Testing

Testing...Testing...1,2,3.

Is this thing on?

Ahem, may I have your attention please? Will the owner of this blog please find a cooler place to display her thoughts. Or figure out how to make this blog do her bidding?

1. First, notice the cooler in this sentence is dramatically different from the previous 2 sentences.
2. Notice the text is dramatically different in various places. The first bullet is largest and the second bullet is smallest.
3. Finally, notice that this text is differently styled throughout the post
4. Lastly, notice that this blog is a severly limited version of word perfect. It is about a step and a half up from word pad. :P

I hope my next post will give you directions to a better blog address that is more suited to my creative mind.

FRUSTRATED

Who can I complain to? I need help. Everytime I try to create a post on this blog I cannot imagine how it will end up on the main screen. The pictures, and the text never look right because I arrange in one spot in the creation and then the post moves it around or ignores it!

Can anyone help me or do I need a new blog address?

A Day Off

My Husband asked me to do the impossible. He asked me to schedule a babysitter for a whole day so we could go out together and be spontaneous. After calling several people and despairing of finding someone available for longer than 3 hours I managed to do what he asked.

It was definitely worth the effort.

His first idea was to drive down to Sea Port village because he remembered how much fun we had on our first wedding anniversary there. I remembered it was near the airport so I gave him directions and tried to find it in my 12 year old Thomas Brothers guide. When we arrived at Harbor Drive we turned the wrong way and after we got ourselves going the correct direction we noticed the Maritime Museum. Wow, real ships just like the ones I have seen in movies and I go inside and look at them up close? Score! So we find a spot, pay the meter and go look. There are 4 ships and 2 submarines. I loved it. We went back to add more time to the meter. If you want to see the Submarine be prepared to crawl.

His next ambition was to go to the Cheesecake factory. I was confused because we had picked up lunch at Submarina (not to be confused with Subway :P) on the way down, and I thought he might want a meal there, but no, he wanted to get back to Escondido before traffic was heavy so we chose 2 slices to go and got some water because I was thirsty. NOTE: Water bottles at the Maritime Museum were $2 versus $4 at Cheesecake factory. Fortunately, they were out of water bottles and gave us cups and a refund. I did not mind one iota.

Also NOTE: Remember to think about the location of your goal before you plan your route. I did remember where the Cheesecake Factory was...eventually. As we headed towards Mission Valley Mall I remembered it was at Fashion Valley and then I had to figure out where we were on the map and pay attention to two pages at once. I told Lucas then that he really should be the Navigator. I am not a very reliable navigator!

Nevermind that we were laughing and having a grand adventure regardless. We wandered around the mall with our desserts and decided to eat the lemoncello cream torte on a bench in front of the Apple computer store. YUMMY.

We headed to the theater to see what movies were there and then to the Williams and Sonoma kitchen heaven store where I had purchased our hanging pot rack shortly after we bought our house. We drooled over expensive items like a cake dish that turns so you can decorate it more easily and asked the price of extra hangers for our pot rack. The staff is really nice and friendly even when you don't have spending money. Neither item would be frivolous in our house, but still, not necessary.

We headed north to Escondido to the movie theater. We had no idea what was playing and asked the lady at the ticket window what she would recommend and made a new discovery. Signature Theaters keeps a book with a synopsis of each movie playing in the lobby! How convenient for wanderers without special internet cell phones like us. We chose to watch Hana and had and hour free before it began. I suggested the Music Room. It is a wonderful little shop just down the street that has a lot music to browse through. Easily, we enjoyed an hour there and found 4 pieces and a book worthy to add to our collection. The owner does not take credit but we were prepared anyway. We had enough time to finish our dessert before the movie began.

The movie was rather violent, but what you can expect from a plot that is kill or be killed. I liked how they told the story and I thought the young actress did wonderful job with her character. Would I buy or rent it? Not likely, but I do not feel it was a wasted hour of time. Especially since I got to with my husband.

We returned home after the movie and I was very grateful for and satisfied with my day off. I like spontaneity.

Childish

Sometimes I feel like a grown up in disguise.

I thought when I grew up that I would be wise

It seems like I wear an “Adult” mask

I thought being older made me equal to the task

When I was young I thought I knew what growing up meant

I would be taller and smarter and do what I want

I would know what to do and have a solution

I would be wise and prepared for each situation

I try to not to worry but I feel I pretend

Like I am still playing house just like I was then

But now it is different; it is worse, in fact

I know I am faking, and it is all just an act

But the people around me are real and true

I can make mistakes and not know what to do

They will see I am not the adult I should be

The consequences will hurt not only me

I want my mother and father to say

That they are in charge and all is okay

At this time in my life when I feel most like a child

When I am meek and humble and mild

I am most prepared for advice and submission

And ready to listen to another’s decision

Is the time I have learned to turn to God

To seek His counsel and lean on His rod

In His presence I realize

I have no need of an grown up disguise

I am His child and He is my Father

To Him my problems are not a bother

He can protect and give me His care

And teach me to love and teach me to share

I learn from His example and compassion

I make myself in His kind of fashion

A true kind of grown up who knows what to say:

“When the going gets tough, the tough go to pray”

by Michelle Steimle

My New Baby

The world is beginning once again as I hold you in my arms

Your skin is soft, your eyes are blue

Your hunger cues a soft alarm

The world becomes much larger as I see it through your eyes

Your wonder, your confusion

Become my elation and surprise

The world grows more beautiful as I watch your lovely face

Your smile is fresh, your heart is pure

The world, I'm sure, is a better place

January is a great time for new beginnings. I just had my third baby in October of 2010 and in a couple of days we will celebrate the second birthday of my first daughter. I am hoping to post more often this year. I have to learn how to use this blog more effectively. I am still trying to get the basics down. The poem I wrote above could be used for a greeting card or you could just email it to a friend to congratulate them. It expresses my feelings as a new mother with each new child and I am sure that many new mothers feel this way.

