Soccer Practice

One of the moms has been bringing a camera to soccer practice and takes a lot of action shots, which she posts on Facebook. Thought I would steal a few of Ben and Daniel in action:

That's Daniel in goal and Ben in the green shirt off to the right.

Yes, that is Daniel sandwiched between the other two players, about to go down hard.

Daniel, Coach T, and Lala: the team mascot.

Run like the wind!

I knew the lengthy gams would come in handy.

Ben shows off his mad dribbling skills.

More Yogaworks (and it really does!)

I was so taken with the Beginner Yogaworks DVD that I bought the other two in the series. I am a big fan.

The Fit Abs DVD has two work-outs - one 10-minute hard-core workout, and one 40-minute "core yoga flow". I like the yoga flow a lot. It's a step up from the beginner workout, I don't sweat too much, but I do push myself in some of the poses. Morning Workout Billy leads the yogaflow class, but Patty is there doing the newbee modifications. (I suspect that Billy has a thing for Patty, but she doesn't seem interested.)

Body Slim is a hard work-out. Fifty minutes of what they call "Cardio-followed-by-slow-burn". They aren't kidding. I work up quite a lather in this one.

Jessie leads this class. In the other videos, she did all the modifications, so this is the first time I heard her talk. She's very peppy. She reminds us to smile a lot. Probably sees way to many angry people glaring at her everyday. Ironically, Jessie is on the cover of the Fit Abs DVD (left) but she teaches the class on the Body Slim DVD. Weird.

I still do my morning and evening 10-minute workouts every day (or at least most days). And I have gotten pretty good at the 45-minute beginner class. It's really just a long, drawn out series of stretches. I like to do that in the evening when I can - I don't sweat during, so I can do it and go straight to bed. I feel like jelly after. It's AWESOME.

And with the new DVDs, I round out the easy beginner class with a good middle-of-the-road class, and a really hard butt-kicker. I have a little something for every mood. : )

But the really good news is: I feel GREAT. I have been consistently doing yoga for almost two months and I really can tell a difference in how I feel, and how my muscles feel when I do other things (running, biking, etc.) Yogaworks! It's not just a cute name!

So, if you are considering taking up yoga, or if you already do yoga and want an at-home option, I strongly recommend the Yogaworks series. I got all three from Amazon, and am really getting my money's worth.

Namaste.

Back to School

We started back to school around here a week and a half ago. Hard to believe I no longer have any elementary school children, but there it is. Following is a brief update on who is going where for what.

First up: Ben

Ben started 8th grade last week. Brand new year, brand new school. Actually, it's NOT a brand new school, it's a really old school that is getting a face lift. Renovations of the 8th and 9th grade buildings finished right before school started back. Ben had to go in on Day One completely cold - no tour, no orientation, no nothing. All he had was a homeroom number and a dream (and I'm not convinced he actually had a dream). But he slowly found his way around (he didn't find his locker until Day 4) and I'm happy to say, all is well. Everyone else was in the same chaotic boat, so that helped. The construction and renovation of other buildings on campus is still going on, so things will be crazy for a while yet. But it's all good. We went to an open house on Thursday and I couldn't believe how good the building looked. It looked like a brand new school.

He is running cross country (which started last week) and is running EVERYDAY after school. Some days they run on campus and in the neighborhoods around the school, and some days they run at the VA. Twice they have run in the evenings to let it cool down a bit. He is really enjoying it. He will also play soccer with Daniel in a Parks & Rec league, but that hasn't officially started yet. In music news, he is still playing the string bass (orchestra meets on the 10-12 campus, so he gets dropped off way far away from the rest of his classes and gets shuttled to his campus mid-morning.)

I think it's going to be a great year for him. I just have one of those feelings.

And now: Daniel

Daniel is a sixth grader and is now a middle school student. He has a locker, a schedule, and an ID card. He has been thrown into the mix with 1200 of his closest friends. He likes his teachers, although he finds one of them "creepy". (I pictured some seventy-year-old battle axe, but we saw her walking in one day and she looked to be about twelve. I told DP it was probably her first teaching job and she was likely scared to death. He seemed mystified by the fact that a teacher might be scared of anything.) Anywho...he had two or three building tours and a meet-and-greet, so he was WAY prepared for his first day. Ironically, the only thing he didn't know going in was his homeroom assignment, which was the only thing Ben did know.

