Guess What We Did Today?

And this year's ornaments.....

For Mark:

For me:

For Daniel:

For Ben:

And from our 2009 travels:

It's only a month away!!

What a Difference a Year Makes

I was perusing through some older blog posts, and I happened upon this pic, taken in early November, 2008:


It immediately reminded me of this pic, taken in early November 2009:


Granted, I'm all hunkered over in the first one, but it looks like Ben was probably just passing the top of my shoulder. I'm not hunkered over at all in the second one, and he's almost a full head over my shoulder. There's 40 pounds less of me in the second picture, which is also a nice change. And finally, I may just have to have that camera bag surgically removed from my right shoulder.

Saturday on the Creeper Trail

I've spent the last six months counting steps (1.2 million total). When the contest was over, I found myself sort of lost without a walking goal. I'm still walking everyday, but I'm looking for ways to make it interesting.

One thing I've decided to do is walk the entire Creeper Trail (34 miles total). Not all at once, mind you, but in sections. Mark and I walked from the trail head to the 2.5 mile point a few weeks back. Today, we took the boys and drove to Watauga. We walked west to the 2.5 mile point, and back (Daniel rode his bike for this leg). Then we walked east to the 5 mile marker and back again - about five miles in all.

It was sunny and 70 degrees. The leaves were off the trees, but it was still a spectacular day.

It was a good day. Before next October, I hope to knock out the next 29 miles. (I'm giving myself a year because some sections are going to be logistically difficult to pull off). Maybe I'll get it done sooner. Wish me luck!

Puttin' the Old Back in Old Navy

Mark and I went out at lunch today to shop for jeans. I’m happy to say we both have a closet full of jeans that are too big. But I digress….

Mark had mentioned in his team meeting today that he needed jeans. He was immediately referred to Old Navy. “But we usually order from Land’s End….” He was scorned for paying too much for his jeans. (Let me jump in here and say that I don’t know where this is coming from, as I usually only pay $29.50 for jeans from Land’s End and frequently buy them on sale for even less, but here I go digressing again…..) He was assured that not only does Old Navy have great jeans, but they are on sale right now as well. So we set off…

We arrived at the store and immediately went to our respective departments. I found the ladies jeans and was overwhelmed by the selection. Boot cut, low rise, high rise, tall, short, relaxed, skinny. I could choose from “Weekend” jeans, “Diva” jeans, “Sweetheart” jeans, “Dreamer” jeans, and “Flirt” jeans. When I got to the “Flirt” jeans, I knew I was in the wrong store.

I made my way back to the exit and found Mark waiting for me. I said: “I think I’m too old to shop in this store.” He said: “I know what you mean.” I didn’t even ask what names he had to choose from.

We went out for coffee and went back to work. Sometimes, you feel old and it’s not a good thing. But other times, you feel old, and you’re completely OK with it. Today was one of those “OK with it” kind of days.

More Time Travel

It happened again. Only this time, on purpose.

Mark and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this past week. Our big gift to each other was a trip to Boston this summer. But since anniversaries that are divisible by five seem to be a bigger milestone, we also exchanged small gifts. Which can sometimes be the best kind.

One of the small gifts Mark got me was Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View. Why? We aren't big Hootie fans. But in our world, Cracked Rear View was the soundtrack to the fall of 1994 - the year our little Malone family was born.

October 29, 1994. UT played USC that day. UT won. (We still live in Tennessee, so it looks like Tennessee is still winning.) Some idiot fired shots at the White House that day, which prompted them to close off Pennsylvania Avenue (in case you're ever on Jeopardy and need to know the date of that change.) Susan Smith had not yet been found out - that story was all the news on the drive down (and the drive back a week later, coincidentally, but for different reasons.)

Right after the wedding, we took a cruise. We had assigned dinner-mates - two other couples. One couple had been married for a while (the wife was a guard in maximum security prison - delightful) and the other couple was also newlyweds (we never figured out what the husband's name was - after the third "What was that? Say again?" it became awkward and we let it go - to this day, we refer to him as "Haaaayyyyyrrrrnnnngggg".) We didn't spend much time at dinner.

While we were honeymooning, a construction crew broke ground on our house. The one I'm sitting and typing in right now. We spent most of that fall and winter completely broke and smelling like wood and stain (two parts cherry, one part mahogany - the magical mixture). To this day, the smell of a can of minwax transports me right back to 1994.

Peyton Manning was a freshman that year. Mark and I went to one game - it was Parents Day and Archie Manning was down on the field with him. Now that he is THE Peyton Manning, I like to remember that at one time, he was just a kid playing football who wanted his dad to come be with him on Parent's Day. Makes him seem more like me. Except that I'm a girl, and I never played football. But you get my meaning.

We lived in a tiny two-room apartment. It was perfect for newlyweds. For about six months. Which was all the time we stayed there, so it was OK.

