I got a MacBook last night. I love it! I commented to Jay that Apple does such a good job with branding, even down to the packaging. And speaking of packaging, there isn’t much, which is a good thing. A nice slim box, only the essentials. I love it already!
my new toy
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My mom came out to DC to visit last weekend. It was wonderful! She arrived on Thursday night, and unfortunately I was not able to take Friday off work, but she went into DC and enjoyed the museums and other generally touristy things on her own. We then met up at Ray’s the Steaks for what might be the best steaks ever delivered to my tummy. It was so nice to just have her around for a few days.
It’s always sad for me right after I’ve gotten to spend time with my family because it reminds me that I would like to see them more. Although this year has actually been pretty good for family visiting because Mom came out to NY to help us pack for the move in April, then Dad came to visit in DC in July, we went home to Indy in Aug, Mom was here just last week, and we’re going home for Christmas. I know some people who would prefer not to see their folks quite that much, but I really do enjoy my family. In college, I used to stop by Mom’s office on campus all the time, and I had a pretty standard lunch date every couple of weeks with my Dad. It would be nice to have that kind of set up again, but alas, 10 hrs of drive time does not allow for easy lunch dates. The countdown for Christmas vacation begins!
It’s official…Jay and I are now playing fantasy football. We joined up with our DC area gang for a friendly season of trash talking madness. My team, aptly named “Kona’s Killers” is comprised of……
Peyton Manning – my favorite QB of all time, who plays for my most favorite Colts
Marvin Harrison – the *hopefully healthy* wide receiving counterpart to Peyton
Julius Jones – superstar running back for the Seahawks
Donald Driver – another great receiver, this time from Green Bay
Willie Parker – running back extraordinare from the Steelers
Santonio Holmes – also from the Steelers, but he’s a receiver
Dallas Clark – Colts again, this time a tight end
Marc Bulger – he’s my backup for Peyton, which means that as good as he is, he’s only going to play for me during week 4
Dominic Rhodes – go Colts again! He’ll back up Willie and Julius on their bye weeks, assuming he’s starting for Indy (since he’s Addai’s backup right now)
Deuce McAllister – another backup for my running boys
Brandon Stokely - ex-Colt, but we still love him. He’ll back up my receivers, and might get a starting position if he’s hot this year
Ben Utecht – another ex-colt – he’s my backup for Dallas Clark
Phil Dawson and Jeff Reed as kickers and I have the Colts defense & special teams
Looks to be a good year for Kona’s Killers!!
I just finished reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. It was amazing. Unlike Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me, In Defense of Food does not stop with the fact that fast food is bad for you. In fact, Pollan suggests that fast food isn’t even food at all – it’s more of a ‘food-like product’. Pollan begins by looking at food governance and the laws surrounding marketing and labeling of food. Admittedly, it started a bit slow, but this section shook my view of the food industry. In the 70’s, research was done that implicated red meat and dairy as contributors to heart disease. The government subsequently advised Americans to ‘eat less red meat and dairy’. The cattle and dairy industries (some of the biggest food lobbies in the country) threw a fit. Of course, since the industry has money, the government retracted that advice and revised it such that Americans should now ‘eat less saturated fat’. This was the first incidence of separation of nutrient and food. It’s precisely this separation of nutrients from their whole food counterparts that has become such as issue in food marketing these days. Have you noticed that all our wonderful food-like edibles now contain extra vitamins, are enhanced with omega-3s, and contain whole grains? The problem with this is that scientists don’t really understand how any of these nutrients work by themselves. In fact, Pollan cites research that suggests there is something special about whole foods, over and above the separate nutrients they contain. This bias for nutrients as opposed to whole foods is now government policy when it comes to food marketing and labeling. Now, the reason this rocked my previously held beliefs is that I, perhaps naively, believed that when my government issued a health-related statement it must be in my best interest. Apparently my best interest is secondary to ‘the industry’.
The rest of the book focused on the various cultural aspects of food and eating, specifically the implications of the Western Diet – the overly processed, highly sugar dependent, food-like diet. Pollan’s thesis, in seven words, is “eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. By food, he means things that even your great-great grandmother would recognize – fruits, vegetables, and things you could bake up in your own kitchen. Would your great-great grandmother recognize go-gurt or the entire line of Little Debbie snacks? Not too much…..well, if we eat things that are natural and nutrient rich, instead of lots of empty calories, we’ll naturally eat less food because our bodies won’t continue to eat in search of nutrition. And as for the mostly plants part, well, plants contain most of the things we need in order to be healthy. Pollan does not say to quit eating meat all together; however, he does suggest that animals that are 100% grass fed have been fed a more well rounded diet and are thus better for us than animals that are grain fed.
Well, I’m ready to join up with a community supported farm, eat local organic produce, and buy 100% grass fed beef and poultry. We’ll see how much of that I actually do seeing as how it’s more expensive, but at least I’m now much more conscious of what I eat and why I choose to eat it.
~mols
I’ve been making a fairly conscious effort to purchase and cook healthier foods for us recently. I started cooking (and enjoying it) more about a year or so ago. This was about the same time that we got married and I got a ‘real’ job – ie, one that was not Starbucks or a grad school internship. I enjoy making fresh, nutritious meals and I know we both feel better when we eat better.
Last year I tried my hand at gardening, and I think that is something I would like to do a lot more of once we settle ourselves in a house. Jay built me a great box, and I was able to grow a handful of beans and peas. One of the things I really liked about having a garden was the idea that I know exactly what has gone into producing my own food. Granted, that first attempt didn’t yield a lot, but I think I learned enough to make a better attempt next year.