He got his locker assignment on the first day, had to practice opening it, and then reported back to his teacher that while he opened the locker just fine, he had to stand in a chair to reach it. She got him a new locker.

Daniel has signed up for band, and was "fitted" to be a trumpet player. (They let him try out every instrument and rated him on which ones he was most likely to play well. Trumpet was top on the list, and it was the one he wanted to play anyway. So it was a win-win fitting.) He will start toting his trumpet around next week. We ordered one from a "reputable" music dealer on eBay. The band teacher checked it out and gave it a thumbs-up. Whew. Glad that's done.

No school sports for sixth graders, but DP wants to play Parks & Rec soccer with Coach T anyway. He will be playing up this year, so he and Ben will be on the same team. All are very excited about that.

Homework has been light so far, which is a popular concept. There's been lots of connecting with old friends, and making new friends. Ben informs me that he eats lunch every day with a great, funny, bunch of guys whose names he does not know. I asked if he might need to know their names at some point, but he didn't think so. Daniel has friends that he refers to as "Brunden" , "Poop Ice Cream" , and "Shoulder-to-Shoulder". Long stories all. Maybe Ben is on to something.

At any rate, the new school year is well under way and it's good times as far as the eye can see. Here's hoping!

Marvin Kenneth Malone, 1941 - 2010

We said a sad good-bye to Mark's father and the boys' Pepaw this week. He had been sick for a long time and I am comforted to know that he is finally at peace. He passed away on Saturday night with his entire family at his side. I have never experienced anything like that before, and I am so grateful that God granted us that blessing.

One of my fondest memories of Ken happened six months or so before he broke his ankle, which was the beginning of his slow decline. This would have been some time in the fall of 2006 - I was not working at the time. Ken showed up one day and told me our shutters looked terrible and he was there to clean them for us. Ten years earlier, such a statement would have royally pissed me off, but as happens when we get older, I was enjoying a new mellowness. I looked at my shutters and thought "Yeah, he has a point." We spent the day cleaning the shutters. Rather, HE spent the day cleaning the shutters; I spent the day passing water and rags and chemicals back and forth through the upstairs windows. Ken tiptoed around on the roof over our porch, washing and scrubbing and washing some more. I was convinced that he was going to fall and break his neck, but somehow, he got the job done. Ken was a world-class workhorse, and I remember feeling strangely important to have been chosen to help out with one of his projects. It was a good day. (And the shutters looked awesome.)

It was a hard week for all of us, especially Mark. But in the midst of all of our sadness, God chose to bless us tremendously in lots of small ways. I won't share all of them with you - many of them are not my stories to tell - but this experience has strengthened my faith both in God and in people considerably. I know that God is good. I know that people are kind. And I know that Heaven is a little cleaner and quite a few things will get fixed up now that Ken is there. : )

I will share one thing that struck me as particularly poignant, probably more than anyone else. Both of Mark's brothers asked him to help them tie their neckties before the memorial service. It seems that neither of them ever learned; any time they needed to wear a necktie, they had their father tie it for them. To me, that was such a simple but such a profound picture of what it means to lose a father.

Good-bye Pops. We will miss you.

Yogaworks

In my pursuit of health and fitness, I have recently taken up Yoga. I keep reading about how good it is for the muscles and how it can help prevent injuries from the other stuff you do and how all these really super-hot people, when asked how they acquired their super-hot status, say "Yoga".

Problem #1 - I know nothing about Yoga. Except that you use mats and you stretch a lot. (In hindsight, looks like I knew a lot about Yoga.)

Problem #2 - I hate going to the gym and I hate going to "class".

Problem #3 - I don't have a lot of disposable time for another "hobby".

But despite all my problems, I really wanted to try it. Mostly because of the helping-prevent-injury-thing. I'm not getting any younger, but I am getting a whole lot more active, and while I am healthier than I've ever been, I am more at risk for muscle injury than ever before.

So I did the thing I swore I would never do. I ordered a DVD.

I looked at lots of options, but landed on a company called Yogaworks, and a DVD called Beginner Basics. What attracted me? Good reviews on Amazon and the promise of "10-Minute Workouts". Probably not the best reason to buy a DVD, but it spoke to me.