For Christmas that year, in lieu of gifts, we exchanged Christmas tree ornaments. Mark got me "Our First Christmas Together" and I got him the first in a series of commemorative baseball greats (The Bambino). We still exchange ornaments every year - the boys are now included - it's one of my favorite parts of the season. We now have so many specialty ornaments that we don't have room for the cheapo colored balls we bought that year to fill out the tree. No great loss.

I turned 24 a month after the wedding. Mark bought me an engraved jewelry box with my new initials. I still have it. It's now full of pictures, baby teeth, and cub scout badges. (I never was much of a jewelry person.) And I still love it.

And while all this was happening, Hootie and the Blowfish was playing in the background. Hold My Hand, Time, Hannah Jane - they all remind me what it was like to be young and newly married and completely clueless. But happy. Very, very happy.

And 15 years later, I'm still happy. Very, very happy.

City Champs!

Daniel's soccer team, The Neon Storm, won the city tournament today! They beat Fairmont, the only team to beat them this year, 4-2. It rained the whole time, so I didn't get the camera out. Daniel came close to scoring twice - the first one went too far right, and the second one just didn't get enough foot on it. But it was all good - we still won!! Go Neon Storm!!

What I'm Reading Now

South of Broad, by Pat Conroy.

I was so pumped about this book - I love Pat Conroy. It's been something like ten years since Beach Music came out. A new book is long overdue.

What can I say? He should have taken more time. I'm about halfway through, and I hate it. Really. Hate is probably too strong a word: hate implies that it has sparked some strong feeling in me. And this book has sparked nothing. NOTHING. It's just a lot of witty banter, and questionably witty banter at that. There is no plot to speak of, which is not nearly as surprising as the lack of well-developed characters.

I was so disappointed in The Hour I First Believed, I was really, really wanting a good book to read. Sadly, this isn't it. I may not even finish it. It's that bad.

Time Travel

OK, so despite my love of the time travel concept in books/movies/tv, I don't really think it's possible. Fun to talk about, fun to think about, fun to theorize about, yes. But possible? No. Not so much.

But isn't it interesting how certain things seem to transport us back in time? Smells can remind us of grandparent's houses or holidays. Finding old clothes in your closet can take you right back to where and when you bought it, or some special day that you wore it.

The biggest transporter for me is music. Nothing takes me back to another place and time faster than the soundtrack I associate it with. Just this week, the transporter was Elton John's The One.

I moved to Johnson City in the fall of 1992. I bought The One sometime that fall, and I associate the purchase with my brother (apart from the Charlie Peacock incident, he has always been a great recommender of sweet tunes.) I don't know if he bought it for me, or just recommended it , or maybe just had it playing in the truck during visits and I liked it. Whatever the reason, I associate this album with Paul. But I digress.

I was living in an apartment in south Johnson City, and working as a help desk agent. Mark and I were not dating at the time, but he was my supervisor and I had a major crush.

At some point that fall, the fam met up at some place in western North Carolina for a weekend getaway. The hotel we stayed at was reminiscent of the hotel from The Shining: very nice, but just a wee bit creepy. Paul and I went out one of the nights that weekend to see Dracula (Gary Oldman/Winona Ryder) at a local theater. I bought a cool black hat at a general store-type place (The Mast Store maybe? Is there such a place?)

Mom also came up for a visit that fall. She took me to Kroger and taught me all she could about grocery shopping and cooking for one. She also took me clothes shopping and bought me two wool blazers (one bright purple and one with purple/black/red checks). They were so cool. I wore them with jeans and black cowboy boots and (a few weeks later) the black hat.

And while all these things were happening, The One was playing in the background. Because as soon as I heard it again this week (I bought the remastered version from iTunes last weekend), all of those memories came back. Like they had just happened. Like I was back in 1992 again. The One, The Last Letter, Dark Street: all of the songs took me right back to 1992. I remembered exactly how it felt to to be single, to be young and clueless, and to be independent. I wouldn't want to go back, but it was nice to be able to visit for just a bit.

Maybe time travel is possible after all.

What's for Dinner?

Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Sauce.


I indulged my inner foodie a couple months back and bought some saffron. Saffron is actually the stamen of crocus flowers. It is picked by hand. It ain't cheap. But I bought a smidge from my friends at The Spice House and have used it here and there, mostly with fish.

But tonight, I went with chicken. I used a Giada recipe that I found on the food network web site. I didn't call mine Chicken Scallopine with Saffron Cream Sauce, because I subbed one percent milk to save some fat and calories. It was still tasty.

Saffron is a really unusual flavor. It is very light, almost not there. I think it adds more color than flavor. The color is awesome. And we talked about who might have hand-picked the saffron threads we were having, which livened dinner conversation considerably.

