I love food magazines with their perfectly photographed meals on the covers. I ended up getting a Bon Appetit, a Summer Grilling magazine and a 30 Minute Suppers from America’s Test Kitchen. Bon Appetit, while definitely enjoyable to look at has a little more fluff than I’d like (Cool Copenhagen: Hot Restaurants….is not really applicable to what I make for dinner tonight). But the 30 Minute Suppers? Best $7.95 I’ve spent in awhile. Everything I have made out of there has been either ‘very good’ or downright ‘keeper’ material. And when they say 30 minutes? They mean 30 minutes. As you know Im not one for using prepackaged ingredients and all these meals are from scratch- unless you count the rotisserie chicken as ‘prepackaged’.

I usually turn to epicurious.com or foodnetwork.com or recipezaar.com when Im doing my meal planning. I think americastestkitchen.com is going to be my new go-to. Go pick up a copy for yourself– you wont be disappointed. And if you’d like to get me a subscription, that’d be fine too.

I mean srsly, do any of you have anything resembling this? If so, Im moving in. Or at least coming over for dinner.

I can tell this must be an adult only party, because if I brought my kids to something like this those fancy votive candles on the ground would be knocked over and the fancy wicker furniture would be on fire. Time for s'mores?

Every year I consider having some sort of outdoor get together because I love planning parties, but then remind myself how miserable it is in Okinawa in July and figure, meh, a melted snow-cone and fireworks will do just fine. This year I’m not sure we’ll even do that well since Nathan has his surgery next week. I’m guessing we’ll be spending the holiday recuperating. But not you. Certainly you have big plans!? Maybe even with fancy outdoor furniture? And patriotic food like this?

So, I think in honor of this fun, summery, BBQ-y, Patriotic- American holiday- I’ll give away a box of goodies from Japan. Nothing says ‘proud to be American’ like a box of stuff from Japan right? It will be filled with Japanese summery BBQ-y goodies. Trust me, you’ll like it. I might have even found another Worlds Greatest Ice Cream Scoop to stick in there.

I’ll do my best to get it to you by the 4th. So, tell me what your 4th of July plans entail and we’ll pick a winner Sunday morning (27th) my time.

Im a big fan of the ziptop clear bags and before a trip I sit down with a sharpie and my box of bags. With my box of bags I create the following:

1) Everyone gets an extra outfit in a ziploc bag. Including mom (I’ve been pooped on enough to know I want a spare outfit on a plane). The kids also have spare nana/ling lings in theirs. I label with their names and stuff at the bottom of my backpack. These outfits are almost always needed, and by having them bagged it allows for whatever accident occured necessitating the clean outfit (potty/barf/spill) to be deposited back into the ziplock bag.

2) a bag labeled ‘mealtime’. This bag includes a few bendy straws, disposable bibs, child take-n-toss silverware, a couple clothespins (to clip open bags shut) as well as a few paper towels that have been neatly folded up so I can quickly grab one at a time. I also bring a small (teeny- like smaller than a hotel shampoo bottle) bottle of dishsoap (this is for in the hotel, not the plane, obviously)- this is critical when traveling with sippy cups, water bottles, snack bowls etc. With the sippy cups I take the valve out, put it in the cup, fill with hot soapy water, put the lid on and shake shake shake (I mean, bringing a dish brush would be over the top, no?). I figure this does a relatively good job of getting the valve clean (as well as the cup). Lay them out on a hand towel and they’ll be dry by morning.

