Weekend Snapshots: Marching Band, Gizmo and What Couldn't Be Photographed

I'm trying to be gracious about it being Monday again, but it's not easy. Thank you to Erin at Her Heartland Soul and to Katie at Healthy Diva Life for hosting linkup links!

If you've been following along, then you know that I spoke at a 12-Step meeting on Friday night. It wasn't my best effort, but it also wasn't my worst. I kept remembering little details afterwards that I usually share to add more context and give my talk some continuity. It felt pretty rusty, which I could attribute to the fact that I haven't been the main speaker at a meeting for about 4 years. Also, my 19-year old daughter (!!!) was in the audience. I was so honored that she came home from college for the night to hear my talk. I don't have any photos to share, obviously, because it's important to protect the privacy of people in a meeting. People kind of freak if you start taking photos of the room with your phone.

    

This was one of the busier weekends on record, partly because I spent 12 hours on Saturday at Boydoll's marching band competition in Simi Valley. And despite the long day and the heat, I say this with all sincerity: this is the good stuff. 

My boy is second from the front.
#laserfocus

Warming up before their competition at Royal High School

Taking the field with their show, 'Behind The Walls'

It's the good stuff, partly because I know how quickly these last few years with our son at home will pass by -- but also because there are few things better than watching my kids do what they love. People who don't know my son will ask if he plays a sport, and I always reply that he's a musician; marching band and drumline are his sport. It is enormously demanding physically with long hours spent rehearsing. All of which paid off at their competition, big time!   

Winners! They won  first in their division,
plus award for best auxiliary and best drumline. 

I'm not really sure where I pulled off the stamina, but Mr. Doll and I went to the beach with the dogs late Sunday morning. I love beachcombing, and collecting sea glass is one of my favorite pastimes. I have had terrible luck finding any glass lately, but a friend tells me that it can be pretty seasonal. I think hunting after a storm is the way to go, maybe? 

Slim beachcombing pickings.

Any beach day with our dogs includes bathing them as well, especially for our younger dog. He will roll at least dozen times until he is completely coated in sand. I didn't get any bathtime photos since I had my hands full, but I do have a Boomerang (that isn't loading) of an incredulous Spooky. She just can't believe any of it.

'Get over yourselves.'

As if bathing two large dogs wasn't enough, I also cleaned Gizmo's cage. Although I don't know the sex, I think Gizmo might be a girl. Chameleons have been a fantasy pet of mine for about 10 years, and I find them absolutely fascinating to watch. I got Gizmo three months ago. She is a rudis chameleon and her breed is considered to be more of a decorative pet. Overhandling can stress them out, which leads to refusing food and hiding.

Gizmo, meet my readers!

Although I prefer the plant in the photo above for her screened terrarium, it wasn't thriving and the leaves had trouble supporting Gizmo's weight. I replaced it with the original ficus that came in her enclosure. Admittedly, it has a better variety of branch sizes to keep her adorable mitten-shaped feet healthy.

Camoflage is the name of the 

chameleon game. Can you spot Gizmo? 

Do you have critters? If not, what would be your fantasy pet? 

#AwareWithPink Friday Five

In solidarity of Breast Cancer Awareness month, here are five ways that I stay #AwareWithPink:

1. Educate myself: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women and it accounts for 29% of newly diagnosed cancers. 

2. Celebrate life: It is easy to get bogged down in the rat race. I make a conscious effort to tell my nearest and dearest how much I love them. I also spent time geeking out over stuff that brings me joy (writing, playing with my dogs, hanging out with my teenagers, and enjoying the company of my awesome husband).

These two keep me young. 

3. Self care: I exercise 5-6 times a week, schedule regular mammograms, focus on the 80/20 rule of eating healthfully most of the time but still enjoying treats, and make efforts to minimize my stress. 

4. Be inspired: Three women who regularly attend my spinning class have been diagnosed with breast cancer over the ten years I have taught at the Y. Despite fatigue and hair loss, these women continued to come to spin class weekly. That beats any excuse I have about being too tired to work out!

