threadwalker

The "Pumpkin-ade" party was fun. I.E. F still in cast and can't really travel and on the heals of 3+ weeks of isolation, we invited our friends to bring their kids over for a small Halloween celebration on Saturday. Making Pumpkin-ade out of pumpkins.( if you can't go to the party, bring some party to your own place )

It's good. I feel like I have a better understanding of what my body is doing and knowledge is power.

( details on progress - cut to protect the uninterested )

I was in Road Runner today and discovered that athletic bras are 20% off to VIP members (sale ends 10/10/10). Since I'm a VIP member and I was going in specifically to shop for ladies athletic apparel, I thought this was fate. A good runners bra will cost in the $50 neighborhood, so a sale is nothing to sneeze at.

IMO, athletic wear is essential for the "robust" sized running gal. Gals like me. Good athletic support prevents jiggle, jouncing and bouncing. There's the concern of comfort, chafing and once those ligaments stretch, they don't unstretch. If I'm not comfortable when I'm running, it's not fun. These are great reasons to be picky and invest wisely. As I was sharing all these great insights with the slightly shocked and overwhelmed young man who was ringing me up, I pointed out that we older gals of robust proportion have our own needs and finding athletic support that meets our needs is priceless.

One DD-cup Shoppers Evaluation of Nike and Moving Comfort:( Blunt Bra Babble Behind cut. Cut to protect the squeamish and uninterested. )

1. Cal Shakes production of "Much Ado About Nothing" rocked. So does HRJ.

This = recharging sanity and giving me a higher tolerance for insanity.

2. Odessy of the Mind, e.g. OM, (the after school program I was going to rearrange my entire life for so that Nicholas and potentially Evie could participate): You have a maximum of 7 kids per team and we had enough for 2 teams. Another parent and grandparent (within the same family) were going to co-host the 2nd team with me. As of this morning they have officially cancelled. So have several other kids. So... sigh. I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. They are down to 9 kids total, so the voting will be on Monday and they will turn away 2 kids. Super N is in if they vote him in. I told the coordinator that if he gets in, I'll take the required classes, get my TB shot, etc, and help the program (not to the crazy level I needed for a 2nd team, tho). But if he doesn't get in, then I need to use that time and energy on my own kids. She was very understanding. Who knows, maybe my offer to help out will have the power of swaying whatever behind-the-scene conversations happen.

This = less insanity

3. Miss E had her first basket ball practice last night. She was the only 2nd grader there and long term she'll be playing at a different school where they actually have a 2nd grader team. So ultimately both kids will have B-Ball practice after 6pm at 2 different locations, but I don't know which nights. Yesterday, though, she was running around with a pack of girls wherein Miss E only came up to the shoulder of the next shortest girl. From a distance they towered over her. They seemed to think she was cute, too... to me it seemed like they thought she was like a mascot. She asked me later why the were petting her hair and I suggested that they were impressed that she was the only 2nd grader brave enough to go out and play. She stood up straighter and smiled.

This = more insanity. (either different practice locations on same night or different nights cuz 2 different schools)

On the plus side, the althletic director already knows us because we did Track and Field last spring. He chuckled, said Super N would be on his team, and that Super N would hate him pretty quickly. I wouldn't count on that, though. Super N is really excited to have this chance to play. I made it explicitly clear to both kids that this was something special and life was easier for me if we didn't do it, so they are approaching this like the privlege it is. I am also going to warn Super N that the coach is going to challenge him to see how tough he is. Maybe I can prep Super N's mental toughness before he is running laps around the court next week.

More insanity...

My back was killing me this morning (same pain since Wednesday). Instead of going to gym, I soaked in hot tub with jets on it for 20 minutes at 5am. It was great while I was in there, but that only lasts until I get out. sigh. But there surely was a beautiful sky out this morning. Fo sho.

On the surface, it looks like my insanity scale hasn't budged, however in the grand scheme of things, NOT co-hosting OM has reduced my internal stress. All the other stuff we do is ultimately optional and unlike OM, other families won't rely on my sanity, just mine.

I've been rockin' my work outs. Nutrition has been a little rocky - trying to find the right mix.

