I don’t follow instructions that have more than 1 step very well, so I think I’ll go with the latter. Except the child is now old enough to feed himself, so I’m good.
How To Be A Mom in 2017
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Tag Archives: humor
Easy Wheatberries
It had been awhile since I made wheatberries and completely forgot how to do it, because, you know, I’m such a whiz when it comes to cooking… not. So I turned to the internet for advice. A simple recipe… that’s all I wanted. Water-to-wheatberry ratio! Length of boiling time! Is that too much to ask? Apparently.
After searching and sorting through tons of worthless articles about how to boil wheatberries and getting incredibly frustrated in the process, I decided an easy recipe needed to be posted. No rubbish about how wonderful they are for you… just a simple wheatberry recipe. Here ya go:
3 cups of water to 1 cup of wheatberries. Boil water, add wheatberries and a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Eat them however your little heart desires.
Just so happens we eat them on our salad, which is what our dinner was tonight. You know… New Year, running, upcoming races… no time like the present to get back to healthy. The holidays are over after all and it’s time to re-focus. However, when I was preparing said salad, and because I’m such a rockstar in the kitchen, I forgot to peel the cucumber before I cut it up. The skin was too bitter to eat, so I took each piece of cucumber out of the salad and peeled them individually. It’s been a banner night.
That being said, at least we’re warming up now. For the past few weeks, we’ve been under a sheet of ice and sometimes snow, getting down to 15 degrees F (-9C). Today was actually the first day I’ve felt warm in a long time. The house wouldn’t even heat properly during our cold spell. I was making those pre-made, drop-dough cookies just so I could turn the oven on for extra warmth!
Our turkey vulture at work had to have 2 heat lamps hanging for her.
The trail… yeah, not happening…
But I know one person that the snow didn’t stop! Such dedication!
As for the first race of the year… it will be April 9th, The Seahawks 12K Run. Cannot wait to have that hot little bling in my hands!! After that, it’s Reno baby! The Downtown River Run on April 30th! Half marathon for me and the full for James!
And, so… the adventure continues…
Happy Trails!
WHAM!
What time is it?!! It’s time for Jamesy’s Motivational Music Monday! It’s time to search those playlists and post what floats your boat!! One day James will actually create the linky link thing, but in the meantime, put your video link in the comment section on his site so we can all see what makes you happy, gets you running or walking, or just plain puts a spring in your step!
When James told me he was going to post a rap song (you have to visit his site to actually see what rapper gets that metal head out and running), there was one song that came to my mind instantly. Now, most of you know that Buble is my boy; however, back in the eighties, George Michael was above and beyond my favorite of favorites.
Like most American kids/tweens/teenagers, I watched American Bandstand and Soul Train every Saturday morning (after Bugs Bunny, of course), and this is where I first saw Wham! They performed this song (Wham Rap!), they were dressed exactly how they were dressed in the video, and they even danced the same way. Ahhh, such entertainment! 🙂
This song is full of energy and still gets my blood pumping and my legs moving! It’s nice that not everything changes. Watch the video. If you know the song, see if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face after all these years. And if you don’t know it, I would still bet the video puts a smile on your face… if for no other reason than how fabulous the clothes and hair were back then! (George is sporting a tail, hehe) Enjoy!!
Pre-Race Freak Out…Right On Schedule
‘Tis the night before the Lake Sammamish Half-Marathon and I’m doing my normal… you know, freaking out. Actually, I’ve been doing that since I got the race instructions in my email on Wednesday. I tend to hit panic mode when that email comes.
It’s supposed to be 50 degrees with a 50% chance of rain… neat-o. The weather is notorious for raining on the day of the Lake Sammamish race, so this is not a surprise to me. Visors work to keep both the sun AND the rain out of the eyes. I’ll leave off the make-up though… don’t want any Tammy Faye Bakker mishaps!