5. Share the message: As a fitness professional, I am an influencer in healthy lifestyle choices. It's an honor to advocate for #breastcancerawareness. This post was sponsored by Aftershokz in an effort to spread awareness about their new Pink Trekz headphones, in partnership with Bright Pink to spread awareness about breast cancer. All opinions and words are my own. I appreciate all of the brands that support the Sweat Pink community.

#AfterShokz is an incredible company with an equally amazing product: wireless headphones that conduct sound through audio technology without obsucring the ear canal. They are donating 25% of all Trekz Titanium Pink proceeds to Bright Pink, which is an organization that focuses on saving women's lives from breast and ovarian cancer. 

TOL #3 Autocorrect Poetry

Thank you to Amanda at Running With Spoons for hosting her weekly link up. It's been a fun way to discover new blogs and hear what's on the mind of my peers. Thinking Out Loud is a weekly celebration of quirks and randomness. Here's some Thursday random straight my fingers: 

1. Crockpots. Do you use a crockpot? The lid broke to our old one, so I have been using my Dutch oven for the things I ordinarily would have made in the crock pot. This would be fine, except that I'm not a fan for using our oven during the summer when it's already a thousand degrees inside the house. After 4 months without a crock pot, I picked one up on my Costco run last weekend. 

Tuesday night I used our new crock pot and made chili. It was culinary heaven! I was going to share a photo of it here, but pictures of chili (and stews/soups in general) all photograph pretty much the same. Besides, I'm a huge fan of toppings when it comes to chili, so all you can really see is avocado and cilantro. 

2. Auto-correct game. A friend posted this on Facebook yesterday:

Have you tried this?? It sounded like a fun little distraction, and my first attempt read like a little cliffhanger to an obscure story. Here is mine:

I'm not a fan but my daughter and daughter have a lot more than a few days of being able

...being able to what?! 

It reads like an essay prompt, and I wanted to expand it on to discover what happened. Apparently, friends who owned Samsung phones noticed that somehow the software caught on to the game because their 20 auto-correct words were coming out as fully-formed positive affirmations. 

I tried it a second time and the mood of the poem was a bit snarkier:

I'm glad I didn't want you back to my house so you could get me to a new one you

...rapscallion? (Just spitballing. I doubt I've ever called anyone 'rapscallion' in my life.) 

3. Public Speaking. This doesn't happen very often, but occasionally I'm asked to speak about my recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. Tomorrow night will be such an occasion. I'll be talking in a general way about what my life of addiction was like, the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, and what my life in recovery is like today. 

It's an honor and a privilege to share my story, but I'll be honest: I'm nervous to speak so frankly in front of a room full of 200 people. Although I have been that I seem poised and relaxed when speaking from a podium, I liken it to a swimming duck; it may be floating quietly...but underneath the surface of the water, it's legs are paddling furiously. Wish me luck! 

Comment below with your auto-correct poetry, or any wisdom or helpful tips regarding public speaking.  

Weekend Snapshots and the Warty Pumpkin

This was one of those weekends that I know I'm going to relish in the upcoming months. Fall typically hits our family at fever pitch with activities, marching band competitions for my son, and accelerates right into Thanksgiving and Christmas. I didn't have a single thing on my calendar through the weekend and into Monday. Heaven! 

I went to Costco on Friday. I try and avoid going on Saturday or Sunday if I can. Sometimes that's unavoidable, but I was able to swing in quickly and do some of our bulk shopping. Of course, all their Christmas lights and candy and gifts are out in full swing. There was even a completely decorated Christmas tree. 😒

But! I did see this:

Wouldn't these three be wonderful to cuddle
on Christmas morning. Maybe not...

Obviously, I immediately texted my best friend and asked her if it was bad that I totally wanted to buy large Star Wars action figure dolls for myself. She gave me permission to buy them…but I didn't. #starwarsnerd

My BFF and I did end up having a text exchange which led to a phone conversation about supporting each other through making healthier food choices. It was just what I needed. It feels so good to not be struggling alone! My poor eating habits feel like my dirty little secret. Today is day three of no sugar. I spent most of Saturday working on meal prep for the week. It makes a huge difference when I have healthy food on hand to reach for instead of losing my mind over a package of cookies. There is an expression that we use in 12-Step meetings which applies to this situation perfectly, "One is too many and a thousand is never enough." There have been times that I have wanted to reach for sweets...but if there are only two or three cookies, I won't even bother. It's not enough. Crazy talk, right??