( girlie squee over compliments, goals, recent fitness details and post-workout food )

The good, the bad and the ugly. Plus,
For a Few Dollars More...
( triathlon recap )

And today is a new day. The back of my neck is raw from lack of grease while in wetsuit (Glide). D'0h! But I spent last night digging through cook books, prepping some Clean Eats (a la Diva Tosca Reno) for lunches and dinner, and digging out my Tri-training books. I've moved beyond all the "getting started" type of tri-books. I can recommend the ones I like to anyone esle who wants to start, but I'm looking for something more hard-core and specific. Right now I'm working through Gale Berhnardt's Training Plans for Multisport Athletes and Sally Edwards Heart Rate Monitoring Training. I've also got a cycling book and a women's running book set aside for after. I ran for 30 minutes (407 calories) and lifted weights this morning. I'm full to the brim with excitement. I'm also not working on any project deadlines right now, so I feel very unpressured by other concerns and capable of submerging myself into this right now. I'm not planning to make any 12th Night outfits (last years will suffice for a while longer I think!) and of my current tasks, I'm enjoying them instead of flogging myself.

Go me!

The SCA has fully become high school. Not sort of like it, but just like it.

I feel like between math-club geekery and the service club where I help the elderly that I missed the big blow up back at school where the jocks and the cheerleaders had some sort of internal war. Now when I walk into the cafeteria everyone is sitting at different tables, they aren't talking and they are either pretending to ignore each other OR they are glaring at each other over their bright orange lunch trays. I didn't have time for this drama the first time around in high school and I don't have empathy or sympathy for it now. It's hard to respect the boundary lines and avoid getting dragged into it when you can't see them and you really don't understand why they are there. So I've been a bit bewildered for over a month with the rising tension. I even got LJ-unfriended and I think it was related to this. I could be wrong since no one sent a note saying why I was unfriended, but I'm guessing it's related to the political food fight in Hobby Land.

I respect that others are emotionally invested in their turf war, but I'm not emotionally invested in it and I expect my disinterest to also be respected. I spend my day making medicine that saves lives. Period. Then I go home and put my energy into my health and into my family. There is no room on this list for food fights in Hobby Land.

I finally got some of the scoop on what's been going on. I'm disappointed. I'm sure there's more because there always is. No doubt people are also already rewriting history as they start to look back and realize they've been behaving foolishly. Regardless of who threw the first banana slice in this crazy food fight, Hobby Land is supposed to be fun and I resent turf wars in Hobby Land because they ruin my freedom to socialize with all my friends without being labelled as a member of someone's camp. It also hurts everyone who doesn't want to get involved, especially new comers. Because believe it or not, some of us don't care about the turf war and are capable of having a fulfilling experience in Hobby Land without ever going to a football game. Believe it or not, the turf war makes going to Hobby Land less desirable and it makes hanging out with the people who are perpetuating this undesirable. It makes Hobby Land less appealing to new comers as well and that's a huge loss to Hobby Land. When the food fight gets this big and goes on for this long, everyone is hurt and there are no "good guys" or "bad guys", just selfish people who think their turf war should dominate everyone else's experience and whose egos won't set differences aside nor (frankly) grow up. I feel like I'm being bullied by someone else's agenda and I don't like it.

Looking down the lense into the future, I wonder how many more private events will start to spring up like Erinwood. As those of us who don't buy into this food fight throw up our hands and walk away, we take our energy and creativity with us, looking for new places to play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't need or want it or want to be near the political ugliness of it. What changes will happen to Hobby Land if everyone who resents the food fight just quits going to Crown events and coronations? The gate count at June was abnormally low. Fifteen years ago the Guilds were active places that drew in newcomers and used that newcomer enthusiasm to create fabulous gift baskets for the royals to hand out and at that time there used to be a lot of pride in the giving of hand-wrought items to the Crowns; times have changed and the Guilds aren't as active nor bountiful. Perhaps the exodus is already happening and we mistook it as the fall-out of a weak economy.

Does it matter who wins the food fight if the only ones left in the cafeteria are the jocks and the cheerleaders? Have fun with that.

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" -Ghandi

woot woot.

That's it.

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity.
( long; on the town and playing with balls )