Awake

Watch "Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

You too can watch Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Happy Halloween.

Cute Baby Movies Over at my Vox Blog

Just got 3 little silent movies of the nieces sliding down the big slide and riding ponies at Hunter's posted on my Vox blog over here. Go check 'em out.

Pictures from Day-O-Fun in Oly

We celebrated Brant's birthday at Seth and April's house up north. We started the day off with French Toast, then bundled up for a trip to Hunter's pumpkin patch. We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's then headed back to the house to rest. During "naptime" I kinda turned the living room into the Sibling Spa as I worked on Jackie's stiff neck. Then while I worked on Brant's tight peroneus longus and brevis (which are hypertonic because of his recovering sprained ankle), Jackie gave April a haircut in the kitchen. That was good times right there. Anyhoo, for loads of pictures, go check out the Gallery.

Link to Album: Brant's Birthday and the Pumpkin Patch (2006)

The Green Cucumber Makes it to 100,000 miles

My '98 Saturn, aka The Green Cucumber (click here to see the Frozen Cucumber), recently crossed the 100,000 mile barrier. I snapped a blurry picture of 100,000 but only managed a clear picture of 100,001. Oh well.

Taken on I-5 North on my way to Olympia to celebrate Brant's birthday with the fam. Pictures forthcoming.

Pictures of Happy People Partying in Puget Sound Posted (At Long Last)

Finally! I got pictures from our end-of-September trip to Seattle posted. There, we celebrated my cousin Erin and her husband Bernie's son, Jayden's baptism (which Bernie's dad performed!...his first baptism as a recently ordained minister! Pretty cool!) Also, it was my mom's birthday so we celebrated that up in Seattle too. It was a great family gathering and fun to have Erin and Bernie "state-side" (they live in Japan currently). So go check out the pictures at the Gallery. Here's a sampling of the pics. So happy!

Happy!

Healthy Girl Update: The Rice Disaster Diary

File this one under, "Things My Mother Told Me That I Forgot To Remember."

In Part 1 of our story, I learned that cooking wild barley fancy pants rice in a regular rice cooker does not comply to the normal (easy) rule of 2 parts water, 1 part rice. Cooking wild barley fancy pants rice in a rice cooker in the normal fashion will yield 1 Cup Crispy Rice. What?!

In Part 2 of the continuing saga of cooking rice, I decided to follow the directions on the back of the bag of wild barley fancy pants rice. Mostly. Yeah. The space between "mostly" and "completely" really got me this time around. It asked me (firmly, but gently) to bring the broth, water, and rice to a boil in a "tightly covered pot." Mmm. Tightly covered pot. Well, I don't really have a pot with a lid per se. But, look! I do have this nice ginormous glass measuring cup, and oh! over here I have the lid to my rice cooker. They almost fit tightly! So I poured the ingredients into the ginormous glass measuing bowl and covered it with the lid from my rice cooker. I watched it heat up. All was well. I left the room after a few minutes, moments later, I heard a sound. A disconcerting sound. I went into the kitchen and found this:

Yep. Implosion. I turned off the burner which was now burning the rice that spilled on top of it, opened all the windows downstairs, ran halfway up the stairs, grabbed the smoke detector off the wall and put it in the bookcase at the top of the stairs. At least I defeated the smoke detector!

I'm sure my mom told me at one point in my impressionable youth not to use a glass container on the stove top, but apparently that memory was not to be summoned by my crack staff of neurons in my central nervous system. Ah the lessons we learn...and how we learn them. So amusing, isn't it?

So I'm trying to be healthy girl, cooking my food instead of eating out all the time. I know this obvious to, well, all of you, but let me tell you, one does not learn the finer skills of creating fine (or I'd even settle for eatable) cuisine in the drive-thru of a local fast food restaurant. But one does not grow healthy and strong eating food from strangers delivering food out of windows in the dead of night either. Riiiight. I knew that.

Anyway, I know it now. :)

By the way, thanks to all of you who have stopped to encourage me on my healthy girl quest. Your encouragement has meant a lot!

Happy rice cooking!

stream of consciousness

wow, it's been a while since i've posted here. i must be busy or something.
listening to joseph arthur radio.
"jesus loves you more than you know"
man, he's good.
why don't i own more of his music?
wish i went to hear him play at the doug fir friday. i'm such a chicken.

reading reading reading. must finish reading.
lots of reading for class this term.
routines.
body mechanics.
intent.
muscles.
law.
disease.
indicated?
contraindicated?
lower that table.
get more music.
fix airtunes.

must post pictures.
didn't i promise to do that 2 weeks ago?
geez i'm such a flake.
erin's baby's baptism.
at least bernie's on top of things

missions conference is now.
i can't remember what it's called now.
(even though it's been called that for years.)
old brands die hard.
caedmon's call concert coming.
got my ticket.
got my lifegroup.
good times ahead.
global briefing next week.
korean food. yum.
got your ticket?
i do.

tivo'd bono on oprah.
watched it last night.
product(red) launched.
consumer activism.
interesting idea.
change the world in spite of people's complacency.
buy for good instead of evil.
not a bad idea at all.
buy (red) stuff.
buy and distribute aids meds in africa.
gap.
converse.
apple.
and more.

coherent thoughts scheduled for later in the week.
for now,
buh-bye.

and happy monday.

Day One As "Healthy Girl" (Urban Extended Remix)

Today I kick-off my new life as Healthy Girl. This morning I met with my doctor, Dr. Ariel Policano, a naturopatic doctor and at lunch time I met with my very own personal trainer, Susanne, the owner of Miss Fit, for a 30-minute strength assessment and workout.

The verdict? Dr. Ariel thinks I have low stomach acid (which is pretty common), I'm deficient in essential fatty acids, and I probably am allergic to dairy. She's recommended an "anti-inflammatory" food plan. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I've got some handouts to read to get a better idea. She's also given me a few supplements. This is good news because now I have a compelling reason to make healthier choices in what I eat. (Sometimes a girl just needs a really specific reason before she'll make a change.) I'm also meeting next week with a nutritionist at Dr. Ariel's office for some creative menu ideas. Good times.

My 30 minutes with Susanne was excellent. She is a superb coach. We did strength assessment (push-ups, sit-ups, squats with 40-lbs, jump rope, etc.) and then played with the balance ball a bit. I was all hot and sweaty and red-in-the-face afterwards, but I sure feel great right now. She gave me homework -- walking, yoga on Saturday (my first yoga class ever) and a hike on Sunday (Columbia Gorge, anyone?) and I meet with her again next Thursay before class.

All I have to do to afford all of these "healthy choices" is to stop driving my car and take public transportation and pretty much stop eating out. I estimate that will save me close to $600 per month (whoa!) which is more than enough to cover these costs plus groceries.

So here's to good health and happiness. Cheers!