Non Sequitur Chica: March 2011

1 ½ tsp salt

4 ½ tsp active dry yeast

2 cups very warm water

¾ cup shredded Asiago cheese (3 oz)

Directions:

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook garlic in oil, stirring frequently, until garlic just begins to brown. Remove to heat.

2. In large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour, the rosemary, sugar, salt and yeast. Add very warm water and garlic with oil. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in cheese and enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

3. On lightly floured surface, knead dough 5-10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening or spray (I used Pam). Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or spray. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough into fourths. Shape each into 6-inch round. Place each round with smooth side up on corner of cookie sheet. Cut ½-inch deep slash in top of each round with serrated knife. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place about 30 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.

5. Heat oven to 375. Remove plastic wrap. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool.

I would love to say that I have a picture but CP and I finished the last of the four loaves (with help from my mother-in-law and her husband) yesterday! I will be making this recipe again soon. :-)

On a different note, is anyone else having problems with Blogger formatting? Granted I don't know how to do much in HTML, but usually I am able to write a post in Outlook and copy and paste it over to Blogger. Now if I do that it makes every sentence run together. And then when I put the after sentences to break up paragraphs to fix it if I am not completely done with the post and hit "publish" it runs together again (even if I save it). Help??

3.30.2011

Ten on the wrong day

Saw that this Ten on Tuesday yesterday was all about food and I figured that I HAD to do it. :-)

1. What is a food that you never thought you would try, but then tried and liked?

Oh lots of things. CP has me try anything and everything.

2. Do you subscribe to any foodie publications? If so, which ones?

We get Cooking Light (more for me), Cooks Illustrated and Bon Appetit.

3. What ingredient do you find yourself reaching for the most when you cook?

Probably Pam? I don’t cook very much but when I make eggs on the weekend or cook chicken for lunches, I grab the Pam.

4. Are there any foods that you hated as a child, but then learned to like as an adult?

LOTS of stuff. I didn’t eat fish as a kid, but now I haven’t met a fish that I don’t like. Brussel sprouts. Beets. Turnips. Sushi. Duck. Veal.

5. What do you like to eat that others may consider weird?

A lot of the stuff that CP makes! All of my coworkers think that the head on duck/goose we had a few weeks ago was disgusting. To me, it is the same thing they can get at a regular supermarket just not cleaned/ sanitized for the masses. The duck/geese that they eat had heads and feet at one time so it is the same darn thing.

6. What is the weirdest ingredient you’ve ever cooked with?

CP could probably answer this a bit better. That boys eats anything so therefore he cooks with anything. Recently he cooked with tripe (nasty) and chayote.

7. Do you have any major food allergies?

No thank goodness. I can’t imagine having to give up peanut butter, fish, shellfish, etc.

8. Is there an ingredient that you would like to cook with, but are intimidated to try?

Probably meat and fish in general. I like recipes where you put everything into a crockpot/baking dish and cook everything for a set amount of time. That way I don’t have to think about whether something is completely cooked through or not.

9. Do you bake?

Yes and sometimes I actually make some good stuff. This past weekend I made Rosemary Garlic Asiago bread and it was DELICIOUS. I will try to remember to share the recipe because it EASY and yummy.

10. If you could go on any “foodie” show to compete, which one would it be, and why?

Any foodie show would kick me off from the very start so I wouldn’t even try. Now CP on the other hand…

-------------------------------------

On another note, while my triceps and my arms in general are still super sore, my legs are finally starting to feel better. I took Fuzzy Britches for an hour long walk yesterday, but couldn't fathom trying to run. When you feel pain just walking That I will attempt tonight. I'm going to chalk up most of this week to an absolute failure due to CrossFit soreness. I guess I am "tapering" for the Quarter Marathon race this weekend??

3.29.2011

Help

Anyone else use Nike+ for running or walking? If so, please join this challenge! The person that started the challenge worked with individuals and companies who will donate $10-$100 per mile/kilometer to the Red Cross for mileage accrued from 3/15 to 4/15. The more people that join and add their mileage to the challenge, the more money donated! I just joined yesterday and despite the fact that we are halfway through the challenge, it synched my miles from all of my runs since 3/15.

------------------------------------------------

So I have noticed that my blog reader doesn’t have as many posts in it lately. I think that I may subscribe to too many people that have just had babies! A newborn= no time to blog!

Do you have a blog or two on your blog roll that you absolutely love that I am not already reading (see my list to the right)? If so, leave their URL in your comment. Why do you enjoy reading them so much?

My Google Reader thanks you! :-)

3.28.2011

A three hour tour

OH BOY. You know how I was tired just thinking about my active weekend? Well, I had a good reason to be nervous because I am sore EVERYWHERE.

Saturday morning my training group ran 6 miles. My pace was 11:30/mile which I am completely fine with- especially because I didn't get the BEST sleep the night before. I knew that CP would want to drink at the Guys Night Out event so I agreed to drive him to the bar and pick him up. In his absence, I cleaned for three hours in anticipation of my mother-in-law's visit, baked bread and ruined the custard for the lemongrass ice cream by allowing the milk to boil because I took my eyes off of the pan for a minute (I got the ingredients again on Saturday- the second batch turned out great!).