I served it over rice, and had baby spinach salad on the side. Mark proclaimed it excellent.

Fall Recap

I have accepted George's call to arms. I, too, have been a slack blogger. I, too, will do my best to blog better in the future. To blog better, stronger, faster. Well, maybe not faster. But more frequently. And I'm gonna start right now.

We have had a whirlwhind fall so far. I thought it would be easier to recap in pictures. This is what we've been up to, that I haven't blogged about. Enjoy!

My Perfect Health Storm

Something monumental happened to me last week. I'm talking really, really monumental. I'm talking really, really, really huge-on-all-sorts-of-levels monumental.

I weighed myself. I weighed myself and for the first time in a long, long, LONG time, I was not overweight. According to the BMI calculator, I was normal. NORMAL.

Last January, according to the same BMI calculator, I was obese. OBESE. And now? I'm not. Normal. Feels good to say. Feels even better to be. I've lost 37 pounds this year. I worked my way off medication for high cholesterol, and am working my way off medication for high blood pressure (I've gotten my dosage cut in half, but I'm still working on it.)

So what happened?

Honestly, a lot of things happened at once. I had a perfect storm of sorts that motivated me to get my health back. I've been wanting to blog about it for a while, but the timing never seemed right. But last week's shift into normalcy seemed like the time to stop and reflect. Here goes - here's my perfect health storm:

Storm Front #1: I turned 38. Not your typical threshold kind of a birthday. It's not like I turned 30, or 40, or 50. Just dumb old 38. But here's the thing: I turned 38 and felt like crap. I was fat, my back hurt, my joints ached, I had no energy. And I was only 38. I started thinking about what it would feel like to turn 40 in two years, and feel worse than I already felt. I'm young. My kids are young. They don't need an old lady for a mom. It got me thinking.

Storm Front #2: I learned how to cook. This one was a couple years in the making. But in the last few years, I've learned more about food than I ever knew before. And I discovered that the more good food I cooked - really GOOD food, really GOOD ingredients - the less I could tolerate bad food. Little Debbies, chips, fast food - all of it lost it's appeal. It just stopped TASTING good. I didn't start giving up junk food because I felt like I had to, I gave it up because it didn't taste good anymore. I still have a sweet tooth, but mostly for treats I make myself. And I can now properly appreciate the taste of a good peach. Or a good apple. Or a good tomato. Or a good....well, you get it. I've learned that eating is all about balance. I've learned to eat food because of what it has, and not because of what it doesn't have. I've learned that if it doesn't taste good, it doesn't make sense to eat it. And I don't starve myself - I eat well. But with a little education, I now know what I should be eating a lot of, what I should be eating in moderation, and what I should have on rare occasions. And it's working for me.

Storm Front #3: I started walking. One of my new year's resolutions was to walk more. And I did a lousy job of walking early in the year. So when Lent rolled around this year, I decided to make a promise to walk thirty minutes every day. And I did it. But when Lent was over, I was afraid I would fall back into old habits. At exactly the same time, the company I work for issued a "Walk for Health" challenge. They issued pedometers, and challenged us all to start walking. The people logging the most fitness steps could win prizes, and everyone logging at least 100,00 steps would get a shirt. I'm a sucker for a free shirt, so I started walking. There are three sessions, two months each. For the first session, not only did I get over 100,00 steps, but I finished in the top ten overall with 260K. That got me thinking that I could actually win! So in session two, I logged 459,965 steps. And I came in second. Bummer. But wait! The winner (by 45K) was the director of the program, and was not eligible for the prize! So I won a $150 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods. We are now deep into session three. So far, in all three sessions, I've logged over a million fitness steps. That's 500 miles. That's like walking from my house, to my parent's house in Florence, and back as far as my brother's house in Greenville. That's a lot of walking.

Storm Front #4: The Big C. Not me, but in a year's time, a lot of people that I know were diagnosed with cancer. Many of them children. Many of them in perfect health. And I got really tripped up over it. Because here I was, unhealthy because of choices I was making. And all these people were handed this disease when they didn't deserve it, when they had done nothing to bring it on themselves. It was so unfair. And I started praying about the unfairness of it. But you can't really talk to God about "unfair", because he just makes you talk to Jesus about "unfair" and, well, you're just not going to get anywhere with that one. But because I was praying, I started hearing that small voice - you know the one. The one that tells you what you already know. The one that told me that the only way for me to make it even close to fair, was to stop talking my own health for granted. Start taking care of myself. Not just for me, but for my kids and my husband.

And so here I am: eating well and exercising. I feel great, and there's a lot less of me. I don't know when the weight loss will plateau, but as of now, I'm still losing, slowly but surely. I'd like to get a little more of a buffer zone between "normal" and "overweight", but time will tell. I feel like I finally have eating and exercise habits that I won't move away from (like going off of a diet). It feels like this is me now. I hope so. I like normal me.