And I have to say, I like what I got. And here's what that is:

1. Intro to all the poses. "Patti" takes you through all the poses you will do in the other segments, slowly and specifically.

2. Beginner workout. 45 minutes of entry-level Yoga fun. Not a lot of sweating going on, but I am challenged to do about half of the stuff we do, which I figure is good. Patti also leads this workout, but "Jessie" does modifications to the workout (i.e., if you can't do this, do what Jessie is doing - she's going bottom-of-the-barrel easy.)

3. The much-ballyhooed 10-Minute Workouts. One is an AM Wake-up and the other is a PM Relax and Restore. Patti does the PM workout. (I really like Patti - she's cute and tiny and has a great voice for this kind of thing. When we do the deep relaxation pose and she starts up with this "Let your brain sink slowly to the back of your skull" I'm a goner. I should just start doing this one in the bed so I don't have to drag myself off the mat when it's over.) "Billy" does the AM workout. Took some getting used to, sort of like the first time you have a male nurse. But I'm liking Billy now too. Both Billy and Patti end their sessions by saying "From all of us at Yogaworks, Namaste", which makes me feel like I'm doing Yoga with the Dharma Initiative. You can imagine how cool that is for me.

So far, I'm liking the Yoga. I've done the AM and PM workouts everyday for two weeks, and the 45-minute workout three or four times (my goal is twice a week.) I see some improvement in doing the poses, and I do feel really good afterward. I got a mat on sale a DSG, so I'm feeling like an old pro. (An old pro who still only does beginner workouts.) There are two more videos in the series, so when I master this one, maybe I'll move on.

For now, I've got a date with Billy for my AM workout.

What's for Dinner?

Necessity is the mother of invention. That, and an unnatural fear of bad shrimp.

So, a month or so back, I thawed some shrimp for a meal I had planned. As is so often the norm, the day spun out of control and my planned dinner got put on hold. But somehow, the side items all got eaten. The next day, I was left with thawed shrimp and no plan. I improvised. I was feeling an Asian vibe that night. And thus was born Mom's Amazing Asian Rice Bowl. Healthy, fast, and delicious: the dinnertime tri fecta.

First things first: cook some brown rice. About 4 servings worth. It takes a while to cook brown rice, but it's very hands off, so I don't count it as actual time. Use a rice cooker or go stove top - whatever works for you. Should take about 45 minutes.

While the rice cooks, dice a half a medium onion and one garlic clove. Saute them in a tablespoon or so of sesame oil for about ten minutes. Add a pound of shrimp, some soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Just splash some in there, "to taste" as they say. Saute for 4-5 minutes.

Also, steam some broccoli (lots going on at the same time, but trust me, it's easy.) You can do one of those stove top things, but it's really easy in the microwave. Just chop off a head full of florets and put them in a microwave dish. Add a tablespoon or two or water and a sprinkle of salt. Cover with one corner up and nuke on high for 3 minutes.

Adjust your timetable so the shrimp, rice, and broccoli are done at the same time. Then mix them all up in a big ole bowl. Enjoy!

I've made it twice now and I think it rocks. Mark likes it too. Haven't sprung it on the boys yet.

Still Lovin' Where I Live

So my new favorite place on earth is the Virgina Creeper Trail. If you aren't familiar with this 34-mile Rails-to-Trails project, then you haven't read my blog very much. We love to go up there and hike, and since purchasing bikes, we've added cycling to the mix. It is absolutely beautiful - high trestles cross over rivers and fields, and the wide trail cuts through rock and open countryside. All parts of the trail run downhill towards the Holston river, so it's an easy ride if you plan it right. Daniel and I planned it right on Tuesday - I took the day off and we met friends for a trek from Abingdon to the river and back. Cool for the ride out and warmer for the ride back, it was a lovely day. Picnic lunch, lots of laughs, great exercise - not a bad way to spend the day.

Summer Camp!

Ben is back from camp! Looks like he had fun!

I Love Where I Live

The End

Like you didn't know this post was coming.

So, it's officially over. My favorite TV show of all time has come to a close. And I of course have some thoughts about how it all went down.

At 11:30 on Sunday night, I was sitting in front of the TV with my chin in my hands thinking "WTF?" Which is a very normal pose and thought for me to have at the conclusion of any episode of LOST. But this was different, because it was the last one. No tuning in next week to find out what all that was about. And so I was left to figure it all out.

