why i am allergic to exercise or why my mom is right....again

it is no secret i do not love exercising. well, i don't shout it from the rooftop or anything, but it is general knowledge for those i live with.

i don't like sweating.

i walk, but within the last month or so i started running.

or jogging.

maybe jiggling. whatever.

i am getting my butt in gear and moving.

that was until.....
until i became allergic.
yep, not kidding.

last sunday morning early, big red and i suited up for an early morning workout. complete with gloves and sweatshirts.

and my new jiggling pants.

i think most people would call them *yoga pants* or *exercise pants*. whatever.

at approximately the furthest point from home i had a little itch on the back of my thigh. then more itching. then--so much itching.

upon walking in the door and stripping down to my bloomers--huge welts, raised red splotches. itchy raised splotches.

(please do not *google* red raised rash images. you will be sorry. i seem to forget how sorry i was a couple summers ago when b woke with a blistering case of poison ivy. miserable, that poor boy. i kept checking google images. it'll make your stomach turn. really. don't do it. alright, if you do. i cannot be held responsible--i wash my hands of it all.)

why? why so many raised red itchy splotches?

from my jiggling pants. so, i'm allergic to exercise. i used my superior logic skills to come to this conclusion. i'm smart like that. ;)

what's a girl to do? quit?

i called my mom. thinking she'd hustle to find some yoga-y pants without spandex for me. i think they call those jeans. but, she didn't volunteer to shop with me to find new jeans. (jean shopping is an alone sport--too long and painful for spectators....even moms)
but she volunteered this question: did you wash them before you wore them?

my mom reads all directions. i scan some directions. that is almost the exact same thing. apparently, after washing my rash-inducing jiggling pants (which is what i probably should have done before wearing), i've found they are nice. and comfy. and regular. no rash, no itching, just jiggling--regular. and mom's right....again.


best
deborah

good time

i swear big red really does know how to show a girl a good time. i swear.

big red drove me around our neck of the woods so i could snap some shots of our autumn.

i know, so sweet.

he is smart, that big red.

he stayed near the road, ready to call for help when i realized underneath all this growth may be a basement or cellar--one i could have easily fell into. was it luck or faith that i stayed above ground?
if you look closely, you will see that this is a picture of a long-ago working silo and another building. these farm ruins--beautiful in their own way.

we drove dirt roads and i was sure to collect as many burrs onto my jeans as i could. success.

we ended our date at the cemetery.


shortly before sunset....so that the light cast long shadows.


you know, cemeteries used to be used more. i mean, we've buried our dead there, but then people would picnic there--hang out, spend the day. does anyone do that anymore? i wonder? why? would you? could you? i think it's kind of lovely. really. this connection to life and death is just but a moment. these old gravestones have me wondering about the people that are buried just feet below. i wondered about the stones that were badly damaged-broke and the words etched so long ago--now illegible.

have their loved ones all moved away? or has everyone that ever knew that person in life passed on, too? still, what a beautiful place to contemplate the big and small of life--the long shadows we all cast in the autumn of our lives. and to show a girl a good time.


best
deborah

wondering and other stuff going on

what i'm wondering about:

how our little r was wearing size 6 shoes and how he measured a size 7.5? how did i not know that? and how can he be a size 7.5--men's?

i'm wondering if running up and down the stairs 48 times a day is equal to a work-out? say yes, it is. what if i also told you, i am usually carrying a basket of laundry on my hip?

i'm wondering what this praying mantis is thinking?
or if it's thinking at all? r spotted this gal hanging out on the bushes near the house. r has a good eye for bugs and frogs and snakes and turtles. his eye is not so good at spotting laundry baskets and kitchen sinks and his backpack two minutes before leaving for school. ;)

i'm day-dreaming about organized closets....and how i might feel with more space. and i wish the english d would show up and organize my crap....er, i mean stuff.

i'm obsessing over shades of grey and cream.
and burlap.
and baker's twine.
and japanese fishing floats.

i'm listening to the baby bells on the kitties' collars.

and this song with dave matthews and tim reynolds. i love love love that song--a song big red has been kicking out right here at home.

i'm craving clementines. clementine season is almost here.

and i'm missing my grandparents.

what are you wondering, day-dreaming, obsessing about? what are you listening to? craving and missing?


best
deborah

congrats

we pulled a name from the baseball hat and the winner is : efenz. congrats. send me your addy and i'll pop the gift card in the mail. :)

heirlooms

in the fall we return to the orchard and cider mill just north of our home. it's not the orchard and cider mill of my childhood, but it could have been. i'm sure lots of equipment has been updated and computers are used to track shipments and such but the orchard and cider and donuts? it is my childhood memory come to life.
we would always end up driving a dirt road lined with trees ready to drop their leaves. just like we did this day.

although, i think these might have been tagged *warty pumpkins* not *antique* when i was a little girl. *antique* sells better than *warty* these days.
i am struck as i now watch our son spy each and every pumpkin--looking for the right one for his already decided design. just as i used to do. our little guy decided to wait another day, to pick from the pumpkin patch at the back of the orchard.

remember indian corn? it hasn't changed. though, in some places it is now just referred to as "maize".
remember goats? haven't changed.

as much as the world has changed in the last 20, 30, 40, 50 years--some things stay the same. and i swear that just makes it sweeter.


best
deborah

a giveaway and what do you have to lose?

i'm working pretty hard to stay on track with my weight loss. and it is pretty hard.

weight watching....er, counting my points accurately is sometimes hard. sometimes impossible. though, sometimes easy-peasy. like yesterday--when i went on a restaurant's website and found the nutritional information that makes it easy to choose well.