I do enjoy writing poetry. I resolve this year to write more poetry and share it with you.

Edited:  10/23/13 to add photos

Breaking Out of Food Jail by Jean Antonello (book review)

Now I realize that I seem to be a little obsessed with food in my last 2 posts and here I am posting about a book that I recently read about food. Oh well. It definitely merits reading and I just happened to pick it up off my mother's kitchen table when I was visiting and it didn't even belong to her! Her friend was loaning it to her and I am eager to let her read it and hear her thoughts about it.

So far my pregnancy is progressing fine. I have gained weight of course, and it is more than I would like to gain (of course). I have been trying really hard to be good and eat healthy and not too much, but it is really hard to avoid the sugar and fat as I stated previously. So I was surprised when this book promised that you can eat to your satisfaction and live naturally thin. A lot of the principles made sense.

It focuses a lot on dispelling the notion that eating less will help you lose weight. The reason that makes sense is that our bodies are adapted to survive and if the body does not get its predetermined quota of nutrients it will (on its own--without your permission) begin survival techniques which involve storing fat. If it does not receive enough calories to store fat with it will canabalize your muscle tissue and slow down your metabolism in order to burn less calories. Then it will send messages to your brain to stock up on high calorie foods. You may ignore these messages for as long as you can, but eventually your will to starve will lose or you will die. So you give in and eat brownies, cookies, cakes, ice cream, bacon, cream cheese, and other high fat, high sugar (high calorie) foods like your stomach is a bottomless pit. The book calls it a famine/feast cycle. Some bodies are not very good at sending the signal for more food and are better at starving to death than others. Those people tend to be anorexic. Other bodies have a much stronger hunger sensation and refusal to starve and those people tend to be bulimic. I would have to be the in-between, because I don't starve myself intentionally, but I do occasionally binge on sweets or fatty foods without throwing up (except when I have morning sickness). So I end up storing most of it as fat.

This made a lot of sense to me. The cure makes a lot of sense too. If you are not eating enough nutrients then your body will tell you by sending cravings for sweets. So you should respond by eating more healthy food. How do you know that you are feeding your body the right amount? This is the most simplistic part: When you are hungry eat a healthy well-balanced meal until you are satisfied. Your body tells you when to eat and when to stop eating and that is pretty much it. It has more details than that and the book includes a list of "Real Foods" which is pretty much any normal healthy food that is high in nutrients and low in fat. But that means you can still have bread and pasta, along with your vegetables and fruits and lean meats. It still includes bacon and sausage, but recommends that they be used sparingly (more like once a month as opposed to every day) and keep the butter, mayonaise and salad dressings on the teaspoon level.

The best part about it for me is that I can do this while pregnant or not. My body is the one in charge of telling me when more nutrients are required. I don't have to calculate anything. It really makes sense when you think about the beginning of a pregnancy. You feel so sick all the time that you don't want to eat, but your body still needs food so it insists you better get some high calorie contents in there or you and your baby will starve. So my curiousity is piqued. If I had been listening better to my hunger signals before the nausea started, would I have avoided it completely? Would I have avoided eating the extra sweets and fats at the beginning if I had been eating as often as my body asked for it? Well I can't be sure for this pregnancy, but I will be better prepared for the next one! If you are someone who has tried dieting and ended up gaining back more weight when you went off your diet, I recommend this book. It just makes sense.

Post Script:  Since writing this post I have had two more pregnancies and gathered more information that supports what Jean Antonello wrote and put it into practice in my life.  I am so glad I read this book.  I have written follow-up posts about my experience so no need to re-hash it here.

The Fight against Fat Revisited

I apologize for not checking in a month later. I found out why I was suddenly craving so much fattening food and sugar in January though. I am PREGNANT! I usually don't get sick right away, instead my body decides it needs to gain 10 pounds right at the beginning. I assume it is all for the baby's benefit though. I did get more exercise before I found out I was pregnant though so it wasn't a total bust. I even found out that my back had regained a lot of strength so I guess my body was ready for a new baby even if I didn't personally think so. I found out mid February after a ear infection. Suddenly, I was getting nauseated all day. Two days later I bought a test to make sure. So I have spent this last month resting a lot more and feeling sick. I am hoping to get back into a good exercise routine once I have more strength. For now, I am just taking short walks and pulling weeds in the backyard.

Two other thoughts to add. Weaning my little girl was much harder than weaning my little boy six years ago. I finally found a substitute for me that she was willing to take. I tried a few things and finally I got the organic chocolate milk boxes from Costco and she likes it. I figured if she didn't that I would drink it, but I am glad she likes it because I now have an alternative to me. Today was the first day that she slept through the 5 am feeding and when she got up at 6:30 I took her to the table for breakfast. I am very excited.

The second thought was about morning sickness. I get really sick in the afternoon evening. With my first it wasn't so bad, my second was pretty bad, and I guessed that I had miscarried when it eased up. My third was pretty debilitating. I spent most of my days lying down because that was the only comfortable position for my body. So when my first visit with the midwife came up and she asked about my nausea, I was astonished that she recommended a medication for it. I didn't think it would do much good because half the problem was my sinus acting up, but she told me that I could take medication for that too. I tried a few different things and so far her recommendations have worked the best. So for you suffering moms to be out there, if your doctor doesn't recommend something for the morning sickness, get someone else! I still have to lie down in the evening, but my mornings and afternoons are much better now.