Watch is charging, race gear is ready, alarm set for 4 a.m. Water has gone down nicely tonight, so no worries there. Pre-race dinner was chicken and pasta with olives and artichoke hearts, a light Greek dressing, so doing well there, too. No alcohol… I’m saving that for Saturday night celebrations with Jamesy. Don’t need any issues on the course from alcohol!
Okay then, I think this girl is all set! The next time I see you, I’ll be slightly hungover and one bling richer!
Oh, yeah, the Twitter thing… I get my feed on my watch while I’m running. If you’re around tomorrow morning (7:30 a.m. Pacific), I would love to hear from you, @neveradullbling! You know, stuff like, “Get that arse moving!” Or “Don’t let that walker pass you!” Or even, “Chimichanga!” (which is waiting for me at the finish line, :D)…
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
A Fishy Story
She made taking care of a betta look like such an easy thing to do, so I just had to get one for myself. We were all very excited to have a new member of the family! AJ joined in on the fun and got to name him… Bob (because eventually that is what he would do… you know… bob, :P). No official tank stuff needed, just a bowl and partial water changes once a week, feeding once a day… easy peasy. Bob lasted a mere 6 months.
Bob #1
Being a new fish owner, I had no idea how fragile these guys actually were. The plants I had put in his bowl were plastic, and he had a ragged treasure chest/castle thing to swim in and out of (fish enrichment, you know). The ragged edges of the plants and treasure chest shredded his fins and he died. Yes, I cried as he was flushed out to sea.
Bob #2 was going to have a better life. Jamesy got me a nice rectangular 10-gallon tank with a heater and filter system. I got rid of the plastic and went with more natural feeling, softer plants. I also eliminated the treasure chest and put in a fun circular log for enrichment.
Bob #2’s new tank
Bob #2
I think Bob #2 lasted about 6 months as well… if. I didn’t know you had to cycle a tank to bring the water up to standard, so he developed ich. And died. Again I cried.
Once Bob #2 died, I decided to move onto a different type of fish… something that was more hardy and wouldn’t die so easy. Enter a school of neon tetras. Cool looking, but pretty boring. A betta has tons of personality, but tetras have all the personality of a sardine. So James went to the fish store and bought me about $70 worth of cool fish as I wanted him to pick out the next batch.
Tragedy soon ensued when I forgot to wash my hands one time before reaching into the tank water. The lotion from my hands created a toxic environment for the fish, and I lost about 10 in a matter of 3 days. That little incident is now referred to as Armageddon. There was 1 lone survivor… James’s otocinclus, a sucker fish, aptly named Otto. Have you ever seen these things? Not at all attractive. But oh, what a survivor.
Not my oto or picture, but Otto looked just like this.
My neighbor felt quite sorry for me, so she decided to get me a swordtail, supposedly a more hardy fish, and actually quite pretty to look at.
Not my swordtail.
Eventually she gave me a male from her own tank to go with my female. The inevitable happened… no, they didn’t die… they had babies!! Swordtails give birth to live fry, so I had all these little things swimming around my tank! I promptly went to get some floating plants to give the babies some cover so they wouldn’t become dinner or get sucked up into the filter! One actually survived the whole ordeal! This is Little Guy:
The mother soon perished after giving birth (surprise, surprise), but the male survived and Little Guy survived, who grew up big and beautiful. Come to find out, Little Guy was actually Little Girl and soon had babies of her own! THREE of her fry survived to grow up big and beautiful as well!
Five swordtails and an oto in one 10-gallon tank wasn’t a good thing, so James found me a lovely 35-gallon tank to transfer the whole family over… all except for Otto… he wasn’t having it, and trying to catch an oto is near impossible, so I let him be. Unfortunately, once again, 6 months after I transferred them to their new home, all 5 of them perished in about a week of each other. However, this little tragedy was baffling because I actually did cycle the tank and the water before transferring them, and my water was pristine. I even added medicine to the water once I realized something was going wrong. And the catfish didn’t get sick at all.