I was shocked that I hadn't heard from him before midnight. He ended up calling at 12:30 and I picked him up along with two other guys that clearly couldn't drive home. With no bra on. My mouthguard in (took it out as soon as I saw others walking towards the car). My glasses on. Wearing my pajama pants. In other words, HOT.

Needless to say, I was a bit tired (better than the hangover CP had for most of the day) for the run. My legs were tired the rest of the day and I was a bit cranky towards the end of the night but I survived.

Yesterday I headed over to the Cross Fit gym to start the three hour workout. Our warm up consisted of going outside to do butt kickers, leg kicks, lunges and then a sprint back to the gym. It doesn’t sound hard, but we spent a long time on lunges so my legs were pretty tired.

We were then broken up into 4 groups as there were 80 people brave enough to show up for the workout. My first station I had a choice of a rowing machine, jump rope or a ski machine. I decided that because that day was all about trying new things I would try the ski machine. You held two pulleys in your hand above your head and when the trainer shouted "GO" you would squat down then pull the ropes down and past your thighs. We did 20 second sprints, as fast as possible, and then rested for 10 seconds. We did this 8 times. This wasn't too bad. I paid attention to my form and tried not to slow down too much on the later rounds.

The next round was pushups. Ugh. I can do 20 girl pushups, but after that everything gets tired and my form starts to stink. Once again it was 20 seconds of high intensity, bust out as many pushups as possible, with 10 seconds of rest, 8 times. I did great on the first two rounds. I was pretty sad on the rest of the rounds.

The next round was my favorite. There were three balls placed on a course, one weighing 10 lbs placed closest to the group, another 14 lbs a bit farther out, and the 20 lb medicine ball the farthest away. We were put in teams of 4. The first person ran to the first ball (10 lbs) picked it up and brought it back to our group. The second person got the 14 lb ball and ran it back to our group. The third person ran out to the 20 lb ball and brought it back, handing it to the fourth person who would run the ball out and place it on the designated line. We continued bringing the balls back to the line and then picking them up again for four minutes. I think that I liked this one the most because it was the easiest. I didn't slack off at all...I just think that with three other people you had more rest in between runs.

The last round was squats. Not your average run of the mill squats in a cardio class though. Cross Fit squats are ones where you MUST get your butt below your knees. Otherwise the trainers yell. A lot. Once again it was 20 seconds of as many squats as possible, 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. I can do a lot of squats, but I was pretty tired at the end.

From there we did a mile and half run. Thank goodness it wasn't any further because my legs felt like lead! Despite the short distance I had to walk a sizable portion of the run because my legs were SCREAMING in pain.

The run ended at the yoga studio where we packed 80 people in the room. It was hot. Not Bikram hot, but the studio was at least 80 degrees. Along with the body heat of everyone the room got even hotter. We ended up doing power yoga which was HARD. My shoulders and arms were already screaming from the pushups and ski machine, so every time we went into dogward dog I wanted to kill myself. It didn't help that the girl next to me was a hardcore yoga person so I felt silly with my shaking limbs.

Thankfully the hour was over and my three hour workout complete. I went home to lay on the couch, eat some lunch and complain to CP about being tired. I figured I would be sore today, but I didn't count on not being able to bend my right arm (aka do a bicep curl) today. I woke up this morning at 4am to pee and found that I couldn't bend my right arm too far towards my shoulder without immense pain. I don't have the same pain in my left arm so I don't know if I slept on it funny or what....but it is not fun. I'm guessing muscle pain, but it is not in the tricep. Hopefully it goes away soon....

Have you ever tried CrossFit? Was this a normal workout of the day? If you haven't tried CrossFit does this post make you want to try it or run very far away from it?

3.25.2011

I'm tired already!

I have what will likely be a VERY tiring weekend ahead of me.

Tonight? I will clean the house. The Newcomers Club that we joined this past fall is having a Guys Night Out tonight. CP has yet to go to any of the Guys events because he just isn’t interested. He met a couple of guys at an event this past month and has decided that they aren’t too bad. So I agreed to clean the house to get ready for his mom’s arrival tomorrow so that he could go to the event. I hope he has fun!

Tomorrow we have a 6 mile training run planned with my half marathon group. We will run basically right by my house- hopefully I’m not tempted to go home in the middle of the run! ;-) After the run I will quickly get home to shower and await my MIL’s arrival. Not sure what we are doing with them during the day, but CP will be making dinner and I will be making lemongrass ice cream for dessert.

Sunday I signed up for something that is going to be HARD. It is a “fitness tour” of my town. First up? An hour and a half workout at the local Cross Fit gym. And guys? I am scared. I have read enough blog entries to know that this is NOT going to be easy. I’m thinking that the extra long workout is because they will have to explain a lot. After that workout we will do a mile and a half run. Then yoga for an unspecified amount of time.

So yeah. My 6 mile run tomorrow would be exhausting on its own. The Cross Fit/run/yoga would be exhausting on its own. But of course I jam it into one weekend ALONG with a in-law visit. Here’s hoping I survive and lose 10 pounds in the process. Ha!

Bring on the tiring weekend!

