Pink Prickly Pear

So I bought new running shoes.  Yawn.  Not news.  But running shoes made in the USA?  That's some news.  Some good news.  I took them out for an inaugural run this morning and my feet are very, very happy indeed.  And no, they weren't outrageously expensive or hideous or anything like that.  Thank you, New Balance. 

Last night I watched enough of The Future of Food to thoroughly freak myself out a bit regarding genetic engineering.  I fell asleep at about the halfway point, so I'll try and finish it tonight, but I somehow doubt I missed the happy ending.  And then this morning, while D'anjou napped, Mini-Pear and I watched King Corn about High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Having watched the stuff about genetically modified foods made the information about the pervasiveness of HFCS even more alarming.

Afterwards, I guiltily ransacked our kitchen cabinets.  HFCS is in everything, isn't it?  Well, maybe it is in a ton of stuff, but happily, I didn't find any at our house.  MSG made a surprise appearance in a package of Planters peanuts (we also had a bag of peanuts from Trader Joes with three ingredients - peanuts, peanut oil and salt), but no HFCS!  I even checked things that seemed like the perfect candidates for a little hidden sweetener - bread, barbeque sauce, a box of crackers...nada.  It's reassuring to see that we weren't going to have to make any big changes to our diets or shopping habits.  I mean, I wasn't a total rube...we're former vegans at our house, but I've certainly become a lot more relaxed about our food and I had suspicions that my new (over the past couple of years) mantra of "everything in moderation" might have let some unsavory ingredients in the back door. 

I do think I will exercise a little more moderation in the meals I eat outside of the house though. 

My morning was almost civilized!

Non-civilizing factors include a poopsplosion (thankfully, not my own), much wailing due to sharp pointy teeth emerging from soft tissue, and lack of a post-jog shower...

Note to self:  Starting ones day with vigorous exercise outdoors improves the outlook for the rest of the day immensely.

Woot.

I came home, and the boy had fallen asleep in his stroller.  Mini-Pear took a book outside and sat with him until he woke up.  I had a cup of coffee and packed a picnic lunch.

Other accomplishments?  Laundry.  Loads put in...and out...and put away even!  Baby nursed, while reading to older child (quality time for everyone!).  Mail all packed up and ready to go.  Breakfast dishes washed.  Teeth brushed.  Twice!

I sold another book on half.com.  It's going to a national arts organization back in DC.  Same suite number as the national arts organization I used to work for, and just a block further down the same street.  Small point of interest, I know, but it did take me back...ahhhh, working days.  Should have included a resume.

Yay/Boo It's almost August already! Edition

Yay! Jogging along the coast! D'anjou was most amenable to hanging in the stroller, which hopefully translates to daily jaunts along the coast and more energy for a mama with a regular workout!

Related Yay! Jogging works, as demonstrated by my super high performance wicking action jogging shorts being way too big.

Related Boo! Big jogging shorts chafe.  New smaller jogging shorts a tiresome expense.

Boo! I wasted hours last week on a missed connection/let's-meet-up-later-when-you-and-the-children-are-even-tireder-and-hotter craigslist pick-up of sturdy wooden blocks for the boy.  The acquisition of new objects brings me no joy, but the boy needs things he can maneuver through space and it would be nice if those things were not my glasses, the dog's water bowl, various expensive digital devices that need not get drooled upon.

Yay!  New sunglasses for me.  The first and only pair I tried on in my quest.  Can't beat that with a stick.  Less wrinkles?  We'll see.

Boo! Still haven't mastered the Kitchener Stitch!  My knitted diaper cover project languishes.  I just need a solid block...maybe...ooh...a whole hour. 

Yay/Boo combo (it all depends on your p.o.v.) D'anjou is pissed mighty indignant about our newly installed baby gates.  

Yay!  Mini-Pear was fierce sparring this morning!

Boo!  Lack of sleep is cumulative.

In which we grasp for straws...

Triple P (wearily) :  Do you think they make straitjackets for kids?

Mr. Pear (pre-coffee, not missing a beat!) : They could call it the SnuggleVest ^TM.

Hey there!  I managed not to fall asleep with the boy tonight.  A toss up between mastering the
Kitchener stitch and tippety-tapping on the internets!

Actually, I already tried the Kitchener stitch and then undid my work and tried again, and then undid my work and tried again, and...oh hey, take a break already!  Pesky Knitting Perfectionist strikes again!  I'm sure the boy won't care one bit if there is a wonky seam joining his nappy cover...but I will. 

10-9-8-7-6...talk about something else.

I picked up Mini-Pear from karate camp this afternoon with a secret field trip in mind.  Out town hosted a little environmental festival a few weeks ago (kind of like Earth Day, but in June) and the Audubon Society had a booth.  It's no secret that I'm a totally amateur birdwatcher and I have fond memories of the Society's little preserve back in Maryland, so was happy to hear they have a nature center at the lagoon closest to the dojo, so I packed a little snack and forgot the camera, of course, and we headed off to ogle the taxidermy and go for a surprisingly unnerving nature walk.  The trail was a bit overgrown and wound through a thicket of nine foot tall cat-tails; a coast guard copter flew pretty low overhead and I was having Apocolypse Now flashbacks.  Damn.  I had to be all brave because I am The Mom, "I think Daddy would love to walk this with us.  Let's finish up and come back with Daddy and appropriate footwear this weekend..."

After our abbreviated trail walk, Mini-Pear wanted to go back inside the nature center for further examination of the taxidermic displays.  D'anjou wanted to "Got! Got! Got!" all the Please Do Not Touch Me barn owls.  On the way home, we got to be bobcats.

**

So two things I learned today while listening to podcasts...

The phenomenon of couchsurfing, but not on the couches of people you know...

Ian Michael Black (from 90's sketch comedy show The State) has a new show on Comedy Central.  People with real teevees better give it a look see and let me know...

We moved our computer upstairs.  It's conveniently out of the way from babies who like to chew on wires (still haven't figured out what to do about the walls), but very inconveniently out of the way of stay at home mothers who feel like blathering on about nothing in particular and hitting "publish now" counts as a "creative outlet".  Hmmmm, when I put it that way, maybe it is conveniently out of the way.

***

So, we recently celebrated our tenth anniversary.  At the county fair.  With the kids.  Hey!  We eloped to Vegas, were you expecting just the two of us to head to a Balinese resort for couples massages and snorkeling?  Mini-Pear and Mr. Pear went on all the vomit comets.  I held the baby and our water and just-in-case long sleeves and watched teenagers performing the dance of summer courtship.  I had a funnel cake, which was excellent, because really, who fucks up hot fried dough with powdered sugar on top.  A couple of hours later, I had a totally nasty barbeque beef sandwich.  Not nasty like Janet Jackson, just regular nasty.  I threw it away after two bites.  Which left me with plenty of room to share a caramel apple stack.  Caramel apple stacks are a vast improvement on the lowly caramel apple.  No swiveling away from your eager little teeth and rolling off down the midway, plus there's all that caramel left in the bottom of the cup for you to slurp. 

Love caramel.  Also, obviously, love Mr. Pear.  Like, more than caramel.  And sometimes with caramel, but that's a whole other (private! locked!) entry.  

I'm pretty sure I haven't brushed my teeth yet.

I wonder how many times I can put these Trader Joe O's back in a little cup after the boy dumps them on the floor?

It's something to do, I guess.