Here are some mini breakfast (or lunch if I'm so inclined) quiches made from yellow squash zoodles, eggs, and leftover chicken sausage. I baked them in the oven and sprinkled a scant amount of cheese just a few minutes before I pulled them out:

Anything in a cupcake liner = winning

I have a huge sweet tooth. One of the keys to setting myself up for success is having a dessert that I can enjoy. If I feel for a second like I am being deprived, then it's all over. Staying on top of my blood sugar and ahead of my cravings is one of the things that has worked the best in establishing healthy eating habits. I have a recipe for almond bread that is typically made in a loaf pan, but I prefer them in muffin cups. I modified the recipe by adding a date rolled in unsweetened coconut. My teenagers like to call this recipe my 'prison bread'. We have clearly watched too much OITNB. 

These satisfy a sweet tooth. Also, see caption above.

It's hard to tell from this photo -- or maybe it's not -- that the planters in our front yard are old drumheads. My husband dug up our lawn several months ago and created a drought-resistant garden out of old up-cycled drum kits. The garden has really starting to filling out as the plants have begun maturing, and our yard has become a mecca for pollinators: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, including evening marauders (what did that funny meme with the crazy names for animals call raccoons...trash pandas??) . It is the most unique garden I have ever seen, and we're thrilled with the results! Three cheers for Mr. Doll 🌱

Drums and plumeria

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday. It's not that I go for super scary stuff -- or maybe I do, just a little -- but I love decorating the house and the change of season into cooler weather. Sadly, we will be out of town on Halloween and I won't get to pass out candy. I decided it was pointless to decorate the yard for all those trick-or-treaters we won't be passing candy out to...so I picked out this warty gourd as my consolation prize for missing All Hallows' eve.

My pumpkin has a STD

The last picture is obviously one I didn't take, but a failed gif of Maya Rudolph that I tried to insert into my last blog post. I'm including it in my Weekend Snapshots post because she is that awesome.

Hi Maya!

Thank you to Erin at Her Heartland Soul for hosting a link up. Do you carve pumpkins? When was the last time you visited a pumpkin patch?

TOL #2 Glamorous Life of Running

Hosted by Amanda at Running With Spoons, Thinking Out Loud is a weekly celebration of quirks and randomness! An opportunity to take the pressure and stress out of writing by sharing whatever it is that happens to pop into your mind when you begin to type. A collection of random and disjoined thoughts, just because. Here's mine:

 Dude. Just to get things rolling...and so you know who you're dealing with and where I'm coming from, there is nothing truer than this:

The first comment cracks me up?!

Unglamorous. Running is the farthest thing from being glamorous, despite the contrary title of my post. One of the reasons I like running is because there is no expensive gym membership or skill set required to become a runner.  

This week I tried getting out for a run with 'just the essentials'. I'm sure this list varies from runner to runner, but mine were: running shorts, sports bra, shirt, compression calf sleeves, anklet socks and shoes. Seems basic enough, right? That's what I thought until my monkey mind started in:

'You better bring some Glide...don't want to chafe...'

'It's 80 degrees and you're already dehydrated. You should grab some coconut water.'

'The dogs need to get out. You should bring them, too. And their leashes, water and bowl...some poop bags...'

I swear that I go through these mental gymnastics over any decision I make, but particularly moreso with running. I feel like if I'm better prepared for any possible scenario, then I'm that much more likely to have an optimum experience. Going for a run with 'just the essentials' was an exercise (if you'll excuse the pun) in letting some of that go. I didn't even bring my phone, which is a huge win in that regard. Since I had errands afterward and the heat was a factor, I left the dogs at home and settled for two out of the three. 

By the end of my run, I was a sweaty mess. I had disgusting gooey strings of saliva on my lips (seriously, what gives with that??), dirt and sunscreen in the creases of my inner arm, and despite the liberal application of Glide, I chafed anyway. ALL THE GLAMOUR. 

All that glamour. All of it.