3.24.2011

Guys have it so easy

After hearing of CP’s “swimmers” test, I have decided that guys have it so easy.

CP’s experience went something like this. He showed up at the clinic and was brought into a room with a cup. He didn’t really see any “aids” lying around, but noticed a television in the corner of the room so he turned it on. Surprise! It was porn. He didn’t want to turn it on too loud because he could hear that someone in the room next to him was having a regular office visit. (Ed. Note: weird. You would think that they would make the walls a bit more soundproof. That wouldn’t be a turn-on for most guys.)

He told me later on that it actually was a pretty good porn too. (Ha ha)

The only question in his head was whether he should just get it over with quickly (and possibly look like a two pump chump) or draw it out a little bit (and possibly look impotent). LOL. He’s too funny. Otherwise, no feeling weird about “donating” in a doctor’s office.

After he was done he THEN found the huge stack of nudie magazines and pornos in the drawer. Too bad!

So that’s it. No blood drawn. No having to show your bits to strangers. No cramping. No dripping after the test is over. Just doing something enjoyable. Lucky bastard.

3.23.2011

More tests

Today I went for the hysterosalpingogram test (aka HSG test aka dye up the lady bits test). My progesterone bloodwork came back on the lower end of normal, but still in the normal range, so it was the next test to get. This was my experience (possibly TMI).

I arrived at the radiology office and was told to take off my jeans and underwear and put on a dressing gown. The nurse led me into a room with the all too familiar stirrups, but instead of a padded reclined chair, it was a cold metal slab. A huge machine was located just off the side of the table.

I got on the table and we got started. At first it just felt like a regular annual exam, including scooting down to the end of the table, putting my feet in the stirrups and the cold speculum. (Lucky me! Two in 2 months!) After inserting the speculum, the doctor then swabbed my cervix with a solution (I believe it was a yellow/brown iodine solution to clean the area). She then inserted a catheter which produced a cramping sensation. From there, she blew up a balloon inside me which caused some more cramping pain.

I was then told to scoot backwards to get under the X-ray machine, take my feet out of the stirrups and lay them on the table. The doctor then inserted the dye into my uterus. As it traveled up through my fallopian tubes and into my ovaries, the X-ray doctor took pictures of my inside lady bits.

The whole process took 15 minutes. The nurse gave me a massive pad because for 1-3 days I will have dye, blood and iodine dripping out of me. Man I haven’t worn one of these since the beginning of high school!! And yes, I am seriously sexy.

Two hours later I still have some cramping. Good times.

The result? Everything is fine. No blockages anywhere. They showed me my X-ray and I have a very pretty uterus.* That definitely makes me happy, but it has me a confused as to why we are still having problems getting pregnant. Maybe we will know a bit better when CP’s test results come back?

*I have never seen anyone else's uterus on an X-ray, so I am not really qualified to make this statement. :-)

3.18.2011

Loss of motivation

I’m not sure why, but for the past week or so I have had to REALLY push myself to get outside and run. Why did I have such a quick change in attitude? Only two weeks ago I was raring to go. I was excited about signing up for the half marathon training, I felt good after running 7 miles over the weekend, etc. Despite the nicer weather (yesterday it was 60 degrees out!), my motivation has dropped to close to zero.

I’m not sure about the possible cause, but I know that it definitely needs to get turned around. Last weekend’s 5.7 mile run (when I was supposed to run 7 miles) was awful. I had to drag myself out to the reservoir to do the run. Then I took a shortcut because my body was just exhausted. I didn’t go out drinking the night before. I got plenty of sleep. I just didn’t want to do it. Ugh. I hate that my last long run before the race was awful (and that I didn’t do the correct mileage).

Then this past week I have only worked out twice during the week. I am supposed to run twice during the week, with another long run on the weekend. That is the MINIMUM. I should also be walking, cross training or doing some sort of low impact workout on 3 more days. Instead I ran/swam in the pool on Monday for an hour and had to force myself to run last night. My calves felt like lead and super tight during the entire run last night and I only went three miles. I am worried that I am losing precious stamina that I am going to need for my first training run with the half marathon group TOMORROW. Not to mention my 5K on Sunday. And then the actual quarter marathon race on April 2nd.

I don’t even want to think about whether I have lost time too- the half training program says that you have to be running 4 miles at an 11-minute mile pace. I have been averaging a bit slower pace (11:30) on my long runs, but my second loop is always faster (I think that I try to conserve energy in the beginning of the run). So I think that I could speed up if need be. At least last night’s run was at a 10:52 pace despite everything in my lower half being so tight. I stretched a bunch after the run so hopefully that helps.

Here’s hoping I can still hack it tomorrow and that I don’t embarrass myself!

3.17.2011

Best time of the year

The best time of the year has once again come around. Sure the warmer weather is nice. The prospect of spring flowers are something to look forward to. Also, not having to wear hats and gloves. Bringing back the FLIP FLOPS!

All of that is nice, but the best time of the year is when CP and I finish our taxes. It is such a relief! Turbo Tax makes things easier, but when you have to file in two different states (only ONE state next year- woo hoo!), account for a rental property in a third state, take deductions for a home office (CP 5 days a week, me 2 days a week since September), etc things can get complicated!