3) A bag labeled snacks. Im all about pre-packaged when traveling. Boxes of raisins, granola bars, yogurt covered raisins, individual bags of goldfish. I like the raisins and because they keep little fingers busy digging them out of the box and if it falls on the floor its minimal mess/cleanup (unlike smashed goldfish crackers). Small packages of cereal are good too because they come in a ‘bowl’ keep fingers busy and are less messy than say, ritz crackers that just smash and leave crumbs everywhere. I even stoop so low as to buy my children lunchables as long as I know they will be consumed shortly (out of the fridge). There is some novelty in assembling the fake cheese, starchy crackers and high sodium ham. Since they come in an organized tray its easy to eat without them being dumped over. And I figure its at least a little cleaner than handing them a sandwich and then having them put it on the dirty* tray table (“even though I told you to PUT IT ON THE NAPKIN”). I always bring a few ace in the hole treats too– i like the little mini M&M containers (see also: keeps fingers busy), little individual packs of oreos etc. I do bring fruit (grapes travel well, sliced apple with lemon juice etc) but its always a problem of remembering to dump them when you get to another country so I don’t bring a whole lot. My dad is a big fan of bringing PBJ’s on trips because they are cheap and keep for a long time. The problem is Kiki isn’t onto PB yet and Nathan doesn’t like it so, I do bring them for PC and I, but meh, Im sort of indifferent. And, while we’re on the topic of food, generally the food required for this family to travel more than 5 minutes is significant so I bring a separate “food bag” which is this lame Marine Corps Association (or something) bag–you know, a tacky freebie but I like it because it zips on the top so all our crap stays in there. In addition to the “mealtime” zipper bag, and the snack bag I also throw in an old dishtowel, some extra zip bags, a grocery bag for trash, and some plastic bowls/disposable tupperware (WITH LIDS) for holding snacks (I have one that has the suction bottom which works well for people that are in the ‘throw my food on the floor’ stage of life. These also work well in the destination phase of the trip. We usually stop by a grocery store and buy snack food and we can just portion it out into tupperware containers while we’re out and about.

*dirty is all relative of course, as you see below I disinfect our entire area

4) A bag labled Meds. Given that when we fly it often involves an overnight flight I carry a small drugstore with me. Childrens motrin, infant tylenol (well, used to, not so much infant anymore) dimetapp for plugged noses/cough/allergies. Pepto and tums for upset tummys. Saline spray, afrin, sudafed because trust me- there is nothing worse than flying when you are severely congested. Ok, well maybe barfing would be worse but, not by much. Bandaids and neosporin and alcohol wipes. I used to carry eye drops (I like the single serve ones Bauch and Lomb make) but I used them so infrequently and they would always expire so, meh, I guess I’ve stopped with those. Good if you are a contact wearer though. Oh- and a thermometer– never know when someone is going to spike a fever at 30,000 feet.

5) A bag labeled Clean. Oh yes, laugh if you will. In this bag I have hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, the little soap papers, and most importantly, a travel pack of Clorox wipes. The clorox wipes I began carrying after our trip to Hawaii where, within about 10 hours of arriving Nathan got the stomach flu to end all stomach flu’s. For five days- FIVE he puked. We had to take him to the ER he was so sick. Oh- and this was over Christmas too. Never again will I allow my children to sit in the airplane seat before I have completed a full cleaning regimen. As soon as we get to our row PC gets busy buckling carseats and I start wiping. Tray tables, seatbelts, armrests, tv screens, remotes, phones, lights. Anything they could possibly touch or lick? I wipe it down.

In my backpack I take:
-Pashmina. I had some really nice saris PC got me in Bangladesh that I can’t find anywhere (Im afraid the realization that I must have inadvertantly? FOOLISHLY? gotten rid of them has sunk in) so Im back to the pashmina. Everyone should have one of these because it can be a wrap, a blanket, a pillow, a headdress (?? probably not), a privacy shade over the top of a fussy girl who refuses to sleep (you tuck it over their seat and up in the seat in front of you and voila- its like a canopy) and if you’re in the breastfeeding stage of life, it works quite perfectly as a nursing coverup.
-sweatshirt (perhaps redundant, but alas, better than shivering on a cold plane)
-blow up pillow. Im thinking of making a cover out of minky fabric for it– will I look lame or very smart and cozy?
-my laptop
-my spare outfit
-all the remaining bags listed above
-a set of headphones and my iphone
-wallet
-camera
-book/magazine/crossword –something for entertainment. Though, by entertainment I usually mean “entertaining the kids”
-pens, a sharpie marker and pencil and eraser (for crossword puzzles of course)
-gum
-water bottles for both kids (I prefer these to sippy cups)
-diapers, wipes, and changing pad. Enough for our travel time +1 day….in the event we get stranded (its happened) or diarrhea happens.
-tranq gun to put unruly kids to sleep

PCs backpack:
-work computer. The Marine Corps might come to a screeching halt if PC doesn’t have his laptop.
-stuff that makes our stuff work (spare batteries, cords, misc electronics,)

We take Mackenzie’s car seat most of the time. When we went to Hong Kong we didn’t because it was a short trip, short flight and she didn’t have a seat. We took it to Singapore knowing we wouldn’t use it in taxis but with an 8hr flight down there (and she had a seat- no way could I have her on my lap for 8hrs) it made sense so that she was ‘confined’ and could sleep. We have a car seat bag that works well (And we also tend to jam any erroneous items into it that didn’t get stuffed back into backpacks while trying to navigate the airport). We also have this tray (because the seat back trays can’t come down when she’s in her carseat) which….I could take it or leave it. Its handy because it keeps things from rolling away since it has raised sides, but, its kind of bulky and flimsy.