But Ya Gotta Have Friends

A good work friend of mine read my playlist posts and took pity on me - she sent me copies of You All Everybody, and that awesome Geronimo Jackson hit Dharma Lady. This totally made my day.

I think I'm just about ready to move back into my parents' basement.

My Big Fat Geek Playlist, Updated

So, I'm on Lostpedia this week (yes, there is a Lostpedia, proving that I am not the biggest geek on the planet) looking for some info on a potential plot hole in season four (but there were two helicopters and two helipads on the freighter, so it was a false alarm) and I found an even MORE comprehensive playlist for Lost. By more comprehensive, I mean every single freakin' song that ever thought about appearing on the show (sung or hummed or whistled by characters, played on music boxes or mobiles or Muzak- EVERY song).

And while most of them were not playlist-worthy (I mean, does it really count that Sawyer sung a Bob Marley song on the raft?), I did make three additions, all songs that I know and love. I thought I would share for those of you keeping score at home:

Stay - Dave Matthews Band (playing in Shannon's apartment)
The End of the World - Skeeter Davis (playing in Kate's mom's diner)
It's Getting Better - Cass Elliot (playing on the radio when Michael drives into the wall, ironically)

In a related story, I'm really grooving on the season one soundtrack. Beautiful melodies. And hilarious titles as well. "Booneral", "Shannonigans","Crocodile Locke". And strangely enough, the most lovely, most haunting song on the soundtrack is called "Win One for the Reaper". Go figure.

What I'm Reading Now

The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb.

I love Wally Lamb. His previous books - I Know This Much Is True and She's Come Undone - were excellent. Long and exhausting, but excellent.

And this one appears to be no exception. Ironically, it is a fictional account of a couple impacted by the events at Columbine High School. I had planned to put a little time between reading this, and reading Columbine, but Mark and I were stuck in the Atlanta airport coming back from Boston, and I finished my Jodi Picoult book with about five more hours to kill, and I had already ordered the new Pat Conroy book,which was the only other book I saw that I wanted, so I bought this one in the airport.

And so far, so good. I'm about a quarter of the way through it - my mom has warned me that it is really two books in one, and I really don't know what to expect in that regard. But I love a good book - two good books is even better!

P.S. - the new Jodi Picoult was good as well - Handle with Care. Not her best, by any means, but good, and very her.

Geeking Out: My Lost Playlist

The 2009 Lost re-watch is well underway. We started watching every episode with the boys in May or June, and are now well near the end of season four. It’s been quite a ride, and the boys’ commentary has added a lot of humor. (“Jacob is a chair?”)

The more we watched, the more I found myself humming many of the tunes from the show (specifically the piano melody they play when someone dies, and Downtown, Juliet’s harbinger of doom). So I decided to download a few good Lost tunes to my iPod.

I found the Giacchino soundtrack on iTunes and downloaded that, and it has all the cool melodies you hear on the show. I also downloaded Downtown and Make Your Own Kind of Music. Then I attempted to find what I thought was Shang Ri La from Three Dog Night. I now know that it is actually Shambala, but in order to figure that out, I had to look up the episode on IMDB, where I discovered the “Soundtrack” feature. Turns out, any episode that features a known song by a known artist has a Soundtrack listing on IMDB.

This led to me to search for songs I had heard on the show and grooved on, but didn’t know the name of, like Wash Away and I Shall Not Walk Alone. Since I am a bit Lost-obsessed, I ended up going through each episode on IMDB, seasons one through five, and noting the name of each and every song featured. (More often than not, episodes had no soundtrack, so this wasn’t actually as time-consuming as it sounds.)

I now have a complete Lost playlist, and it rocks. It‘s a very eclectic mix of music. Check it out:

Leavin’ on Your Mind – Patsy Cline
Wash Away – Joe Purdy
Are Your Sure – Willie Nelson
I Shall Not Walk Alone – The Blind Boys of Alabama
Delicate – Damien Rice
Make Your Own Kind of Music – Cass Elliot
Up on the Roof – The Drifters
My Conversation – Slim Smith
Outside – Staind
These Arms of Mine – Otis Redding
Downtown – Petula Clark
Slowly – Ann Margret
Wonderwall – Oasis (although actually performed by Charlie on the show)
Shambala – Three Dog Night
Walking After Midnight – Patsy Cline
Scentless Apprentice – Nirvana
Xanadu – ONJ and ELO
Everyday – Buddy Holly
Gouge Away – Pixies
Shotgun Willie – Willie Nelson
Dream Police – Cheap Trick
Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image
She’s Got You – Patsy Cline (Kate flashbacks are Patsy Cline-heavy)
It Never Rains in Southern California – Albert Hammond
Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain and Tennille

Only song missing? You All Everybody by Drive Shaft. Bummer.