So yeah, we are now nice and relaxed and just waiting for our refunds. Oh that’s right- plural! Not only will we be getting money back from the feds, but MA has decided to give us a huge tax return. WOO HOO! (And yes, I realize that the government doesn’t pay interest on the money owed to us throughout the year so that it is actually better to get less of a refund, but I LOVE REFUNDS.)

What will the money be going towards? Well, the first and most important thing? A PUPPY!!!! That’s right! The litter was born this past weekend and there were 4 males, 2 females. The breeder has already let us know that we will be getting one of the males. I AM SO EXCITED. A puppy! In just 8 short weeks!

Picture from the breeder of the new puppies. They are so tiny!!

The other purchase we may make is for a pair of poly-lumber Adirondack chairs. CP and I saw these at the CT Flower and Garden show a few weeks ago and they were so comfortable! They look exactly the same as a regular Adirondack chair, but they are made out of high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic taken from post-consumer waste such as milk jugs and plastic packaging. I love that the material goes into the chairs instead of into a landfill!

Chair found here. There are a number of manufacturers all over the country.

They come in a variety of colors that won’t fade because the color is throughout the material. They are a bit pricy, but most manufacturers have a 10-20 year warranty on them, so they seem to be well worth the price.

Did you get a tax refund this year? What do you usually spend your refund on?

P.S. Just my own opinion on the chairs. Not paid or compensated in any way.

3.16.2011

Planning

Sadly, no surprise visit from HGTV this past weekend. That means no Dream Home in Stowe, VT for us. We could have really used that $500,000 (and the vacation/ski house of course). :-(

However, we had a lovely weekend otherwise.

CP went on an adventure to a nearby Asian supermarket. It’s called “A Dong Supermarket.” It’s really hard not to laugh at the name. REALLY hard. Anyway, they have ALL kinds of weird and interesting stuff there. Plus it is all so cheap! So CP decided to buy a bird and cook it Saturday night. The only problem? It didn’t exactly have a label, so we have no idea if it was a duck or a goose. CP had to completely clean out its innards (he mentioned that after doing so he really likes when stores put the innards in a bag- it’s a much easier process). Plus, it’s head, feet, etc. were left on the bird.

Duck or goose?

He decided to break out his Vietnamese cookbook for a marinade, stuffed it with herbs and put it on the rotisserie on the grill.

In the end, we had no idea what it was, but it was delicious!

We also took the weekend to plan out our garden using measuring tape, sticks and rope. We have an odd shaped backyard and the sun only hits part of the yard so we tried a number of different layouts to try to get as much square footage for the garden as possible, while trying to keep a big chunk of the backyard for Fuzzy Britches, future children, etc.

Our odd shaped backyard using MS paint. The yellow is our house, the gray our garage, red is the patio and the green circle is a large tree (clearly NOT to scale). The sun starts on the right and travels left throughout the day.

We plotted out a few options, but didn’t like them or they didn’t provide enough gardening space. We wanted to keep the beds no wider than 4’ because it would start to get hard to weed in the middle otherwise. We also had to leave at least 2 feet in between the beds so that CP could mow the lawn. This is what we ended up with.

The ropes are kind of hard to see, but here it is in picture form:

The four rectangles on the bottom left will be part of the garden and the rectangle against the fence on the right will be another box that will be for climbing vegetables (probably beans). Not counting the climbing veggie box we are going to have more than 200 square feet of garden space. Woo hoo!

Next we decided to put in planters.

We will have one in the back of the garage. Right now our yellow siding inexplicably stops halfway down the garage and it is instead a slab of gray concrete. To cover that up, CP will make planters and we will have to put some sort of plant in that doesn’t need a ton of sun (so sadly, no flowers).

The other planter is going to go on the side of the patio. As you guys may remember we usually have A LOT of herbs growing during the warmer months. So CP is going to make a two-tiered set of planters for all of our herbs.

It probably won’t look as nice as these (also no lattice in the back), but CP has instructions on how to make planters and I’m confident that he will do a good job.

So, I think that we have an awesome plan in place to really spruce up our backyard AND have plenty of garden room. :-)

3.11.2011

Dangerous thoughts

Despite not trying to think about getting pregnant/having kids too much, sometimes I can’t help myself. Maybe I am already a bit hormonal in advance of my period expected on Monday, but there have been at least a few times in the past few days where I found myself thinking of the (maybe? Hopefully?) future. Maybe is it because I had my progesterone test yesterday. I wonder when I will get my test results back?

*As I was in the pool on Wednesday night I was thinking that if I ever get pregnant that the pool would be a perfect place for me to get my exercise. Then after giving birth, I could imagine bringing her or him to the pool. First to introduce the baby to water, later to swim lessons. And if we had a really active kid then swimming would be a great way to tire them out!

*Last night CP was calling his sister to catch up. His niece got on the phone to thank us for the books that I picked out for her birthday. Then his nephew got on the phone to tell him about money he had raised from his class after reading some book. It was adorable to hear him talk to the kids. I hope that he gets a chance to be a dad because he is going to be a great one. <--this sentence almost just made me cry

*Watching “One Born Every Minute” on Lifetime (huh? I actually watch a show on Lifetime?). It is fascinating show. Watching it makes me wonder what CP would be like when I went into labor. Would he cry after meeting our child for the first time (he is not a crier)? Watching the grandparents react to meeting their grandchild for the first time= priceless. I can just picture my mom. But I can also picture their disappointment if CP and I can't have kids. Of course they would never SAY that to us, but my sister isn't having kids any time soon....so I am their hope for a grandchild.