You’d think I’d give up by now, don’t you…
Fast forward to today… I now have 3 angelfish, 2 in one tank, 1 in the other. Otto died a couple of months ago from old age (!), and I’ve had my angelfish for a couple of years. They’re the only ones who can survive my hands of death.
Moral of the story: While having a betta is great fun, don’t ever let anyone tell you it’s easy. Fish are hard work and temperamental little bastards. And once you start, you will never ever stop…
Who owns fish?! Have you been sucked into the bottomless abyss as well?
Me? Run A Marathon?
No.
But this is the conversation between The Motivator and I tonight:
ME: I think I need to train for a marathon.
JAMES: <shocked look, jaw dropped>
ME: If I train for a marathon, it might help me get faster in my half-marathons.
JAMES: Let me write this down… “Let it be noted that on January 31st, Paula said she wanted to train for a marathon.” This way when you’re saying ‘why the f*** am I doing this‘ in about 8 months, we can review my notes and know it’s because you said you wanted to.
I didn’t say I wanted to run a marathon, just train for one. 😀
Smashrun Badges
It’s taper week in my household, but we’re still streaking! After logging my 1-mile run last night on Smashrun, I earned 5 badges. This is what makes running so fun! It’s all about the accomplishment and bling! And Smashrun gives you all kinds of incentives to just keep you going!
I have earned the “Chill Runner” badge! I love this! Everyone knows I’m not a fast runner, although I’m working on improving. In the meantime, I simply embrace the fact that I actually run period! What I love about this is the description of the “chill runner!” Because “I am chill.” Hahahaha! “I know how to take my time and enjoy my runs.” Yes! Amen!
Another badge I earned was the “Easy Runner.” Again, read the description! What a brilliant way to encourage slower runners! Love! I laughed so hard and was so appreciative of this badge! The description sounds almost like the infamous Honey Badger! I love being associated with the Honey Badger’s attitude!
Okay, there may actually be some hard-core runners out there who think that I’m disrespecting the sport by taking my slow running so light-hearted; not so. I’m slow, but I work hard at getting faster. It may take me six months to knock another minute off my pace or it may take me a year, but I’m okay with that because I’m faster than I was when I started this journey, and I plan on being faster next year at this time. When I’m 70, I’ll be the one crossing the finish line at the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run with only 5 seconds until cutoff.
In the meantime, I love being a “Chill and Easy Runner.” Because that’s how I roll baby!
Happy Endings
Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. –Robert T. Collier
About 2.8 lifetimes ago, or when I was 17, me and a friend were bored. We didn’t drink and we didn’t party like our other friends, but we were extremely rebellious so we were looking for something stupid to do. We decided to buy a pack of cigarettes. We didn’t want anyone to see us smoking, so we just drove around and puffed away in secret. My friend didn’t tell me she wasn’t actually inhaling, but unfortunately I was. Thus began a very bad habit for me that would take almost 30 years to kick.
After many failed attempts at trying to quit through the years, I finally was able to say goodbye to cigarettes for good in 2012. At one point, I had a small setback for about a month, but I think that’s when it really hit home that I no longer wanted to be a smoker. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done, quitting smoking, but as with most challenges in life, it was 90% mental. Once I overcame the mental struggle, it was all downhill from there, and for me, that mental struggle lasted nearly 30 years. If you’ve chosen 2016 to be the year to kick an unhealthy habit, I wish you nothing but success. If, however, it doesn’t stick this year… try, try again. Because one day you will succeed.
In other news, it was a typical snowy/rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest. And the Monday after a holiday weekend. Need I say more?
Happy 15th Birthday, Nero!
The smaller the box, the better…
Actually there’s some really good karma flowing through our home at the moment, and my car passed emissions today, on the first try! After me driving around for a couple of months with the “check engine” light on, that right there is a reason to celebrate! (It ended up being just a loose gas cap that I could never tighten, so not a costly fix… total score!)