Kids carryon bags:
Mackenzie hasn’t rated her own bag yet, when we went home last summer she was 8mo and to Singapore she was just barely 1 so for her up to this point I have a—no not a clear ZIP TOP BAG–but an actual mesh bag. She’d get a handful of her favorite baby toys, a couple board books and thats it. She usually found the emergency instruction card in the seat back to be the most fascinating item anyway.

Nathan has a small wheeled backpack. In his bag we pack:
-spare outfit, including socks in case its cold on the plane
-nana (his blankie)
-travel pillow (got it off etsy; basically an airplane sized pillow with cute little airplane fabric pillowcase on it)
- headphones and iPod with tv shows/movies (an old one of ours, no, the 4yr old does not have his own)
-a few agreed upon toys (we organize these into small mesh bags we got at the 100Y store. This works well because if he wants to take a few toys while we’re out daytripping he just picks one of those to bring with– usually its a bag of airplanes.
-a few books, workbook and or coloring book.
-a ‘craft bag’ I made (I also take this with us out to dinner and to the dr. office) that is well stocked with crayons, stickers, small notepad paper, mini coloring books, a few random markers/pencils, postit paper, tape, some pictures I cut out of magazine’s/catalogs (ie cut out pictures of toys from the Pottery Barn Kids catalog) and he uses the tape to make a collage of whatever from those pictures I cutout (keeps him busy for awhile. Also, I’ve thought of bringing a glue stick but Im sure that would just be a security line hassle). Also- those foamie things that have sticky backs–those keep him busy too.

All of that goes up in the cabin with us. Seems like a lot doesn’t it? Depending on our destination and how big the load above is, we take a carryon suitcase with everyone’s swimsuits, toiletry kits, PJ’s and another spare outfit. This is because we’ve had our luggage lost enough times to know that, well, that sucks. Now with the 2oz security rule and the adults generally having to schlepp the younger people’s bags and dealing with carseats and strollers we no longer do the carryon suitcase but if there is room in our backpacks I’ll stuff in at least extra underwear and PJs for everyone, that way we can wash stuff in the sink and have it dry by morning without having to sleep naked.

If you have tips to share PLEASE do. We could make this the worlds greatest packing list if everyone throws in their ideas. Tomorrow we’ll discuss suitcase and toiletry bag packing. I’ve even got pictures. Stay tuned.

So, I thought this would be a good time to tell you about my mom tool belt. Ok, its not really a tool belt, but I thought the image of that would be pretty BA.

Nathan is a chronic complainer of his ear hurting for no apparent reason. He’s had a few ear infections but he’s not like one of those chronic cases. I vacillate on what to do when he wakes up at 3am complaining of his ear hurting…..ER? Vitamin M? Thats what led me to the purchase of one of these. A quick peek and I can diagnose….well, I think I could, so far I haven’t diagnosed an ear infection because he hasn’t had one.

Ok, Im not *technically* a medical professional, though I pass for one in this house. You gotta be careful and practice with this before you go poking it into your kids’ ears. Also, I don’t recommend this for the 2 and under crowd, they are much too wiggly.

And then for Christmas I got this thermometer.

This is the most accurate thermometer I’ve ever owned. Seriously. No sticking things in butts, no pleading with a little person about keeping it in their armpit. No 91.6degree temperature readings from the worthless ear thermometer. This thing is awesome.

If I did actually have a tool belt I’d make sure it had two notches for these two indispensable tools and also some sort of apparatus for dispensing out glugs of “FOR GOVERNMENT USE ONLY” Motrin (wait- is that not the kind you get?) in 1 and 2 tsp doses.

What would you put in your tool belt?

**sidenote– I just noticed the “germ busting” tagline on the thermometer picture. I had no idea! Am I radiating and eradicating germ at the same time Im taking their temperature? That is AMAZING. Its like a magic wand isn’t it? I wish.