Food finds. I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's. Their produce isn't that great, so I usually pick up fresh fruits and veggies during the week. Last week I discovered their dried orange slices. Dude! They have a boatload of sugar, but I don't even care because they taste like my childhood. [I legit went to grade school with a girl named Krishna. Her mom was a beautiful hippy, and she made us candied orange peels almost every time I came over to their tiny house trailer.]    

Look at those shimmery crystals of sugar.
I'm in nostalgia nirvana.

My second find was their sweet pickled jalapenos. The peppers are brined in a sugar and vinegar solution, and I seriously can't get enough of them. TJs has a reputation for suddenly discontinuing items without notice, so I may or may not have bought three jars the last time I was at the store, like some sort of crazy jalapeno hoarder. They're incredible on sandwiches and they were prominently featured last night in a layered taco salad. I'm going to try them on pizza next.

Hello beautiful! The sweetness masks some of the heat
creating a match made in culinary heaven.

Yes please. 

I'll end my post with a small tangent: the BlogGo app totally blows. I typed this post yesterday on my phone through the app, and it lost two-thirds of what I wrote. This is where I'd insert both the streaming tears and angry face emoji...but since I'm not on my phone, I'm severely limited to a colon and parenthesis :(

Do you like spicy food? What are some new food finds you're stoked about?

TOL #1 Snapchat vs Instagram

In an effort to write more frequently, I came across this prompt from blogger Amanda at Running With Spoons. The concept of getting thoughts down isn't a new one but, after reading her post, the notion resonated with me. 

For my first go, it's hardly deep and has already been hashed out to death...but it's been on my mind:

Snapchat. 

I had an account several years ago when it was a newish app, but I felt scummy about it; I read an article that the original intent of the platform was to send nude and lewd photos that supposedly 'disappeared' after the recipient opened them. I was disturbed by this since once a photo is out on the Internet, it's there forever. More recently, I heard a story on NPR about how young girls are bombarded with requests for 'noodz' from male classmates. As a parent of a teenage daughter, this is enormously disturbing. 

While I'm sure a fair amount of that still takes place among consenting adults, it has evolve. It's a medium where I can have a quick interaction with my kids or catch a glimpse of a day in the life of musicians, actors or my fellow social media acquaintances. I freaking love Snapchat. 

It's become my favorite social media platform because it's all the fun with none of the drama (I'm looking at you, Facebook). And the other social media sites (who will remain nameless but the first letter starts with Instagram) keep updating their app to the point where it's killed the fun. 

I feel a rant coming on...

WTH, Instagram?? First, the site is ruined by a ridiculous algorithm: instead if chronological posts, accounts appear in your feed based on what it 'thinks' you want to see. If that wasn't bad enough, IG created a Snapchat-style 'story' within the platform. Unless it has to do with animals or someone whose content I'm very interested in seeing, it's pretty ridiculous...especially when it comes to oversharers. Anything beyond 5 stories within one account is excessive and I'm skipping past it entirely. The final straw was changing to a GINORMOUS FONT with ads that 'stick' and don't let you easily scroll past. #lamesauce

Besides, who can compete with those filters and stickers? 

What is your favorite social media platform? If you like Instagram, what do you think of the changes?

If Girls Ran The World

Disclaimer: I am partnering with FitApproach and If Girls Ran The World this October for a 'one of a kind adventure to collectively and virtually run around the world to benefit charities that empower girls globally.' 

My daughter played club basketball beginning in 5th grade through junior high and high school, and her team was unable to find a court for their practices. The local Girls, Inc. offered our girls use of their court at their beautiful facility. The impact of providing the facility was far reaching and most of the girls, including my daughter, continued to play basketball throughout high school and several even into college. Working as a part of a team, our girls literally learned to think quickly on their feet and to act selflessly to benefit the team as a whole. It was invaluable life skills that my daughter carries with her today.

I am committing raise $250 and to run 50 miles in October, adding to the global goal of running 24,901 miles equalling the world's circumference. I'm inspired by the work of Girls, Inc. and wanted to support them by raising money as part of my participation in If Girls Ran the World. Please visit my fundraising page and help me support my goal. Any amount is appreciated!