Some things immediately stood out. The sideways was amazing. I have loved the sideways storylines all season. I loved seeing the characters interact with one another in a totally different set of circumstances. In the very first episode, Jack and Locke had that discussion at the lost baggage desk and it hit me "In a different world, these two people might have had a completely different relationship." And so they did. And so did everyone else. It was a real treat to watch. Ben and Locke were my favorites.

But in the finale, the sideways took on a whole new life. The scenes where the characters found each other were so well written and so well acted - possibly the best scenes in the history of the show. I loved Sun and Jin looking at Sawyer when they had it figured out and he didn't. I loved that Kate's touchstone was neither Jack nor Sawyer, but Aaron. And I LOVED the scene with Ben and Locke outside the church. LOST has always been about the characters for me, and the finale was ALL about the characters.

As far as the resolution went, it took me about 24-hours, but I was finally OK with it. I'm comfortable that I understand the ending (and clearly, many viewers didn't) and I like it. A Lot. Not what I wanted and not at all what I expected, but a good ending. It really seemed more like a finale to season six, and maybe not to the whole series, but season six stood apart from the others anyway, and so it is what it is.

I was disappointed that so few questions were answered in the end, but I can see how it would be nearly impossible to go back and touch on all the mysteries from where they were in the story at this point. They would have had to resort to monologuing, and that would have sucked. The thing I was most disappointed to not know was the origin of the statue and the Egyptian influence. I remember getting chills - chills on top of chills - in season five when we saw the completed statue for the first time. To still not know how it got there was a real disappointment.

Other things worth noting:

1. As always, the music was phenomenal. I especially liked the light-hearted "ting" at the end (in contrast to the usual "thunk".)
2. Jimmy Kimmel's alternate endings were awesome, although I didn't get the second one until it was explained later.
3. Even in the sideways, Ben gets beaten up. How great is that?
4. Didn't catch it at the time, but at the very beginning of season six, Rose tells Jack "You can let go now." Indeed you can.

And all those Losties out there can let go too. As they said in The Truman Show, wonder what else is on?

Race Day!

Saturday was the big day! The Foot RX 5K! (Foot RX is a running shoe/accessory store in town, and they partner with our Wellness Center to sponsor a road race every year). Back in March, the four of us committed to train together and run the race. We all agreed to set a goal for ourselves and train to meet that goal by race day. Ben and I both decided to run the entire race. Mark was still coming off the DL with a foot injury (the one that sidelined him for Chasing Snakes) and has some soreness in his knee, so his goal was just to finish the race - run as much as he felt good about, and walk the rest. DP never got around to setting a goal because almost immediately, he got invited to a sleepover the night before the race (where activities included seeing Iron Man 2 at the drive-in). He agreed to keep training with us if he could skip the race and go to the party. We agreed.

And then there were three.

Ben really impressed me in our training. We ran on a 1/2 mile track, and we added distance every time we trained - trying to run more and walk less each time. Ben got to where he could run all six laps well before me. For our last training run, we ran the actual race route, which is around the park where our office is. There is a steep hill at the start, then it's level street running for a couple of miles, then we move to a greenway (paved path off-road) which is a very steady incline. It's a hard course, especially for beginners. The night we ran it pre-race, it was 80 degrees. I thought I might die. But I ran the entire route. I was really jacked for the race.

Here we are on race morning:




Aren't the shirts cool?

We didn't want to tote a camera around, so we didn't get any actual race pictures. If any get posted by the sponsors, I'll re-post.

We had awesome weather. Lots of our friends were there. The mood was upbeat. Lots of encouragement on all fronts.

And we did it! Ben ran the whole race and finished in 25 minutes on the nose. He finished in sixth place for his age group and 81st overall (out of a total 316)!! I was so proud of him!

I finished in 27:02 and I ran the entire race - no walking! But I wanted to quit so badly. I think I felt worse during the race than on the 80-degree training run. Maybe I didn't eat enough breakfast or needed more water, but I struggled. I didn't quit though! I was 128th overall, so I finished in the top half. I was pleased.

Mark finished in 31:08, 214th overall. He was worried he would be dead last, but there were 102 people still behind him! I think he was pleased with himself as well - he didn't get injured, and he made a good showing. He ran more than he walked, and ran more than he had in any of our training runs, I think.