$10 iTunes winner is #2- Jessica

***

While I wholeheartedly think that exercise plays a vital role in health, if we really want to point the finger the gold medal goes to: Our diet. We (meaning Americans) eat garbage. We have a diet that is killing us slowly and its becoming a bigger and bigger burden on our already tragic healthcare system.

If you read In Defense of Food you will learn that even diets that are high in saturated fats (fats we’ve always been told are a big No-No) don’t have nearly the rates of health issues as we do. Asians eat starchy white rice day in and day out and they don’t have a fraction of the “western illnesses” either. Our downfall is the refined sugars, flours, food additives, salt etc. So much of what you find in the grocery store is not food. I find that when I go to the store these days I can usually walk past 2 aisles avoiding them completely: chip/soda aisle, crackers/cookie aisle. There is very little I ever buy in those aisles (I’ll admit there are always Oreos in the freezer- but those last us at least 1-2months). There is nothing of value in those aisles. In fact when I went to the store today I decided that I think the Pop Tart probably ties with the Bagel for the most worthless food on earth.

Because Im sure not everyone finds food science as fascinating as I do, lets have a little science lesson.

Carbohydrates are pretty much the mainstay of the American diet these days. This really was fueled with the 1980′/90’s notion that eating a low-fat diet was the way to go. What was fat replaced with? Carbs. Then the 2000’s had us all saying no to carbs and eating our weights in steak and bacon. Now….I don’t know where we are now, worse off than ever? Part of the problem is that we’ve got loads of carbs (sugar) in places we don’t expect them (spaghetti sauce, salad dressing, ketchup, peanut butter, etc). In fact its becoming increasingly difficult to find food that doesn’t have sugar in it.

Carbs can be split into two major categories: simple (this is your table sugar, soda, syrup, juice, and our very very favorite: High Fructose Corn Syrup -aka HFCS) and complex (whole grains (oatmeal, brown and wild rice, quinoa), starchy vegetables (potatoes, squash, yams) and legumes (peas, beans, lentils)). Carbs are broken down by digestion into glucose which is able to enter our bloodstreams (this is what people are talking about when they say “blood sugar”). Once there it triggers the release of, your friend and mine; insulin. Insulin helps glucose get into our cells where its used for energy  (glucose being the body’s primary source of energy).

Once our immediate energy needs have been met, extra glucose still remaining in the bloodstream can be stored in our muscles and liver for later use. If our muscle and liver stores of glucose are full (and most Americans glucose stores are FULL-ULL) but we still have extra glucose floating around in our blood, then insulin says ‘waste not, want not’ and helps our body turn this into fat. To be used at a later time. Except for most of us- there is no LATER TIME because we just keep adding to the fat stores like we’re bears amping up for hibernation. And we keep getting fatter and fatter and fatter. And once those fat cells are created they’re there for life. They can shrink but they don’t go away.

When we eat anything that is just straight sugar (ie the pop tart or bagel, soda, juice) it sends our pancreas into overdrive with insulin! insulin! insulin! Your blood sugar rises rapidly (in the case of juice/soda it rises so rapidly most diabetics aren’t allowed to have it. Like ever. Which is also why if a diabetic is going into shock you give them juice to quickly! bring their blood sugar back up). When it rises rapidly like that you feel all good and energized and your body is still working away with insulin! insulin! insulin! and then….you start to feel crashy and *hungry*. So….you reach for something sugary again. And the cycle starts all over again. You continue to feel hungry and get fatter. Its this roller coaster of sugar highs and lows that takes its toll on your body and, here the science gets more complicated than I can understand (A high flux of fructose to the liver, the main organ capable of metabolizing this simple carbohydrate, disturbs normal hepatic carbohydrate metabolism leading to two major consequences: perturbations in glucose metabolism and glucose uptake pathways, and a significantly enhanced rate of de novolipogenesis and TG synthesis, driven by the high flux of glycerol and acyl portions of TG molecules coming from fructose catabolism. These metabolic disturbances appear to underlie the induction of insulin resistance commonly observed with high fructose feeding (source: www.nutritionandmetabolism.com)).  Basically, this roller coaster of sugar highs can lead to insulin resistance. Our bodies just weren’t made to handle such an onslaught of sugar in our diet.

Most everyone has at least some vague idea of what a ‘balanced’ meal/snack is. As I mentioned above, when you eat a meal or snack that is composed of carbs/sugar it raises your blood sugar quickly and then it comes crashing right back down. You can avoid these peaks and valleys by consuming protein (and or fat) at the same time (think apple and cheese (squirty cheese does NOT count), banana and peanut butter, cottage cheese and crackers, etc). Diabetics have to eat this way, and really, it makes a lot of sense.