But these thoughts can be dangerous. I’m not sure how to stop having them, but I have a feeling that I shouldn’t dwell on them. Sorry for the depressing Friday post, but that’s what is on my mind.

Do me a favor and brighten my day by telling me something you are looking forward to this weekend.

*Update: I can't stop watching the videos and reading about the earthquake/tsunamis. So horrifying.*

3.10.2011

New gym

The three-month gym Groupon that CP and I used to get through this harsh CT winter ran out last week. I have been running more outside, but still enjoy doing strength training and other cardio indoors, so we went on the lookout for a new place. CP thought about staying on at the Groupon gym, but I wasn’t a huge fan. It was a smaller gym which was fine, but there were only three treadmills and one looked like it was from 1980. EVERYONE loved using the treadmills so it was sometimes hard to get a workout in.

Because I had just signed up for the half marathon training program, I was thinking that I would hold off on joining a gym until after the race in June. But CP still needed a place, so I went with him to visit the closest gym to our house. I wrote about this gym before we moved into our house because I thought that it was so cool that they have water bikes and water treadmills. CP and I never ended up signing up for it though because we were trying to save money.

So two nights ago CP and I toured the facility. They have a large lap pool kept at a cool temperature that had at least 10 lanes. The two local high schools use it, which may mean it would get busy over the winter, but their seasons just ended so we wouldn’t have to worry about that for a while. In addition, there is another large pool that is used for lap swim, swimming classes and kids play. It is heated for seniors and kids (aka the pee pool). In addition to the two large pools, there is a huge hot tub and a workout facility with treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, weights, Bosu balls, etc.

As soon as we saw the place, we were sold. It was only a few dollars more to do a family membership instead of just CP so we decided to add me to the gym too. I was psyched.

Despite being tired all day long at work and having to sit through an all-day training, I was ready to head to the gym after work last night. It wasn’t too traumatizing to put on a bathing suit (although I did have to make sure that it fit before leaving the house), but I hoped that no one was looking at my thighs too much. I ended up doing 45 minutes in the lap pool. It was a combination of running, kicking while using the kickboard and a few laps of breaststroke/backstroke/sidestroke. Quite a nice workout, but I have no idea how many calories I burned because my bodybugg can’t go into the water. :-(

CP used to be a swimmer in high school so he is really excited to have such a nice pool. They even have a Masters team, so maybe he would sign up for that once he got back into swimming shape? He is also going to have to help me with my strokes. I thought that my swimming strokes weren’t that bad, but according to him, they are totally wrong. CP trying to teach me is either going to be a good idea or a terrible, awful idea. We’ll see!

3.09.2011

Our America

Last night I was watching "Our America" with Lisa Ling on the OWN network. Have you guys seen this show? I would have NEVER thought that I would actually watch the OWN network, but the "Our America" one hour shows have been fascinating. Last week's episode was on the state of sex offenders. Sex offenders, and rightly so, are reviled in our society. They have done dirty, unspeakable, and disgusting things with minors. However, because there are sex offender free "zones" around schools, child care facilities, playgrounds, etc. offenders are sometimes hard pressed to find a place to live. In fact, it has driven a lot of them into the wilderness into tent camps. Tent camps with no running water and no electricity.

While I am watching, the thing that popped into my brain was that CP and I would be safe(r) if we ever had kids b/c we live so close to two schools. I'm sure that there are sex offenders in our town, but they would not be able to live right across the street. There would still be plenty of opportunities in other places, but maybe the risk is decreased because there may be less interaction? However, if a sex offender wants to re-offend, he could potentially do it wherever.

Despite the awful things that they did to children, do these people deserve to be pushed out into the outskirts of society? Do they deserve to live amongst their own feces? Without the modern amenities that we take for granted? Pushing them into the wilderness may keep them away from society, but does it keep them from re-offending?

I do believe that people can change, but sex offenders have the highest rates of recidivism. When I start to feel bad about how the sex offenders have to live, I then just have to think about their victim and how the assault most likely changed their life (and not for the better). And maybe once I have kids the balance will tip even further towards wanting to protect kids rather than feeling sorry for the sex offenders. But how far can you go to protect kids? There will always be dangers out there that you can't control. There is definitely no easy answer.

Thoughts?

3.08.2011

Recent reads

I have been on quite the reading tear recently. I’m pretty sure that it has to do with my wonderful and easy to carry around Nook. :-) I thought that I would review recent books in case anyone needed a suggestion. All ratings out of a possible 5 stars.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana Rosnay
4 stars
There were two different stories going on in this book. One of Sarah, a 10 year old girl who is arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup and one of Julia, a contemporary journalist who has been asked to write an article about the horrible day in French’s past. While Sarah’s story was fascinating as I had never heard that the French police helped the Germans round up Jewish families to bring them to concentration camps (Sarah’s character is fictional), Julia’s story was a bore. I would still recommend the book though.