I was the one who didn't feel so great afterward - I think my BP must have dropped because right after I stopped running and stood around for a few minutes, I got really light-headed. I got water and oranges, and sat down for while. I finally walked it off on the way to the car and felt fine after.

There is another race coming up in June, and Ben has already committed to running it. I have volunteered to help with it, so I will be behind-the-scenes for that one (I hope I get to be on the course and direct the runners or call out times or something - I think that would be fun.) Not sure about Mark and Daniel at this point.

Ben has really enjoyed himself. He plans to go out for cross country next year. Who knew this would be a new hobby for him? And a new hobby that gets him outside and active. Good times. Very, very good times.

Court of Honor

Last night, Troop 37 held its Spring Court of Honor - Daniel's first as an official Boy Scout.

.

Ben was one of five boys recognized for completing a 15-mile backpacking adventure over Spring Break.

Daniel earned his Boy Scout badge.

And Ben earned the merit badge for Emergency Preparedness.

Good times.

What I'm Reading Now

A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth.

A little back story. I was in Barnes and Noble a year or so back and was perusing the staff favorites. Someone had put out this behemoth of a book called A Suitable Boy and just went on and on and on about how good it was. The thing that stood out to me the most was its sheer size - it was 1400 pages long. Epically long books can be a life-changing experience, like when I read Les Miserables in high school. You get immersed, you get attached, you miss it when it's gone - you know the drill. I made a mental note to read A Suitable Boy "some time down the road - some time when I have time to read such a tome."

Flash forward to late summer, early fall of last year.

My mom sends me newspaper clippings. Always has. It's just what she does. (In an interesting side note, my college roommate Jennifer and I had a major bonding experience when I learned that her mom was also a little freakish about sending her newspaper clippings, but I digress.) Mom sends me an editorial written by a woman who couldn't finish a book. She loved to read - read all the time in fact - but had discovered lately that she had started a number of books and hadn't been able to finish a one of them. Her fear was that Facebook status updates and tweets and even blogs, while all perfectly fine things to read, had ruined her for reading anything of any length or substance. She feared she was no longer reading fresh produce, if you will, but was only reading junk food.

Her solution? She drug out some huge favorite book from her formative years like Crime and Punishment or Little Dorrit (can't remember exactly what book it was) and forced herself to re-read it. But she didn't have to force herself for long - once she got into it, it was smooth sailing. The avid book-lover in her took over and she never even thought about giving up. She considered herself cured.

I read this little blurb about the same time I had given up reading a Pat Conroy, an Anne Rivers Siddons, and a handful of other authors so forgettable that I've already forgotten them. I had started many a book, and put down many a book, unfinished. Nothing grabbed me. So this harmless little newspaper clipping disturbed me a little.

Maybe it wasn't the books, maybe it was me. Maybe I just couldn't focus long enough to finish a book anymore. Maybe this brave new world of instant information had ruined my attention span. Maybe irreparably.

And while this disturbed me, I didn't really do much about it. I kept reading, finished some books, and put down some books too. But I kept having this nagging feeling that I really needed to read something epic. Something life changing. In short, something long.

And then I remembered A Suitable Boy. I bought it and got to reading. I'm about a third of the way in and liking it. It's set in India, and I have learned that I don't know anything at all about India. I'm enjoying discovering how little I know. And I like the characters. And the writing style.

And I especially like having a really long book, one that I enjoy, one that just sort of sits there, week after week, waiting for me to come by and enjoy it for a few minutes. It may take me a while to read it, but I'm OK with that. I'm reading it. And that's a good thing.

First Day of Spring on the AT

We had a great first day of spring! We got up early and met the scout troop for a hike on the AT across Watauga Dam. We hiked four miles, all around Watauga lake - it was a GORGEOUS day.

Boys who are planning to go on a backpacking trip over spring break had to carry 20 pounds of water in their packs as a training exercise. Ben was up for it; Daniel not so much. We gave Ben 24 bottles of water, which he carried the whole way. (When we got home, I weighed one bottle and I think he carried more like 28 pounds of water!) He was a LIMP noodle when we got done, but he managed two baseball scrimmages and a practice that afternoon, so it obviously didn't kill him!

(Why is he so tired? His pack was practically empty.)

(Ben looks a lot better than he feels at this point.)

It was a great day to be outside!