When you include proteins you will stay full longer, glucose levels stay more consistent, your metabolism will work more efficiently, and you will feel like you have more energy for longer periods of time. When you eat carbohydrates and proteins together, the carbohydrates are digested in about two hours, but the proteins take longer to digest. Proteins slow down the digestion of the carbohydrates, and energy from the carbohydrates is released slower (thus avoiding the sugar highs and lows).

When I was looking up info on this (no, not ALL of this info is stored in my brain ready to spew out at any minute) I saw this good analogy: Think of the carb/protein thing like a car on a highway. If you are the only one on the highway you’ll zip on down the road. If you have to compete with traffic you’ll move much slower. The same goes for glucose working its way through your blood stream. Eating protein along with carbs fills the blood stream with traffic that slows down the glucose. And the slower glucose moves through the bloodstream, the better. If it moves through too quickly, your blood sugar levels will dip and you’ll be tormented by sugar cravings and find yourself in a slump.

To sum it up: The reason we are big and getting bigger is because we are consuming far more than our bodies can metabolize.  When you eat foods that are heavy in carbs they raise your blood sugar quickly, wreak their havoc, and then send you crashing back down, reaching for more food. If we ate more well thought out meals our blood sugar would stay constant, we’d feel better, we’d eat less, and, at least in theory, we’d weigh less.

Some numbers:

-We eat roughly 150lbs of sugar a year (this also includes about 30lbs of natural sugar found in fruit). A can of soda has 10 tsp of sugar.  A container of fruit flavored yogurt has 6tsp. A tablespoon of ketchup has a TEASPOON of sugar in it. We should only be eating the equivalent of 8tsp a day.

-Obesity related health issues cost us nearly $150 BILLION every year

-190 million Americans (roughly 2/3 of the population TWO THIRDS) are overweight or obese

-From 1935 to 1996, the prevalence of diagnosed type 2 diabetes climbed nearly 765%

-childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last 30 years.

Next….how ( and what) we eat. (This is the last one, I promise).

*Since I lack any sort of credentials in this area, if anything I’ve written isn’t correct- I welcome corrections.

As I mentioned before my friend Stephanie got me started on running (really- jogging; walking breaks allowed). I would run consistently when Nathan was little and since having Mackenzie it sort of gets rotated in every once in awhile. And just so we’re clear- running isn’t fun per se. Its not like its enjoyable to feel like your internal organs rearranged themselves while your heart lodged itself in your armpit and you feel like you are going to barf last nights dinner and the whole time you keep thinking “damn Oreos dragging my ass down.” I’ve found it does get easier but its always going to be…should be- work. The route I’ve been doing lately sends me up a decent hill right out the door, I wind around over by the track, do a loop and go back down the same hill but different route. By the time I get to the track the worst is over. The part where I want to die is past and I can settle into a nice clip. And once you get to that its sort of euphoric. Im not out of breath, my legs aren’t burning, I can just run. But the best part is when its all over and the ‘high’ sets in. Whether its running or shreding or cartwheeling (ok, I don’t really do that), the high you get when its all over is the best part of working out…that is what makes it worthwhile.

I heard about the 30 Day Shred from Sundry, who, for last the year in particular, has been such an inspiration on the fitness front. I love her writing and it’s so motivating to read about her struggles and successes. For a long time I would run 3 days a week. That is all the time I was willing to devote to exercise and I felt like if I was going to stick with it I needed to be reasonable about how often I would do it. Sundry wrote a post about finding the time for exercise and how you just had to make the time. Thats it. No excuses. We’re all moms (or dads). We all have 100 things to juggle. We all want to dork around on the internet. We have the choice everyday to make time or not. As soon as I get up in the morning the workout gear goes on. I (cringe) drive Nathan to school like that, wearing flip flops, hair all kinds of crazy, and I come home and put my time in. I know Im not alone in feeling this way, but its not fun. Sometimes I have to really talk myself into doing it. Its not like I can’t! wait! to have my arss kicked and have sweat dripping down my face. Exercise isn’t supposed to be “fun”. Its hard work, its uncomfortable at times. But thats the point. “If you want results- they aren’t coming for free”, right? There are no secrets, no pills, and there are no shortcuts. Here, [brisk clap] lets have another motivational quote from Dean:

“…[People are] afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not constantly demanding more from yourself–expanding and learning as you go–you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.
As a running buddy once said to me: Life is a not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: “WOW!! What a ride!”