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins
5 stars
Every year all 12 districts in what used to be North America are forced to send one boy and one girl to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 16 year old Katniss Everdeen steps forward for her sister.

I was a little skeptical about picking up this book because it is labeled “Young Adult.” However, it was heavily discounted in the ‘Steals N Deals’ Barnes and Noble e-book section and I had heard great things about it so I decided to try it out. WOW. I couldn’t put this book down. I started it the first day and had dreams that night about the content of the book. I finished it the next day and automatically downloaded #2 and #3 of the series.

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins
5 stars
Katniss survived the first Hunger Games, but pissed off the Capitol with her win. In this book, she is still a kick-ass female character and it is another fast-paced story. I finished this book within a day because I couldn’t put it down. (sorry, don’t want to give details and spoil the story)

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
4 stars
Out of the three books in the series, this one was my least favorite. I have never read or seen Twilight stuff, but the female lead is stuck between two guys, right? Well, in the midst of all that is going on in this book, Katniss is doing the same thing (if she isn’t drugged out of her mind). Other than that, another book that I literally read in a day because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for the movies to come out! (again, trying not to spoil anything)

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
5 starts
My best friend recommended this book and it did not disappoint. The author is a runner that often gets injured (welcome to my world). So he sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners to learn their secrets. This book didn’t want to make me become a ultra marathon runner (crazy, crazy people), but it did make me want to learn more about Barefoot/Minimalist running.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
4 stars
This is a follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. It is not as fast paced, but still a fairly good book. Robert Langdon is once again trying to decipher codes, symbols, etc. I also liked that it was set in Washington DC.

WAR by Sebastian Junger
4 stars
The author of The Perfect Storm heads out with a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous post in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. I am not the type of person to read war books, but I had heard so many amazing things about it. I’m glad that I read it because it gave me more of a sense of the war and how incredibly difficult it is for our men over there (only men in this platoon). Soon after reading this book, Nat Geo aired the accompanying documentary (Restrepo) which was also amazing.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
4 stars
This book gave a fascinating look into how the justices decide cases and even their personalities. Despite the fact that my political views are very similar to the authors, I wish that the writing was more balanced and less biased. It took me back to Con Law days in law school (but anyone-not just lawyers- would find the book interesting).

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
3 stars
A reporter spots a missing person’s photo that looks identical to her adopted son. She then feels compelled to research the coincidence. Overall, I did like this book but felt that the author used lines like “I just couldn’t shake the bad feeling in my stomach…” too many times. It’s a fast-paced book.

Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain
4 stars
Great book. If you have read Kitchen Confidential you will also like this book as he gives updates on a couple of people that were featured in that book. A couple passages were topics he talked about when CP and I saw him this fall. The only problem with his writing is sometimes it is a bit disorganized. But as I am reading his books I can picture him saying the words, so he really does write the way he talks.

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
3 stars
I wanted to love this book like I loved Lovely Bones. But I simply couldn’t get past the immense hatred the woman had for her mother.

Have you read any good books lately?

3.07.2011

Am I crazy?

Guess what I did this weekend?

On Sunday I headed to the nearby Fleet Feet store and I signed up for Half Marathon training! I was originally going to wait to see if I got pregnant this month, but the store has a policy if you drop out within the first 14 days of the start of training, the cost of the program is refunded (minus $20). I also figured that the odds were against us getting pregnant this month anyway, so I might as well sign up when I had time.

My program starts March 19th where I we will meet the coaches and run 4 miles. I am just on the cusp of not being fast enough (you have to be able to run 4 miles in 44 minutes), so I am definitely going to be in the slowest group. I have a 5K the next day, but decided that it would be silly to miss the first day of training. The 5K is really for my hair stylist anyway- it’s her first one and she is slower than me so if I’m a little sore/tired then it will be okay. I was hoping to see if I could PR, but oh well.

Every week we will add a mile onto our training run. I will have to miss the April 2nd training run, but that’s so I can participate in my Quarter Marathon race!

I have two major fears. One, that my heels and/or some other body part are going to prevent me from either finishing training or running the race. There is nothing much I can do about that other than ice, stretch and hope it doesn’t happen. Two, it means that I have to get up REALLY early on Saturday mornings. In the beginning the trainings will start at 8am, but when it gets hotter they will start at 7am. Yikes. I am going to have to start getting up earlier during the week so that I am not a zombie when trying to run!!

While at the store I also picked up Body Glide, a product that reduces chafing when running. While my chafing across my ribs wasn’t as bad after my 7 mile run on Saturday than last week, I figured I would pick it up as a preventative measure. Especially because I will start to run longer distances….and soon.

Hold me.

3.04.2011

Drama is over

As of today, our drama with CP’s second loan out west is over. It did not end the way I had hoped, but at least we don’t owe $24,000 in 20 days.

I am grateful that there is a good conclusion coming out of this. I have heard way too many stories about sketchy loans/paperwork (which is what I believe happened here) leading people into foreclosure and/or bankruptcy. Granted this was a smaller home equity loan, but what if this had been the primary mortgage? And suddenly he owed $150,000+ on a balloon payment??