so i met up with a bunch of blogging michigan moms at a wendy's to try out their new pick 2 for $4.99.
(hungry group of michigan blogging moms)

a friendly group of woman--i hadn't met any of these women before, some came from as far away as grand rapids. i drove a good 40 minutes for this meet-up, and wouldn't you know as i'm sipping a tea at my local starbuck's with a friend this morning one of these women sits down across from me--she lives just a couple miles away and her kids and mine go to the same school. it really is a small world--oh and of course, because i was meeting my friend early or because i am lazy or because i thought i wouldn't see anyone i had spent time with yesterday--i slipped on the same outfit as yesterday, complete with necklace. (maybe that's why i was recognizable....i looked exactly the same) excellent.

wendy's has new half-size salads (spicy chicken caesar, baja, apple pecan chicken and blt cobb) and then you can choose from other items--like a small chili, baked potato, jr bacon cheeseburger, chicken go wrap, small beverage, bottled water or frosty. i steered clear of the yummy frosty even though it was calling. my. name. and well, i wasn't having french fries. as an aside did you know that "dipping your wendy's french fries in your frosty" has 104,370 fans as of this morning, on facebook? i know. i'm full of that kind of what-am-i-to-do-with-it-trivia.

i was so good--picking the apple pecan chicken half size salad and a water--with a lovely pomegranate vinaigrette. as is, with the grilled chicken breast and all the fixings it would come to 8 points. totally awesome. but.....i saved my packet of pecans for a *seriously i need to eat something right now* moment. tucked them into my purse and guess what? that delicious salad added up to only 5 points--for lunch.


truthfully, we don't eat a lot of fast food because usually i would have to give up all my points for the day in one sitting. but, i can see stopping in for this combo again. salad and chili(saving the pecans again) only 9 points. seriously.

if i hadn't already had dinner in the crock pot i would totally have served up wendy's for dinner.

how about this--i want you to try these pick two combos. so a giveaway. just leave a comment to get your name thrown into the hat and become a follower on this blog and i'll put your name in the hat twice. then some random kid will draw a name on wednesday, october 20th. a lucky winner will receive a wendy's gift card--what do you have to lose?


best
deborah

disclosure:i worked with wendy's and themotherhood.com and have received a stipend for my participation. all opinions within this post are mine.

you are most cordially invited

you have more time than you think.

168 hours - that's how many hours there are in a week and the title of laura vanderkam's new book "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think".

so tuesday, today--i am an *expert* sitting in with laura vanderkam and a fantastic group of mom bloggers to talk about how we spend our time and how we can look at our schedules differently and free up more time.

here's how martha beck describes her reaction to the book,

"Within a few pages, Laura Vanderkam's crisp, entertaining book convinced me I had time to read it. Then it convinced me I had time to reread War and Peace. In the original Russian. Thank you, Laura, for freeing up my schedule."

-martha beck, bestselling author of Steering by Starlight.

i'm sure i'll learn a ton, too.

please come on over and join in. it's all text. this is your invitation. yep, i'm inviting you.

visit themotherhood's talk

it begins at 1:00pm EST.

can't make it--no time. no problem. when you have a few minutes, pop on over and the entire talk will still be available.

i know. so cool, right?

themotherhood is most awesome. when i'm not here, you can often find me there-- where i use capital letters properly.


best
deborah

psst....be you

the best advice i ever got was to follow my gut.

to listen to my own voice. my own instints.

it is so easy to accept someone else's idea as what is best for you.

but, it might not be what's best for you. or for me.

it is that little voice that says, "do it this way" or "ignore the crowd" "be you", "wear the boots", "when everyone is going right....go left"

so i'm wondering, what's the best advice you've ever heard?


best
deborah

lovely welcome

do you ever look around your space and think--i need to change it? right now? immediately. that's how it usually happens for me. i love it until the minute i don't.

a few weeks back, i suddenly decided the entry felt too heavy. i wanted something lighter, happier and much more open and welcoming.

so i did little editing. a little adding--a little less and a little more.

tweaking, without spending a dime.

freshening up while paring down.

it's all new to me, just by adjusting.

the table was a bargain years ago and used to be behind the sofa in the living room. the old ceiling tins were souvenirs from a trip(back when big red and i were first married) and the basket came from my mom and dad's house. the planter is a real mccoy. and the candles are tuberose-scented (just ever so slightly). the lamp looks like an old japanese fishing float (which is one of my current and ever-evolving obsessions). i recently covered the shade with burlap. I still might move the mirror to the dining room.

but, for now.

for today--this is my new *lovely*.


best
deborah

for always

my adoption day....today.

the day I was placed in my family's home

for good

or for worse

but, for always.


best
deborah

choosing grey

autumn is often the loveliest season in michigan.
but this year? weekends have been gloomy and windy and rainy and cold.

i prefer the happy and breezy and sunshiny and warm. I realize that's how i prefer summer as well. and i'd totally go for a winter like that too.

but you know what a grey october day does?
it makes me think we should paint or fix stuff. er...well, it makes me think i should convince big red to paint and fix stuff. it makes me make soup or chili or sauce.

so poor poor big red found himself picking up paint on saturday morning. he also stopped by his favorite coffee house(twice). don't feel too badly for him.

r and i had discussed and chose the colors weeks ago. we allow our kids to have a loud say in their room decor.

in the end, he ended up choosing exactly what his big brother chose.

if you are going to allow your kids a say, you have to be alright with what they choose, even if it's what their brother chose. vintage grey and midnight--but with a different exposure and different furniture it won't look the same. it'll have his own *r* stamp of uniqueness.


best
deborah