillet, and I pretty much only use salmon or trout. Making it on the BBQ prevents your house from smelling, and is really really easy to do!

Fish of choice: Salmon or rainbow trout

What do you need?

Butter

Lemons or Lemon juice

Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Aluminum Foil – tough grade, for BBQ

What to do?

1) Layer two sheets of foil on the counter – the size should be enough to wrap whatever size fillet you have. Bend the edges a bit so you have a little ‘box’ of foil so that the liquid you put it will not spill all over the place

2) Place the Fillet in the foil. You do not have to remove the skin.

3) Scoop a couple of pieces of butter and place directly on the fish. It doesn’t need to be melted/soft or anything. It is just easier to cut a piece of butter if it is soft :-)

4) If you have fresh lemons, slice a few pieces and put on top of the fillet as well. If you only have lemon juice, pour out about 2 tablespoons and drizzle over the fish.

5) Sprinkle Parsley, Salt and Pepper

6) Wrap up the foil so the fish is covered, but allow a small hole for steam to escape

7) Place on the BBQ on indirect heat (meaning only fire up one burner) for about 10 minutes or so. Obviously cooking time depends on the size and thickness of your fish.

8) Serve and enjoy!

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