Despite the fact that the lender did not honor the first note signed at the closing (the 30 year fixed- the one that CP had agreed to), CP was able to get a modification on the 5 year, balloon payment note (the one that the lender decided to honor despite the fact that it was signed two days after the closing). We now have a payment that is $150 more than we were paying, but we close the loan out in 10 years. Although the APR is higher than we would have liked, it is not our primary residence so low rates are not available. Luckily, we are able to absorb this.

It took lots of time away from CP’s work day to call the lender. Never getting the same person every time. Never getting answers from the person that he spoke to. Having to tell each and every single person the whole story every time he called. You have to be persistent. The lender is sure as heck not going to go out of their way to help you.

So yes, drama over. Tonight we will finally be able to relax.

3.03.2011

Letters

Dear HGTV,
CP and I love your station. We watch House Hunters, Holmes on Holmes, etc. and have ventured over to the DIY network to watch shows like Yard Crashers and House Crashers for ideas. You also should know that I diligently entered the Dream Home Sweepstakes for over a month and a half. You may even have noticed that I sent in a few postcards too, thinking that they would better my chances. I know that you had A LOT of submissions, but I am hoping to hear from you a bit later this month with good news. A weekend house in Stowe, VT would be super cool!
Love,
Hoping our entry wins

Dear weather,
It is now March. I don’t appreciate the low of 8 degrees tonight. I would like warmer weather so that I don’t freeze every time I walk outside.
Love,
Someone who is sick of wearing huge jackets

Dear Chipotle,
I do love your fajita burrito bowl. Thank you so much for the Buy One, Get One Free coupon on your Facebook page. Free food just for watching the America’s Next Great Restaurant preview? Yes please!
Love,
Someone who loves your corn salsa

Dear Fort Worth,
I just booked a work trip to your lovely city. Well, I don’t know if you are lovely because I have never been there. But because weather.com says that you are currently sitting in the 60s and 70s temperature-wise? I CAN’T FREAKING WAIT. Three and a half days in weather that doesn’t require a large jacket (see above)? I’m already in love. So what is there to do in your fine city?* Hopefully you have some good restaurants downtown?
Love,
I’m totally going running outside while visiting

Dear CP,
I know that I complain that we aren’t taking any vacations and that I am currently DYING from lack of going anywhere but the normal places in the Northeast, but this month? When we were both able to pay $1000 towards our credit card debt? That’s when it makes it all worth it. I hope that we can continue to do that, but know that we have some big expenses coming up (i.e. putting together the garden, the puppy, etc.). We will just have to tighten our belts in other areas.
Love ya!
Will try to stop complaining so much

Who do you want to write a letter to?

*Anyone know anything about the Fort Worth area??

3.02.2011

Stylish??

I have been tagged as a stylish blogger from Stevie. That makes me giggle because you wanna know what I am currently wearing? Glasses, no makeup, gray yoga pants and a sweatshirt given to me by my college athletic department for practices. That means that the sweatshirt is probably from 1996. Yep. Sooo stylish. What can I say? It’s a work from home day.

Are you sure you don’t want to take back the award? :-)

So now I am supposed to:
*Link back to Stevie. Thanks lady!
*Tell you 7 random facts.
*Link to 15 other bloggers. Good thing I have a large reading list…

1. I hate oysters. That fact alone KILLS CP. Oh sure I have tried them in the past, but now when CP pushes the plate towards me I just tell him that he is wasting a precious oyster.

2. When I shower I don’t let the hair that falls out go down the drain. Instead I put it aside and throw it in the garbage after I get out. I like to think that I am decreasing the chances of a clogged shower.

3. I have never broken a bone. I might have totally jinxed myself saying that, but yeah, I have been pretty lucky considering all of the sports that I have played in my lifetime.

4. I like to keep all of the bills in my wallet facing the same way, right side up, and in denomination order. I swear that I don’t have OCD….

5. My favorite food in the world is corn. If I could eat it for every meal I would. One of the reasons I know that CP loves me? We made a meal from a Mexican cookbook on Sunday. One of the dishes? Corn soup. Yum.

6. Last week I found another lump on Fuzzy Britches’ chest. I will be taking her in to the vet tomorrow to get it checked out, but it feels a bit different than the other one. On my walk with her the night I found it I started crying because I was CONVINCED that this one is cancerous.

7. I hate public speaking if it is in a formal setting. Unfortunately, starting next month part of my job will be going out to groups to give speeches. I always survive and I don’t have any weird tics or anything, but hate it the entire time I am giving it. It’s so funny because my sister is the complete opposite. Her job is in the public eye and she has to speak in public all the time- I don’t know how she does it.

Now for the linking!

Runners are stylish!

Brilliance Wasted

New Life

New moms are stylish! Duh. They have a new accessory (just kidding!):

A Peine for your Thoughts

Du Wax Loolu

I'm a Mom in Real Life

People who travel are stylish!

Eat, Blog and Be Married

Terra Bear

People who recently got married are stylish!

Amy Jo...On the Go

I am Slowly Drifting

Stylish Handwriting

3.01.2011

The State of NSC- February edition

A monthly take on my world.