Now, I don’t claim to buy all organic or local foods, even though that would be something to aspire to, but I do try to feed us a variety of fresh fruits and veggies. But I digress. Lately, my healthy-conscious project has been to rid our house of high fructose corn syrup. This insidious chemically manufactured sugar substitute just can’t be good for you. By concentrating on fresh foods and sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store in general, I’ve managed to avoid HFCS for the most part. However, Jay and I sometimes get a hankering for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. No problem on the sandwich front, but lo and behold, right there on the label of my beloved Campbell’s Tomato Soup, is the dreaded ingredient. Seriously? HFCS in tomato soup? And I even buy the Healthy Request version! A little more shopping, and about a $1 a can more led me to Progresso’s tomato basil, which is gloriously HFCS free. However, I believe I will be trying to make it from scratch in the near future, that way I know exactly what I’m about to ingest.
not so healthy tomato soup
We found out yesterday that we didn’t get the house we bid on. I am disappointed. I really liked that house and would have loved to make it my home. I have been assured by many friends and family that things are meant to be, and so perhaps there is a better house out there for us. But I am disappointed. I am not relishing the thought of more months of house-shopping every free weeknight. I do not want to stay in our apartment for longer than our six month lease. I will continue to pout, at least for a day or so 
Again, I have been a bad blogger. It’s been a month! A month, people! Where have I been, you ask…various places, doing various things. Here’s the quick update:
The end of June was Steve & Angela’s wedding. It was awesome. We traveled to Pittsburgh and Kona got to stay at the Hilton!
In July, my dad came for a long weekend. That was also awesome. We did normal “touristy” stuff like visiting monuments, but we also went to a pretty raucous DC United game. Here’s a picture of Dad and me by the Indiana pillar at the WWII monument.
Me and Dad at the Indiana pillar of the WWII monument
Oh yea, and we put an offer on a house. Yikes! So, we’ve been pretty busy, but that does not excuse my hiatus from blogging. I promise to be better…..
~m
Deb over at SmittenKitchen asserts that pies can smell fear, and if you’re worried your pie will come out a mess, it will. Therefore, I put on my scariest face and told that pie who’s boss! Jay and I have made several pies as tag team efforts before, but this is the first time I’ve made the entire pie myself. And it looks delicious. I have actually never even had strawberry-rhubarb pie before, but we’re having Adam & Erin over for dinner tonight and Adam loves all things strawberry-rhubarb, so I decided to give it a shot. The kitchen smelled absolutely heavenly! Hope it tastes good too 
~m
I baked some delicious peanut butter cookies today. But they weren’t for Jay, they were for Kona! I found a few recipes online, and with a couple of my own tweaks (including all organic ingredients), I have found a treat that Kona absolutely loves. She actually stalked me in the kitchen as I was baking them!
I have baked these particular cookies before, but not with all organic ingredients. That idea was spurred by one of my co-workers. I’ve taken various baked goodies into work before and have always gotten rave reviews. I mentioned that I’ve also been known to bake for my dog. My co-worker then said that she has a friend that owns an organic/natural doggie boutique. I asked if her friend would be interested in carrying some home-made treats if they were all organic. My co-worker asked her friend, who said that she was indeed interested in my treats. So I baked up a batch today and I’m going to give them to my co-worker tomorrow to pass on to the doggie boutique! I’m giving her a selection of bone shaped cookies and smaller animal shapes. Cross your fingers that she will like them and will want to carry them in her shop! That would be an awesome side gig for a little extra income, and it’s something that I enjoy and do for Kona anyway.
~m
This morning was the Inaugural Baltimore 10 miler. It started by the Maryland Zoo and ran around the park and a very pretty lake. They gave really nice fleece pullovers to the finishers. I was a finisher – but that race thoroughly kicked my butt! My friend Angela asked me to run it with her after our friend Ken decided he couldn’t run this one. I walked up to the registration booth and just told them I was Ken. They just handed over the bib and the timing chip
Let me start by saying that Kona and I have been running nearly every day for usually about 3 miles, and we do it pretty darn fast. But I haven’t run more than 3 or 4 miles at once in several months. I made the mistake of assuming that if I slowed down during the race (ran a 9:30 mile instead of the 8:30’s I’ve been averaging with Kona), I’d be fine and I’d be able to do 10 miles with minimal issues. Then I saw the elevation map for the race. Certainly no Heartbreak Hill like the Boston marathon, but it was up and down the whole way and it was steeper than I thought.
Angela and I started out running together, but I had to stop and take a walk break at mile 2. By mile 3 my self-esteem was in the toilet. I was doubting my own self-named status as a decent distance runner and I was doubting I’d even be able to finish all 10 miles. But then I started telling myself positive things, and adopted a pretty steady run-walk strategy. Basically, I walked up a lot of the really steep and long hills, ran all the downhills and most of the flats and the small hills.
I ended up finishing in 1:44, just 4 minutes behind Angela. That’s an average pace of just over 10 minutes per mile, which isn’t bad, and actually is better than my average marathon pace. I’m happy that I finished. I’m glad I raced, since it’s been 7 months since the Philadelphia marathon, and I really needed to get back into it. But I also realize that if I really want to run the 20K in Leesburg in August, I need to start training more distance in addition to the speed work with Kona.
Wish me luck on that…..i’m going to go wear my new fleece now
~m