Yesss….that.

If you can push past the heart-in-armpit discomfort, the hard work does payoff. And the payoff of all of this is big. I’ve been doing the shred (in addition to other things) for almost a year, and while the scale has remained steady, my size/shape/strength has changed considerably. I never used to be able to do a real push up and now I can with ease. I can hold myself in a plank position…the Captain and I may or may not even have contests for who can hold themselves in a plank the longest. That whole notion of a strong core? I get it now. I have muscles I never knew existed. Jillian promised me a nice groove in the top of my shoulders and I’ve got that too. Im not trying to belabor the point (“yay for you, I get it, 30 day shred, shut UP already”) but the workout you get in 25 minutes far surpasses 40 minutes of phoning it in on the elliptical machine (for me). Because I do get bored with the shred I’ve gotten a few of her other DVDs and they are all based on the same premise (and many of the same moves) of combining strength and cardio to burn the most calories. I highly recommend it. In addition to the physical payoffs the mental payoffs are equally important. I feel strong, I feel healthy and fit and confident and beautiful and challenged and accomplished and muscle-y (?) and less stressed and just good. (shall I continue with more adjectives?) And on the days I don’t exercise- I feel like a sloth.

The bottom line is simple math (barring medical issues, which I know exist). In order to lose weight you need some combination of eating less and moving more. Brownies can’t be the mainstay of your diet (I’ve tried it, doesn’t work). You have to want it. You can’t be fit and healthy without being willing to put in the (hard) work. Its so much easier to talk ourselves into “acceptance” than to move ourselves into “action.” I’ve so been there.

Once you’ve found whatever it is you “enjoy” be it running or shredding or cartwheeling or bike riding or hiking or swimming or skiing or… (shall I keep going?) Im a big believer in ‘material encouragement’ (I made that term up just for you). Buy yourself some crap. You are going to be more motivated to run in a new, shiny, sparkling white pair of new kicks than an old pair of keds. Better to have some sleek running shorts than some elastic-was-shot-6-months-ago number to put on. Do your socks have holes in them? Time for some new ones. Getting hit in the face? Time for a new sports bra. Going to be a ’shredhead’ [oh gag] buy some weights. I say all this with the caveat– if its not financially possible, then make due with whatcha got. Your old shoes will work fine (my mom used to throw mine in the washing machine anyway). But I think its important to reward yourself from time to time if you can, it helps me anyway.

And, because Im helpful like that, I’ll share with you some of my favorites:

Nike Tempo Shorts: best running shorts I’ve found. Most important feature? They don’t ride up.

Athleta All That Knee Length Capri: because running shorts are no good for anything but running. These are awesome for everything else.

Nike Heartrate monitor: this tells me that, despite the fact that I may feel like Im dying, Im actually not. Also, how many Oreo’s worth of calories I’ve burned.

Nike Plus iPod: I mention it below but its a good motivator too

Saucony shoes: this brand is my favorite. However, running shoes are highly personal so you may hate them.

my wishlist:
-Lululemon pants. I’ve read so many good things about them. Very spendy though.

-a good iPhone workout app. I haven’t spent much time searching though (suggestions?)

In addition to swanky gear; music. Music music music. I have an iPod nano with the nike fit thing, I haven’t used it in awhile but I really like to see all my progress, runs and total miles- thats pretty neat. As far as the music goes, I have a mix of songs I like as well as some songs I wouldn’t normally listen to but are great for a run. Here’s what I’ve got:

Evacuate the Dancefloor- Cascada
Sugar- Flo Rida
Single Ladies- Beyonce (plus- if you’ve seen how she looks in the video– it makes you want to kick your butt a little harder)
Just Dance/Pokerface/Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
Viva La Vida- Coldplay
Alive With The Glory of Love- Say Anything (its a catchy little song– its from the season finale of Scrubs)

And the very best most motivating song I have, I just added it after hearing it on the radio….the one you simply must go put on your iPod after reading this? Black Box- Strike it Up. Do it- YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. Its pretty much the best running song ever. Plus- it brings back fond memories of junior high.