“I like big butts and I cannot lie…”
As well, the streaking continues. Day 4 done and another 2 miles under the belt. Inside. On the treadmill. Happy-happy-joy-joy.
Hope you have succeeded in getting back to normal routine after the holiday season. I know I had my challenges getting back to it, but the first day is always the hardest, isn’t it!
I leave you with one last thought to ponder:
Happy running!
(Written in response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt, Happy Endings.)
Science is Fabulous!
In case there ever was a question!
(via AppScience)
Happy Hour Ramblings
It’s Friday Night Happy Hour! Cheers! And as it’s Happy Hour, I feel like rambling on and on as if we were having a drink together, because to be quite honest, I’m on my 3rd…
It’s been a hard week. I’ve been sick since Monday. I think that’s why I’m partaking in Happy Hour regardless. I’ve heard alcohol kills bacteria, so hey, why not. Sounds good to me anyway. Ah well, ’tis the season. My child was sick first, so I think I’ll blame him for all my misery. Of course, it sets me back a bit in my training for my upcoming half-marathon as I’ve not been able to do anything… and that includes breathing. It’s horrifying to walk up 1/2-flight of stairs and become short of breath, especially when you have a 10-mile run on the schedule. This just hasn’t been a good training cycle at all with the horrid weather, being sick, and holiday-time of year. The January racing schedule will have to be re-evaluated for next year, I think. While we don’t have a race planned yet for January 2017, this is probably something that needs to be considered. Running consistent long distances in November and December is proving to be quite difficult… well, at least this year it is.
The above pictures are of Daryl. This is the bunny I babysit at work for the clinic manager. He’s just cute, and you really can’t go wrong with cute animal pictures. And he has those Shaka ears (his dad is the one who noticed this). Really and truly! When he’s relaxed and comfortable, it’s always one ear up and one down, just like the Hawaiian Shaka sign! Anyway, I was trying to get him to take a silly selfie with me. He wasn’t having any of it until I picked him up and held him. Then he didn’t really have a choice. Notice how his ears are back in the 3rd picture. He’s a loving and tolerant bunny, but I’m not sure he was too impressed with all the selfie attempts. #cheapentertainment
My pretty girl Sheba’s not looking too impressed with getting her picture taken either. She’s gotten into the habit of jumping into my car the minute I get home and open the door. I kid you not! Check it out!
Sometimes I don’t even know that she’s there! I’ll be gathering up my stuff to take inside, and then all of a sudden I’ve got these big gold eyes staring at me. Freaky.
The big news of the week… Jamesy managed to score us tickets to the Adele concert coming to Seattle in July! I have no idea how he managed that, but he did! While he was at work even! And then surprised me! Woo hoo! I’m going to see Adele! Probably a once in a lifetime event! We are over the moon!!
Some more good news! While I haven’t lost the 10 pounds I was planning to lose for this training cycle, I have lost 3.4 pounds so far!! Total freaking success! And you know why it’s a success? Because it’s the holidays and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself from Halloween until now and on through the New Year! So, therefore, I’m having cookies and decadent desserts and celebratory drinks in moderation and I haven’t gained weight!! I have, at the end of the day, actually lost weight! While having fun! Yes! It can be done! Slowly but surely! And I am absolutely thrilled! (Thanks to my beautiful friend Tasha at Hit Below The Belt Hard for the above meme and her Friday Funnies. What distance runner hasn’t felt this way?!!)
We now have about 2 weeks left of the 2015 holiday season. Be sure to make it count and make it a happy one and enjoy it to the fullest. It seems this year went quicker than past years, and they’re only going to go quicker. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I’ll be attempting a run on Sunday… and while it won’t be a 10-miler, it’s gonna be something because I only have about 29 days until the Maui Oceanfront Half! The up side to being sick… my legs are totally rested!
Happy Running!!
Never A Dull Bling 