Weight: 206 pounds (boooo)

Current Feeling: A bit tired and worried. Work has been busy and all of the rain we have been getting hasn’t helped. At least tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 46!

Running Stats
Miles Run: 42.47
Time Spent Running: 8 hours, 16 minutes, 17 seconds
Calories Burned: 6,669
Longest Run: 7.25 miles on 2/26
PR: My new 5K PR is 33 minutes,25 seconds. My new 10K PR is 72 minutes, 10 seconds.

Current aches and pains: My plantar fasciitis reared its ugly head on Saturday during my 7+ mile run. Both heels hurt the ENTIRE RUN. It was painful and not very fun. I am back to the painful stretches and rolling a golf ball beneath my arches. In addition, I also had some chafing issues along my rib cage from my sports bra. I was able to rub my skin raw and not even realize it until I jumped into the shower (my heels pain must have masked this pain). The line has somewhat faded, but I’m worried that they won’t be gone before my next long run on Saturday.

Current Favorite Song: Rihanna’s “Only Girl in the World”

Looking forward to: Getting my “infertility” test results. Running the Quarter Marathon. Our new puppy! And farther off, our week-long camping trip we just booked for Acadia National Park (Maine). :-)

Annoyed about: The mortgage fiasco is still dragging on. Having to find new renters in the condo out west because our current ones have decided that they want to move out and buy a place. Money issues in general.

Craving: Crab cheese wontons. Haven’t had them in a very long time because we haven’t been out for Thai food in a while. I really need to remedy this…

Infertility Timeline

Trying for Baby #1

May 2010- Stop taking birth control. Figure that it might take 6-10 months to get pregnant. Do not tell friends or family that we are going to start trying to get pregnant.

October 2010- I start charting and taking my temperature every day.

February 2011- Nine months into trying to conceive with no results, I head to my GYN and discuss our next steps.

March 2011- I have a Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) test which came up negative for any problems.

April 2011- CP has a sperm analysis which indicates a lower percentage of "good sperm" than normal.

May 2011- CP heads to the urologist where they don't find anything and has another sperm analysis which indicates an even lower percentage of "good sperm". After a year of trying we are officially infertile.

August 2011- We have our first meeting with a fertility doctor and SURPRISE I have a big fibroid in my uterus. At the end of the month I was injected with a three-month shot of Lupron to shut down my ovaries/drop my estrogen levels to shrink the fibroid before surgery. Three months of hot flashes and headaches start.

November 2011- I have surgery to remove my fibroid and SURPRISE the doctor also found endometriosis and a cyst. He removes everything and tells us that we must wait three months before trying to have kids.

February 2012- Still waiting for my period to come back- the three-month dose of Lupron in August really messed with my system. Doctor prescribes Provera (a progesterone) to jump start my cycle again. I take 10 days of Provera and then on the 11th day I get my period!

April 2012- IUI #1- Negative despite great sample from CP.

May 2012- IUI #2- Negative despite great sample from CP. This month makes it two years of TTC.

June 2012- IUI #3- Negative despite great sample from CP. Consult with doctor before move to Chicago and decide to pursue IVF using the ICSI technique. TTC put on hold as we are living in two different states for most of the summer.

October 2012- First consult with new doctor in IL. Ultrasound reveals two new fibroids in my uterus. Bloodwork comes back normal.

November 2012- Saline sonogram shows a normal uterus. Surgery to remove fibroids was cancelled.

December 2012- Find out at IVF consult that my CT clinic never told me that my FSH and AMH numbers are showing possible poor egg quality.

January 2013- One-month Lupron shot in preparation for IVF #1.

February 2013- After two weeks on birth control, I start daily Lupron shots for IVF #1.

March 2013- IVF #1 results in 11 eggs retrieved. Fertilization report shows 6 eggs were mature enough for ICSI, only 3 fertilize. Transfer 1 perfect blastocyst and freeze another. Find out on March 26th that I am actually PREGNANT!!

First Trimester Recap

Bump pictures through Week 19

Second Trimester Recap

Bump pictures from Week 20-28

Third Trimester Recap

Bump pictures from Week 28-39

November 29, 2013- Our beautiful daughter was born!

Our Quest to Complete our Family with Baby #2

December 2014- Saline sonogram shows a normal uterus. On the 31st I start daily Lupron shots prior to FET #1.

February 12, 2015- Transfer a BB frozen embryo from our first IVF cycle.

February 22, 2015- BFP! First beta the following day- 55. Next beta- 132. Third beta- 249.

March 6, 2015- First ultrasound didn't go well; gestational sac measuring four days behind. A week later it was confirmed that I had a non-viable pregnancy. That day I took Misoprostol.

Sept 2015- After waiting for an OK to resume treatment after a CMV infection, I start injections after a few months of birth control. I am slow to respond and only have two mature follicles.

Oct 9 & 10, 2015- Cycle has been transferred to an IUI and I am inseminated. BFN.

Nov 2015- I start the flare or "Schoyer" protocol with Minivelle patches and Ganerelix shots. I head into my RE's office on Day 39 to figure out why I don't have my period and the ultrasound tech says that I have either a cyst or a gestational sac! A home pregnancy test confirms that I am pregnant naturally!