And because not only am I nice- Im SUPER nice; and want to know what you like to do for exercise, what your favorite workout garb is AND if you have some good music– and when I say good Im talking like BLACK BOX good. Leave a comment and my faithful assistant (Nathan) will draw a name out of a hat?….a bowl? something (we’ll say Friday afternoon Japan time We’ll extend this a bit because I know of at least two people who haven’t chimed in because of sick kids. Also there are not as many comments as there are readers- what gives?). And the winner will get $10 to the iTunes store. Your first purchase better be Strike It Up.

I bought a box of angel food cake mix. Despite my adherence to making things from scratch I do buy cake mixes….(but I don’t buy brownie or muffin mixes… so I don’t know why I don’t make cake from scratch, anyway.) So after I popped it in the oven I quickly glanced at the ingredient list because I was curious how powder + water + mix = FOAM?

The reason folks, is that they put potentially cancer causing soap bubbles in it. Pfft. For the love of all that is holy…..shit, I guess this Iowa girl is going to have to become a FREAKING John-Deere tractor driving FARMER because the grocery store no longer sells FOOD anymore. They sell products that are food-ish. Gah….its scary….no I mean it, its seriously, seriously scary. WHAT THE HELL ARE WE EATING?

I’m reading Michael Pollans “In Defense of Food” and it is outstanding. His whole point was driven home tonight with the Devil Angel food cake debacle. Im also working on a cookbook…who knows if I’ll ever get around to finishing it but if I do, you might want a copy. I think I might title it “Eat This if You Want to Survive.”

Thanks Betty effing Crocker for putting soap bubbles in my cake mix. I fed that TO MY BABY TONIGHT.

When I ordered my dress from Nordstrom’s a while back I decided to treat myself to some new makeup. Let me first start off by saying, Im not a huge/faithful makeup wearer. I used to be…its like the older I get the less I do, which, is the opposite of what I should be doing you know, as youth is fleeing from me. I think its mostly because in the mornings I spend time clothing, feeding and ushering children out the door and not much time applying makeup. Trust me- its gotta be simple and quick or I won’t wear it.

I really like makeup that has some sunscreen in it. Clinique used to make a great one that had a hint of shimmer and bronze to it, but they stopped making it. So- when I found this illuminating moisturizer I thought I’d give it a go. Its pretty great. Its not too shimmery or shiny (and I worry about that because its humid here- it doesn’t take much to break a sweat so I don’t want my face to look like an oil slick) but it gives you a nice glow….you know, like when I wear it I pretty much look just like a supermodel. Pretty much.

I also bought this ‘base layer’ eye makeup stuff. Its ok….I think Too Faced (at Sephora) makes a better one.

Now- my very favorites. Im so easily presuaded, Im a bit of a product sucker, but I saw this on the bestseller page and I thought “ooooh, preeeetty.” And Guess what? It IS preeeetty.

Im no makeup expert, so I can’t tell you if it would look good on you, but I promise it looks nice with brown eyes. I especially like the dark brown which makes great eyeliner. So much better than the clinique pencil I’ve been using. Its really nice makeup- its definitely worth the money. Second item- lip gloss. My mom is a faithful lipstick wearer. There were times that she drove us to school in her green velour bathrobe and she’d always put lipstick on. Because, that made the difference. I however, hate the feel of lipstick. I feel like no matter how neutral the shade I look like I have clown makeup on. I just do not care for lipstick. Lipgloss, well its better, but I still only put it on for special occassions. I do however love lip balm/chapstick and have lots. Since the Marine Corps Ball fell into the Special Occassion category I figured I’d find something. I threw a tube of this lip gloss in my cart in naked. The big selling point was that it claimed it had the “luxurious feel of a balm.” I don’t know if I’d go quite that far– its still a little sticky but its SO much better than most. And the color- the color is just perfect. It is decidedly UN-clown like. You might want to give it a whirl.

There. How helpful was that? You can thank me later….after Santa brings you some and you’re looking all hot and sassy.

Whenever I make this PC and Nathan shovel it in, and despite the fact that it makes a decent amount, PC has requested that I never ever make it again unless I double it.  So, because Im so nice and because I love you all: here, have some junior high chili.

1lb ground beef

1 can kidney beans (juice included)

1 can tomato juice

1 (small) can tomato sauce

1 T. dried onion

1 T. brown sugar

1 tsp. chili powder

Brown beef. Add everything else. Cook (sometimes I crock pot it all day, sometimes I make it all up in 15 minutes so, do what works). Eat.